Tag: Travel

What is the Spanish for Dog?

by sarahsbookreflections, posted in Book Reviews, Interviews, Uncategorized

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Cómo se Dice Dog en Español? Perro

If you ever want to see a tiny human dynamo, meet Anechy Padron who immigrated from Cuba. (She and her illustrator are pictured above.)  She immigrated with the help of her mother and brother, who were living in Tampa at the time.

While in Cuba, Anechy wrote a children’s book about a Chihuahua, Patti, who meets a feral cat, Barci, that lives in the “City of Cat.” But now that Anechy lives in the U.S.A., she thought it would be nice to write the story in English as well.

The story is charming and well-written. Children will relate to the animals and cheer them on. And the children will learn how to be better people and how to care about all creatures. And they will also learn a bit about life in Cuba.

Interview Questions

  1. Please tell us how to pronounce your name. I believe you told me that Anechy is a nickname. What is your full name?

My full name is Adianez Padrón Ramirez, but my brother gave me the nickname of Anechy, and it stuck forever. A friend created a little game to pronounce my nickname, you say Aww(yawning), point at your knee, and finally you sneeze. Aw-knee-chis!

  • Did you grow up in Havana? Or in another part of the island?

I was born in Santiago de Cuba, on the east end of the island. Then, my parents moved to Holguin for a year and a half. But at age four and a half we moved to Havana, where I lived for 25 years, until I came to the States. My parents were in the military. They moved a lot.

  • Where did you go to college? In Cuba or America?

       I studied accounting for five years at the University of Havana. That wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted journalism, language, anything that had to do with writing and arts. But my mom wasn’t supportive then about my being an artist. While in college, I went to every literary event or class I could find. Often times people would find it odd that I was there while studying accounting.

  • How did you get to the United States of America?

Long story. We would need a whole new interview. In sum, I followed my family. My brother rafted out of Cuba in 2000. In 2008, he became a U.S. Citizen and applied for family reunion. My mom was granted a visa in 2009, but I had stay in Cuba for one year before I got my visa in 2010. It was a long process to get out of Cuba. Having a U.S. Permanent Visa wasn’t enough for the regime. In 2010, there was a law in Cuba that I had to give all my properties back to the Cuban government, and I had to pay 550 dollars for a “white card,” which I called the freedom card.

  • Have you always been a storyteller?

       I was always an avid reader. As a small child, I couldn’t go to bed without a story. But I wouldn’t fall asleep until the end. My dad always fell asleep before. Then, I’d walk out of the bedroom with the book and tell Mom: “Mami, papi se durmió” Mom, daddy fell asleep. At age 10, I was reading Edgar Allan Poe and Guy de Maupassant. I started writing poetry and short stories in 6th grade when I was a member of a book club with five other girls. I couldn’t stop writing after that.

  • What compelled you to write this book?

 When I lived in Havana, I was babysitting a 3-year-old boy named Richy. (He just turned 18 years old.) I was also performing for children as a clown and a puppeteer. I was always writing rhymes and little stories for my live shows. One day, Richy and I were walking Isabella a.k.a. Patti in the story, and a little cat came to us. She was very friendly for a street cat. And even more surprising, my chihuahua liked her. I named the cat Barcina. Richy and I started dreaming and making up stories about this cat. I brought Barcina home but she did not like it. So, I started writing about her and imagining what my chihuahua and Barcina would be saying about me, and the neighbors. Then, I added my friends and their dog to the story. Richy and I loved this fantasy. Richy got me into this book, and I love it.

  • What are the names of the dog & cat?

The heroes of my book are Patti and Barci, a spoiled Chihuahua and a street cat.

  •  How did you come up with the names?

My chihuahua had many nicknames or terms of endearment, one of them was “puti” actually not a very nice word in Spanish, but it is endearing to a dog in Cuba. For the book I changed it to Pati. When I started editing the book, I added another T to honor my friend Patti, who helped me get my new dog Maya. Barci is short for Barcina, which means mutt for cats (Moggy).

In the story, the cat lives in a place called the City of Cats. Is there such a place in Cuba? In Havana? Do other Cuban cities and towns have such gathering places for the feral cats? Are they monitored by humans?

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I lived in a 12-story Russian building in the newest part of Havana. We had a huge basement where the feral cats slept at night. I called the basement The City of Cats, it was a damp, dirty, and flea-infested place. I felt bad for those cats. There are places like that all over Havana. Very sad. On the other hand, they kept the mice population under control. In the process of re-writing the story I changed the setting from an ugly looking neighborhood to beautiful Old Havana, a city which beauty always makes me cry. I put the City under the Cathedral, and the rest is history.

