Winners–Basil and Woman and the Wheat

(A huge cooking and baking day today. Along with some students from my son’s high school, we’re making a meal for 60 to service the homeless in our area. Photos to come!)

And the winner of The Woman and the Wheat is:

 

Raja Marji

Thank you so much for the giveaways! How important it is to surround our children with Orthodox books! We already have the book, The Man and the Vine. We would love to have The Woman and the Wheat to add to our library… +God bless you!

 

And the winner of Basil’s Search for Miracles is:

bluecanopy

Our family would love either of these…thank you for doing this!

(Turns out, blue canopy is Sara. She sent Heather and I this message earlier today:)

Jane and Heather,

Thank you so much for your generosity.  My kids and I are so excited to win the copy of Basil’s Search for Miracles, especially my 7year old, BASIL!

We live in Southern California and have four children, Basil (7), Juliana (5), Simeon (3), Emelia (1).

Thank you for promoting and creating wonderful Orthodox literature,

Blessed Advent,
Sara

Last of all, don’t forget that both The Man and the Vine, and The Woman and the Wheat will be on sale from SVSPress ($15 each instead of $18 each) for three days, starting TOMORROW! (November 16-18th.)

Feel free to tell your friends.

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Book Giveaways–The Woman and the Wheat (+ four more)

I’m so excited to be giving away another book! The Woman and the Wheat is my latest picture book released, and has received some very nice reviews. Here’s the page on my website that will tell you a bit more about the story. (Did you know my dad and brothers are actually professional bakers?!) And…you can hear a review of the book on Ancient Faith Radio, a place I go often for spiritual refreshment and learning…

This book giveaway is open for comments right now! All you have to do is leave a comment below to enter. If you’re in the mood, I’d love to hear (if you have a wee one in your life right now) what picture books you’re reading to your little ones at the moment as we tumble deeper into fall and head towards Advent. In our home, we are reading a lot of human body books, and several thick books on machines, too. Oh, and The Curious Garden by Peter Brown is a present favorite. The Woman and the Wheat actually gets very high marks from my inventor-boy; he likes the page when the grain is being ground into flour the best… 🙂

So off to the miller did the wheat go next where a large stone wheel turned round and around. The wheel moved the stones and the stones ground the wheat as streams and puffs flowed into bags, and the wheat turned into flour…

I’ll close the comments for the giveaway at midnight, Sunday November 14th, and announce the winner on Monday, November 15th.

The Monster Bonus (don’t stop reading now!)

I’ve rounded up some of my writer friends to join in the book giveaway this week! I’m so excited. As I stated in my last post, I’m hoping that this Christmas many story books will end up wrapped and given to little ones as gifts. This is not about making money as writers–or about getting famous. You know this, right? As writers, we make just pennies from our work–we all engage in this as a ministry, not to make oodles of dollars and retire in the Bahamas! So, if you’re looking for gift ideas, start with a book that will enrich, inspire and encourage.

• Claire Brandenburg, a gifted writer and illustrator, whom I worked with for several years when I was the children’s book editor at Conciliar Press is giving away a copy of The Tumbled Stone on her site. It’s a story about Saint Herman of Alaska, and here is a full reading of the book on Chrissi Hart’s podcast, Readings from Under the Grapevine.  Jet on over to Claire’s blog to drop your name in the hat by emailing her directly with your name–click here! She is an amazing, humble woman… And her website is so fun. Check it out!

• Heather Zydek, a mom of the cutest little girls, and a very vibrant, energetic woman and great writer, is giving away a copy of Basil’s Search for Miracles. Yay, for Heather! You can see more about Basil and read reviews of the book on the Amazon page. And to enter her drawing, just leave a comment below, here on my blog… It’s a two-for-one deal. If you leave a comment below, two people will be drawn as winners. One for my giveaway, and one for Heather’s! Double the fun.

