A Mouse Goes to School
Abilene author Rita Rose Rasco and artist Debra H. Warr have teamed up to produce a delightful and entertaining children’s book with an important message.
"Mozzarella House Mouse Goes to School" ($10 paperback) tells the story of Kristi, a little girl who wears leg braces, and her tiny mouse friend, Mozzarella.
Kristi decides to sneak Mozzarella in with her on the first day of first grade. When Mozzie gets loose in the school cafeteria, chaos ensues as workers try to catch the little mouse. Finally, a rude red-haired boy grabs her and swings her around by her tail while describing her as a "rat" and "the ugliest pet."
Kristi’s friends learn some valuable lessons about friendship, kindness, and acceptance.
If you can’t find the book at a bookstore, contact the author at rrrWriter@suddenlink.net or (325) 692-0086.
Retelling of an Old Tale
Canyon journalist, educator, author and poet Donald Mace Williams has published "Wolfe," a poetry chapbook that is a brilliant retelling of the epic poem "Beowulf" in a contemporary setting in Palo Duro Canyon.
"In keeping with my purpose of modernizing the Beowulf episodes," Williams explains, "I have used rhymed couplets, rather than the Old English alliterative verse form"
Here is how it begins:
"Fat Herefords grazed on rich brown grass,
"Tom Rogers watched three winters pass,
"Then, all his ranch paid off, designed
"A bunkhouse, biggest of its kind."
To order the 28-page chapbook ($6.50 including tax), contact the author at 2920 Mable Drive, Canyon 79015, or go to http://www.rattle.com/.
Texas in the Civil War
Kenneth W. Howell, assistant professor at Prairie View A&M University, is the editor of a collection of scholarly essays, "The Seventh Star of the Confederacy: Texas during the Civil War" (University of North Texas Press, $34.95 hardcover).
Among the pieces:
"Explaining the Causes of the Civil War: A Texas Perspective" by James Smallwood.
"Hide Your Daughters: The Yankees Have Arrived in the Coastal Bend, 1863" by Charles D. Spurlin.
"The Confederate Governors of Texas" by Kenneth E. Hendrickson Jr.
"On the Edge of First Freedoms: Black Texans and the Civil War" by Ronald E. Goodwin and Bruce A. Glasrud.
Big Bend Adventures
Gary Clark, a nature columnist and college dean from Houston, is the author of "Enjoying Big Bend National Park: A Friendly Guide to Adventures for Everyone" (Texas A&M University Press, $17.95 flexbound).
The book, which includes more than 50 color photographs by Kathy Adams Clark, is a compact, concise and easy to read guide to the park.
Clark includes two-hour adventures, half-day adventures, a full-day adventure, adventures with families and small children, adventures for the physically fit, adventures at an easy pace, adventures for people with limited physical mobility, adventures in a vehicle, and adventures for nature lovers.
