Bossy Boots of the World, Unite!

 

All right, people. I wrote this story for everyone out there who has ever been called "bossy." 

Like me.

I was the oldest girl in my family, with one older brother and three younger sisters. And yes, I admit that when we were very young, I did occasionally take the lead and make pointed suggestions to my little sisters. After all, I was bigger than they were. 

Not. Any. More.

Yes, there was that fateful day when my smallest sister suddenly looked up at me and said, "Wait! You're not my mom. I don't have to do anything you tell me to!" 

It was all downhill after that. My career as a Bossy Boots was pretty much over.  However, as long as my mother lived, which was about fifty years longer, she would always tell people "Deedy [my nickname] is really, really bossy."

So this illustrated poem,  Bizzy, the Bossy Boots Elf, tells the story of Bizzy, who just might possibly have a tendency to be bossy. I hasten to add, however, that Santa Claus regards Bizzy as his "right hand man," so at least some of this was legitimate. But the Izzies don't think so.

Here's what Bizzy himself says about this:

“For ‘Bossy Boots Elf’ is what everyone calls me.
I must say that really gets old, and it galls me.” 

But Bizzy is the spokesman for the rest of the elves in petitioning Santa for a vacation (because they were all so depressed), and he is the one who searches online until he finds the perfect holiday spot (as shown in picture below).

So I'm on Bizzy's side. Without him, those Izzies would still be stuck at the Pole!

Here is the buy link if you Bossy Boots out there would like to show your solidarity by reading this story. 

IndieBound

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

What did you do in the Pandemic of 2020, Gramma??? (I Wrote 2 Books!)

Well, in between cleaning out closets and drawers that hadn't been touched in 30 years, I finished writing two books. 

The first, which came out on Bastille Day (July 14) is a unique rhyming history inspired by the Broadway hit, Hamilton. Liberty-Loving Lafayette: How "America's Favorite Fighting Frenchman" Helped Win Our Independence takes less than half an hour to read (although it took a year and a half to write), explains what Lafayette did in our Revolutionary War in playful rhyming verse.

I like to say that it includes everything that "Guns and Ships" left out!.

I illustrated my book with classic pictures of people and events in the story that are in the public domain. Here's an example:

One early reader had this to say about this book:

". . .a perfect example of how a writer can make history/learning history fun. . .the accompanying art is wonderful"-David Bruce Smith, author of Abigail and John, founder of the Grateful American Foundation, and co-founder of the Grateful American Book Prize

I am happy to report that Libetty-Loving Lafayette has been on the Amazon best seller list (in its category: teen colonial and revolutionar war era) ever since it came out!  Woo hoo!

Here's how it starts:

So listen up, my children, and I'll do my best to tell
How a teenaged French aristocrat served all of us so well.1 
Without his help, we might have lost our fight for Liberty, 
And we’d still be lowly subjects of the British monarchy! 

Liberty-Loving Lafayette: How "America's Favorite Fighting Frenchman" Helped Win Our Independence is available now from:

Amazon link

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple iBooks

IndieBound

The second book, Bizzy, the Bossy Boots Elf  (which I actually started writing six years ago), came out last month. A rhyming poem modeled on "A Visit from St. Nicholas,"Bizzy is the 5th in my Santa's Izzy Elves Series. 

It was great fun working with my illustrator, Shayne Hood. These pictures were much more complicated that those in my previous elf stories. Many of the illustrations had all 8 Izzy Elves in them, and one actually had 16!

This paperback and Kindle book is currently only available from Amazon, although there will be more sources soon.

Here's the link:

Amazon

Whew. I guess I better get back to those closets and drawers!

Cheers,

Dorothea