近距离内射合集

Albuquerque author Caroline Starr Rose and her literary agent seem to possess the same strong sense of perseverance as the main character of Rose鈥檚 new children鈥檚 picture book 鈥淏ooks Up the Mountain: A Packhorse Librarian Story.鈥�

Rose had received many rejections from publishers about her Packhorse Librarian book idea.

鈥淢any of the editors told me that they had a number of Packhorse books that had come across their desk, and they were all picture books,鈥� Rose said in a phone interview.

Packhorse Librarians were primarily women who, during the Great Depression, delivered books and other reading materials to homes and schools in rural Eastern Kentucky.

The librarians, or Book Women, traveled by horse, mule and sometimes on foot, under a federal program that paid $28 a month. The librarians had to supply their own animals.

鈥淚 thought my chances (to publish my picture book) had come and gone,鈥� Rose said.

It hadn鈥檛.

Her agent wanted to try one more publisher, a small boutique house, Waxwing Books, in Spokane, Washington.

鈥淭hey loved it and in late 2023 they made an offer on the book,鈥� Rose said.

She was thrilled.

鈥淚 just feel like I have something to say, something worth hearing. Otherwise, I wouldn鈥檛 get started,鈥� she said.

It takes several years for a picture book to come to fruition, Rose said. A couple of reasons are that once the author鈥檚 words are accepted, the illustrator needs to be found and then has to do her work.

The illustrator of 鈥淏ooks Up the Mountain鈥� is Gabrielle Grimard of Quebec, Canada.

On the front cover is a smiling young unnamed woman sitting astride a packmule loaded with books. Six youngsters excitingly greet her.

None of the characters has a name.

Even the region in Appalachia where the story is set, eastern Kentucky, is not identified in the story. Rose identifies the region in an author鈥檚 note.

Rose鈥檚 story tells of a young woman waking before sunrise and checking her saddlebags to prepare for her arduous book-delivery trip on her mule.

We see her and the mule climbing winding trails and crossing slick streams. Later, they push through a rough, overgrown path as they traverse higher ground, going through a hickory grove and arriving at a small one-room schoolhouse.

And on the Book Woman goes.

鈥淪he rides along, dispensing books, pamphlets, scrapbooks, magazines, carrying word from house to house, bearing news of town,鈥� according to the text.

The book presents the Book Woman through the seasons of the year.

On one wintry day, with snowflakes falling, a young man waves to her.

He happily declares he quickly finished reading the book she had last brought him. She gives him another book to read in exchange.

In another scene, a young girl proudly says that her mama is reading.

鈥淚鈥檓 learning her how,鈥� she relates.

In yet another scene, the Book Woman visits an elderly Black man, who asks if she would stay a spell.

She does: 鈥淭hey talk of crops and bygone days, music, memories, mountain ways.鈥�

At the end of a work week, the Book Woman is shown sitting at a table with three other women; they鈥檙e mending books for reuse in the lending library program.

The book conveys important values 鈥� of literacy, sociability, kindness, hope and community.

In the author鈥檚 note, Rose writes that the federal Works Progress Administration created the Pack Horse Library Project in 1935 as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt鈥檚 New Deal.

The WPA-funded project was only in place in rural eastern Kentucky. It remained in existence until 1943.

鈥淎ll reading materials were donated,鈥� she adds. 鈥淓very Parent-Teacher Association member in Kentucky was encouraged to donate a penny toward the purchasing of books. From across the country, schools and churches, Boy Scout troops and state health departments sent reading materials to the packhorse librarians.鈥�

At the back of Rose鈥檚 picture book is a further reading section. In it are the titles of five other picture books on the same subject 鈥� the Pack Horse Librarians of Eastern Kentucky.