Books with author Mr. Peter W. Collier

Riveting real-life accounts of heroism from Medal of Honor recipients, including Clinton Romesha (author of Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor) and exceptional civilians like schoolteacher Jencie Fagan How does an ordinary person become a hero? It happens in a split second, a moment of focus and clarity, when a choice is made. Here are the gripping accounts of Medal of Honor recipients who demonstrated guts and selflessness on the battlefield and confronted life-threatening danger to make a difference. There are the stories of George Sakato and Vernon Baker—both of whom overcame racial discrimination to enlist in the army during World War II (Sakato was a second-generation Japanese American, Baker an African American) and went on to prove that heroes come in all colors—and Clint Romesha, who led his outnumbered fellow soldiers against a determined enemy to prevent the Taliban from taking over a remote U.S. Army outpost in Afghanistan. Also included are civilians who have been honored by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation for outstanding acts of bravery in crisis situations, from a school shooting to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Adding depth and context are illuminating essays on the combat experience and its aftermath, covering topics such as overcoming fear; a mother mourning the loss of her son; and “surviving hell” as a prisoner of war.

How does an ordinary person become a hero? It happens in a split second, a moment of focus and clarity, when a choice is made. Here are the gripping accounts of Medal of Honor recipients who demonstrated guts and selflessness on the battlefield and confronted life-threatening danger to make a difference. There are the stories of George Sakato and Vernon Baker—both of whom overcame racial discrimination to enlist in the army during World War II (Sakato was a second-generation Japanese American, Baker an African American) and went on to prove that heroes come in all colors—and Clint Romesha, who led his outnumbered fellow soldiers against a determined enemy to prevent the Taliban from taking over a remote U.S. Army outpost in Afghanistan. Also included are civilians who have been honored by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation for outstanding acts of bravery in crisis situations, from a school shooting to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Adding depth and context are illuminating essays on the combat experience and its aftermath, covering topics such as overcoming fear; a mother mourning the loss of her son; and “surviving hell” as a prisoner of war.

What turns an ordinary person into a hero? What happens in the blink of an eye on a battlefield (or in any dangerous situation) to bring out true courage? The men and women who have been recognized by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation know the answers to these questions deep in their hearts. We learn of Jack Lucas, a thirteen-year-old who kept his real age a secret so he could fight in World War II—where he deliberately fell on a grenade to save his buddies during the Iwo Jima invasion—and Clint Romesha, who almost single-handedly prevented a remote U.S. Army outpost in Afghanistan from being taken over by the Taliban. Also included are civilians who have been honored by the Foundation for outstanding acts of bravery in crisis situations: for example, Jencie Fagan, a gym teacher who put herself in danger to disarm a troubled eighth grader before he could turn a gun on his classmates. Adding depth and context are illuminating sidebars throughout and essays on the combat experience and its aftermath: topics such as overcoming fear; a mother mourning her son; and “surviving hell” as a prisoner of war. Back matter includes a glossary and an index.

