Publisher: Waterside Press, Oct, 2020 Category: Children’s illustrated chapter book Tour dates: May 27-June 30, 2021 ISBN: 978-1949001914 Available in Print and ebook, 138 pages
Description Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat
Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat, is an adventure story full of animals that talk. Wynne is a precocious mockingbird born in the rural south in the late 1800s. His whole family are singers, but at four days old, he wants to be a novelist just like his hero, Mark Twain.
When crows attack his nest, he’s swept away on an epic adventure along the Mississippi River. Wynne learns to read and write, makes new friends in surprising places, and is mentored by Mark Twain himself. Full of delightful quotes from Mark Twain, this novel for children ages 8-12 shines with important lessons of character, perseverance, love, and the importance of friendship.
My Thoughts Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat
I was first introduced to Kaia Alexander’s writing from reading her amazing historical fiction novel, ‘Written in the Ashes’. It was written under her name K. Hollan Van Zandt.
I was intrigued when I saw the title of her new book, ‘Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat.’ I am a Mark Twain fan and I thought it would be great to introduce younger children to him. I didn’t read any of his works or learn about him until Jr. High School.
Kaia Alexander brings Mark Twain to life in a story about a young mockingbird, Wynne, who wants to be a writer but must first learn to fly. One day some crows attack and he falls out of the nest. This sets him on adventure far from home. As he tries to get back home, he meets new animal friends along the way. He also encounters danger. Eventually, he even meets his hero, Mark Twain himself.
‘Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat’ is a delightful and beautifully rendered story with glorious black and white illustrations. It introduces children to the era of Twain and post slavery America. At the same time entertains with Wynne’s adventures and thirst for learning.
Buy this book for your children but be sure to read it yourself. It is sure to become a timeless classic for children and adults. I hope this isn’t the last we hear from Wynne, his family, and friends. I give it all 5 stars!
I received the ebook for my honest opinion.
About Kaia Alexander
Kaia Alexander is an award-winning novelist, filmmaker, and writing coach, as well as founder of the Entertainment Business League, who can be found surfing her native California coastline.
Publisher: Waterside Press, Oct, 2020 Category: Children’s illustrated chapter book Tour dates: May 27-June 30, 2021 ISBN: 978-1949001914 Available in Print and ebook, 138 pages
Description Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat
Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat, is an adventure story full of animals that talk. Wynne is a precocious mockingbird born in the rural south in the late 1800s. His whole family are singers, but at four days old, he wants to be a novelist just like his hero, Mark Twain.
When crows attack his nest, he’s swept away on an epic adventure along the Mississippi River. Wynne learns to read and write, makes new friends in surprising places, and is mentored by Mark Twain himself. Full of delightful quotes from Mark Twain, this novel for children ages 8-12 shines with important lessons of character, perseverance, love, and the importance of friendship.
Praise Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat
“We LOVE this book! As we finish each chapter, we can’t wait to find out what happens next! I am ordering another few copies as gifts for my daughter’s friends.”- Yaron, Amazon
“With ‘The Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat’, Kaia Alexander is at the top of her formidable writing talents. She has mastered historical fiction, screenwriting and with this, a timeless children’s story. This is a delightful adventure featuring unforgettable animal characters that will become embedded in the heart of every reader. Whether you read this to a little one or gift it to a child to read, this is an ideal book that entertains and enthralls with every page while evoking a period and piece of literary history. I believe that Mark Twain himself would approve! Kaia not only brings her beloved animals to life, but she evokes the universal yearning to uniquely express oneself, like the protagonist of the story, Wynne. Above and beyond a simple children’s story, Kaia weaves in thematic layers that remind me of myth and legend. I guarantee that the characters and story will stick with you forever and inspire children to be themselves, challenge themselves, and learn to write! They may even become interested in Mr. Twain himself, just like Wynne. Or maybe, the kinds of songs that Wynne learns to sing, and that they can learn to sing their own.”-Stuart Volkow, Amazon
“Like all Kaia Alexander’s books, it’s a page turner and you can’t put it down! A delightful adventure with twists and surprises. Love the characters and the illustrations. This is a great gift book for children as well as adults and sure to become a classic! ”- S. Peck, Amazon
Guest Post by Kaia Alexander
“The True Story of How a Baby Mockingbird Became the Hero of Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat”
I didn’t graduate from university until I was thirty-four, and in my last semester I got pregnant. It was spring, and two mockingbirds moved into the torulosa pine by my balcony. The breeze smelled like honeysuckle and gasoline engines as boats chugged through our little harbor.
