Becky Van Vleet preserves family memories in her picture book series–she tells us how she got started and is offering a free hardback copy of Harvey, The Traveling Harmonica to one commenter this week.
Let me add a short review: A Harmonica can find a way into your heart–I discovered this while reading Harvey, the Traveling Harmonica. The generations come together in Harvey’s delightful travels from a father to his son. And surprise! Our hero experiences great danger, rescue, and newfound friendship in the process of family life. I highly recommend this colorful, exciting children’s book, and plan to share my copy with our eight-year-old grandson.
I love creating and preserving family traditions and passing down stories to the next generation. That’s who I am! Sharing family stories with my children, journaling, preserving family traditions from my own childhood came naturally for me as a new wife and mother in the 1970s.
In my current season of life with adult children and my lovely Grands, more than ever I pass down our family stories, and I constantly fan the embers for past and new family traditions. After all, I’m a baby boomer. Shouldn’t we be sharing our stories with the next generations? We have firsthand knowledge of our parents enduring the depression and our fathers fighting in World War II. It is more important than ever before to share our stories.
As a sixty-something retiree, I decided to try my hand at writing a children’s picture book about a true family story. With a little plaid skirt that had been traveling in our family more than seventy years, I couldn’t let this story fade away. I wanted my book to capture this story and preserve the family memories. Thus, Talitha, the Traveling Skirtcame to be.
With the publication success of my first book, I asked myself, why not try another one? What family memory did I want to capture? In my growing up years, my father played the harmonica and I came to love that sweet music from a little instrument that could fit inside his pocket. When my keyboard met up with my memory of my father, Harvey, the Traveling Harmonicawas published soon thereafter.
As I held my second children’s book for the first time, I asked myself, why not create a series of traveling books? All kinds of family stories swirled through my mind for preserving memories in the form of future children’s books. And I’m excited to say that Rosie, the Traveling Rockeris slated for publication later this year.
We all have stories to share along with family traditions. Our stories make our world. And what better way to preserve our stories, memories, and traditions than through books to connect us all together? I would love for you to check out my website which is devoted to family stories and traditions: https://www.beckyvanvleet.comIf you have a story to share, let me know and I’ll feature it on my website for others to enjoy!
https://www.amazon.com/Becky-Van-Vleet/e/B07WPFZ98X?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000 Amazon author page
https://www.facebook.com/authorbeckyvanvleet FB author page
https://www.pinterest.com/beckyvanvleet/_saved/
https://www.instagram.com/becky_van_vleet_author/
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/becky-van-vleethttps://www.goads.com/author/show/19507194.
I love creating and preserving family traditions and passing down stories to the next generation. That’s who I am! Sharing family stories with my children, journaling, preserving family traditions from my own childhood came naturally for me as a new wife and mother in the 1970s.
In my current season of life with adult children and my lovely Grands, more than ever I pass down our family stories, and constantly fan the embers for past and new family traditions. After all, I’m a baby boomer. Shouldn’t we be sharing our stories with the next generations? We have firsthand knowledge of our parents enduring the depression and our fathers fighting in World War II. It is more important than ever before to share our stories.
As a sixty-something retiree, I decided to try my hand at writing a children’s picture book about a true family story. With a little plaid skirt that had been traveling in our family more than seventy years, I couldn’t let this story fade away. I wanted my book to capture this story and preserve the family memories. Thus, Talitha, the Traveling Skirt came to be.
With the publication success of my first book, I asked myself, why not try another one? What family memory did I want to capture? In my growing up years, my father played the harmonica and I came to love that sweet music from a little instrument that could fit inside his pocket. When my keyboard met up with my memory of my father, Harvey, the Traveling Harmonica resulted, and was published soon thereafter.
As I held my second children’s book for the first time, I asked myself, why not make a series of traveling books? All kinds of family stories swirled through my mind for preserving memories in the form of future children’s books. And I’m excited to say that Rosie, the Traveling Rocke ris slated for publication later this year.
We all have stories to share, along with family traditions. Our stories make our world. And what better way to preserve our stories, memories, and traditions than through books to connect us all together? I would love for you to check out my website devoted to family stories and traditions: https://www.beckyvanvleet.com If you have a story to share, let me know and I’ll feature it on my website for others to enjoy!
Connect with Becky at these sites:
Thank you, Gail, for featuring me and allowing me to share my passion about family stories, creating traditions, and preserving memories. I hope I can always encourage others to keep their stories and memories alive for others to enjoy.
Fun to feature your lovely book, Becky. From the comments, it looks as though your hope is being realized!
Thank you, Gail! Many blessings to you.
I love learning new ways to share family history and stories. What a wonderful way to do that with picture books! Thanks Becky for sharing this wonderful idea. Your books must have been so much fun to write. You’ve inspired me to look at all I know about my family and find a few nuggets to build a story around. Thanks Gail for sharing such wonderful posts!
Becky, I forgot to mention above that I also like that you are writing about your father’s WWII experience. I did this also for my dad but in a book based on his journal entries during the war.(LST-388).
That’s great Barbara. What is the title of your book? As the greatest generation dies off, I fear we will lose many fascinating stories that probably could have been preserved through writings.
You are SO welcome…I love that Becky included her father’s war experience, too.
Thank you, Barbara, for stopping by Gail’s site to leave a comment. And yes, if you look around a bit, we all have so many stories to preserve and share, and probably make into books! Have you read any of Patricia Polacco’s books? Almost all of her children’s books are based upon true life stories. She’s one of my favorite authors. If you haven’t, see if you can check out one or two from your local library. You won’t be disappointed!
I so enjoyed learning how your traveling books series got its start. I can imagine the wonderful lessons of faith that can be gleaned from their pages. Am going to be looking for these. I’ve been blessed perhaps to have never had to survive “Hormone Hill”, but I somehow think I would be a better man for it. Blessings and great success Ms. Becky. Thanks as always for this wonderful inside look Ms. Gail.
Thank you, J.D., for stopping by Gail’s site. Yes, it’s been great fun for me to start on this path of writing, simply because I wanted to preserve a true family story. And hormone hill? Yes, dads must be strong and flexible and of strong mind to survive it!!
This is such fun, but I couldn’t get the links to work!
Hi Joy, we changed them, please try again.
Hi Joy, I gave new links to Gail. Please let me know if they are working. I’m not sure how it happens, but the links are active and work for a period of time. And then out of nowhere, I find they aren’t working. Oh, the joys of technology woes! Thank you for stopping by Gail’s site.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by Gail’s site and made comments–it was fun for me to connect with you. In addition to the three of you, another person made a comment on Gail’s author FB page and her name was drawn as the winner of my children’s picture book. Congratulations to Deborah Copass!