Kaleidoscope ~ Life's Rhythms ~ by Vickie Johnstone

Today a Wonderful Treat! Vickie Johnstone 

Shares 2 books of POEMS

Kaleidoscope
Published in March 2011

This is a collection of 119 poems - some long, some short, some haiku - that I have written on various subjects over the years. They range from serious to funny, covering subjects from the everyday to philosophy or the abstract. Some are snippets from the lives of imaginary characters or just ideas or reflections on nature.

The book is structured under eight themes: figures; nature; abstracts; love; haiku; creatures; childhood and dark wave.

Where to buy: Smashwords 2.99 ebook, Amazon paperback,
Kindle   2.99 ebook

Excerpts of Poems from book:

Vickie's favorite is the Fox and the Mole

We ride in cars

Slow to ride
Our comic days
All drowned in wine
In the stifling heat
We ride in cars
With windows down
Singing to strangers
Who cannot sing
Hold the tune
Against the summer breeze
With the dog’s head bobbing
He laps it up
The speeding cars
And the lingering lights
The ripped out trees
Shouting our sights
We ride in cars
Chase the tyre tracks
From dawn til dusk
We hold our fire back
And we scream and laugh
In the silencing
As the dark draws near
And we pretend to sleep
Keep the fires burning
As the dog nods on
In the piercing light
Of the summer sun

Rain

She sits and dreams of making rain
In the dark, shadows dancing mimic
Colours of the aghast
Sights and sounds and murmurs
Still breathing
Watching over the edge
Of everything
The glass splinters into a million shapes
Cast in a myriad of lights
Bright and sparkling, dancing
In the spring sun
And she dreams of making rain
That tears and crashes
Washing away the shards of glass
Splattering the colours rent
With droplets of ice-cold nothing
Cuts and caresses
Shards of grass peeking through
Clouds gathering
Dust.

Poppies

Marching in formation
Across distant lands
Enduring the unendurable
For a distant cause
Marching in formation
Up long, steep hills
Crossing mudflats and seas
For a patriotic cause
Marching in formation
Forever forward
Seeing things never forgotten
For a government’s cause
Marching in formation
For this the poppies grow
In patches of red blood
For the worthiest cause

Moon beams

Distancing the days
In her fragile accolade
The moon reaches down
Towards coloured boats bobbing
Twinkling she shines
Lighting the way
For every stranger passing
And old friends returning
She travels the skies
In a silvery glide
Always remembering
The shortness of time

I don’t mind

I don’t mind
If you stare
Or paint the room in blue
While I sleep

I don’t mind
If you walk a while
Or smile in your style
And mimic your expression

I don’t mind
If the urge to be is too much
Or the strength to see is gone
While I dream

The fox and the mole

Let’s rob a bank
Said the fox to the mole
I’ve got mouths to feed
And I’m feeling the need

Ok, said the mole
But you know I can’t see
I can burrow real deep
But I might fall asleep

Well, said the fox
I can offer my cunning
I will find a way inside
And to you I’ll confide

Wake me up said the mole
When you discover this
As I’ve got a hunch
We’re in a credit crunch

So the fox went off thinking
How to rob the bank
And came up with a plan
While eating a cherry flan

Well then, asked the mole
What do you suggest we do
To steal all the money
But not do anything funny?

Aha, said the fox grinning
I’ll tell you what to do
Just burrow under the bank
While I drive up in a tank

Oh, said the mole frowning
I never thought of that
I didn’t know foxes could drive
Have you told this to your wife?

No, we have to keep this secret
Said the fox to the mole
As she’ll have my guts for garters
And that’s just for starters

So off went the fox and mole
To begin their bank robber life –
They rivalled Bonny and Clyde
Living it up, the law they defied

LIFE'S RHYTHMS ~ 316 haiku

About Book

Ancient Japanese poetry with a modern twist. The old meets the new in this collection of 316 haiku, composed in the traditional pattern of three lines with 5-7-5 syllables. Subjects include: nature, life, food, animals, loss, love, longing, hope, dreams and time.

Where to buy: 
 Kindle ebook only .99 
 Amazon paperback

Sample of one of the poems:

Rain fallen like stars

Sprinkles silver-like touches,

Dancing beside me

Some distant day she’ll

Return when she sees beauty

In a rainbow sing

Under sparkling stars

She laughs like water cascades

Rippling endlessly

  

Raspberries blood red

Ripe, soft and so succulent

Chilled ice-cream slithers

Eyes turn to the sun,

River of blue-black shimmers

On peacock feathers

Leaves hurtle, twisting,

Dropping without an echo –

Curved, their hands open

About Vickie

Hi, I live in London, UK, and I’m a freelance editor. I've published 3 books of poetry: Kaleidoscope, Life’s Rhythms, and Travelling Light. My novels include: 4 books in the Kiwi Series for kids; 3 Heads & a Tail, and Day of the Living Pizza. Besides books, I love art, travelling, nature, the sea, gigs, dancing like an eejit, rock music, films, fluffies and tarot. Sleeping should be an Olympic sport. 

