Author Showcase
By Heather Payer-Smith, for The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 26, 2012
What good is a little green umbrella with a hole? That’s exactly what Annabel wonders when her mother insists she take it to school with her, just in case it rains. At first she complains, but Annabel soon learns that even an umbrella with a hole can keep those in need safe and dry.
“The Little Green Umbrella” teaches children that while kindness is sometimes taken for granted, those who put others first can find unexpected rewards in a selfless act.
Synopsis: Annabel Lee is on her way to catch the bus to school when it starts to rain! Luckily she has an umbrella to keep her dry, even though it has a small hole in it. Annabel offers to share her little green umbrella with the other children at the bus stop who don’t have anything to keep them dry (even though that means she has to stand under the hole). Soon, someone with a bigger, better umbrella comes along and everyone leaves Annabelle alone and wet. Annabel is sad that they would abandon her for a better umbrella, but she soon discovers someone who needs her umbrella even more than she does!
Fun Fact: The story behind “The Little Green Umbrella” is actually based on an experience the author had as a child. Payer-Smith shares, “One rainy day, as I was getting ready to walk to the bus stop, my babysitter handed me a little green umbrella so that I would not get wet. It was very old and had a hole in it, but it was better than nothing. When I got to the bus stop, I was the only one with an umbrella! All the other kids huddled under my little green umbrella as we waited for the bus. That is, until another little girl arrived at the bus stop – but it was not a bigger, better umbrella that she had – she was in her grandmother’s car so all the kids piled into the car to stay warm and dry. Because I had a sopping wet umbrella, I didn’t know what to do, so I remained on the corner all alone until the grandmother rolled down the window of the car and waved me over, smiling because there was still plenty of room for me and the umbrella in her car.” While the real situation had a much different outcome than what is presented in the book, author Heather Payer-Smith felt there was a valuable lesson about kindness and sharing that children could learn from her experience on that rainy day so long ago.
Available in Paperback or as a FREE EBOOK (though author’s website).
“The Little Green Umbrella” is also available to purchase at www.amazon.com
Paperback List Price: $7.95
8″ x 10″
Full Color on White paper
24 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1466217126; ISBN-10: 146621712X
BISAC: Juvenile Fiction
Early Reader Picture Book
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