East Beach Writers' Guild Annual Book Donation

By Jayne Ormerod

 Members of the East Beach Writer’s Guild are quick to admit that their grown-up desire to write began with a childhood love of reading.  So it seemed a logical undertaking for them to celebrate the season of giving by donating books to Toys 4 Tots in hopes of inspiring that same love for the written word in children in the Tidewater area. It’s an annual tradition (three years running) that at their November meeting each member brings a book to donate. 

Every November we ask our members to troll their local B&N for something that that either inspires them, intrigues them, appeals to their sense of whimsy, or simply brings back memories of their own youthful love of books. And maybe, just maybe, their gifts will inspire a child to grow up and write the next bestselling novel.

But there’s more to that story: each member shares why they chose their particular book that year. It reveals a lot about the members who make up our guild. Here are some of the comments from 2016.

Mike Owens donated a collection of Dr. Suess books: In a People House; One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; and Wacky Wednesday.  What child doesn’t love a good Dr. Suess to read (or have read to them) at bedtime?

Karen Harris selected Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.  It had been one of her favorite books as a child.  She also brought Fox in Socks by Dr. Suess, another childhood favorite.

Jayne Ormerod’s love of mysteries began with her first Nancy Drew book.  She couldn’t resist a few of the more contemporary Nancy Drew Diaries books, and threw in a few Hardy Boys, too. (She didn’t read them before donating, promise!)

Pat Clark continued his Spy School tradition (because he loves the premise of spy kids) and purchased the latest installment, Spy Ski School, A Spy School Novel, by Stuart Gibbs.  He read the cover blurb, and we all agreed it sounded adventurous and fun.

Skip McLamb contributed If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Numeroff, because it is a favorite of his grandchildren.  He also donated Adventures of Ice Age, an I Can Read Book based on the movie. It had additional appeal because of its tie to the ocean.

Jenny F. Sparks offered Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein.  It’s the 40^th anniversary of the book (which makes some of us feel old.) The first poem in the collection invites young readers of this—or any of the books in the pile this year—to sit down and enjoy a fabulous story.

If you are a dreamer, come in

If you are a dreamer,

A wisher, a liar,

A hope-er a pray-er,

A magic bean buyer…

If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire

For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.

Come in!

Come in!

About the author: Jayne Ormerod is the author of “Secrets” and “The Sniper Sisters” in By the Bay: East Beach Stories. Her story “Write by the Bay” will be in Volume II, to be published in 2017.  For a complete list of Jayne’s other writings, please visit her website.