My Thoughts

Kaleidoscope and Life's Rhythms are full of beautiful poems.  If you want to be inspired then you should definitely read Vickie's poems.  I did not want to rush through either of the books.  How can I describe how I felt when reading the poems?  I wanted to enter the poem and feel the emotions.  Kind of like sitting in my rocker looking out into the piney woods that surround my house.  I feel the trees swaying, birds and squirrels playing.  Reading her poems were like that, inspiring, heart felt and full of wonder.  An emotional experience.

I like the way it was divided into subjects:  figures,nature, abstracts, haikui, creatures, childhood, dark wave

I have several favorites in Kaleidoscope but here are two. 

THE AFFAIR  and THE DARK WOOD.

I will share one of them.  Then when you get the book you can read THE AFFAIR.

The dark wood

In the deepest depths of the dark wood

See the spectre trees stand and stare

Stretching out their bony fingers

To trip up weary wanderers who dare

Go freely into the unknown air.

In the deepest depths of the dark wood

Catch the ghostly moonlight crossings

Of the languid shapes that sink and shift

Floating endlessly in the speckled frosting

That lies in sheets on the muddy ground.

In the deepest depths of the dark wood

Hear the plaintiff wails of the ever lost

Stuck in time along the virgin paths

Caught in the lair of the unseen host

Who travels alone with his silent scream.

In the deepest depths of the dark wood

Keep your wits about you in the night shade

Lest you wander too far from the spectre trees

And find yourself far from the grassy glad

Beneath the ever-present smiling moon.

Vickie Thanks for Sharing your Poems with us!

Attn: Readers

Maybe we can convince Vickie to give us her feeling/meaning behind one of her poems.  If she agrees I will invite her back for a guest post.  

I highly recommend this book.

I rated this book a 5 out of 5.

Disclosure

I received a free copy of these books from the author for review.  I was in no way compensated for this review.  It is my own opinion.

If you found this review helpful vote yes or no here. 

Giveaway/Review of The Cheshire Cheese Cat, A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy & Randall Wright, Drawing by Barry Moser

About Book


In this playful homage to Charles Dickens, unlikely allies learn the lessons of a great friendship

Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his street-cat life. Tired of dodging fishwives' brooms and carriage wheels, he hopes to trade London's damp alleyways for the warmth of ye olde Cheshire Cheese Inn. He strikes a bargain with Pip, an erudite mouse: Skilley will protect the mice who live at the inn, and in turn, the mice will provide Skilley with the thing he desires most.

But when Skilley and Pip are drawn into a crisis of monumental proportions involving a tyrannical cook, an unethical barmaid, and a malevolent tomcat, their new friendship is pushed to its limits. The escalating crisis threatens the peace not only of the Cheshire Cheese Inn but also the British Monarchy!

Unbeknownst to Skilley and Pip, however, they have a secret ally: a famous author who scribbles away many an afternoon in ye olde Cheshire Cheese Inn...

READ EXCERPT here.

Click here to learn more about The Cheshire Cheese Cat.

Published by Peachtree Publishers
Age 8-99
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-56145-595-9
Total Pages: 256
Size: 6 x 8

Where to buy: Amazon, 


AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR


Carmen Agra Deedy is a New York Times bestselling author and has been writing and traveling around the world telling stories for more than twenty years. Her books, including 14 Cows for America, The Library Dragon, The Yellow Star, and Martina the Beautiful Cockroach have received numerous awards and honors. Carmen has performed in many prestigious venues, but children are her favorite audience. Born in Havana, Cuba, she came to the United States as a refugee and like most immigrants sees the world from multiple perspectives.

You can visit Carmen Agra Deedy’s website here.

Randall Wright is the author of several novels for young readers, including A Hundred Days from Home, The Silver Penny, and Hunchback, a 2004 VOYA Top Shelf Award winner. He lives in Utah.

Barry Moser is one of today's most celebrated illustrators of children's books. He is also a printer, painter, printmaker, designer, author, essayist, and teacher. The books Moser has illustrated and/or designed forms a list of over three hundred titles. He lives in Massachusetts.

You can visit Barry Moser’s website here.

~ ~ ~ ~

Peachtree has decided to provide a copy of THE CHESHIRE CHEESE CAT for this blog giveaway and another copy of my other blog, It's About Time Mamaw 

GIVEAWAY

of one Hardcover copy of THE CHESHIRE CHEESE CAT

one winner

provided by Peachtree Publishers

giveaway will be from Oct. 31- Nov 6, 2012

  Leave a comment (this is mandatory for the giveaway) 

about who you will give this book to if you win.  

Be sure to leave your email address in the comment

 so I can contact you if you are the winner. 

example of email:  johndoe(at)yahoo(dot)com

I can not contact you without an email.

 I invite you to follow me and the author by

email, GFC, Linky Follower, Facebook, Twitter, G+

 but this is not mandatory for the giveaway.

