It's Springtime In My Backyard is a read-a-loud children's story about a young girl and her relationship with two wild ducks who visit and who nest in her backyard at the first signs of spring. As a read-a-loud story, it combines photographs with whimsical illustrations to give the early reader a unique reading experience. Included with each book is a professionally recorded CD of my then 7-year old-daughter reading Springtime. At the end of the story are two fact pages about Mallard Ducks and a child's photograph album of springtime. The fact pages are designed for a parent to read to the child, and the child's photo album is designed to encourage dialogue about springtime.

I as a mother designed this book, along with my daughter, to nurture her joy of reading. By creating the story in her voice, I gave her an opportunity for success in that endeavor. My goal, which was successful, was for her to read her story with fluency and clarity.

At four years old, my daughter, Lauren, began speech therapy twice a week. Our plan was to strengthen Lauren’s communication skills before she entered Kindergarten. The following spring I began to witness and write this story. My idea was to engage Lauren in the storytelling process through a pictorial format that we together could create and share.

Lauren’s awareness of the world around her and her delight in developing a tender, fragile connection with nature through It’s Springtime In My Backyard opened the door to her growing desire to read, create, and write.

This book is the celebration of Lauren’s journey into the wonderful world of reading, writing and storytelling. My wish is that all children who enjoy Springtime will discover the joy of communicating and expressing their thoughts and imaginations. For they too have stories to tell.

To make storytelling easier, Spring Ducks Books,LLC has designed two blank books, one for the individual storyteller, and the other for a group tale.

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Spring Ducks Books, LLC
P.O. Box 5040 • Madison WI, 53705-0040 • kathy@springducks.com • Phone: 608.279.0277