"Fly over your gardens with might!"

This book contains a collection of five short children’s stories focused on teaching the value of having stable social and emotional identities. The author seeks to share her understanding and experiences as an educator who has found great value in the lessons taught by nature and faith with younger readers and their families. Each character in these tales becomes a metaphor for discussions, such as learning to have courage and explore the world, getting away from toxic influences, and appreciating the uniqueness of individuals. Great emphasis also gets put on sharing what we have with others and spreading around our blessings. Brightly colored illustrations provide an extra layer of meaning for the messages portrayed.

A great deal of heartfelt time and effort was clearly put into creating these stories for children, while the illustrations give them another dimension of entertainment. Additionally, they feel like the kind of tales discovered once as a child and enjoyed in one way, but which someone could go back and realize had other details after getting older. In other words, they would hit differently between younger and older readers. For instance, the story “Fly, Fly, Butterfly” is about moving away or distancing oneself from people who take advantage of others. While children could relate to the need to avoid bullies, older readers might be reminded of toxic relationships they have had in the past or still struggle with in the present. Such details give this collection multiple layers of meaning and make for an interesting read.

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