The story of Suwannee the Witch and her frog friend is as exciting to children as the cartoon pictures that explode with color on each page. The story teaches the values of hard work, not giving up, and making friends even with those who “try to cook you”. These lessons are subtly embedded in a happy story children enjoy reading over and over. The book ends with a message on the back cover encouraging children and parents alike to share in the joy of reading and writing as a family.
Teachers and parents find the book an inspiration for children to understand the joy in telling and writing stories. Theback cover explains how Suwannee evolved from a character in a dad's bedtime stories to a homemade book with a fifteen year old artist drawing the pictures of Suwannee that were created in his mind when he was small listening to his dad make up stories. The reader sees the personal value in their own creativity!
The best recommendation for this book came from a first grade teacher. She said, “Nothing has ever helped my students become interested in writing like this book. They love the story and the pictures. They see the author and the grandchild on the back cover and read about how the book was homemade. They see themselves writing a book and drawing the pictures. The book helps children understand books are written by people just like them. It makes children interested in learn to write!”