Ann, who is profoundly deaf, signs and speaks throughout the conversation. Shaine, who is 10, and wears a cochlear implant, discusses with Ann the importance of a chapter book that explains the special world of the hearing-impaired. Invite these children via video into your classroom, along with the book, HERE COMES JULIE JACK! (2.5 reading level) which is a fun, funny mystery starring Julie with her cochlear implant and the new girl, who was named after her mother’s favorite household cleaner! This chapter book explains not only the hearing-impaired world but also the world of those with Asperger’s Syndrome. Principals have “begged” us for a book like this!

The Video

The video is a complimentary gift with the purchase of a class set . Available through Follett, Amazon, and www.wildonionpress.com Spending a moment via video with this special author and these amazing children enlarges everyone’s world.

Nautilus Award Winner, THE GIFT OF GRACE, takes 10 minutes to read aloud.  It’s even a great way to start a faculty meeting! Look at our author Grace McClelland in New York City at Book Expo where she was invited to sign books.  Grace is now nine but wrote her story when she was just five years old!

Grace is now “on the road” in her state of Indiana reading her picture book, illustrated by Nancy Moskovitz, to school classes and groups.  This summer, she read to 50 campers who each received her book as a gift, courtesy of the Zionsville, Indiana, Boys and Girls Club.

Our interactive blog allows your students to ask Grace questions and receive her replies.  Look at www.wildonionpress.com under the Gift of Grace page.  Click on the question mark: ask Grace a question.   Stay tuned throughout the year as we have a very special video in the works to put on your smart board, a new science book, a writing contest and lots of literacy tools for “inclusion.” www.wildonionpress.com We are now on Facebook!   Follow us for up to date events, information and discussions.

The Nautilus Awards recognizes Books and Audio Books  and E-Books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living & positive social change,  while at the same time they stimulate the “imagination” and offer the reader “new possibilities” for a better life and a better world.  Please visit their site for more information www.nautilusbookawards.com.

Wild Onion is so proud of Grace and how well her story has captured the hearts of many.  We are so fortunate to have her with us.  Please stop by and chat with Grace on her blog http://www.wildonionpress.com/thegiftofgrace/gbook.php?a=sign.  Once again congratulations and a special thanks to all that have worked so hard in helping Wild Onion to spread the word, “In our current and future world, differences do not matter.”

Thirty young boys recently got some unique autographs.

From a horse, no less.

Family Support Services of North Florida recently hosted “Boys Hooked on Books” for boys placed in foster care or with relatives. In preparation for the event at Diamond D Ranch on the Westside, they read the book, “Jason and Elihu: A Fisherman’s Story,” which tells of a boy and his grandfather who seek to land a mythical giant bass in a Florida lake, a brother and sister in need of a new home, a young girl recovering from brain surgery and a miniature horse obsessed with peppermints.

Author Shelley Fraser Mickle of Gainesville was there to talk about the book and introduce them to the horse, Sundance, whose autograph was a kiss on a page with his picture.

Ranch staff gave the boys, who are from Duval, Nassau and Clay counties, tips for fishing on a lake. Other highlights were a trivia game based on the book, wagon and pony rides, a bounce house, a petting zoo, games and prizes.

“Every learning opportunity we can provide children in foster care helps with their growth, development and well-being,” Jim Adams, the agency’s CEO, said in a news release.

While encouraging the kids to read is fairly routine, going to a setting from the book, participating in activities from the story and learning while having fun outdoors engages them in a more meaningful way, Adams said.

Carl Joseph goes to Houston

How Local Author, Shelley Fraser Mickle, is Erasing Differences for Children

 An author for over forty years, Shelley Fraser Mickle has chosen in her work to focus on children – special children – those who are physically different in some way.  Read the entire article by Kendal Norris – The Village Journal

LOVE IS. . .An Everyday Valentine

by Debbie Garcia-Bengochea

Reading level pre-K to 3rd Grade using high-frequency vocabulary.

This gift-sized book of ten photos is a fun, visual feast as well as a young reader’s spinach.  On every page is a sentence that begins with LOVE IS… and finishes with words that every child must master by the end of second grade when “learning to read” switches to “reading to learn.”  But most of all, this little book will elicit giggles and compassion when young readers study the photos of kids with either Magic or Rainbow, renowned miniature therapy horses dressed up in various costumes or bringing their special touch to a special child.  Blending photos of kids with physical differences with various others of different ethnicities, this little book makes a big statement: “In our current and future world, differences do not matter.”

Boys and Girls Club joins Gainesville author Shelley Mickle Fraser in program.

A miniature horse, a former University of Florida Gator and Atlanta Falcons quarterback and a young boy from the

Club promotes "Power of Reading!"

Boys and Girls Club of Alachua County helped to kick off “The Power of Reading,” a program that promotes literacy.

Keith Blanchard, president and chief professional officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Alachua County, said the Boys and Girls Club has joined forces with Wild Onion Press, founded by local author Shelley Fraser Mickle, in “The Power of Reading, ” a program that promotes literacy through photo essays, or posters, of a celebrity athlete reading with a child from the Boys & Girls Club.

  –Read the entire article by Aida Mallard, Special to The Voice.

Reading is Power posters Now Available!

The mission is to promote literacy. The vehicle: Excellent role models showing the power of reading to our students. The posters will be 18″ x 24″ and will make an excellent addition to a classroom, a library, a business, a hallway, or even your child’s bedroom wall.

First off the press is Myron Rolle who earned All-ACC honors playing strong safety at Florida State.  He is currently preparing to enter his rookie training camp as a sixth-round pick of the Tennessee Titans. Doug Fernandes, a columnist for the Herald Tribune, stated that Myron Rolle’s third life ambition is helping others. Fernandes quotes Rolle talking about this ambition:

“I think our payment for having a breath and having life in this world is  thinking about and giving to another person,” Rolle stated.  “We’re all human, this is our world, and we have an obligation to do that.  To think about others.” 

What better way to embrace his desire to help others than to serve as a true role model to our children through the promotion of literature and the love of reading.  Those of us at Wild Onion Press applaud Myron Rolle for standing up for what he believes in and for reaching out to our youth as a role model for literacy!

Myron Rolle’s reading is power poster is now available for purchase on the Wild Onion Press website.  Reading is Power posters will be sold at cost plus shipping - $15.00 each.

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Sundance has his first Gainesville booksigning May 15.  He has been trained to “sign” each book with a “kiss.” Come on out to Town of Tioga Town Center from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m and get an autograph from Sundance and meet author Shelley Fraser Mickle.

Take a look:

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