One of my lit classes was about Mark Twain, his life and works. Mark Twain was one of my grandmother’s favorite writers. She and my grandfather had owned a farm on the Mississippi River in Arkansas all my life. As my belly grew, I thought of her, how when I told her I really wanted the baby to be a girl she said, “You may not get what you want, but you suuure want what you get.”
The mockingbirds built a nest, laid eggs. Soon the eggs hatched with much chirping.
This alerted the neighborhood crows who swept in with murderous intentions.
The sky turned pewter grey. (It was May in Los Angeles, and we call it “May Grey”.) From the moment the sun came up and refused to shine, the mockingbird mother and father had to defend their nest, and their precious little hatchlings.
I felt horrified, and we all felt vulnerable. I turned off the television and watched the nest.
I rushed to school, then returned to check on my feathered family. Heads appeared: two little chicks with pin feathers and enormous eyes, and the loudest voices on the block. I shushed them, desperate to save their lives, aware that my own hormones had turned me into a sobbing, wobbly mess of famished concern.
The crows worked as a team to separate the mockingbird parents from the nest. One parent would fly down to the fence to distract the crows while the other guarded the nest. The hungry crows plotted, waited, and grew in number as the initial three were joined by several more that crouched in the palms, always ready for the unguarded moment.
My class about Mark Twain fell in the afternoons on Monday and Wednesdays. I would stop for dinner, and come home to check the nest. During the day, I would stop studying when I heard the crows, trundle out on the deck and wave a broom.
The drama escalated one afternoon when I returned home from class and found the nest empty. The chicks weren’t fledged, so this could only mean the worst.
I ran downstairs, and threw open the front door. The mockingbird parents were gone. With some effort, I crawled around on all fours below my deck like a madwoman, searching for survivors.
Then I heard a chirp! from nearby. Across the walkway, the little fellow’s voice rang out again. Night had fallen, and I had to fetch a flashlight. I searched the bushes until I found him.
One mockingbird chick had escaped. He was wedged in the hedge, a briar patch of safety from the crows. He hopped right into my hand, and there was a moment between us where we looked at each other with a certain understanding. I felt astonished at how alert, tough, and absolutely charming he was. I put him in a shoebox, and dug up a worm in the yard for him, which he ate gladly. Then I put my head down on my arms on the kitchen table and cried.
The next morning I waited at my front gate for the arrival of the animal sanctuary driver. I was on her way to work, and she would take the healthy little chick with her. Before she got there, I named him “Wynne”, after the rural town in Arkansas where my grandparents lived. She put my shoebox in her green Toyota pickup, and drove away.
The crows disappeared, and the sun returned. The mockingbird parents were gone for good, as was the other chick from the now empty, silent nest.
I held on to Mark Twain’s books, and wrote my essay, and tried to stay connected to my thoughts, which were harder and harder to thread together.
I found out my baby was a boy.
My grandparents were in their early nineties then. I wanted to write a book to honor them, the fabric of their world, and the goodness they instilled in us. So, the book had to have the Mississippi River, and Mark Twain, and it had to have my beloved little mockingbird chick, Wynne. Though I would never see him again, I joined him every day in my imagination, to see what wonderful adventures might await him.
I wrote the book for my own son, also, just a babe turning inside my ribs. I wanted it to be there to guide him, to make choices based in kindness, love, following his dreams, and finding his way home no matter how lost he got along the way.
My grandmother lived to read the first chapter. The manuscript was left unfinished for years, as I breastfed, worked a 9-5 job, and raised my little boy.
When my son turned eight I finished the manuscript, and a dear new friend I met on Twitter, Elaina, illustrated it and brought that little mockingbird I’d found in the hedge to life, with all the heart that I’d seen in him.
So although it may be a story about talking animals, Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat is based on a true story, as Mark Twain once said, “It is just like man’s vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb, just because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.”
About Kaia Alexander
Kaia Alexander is an award-winning novelist, filmmaker, and writing coach, as well as founder of the Entertainment Business League, who can be found surfing her native California coastline.
Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat by Kaia Alexander
