Miss L’eau Reviews
"The ocean is a large and mysterious place which baffles many. Miss L'eau is the story of two boys and their teacher, who they soon suspect is not your normal everyday teacher. As they learn more about the sea, they learn more about Miss L'eau. An intriguing mystery for young children, Miss L'eau is a highly recommended read." -- Serge Dedina, Ph.D.
-- James A. Cox, Editory-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
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Executive Director
WiLDCOAST
www.wildcoast.net
"Miss L’eau, a contemporary fairy tale that will capture readers of all ages.
-- Neal Pargman, Founder Students discover how to turn ocean science to advocacy and stewardship for healthy seas when Miss L’eau floods her classroom with the wonder and awe of ocean life. Miss L’eau is ocean literacy at its finest; it shines with bioluminescent light. -- Rob Moir, Ph.D., Director, Ocean River Institute
Save the Earth Foundation
www.savetheearth.org
Former President, National Marine Educators Association
“Miss L’eau combines a fun mystery plot with an important message regarding care of the ocean. I especially appreciated the steps that the boys took to help Miss L’eau’s home, as it resembles our own International Coastal Cleanup. Thank you for writing a book that will hopefully lead young people towards a love and stewardship of our world’ marine life.”
-- Francesca N. Veitch
Ocean Conservancy
www.oceanconvervancy.org
"Miss L'eau: very captivating. I was inspired and it brought a tear at the end ... nice work! I would share this with my classes for sure! Inspiring and full of good plans and hope for future students. This lays out a plan how we can all make a difference no matter what age or where we are from! Mermaids are cool and the tie to this mythological creature and the need to protect the sea is a winner. I wish I had a teacher like this when I was growing up, it would have gotten me on an eco-track a lot faster."
-- Capt. Paul Clark, President
Save Our Seas
www.SaveOurSeas.org
“Miss L’eau is a great story for kids of any age. Miss L’eau is an amazing story that teaches us to save the earth and pass on the same influence to other people. This book shows a great message. I would recommend it to anybody who is interested in fantasy and loves the ocean. Thank you
-- Miss Taylor Mansfield, 5th Grader
Santa Clarita,
“I loved the vivid details in Miss L’eau and how it’s told from a kids point of view. You actually feel like you are right there with them. This is a great way to introduce philanthropy, the importance of our environment and realizing that even kids can have great ideas which can be embarked upon. Kids are people too and want to feel important. They say it takes a village to raise a child, we should also realize that sometimes it takes a child to wake us up to reality.
A great read for pre-teen kids, thought-provoking and should be a must read for all young readers.
-- Loreta Lynn Leda
Ms. Leda publishes a sports, fitness, health and adventure magazine in Central Florida and is a freelance writer for other publications including outdoor adventures, rock climbing, kayaking, museums, spas (www.FloridaSpaGirls.com) and travel related articles. She is in the process of editing her first travel guide, due out in 2009.
Pythagoras Reviews
“I always listen to Classical Music when I read. How appropriate that I read your book to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5 and Chopin’s Piano Concerto #1 (with a little spill over into the First Brahms Piano Concerto). Pythagoras is a magical piece of art. I appreciate it so much when I’m exposed to something that is truly “heartwarming”. I repeatedly felt this flow of warm joy run thru me while reading this book. When Mrs. Brasshear cried with pleasure my eyes welled up, as they did several times as I was savoring your masterpiece.
I consider myself an avid reader and cannot recall the last time I was so emotionally invested in a book. It, literally, struck all the right notes. Such a beautiful and meaningful story…Here’s to living life in the Key Of A!”
-- Dan Crow -- Scott “The Piano Guy” Houston, Emmy Award Winning host of “The Piano Guy” on Public Television.
www.dancrow.com
“Pythagoras is a charming book that I had fun reading with my own daughter. It will, hopefully, be the impetus for many a young “musician to be” that will get them over the hump and to a point of experiencing the pure joy of recreational music making!”
www.scottthepianoguy.com
I approached "Pythagoras" with the thoughts of "Oh, well, it will be a cute child's story." But, to my surprise, I began taking notes and looking up words in my Elson's Pocket Music Dictionary (i.e., "sforzando.")
I also had never practiced the arpeggios, per se, so I tried that. I had quickly stopped trying to master my Hanon exercises, too - so got out that book again.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that, even at my age, "Pythagoras" inspired me to go back to basics and just keep trying to be (as the saying goes), "The best I can be." And, by the way, as Priscilla said to her mother:
One, "After awhile, it wasn't so hard." and two, "I like the way it felt; I don't have to think so hard; and I could just FEEL when I was playing it right!"
Many thanks,
-- Patty Tossy
We were so very entertained by this book that I just had to write to you to say "A hearty Thanks!"
A few weeks ago, my 8 year old second grader son came down with the flu, so I decided it would be more soothing to read to him rather than have the TV on (always the way go in any sitch!).
We began with Pythagoras because we all love music in our house. (my son helps with my [radio] show Kids Kamp and my husband has a radio show for the adult ear - we all volunteer as a family for WDBX community radio for
We loved the story about a person who kept on trying and practicing and then finally the music reveals itself. She gets it! That is pure magic!
When the ghost comes out of the sticky "A" key, I thought to myself "where was he during my lessons?!"
I really felt for her and her relationship with her dad who didn't support her artistic abilities. She kept going also with her mom's direction and when she does finally break through, I felt proud that her dad began to understand as well. (and yes I wanted to run around in her mean old dads' grass too!)
This book taught us a bit about formal music training too. For example that people discuss music in musical terms - terms like adagio and sonatina etc and that you can actually write a musical sound on paper. Cool!
(- ya see it' is never too late to learn something new!)
Some of them were hard for my son to say without his 2 front teeth, but that made it all the more fun!
We too talk of hearing the beat of the street (that is our description of hearing your surroundings and relating it to drumming, speaking and skateboarding. Feeling your passion and thinking about it less (as in dancing - dance like no one is watching etc)
My son and his class are currently rehearsing for a school play and we discussed how he could remember a certain punchline by feeling how it sounded when he said it right, remembering the rhythm of how it sounded, not just trying to remember the words kind of like rapping it I guess
To boys, girls and familes - this is a wonderful tale full of real family experiences and a magical escape for the entire family!
Before I was through with chapter 2 my husband was in the room and we all enjoyed the rest of the book, me reading aloud to my boys. I also heartily recommend turning off the tv more often and doing an activity together - reading was fun for (us) mentals!
Thanks! I can't wait to read our next book Miss L'eau.
-- “momma C” aka Cathy Creed
WDBX, Kids Kamp Radio www.wdbx.org
