The story behind the two kitties from the Einstein & Moo children's book series

Meet Einstein and Moo  

(by Jennifer Milius)

My husband and I wanted to adopt two cats that were also siblings, so they would have each other.  I am a big fan of animations, and I especially like the sidekicks.  One of my favorite Disney movies is Mulan, and I really like Mooshu and Cricket.  So on August 14, 2009, we went to a shelter and spent a couple of hours in the kitty room.  I loved all of the kitties there, but one in particular stole my heart.  The shelter named her Lexie, and she was the only female kitten.   She came over and curled up in my lap and slept there for at least an hour.  I knew she was ours, and she would be named Mooshu, Moo for short.  We adopted her brother (Tux was his shelter name), and my stepdaughter named him Einstein because she thought he looked like a “little old man - the way the white was around his nose and mouth, and the white whiskers all around his face”. 

They are loving, sweet and curious, and they have very different personalities.     Einstein is quite talkative and will talk even more when it is close to mealtime; sometimes, he will play fetch.  Moo squeaks more than meows, and she loves to hide underneath the coffee table and wave one paw at your feet, like the monster under the bed.  They love catnip, catnip toys, and bouncy balls.  Their purrs are one of my most favorite sounds, and the spot between their ears seems like the softest fur and is my favorite spot to stroke. 

I was inspired to write about them because of my love for animals, storytelling, children, and books.  To me, when someone shares a book with a child, they share an act of love.   The Einstein and Moo series currently has two books out: Einstein and the Leaf and Moo and the Case of the Mistaken Identity.    The series will also have stories about them together.   Einstein and the Leaf is about a perfect fall day with children playing outside in the leaves while Einstein watches from inside.  When the children come in and a few leaves come along with them, Einstein sees his moment and is ready to play!  Moo and the Case of the Mistaken Identity is about Moo playing with a little ball that bounces against a glass fireplace when she notices a shadow.  Who could this be?  She must determine if she sees herself or another kitty.

Please check out my website at www.jennifermilius.com or like my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/authorJenniferMilius and the series Facebook fan site at www.facebook.com/einsteinandmoo.

Authors Ayoe and Bob share a special message about the meaning of Christmas

This is what Christmas means to us.

The most important part of Christmas is something Ayoe brought with her from Denmark. It is called “Hygge”. There is no English word that hygge can be translated into, because it is simply more than a word, it is a feeling and a state of mind, body and soul. It is coziness, love, quality time and usually accompanied with great food. :)

That being said, it doesn’t mean that hygge can’t be learned by someone from outside of Denmark. It is in fact very easy.

First things first: Slow it right down!

This goes for everything we do, cooking, spending time together and just being, not doing. After all we are human BEINGS, not human DOINGS. :)

Secondly we must get in touch with friends and family on a personal level, not just through a text or email, but face to face and actually spend time together and talk, play games, cook delicious foods and sit down together and eat it SLOWLY! (put your phones away too).

Third, enjoy it, have fun, be present! There is nothing less hyggeligt than spending time with someone who is so busy, they don’t have time to spend quality time with you. We know everyone is busy, but is that really so? Could it be that we make ourselves busier to seem more important? How about we just relax a little and spend our energy on where it really matters: on our loved ones! Wouldn’t that be awesome. We like that a lot. :)

This is how we love to celebrate Christmas, and any time of year for that matter. We take it slow and enjoy every moment of it. We really love spending time together in the kitchen cooking up some yummy Christmas treats and also every day foods.

You can read about some of our favourites on our blog www.threemorebites.com and please let us know your favourite Christmas foods, we’ll be happy to try it out.

Much love

Ayoe & Bob

Three More Bites

Happy Book Release Day to Kristine Davis!

Mr. Magillacutty and His Breakfast Feast 

by Kristine Davis

Mr. Magillacutty wakes up with a hungry belly and no food in his house. As he journeys to the supermarket, he greets his friends and invites them to his breakfast feast. In this vocabulary building story, readers will be in suspense to see if Mr. Magillacutty can make it home and finish cooking his feast before his friends arrive.

Paperback - Kindle - Nook - iBooks

Happy Book Release Day to Thomas W. Bratt!