This is one of the author's personal favourites. It's a kind of feel-good story about the people of a small town and their curiosity concerning the apple at the top of a tree. If you liked reading it, which I'm sure you will, don't miss "The Immovable Rock", "The Fishing Derby", "Lou and Stu". Three Old Men and Their Teddy", or "Foggy Daze".Ideal for a bedtime read.If you like this one, other stories like 'Cross Your Fingers', 'Everyone has a Name', 'Gingersnap Dragons', 'Foggy Daze', or 'Sick Again' you will find great for family laughs. Alternatively, I have several fully illustrated stories, like 'Monsters I Know', 'Kids I Know, 'Hector the Collector', or 'Marmalade Jam and Chocolate Eclairs', and othersMy stories are designed for both the reader and the listener.Children will request parents to re-read, over and over again, a story that has caught their imagination.If not in rhyme, these stories will quickly become dull and a burden to read.When written in free verse, a story is both a delight to read and to hear.The reader feels accomplished when reading my stories and, in the act of story telling, begins exaggerating tone, inflection, and mood.When constructed in free verse rhyme, while reading along, children quickly begin to retain portions of each story.Once the child begins reading independently, these stories act as memory assisting templates to guide the beginning reader through their first reading selections. The reading successes of a child will fuel additional comprehension activities and help to jump start reading skills that greatly motivate the young reader.For the adult reader these stories are always a treat.I understand the necessity to include a readers interests and needs as part of the story telling activities.The length of these stories is designed to be between 10 to 15 minutes, to act as a short break or bedtime activity. Unlike Dr. Suess, I have avoided making up new nouns and adjectives for purposes of rhyme,other than some tintinnabulation (words designed to give greater description of sounds), finding that teachers do not appreciate this activity.I find that by identifying children by full name, as the story characters, it adds a sense of character reality and identity. The children accept the diversity of people, which, in turn, opens the imagination to accepting limitless fictional situations and opportunities.My stories constitute several conceptual elements to motivate reading and precipitate a positive child's reading development.For all teachers and Friends, I applaud your support in exposing free verse reading to young children. Your efforts to improve early perceptions of reading will provide children with a foundation for continued learning comprehension and development.

This one is just for fun. Kids love MONSTERS...and this introduces a few of my own imaginings. Ideal for a bedtime read.If you like this one, other stories like 'Cross Your Fingers', 'Everyone has a Name', 'Gingersnap Dragons' or 'Sick Again' you will find great for family laughs. Alternatively, I have several fully illustrated stories, like 'Kids I Know', 'Hector the Collector', or 'Marmalade Jam and Chocolate Eclairs',and some others that are simply magical to experience, like 'The Immovable Rock' or 'The Very Last Apple'...these are the feel-good kind of bedtime stories that everyone looks for when reading to children. The best illustrations are often inside the imaginations of children. www.readingtochildren.comMy stories are designed for both the reader and the listener.Children will request parents to re-read, over and over again, a story that has caught their imagination.If not in rhyme, these stories will quickly become dull and a burden to read.When written in free verse, a story is both a delight to read and to hear.The reader feels accomplished when reading my stories and, in the act of story telling, begins exaggerating tone, inflection, and mood.When constructed in free verse rhyme, while reading along, children quickly begin to retain portions of each story.Once the child begins reading independently, these stories act as memory assisting templates to guide the beginning reader through their first reading selections. The reading successes of a child will fuel additional comprehension activities and help to jump start reading skills that greatly motivate the young reader.For the adult reader these stories are always a treat.I understand the necessity to include a readers interests and needs as part of the story telling activities.The length of these stories is designed to be between 10 to 15 minutes, to act as a short break or bedtime activity. Unlike Dr. Suess, I have avoided making up new nouns and adjectives for purposes of rhyme, other than some tintinnabulation (words designed to give greater description of sounds), finding that teachers do not appreciate this activity.I find that by identifying children by full name, as the story characters, it adds a sense of character reality and identity. The children accept the diversity of people, which, in turn, opens the imagination to accepting limitless fictional situations and opportunities.My stories constitute several conceptual elements to motivate reading and precipitate a positive child's reading development.For all teachers and Friends, I applaud your support in exposing free verse reading to young children. Your efforts to improve early perceptions of reading will provide children with a foundation for continued learning comprehension and development.

