Mardo Williams

Broschiertes Buch

Great-Grandpa Fussy and the Little Puckerdoodles

Beschreibung

They're noisy, nosey and bossy-these little Puckerdoodles who have ensnared the heart of Great-Grandpa Fussy. Teenie, Weenie, Waddles, and Toodlebug range in age from newborn to age 6. In Great-Grandpa's eyes they are unpredictable imps whose ingenious questions demand answers that only he can provide. After all, he has been tested three times over, as dad, grandpa and now great-grandpa. Mardo Williams' delightful stories celebrate the unique bond between children and great- grandparents. Yukiko Mishima's charming illustrations add a dreamlike dimension, making this a gift book for both adults and children to treasure.A Family Read-Aloud Book for ages 5 and up "Twenty-one brief and chuckle-filled stories are packed into this 'family read-aloud book, ' written by a great-grandfather who has generations of experience in the parenting field. The tales tell of the impish Puckerdoodles: Teenie, Weenie, Waddles and baby Toodlebug. Kids will enjoy the antics and illustrations as Williams captures the magic of childhood wonder-learning to spit watermelon seeds, falling in love with a first puppy, selecting ice cream at the local parlor. The story of a crabby toddler who gets up on the wrong side of the bed is guaranteed to elicit big grins. An excellent pick for parents to read aloud, young readers ages 7 to 10 also will enjoy saying the very words in these stories-marshmallows, Britches the dog, kazoo, six-shooters, Ma and Pa Fuddyduddy and the children's silly names. Williams has a true talent for language, and the illustrations are colorful and cute without upstaging the stories."-Today's Librarian "The adventures of three little ones and their family are accompanied by action-filled, charming illustrations. The relationships of great-grandad, mother, father and siblings are detailed in everyday activities. The 21 short adventures contain topics school-aged children can relate to. The stories are great for bedtime and give younger readers a sense of continuation."-MTM, Children's Book Review Service "Great-Grandpa Fussy and the Little Puckerdoodles is an excellent new title, with wonderfully illustrated stories. The author is 94 and the illustrator is 23, but the stories are timeless."-Alan Caruba, Bookviews

Autor

Mardo Williams' story is right out of the pages of Horatio Alger whose books he read as a young boy. Alger's heroes valiantly overcome poverty and adversity and this seems to be exactly what he did. He grew up on a 100-acre subsistence farm; serendipitously--after he lost his job at the Kenton, Ohio car shops because of the Depression--he answered an ad and became the only reporter at the Kenton News-Republican, a small Ohio daily. (He'd always had an inclination to write.) He had no college degree but while he'd been cleaning out the insides of the smokestacks of the locomotives up in Toledo, he'd taken two courses at the business school there, shorthand and typing, and so he was prepared to be a reporter. He did all the beats, hoofed it around the small town of Kenton digging up stories on slow news days.

Nineteen years later, after World War II ended, the Columbus Dispatch recruited him to the copy desk. He moved up the ranks from the copy desk to travel editor . . . and in 1954 he was asked to develop and write stories about the world of business. Columbus was booming at this time. Mardo, familiar with pounding the pavement to search out stories, did just that. Within the year, he was writing a daily business column with byline.

After he retired from the Dispatch in 1970, he freelanced for several years, editing a newsletter and doing publicity. He began his second career, writing books, at age 88, after his wife died after a long illness. At his daughters' urging, he learned to use a computer and began writing his first book, Maude. It was about his mother, who lived to be 110, and also about life at the turn of the century when everything was done arduously by hand. This was to be for family, but his daughter Kay read a few sections to her writers group. They loved it, and wanted more.

The manuscript grew from 50 pages to a 334 page book with a 32 page picture insert. The finished product was published in 1996, Maude (1883--1993): She Grew Up with the Country. It has been adopted by some college American history classes as a supplemental text "to put a human face on history."

Then Mardo wrote an illustrated children's book, Great-Grandpa Fussy and the Little Puckerdoodles, based on the escapades of four of his great-grandchildren. He decided at age 92 that he would try something completely different--a novel, One Last Dance. His magnum opus.

He spent three years writing the first draft while tour...

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Calliope Press
• Seitenzahl: 66
• Altersempfehlung: 5 bis 8 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 14. September 2015
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 279mm x 216mm x 4mm
• Gewicht: 236g
• ISBN-13: 9780996501309
• ISBN-10: 0996501304
• Artikelnr.: 43922618