There was a group of ladies in my neighborhood who collected school cafeteria leftovers to feed the cats. They captured injured cats, vetted them, and then found homes for them. But this was just done by good-hearted ladies, there is no organization in Cuba that helps. There is a non-profit from Canada called The Spanky Project. https://spankyproject.org/. They help street animals in Cuba by spaying/neutering/deworming them, and then either release or get them adopted. I learned a little bit more about them on my last trip to Cuba this past January.

  1.  I love that you are giving children the chance to learn a new language. It will bring the peoples of our world closer together, don’t you think?

I agree with you. I started learning English at age 11 and French in my early twenties. That opened the world to me. It has made it possible for me to travel, meet people, learn from others, read books that are not available in Spanish, and, mainly, understand that far from different, we humans have more in common than we think.

  1. I know you write short stories as well as books. What is your next short story? Or have you adapted part of this novel into a short story for the upcoming Next Chapter Literary Magazine which has the theme of friends?

Sarah, you gave me a great idea. I was trying to come up with something to write for the magazine. The latest thing I’ve written is the sixteen-character descriptions for books one and two. Yes, I forgot to mention I already have a second part for “The Adventures of Patti and Barci: The City of Cats.” The next book is “The Havana Forest.” I plan to write several books for this series, I just love these characters and I have so much fun with them.

Thanks for visiting my blog, Anechy. I look forward to reading the next saga of Patti and Barci.

Feel free to contact Anechy at anechy7@gmail.com for more information about her book and when it will be ready for you to read.

Say Hello to the Vibrant Mary Scott

by sarahsbookreflections, posted in Uncategorized

Sorry to be so long-winded, but you ask really interesting questions. I have yet to learn the art of brevity; therefore, this has had no final edit.

I met the friendly Mary Scott when I was selling my books at the Next Chapter Books & Art during MumFest. And as her smile would suggest, she is outgoing and inviting.  She asked me if she could also participate in our October 29th Authors’ Sunday Event at the New Bern Farmers’ Market. Of course, I said yes.

Welcome to my blog. I know you now live in the beautiful town with the delightful name of Oriental. And please remind us how the town got its name.

From Wiki:The town of Oriental was named after the Sailing Steamer Oriental. Built in Philadelphia in 1861, the ship was used as a federal transport ship in the Civil War. She met her fate a year after being launched, running aground in May 1862, when she was wrecked off Bodie Island, 33 miles north of Cape Hatteras. Her passengers and crew were saved.

The United States Post Office Department established a post office in 1886 in what had been called Smith’s Creek. Lou Midyette was named postmaster. Postmaster Midyette’s wife, Rebecca, thought the village needed a better name. One story says that she had found the nameplate from the wrecked sailing steamer “Oriental” on the beaches of the Outer Banks and thought that name was more suitable. Another version of the story says she just saw the nameplate in a Manteo home. Either way the name “Oriental” made an impression on her. The village became known as Oriental a few years after the post office was established and was incorporated in 1899.

Have you lived there all your life? Something to do with a storm and a boat? If you have not always lived there, where else have you lived?

MI born, raised, married; lured to TN in 1986 with an incredible job offer with Eastman Chemical, at the time a division of Kodak. Jim became the trailing spouse for a change.

Only boats we ever owned were ever increasingly larger cabin cruisers on the Great Lakes, Lake Erie mainly. Then came the oil crisis in the ‘70’s and we could no longer afford, though GREAT fun for a few years. 

Moved to Oriental in 2016 after discovering it on a sojourn down the NC coast. I called it ‘Mayberry on steroids’ after stumbling on it and within days met multiple people and staying for the Croaker Fest Parade. Spent two weeks, bought a house, sold mine in TN in 4 days and within 4 months was living in Oriental. “It Just Felt Right.”

What have you done before you took to writing memoirs? Let’s start with your childhood and what your dreams were then?

As a kid hated playing w/dolls except to use my tiny sewing machine to make them poorly constructed clothes. Got a little blackboard for Christmas and began teaching classes. Loved it, other kids not so much. Only girl on our block in Detroit so I hung out with the boys. Lacked the coordination to do well climbing trees and jumping to garage rooftops, so was more a tomboy & mascot. Entered college planning to become a biology teacher, wanted to be like mine had been, idolized him. Student teaching blew out that candle, so went into biomedical research.