 The winner will be announced 

on November 7th, 2012. 

GOOD LUCK!!

~ ~ ~ ~

My Thoughts

Skilley the alley cat has made up his mind he is going to sneak inside the Cheshire Cheese Inn.    So, he will cunningly convince the Innkeeper to let Skilley stay as the Inn's mouser. You see a mouser is a cat that catches mice. The Inn has the best cheese around and the Inn is overrun with mice.

He finally sees the chance to sneak in after a customer.  He puts on such a good performance and even caught a mouse.  Well he convinced the Innkeeper that this was THE MOUSER  for the Cheshire Cheese Inn.  Skilley took off with the mouse further into the Inn and spit out the mouse. The mouse was called Pip and he has lived at the Inn his entire life.  He could not figure out why the cat spit him out.  Why didn't he eat Pip that is what any other cat would have done.  Well you see Skilley has a secret and so does Pip.  They agreed never to give away their secrets.

They become buddies and together they are quite the little schemers.  If they are careful and everything goes as they have planned they can live in peace with everyone, including the British Monarchy.

The man at the beginning of the story that let Skilley into the Inn had a friend with him, Charles Dicken's. He found the Cat and Mouse antics to be very entertaining and with his imagination he had fun with these very unusual characters. 

Kudos to Charles, Carmen, Randall and Barry for putting their talents together into a neat little package for us to enjoy. The illustrator did a marvelous job of depicting all the characters through the author's detailed description to perfection.

I highly recommend this book.

I rated this book a 5 out of 5.

Disclosure
I received a free copy of this book from Peachtree Publishing for review.  I was in no way compensated for this review.  It is my own opinion.


If you found this review helpful vote yes or no here.

OUT AND ABOUT AT THE ZOO written & illustrated by Jo Linsdell

About Jo

Born in Gillingham, Kent (UK) in September 1980. Married name Joanne Denise Feliciani. She uses her maiden name, Linsdell, as her pen name. Having passed 10 GCSE's, she went on to study Business Studies, History and Art A-Levels at Yateley 6th Form. She left England and moved to Rome, Italy in June 2001, where she now lives with her Italian husband and their young son. 

She has had various jobs including working in hostels, being a tour guide and teaching English as a foreign language. She now works full-time as a freelance writer. She writes regularly for various websites, newspapers and magazines. 

She has published two books in print 'Italian for tourists' and 'A guide to weddings in Italy' as well as various ebooks including; Il dolce Natale: Christmastime in Italy, Some risks are worth taking, INSIDE.OUT, La Befana, Promotional Techniques: Ways to market your books and The Patron Saint of Lovers. 

Find out more about her at her website www.jolinsdell.com 

Out and About at the Zoo 

Written and illustrated by Jo Linsdell

Rhyming text and colourful pictures accompany this fun day out discovering different animals at the zoo.

Release Date: 1st June 2012 

Product details:

ISBN/EAN13: 1477446591 / 9781477446591 
Page Count: 32 
Binding Type: US Trade Paper Trim Size: 6" x 9" 
Language: English 
Colour: Full Colour with Bleed 
Related Categories: Juvenile Fiction / Stories in Verse

Purchasing links: 
Amazon.com 
Amazon.co.uk 
Amazon.it 
CreateSpace.com 

Contact details: 
Email: webmaster@jolinsdell.com 

Reviews:

5 Stars 

"Out and About at the Zoo by Jo Linsdell is a delightful story set in rhyme about a boy and his mum. The two spend the day at the zoo and meet many animals along the way. Your child will enjoy reading this book time and time again. The colorful illustrations make this book a joy to read. Pick up a copy of this book and share a day at the zoo memory with your little one". 

By Kate Mueller, Author of Bella's Birthday Surprise 

5 Stars 

"Out And About At The Zoo is a cute book that describes a child's memory filled trip to the zoo. Are you heading to the zoo and you would like to tell your kids what animals they will see there and what they might be doing? Then Out And About At The Zoo would be a great choice. Easy to understand and easy for children to read along with. It is filled with simple yet colorful pictures that even held my one year old's attention! Would also make a good gift for young readers who are just beginning to read!" 

By Virginia L. Jennings, Author

MY REVIEW

5+ Stars

Out and About at the Zoo is such a fun book.  I can't wait to read the rhymes in this story to my grandbabies.  I know I will be sending them their own copy of this book to read and soak up the colorful pages.

The illustrations are so cute and will definitely grab the child's attention to the bright colors and the zoo animals they are visiting in this darling book.

Here is one of my favorite pages, it teaches the child about the description of the animal and teaches colors in fun rhyming words.

 "Zebras with stripes 

of black and white 

trotted over, much to my delight."

page 14 

I see this as not just for a fun read but also for the education of  young children.  

I highly recommend this book!

I rated this book a 5+ out of 5

Disclosure

I received a free pdf of this book from the author for review.  I was in no way compensated for this review.  It is my own opinion.