Holly Cusumano

There is a willow tree in the March story card. John and Vivienne Chapter One The teacher asked John to show his classmates the model boat he had made. Over the weekend, with the help of his father, John built the tiny ship out of small pieces of wood and glued them together. He climbed up onto the school’s stage. The other kids sat on the floor. They were his audience. The teacher was smiling. John took a deep breath. He was feeling a little sweaty. He was nervous. John began by saying, “I love ships and boats of every kind. How do they float? Someday when I am grown up, I hope to sail my own ship.” He held up the model for everyone to see and moved quickly to get off the stage. Just then, a little boy raised his hand saying, “But exactly how did you do it?” John wasn’t sure what to say. Did this kid want to know everything about making it? Everyone was looking at him. It was very quiet. John scanned the children sitting on the floor. Then he spied his friend Vivienne ...

 H ere is the February Story Card featuring a Japanese Cedar tree. Franklin, Andrew, and Betty Lee Chapter One Franklin reached down and picked up a tiny pinecone from the snow-covered ground. It was still attached to a short, green branch. Andrew said, “Let’s collect them all into a pile.” Franklin laughed and said, “Yes, a big pile of teeny, tiny pinecones.” The children began their work. The Japanese Cedar tree stood taller than the house. Betty Lee said, “I can jump as high as this tree!” But when she tried, her boots stayed stuck in the snow. She stumbled and fell down. Her socks got wet right away. The boys held her hands and together they walked to the back door of the house. Andrew said, “You will feel better soon, little sister. The house is warm and dry.” They quickly took off their coats and boots, except for Betty Lee, whose boots were still outside in the snow. Mommy helped her to take off her coat because she was too young to do it herself. Franklin said, ...

This is the first post of a series of Story Cards that I will be creating for our three-year-old twin grandchildren. The stories will be written in two chapters and mailed a few weeks apart. I know that children enjoy stories featuring their own names, but I have decided to use given names selected from the family tree that I created for the twins when they were born. The stories will be "flash fiction," a storytelling genre in which the characters, storyline, and setting are captured in just a few words. They are very short stories. Given the economy of words, the stories will likely all begin in "medias res," that is, in the middle of the action. Each card will contain little inserts to be held while the stories are read to them and will feature a tree.  So, here is the January Story Card. Adrian and Russell Chapter One With the glow of the moon, the two boys saw the spiky seed pods strewn across the sidewalk. So many were on the ground! So many were still on ...