Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks: This Week's Book Walk

Prayer During Hurricane Season

Prayer for Hurricane Season
O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control. The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster. During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen. Originally dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Audrey in 1957. - Fr. Al Volpe, Cameron Parish, LA

January 31, 2008

This Week's Book Walk

Just a reminder that today is the last day to get your name into the cake bowl for the Book Walk drawing and to purchase my new book at the introductory price of $13.95. Flashlight Press has donated four outstanding illustrated books for this week's Book Walk. Everyone who has ordered a copy of A Picture Perfect Childhood (or does so today) will be entered in the Book Walk. There will be four winners this week!

Flashlight Press website offers illustrated books with a message. Each and every book shares a message, a moral, a thought, a memory, an emotion, or a feeling with you and your child. Flashlight Press beams a flashlight on some of the very best works that children's book publishing is offering today. Their website also offers you the opportunity to look inside each book and offers study guides to go with some of the books.

These are the four featured books which were donated to the Book Walk:

Grandfather's Wrinkles by Kathryn England---"Grandfather's memories of these happy events -- his wedding day, when his daughter (Lucy's mother) was born, his daughter's wedding day, and more -- are shown in full-spread illustrations, alternating with close-ups of Lucy on Grandfather's lap. Her pudgy fingers softly tracing each crease intriguingly contrast with the lined old skin on his face. Grandfather's newest wrinkles, of course, were acquired when he smiled so hugely on the day that Lucy was born."

Wishes for One More Day by Melanie Pastor---with the passing of Poppy, Anna and her brother begin to "think about the joyful, exciting things they would do if they did have one more day together with Poppy." This book offers an inventive and proactive way for children to deal with the death of a grandparent.

The Only One Club by Jane Naliboff ---"This book will encourage children to discover and treasure their own uniqueness and to look for unique qualities in others. We hope kids will want to make their own Only One Club badges and start these clubs with their friends."

Getting to Know Ruben Plotnick by Roz Rosenbluth---David is worried about how zany Ruben Plotnick will react when he meets Grandma Rosie, who often says and does unexpected things. Will Ruben make fun of her to their classmates? Will he
imitate her whispery voice? What will he do if Grandma Rosie suddenly wants to dance? This heartwarming story of senility and school-age embarrassment reveals the importance of looking beneath the surface to really get to know someone."