Jonah's Riddle

JONAH'S RIDDLE is a storyteller's story. Children learn who creates the magical place between "once upon a time" and "happily ever after." Paloma loves to hear the story of Jonah's riddle and Papa loves to tell it. A simple shell that sings the song of the sea changes everything. A cowboy gives up prairie stars for ocean sunsets after he puts the shell up to his ear. A sailor listens to the song of the sea when he puts the shell to his ear. Lured by the song of the sea, they sail to a faraway island where they meet Jonah, whose riddle of the tree unlocks the song of the sea from their imaginations. They race home to set their stories free and save them from the silence that can befall a tree. They have learned what makes a story whole.

(Author) Marcia Trimble is a former childhood reading specialist who began a career as a children's book writer and publisher in 1998. Jonah, who honors the art of storytelling, joins her repertoire of characters found in THE SMILING STONE and HELLO SUN both illustrated by Susan Arciero, WITCHY'S TURNED AROUND HOUSE illustrated by Chad Cameron, MALINDA MARTHA AND HER SKIPPING STONES and SERENDIPITY SAYS TO KNOW ME IS TO LOVE ME illustrated by Susi Grell, and MALINDA MARTHA MEETS MARIPOSA, illustrated by John Lund.

(Illustrator) George Ulrich, teaming again with Marcia Trimble (P. Hermit Claims a Castle, '99) portrays an engaging cast of characters in a setting of prairie and ocean. George paints the star-filled prairie sky and vivid ocean sunset that cowboys of the lone prairie or old salts of the sea know so well. His bold, colorful illustrations in JONAH'S RIDDLE give readers a wonderful taste of each.