Childrens Book

“The Odessa Chronicles” – a new review

The following is copied from amazon.com. When a teacher for 31 years can see value in “The Odessa Chronicles” …. perhaps it should be given serious consideration for the upcoming festive season and, bonus …. there is minimal COVID shopping risk as it can be delivered to you! What more could anybody want eh!

“The Odessa Chronicles is a series of quick adventures for Joshua Pebblestone (the man-servant) and his animal friends who live with him at Moonbeam Farm. Joshua’s animal friends consist of Odessa (a wandering barn owl), Jaxon (a jackalope—a furry horned creature with magical powers), and Dewey (an unusual cat). Like any family, things don’t always go smoothly, but they all seem to care about one another genuinely. The one thing they all share in common is a love for adventure. In addition, they enjoy playing tricks on one another, but their tricks are far more playful pranks than anything cruel.

The man-servant and his animal friends have the unique ability to communicate with one another, though Odessa and the man-servant constantly have a humorous time understanding one another. Each of the characters has challenges to overcome at some point, and they are all sympathetic and lovable characters despite their idiosyncrasies.

As someone who taught grades 2-6 for thirty-one years, I know that children in that age group would enjoy this book. I feel it would make a great read-aloud for young children, but I can imagine 5th and 6th graders reading and enjoying this book independently. While the book’s purpose is to entertain, there are also many fine embedded lessons for children to learn. Each of the forty-eight chapters is a new adventure waiting to happen.”

The “Big Water”

To my more recent Followers, and to anybody/everybody who is not familiar with a Barn Owl named Odessa, the link below goes to an earlier Post which covers an excerpt from the book “The Odessa Chronicles”. Whereas the book is, for the most part, a collection of short stories, the excerpt in the Post linked below is from a quite lengthy adventure as Odessa tries to find answers to some questions about her past. Continue reading →

The “Odessa” Evaluation.

Getting any book ready for publishing is challenging for many reasons, but one key one is simply the thought “Is it good enough for publishing?” I have heard of a number of writers who just blindly go ahead, but I really thought that there were considerable potential benefits with having the manuscript professionally evaluated.

We subsequently submitted “The Odessa Chronicles” to Friesen Press … and waited! Continue reading →

“The Greenwoods Election.”

Some of you may be aware that there are some political “sensitivities” around here at the moment at both our Provincial and Federal levels of government. Most of you are probably aware of the “sensitivities” in the UK regarding Brexit. All of you are no doubt aware of the “sensitivities” in the USA. Probably none of you are, however, aware of the issues surrounding the Greenwoods election. Continue reading →

“The Uexpected Hero” (Part 3)

Assuming that you have read Parts 1 and 2, please continue … and enjoy!

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Odessa landed on the ground a short distance away from the fox and started limping. The fox stopped and looked at her with curiosity. She was about to congratulate herself on a good plan, when the fox turned and once again started heading directly towards Dewey!

She watched from above as the fox got closer and closer to him. Dewey was still a few minutes away from the tree when it happened. Odessa saw the grasses part ahead of her, and a large dog with big dark brown eyes came bursting out and heading directly at the fox! Continue reading →

“A Fishy Negotiation” (Part II)

Much later that day, the man-servant was relaxing in his chair in the living room when Odessa, Jaxon, and Dewey walked in. All three of them stood in front of the man-servant, and then Odessa hit Dewey with a wing, and Jaxon gave him a gentle kick with one of his back legs. “Go for it.” he whispered to Dewey. Continue reading →

“A Fishy Negotiation” (Part I)

“A Fishy Negotiation” is one if the stories, for children of ages 4 to 104, in the book “The Odessa Chronicles”.

Odessa is a Barn Owl with an attitude, who befriended Jaxon (a magical Jackalope). The two of them met Dewey (a cat with all the usual cat characteristics based around a desire for a life of luxury), and the three of them moved into an empty farm.

Joshua Pebblestone bought his dream farm. His life was now going to be spent immersed in the peace and quiet of rural life, but then he found that he had three lodgers! Continue reading →

Odessa is flying!

Below is the latest review of “The Odessa Chronicles”

“ My daughter and I both enjoyed the stories about Odessa and her friends. November 11, 2018

We loved how the animals were brought to life as real beings with their own personalities and attitudes. We also liked how the man servant showed compassion and understanding even though he was often confused. We recommend this book to all ages for a light, fun reading experience. “ Continue reading →

The Dewey Farm Cat Blues (Oh yeah)!

What happens when a cat (Dewey), a Barn Owl (Odessa), and a Jackalope (Jaxon) decide to live together on an empty farm and be friends? What happens when Joshua (eventually named man-servant by Dewey) fulfills his retirement dream of buying a little farm out in the country, totally oblivious to the fact that he will not be alone? That scenario forms the basis of many short stories in “The Odessa Chronicles” (stories for children ages 4 to 104). The following is an extract from one of the stories: Continue reading →