Miracle Moment

The word “impossible” is just a tease
to those who would advance by great degrees
beyond the logic of a static state.
And “challenge” is a game they love to play
to keep away the boredom of each day
which comes to sneer at all they formulate.
A “problem” is a chance to break the rules
by working with imaginary tools
While lesser men just shake their heads and wait.
The miracles of life playfully come
to those who look beyond this world to some
much higher call that says to them, “Create.”

(Bourrie, Susan.  “Miracle Moment”  The Fulcrum.  Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Independent Living, Nov. 1991.)

The Mistletoe Mouse Books

• 

Bourrie, Susan.  Princess Meander.  Independently published, 2020.

 

                                     All published in Humpty Dumpty Magazine

Reviews:

More Adventures of Mistletoe Mouse is a delightful story written to help children who are confused by the many serious events of 2020. Mistletoe Mouse and his friend, Molly Dolly, learn that a sickness has closed many stores, schools, and churches. Even Santa wears a mask! A reindeer named Express, who has magical powers, flies Mistletoe Mouse and Molly Dolly to many places in the world to help terrible Christmases become terrific Christmases as children deal with fires, storms, and protest marches as well as the sickness. The elves collect and deliver by sleigh necessities such as food, clothing, and toiletries along with toys. Mistletoe and Molly even learn to use a computer. They meet with children using Zoom to communicate with them, their classmates, and their relatives.

Almost every chapter ends with hope and with a technique for dealing with the confusion of this year, such as imagining a future when kids can return to school and visit grandparents. Although dealing with the serious events of this year, there is a lot of humor and the story ends with feelings of hope and good will.

Parents and teachers can use this book to open discussions about how children are feeling and coping at a difficult time. The book will remain a resource that can be used even when this time has passed and we look forward to much better Christmases ahead!

—Sherry Warden, special education teacher and parent, President of the Washtenaw Association of Retired School Personnel

 

Meander has her work cut out for her. Doing nothing, but doing it very well, is challenging. Being curious and understandably bored, Her Royal Highness explores workarounds, including baking cookies, fluffing up pillows, and gardening. But she is not allowed to do any of these by the overzealous servants into whose domain each task falls.

Her queenly mother-in-law finds cultured, artsy things for her to learn. But it is when this princess-with-a-purpose visits her fairy godmother, an appurtenance no fairy tale heroine should be without, that she learns to read and soon is caught up in the joys of books.

Princess Meander is a delight and would be something for a parent, grandparent, or older sibling to share with a younger child.  A book for all ages.

Reviewed by David L. Faucheux, Library Journal’s Audiobook Reviewer of the Year for 2018 and author of Selections from Across Two Novembers: A Bibliographic Year (C 2019)
Website: https://www.dldbooks.com/davidfaucheux/

Contact:  BourrieBooks@gmail.com