Local author releases book on patience

In her quest to bring lessons from the Fruits of the Spirit, found in Galatians 5:22-23, to both children and adults, local author Shelleen Weaver has produced four books. The most recent is "Grizz Bear and Skippy Cricket," the tale of a ferocious and impatient bear whose winter hibernation is interrupted by an annoying cricket.

As with all Weaver's "Fruit Fables," the books, which employ Weaver's rhymes alongside Cody Wood's illustrations, contain nuggets of truth for all family members. "It's about a control freak who has a situation he can't control," explained Weaver. "He tries to control it with smashing (the cricket), but he can't because (the bug) is out of reach. His next form of control is intimidation, which doesn't work because Skippy is oblivious." Weaver explained that the bear stews a while before calming down and allowing the cricket's song to lull him into memories and dreams of summer. Grizz wakes up with a new outlook. "Sometimes it's better to be a reed that can bend (rather than) something that breaks when it gets windy," said Weaver.

"I write fables," noted Weaver, explaining that her stories use animal characters to teach a moral or a principle or a character quality. "We have fewer defenses up when we hear a story." To enhance the lesson, Weaver ends each book with a "Let's Chew on It ..." section of discussion questions. The most recent includes: "Was Grizz Bear used to getting his way?" and "Was Skippy Cricket trying to annoy him?" The books each include a verse from Galatians, an intentional prayer, and a special song. "It's built to almost be a curriculum," said Weaver, who noted that the books grew out of her son's demands for a bedtime story each night. "It started with my daughters, but my son (Adrian) was tenacious," Weaver recalled. "He really developed (storytelling) in me." Weaver said she often asked her son for a prompt to start the story, such as a type of animal or the name of the animal. One night, Adrian asked for a story about a dog named "Clammord." "But Clammord was not a dog," said Weaver. "He was a loud, clamorous duck." Clammord will be the main character of Weaver's next book, "Clammord Is Kind." "Clammord is obliviously annoying, and he gets shamed and ostracized because he's not gifted in the way (the others in his community) are, but he returns that cruelty with kindness," said Weaver.

Weaver's first book in the series, "Love Bird," about a bird that rudely repeats everything that is said to him, came out in 2020. In late 2021, Weaver released "Glub Glum's Ship Flip," about a fish she called "a bottom feeder" with "victim mentality pessimism." "Sir Beaver Finds the Missing Peace" tackles workaholism with poetry that evokes pictures, with lines such as: "Once upon a winding creek, where brook trout swim and bullfrogs leap. Sir Beaver lived, but couldn't sleep nor leave his work for fun."

Weaver is also a musician and singer, and she likens her books to her musical creativity. "I write the stories like I write music," she said. "You can use one word and carry it through a whole line or use 15 words and have it hit all the right spots," she stated, adding that without a tune, a little extra work is required. "I have to tighten it up so the inflections happen where they should so anybody can read it and not get it wrong," she said. "Sometimes finding the right word can be really tricky. The emphasis of the word matters."

More information about "Fruit Fables" is available under "Books" at http://www.shelleenweaver.com.