Books with author Jane Marshall

"In seven illustrated stories . . . this Caldecott Honor artist introduces an array of lively anthropomorphized animals in amusing predicaments."--Publishers WeeklyRats can’t dance, right? Wrong. Here are seven silly stories about some very unusual creatures. Meet a sheep who can’t read (but thinks he can), an owl who outwits a brontosaurus, and a goose who thinks her wolf neighbors are canaries. “Those just beginning to read chapter books should find that this is just the thing to tickle their funnybones.”—School Library Journal

“Jan’s newest treat is a delightful handbook for getting through difficult times which includes tips and spiritual guidance. Her own survival and whimsy inspire us to view our challenges differently… DR. SUSAN JEFFERS, author of “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway.” Perhaps for some of us, the golden boomer age and beyond has tarnished a bit with health issues, loss in general and major disappointments. Put away the pills; wipe those tears and get over here. There is a way out and it can be fun. Laughter heals and connects us. Dancin, Shmancin shows us the way, painlessly and you do not even have to know how to dance. Jan Marshall turns life’s daily hassles into a ridiculous scenario by using exaggeration, satire and tad of truth; she is not actually seeking a divorce from Siri® who lives in her iPhone but they are in couple’s therapy). Yesterday, Siri advised her lawyer to ask Jan for a clothing allowance and a coffee maker. The book is dedicated to Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly, Wounded Warriors and friends who have lost children yet still manage to dance with life and contribute in spite of horrendous internal pain. This in turn, encourages the rest of us every single moment. Humor is the general theme and Dancin is a code word for anything pleasurable in your world. The Scars, well they are scars and may always remain in some manner but can be minimized by finding the humor and absurdities that surround us. Jan claims when she had her brain tumor surgery, the doctor also found a Whoopee Cushion. Chapters include the best place for seniors to find romance, (it involves prescriptions) and peaceful negotiations between body and mind after she shot her scale (with blanks she told the sheriff). She appreciates the libido of bald men, reveals to Justin Timberlake how she finds her own “Friends with Benefits” and discusses a new way to refer to age (only cheese ages). There is only one serious chapter, “Touched by an Angel in an Inappropriate Place” where she speaks of cancer, brain tumors and other cosmic jokes that were truly not funny, McGee! If you are having your own issues, Jan has techniques to get you through most anything. Though,as someone once suggested; we should all hang out with a goofy friend once in a while. Jan simply asks, “Why can't it be you, this time?”