Be Kind to Our Friend, the Bee

In the continuing series of posts about Mom’s Favorite Reads authors, today I’d like to introduce you to Sylva Fae, renowned children’s book author.

Beautiful lady, and she looks sweet, doesn’t she? She is all that, plus a feisty woman who has a tenderness for those innocents we share this world with. This includes the fae and other beings you may or may not believe in.

(You can find her full bio at the end of this post. Also make sure to visit Sylva on each step of her blog tour this week. Click this link to find out who’s hosting her. )

One of those critters Sylva has written about is the bee. You’ll want to pick up her book, Bea & Bee if you haven’t already done so. She gives you tips on how to treat these wonderful insects.

You’ll want to take care of them. Read the excerpt below to find out why.

Did you know…?

Bees are essential for many species of trees and plants to exist. If all bees died, much of our ecosystem would become extinct and our lives would change drastically. Consider a quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “If the bee disappeared from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live.”

I’ll leave you with a folktale story about the bee that you can find in my book Light Love Rituals:

Blessed Bees

Maria returns home to discover Baba telling her children a story.

“In the ancient world, bees were messengers between our world and heaven. One day God decided to marry the Sun. He invited everyone to the wedding except Satan.”

“Yah, he’s bad,” Niki says. “I wouldn’t invite him either.”

“Only that made Satan angry, so he came anyway. He joined a group of guests and laughed while pointing at God. This made God curious what Satan was planning. ‘Faithful bee, you are light of wing and swift of foot. Please find out what my adversary is saying.’ The bee flew away and landed on Satan’s hat to listen.”

“Rada tells me it isn’t nice to eavesdrop,” Niki says.

“In this case it’s okay, since God told the bee to do it,” Rada says. “It’s only wrong when you’re listening to my conversations.”

“Do you two want to argue or listen to the story?” Baba taps her fingers against her leg.

“Sorry, we’ll be quiet. Right, Niki?”

“Yes, sorry, Baba.”

“The bee was shocked at what she heard,” Baba continues. “Satan was saying God was stupid to marry the Sun. ‘Look how hot it gets in the summer with only one Sun in the sky. If they have children, all those extra Suns will burn everything.’ The bee flew to warn God not to marry the Sun. Unfortunately, Satan saw the bee and chased her.”

“Oh, no! Does he catch her?” Niki asks.

“No, but he shot an arrow. It hit her in the waist, almost breaking her body in half. Even wounded, the bee made it back to God and told him what she heard. God thanked the courageous bee and called off the wedding.”

“Let’s hope no bees show up at Helena’s wedding on Dimitrovden,” Rada says.

“I was her age when I got married, but it seems so young now.” Baba sighs. “But to finish the story, the bee was ashamed. Not because she was hurt, but because she had been so afraid of Satan she had wet herself. God told her, ‘Don’t be humiliated. I’ll turn your shame into a blessing. The mess you made will turn sweet-smelling and be given to others as a gift.’ The bee asked, ‘What about my body?’ God told her, ‘It will remain broken, but you’ll always be happy and sing.’ And that’s how the bee came to make the precious gift of honey.”

Sylva Fae – Mini Bio

Sylva Fae is a married mum of three from Lancashire, England. She grew up in a rambling old farmhouse with a slightly dysfunctional family and an adopted bunch of equally dysfunctional animals. She spent twenty plus years teaching literacy to adults with learning difficulties and disabilities but now lives in Cheshire, juggling being a mum, writing children’s stories and keeping up with the crazy antics of three naughty rabbits.

Her earliest memories are of bedtime stories snuggled up close to mum to see the pictures. It was a magical time, those last special moments before dozing off to sleep would feed dreams of faraway lands and mystical beings. She now wants to share that love of stories and inspire children to create their own magical adventures.

Sylva and her family own a wood and escape there at every opportunity. Adventures in their own enchanted woodland, hunting for fairies and stomping in puddles, have inspired Sylva to write stories for her girls.

Sylva published her first children’s book Rainbow Monsters, in 2017. She has since published four other children’s picture books, an anthology of Christmas stories, and has a short story published in the IASD charity anthology, You’re Not Alone. Two of her books have won Best in Category for children’s books at the Chanticleer International Book Awards. She also writes a blog, Sylvanian Ramblings, and enjoys doing developmental editing as part of One Stop Author Services. Recently, Sylva joined the editors’ team at Mom’s Favorite Reads and regularly contributes articles to the magazine.

Books to date

Rainbow Monsters – Winner of 2017 Chanticleer Little Peeps Award

Mindful Monsters – Shortlisted for 2018 Chanticleer Little Peeps Award

No Place Like Home

Yoga Fox – Winner of 2018 Chanticleer Little Peeps Award

Bea & Bee

Elfabet – Illustrated by Katie Weaver

Children’s Christmas Collection – With authors Kate Robinson, Paul Ian Cross and Suzanne Downes

That Pesky Pixie – a series of stories for a story app

• An Itchy Situation
• A Stinky Start!
• A Dastardly Plan
• A Feast for a Fairy Queen
• Three Pesky Pixies and a Monstrous Mouse

Links

Blog                 https://sylvafae.co.uk/blog/
Amazon         author.to/SylvaFae
Facebook      https://www.facebook.com/SylvaFae
Twitter          https://twitter.com/sylvafae
Pinterest       https://www.pinterest.co.uk/sylvafae/

A Boy’s Best Friend

Hi, this is Rebecca (one of the authors who writes under the pen name Ronesa Aveela).

Today, we’re hosting Paulette Mahurin, a fantastic author and a dear person who cares about our furry friends. The proceeds from her books go to save the lives of dogs.

Animals are special pets, and are more than that to many people. I grew up with one sister and three brothers. Actually, four brothers, only one of them was my mother’s “furry baby.” He was every bit a part of our family as her human babies. My mother even got him to say, “Mama.”

What made him even more special is that he was born around the same time as my youngest brother. This puppy was the runt and had somehow gotten into a cocoa can, and his mother wouldn’t take him back. My mother put him in the crib with my baby brother and they grew up together, almost like twins. My mother had lost my brother’s natural twin early in her pregnancy. I like to think that the soul of this child made its way into the puppy.

We called the puppy Bozo, after Bozo the clown. He was part collie and part beagle.

Here’s a picture showing him off to the side, along with me, one of my older brothers, and Bozo’s mother, Queenie.

Yes, we had lots of snow back then. I often thought it was just because we were little that it seemed so high.

It was a sad day when he died of old age.

If you’ve ever had a furry family member, you’ll understand. That’s why what Paulette does is so important. She saves the lives of these dogs, who have not had the love that our Bozo and many other dogs have had.

You can find out more about Paulette on her blog and other social media sites, which you can find here: https://moms-favorite-reads.com/moms-authors/paulette-mahurin/

And please, why not stop by and purchase one of her books to have your part in saving lives.

If you comment on this post and other posts in Paulette’s blog tour this week, your name will be entered to win a small prize. You can find the complete list of sites to visit here: https://moms-favorite-reads.com/moms-authors/paulette-mahurin/about-paulette-mahurin/