• Chrissi Hart is giving away a copy of The Hermit, the Icon and the Emperor. If you haven’t taken advantage of her podcast, Readings From Under the Grapevine, you should! She has recorded virtually every Orthodox children’s book that has been printed, and… she has almost finished recording the entire Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. She is a psychologist, was born in Cyprus, and is a very gifted, and easy-to-work with writer. (I was fortunate to edit both of her children’s books!!!) Put your name in her giveaway hat on her lovely blog by clicking here.

• Katherine Hyde is giving away one copy of Lucia, Saint of Light. What perfect timing. The name’s day for Santa Lucia is coming up on December 13th. I’ve worked alongside Katherine for many years now, and she is one of the most organized, talented editors I know. She’s also a very creative writer–and I’m sure we’ll see many more books by her in the future. Here’s my review of her book on Ancient Faith Radio.  Click here to visit her at her blog and enter your name in the Lucia, Saint of Light giveaway!

Lastly, don’t forget that both The Man and the Vine, and The Woman and the Wheat will be on sale from SVSPress ($15 each instead of $18 each) for three days, from Tuesday, November 16 through Thursday, November 18th. Tell your friends.

Sending you warm wishes…

jane

November Means… Book Giveaway Time!

Been baking on convection. (Ick)  Been giving (Yay)

Well, it’s November, which means I’ve been writing this blog for one full year!  110 posts, and lots of fun. It’s been a year of changes, of learning, of hopefully growing. If anything, I’ve baked a lot of bread, and given quite a few loaves away.

One of my very favorite giving days was when a whole host of women came to my home and we baked bread en masse. After our time together, they each took their own loaf of bread into the community to give away, and many were struck by the experience. I was struck by the experience, and just a day later I reflected on why I even started this blog. Giving changes you. And I know you–you beautiful readers–you are givers who do it without thinking… without blinking… I appreciate how you’ve encouraged me this last year.

There will be a sale coming up in mid-November. SALE! St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press is putting both The Man and the Vine, and The Woman and the Wheat on sale for just three days. (November 16-18. $15 each) If you’ve been hoping to add one or both of these books to your collection, your time is almost here! Spread the news.

But… before we get there, I’ll be giving away a copy of each of the books here on the blog. The Man and the Vine is first up, since it’s the first I wrote, and all you have to do is comment on this post and I’ll put you in the drawing. Comments will close this Sunday, November 7th, at midnight! (Hi all, comments are now closed…)

Lastly, I’m a gal who has learned to take criticism. You can’t be an author and not listen to advice… If you have any thoughts on how to make this blog better–on how to broaden the scope, or narrow it–on reaching more people, or how to post in a more timely fashion, or about different subject matter you’d like to see posted, I’d love to hear. I’m all ears…

Ultimate Friday Giveaway

Been baking all week

My daughter requested a loaf of French bread for her birthday.

That was Tuesday…

My husband wanted to take another giant loaf of sourdough to Renato, the owner of his favorite coffee spot, Via Maestra, but this time not force him to eat it. Here it is below, before it took the short trip from our home to the coffee shop down the road. (See this post–A Tribute to Community–for the earlier story)

That was Wednesday, and here it is on display in Via Maestra 🙂

And Friday turned into Ultimate Bread Giveaway Day. I needed to drive my daughter to LA; she was invited to spend the weekend with her cousins. My brother, whose bakery now has all the health certificates you could ever ask for, will begin delivering bread to customers on Tuesday. They’ve been baking up a storm these last two months, with no one to eat all the product, so it just ends up everywhere–mostly given to the mayor of Hawthorne where the bakery is–who then takes it to the city’s soup kitchen and homeless shelter. When my brother showed up at his house with two giant bags of the most gorgeous sourdough, I was happy to take a loaf, or seven!

I then gave out three loaves at my son’s school. Gave one loaf to a lady walking down the street, and we’re eating a giant loaf of rye right now…Just had an avocado and roasted red pepper sandwich. Here’s a photo of some of the amazing loaves of bread coming out of Etxea Bakery.

I still haven’t given any bread to the triplets down the way.

