{"id":154,"date":"2015-05-06T23:49:53","date_gmt":"2015-05-07T03:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=154"},"modified":"2015-05-06T23:49:53","modified_gmt":"2015-05-07T03:49:53","slug":"a-good-armadillo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/?p=154","title":{"rendered":"A GOOD ARMADILLO"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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My latest book, HALLEY,<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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My three youngest grandchildren are the most satisfying audience in the world to read to!\u00a0 They will sit and listen for as long as my voice holds out.\u00a0 So far, my record is 12 picture books\/easy readers at a sitting!\u00a0 Since the boys range from two up to five, that is even more amazing.\u00a0 But some stories they want to hear again and again.\u00a0 I may keep this a secret from their grandfather, who has a grudge against a certain armadillo who is bulldozing our yard, but one of their very favorites is MERRY CHRISTMAS OLD ARMADILLO written by Larry Dane Brimner and illustrated by Dominic Catalano.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Larry\u2019s story opens with Old Armadillo all alone in his casita above a tiny village.\u00a0 I only get through the first sentence when Isaac, the five-year-old asks, \u201cWhy is he alone?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he has no family,\u201d I say, and read on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Samuel, the three-year-old tenses up when Old Armadillo stands at his gate and listens for sounds.\u00a0 \u201cWhy is he crying?\u201d he asks on the next page when Old Armadillo sheds a tear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jacob, the baby, wiggles in my lap and pats the animals who are putting up decorations. \u201cWoof-woof!\u201d he says, obviously unsure about what sounds a roadrunner, a peccary or a coyote might make.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is the armadillo sleeping?\u201d Isaac asks as the animals keep gathering outside.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he\u2019s old,\u201d I answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike Granddaddy?\u201d he asked, pointing to Benjamin, who is asleep in a nearby easy chair..<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I say.<\/span><\/p>\n

My grandsons laugh as the animals keep knocking on Old Armadillo\u2019s door, and then peeking through his window.<\/span><\/p>\n

The story never fails to bring sighs of satisfaction all around every time it wraps up with a happy ending.\u00a0 Even young children respond to a story of friendship and love.\u00a0 And I\u2019m sure it\u2019s not just my grandchildren who love it–it has been in print for 20 years now!<\/span><\/p>\n

I asked Larry how such a beloved story came about.\u00a0 \u201cToo often,\u201d he said, \u201cour elderly friends and family members are left on their own, forgotten during the holidays.\u00a0 As a letter writing assignment I used to have my high school students \u2018adopt\u2019 an elderly person in the residential facility within walking distance of the school.\u00a0 We did this in the fall and wrapped it up with a visit to the facility around the holidays when we\u2019d have a cupcake and punch party.\u00a0 Many of the elders appreciated hearing from and visiting with the young people.\u00a0 And what I noticed is that many of my students kept up contact long after the assignment was over.\u00a0 Quite a few went into health care after school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Larry went on to say that Old Armadillo was also inspired by the great relationship he had with his grandfather, who traveled often.\u00a0 \u201cWe kept up that correspondence no matter where he was.\u00a0 It was fun to remember him on his birthday and other important days.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As Ernest Hemingway said, what a writer knows about his characters makes a difference even when the facts don\u2019t actually appear in the story.\u00a0 Amazingly, that also seems to apply to a story for youngsters. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Good work, Larry!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 My latest book, HALLEY, Awarded 2015 Jefferson Cup Honor for Historical Fiction. Available at: NewSouth Books:\u00a0www.newsouthbooks.com\/halley and Amazon My three youngest grandchildren are the most satisfying audience in the world to read to!\u00a0 They will sit and listen for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=154"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154\/revisions\/155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.fayegibbons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}