Lettuce - a bookwrap

"God has given us two hands - one to receive with and the other to give with.  We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing. "  

-Billy Graham

Unwrapping...

Authored and illustrated by Diana Kizlauskas

Ages 3-6

Unwrapping some amazing illustrations...

About the book...

Rabbit, an avid gardener, plants some lettuce seeds and waits patiently for them to grow.  What a surprise awaits him!  Not only does Rabbit's lettuce grow...it grows...and grows...and grows!  

What should he do with such a rich and abundant harvest?  It is way to much for one little rabbit to eat all by himself so he consults his friends and gets their opinions regarding his lettuce dilemma.   

Cat suggests he show everyone his lush yield and then collect first prizes at all the fairs enabling him to be on tv.  Dog thinks that he should sell the lot and make a hefty profit from his labours.  Skunk and racoon want him to invest in playful things to make life more fun and exciting.  Rooster and Pig put in their two cents worth, each having ideas.  Rooster advises a huge celebration of the phenomenon and Pig proposes a non-stop feast, one where you eat until you are stuffed to the hilt.   Oink! Oink!

Whose words of wisdom will Rabbit choose?  He thinks and thinks and then makes one final phone call to his friend Owl.  Owl gives Rabbit the answer he is looking for.  Rabbit decides right then and there, and knows deep in his heart the right thing to do is to share his wealth with others who are in need and who require a helping hand.  His friends affirm his decision and come along side of him to help him achieve his goal...one of kindness, sharing and making others less fortunate happy.

This book is written in rhyme and the illustrations are beautiful.  The message is positive and inspiring.  I highly recommend this book. 

About the author...

Diana Kizlauskas is a Chicago area illustrator and member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Her formal training includes a B.A. degree in Art Education (University of Illinois, Chicago), B.A. in Illustration (Ray College of Design/Illinois Institute of Art) and Advanced Drawing Studio classes at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She started her career in advertising, illustrating promotional materials for Land O'Lakes®, Barton Brands Ltd., McDonald's®, Quaker Oats® and other nationally known companies. Also a free-lance illustrator for the Chicago Southtown/Star, she created over 100 illustrations for the newspaper's food, financial, and TGIF weekend sections. Since 2000, she has been working exclusively in children's trade, educational and e-publishing. Her work includes books, leveled readers and other educational materials published by Harcourt Achieve (The Legend of the Bluebonnet; The Long Trail Home/The Long Texas Trail; A Bundle of Sticks; Tales From Near and Far); Harcourt School(Desert Danger); Macmillan McGraw-Hill (On Top of the World); Pearson / Scott Foresman(Winter Holidays; A Walk in Antarctica; Grandma Betty's Banjo; A Child's Life in Korea); Pearson Education; Quarasan, Inc.; JustKidsApps (Heidi); Compass Publishing; and EDCO/Ireland. The books she has illustrated most recently are the award-winning Jorge of Argentina: the Story of Pope Francis for Children (Pauline Books and Media, 2013); and Howl of the Mission Owl (Libros Publishing, 2014). LETTUCE! is her first venture into both writing and illustrating for children.

Read on and read always!

It's a wrap.

Contact me at storywrapsblog@gmail.com