Zero interest in reading except science to learn. I have always been an avid learner, just for the sake of learning. Few things have challenged me long term except medical research, science in general, and mechanical/architectural and human behavior.

I notice you have a cute dog to keep you company. Have you always had animals in your life? Any animals other than dogs?

We had a family dog, but no major attachment for me, more my brother. Jim, husband, had a horrible upbringing and his dog was given away when is younger half-brother was born, Dog died two weeks later. Jim never got over never having even had the chance to say good bye. So we have had a series of Chihuahuas, six including my current P-Nutt adopted after Jim passed. Joy, #5 was the first to bond on me. She was a major member of my memoir’s entourage.

What do animals give to you to make your life better? For instance, my animals have always been my confidants and comforters.

Jim and I chose to be child-free… except for the dogs, and Jim insisted when asked, “If I ever get Mary raised, no more children!” I never truly understood Jim’s passion for our dogs until he passed and Joy was my little rock. She sensed what I needed, and was more a dearest friend than a dog. I will always griever her loss, almost as much as I grieve for Jim.

I expect you like to hike or ride a bike/tricycle or swim. Anything to keep your body trim and your mind fit, I’m sure.

For many years a swimmer, though never very good at it. Biked a lot as well. Once in TN, too hilly, so became an avid walker/hiker, 3-4 miles every day. Went to treadmill as Jim’s health declined. Quit exercise after he passed. Then joint issues, new right knee, then right shoulder, and before long, left knee. Lots of PT and learning how to correct posture lost to accommodating painful joints. Beginning to get back to bike and walking.

 Do you have a big family with lots of siblings and children?

Late older brother, 2yrs, younger sister, 6yrs, still kicking, smart, talented and my constant writing advisor, critic and all-round thorn in my side.

My husband and I have not been blessed with grandchildren, so I always have to ask about other people’s grandchildren. I do hope you have many and that they bring great joy.

No, but Jim and I loved other people’s kids and grandkids. I still do. I’m like an indulgent grandparent; love ‘em, have fun with ‘em. That’s it! Current love is the daughter of the young couple that bought my house in TN. She is a DOLL!

I also believe you said you work to keep Oriental the charming place it is. If that is true, what do you do?

I volunteer ticket-window, The Ole Theater; docent, Oriental Museum; Help-Line for Neuse Neighbor Network. And always ready to lend a hand on various projects. Wonderful feeling to give back to community.

You mentioned something about your book when we met, but please let us know more. I remember your saying you and your dog have been driving around the country in your RV. What great fun, especially since you share the adventures with your husband, at least with your mind. And I’m sure his spirit follows you wherever. But what makes particular memories feel important enough to share with him and now us?

Joy was the world’s finest co-pilot, right up until she passed. I got little P-Nutt so Joy would have a buddy as I got more involved in writing. She hated the little squirt, but finally realized the kid was here to stay and turned into the world’s finest big sister. Even prompted me to call my sister and apologize for being so mean when she was young.

She LOVED travel, and meeting people. She was the world’s BEST companion dog. P-Nutt, not so much. She is more Chihuahua-like, nervous, skittish, shy, and TOTALLY about herself. Good traveler if a dog that sleeps while you’re driving makes her good. But she is very sweet and cuddles in bed. 

I firmly believe Jim is with me still, looking out for me. His family was very psychic—though I’m not sure if that is the correct term. So I do ‘talk’ with him at times. No need. He is with me. That’s why my RV is named, “The Spirit.”

I always keep a travel log when on the road. They do accumulate.

And now that you’ve written one book, what happens next? I believe you said you were continuing your travels, so where are you going next and are you planning to write about those adventures? Or are you going to start making up stories about the people you’ve met along the way?

Everyone wants to know when I will continue my story, or better yet, have Joy write a book as she evidently now has a following of her own among my readers.

I find I love to write, but in what direction to take it is uncertain right now. Still recovering from my single venture into authordom. Not sure of next steps, if or when. I never aspired to be an author. Felt compelled to tell of my grief gauntlet in hopes others could relate, understand grief is a uniquely individual and solo journey. It is NOT 5-steps and you get a graduation certificate.

Travel has been curtailed the last few years with pushing to finish and publish my book, and too many surgical procedures, though Covid lockdown was a mixed blessing. Travel for a while will be almost totally driveway camping, visiting friends getting older and less travelable than me. Have lost a couple very dear friends during my travel hiatus, so will be doing more than a quick pass-through as I visit these days. Life is fleeting.

