The Magic Balloon. This item is unavailable.The Magic Balloon

This magical family tale was created after a sailor came back to his family from World War II with a red Navy target balloon for his young son. Children will learn from this story that being helpful around the house is rewarding. They are taken on an adventure by a magic balloon to a candy playland where every delicious treat they could imagine awaits them. But there is another lesson learned when they must save someone who lands in trouble, by helping him in an unusual way. This story is certain to lead to sweet bedtime dreams. The tale was turned into a book after a serendipitous moment when the author’s daughter and her husband were giving a talk to their grandson’s third grade class about their work as authors and publishers. After a student asked about when she wrote her first book (age 12), and then asked her to tell the story, the teacher urged them to turn it into a real book. They invited all the grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great nieces and nephews to illustrate the book, and presented it to the author and all the guests at her 90th birthday party.

Florence Phillips was born and lives in NYC. She volunteered in the community (in schools, the Democratic Club, for B’nai Brith Women and Jewish Women International). When she was 50 years old she attended University to become a Junior HS teacher. With the Anti-Defamation League, she launched a School Brotherhood Poster Contest. For fifty years, thousands of students created posters that have contributed to the brotherhood of her Borough of Queens. Her philanthropic endeavors have made possible the B’nai Brith House (subsidized housing for elderly and disabled), a shelter for battered women and the Jerusalem Hills Children’s Home. For many years she ran a 2nd hand clothing store to raise money for these causes. In the evenings, she cheered up psychiatric patients at Creedmoor Hospital by rolling around a humor cart. Her life gained sparkle through her husband Irving’s career in show business. He worked in early television, movies and on Broadway. Flo felt lucky to have spent many hours in the company of famous actors. They were happily married for 63 years and had 3 children, 3 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Sandra Phillips Posner’s first book, Smart Shopping Montreal, climbed onto the best seller list and remained there for the past 27 years. Beginning as an art teacher (with a Masters from Queens College/CUNY), Sandra’s life took an interesting turn following this success. This native New Yorker was offered her own column, which ran for over 15 years in the Montreal Gazette. She has also become a regular on TV news and talk shows and talk radio, and is a popular lecturer. Her shopping shlog at smartshoppingmontreal.com has already achieved almost a million fan hits per month. Stan Posner is actually an actuary who fell in love with both Sandra and computers. He has owned a computer consulting business since 1984, and has done work with such companies as Raytheon, Honda, Bombardier and Atomic Energy of Canada. He has also taught actuarial math at Concordia University, after graduating in Honors Math from McGill University. Stan is the GPS and computer guru for their Travelsmart Publishing company. He has turned their books into apps, podcasts and YouTubes at drivei95.com. Sandra and Stan's passion for learning and travel has taken them to 34 countries, 44 US states and all 10 Canadian provinces. During and after their adventures, they report for travel radio, e-zines and print media, and they have published 33 books so far...