Books with author Vanita Oelschlager

The story is based on the actual experiences of Moses, an eight year-old boy and resident of St. Helene’s orphanage outside Port-au-Prince. As an infant, he was literally plucked from the waters of a nearby river, having been placed in a basket by whom we believe was his grandmother. The rest of his family perished in floods that wiped out their upland village in 2004. He was given his name by the nuns at St. Helene’s. The title is Moses’ reply to the author when she asked where he is from. After the earthquake of 2010 destroyed Port-au-Prince and much of the surround- ing area, the orphanage was flooded with a new wave of parentless boys and girls. Moses helped these children adapt to their new lives and in so doing displays a fearless hope and determination that may lead to Haiti’s renewal as a self-support- ing nation. St. Helene’s orphanage is run by Father Rick Frechette known globally for his dedication to improving the lives of poor children across Latin America. Net profits from I Came From the Water will go to support St. Helene’s and Father Rick’s efforts to help rebuild Haiti by offering a safe place to live and a free education for children like Moses.

The early Railroads became a sign of hope to American people. The work was dangerous. They were a close group who supported each other...men of great honor. By 1910 the railroads employed 1,699,420 Americans. They were conductors, brakemen, firemen, engineers, porters, telegraphers, switchmen and section gangs. Some of the hardest workers were the section gangs. One group called Gandy Dancers, sang songs that helped keep them working together to straighten the tracks. This is a story about the Gandy Dancers, a forgotten group of men like the Pullman Porters. This is our second book in our black history series that we should never forget.

Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries show children the magic of idioms – words that separately have one meaning, but together take on something entirely different. Children are curious about words, especially phrases that make them laugh (“Couch potato!”), sound silly (“Eat your words”) or trigger images that tickle a child’s sense of the absurd (“Pie in the sky”). Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries uses outlandish illustrations of what the words describe literally. The reader then has to guess the “real” meaning of the phrases (which is upside down in the corner of each spread). At the end of the book, the reader is invited to learn more about these figures of speech. Our first book of idioms, Birds of a Feather (2009), dealt with birds, insects or animals. Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries uses food idioms. Both are fun – and instructive!

The story is based on the actual experiences of Moses, an eight year-old boy and resident of St. Helene’s orphanage outside Port-au-Prince. As an infant, he was lit- erally plucked from the waters of a nearby river, having been placed in a basket by whom we believe was his grandmother. The rest of his family perished in floods that wiped out their upland village in 2004. He was given his name by the nuns at St. Helene’s. The title is Moses’ reply to the author when she asked where he is from. After the earthquake of 2010 destroyed Port-au-Prince and much of the surround- ing area, the orphanage was flooded with a new wave of parentless boys and girls. Moses helped these children adapt to their new lives and in so doing displays a fearless hope and determination that may lead to Haiti’s renewal as a self-support- ing nation. St. Helene’s orphanage is run by Father Rick Frechette known globally for his dedication to improving the lives of poor children across Latin America. Net profits from I Came From the Water will go to support St. Helene’s and Father Rick’s efforts to help rebuild Haiti by offering a safe place to live and a free education for children like Moses.

Postcards from a War is about a boy whose mother has recently been deployed overseas to a war. His grandfather, who was about the same age when his father left to serve in World War II, helps him understand why she has gone away. He shares with his grandson postcards and letters sent by his father from the Philippines. The grandfather and grandson collaborate on building a scrapbook that will include these, plus the letters and emails and other communications the boy will get from his mother. Postcards is intended for 4-8 year olds, ones who are old enough to understand that a parent in the military may have to go to a dangerous place, but maybe not why. It shows the important intergenerational bonding that families often experience during times of war. The postcards and letters in the book were received by the author from her father during World War II.

Out of the Blue shows children the magic of idioms – words that separately have one meaning, but together take on something entirely different. Children are curious about words, especially phrases that make them laugh (“Tickled Pink”), sound silly (“Shrinking Violet”) or trigger images that tickle a child’s sense of the absurd (“A Red Letter Day”). Out of the Blue uses outlandish illustrations of what the words describe literally. The reader then has to guess the “real” meaning of the phrases (which are upside down in the corners of each spread). At the end of the book, the reader is invited to learn more about these figures of speech. Our first book of idioms, Birds of a Feather (2009), dealt with birds, insects or animals. Our second, Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries (2011) uses food idioms. Out of the Blue uses color idioms. All three are fun – and instructive.

Out of the Blue shows children the magic of idioms – words that separately have one meaning, but together take on something entirely different. Children are curious about words, especially phrases that make them laugh (“Tickled Pink”), sound silly (“Shrinking Violet”) or trigger images that tickle a child’s sense of the absurd (“A Red Letter Day”). Out of the Blue uses outlandish illustrations of what the words describe literally. The reader then has to guess the “real” meaning of the phrases (which are upside down in the corners of each spread). At the end of the book, the reader is invited to learn more about these figures of speech. Our first book of idioms, Birds of a Feather (2009), dealt with birds, insects or animals. Our second, Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries (2011) uses food idioms. Out of the Blue uses color idioms. All three are fun – and instructive.

Children are innately curious about words, especially phrases that make them laugh (""Ants in your pants!""), sound silly (""Barking up the wrong tree"" or ""Goosebumps"") or trigger images that tickle a child's sense of the absurd (""Like a bull in a china shop""). Birds of a Feather introduces children to the magic of idioms words that separately have one meaning, but together take on something entirely different. Birds of a Feather introduces idioms with outlandish illustrations of what the words describe literally. The reader then has to guess the ""real"" meaning of the phrases (which is upside down in the corner of each spread). At the end of the book, the reader is invited to learn more about these figures of speech.