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Mama's Wreaths
Julia Taylor Ebel
with M. Joann Moretz
Canterbury House Publishing
978-0-9829054-3-2
$10.95 paperback
6 x 9
59 pages
26 pencil sketches
September 2011
Fiction, Children/Young Adult, Appalachian, Cultural Heritage, North Carolina
The kitchen at Joanie’s mountain home is filled with fresh fir and hemlock branches, evergreens that Mama will use as she makes wreaths to sell before Christmas. Joanie is eager to learn to make wreaths like Mama’s. As Mama patiently guides her, Joanie learns not only about wreath making but also about trust and joy—lessons entwined with fragrant evergreen. Joanie’s story unfolds through a garland of gentle free-verse poems that readers of all ages will savor.
Through slices of life, Julia Taylor Ebel reminds readers of the importance of passing on traditions and cultural stories. Like Ebel’s previous books, Mama’s Wreaths was inspired by the experiences of real people—in this case, the wreath-making experiences of young writer M. Joann Moretz and her family. Enhanced by Joann’s keen eye for detail and Ebel’s delicate pencil sketches, Mama’s Wreaths is a heartwarming story to be read and shared at Christmas and throughout the year. |
Praise for Mama's Wreaths
“Beautifully crafted as one of Mama’s wreaths, this charming collection of narrative poems, strung together like cranberries on a Christmas tree, will draw you in from the very first line.”
—Terri Kirby Erickson, author of In the Palms of Angels
“Mama’s Wreaths tells the story of a young girl who learns a traditional and important skill known to women of the Southern mountains. It is not an easy skill, and she is proud to learn it from her mother and to cherish it later in life. The story is old and true—and fresh and new. Every page that Julia Taylor Ebel and Joann Moretz set down here smells like Christmas.”
—Fred Chappell, author of Shadow Box
“Julia Ebel’s sensitive poem story opens a window into an earlier time in the North Carolina mountains, when nature provided the makings for holiday traditions and for an added source of income.”
—Patricia Koehler, coauthor of Oakdale Cotton Mills
Links
Visit the author's website at: www.juliaebel.com.
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