Sarah’s final note. Have you ever had a day where if something could be obstreperous, it would be? Well, that’s what this day has been like. So, please forgive my typos and lack of bold print for Mary’s answers and blame it on the computer gremlins. Thanks, I’m going to take a nap or ride my tricycle.

Erika Bud Loves to Write about the Places She’s Visited

by sarahsbookreflections, posted in Book Publising, Book Reviews, Children's Book Reviews, Interviews
Erika Bud, World Traveler contact@bigworl
(815) 200-4977
 
Inspiring parents and kids to travel abroad with adventurous children’s books and motivational podcasts. To learn more or to sign up for discounts and updates, go to: www.bigworldpub.com
 

Erika has traveled to and lived in many countries because she thinks the world is cool. Starting at age 18, she has lived in, or traveled to, 30 countries. Before she settled down to raise her family and publish her books, she worked as an au pair. Now she’s focusing on teaching children about at least some of the places she’s lived and traveled.

Check out Australia

Her first book, Mission to Australia, is about an intrepid foursome of young travelers visiting Australia. The group of children is interesting in its own right since one of the travelers must use a wheelchair, but is undaunted by difficult places to access. The group represents many different cultures and ethnicities.

Questions for Erika

What compelled you to dream of visiting and living in different countries? Honestly, I have no idea. I did not grow up around people traveling to other countries. I just thought it sounded interesting and after visiting my first country, I enjoyed learning about the culture, history, and seeing the new sites so much that I wanted to see as many as possible.

 How did you become an au pair? What hoops did you have to jump through to? There was a program I found online. It was a long time ago, so I don’t remember the details, but I know I requested to be an Au Pari in Spain. I believe I was provided with some information about families who were interested in me, and it was up to me to select. My grandma spoke Spanish so she spoke to them, and that was it. I requested the time off with my boss and I headed to Madrid.

 Did you have a friend who inspired you? Or did a book lead you in that direction? Neither. I did not have any friends or family who traveled abroad. In fact, several of my families asked me why I wanted to go out of the country. I really have no idea what inspired me. I’m assuming seeing certain movies or pictures of places around.

Did you have to convince your parents that it would be safe for you to pursue this dream? Yes, but I was 18 when I first traveled, so there wasn’t much they could do to stop me. So, they chose to support me instead.

How did you pick the countries you wanted to visit? If you’re referring to Spain specifically, I didn’t do a lot of research. I just knew I wanted to go and since I had the program looking out for me, I thought it was a safe option. For countries since Spain, I research how safe it is, the best time to travel based on the weather, and what sites I want to see / experiences I want to have (i.e., all tourist sites, more cultural experiences, art, etc.)

What research did you do about the countries you wanted to visit?

I chose Spain because I believed I was Spanish (only recently learned I am Mexican) and I wanted to learn more about my heritage. After that, I started looking into the countries that I had heard about from people I have met on my travels, through people I have met through FB/FB groups, and now through my travel podcast.

What were your duties? It honestly wasn’t a good experience, so I usually don’t go into details as I don’t want to deter others from doing it. I honestly don’t believe my situation was the norm. I was supposed to teach the children English, but I only did this once. The rest of the time was spent cleaning and taking care of the kids. I believe my host family took advantage of au pairs, unfortunately.

Do you still keep in touch with the families? No.

Did you stick to just English-speaking countries? If not, did you already know the host country language? I spoke a little Spanish because of what I had learned in high school, but I was not fluent. I definitely spoke better Spanish when I came back though!

When you decided to be an author/publisher, did you go to school to learn how? My degree is in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. I did not go to school specifically to be an author/publisher. I spent a long time doing my own research, joining author/publishing groups, taking online courses, and asking a lot of questions. Luckily, there are some authors/publishers who are happy to help new authors/publishers.

And do you plan to do more traveling with your family? What was your son’s reaction to visiting other countries? I believe you said he’d already visited two. Oh yes! We just got back from two weeks in Ireland. He had a wonderful time and came back with so many memories and experiences. When we asked him his top three experiences, he could only narrow it down to eight. Now we talk about him possibly doing summer camp in another country. We still have a long time to think about that, but that’s how much he loved the experience.

My son was only five when I first took him out of the country, so he doesn’t remember it as much, but he loves looking at the pictures and I know it’s helped to make him interested in other countries and cultures.

What is the next book in the series? Ireland!

And, lastly where are you and your family going next? This is tough because we keep getting different ideas, but I think it’s going to be southern Italy.

