Poppy and Pa

 Poppy cannot wait for summer to arrive so she can travel to her favourite place with her favourite person. When she and her father turn onto the dirt road that takes them to their family cottage, Poppy leaves life's worries behind. Follow Poppy, Pa, and rest of the their extended family, as they experience the magic that unfolds over the course of a day in Muskoka, Canada. Live in Poppy's vivid imagination, which flourishes in the safety and beauty of her surroundings, and discover the difference one person can make in the life of a child.

Read an excerpt

Late afternoons were for resting in the hammock that hung between the Three Sisters, my favourite trio of birch trees, a book resting on my chest. Other days, I would follow my imagination around our property, my bare feet sinking into pillows of soft moss and rough lichens as I climbed up rock faces or followed a path of fallen pine needles. I would name each plant and tree around me as I filled my pockets with acorns, my soles hardened by the end of the summer.

 I often ended up at the old hemlock tree, planted by Pa’s own Grandpa Lundgren so many years ago. It grew in time with our family, its roots deeper, its branches wider with each generation of golden-haired children.

Resting against its trunk, the cracked bark supporting my back, I felt anchored to my family, both past, present and those to come. I could gaze up through the lattice of needles and cones knowing where I came from and who I wanted to become

My Review

Such a cute story. This is almost what you’d call a child’s memoir. Every summer Poppy, who tells the story, used to go to the lake with her Pa and their spaniel, Benny. In the book, Poppy tells of their swimming fun, their tubing, and all the fun water things you might have done as a kid at the lake. Heck, all the summer fun things many of us wished we had been able to do at the lake:)

This is written for the perfect middle-grade reader. It has substance but also is basically easy to read and easily understood. There are a few Swedish words, but all are explained very clearly.

This will sound funny and, I’m not sure it should matter to a reader, but I thought the story was about “Poppy and her Pa.” Suddenly, her cousins were there, and then her grandpa and grandma. It was a story about Poppy and her Pa and then there just seemed to be a houseful of people. Doesn’t matter nor break the story, but I will admit I looked back and read it over a couple of times thinking I must have missed how they got there.

Anyway, the story moves forward with a fun time at the lake. This is not a mystery, not a new Swedish version of The Hardy Boys. It is just a delightful read about fun on the lake as a child in the summer with not just your Pa, but several other family members too.

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Kristyn Jewell, a lifelong reader, wrote her first story at the age of 39, inspired by her father and his enduring legacy. She works by day as a family physician, but her true love is the pursuit of hygge, found through travel, design, wildlife, cozy fires and lattes. After living throughout Canada, in Vancouver and Toronto, she and her husband returned to Dundas, Ontario, the quaint valley town that she grew up in, to raise their family. She passes on her love of nature and animals to her two boys and still spends as much time as she can by the water.

 

CONNECT WITH KRISTYN JEWELL

 

WEBSITE: https://kristynjewell.com/

 

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/kristynjewellwrites/

 

PURCHASE LINKS - POPPY & PA  

 

AMAZON.COM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1998454754

 

AMAZON.CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1998454754

 

INDIGO CHAPTERS: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/poppy-and-pa/9781998454754.html

 

BOOK DEPOSITORY: https://www.booktopia.com.au/poppy-and-pa-kristyn-jewell/book/9781998454761.html

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