Return to Sonneberg

“We have him.” Those three words spoken by his friend Sergei Mycoff changed Rusty’s life forever. He had no other choice but to fly to Europe to unravel a twenty-five year old mystery. But he was not prepared for the near death adventure that would lead him across Western Europe into the Communist Zone of East Germany to the town of Sonneberg.

Return to Sonneberg is a novel based on an episode in the life of John “Rusty” Russell a U. S. State Department diplomat who is unwittingly pulled into a scheme to return a spy, who was thought to have been dead for twenty-five years, from Russia to the United States.

The year is 1988, a time of new relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. Rusty is stationed at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. and working in the fray of the fast moving developments between the United States and the Russians. The future of the new relationship between the two countries depends on the outcome of his mission. At the outset the plan seemed simple enough but not all plans, whether simple or not, turn out as anticipated. Rusty did not realize when he accepted the mission that it could cost him his life. 

Paperback - Kindle - Nook & iBooks

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Happy Book Release Day to Elissa Burr

Booker the Bald Cat by Elissa Burr

Booker the Cat has been adopted by the McCluskey family.

A birthday present for ten-year-old Polly McCluskey, this little kitten won the hearts of the entire family.

But then it happened … Booker was bald!

Follow the adventures of the McCluskeys and Booker to find out why he went bald!

Paperback and eBooks now available!

***'Booker the Bald Cat' is FREE on ebooks through RSPLaunchPad from 7/25 - 8/1***

RSP LaunchPad - Amazon - Kindle

ebooks also available on Nook.  Coming soon to iBooks

***

OTHER TITLES BY ELISSA BURR:

Happy Book Release Day to AJ Walkley!

VUTO by A.J. Walkley, is finally here!

The highly anticipated title that led to a successful Kickstarter campaign just a few months ago is available today on PAPERBACK, KINDLE, NOOK and IBOOKS!

Vuto is only 17 when her third child dies, mere days after birth.

Malawian tradition prevents men from considering a child their own until it has survived for two weeks. Frustrated at not being able to speak to her husband, Solomon, about all three of the children she’s had to bury alone, Vuto forces him to acknowledge the dead baby. Her rejection of tradition causes Solomon and the village elders to banish Vuto from the only home she’s ever known. She seeks refuge in the hut of U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Samantha Brennan, where Solomon discovers his wife has not left as she was told.

When Solomon arrives in the night to attack Vuto, Samantha disregards her oath to remain uninvolved in village politics and interjects herself into the center of the conflict, defending Vuto and killing Solomon in the process.

The women go on the run from Vuto’s village and the Peace Corps, encountering physical, ethical and cultural struggles along the way.

ENDORSEMENTS

"In Vuto, A.J. Walkley has vividly captured the idealism of First World volunteers, as well as the cultural differences they encounter in the countries where they are placed, giving readers a rare glimpse into the issues that aid organizations are fraught with, but which rarely make it into the news."
— Rex Pickett, author of Sideways and Sideways (the play) 

"Vuto is that rare combination of creative genius and personal knowledge so necessary for a reader to not only thoroughly enjoy, but also learn. Well done, Ms. Walkley!"
— Jeff Mudgett, author of Bloodstains 

"Walkley guides the reader along a path known only to a very few in the world. Her knowledge of the Malawian culture adds such depth to her words that it is hard to put this book down. Vuto is a truly gripping story—a real treasure of a read.” 
— Van Heerling, author of Malaika. 

"Vuto is a piece of work that takes you for a short time on a journey you would otherwise never dream about. Although it is a fictional work, it is also based on real experience and real facts, and true plights of people in societies foreign to our own. It is a book that tells you, you can take a stand and make a difference if you follow your heart no matter what the circumstances may be." 
— Meghan Wolf, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Malawi 

"The detail that Ms. Walkley captures in Vuto makes you feel you're inside Vuto's world, seeing everything unfold inside her head, and allowing you to experience the personal and moral dilemmas she faces." 
— Tracy Lee, international correspondent 

"Ms. Walkley's novel is your passport to a fascinating world of foreign lands, cultures and emotions. The writing is as captivating as it is spellbinding - once you start this journey, it is very hard to put the book down. You will turn each page quickly in anticipation of the vivid colors she paints with her words." 
— Kim Estes, producer/actor/director/professor