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   When I was a child, and we had over-night-company, Mom would ask Dad to drag out the old featherbed from the attic. It was like a gigantic pillow, but it was the size of a mattress. It was always thrown in the middle of the living room floor. I remember the joy of playing and sleeping on it with my cousins and nieces. Sometimes feathers would fly around the room when we played on it too hard. 

   "Stop roughhousing on the featherbed," Mom would yell. "You are going to make it flat. It's not to jump on; it's to sleep on." I can still hear her words ringing in my ears.

   As an adult, I was saddened to watch when Mom ripped it apart to make pillows with the feathers. It was the end of the featherbed. As I watched her, I wondered about the beginning of the feather bed. Where did it come from? How old was it? How old were those feathers?

   "Mom, all my life I remember this featherbed. Where did it come from?"

   "It was a wedding gift for your daddy and me," answered Mom.

   I was surprised. I had no idea. I had never thought about where it came from. It was just always there. They were married in 1925 and lived in rual Fair Play, Missouri. Mom told me it was the custom back then to give newlyweds a brand-new bed and pillows. Mom explained that only the 'down' feathers were plucked from the ducks or geese that were raised on the farm. It didn't harm them, and their feathers would grow back. Sometimes they would gather the feathers of the chickens whey they would molt. Chicken feathers were not as good as the soft 'down' feathers from ducks and geese.

   I never forgot the conversation I had with my mother. So much so, that after thirty some years the idea of this children's book, Quack! Quack! I Want My Feather's Back! came to life in my mind after I had finally thrown out the last two pillows made from Mom and Dad's featherbed. Mom had made enough pillows from the feathers to give two pillows each to her six children. I grieved throwing them away. It truly was the end of the old featherbed. But I did the math and, oh my gosh, those feathers were almost 80 years old.

   At least I still have my childhood memories, and I know the history of how it came to be. Now I have written this children's book, not just to entertain, but to also pass on the customs of our ancestors.

   Quack, Quack, I Want My Feathers Back! is a story about six-year-old cousins, Willie and Bristol, and how they create a massive mess with an exploding pillow and raining feather. In her efforts to repair Willie's flat pillow, Grandma searches for feathers and finds the perfect feather donor. An animated little duck with an attitude demands his feathers back. This picture story book for five to ten-year-olds teaches how old-time customs clash with contemporary paradigms in a delightful and educational story.

ISBN: 978-0-578-14147-3

Children's Picture Story Book

 These two cute fur balls first met when they were just weeks old. Their names were Bosh and Socks. Even though they were different - a cat and a dog - they became best buddies. When they found out they were being given away to different homes, they ran away and ended up in all kinds of trouble. I nice boy saved them from real harm and took them to an animal shelter where they were adopted but not together. Now, wait, when you read Mystery at Lone Oak ranch, the two rascally friends end up back together. Their names have been changed but they are still Best Buds. 

ISBN: 978-0-578-16979-8

Children's Picture Story Book