This year something fortuitous has happened. Advent begins on December 1, and that is a much more tidy day than it has been in many years past. Advent ends on December 24. Therefore, in the year of 2024, Advent takes place during the first 24 days of December. I think that is special Many years…
Category: #Christmas
Apples Are as American as Mom and Apple Pie – Memoir Mondays
Moments ago, I posted a rich testament to apples, but it was published in 1884 by a British man, Richard Folkard. Richard Folkard has provided us with an almost perfect history of the Apple and the Mythology associated with that plant. He drew upon stories from the ancient Brittons, the ancient Greeks, Italy, and several…
Apple – Fruit and Dew of Heaven – Gift from the Eternal Hills
APPLE.—Whether the Apple, the Orange, the Pomegranate, the Fig, the Banana, or the Grape was the actual fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, which tempted Eve in Paradise, will possibly never be settled; but it is certain that not only is the Apple mystical above all the fruits of the earth, but it is the…
The Legend of the Poinsettia – Retold and Illustrated by Tomie dePaola
Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon 1994 Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon…
Legend of Winter and Christmas – Walter Crane
Jack Frost sends his Herald -3- without their leaves, -4- and just as the World is thinking of skating— -5- comes Thaw; -6- followed by Fog, in which Lionel begins to look out for Xmas. -7- He sees dim and cloudy outlines, -8- across a white expanse, dotted with sugar-plums, -9- which led him to…
Turn A Tiny Memory from Your Past into A Picture Book – How to Write Memoir – #Memoir Mondays
The first ingredient of any picture book is a story. After we find our stories, we writers need to polish them a bit–but the effort begins with a story. I am an advocate of looking within for our stories–at looking at the memories from our pasts. I have recently studied the massive library of Tomie…
The Birth of Jesus as Re-told by Lois Rock in Five Minutes
Image Credit: Amazoú The Birth of Jesus “The people of Israel believed firmly that they were God’s people. After all, God had made a promise to Abraham. Moses and Samuel had helped them to live as God’s people God’s laws helped them understand right from wrong. Great David had won battles and, he became the…
A List of the Kings of the Jews Before Jesus
Here are some kings of the Jews before Jesus: King David Playing the Harp (1622) by Gerard van Honthorst Image Credit: Wikipedia David Was the First King of the Israelites [Jews] “According to Jewish works such as the Seder Olam Rabbah, Seder Olam Zutta, and Sefer ha-Qabbalah (all written over a thousand years later), David ascended the throne as…
The Story of the Angel Who Visited the Virgin Mary in Nazareth, as Re-told by Tomie dePaola
Tomie dePaola’s Book of Bible Stories Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazonp “In the sixth onth, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings,…
The Story of the Magi, as Re-told by Tomie dePaola
Tomie dePaola’s Book of Bible Stories Image Credit: Tomie dePaola on Amazon In his Book of Bible Stories, Tomie dePaola tells the story of the Magic who traveled to visit Jesus as follows: “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked,…