Böcker av Mary Schmidt

To any tourist in Rome, Old Maria may seem to be an eccentric soul who feeds stray cats and thinks she can talk with them. Things are rarely as they seem. In fact, she can. A dying cardinal has given Maria a final, urgent wish. His time is running short. On the surface, it seems impossible to grant. Things are rarely as they seem. Especially with Maria and her cats at work. And for those who truly love, the impossible is only an illusion. What you think you see, may well be something quite different. Jaffalogue picks best reads published in 2015! Best long narrative poem: CAT LADY.

"What would you do if you just found out the man you married was a professional assassin and you were at the top of his hit list?"

Tommy Turtle is a shy land turtle who likes to hide inside his shell. Tommy represents children who are shy around other children and adults, and he is nervous to play or speak. Most children are shy from time to time and it's important for children to understand shyness and how to act around others who are or aren't shy. Children need to know that shyness is normal, and they need positive encouragement from peers, family, and teachers/adults in their lives. This concept teaching can start in preschool. Children need to develop and practice social skills which will increase their quality of life in school through drama class, music, gym class, show and tell time, play time and more, rather than staying on the sidelines and simply watching others and having less friends and social isolation. If confidence is learned, self-esteem increases, and children succeed. Less confidence promotes increased shyness. It is essential to praise children for their successes and not shame them at all when they fail. All social and emotional learning helps children to express feelings and be tuned in to the needs of others. This teaching contributes to the development of all children. Social acceptance and inclusion are important in social learning from an early age. The opportunity to interact with your child/children in a positive environment, such as the park in this story, illustrates the importance of a positive environment in aiding children with learning social skills with other children and adults. Tommy Turtle helps parents and teachers reinforce positive behaviors in an imaginative setting of a park and mud puddles as they learn about land turtles and shyness. Learning and sharing are essential for social development in all children.

In Unicorn Dreams, children learn how to pretend play. It's important for children to learn the concept of, and how to pretend play (make-believe or imaginative play), as this fosters a child's creativity and sparks discussions with your child, which in turn helps your child's thinking skills when working out a new situation during play. Imaginative play contributes to the development of all children. Oftentimes, children may pretend to cook with toy dishes, or engage in tea parties with a friend, and some might pretend play when alone with a parent at home. A parent can provide a safe environment for a child to act out things that they cannot do in real life, such as having two dolls get married. The opportunity to interact with your child/children in this positive environment helps children with language and learning social skills with other children and adults. Pretend play also allows for play in which not all children will receive what they want (not all can be a king or queen), and parents help their child learn positive behaviors. Unicorn Dreams teaches children to pretend play and gives children positive thoughts before naptime or bedtime.