Military Family Books: Stories Behind the Stories

07 Aug '20

Stories Behind the Stories with Nancy Polette, author of The Spy With the Wooden Leg: The Story of Virginia Hall

Children’s book author and educator Nancy Polette shares her experience writing The Spy With the Wooden Leg: The Story of Virginia Hall, a nonfiction middle grade book.

Nancy has written more than 170 books for children. She came across Virginia Hall when she was researching for a different book. Nancy was fascinated by Virginia’s story of becoming a master spy in WWII despite many obstacles, including having a wooden leg. Nancy feels everyone should know Virginia’s story, and she hopes it will inspire young girls to pursue their own dreams.

31 Jul '20

Stories Behind the Stories with Lisa Molinari and Mollie Gross

Milspouse authors Lisa Smith Molinari (The Meat and Potatoes of Life) and Mollie Gross (Confessions of a Military Wife) treat us to some much needed humor in this Military Family Books: Stories Behind the Stories video.

Using a comedic Zoom call as their venue, Lisa and Mollie chat about, among other things, humor as a love language, the effectiveness of using raisins for mindfulness, and how using humor as a response to their military life experiences helped them focus on what matters most.

24 Jul '20

Stories Behind the Stories with Quinette Cook, illustrator of Military Life: Stories and Poems for Children

Artist Quinette Cook shares lessons she learned illustrating Military Life: Stories and Poems for Children and how the experience allowed her to grow as an illustrator.

One of the challenges Quinette faced was painting unique characters for stories and poems of different lengths by 12 different authors on a variety of military family life topics. Quinette also shares a few ways she personalized the paintings.

17 Jul '20

Stories Behind the Stories with Dr Kimberly Johnson, author of No Fear for Freedom: The Story of the Friendship 9

Dr Kimberly Johnson, author of No Fear for Freedom: The Story of the Friendship 9

Children’s book author and military spouse Kimberly Johnson, EdD, shares a powerful message about her journey writing her nonfiction book, No Fear for Freedom: The Story of the Friendship 9.

No Fear for Freedom gained international recognition in 2015 when Kimberly spearheaded efforts to have the trespassing sentences vacated for members of The Friendship 9, who conducted a sit-in in 1961 at a segregated lunch counter in Rock Hill, SC. This group of men changed the course of the Civil Rights Movement by activating the Jail No Bail strategy.

10 Jul '20

Stories Behind the Stories with Christina Rodriguez, illustrator of The Wishing Tree

Artist Christina Rodriguez introduces Yelena Burns-Nazaroff, a lifelong friend who was the inspiration for Christina’s paintings of Amanda, the main character in The Wishing Tree by Mary Redman.

In this Stories Behind the Stories video, Christina and Yelena talk about some of their shared experiences, memories, and feelings as military kids. Christina also shares some of her early sketches that were based on photos of Yelena’s family.

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