Holiday greetings

What a lovely email I got for the holiday, from a stranger.

Dear Karen,
I’ve been meaning to email you for months, but life has gotten in the way. During this holiday season, I’m trying to say thanks to people who have impacted my life in some way, so here I am finally emailing.

When I discovered your books I was so excited. I checked every one of them out of the library and read them with my kids (8 and 5). As a person who has lived and traveled in developing countries, your books touch on so many issues that are near and dear to my heart. They are the kind of books I try to write and aspire to have published some day. Thank you for being a role model for me.

Last summer, I posted about A Beach Tail on my blog. I thought you might like to read it. I’m sorry I didn’t send the link to you before now. http://michellecusolito.blogspot.com/2010/08/beach-tail.html Thank you for writing the lovely text that inspired Floyd Cooper’s wonderful art.

Happy Holidays.

Please do see her web page. And best wishes to everyone for the holidays and New Year.

Beatrice's Dream Pub Date in February

Just got my first copy of BEATRICE'S DREAM in the mail yesterday. It has been a long time coming. I worked on this book while I was in Kenya in 2003 with photographer Wendy Stone. I spent a week following Beatrice around the huge slum, Kibera. This is where she lives, goes to school and visits with her friends. But Beatrice has a dream and this lovely quiet girl is a young woman now on her way to making the dream come true.

Many thanks to Wendy who made this book happen and to Beatrice who shared her life. See Wendy's website, http://www.wendystone.com/ and watch my website, www.karenlynnwilliams.com and this blog for updates on Beatrice and more about the book with teacher guides to come.