Xlibris, the print-on-demand self-publishing services provider, announced today the release of Oscar’s Big Miracle. Authored by Patricia Patterson, this vibrantly illustrated picture book will bring unforgettable fun and valuable lessons to the little ones.

Under the deep blue sea, in a place called Safe Harbor Gulf, lives a fish named Oscar. He is enjoying his comfortable and safe life. Most of the time, Oscar loves his life, but he has one small problem—he is afraid of being caught. He does all that he could do to be safe so that he would never ever be caught. As much as this fish loves feeling safe, he also has a desire to do something great, just like his friends. He knows he is not willing to risk his own safety to experience what he truly wants. So, he prays to God to take his fears away. One day, while Oscar goes about his normal routine, feeling comfortable with his safe life, he hears a rustling in the water above him. The next thing he realizes, he’s caught. Will he be saved? Oscar’s Big Miracle tells all.

“I wrote this book for boys and girls of all ages. Each of us has a little boy or little girl on the inside waiting for us to listen to the voice of truth so that we can do great things. It is my hope that as parents read this book to their children their little boy or little girl on the inside of them will realize the extraordinary possibilities that reside on the inside. Parents also have the opportunity to pass on a fearless trust in God to their children as they first make the journey themselves,” Patterson shared. “May Oscar’s story instill in all those who read it the ability to dream BIG and trust God to help them accomplish their dreams.”

This book will be featured at the Pennsylvania Library Association Book Exhibit in State College, PA on October 2-5, 2011. For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to http://www.Xlibris.com.

About the Author
Patricia Patterson has been a believer for over thirty years and has a Masters of Education in Counseling Psychology, a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Counseling Psychology. She is a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor. She has been married for almost twenty-five years and has four children. Patterson is a Parent Child Specialist and works with people who struggle with addiction but who also have untapped greatness on the inside of them. (PRWeb)

The Sony Reader

I hang with writers, editors, and even a few publishers, and I hear it over and over. The market for traditional books is dwindling, and the market for alternatively published books is growing.

For writers, this sometimes means seeking publishing sources like self-publishing, if they are dead set on holding that book in their hands.  And we readers don’t care that much who published a book or how, as long as we can curl up with it at the end of a long day or sneak in a few pages over our lunch break. 

Kids are no different from adults that way.  I know a lot of kids who like to read, boys and girls, and I think the flap about kids not reading is no more true now than it ever was–in all times and places, some people are readers and some aren’t.  The difference in kids now and kids in any other cultural era is that kids now are much more electronically savvy.  They do not require a CD in order to have music, and they might not require a book in order to have text. 

In addition, kids just have so many devices in their hands already.  If they already have a cell phone in which they can read a book, it’s not that big a leap to an iphone or even a Kindle.  There are dozens of ebook libraries out there for kids to borrow books from, and many places from which you can buy them, or even get them free. 

We’re only partically wired at my house, and we all love to hold a book in our hand.  But it was recently brought home to us that having a familiarity with ebooks might not be such a bad thing.  My daughter went on a week-long mission trip with a group of teens, and brought a bag stuffed with a dozen books she couldn’t bear to leave home.  She got through them all, too.  But how much easier would it have been in terms of space and the things she had to haul around if she’d just had a phone or a PS2 with her favorite books downloaded right in?  It certainly would have been one less heavy bag to carry!

I don’t think traditional books will ever go away, but I think that like with so many things, we have to keep our eyes and minds open to new things.  And as parents, we have a responsibility to do that, so that we still have some oversight over what goes into our kids’ minds.