The Holidays Are Upon Us

by sarahsbookreflections, posted in Children's Book Reviews

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I hope you find much to be thankful for.  I know I do.  Our family is coming to visit, including the new granddog, Titan, a Standard Poodle.  But some of you may be traveling elsewhere, so I thought I’d include three books having to do with travel.  Two of them are not actually stories, but rather activity books. Books to keep children occupied.

 

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This book is bound to keep anybody occupied for a very long time.  And it’s lots of fun if you like to solve puzzles of any sort.

 

Can You See What I See? Big Book of Search-and-Find Fun

Walter Wick

Illustrated by Walter Wick

This book should come with a warning: Do Not Open Unless You Have Time to Fritter Away.  You’ll find it hard not to try just one more puzzle.  Plus, it’s a sneaky way to encourage early readers to increase their vocabularies.  The lists are ten words each and have themes such as magic castles, fairy tales, ordinary objects such as an assortment of buttons and jewelry.  The objects to be found vary from hard to see to right in front of the reader’s eyes.  And the types of objects vary from animals to needles to plants.  There is a robot-type creature that crops up in various puzzles which are marked with a picture of a wooden block carved with the letter s.  This book is a keeper for home and classroom, but, be careful, it is addictive. Plus, it’s a compilation of pages from early versions of this book.

BIBLIO: 2016, Cartwheel Books/Scholastic Children’s Books/Scholastic, Ages 5 +, $12.99.

REVIEWER: Sarah Maury Swan

FORMAT: Early Reader

ISBN: 978-0-545-83863-4

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Perhaps young cousins are gathering together and they don’t know each other well.  This book will put at least the girls at ease in a hurry.  They will be fast friends by the end of the visit.

For Me & U! Fun for BFFs

Scholastic

Illustrated by Kyla Mae Pty Ltd

This book is fun for a group of seven girls at their first slumber party.  There are spaces for the girls to fill in their preferences and paste their special stickers in each of the thirty sections.  The stickers are at the end of the book.  The book starts with small rectangles where each girl may put down her name, age, grade and school, along with a circle for her personal sticker.  The second section has areas for “Selfies” and section three is a list of personality traits for the girls to circle.  Then the girls get to design their cell phone cases, what toppings they’d put on their favorite flavor ice cream, pick where they’d like travel, what fun things to do with friends, and what kinds of clothes they wear.  There are also sections on decorating cupcakes and giving preferences of activities such either going to the movies or a concert.  The girls get to pick what they’d like to be when they grow up—lawyer, actress, scientist or writer, among other choices. There are sections for coloring and noting favorite books, plus drawing a favorite celebrity.  The girls may check off their favorite school subjects in addition to designing the perfect pizza and ordering the best dinner.  What animal is each girl’s favorite and where to go on vacation make up two more sections. The final section is to draw a family portrait, including pets.

BIBLIO: 2014, Scholastic, Inc. Ages 7 to 9, $8.99.

REVIWER: Sarah Maury Swan

FORMAT: Chapter Book

ISBN: 978-0-545-73297-0

 

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First time flyers  are frequently frightened by all the confusion at an airport, what with lots of noise and people making them go through scary machines.  This book will help calm fears.

 

The Airport Book

Lisa Brown

Illustrated by Lisa Brown

Preparing your youngsters for what to expect when they’re traveling by airplane is probably a good thing to do.  This story starts at home while the family is packing.  Mom reminds her daughter and her husband to make sure the toy monkey is packed.  Then they take a cab to the airport and go through all the lines one needs to go through.  The reader follows the luggage because the monkey’s tail is sticking out of the bag.  Little sister cries when she goes through the scanner because she doesn’t know what’s happening, but she is comforted by her mommy and when they’re done, big brother holds his sister’s hand so she won’t get lost.  Finally everyone is on board and happily buckled into a seat.  Monkey has an adventure of his own in the cargo hold when a dog gets out of his crate, pulls Monkey out of his suitcase and snuggles with him during the flight. But Monkey is back with his suitcase when the plane lands and everybody’s happy.  Cute book that will give grown-ups a chortle as it comforts little ones.

BIBLIO: 2016, Neal Porter Books/Roaring Brook Press, Ages 2 to 6, $17.99.

REVIEWER: Sarah Maury Swan

FORMAT: Picture Book

ISBN: 978-1-62672-091-6

 

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This post is probably a bit late for those of you traveling for Thanksgiving, but December holidays are right around the corner.  Now you have time to prepare.  Safe travels and happy family get togethers.