From the Family Bookshelf

Where has this month gone? I can’t believe July is almost here. The girls have been out of school since Monday. The Lil Princess joined our library’s “Go Green” summer reading program. The Lil Diva has officially declared she hates reading. When I suggested she join the summer reading program, not only did I get the eyes rolling up into her eyelids, I also received the lovely hand on the hip deal. How did I manage to end up with a kid who doesn’t enjoy reading?

In this issue of From the Family Bookshelf, you’ll once again get a glimpse into what our family has been reading lately. I, as usual, have read more books than anyone else; but that should change a bit with the Lil Princess participating in the summer reading program.

I really thought Dad would move right from Prayers for the Assassin  by Robert Ferrigno to the next book in this series, Sins of the Assassin, but he didn’t. After a short reading break, he moved onto the third book in The Zion Chronicles, The Return to Zion, by Bodie and Brock Thoene. This series is Christian historical fiction set aroung WWII. He has already read the first two books in this series, The Gates of Zion and A Daughter of Zion.

May 27th was the last time I updated this column. Sorry about that. With the wedding, the end of the school year, and preparing to leave for North Carolina on July 2nd, I haven’t been blogging as much as I usually do.

During that time I’ve read Ebeneezer’s Cousin, In My Bath, Sully’s Topsy Tale, Grin’s Message, Little Big Wolf, and Glamour Girl, all children’s books.  You can find those reviews on this site. I’ve also read Caves, Cannons and Crinolines, which is YA historical fiction from Beverly Stowe McClure. That review is also posted at this site.

At The Book Connection, I recently posted reviews of: The Wildcat’s Burden (sci-fi/alternative world) by Christopher Hoare, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner (historical fiction), At Home with Laurie Ann by Laurie Ann McMillin Ray (home decorating), and Why God Matters by Karina Lumbert Fabian and Deacon Steven Lumbert (Catholic nonfiction). I also read The Lightkeeper’s Daughter by Colleen Coble as part of the Amazon Vine program. I am currently reading The Last Operative by Jerry Jenkins. If you want to know my Jerry Jenkins story, just ask!

The Lil Diva moved right from her Katie & Kimble books into reading Junie B. Jones.  I’ll have a separate post coming up about this book soon, but I thought kids were supposed to enjoy reading about those older than them. Junie B. Jones is a few years younger than her, so I wasn’t expecting that one. She read

The Lil Princess has been reading to herself, so I haven’t been privy to what she’s been reading lately. She hides in her room, shuts the door, and wanders off for a while. I know that she recently picked up a copy of The Raindrop by Brian McClure that I had in my office. She always asks before taking off with anything from here, since she never knows if it belongs in the TBR pile, the giveaway pile, or somewhere in between. 🙂

That’s about it for From the Family Bookshelf. I hope you enjoyed reading along. Until next time, keep reading!

Little Big Wolf by Carlton Scott

Nathan dreams he is exploring the rocky trails of the forest when a large wolf pounces. Suddenly the wolf appears nervous, and Nathan and he stumble upon two hunters. Nathan soon discovers the other source of the wolf’s anxiety, a pup that is too sick to play.  Nathan tends to the pup, then he and the wolf continue their adventure.

Little Big Wolf by Carlton Scott brings young readers on an adventure into the forest, where a young boy befriends a pack of wolves. Soon, she discovers, however, this is just Nathan’s birthday dream.

I have to admit to being on the fence over this book.  The storyline is good, though I’m not sure I care for a young boy wandering off into the woods and becoming friends with wild animals. The prose flows relatively smooth, but I guess I’m missing the point of the book. Perhaps the author is going for a subtle humans and animals can easily share the same world and humans should help animals in need type of message, but that isn’t truly clear to me.

The other thing that stood out to me is the illustrations. In Grin’s Message, the author fully illustrated the book. But in Little Big Wolf, Scott opted to use nature photographs along with his drawings of Nathan, the wolves, and other people or things superimposed (I believe this is the correct term) over them. It gives the book an amateurish feel, besides looking odd.

It’s a nice story, but after reading Grin’s Message I was hoping for a bit more.

Rating:  🙂 🙂 🙂

Publisher:  Ends of the Earth Books

ISBN:  0-9636652-8-6

SRP:  $9.95

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Grin’s Message by Carlton Scott

A charming story with an excellent message is what you’ll find in Grin’s Message by Carlton Scott.

Grin is a bottlenose dolphin who likes to help others. When Ollie the Octopus gets caught in the trash between some stones, Grin helps him get free. He encourages Ollie to spread his message and help others, which Ollie does when he meets Moo Moo and Mee Mee the manatees. But it will take all of them to get Grin out of trouble when the time arrives.

