“A Gumdrop Tale” tells the story of a utopian society who live atop a peculiar mountain. The people listen to each other, help each other, and work together to live in peace and harmony. Until an unusual stranger arrives sowing seeds of negativity and doubt, and one by one the people of Sugar Mountain turn against each other. As their utopia crumbles, heavy rain falls. With their home now in danger the people must find a way to save Sugar Mountain, and their dream of a happy, peaceful society. Written for Readers aged 7 years and above, “A Gumdrop Tale” encourages learning, conversation, and sparks imagination with themes such as unity, awareness, acceptance, and resolving conflict. The secret of this book is the deeper you read, the more meaning you will uncover.

When her father gives her a bag of colorful, sugary gumdrops to eat, a little girl decides to plant them instead.

Sugar Mountain is a mysterious and special place, with many secrets to uncover. The group of people who live on Sugar Mountain are one of those secrets few have discovered. Rare and unique, these people live in a happy and harmonious community, where togetherness is a way of life. Until someone new arrives . . .

During the early 1930's through the 1970's, it was tradition in the Southern Appalachian Mountains for families to find a thorn bush when they went into the mountains to cut their Christmas tree. They would decorate the sharp spires with colorful gumdrops for the children to enjoy. THE GUMDROP TREE is the story of a young girl who wanted to find the tallest, fattest, most beautiful Christmas tree of anyone in her town. It had to be very special. In this tale, Susie takes a long time to pick out the perfect tree for her family. After the tree stands in the corner with its shinny decorations, her mother sends her next door with a food basket for an elderly neighbor. Susie is very reluctant to leave her beautiful tree. Upon arriving at the neighbor's house, Susie discovers the scraggly branch that that Miss Martha calls her Christmas tree. On her way home, she tries to figure out what she can do so that the elderly lady can have a colorful tree. THE GUMDROP TREE is written for children from the age of 4 to 13. It teaches that sometimes it does not take the tallest, fattest, most beautifully decorated Christmas tree to be special.

A satire of traditional Christmas stories and noir. A hardboiled elf is framed for murder in a North Pole world that plays reindeer games for keeps, and where favorite holiday characters live complex lives beyond December. Fired from his longtime job as captain of the Coal Patrol, two-foot-three inch 1,300-year-old elf Gumdrop Coal is angry. He's one of Santa's original elves, inspired by the fat man's vision to bring joy to children on that one special day each year. But somewhere along the way things went sour for Gumdrop. Maybe it was delivering one too many lumps of coal for the Naughty List. Maybe it's the conspiracy against Christmas that he's starting to sense down every chimney. Either way, North Pole disillusionment is nothing new: Some elves brood with a bottle of nog, trying to forget their own wish list. Some get better. Some get bitter. Gumdrop Coal wants revenge. Justice is the only thing he knows, and so he decides to give a serious wakeup call to parents who can't keep their vile offspring from landing on the Naughty List. But when one parent winds up dead, his eye shot out with a Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model BB gun, Gumdrop Coal must learn who framed him and why. Along the way he'll escape the life-sucking plants of the Mistletoe Forrest, battle the infamous Tannenbomb Giant, and survive a close encounter with twelve very angry drummers and their violent friends. The horrible truth lurking behind the gingerbread doors of Kringle Town could spell the end of Christmas-and of the fat man himself. Holly Jolly!

"The Gumdrop Tree" is a charming story of family tradition and believing. The author writes about her family's Thanksgiving tradition of the gumdrop tree "blooming" each year. Adapting a true story about her father's adventure as a child, the author captures the essence of her childhood and the magic in believing.

Balloons are bright and floaty and shiny and perfect. More than anything else in the whole wide world, Isabel wants a balloon. Everyone will get one on Graduation Day—everyone except the porcupines, because Porcupines + Balloons = Trouble But Isabel isn't going to settle for another boring bookmark. She has a plan. . . .