Lynell / Elle Marie Garfield.

Just Funded for publication! The Secret Life of Streams will be available in 2012!

Our KickStarter supporters and enthusiasts are the best! 
We are embarking on creative illustration and production in time for Winter 2012!

The Story:  Loralei the Mayfly, a young stream insect, asks young readers to meet her playmates in the bottom of Hidden Creek. Meet Loralei’s wacky friends, including Kassidy the caddisfly, Gus the dragonfly, and Madge the midge…with all of their strange lifestyles.

The story concludes with an illustrated field guide, encouraging readers to explore their neighborhood creeks or local river.  These features intend to bridge gaps between story and the natural world, fostering curiosity and engaging children to bring the magic of our waters into the lives of young readers.   

Concepts of community diversity and acceptance are woven through the story as part of Aquatic Ecology and friendship through the merging of under-and above-water worlds.

The Secret Life of Streams presents messages of cooperative play and living in its presentation of these "bugs" and other critters.  Encouraging children to connect with and listen to the river, the 2nd and 3rd books of this trilogy entertain readers with human children becoming empowered to speak as the voices of the river, in order to save their community.

 Did you know?

We can read the health of the waters by looking to the instream bugs. "Bugs" and other inverts have variable sensitivities to pollutants, so identifying and counting those present can tell us how healthy the watershed is. *We* have a lot to do with that health...and if we can imagine our friends downstream, and how our actions might affect them, then we realize that
We really do Matter.

 Richard Louv writes about Nature-Deficit Disorder. The anxiety in nature an individual may experience driven by a lack of open spaces... he also writes about nature as a great treatment for kids diagnosed with attention-deficit or learning disorders.  Have we developed our society in such a way that does not serve us? Could time in nature remove the need for medications by reconnecting children with the wild essence of all life? 
We think so.

I have chosen to draw children out of their homes, the air conditioned cars, the classrooms, with promises of adventure and connection with the natural world.
 This is how stewardship starts!

 It is my true hope that by creating intentional outdoors experiences, our children will have those life-changing glimpses into nature that I had as a child growing up on property on a small farm.
Letting curiosity for life be the playmate, and wonder be the builder of dreams.

 As an author, I have strived to maintain messages of hope and inspiration in the midst of environmental challenges... and encourage children to understand that our effects on downstream beings may be temporary, if we act quickly.  We can learn to live in balance with our world and each other. 

**We have met our financial goals for self-publication, as of 12/1/11... Reserve your first edition copy now by emailing the author... Thank you so much for stopping by!