This story enlightens children to the use of visual comprehension - i.e. not always will answers be given. Sometimes visual observations, deductive reasoning and elimination may reveal additional answers. This is what I see as the first real mystery story for children. The written verse asks only questions, and never does answer the question: "What's in the box?", but the illustration does.It is written and to be illustrated so that children maintain some focus on Fred, the dog. The ending is with Fred providing the answer to the mystery, by digging a hole in the shape of the object in the box (a large bone from the Natural History Museum – stickers on the box reveal part of the answer). My stories are designed for both the reader and the listener.Children will request parents to re-read, over and over again, a story that has caught their imagination.If not in rhyme, these stories will quickly become dull and a burden to read.When written in free verse, a story is both a delight to read and to hear.The reader feels accomplished when reading my stories and, in the act of story telling, begins exaggerating tone, inflection, and mood.When constructed in free verse rhyme, while reading along, children quickly begin to retain portions of each story.Once the child begins reading independently, these stories act as memory assisting templates to guide the beginning reader through their first reading selections. The reading successes of a child will fuel additional comprehension activities and help to jump start reading skills that greatly motivate the young reader.For the adult reader these stories are always a treat.I understand the necessity to include a readers interests and needs as part of the story telling activities.The length of these stories is designed to be between 10 to 15 minutes, to act as a short break or bedtime activity. Unlike Dr. Suess, I have avoided making up new nouns and adjectives for purposes of rhyme,other than some tintinnabulation (words designed to give greater description of sounds), finding that teachers do not appreciate this activity.I find that by identifying children by full name, as the story characters, it adds a sense of character reality and identity. The children accept the diversity of people, which, in turn, opens the imagination to accepting limitless fictional situations and opportunities.My stories constitute several conceptual elements to motivate reading and precipitate a positive child's reading development.For all teachers and Friends, I applaud your support in exposing unrestricted rhyme for reading to young children. Your efforts to improve early perceptions of reading will provide children with a foundation for continued learning comprehension and development.

This is a story illustrating the international problem of losing socks in the laundry.Mothers especially like to read this story to children, as it is a reminder of numerous bad habits that children exhibit daily – i.e. putting clean clothes in the laundry for washing, sometimes finding dirty clothes under their beds, things left in pockets that can go through the laundry, turning the legs and arms inside out when removing clothes, messing rooms, leaving toilet seats up, etc. These habits always need some additional instruction and reminders to be changed but the story goes a long way to provide an atmosphere for positive reinforcement.It's an instructional story when considering how, collectively, we sometimes pass blame onto others for problems that may be a result from our own actions. There is always a group to support every claim, regardless of how outrageous it may be.Ideal for a bedtime read.If you like this one, other stories like 'Cross Your Fingers', 'Everyone has a Name', 'Gingersnap Dragons' or 'Sick Again' you will find great for family laughs. Alternatively, I have several fully illustrated stories, like 'Monsters I Know' or 'Kids I know', and some others that are simply magical to experience, like 'The Immovable Rock' or 'The Very Last Apple'...these are the feel-good kind of bedtime stories that everyone looks for when reading to children. The best illustrations are often inside the imaginations of children.My stories are designed for both the reader and the listener.Children will request parents to re-read, over and over again, a story that has caught their imagination.If not in rhyme, these stories will quickly become dull and a burden to read.When written in free verse, a story is both a delight to read and to hear.The reader feels accomplished when reading my stories and, in the act of story telling, begins exaggerating tone, inflection, and mood.When constructed in free verse rhyme, while reading along, children quickly begin to retain portions of each story.Once the child begins reading independently, these stories act as memory assisting templates to guide the beginning reader through their first reading selections. The reading successes of a child will fuel additional comprehension activities and help to jump start reading skills that greatly motivate the young reader.For the adult reader these stories are always a treat.I understand the necessity to include a readers interests and needs as part of the story telling activities.The length of these stories is designed to be between 10 to 15 minutes, to act as a short break or bedtime activity. Unlike Dr. Suess, I have avoided making up new nouns and adjectives for purposes of rhyme,other than some tintinnabulation (words designed to give greater description of sounds), finding that teachers do not appreciate this activity.I find that by identifying children by full name, as the story characters, it adds a sense of character reality and identity. The children accept the diversity of people, which, in turn, opens the imagination to accepting limitless fictional situations and opportunities.My stories constitute several conceptual elements to motivate reading and precipitate a positive child's reading development.For all teachers and Friends, I applaud your support in exposing free verse reading to young children. Your efforts to improve early perceptions of reading will provide children with a foundation for continued learning comprehension and development.

