Multicultural Children's Book Day & UNTIL THE ROBIN WALKS IN THE SNOW review
LET’S PARTY! We are hosting a Twitter party! Join us for Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party on Jan 27th at 9:00pm EST. Use hashtag: #ReadYourWorld to win 10 awesome multicultural children’s book packages.
Platinum Sponsor Wisdom Tales Press is hosting a book giveaway on their website that anyone can enter. Winner will receive 6 Wisdom Tales Books of their choice.
What else happens on January 27th, 2015?? There will be a huge Linky that can be seen on the MCCBD site, on all nine of our CoHost’s sites and also on the Co-Founders sites as well. You can view our CoHosts here. Over 150 book reviewers will link up their book reviews and multicultural activities to form an amazing resource and activities list for parents, teachers and librarians to enjoy.
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http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/todays-day-multicultural-childrens-book-day/
-Our new Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay
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Review of UNTIL THE ROBIN WALKS IN THE SNOW
BOOK DESCRIPTION (Paperback released September 2012; eBook October 2012)
It is 1922. An immigrant family and their devoted midwife struggle to save a tiny premature baby. Inspired by real events in Norwich, Connecticut, this historical fiction novella about determination, family, faith, and friendship includes a story chapter about the family's Polish and Lithuanian Christmas Eve traditions. Appendices include a List of Sources Consulted and Author's Notes about the facts, family history, and research behind the story. Age 10 and up.
BOOK AWARDS
2013 “Gold” MOM’S CHOICE AWARD for YA Historical Fiction
2013 FINALIST in National Indie Excellence Award for “Faction” (fiction based on fact)
My take:
This novella reads very much like a historical narrative of a young immigrant family's struggles in Connecticut in 1922. There's lots of insight into this family--the scene where the grandfather going over Polish Christmas traditions was interesting. A young mother tries to keep her premature baby alive--using an eye dropper to get the baby to take milk--reminds readers how hard and difficult life was without modern medical advances. Mostly though, it shows the determination and strength of a midwife against great odds. Faith plays a huge part of this families life and helps them draw closer together in hard times.
The author calls this 'Faction' (fiction based on fact) but it read more like a collection of reflections to me. This historical account would be perfect for a student, genealogist, or anyone looking into their own Polish roots to use as a source of research.
There is the outline at the end that goes over each chapter with detailed notes to identify which parts of the story are fact, based on research, and which provide further background. Some of these facts are fascinating the skin-to-skin approach used to help premature babies and how it is on the increase(also called the kangaroo technique). How less than one percent of extremely premature babies are born with surfactant--a critically needed substance that coats and lubricates the lungs, Also how the infant mortality rate for 1922 was 76 deaths per 1000 births opposed to 2012's 6 deaths to 1000 births. This fact only reinforces how hard it was for a premature baby to survive. These facts are fascinating especially her links to family members.
This book provides, an intriguing glimpse into the difficulties of an immigrant families life and the hardships they faced to keep a premature baby alive.
About author:
BIO
Bernice L. Rocque is an educator, family historian, writer, and avid gardener. She grew up in Norwich, Connecticut in the surroundings described in her novella, Until the Robin Walks on Snow. She has authored numerous business articles associated with her work in libraries, training and development, and project management (PMI certified PMP). Articles she has written about her family have appeared in the Norwich Bulletin, Good Old Days magazine, and Family Chronicle. Ms. Rocque has served as Adjunct Faculty at the iSchool, Syracuse University since 2006 and on the iSchool’s Board of Advisors since 2010. She lives in Connecticut.
Platinum Sponsor Wisdom Tales Press is hosting a book giveaway on their website that anyone can enter. Winner will receive 6 Wisdom Tales Books of their choice.
What else happens on January 27th, 2015?? There will be a huge Linky that can be seen on the MCCBD site, on all nine of our CoHost’s sites and also on the Co-Founders sites as well. You can view our CoHosts here. Over 150 book reviewers will link up their book reviews and multicultural activities to form an amazing resource and activities list for parents, teachers and librarians to enjoy.
Follow Us!
http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/todays-day-multicultural-childrens-book-day/
-Our new Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay
-Our new Twitter https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay
Review of UNTIL THE ROBIN WALKS IN THE SNOW
BOOK DESCRIPTION (Paperback released September 2012; eBook October 2012)
It is 1922. An immigrant family and their devoted midwife struggle to save a tiny premature baby. Inspired by real events in Norwich, Connecticut, this historical fiction novella about determination, family, faith, and friendship includes a story chapter about the family's Polish and Lithuanian Christmas Eve traditions. Appendices include a List of Sources Consulted and Author's Notes about the facts, family history, and research behind the story. Age 10 and up.
BOOK AWARDS
2013 “Gold” MOM’S CHOICE AWARD for YA Historical Fiction
2013 FINALIST in National Indie Excellence Award for “Faction” (fiction based on fact)
My take:
This novella reads very much like a historical narrative of a young immigrant family's struggles in Connecticut in 1922. There's lots of insight into this family--the scene where the grandfather going over Polish Christmas traditions was interesting. A young mother tries to keep her premature baby alive--using an eye dropper to get the baby to take milk--reminds readers how hard and difficult life was without modern medical advances. Mostly though, it shows the determination and strength of a midwife against great odds. Faith plays a huge part of this families life and helps them draw closer together in hard times.
The author calls this 'Faction' (fiction based on fact) but it read more like a collection of reflections to me. This historical account would be perfect for a student, genealogist, or anyone looking into their own Polish roots to use as a source of research.
There is the outline at the end that goes over each chapter with detailed notes to identify which parts of the story are fact, based on research, and which provide further background. Some of these facts are fascinating the skin-to-skin approach used to help premature babies and how it is on the increase(also called the kangaroo technique). How less than one percent of extremely premature babies are born with surfactant--a critically needed substance that coats and lubricates the lungs, Also how the infant mortality rate for 1922 was 76 deaths per 1000 births opposed to 2012's 6 deaths to 1000 births. This fact only reinforces how hard it was for a premature baby to survive. These facts are fascinating especially her links to family members.
This book provides, an intriguing glimpse into the difficulties of an immigrant families life and the hardships they faced to keep a premature baby alive.
About author:
BIO
Bernice L. Rocque is an educator, family historian, writer, and avid gardener. She grew up in Norwich, Connecticut in the surroundings described in her novella, Until the Robin Walks on Snow. She has authored numerous business articles associated with her work in libraries, training and development, and project management (PMI certified PMP). Articles she has written about her family have appeared in the Norwich Bulletin, Good Old Days magazine, and Family Chronicle. Ms. Rocque has served as Adjunct Faculty at the iSchool, Syracuse University since 2006 and on the iSchool’s Board of Advisors since 2010. She lives in Connecticut.
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