Fabulous Freebie for Kindle Sept.3-7 Stellar Reviews! KIKI AND THE CUCKOO Competition-Anger

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sept. 2, 2013 - PRLog -- “Suddenly the small door opened and someone was pulling Kiki gently out of the box.  A woman said, ‘How did a bird get caught in our cuckoo clock?’  A girl stood beside her.  ‘It’s a meadowlark,’ the woman said, holding Kiki in her gloved hand.
‘Let me see,’ whispered the girl.  ‘Oh,’ she sighed, ‘are they all as pretty?”
‘No,’ thought Kiki.”



5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!
By A Customer
This book is funny



5.0 out of 5 stars Kiki and the Cuckoo
By Julianna Doerres "Bella" (TEMPE, ARIZONA, US)
This is a delightful children's book and the pictures are fantastic. I downloaded it to read to a visiting child and he delighted at the story. The drawings held my attention as much as the child's. Can't recommend it enough. It really is a five star book.
Bella Doerres Ma. Ed.


4.0 out of 5 stars beautifully illustrated
By Ionia Martin "Ionia" (TOP 500 REVIEWER)  

Kiki and the Cuckoo is a wonderful story for children with beautiful full page illustrations. The story is long enough to make it a worthwhile bedtime story and there is bonus material at the end of the book to help your child learn even more from the story. I thought this book had a nice message for kids about friendship. I would recommend this book for children 4-8. The formatting is really wonderful.


4.0 out of 5 stars A sing-song story
By E. Kennen (DC area)
Kiki the Meadowlark stakes a spot in a meadow and sings to attract a wife. When another meadowlark comes too near, Kiki chases him away. But then Kiki hears a cuckoo. No matter how he tries, Kiki cannot best the cuckoo in the farmhouse. Will his pride get the better of him, or will Kiki find peace with his unusual rival?



KIKI AND THE CUCKOO

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Fully Illustrated Version

Picture Book for reading with the younger child - ages 3-6

This version of KIKI AND THE CUCKOO includes all the luminous illustrations just waiting to enchant children of any age, and especially the read-to set.

If the text-only version is better for your needs, then please click on KIKI AND THE CUCKOO in the Text-Only Version for the serious young reader - ages 6-9.

Happy reading in either Version.

KIKI AND THE CUCKOO will help young readers explore the positive and negative aspects of competition. It also presents the biology and behavior of the Meadowlark.

COPING WITH COMPETITION AND ANGER

A lesson in peaceful co-existence unfolds on the Kansas prairie.

When Kiki sees the green and brown Kansas meadow laid out below him like a welcome mat, he knows just what to do-claim the meadow as his own, sing a beautiful meadowlark song, and attract a lovely meadowlark wife.

What could go wrong with such a simple plan for happiness?

Kiki quickly finds out, for no sooner has he rid his field of the troublesome Pekeat than another voice intrudes upon his territory: "Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" And this challenger won't go away!

"I'm ruined!" wails Kiki. "That bird sings in MY meadow!"

So begins Kiki's rivalry with the mechanical inhabitant of a clock-a rivalry that threatens Kiki's fondest dreams.

Kiki scolds the cuckoo. Kiki battles the cuckoo. Kiki even impersonates the cuckoo!

The story of how Kiki finally reclaims his meadow will delight children and at the same time teach a valuable lesson about competition and about the importance of choosing our contests with care.

Author Elizabeth Happy knows the meadowlarks. Every spring, she looks out the window of her Kansas home and sees the yellow flash of their returning and hears them staking claims to the meadows around her house. Her witty story of one meadowlark's ordeal is gloriously enriched by illustrator Andra Chase's vibrant watercolors, detailing the grasses, the wildflowers, and the creeping, crawling, and feathered creatures of the Kansas prairie.

A SURPRISE and added bonus is the "Enrichment Information" which includes lots of facts about the life and habits of Meadowlarks including dangers, hiding, traveling, schooling, bathing, nestlings and fledglings, singing and calling, raising a family, nesting, a summer home, a typical year, and...best of all...learning to sing. This is fascinating detail that did not make it into the story itself, but is very rich in colorful descriptions of bird life on the Kansas prairie...and the interesting correlation with human behavior.

A second big plus is the "Letter to Parents and Educators" which includes many relevant questions and comments to facilitate conversation with the young reader about the message of the story...coping with competition! So even though on the surface, this is just an engaging story for children, it is also truly helpful in a real way.

LITERARY MERIT

This book is one of a series of 25 luminously illustrated children's books, each with an animal protagonist, a compelling geographic location, an important life skills message and multicultural enrichment materials.

Each serious lesson is embedded in an exciting colorful adventurous story...subtle, indeed.

ALOHA POTTER!
AMAZING MALLIKA
BAILEY’S BIRTHDAY
BASTET
BEA’S OWN GOOD
CLARISSA
EMILY BREAKS FREE
FEATHERS AT LAS FLORES
FOLLOWING ISABELLA
GUMBO GOES DOWNTOWN
HANA’S YEAR
INGER’S PROMISE
JACKSON’S PLAN
JOMO AND MATA
KIKI AND THE CUCKOO
KYLIE’S CONCERT
LUDMILA’S WAY
MOLLY’S MAGIC
PAPA PICCOLO
PEQUENA THE BURRO
PLATO’S JOURNEY
STANLEY’S “THIS IS THE LIFE!”
TESSA ON HER OWN
THANK YOU, MEILING
TOAD IN TOWN
These books are cleverly and skillfully written by published authors with a high level of literary talent and wit.  The books have been proofed and re-proofed for the most exacting standards of accuracy in grammar, punctuation and fact checking.  They have been reviewed…pre-publication…by teachers and librarians for relevance and the power of the message.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth Happy spent her childhood in South America, England and Germany, coming to the United States when she was fourteen.  She was graduated from Columbia University, majoring in anthropology, and received an MA in creative writing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she has taught writing and poetry.  She has also been associated with the education department of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  She has published short stories and poetry for adults and a children’s book, Kiki and the Cuckoo - Coping with Competition.


ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Andra Chase was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she attended the John McCrady Art School.  She now lives in Kansas, where she has continued her study of art and art history and has worked as an illustrator and designer of printed media.  Her paintings have been exhibited in juried and solo shows throughout the Midwest.  Chase is a longtime bird fancier and nature lover with almost two decades’ experience painting the Kansas landscape