If you've never been fishing, then here's a way to get your feet wet. This story is about a few unlikely characters, written as a free rhyming story for children at bedtime.These are the original stories, both a delight to read and to hear.It is written in vignette style, allowing the reader to stop and start, as convenient for reading to children.If you like this one, other stories like 'Cross Your Fingers', 'Everyone has a Name', 'Gingersnap Dragons', 'Foggy Daze', or 'Sick Again' you will find great for family laughs. Alternatively, I have several fully illustrated stories, like 'Monsters I Know', 'Kids I Know', 'Hector the Collector', or 'Marmalade Jam and Chocolate Eclairs',and others similar to 'The Fishing Derby', like 'The Immovable Rock', The Very Last Apple' or 'Foggy Daze' that are simply magical to experience...these are the feel-good kind of bedtime stories that everyone looks for when reading to children. The best illustrations are often inside the imaginations of children. www.readingtochildren.comMy stories are designed for both the reader and the listener.Children will request parents to re-read, over and over again, a story that has caught their imagination.If not in rhyme, these stories will quickly become dull and a burden to read.When written in free verse, a story is both a delight to read and to hear.The reader feels accomplished when reading my stories and, in the act of story telling, begins exaggerating tone, inflection, and mood.When constructed in free verse rhyme, while reading along, children quickly begin to retain portions of each story.Once the child begins reading independently, these stories act as memory assisting templates to guide the beginning reader through their first reading selections. The reading successes of a child will fuel additional comprehension activities and help to jump start reading skills that greatly motivate the young reader.For the adult reader these stories are always a treat.I understand the necessity to include a readers interests and needs as part of the story telling activities.The length of this story is designed to be between 15-20 minutes, to act as a short break or bedtime activity. Unlike Dr. Suess, I have avoided making up new nouns and adjectives for purposes of rhyme, other than some tintinnabulation (words designed to give greater description of sounds), finding that teachers do not appreciate this activity.I find that by identifying children by full name, as the story characters, it adds a sense of character reality and identity. The children accept the diversity of people, which, in turn, opens the imagination to accepting limitless fictional situations and opportunities.My stories constitute several conceptual elements to motivate reading and precipitate a positive child's reading development.For all teachers and Friends, I applaud your support in exposing free verse reading to young children. Your efforts to improve early perceptions of reading will provide children with a foundation for continued learning comprehension and development.

This story is a series of vignettes about children with creative, silly, imagined, or other kinds of illnesses, the reasons for missing school. It is intended to be an amusing bedtime read. If you like this one, other stories like 'Cross Your Fingers', 'Everyone has a Name', 'Gingersnap Dragons' or 'Sick Again' you will find great for family laughs. Alternatively, I have several fully illustrated stories, like 'Monsters I Know', 'Kids I Know', 'Hector the Collector', or 'Marmalade Jam and Chocolate Eclairs',and some others that are simply magical to experience, like 'The Immovable Rock' or 'The Very Last Apple'...these are the feel-good kind of bedtime stories that everyone looks for when reading to children. The best illustrations are often inside the imaginations of children. www.readingtochildren.comMy stories are designed for both the reader and the listener.Children will request parents to re-read, over and over again, a story that has caught their imagination.If not in rhyme, these stories will quickly become dull and a burden to read.When written in free verse, a story is both a delight to read and to hear.The reader feels accomplished when reading my stories and, in the act of story telling, begins exaggerating tone, inflection, and mood.When constructed in free verse rhyme, while reading along, children quickly begin to retain portions of each story.Once the child begins reading independently, these stories act as memory assisting templates to guide the beginning reader through their first reading selections. The reading successes of a child will fuel additional comprehension activities and help to jump start reading skills that greatly motivate the young reader.For the adult reader these stories are always a treat.I understand the necessity to include a readers interests and needs as part of the story telling activities.The length of this story is designed to be between 15-20 minutes, to act as a short break or bedtime activity. Unlike Dr. Suess, I have avoided making up new nouns and adjectives for purposes of rhyme, other than some tintinnabulation (words designed to give greater description of sounds), finding that teachers do not appreciate this activity.I find that by identifying children by full name, as the story characters, it adds a sense of character reality and identity. The children accept the diversity of people, which, in turn, opens the imagination to accepting limitless fictional situations and opportunities.My stories constitute several conceptual elements to motivate reading and precipitate a positive child's reading development.For all teachers and Friends, I applaud your support in exposing free verse reading to young children. Your efforts to improve early perceptions of reading will provide children with a foundation for continued learning comprehension and development.