Oh, oh…. and my daughter helped me gather some sea water at Butterfly Beach. We’re going to make our very own Santa Barbara sea salt. More posts on that as we progress, but until then, three cheers for Madeleine who braved some very, very cold water to humor her wacky mother.

Okay everyone, that’s my bread giving week. Let’s just keep chugging along together, giving to others as we can. I’d love to hear your stories…

Cheers!

And the Winner is?…

Been baking up a storm. Scones to school. Bread to Cheryl. Bread to Cara…They all deserve more than what I could ever give…

But forget about the oven for a minute. It’s time to give away a copy of The Woman and the Wheat. Yippee!!! By the way, an awesome review on the book was posted to Ancient Faith Radio yesterday. The review made me cry–which makes me think Katherine Hyde, the reviewer, better keep on writing herself; she’s that persuasive!

Audio review of The Woman and the Wheat

I’m thrilled with this list of favorite children’s books. What a line up! There are several here that are completely new to me–and I have thousands on my shelves. I can’t wait to read each and every new one mentioned…

Favorites

The Serpent Came to Gloucester by M.T. Anderson and Bagram Ibatoulline

Fingal’s Quest by Madeleine A Polland

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Tales of the Kingdom by David R. Mains, Karen Burton Mains and Linda Lee Wells

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

The Clown of God by Tomie de Paola

The Little Red Caboose by Marian Potter and Tibor Gergely

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Olivia by Ian Falconer

If you give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond

Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

We’re going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace and Lois Lenski

Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus and Jose Aruego

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and P. J. Lynch

The Abbot & I : as told by Josie the Cat by Sarah Elizabeth Cowie

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

From I-ville to You-ville by Mersine Vigopoulou, Emani Heers, and Fr. Peter Alban Heers

A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

Make Way for Ducklings (and other books such as Lentil, and Homer Price) by Robert McCloskey

The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco

The Life of St. Brigid: Abbess of Kildare by Jane G Meyer 🙂 and Zachary Lynch

The Miracle of St. Nicholas by Gloria Whelan

One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham

Books illustrated by Gennady Spirin

Books illustrated by Ruth Sanderson

The Weaving of a Dream by Marilee Heyer

The Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall

All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan and Michael Wimmer

Go, Dogs, Go!, The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett

When Mama Comes Home Tonight by Eileen Spinelli and Jane Dyer

The Monk who Grew Prayer by Claire Brandenburg

The Man and the Vine by Jane G Meyer (another :))and Ned Gannon

Beatrix Potter books

Something from Nothing by Phoebe Gillman

Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch and Sheila McGraw

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd

At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

The Gruffalo and The Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson

Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Celebrate the Earth and The Story of Mary by Dorrie Papademetriou

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Stone Soup by Marcia Brown

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney and Ann M. Martin

Angel in the Waters by Regina Doman and Ben Hatke

Hippos Go Berzerk by Sandra Boynton

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister Herbert and J. Alison James

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Tear Soup by Pat Schweibert, Chuck DeKlyen, and Taylor Bills

The Donkey’s Dream by Barbara Helen Berger

Christmas Cookies by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jane Dyer

The Golden Book of Poetry edited by Jane Werner

A Chair For My Mother by Vera B. Williams

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

And the winner is…

SAMANTHA STARR!

A high school friend from my Samohi days, whose favorite children’s book pick was Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. Samantha, how fun!

Okay, off to the post office with the book. I wish you all a blessed and beautiful last Saturday before Christmas!

The Woman and the Wheat–a Gift

Having the time and space and energy to write has been a treasured gift.

One of the results is this children’s book, which I humbly offer back to you….

And speaking of gifts–it’d be fun to give one away! (This idea just popped into my mind and I’m going to go with it!)  Write a comment here on this blog post, listing one of your very favorite children’s books. I’ll gather all your names and do a drawing on the morning of Saturday, December 19th. That way I’ll still have time to mail it to you by Christmas Day–all wrapped so you can put it under your tree.

Sound fun? Giving is always fun. Plus, maybe we’ll end up with a great list of children’s books to share with each other!

Many blessings to you, my friends.