Verona resident Ed Shankman has made a specialty of creating rhyming children’s books that take young readers to destinations around the United States. His latest book combines a favorite destination with a favorite person.
The new book, which is again illustrated by Montclair resident Dave O’Neill, is called My Grandma Lives in Florida, and it begins like this: “My grandma lives in Florida/And that is where we go/When daddy says he cannot stand/Another inch of snow.”
Shankman, who has based previous books in Boston, Maine and Lake Champlain, says this story has special meaning for him. “Both of my grandmothers, Mal and Sarah, were central figures in my life and had a major influence on me,” he said. “They were two very different women but the single overriding factor in both relationships was that they loved me and I loved them.”
Available online to grandmothers everywhere, and at bookstores and gift shops across Florida, the 32-page book retails for $14.95. Other works by Shankman and O’Neill include The Boston Balloonies, The Cods of Cape Cod, Champ and Me by the Maple Tree, The Bourbon Street Band is Back, and the duo’s most popular book, I Met a Moose in Maine One Day. All Shankman and O’Neill books have been published by Commonwealth Editions, an imprint of Applewood Books. Commonwealth Editions was named 2006 New England Publisher of the Year by the New England Booksellers Association.
I can’t wait to check these out!