This is the story of a small town and how it is influenced in silly ways by twin brothers. It also includes a gang of goofy criminals and a theme of baseball on the side. Some stories are just impossible to explain. It has all the kinds of elements readers have come to expect from my stories.Just for fun, it is enjoyable to read. A bit longer than most of my children stories, it is a 25 to 30 minute reading to children at bedtime, or 15 minutes stretched over 2 nights.My stories are designed for both the reader and the listener.Children will request parents to re-read, over and over again, a story that has caught their imagination.If not in rhyme, these stories will quickly become dull and a burden to read.When written in free-rhyming prose, a story is both a delight to read and to hear.The reader feels accomplished when reading my stories and, in the act of story telling, begins exaggerating tone, inflection, and mood.When constructed in free-rhyming prose, while reading along, children quickly begin to retain portions of each story.Once the child begins reading independently, these stories act as memory assisting templates to guide the beginning reader through their first reading selections. The reading successes of a child will fuel additional comprehension activities and help to jump start reading skills that greatly motivate the young reader.For the adult reader these stories are always a treat.I understand the necessity to include a readers interests and needs as part of the story telling activities.If you liked reading it, which I hope you will, don't miss "The Immovable Rock", "The Fishing Derby", "The Very Last Apple" or "Foggy Daze". All these are similar and ideal for bedtime or anytime reading.

This story is an amusing bedtime read, introducing silly and fanciful characters and the reasons for silly nicknames, such as Nasty Nathan, Bubble McCall, or Crackerjack Mack.If you like this one, other stories like 'Lots and Lots', 'Cross Your Fingers', or 'Sick Again' you will find great for family laughs. Alternatively, I have several fully illustrated stories like 'Monsters I Know', 'Kids I Know', and some that are simply magical to experience, like 'The Immovable Rock' or 'The Very Last Apple'...these are the feel-good kind of bedtime stories that everyone looks for when reading to children. www.readingtochildren.comMy stories are designed for both the reader and the listener.Children will request parents to re-read, over and over again, a story that has caught their imagination.If not in rhyme, these stories will quickly become dull and a burden to read.When written in free verse, a story is both a delight to read and to hear.The reader feels accomplished when reading my stories and, in the act of story telling, begins exaggerating tone, inflection, and mood.When constructed in free verse rhyme, while reading along, children quickly begin to retain portions of each story.Once the child begins reading independently, these stories act as memory assisting templates to guide the beginning reader through their first reading selections. The reading successes of a child will fuel additional comprehension activities and help to jump start reading skills that greatly motivate the young reader.For the adult reader these stories are always a treat.I understand the necessity to include a readers interests and needs as part of the story telling activities.The length of these stories is designed to be between 10 to 15 minutes, to act as a short break or bedtime activity. Unlike Dr. Suess, I have avoided making up new nouns and adjectives for purposes of rhyme,other than some tintinnabulation (words designed to give greater description of sounds), finding that teachers do not appreciate this activity.I find that by identifying children by full name, as the story characters, it adds a sense of character reality and identity. The children accept the diversity of people, which, in turn, opens the imagination to accepting limitless fictional situations and opportunities.My stories constitute several conceptual elements to motivate reading and precipitate a positive child's reading development.For all teachers and Friends, I applaud your support in exposing free verse reading to young children. Your efforts to improve early perceptions of reading will provide children with a foundation for continued learning comprehension and development.