Creating Beanie

It’s surprising how many times I’ve been asked how I came up with the name ‘Beanie”. Truth is the inquisitive young character came to be long before he ever had a name! He’d made discoveries, laughed and cried and even named his own dog before it occurred to me that my little adventurer did not yet have a name!

The subject consumed me for weeks while I fretted about what – and even whether – to name him. Nothing seemed to fit, no name seemed right until one day I mentioned my dilemma to a workmate who may not have been a fan of children’s literature but was kind enough to listen. Balling up a candy wrapper and making a dramatic bank shot into the trash can he said simply “Beanie.”. I thought about it for a good long minute before I knew that was it! 

In fact the naming of Beanie (at last) resulted in the decision to compile his adventures into his own chapter book: Beanie’s Backyard.

Share the Enrichment

How do those delicately shimmering aspen leaves manage to remain attached in a windstorm? Why does the jumping cactus jump? How do birds land on saguaros without getting poked? 

The melding of children and nature is a powerful union; affording practical wisdom and advancing innate curiosity toward further discovery while instilling an appreciation for the preservation of one of the most fundamental sources of knowledge on earth – nature.

A perfectly natural response to the exhilaration of discovery is the desire to share what we’ve learned; how we feel.  Whether whispered in awe of a sunset at dusk or echoed through a deep canyon pass, expressed in lyrical song or depicted in colorful chalk on a sidewalk, we all share.

In association with a lifelong fascination with books and the captivating stories within, writing is my expression of choice with which to share the extraordinary enrichment of reading – for leisure, for learning, for life.