The A, B, Cs of Wild Critters

As I wrote this, I drew a few pictures to illustrate, but what I really had was a vision of a large, published picture book for little ones who might enjoy it. If you’ve never seen river cane, let me tell you that it resembles bamboo, is tall and straight and very tough. It makes […]

The Bear Hunt

The Bear Hunt

Elizabeth pulled an apple cake from the oven and set it on the table. It was beautiful and it made the whole house smell good. She glanced out her kitchen window at the cloudy spring day and did a double take.  A bear! A bear was waddling quickly into the woods with two small cubs […]

The World Around Us

I opened my old, tattered three-ring notebook where I’ve stuffed a lot of past writing sales and found these two poems. Both were written a long time ago to two different Christian children’s magazines of widely differing beliefs. But, you know what? Both magazines’ editors liked poems. Poetry and stories sort of bring us all […]

Three Good Friends

Myrtle, Minerva, and Maude were three good friends. Each week, they met at one of their houses to share tea, a bite of something sweet, and the latest news. Myrtle was a beautiful hen with red feathers; Minerva was equally lovely in feathers of brown and Maude’s feathers were a gorgeous, snowy white. To be […]

A Mystery Solved?

Agnes wrapped her arms around herself as she sat at the table. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop shaking and she didn’t think she’d ever be warm again.              The sheriff opened his hand and let fall a small, circular object onto the table. Candlelight glinted on gold beneath the accumulated grime.             Agnes […]

Tom the Terrible

Tough Tom the Barn Cat             Tough Tom was a barn cat. He really didn’t start out to be a barn cat. And, the Day family who lived on the farm didn’t think they needed a cat, but there he was. It all began on a cold, windy, sleety winter day. When Chris went to […]