Grin’s Message is an enjoyable rhyming story that encourages children to help each other. In addition to the more subtle message of protecting our environment, Grin, the manatees, and Ollie show readers how wonderful it can be when we all do what we can to help out.

Beautifully written and illustrated by Carlton Scott, Grin’s Message is sure to have many young fans.

Rating:  🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Publisher:  End of the Earth Books

ISBN:  0-9636652-7-8

SRP:  $9.95

 

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Author Spotlight: The Work of Carlton Scott, Author of Glamour Girl from the Stars and other Children’s Books

“After traveling to and fro across outer space’s unknown, PleeDee discovers her world is similar to our own. When little girls live up to their potential wherever they are, they’ll shine brightly with confidence no matter how near or far.”  Out of this world rhyming story about a 3-foot tall alien girl named PleeDee who borrows her father’s flying saucer to visit Earth hoping to enter the Miss Universe Pageant in LA. She visits different cultures around the world realizing she feels good about herself without having to enter pageants. The book intends to teach little girls self-esteem. Illustrations in colored pencil and photos from the author.

About Little Big Wolf 

Adventure story in rhyme, about a young boy named Nathan dreaming about his friendship with a pack of wolves in the Rocky Mountains…Surprise Ending… After his dream. Illustrations in colored pencil and scanned hiking photos from the author.

About Grin’s Message

Grin the Dolphin rhymes and teaches little kids to make friends and it “TICKLES YOUR HEART”. Ollie the octopus and Moo Moo the manatee become his friends and they help each other out of a jam. Illustrations in colored pencil and crayon.

About Carlton Scott

Carlton Scott has over fifteen years’ clinical experience as a traveling nurse (RN) with a specialty in critical care nursing and a focus on children’s health. He has worked with over 1000 children and teens in both mental health counseling and critical care nursing. Inspired by his desire to cheer up sick children, Scott has authored and illustrated three children’s books that teach kids the lessons of friendship, self-acceptance and adventure. As part of his commitment to supporting children’s health, he donates 50 percent of all profits from his books to children’s hospitals across the country. 

Born Dec. 30, 1962, in Jackson, Tennessee, Carlton earned his first college degree in 1985 — a master’s in mental health counseling. While working on his degree, Carlton worked as a lifeguard in Clearwater Florida. “Learning how to keep my cool in an emergency on the beach prepared me for all of the ‘codes’ I would experience later as a critical care nurse,” says Scott.   Two years after getting his degree, Carlton wrote his first children’s book, titled Grin’s Message, “On my days off as a lifeguard, I began swimming with dolphins and had found a secluded place where they gathered. I always thought they had a grin on their face,” says Scott.

Carlton’s love of art began early when, at 8 years old, he won an art contest with a Tampa Bay TV station for a drawing he did from a scene in the movie 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. The prize was a cruise for two to the Bahamas, tickets to the movie and a visit to the TV Station. Scott sold the cruise to his parents for $300 and then eagerly saw the film starring Kirk Douglas.

Scott’s career as a nurse has taken him all over the United States, from Sarasota, Florida, where he worked in psychiatric hospitals with inpatient adults and teens, to the island of Kauai in Hawaii, where he assisted troubled children and teens in a day treatment center. He has helped open a runaway shelter for the YMCA youth and family services in Florida and created an adventure-based counseling and dropout-prevention program for violent teens.

At the age of 33, Carlton was pursuing a second degree in nursing when he had a case of misdiagnosed glaucoma and lost the vision in his left eye. To help deal with the stress of being visually impaired, Scott went hiking in the Rocky Mountains and took off to Southeast Asia for several months, backpacking and venturing through Thailand; Cambodia and Bali, Indonesia to decide what to do with his future.

During this time, he finished his second children’s book, Little Big Wolf, based on drawings taken from his hiking photos. He published both Grin’s Message and Little Big Wolf in hardcover and sold 2000 of each through Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, craft shows and street fairs. He then returned to Florida and finished his second degree (a bachelor’s degree in nursing) and accepted a job at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, in the Pediatric ICU.

Today, Carlton travels with his wife, Annie (also a nurse), throughout the United States providing critical care services to hospitals from Alaska to Los Angeles. His newest children’s book, Glamour Girl From The Stars, was published in April, 2010.

Scott has dedicated his life to working with children, both as a nurse and mental health worker. He has written and illustrated three picture books for children. As part of his commitment to supporting children’s health, he donates 50 percent of all profits from his books to children’s hospitals across the country. He created his newest book, Glamour Girl from the Stars, to foster self acceptance in young girls.

For more information about this virtual book tour, please visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/05/13/blog-tour-carlton-scotts-glamour-girl-from-the-stars/ You can learn more about this author and purchase his books at http://www.carltonsbooks.com/index.html.

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