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| Available on Amazon |
One of my OC Publishing authors, who splits her time between Houston and Dubai (where we met and became friends) is children’s book author, Diann Floyd Boehm. Diann will launch her
fourth children’s picture book, Harry the
Camel, on September 8, 2019, International Literacy Day. The book will
simultaneously launch in both English and Arabic to honour the language of the
main character’s country of origin.
“I
had been wanting to write a story about a camel for some time,” said Boehm. “While
living in Dubai, I had visited local camel farms, experienced the highly
regarded camel beauty contests and have even ridden many over the years. One
day, inspiration just hit for the perfect story.”
The
overarching theme of all of Diann's children’s stories is to embrace diversity
and for children to accept themselves and others the way they are.
Story
synopsis:
Harry the Camel will
surely pull on the heart strings of readers as he pines for a life he can never
have. Harry lives in the sand dunes of Dubai, and he often watches from a
distance as the beautifully sleek race horses at the track run their laps. He
laments that his back isn’t as smooth as theirs and wonders how much faster he
could run without his bulky old hump. As he dreams of the possibilities, Dover
the bird swoops in and teases him about his hump, making him feel even worse
about how he looks. As he makes his way sadly home he happens upon a little boy
named Omar. Harry learns that Omar is lost. Who better than a camel to lead a
lost boy out of the desert? In the end, Harry discovers there is nothing better
than being yourself and, for the first time, Harry is proud to be a camel.
There
is also a gentle anti-bullying message in Diann's book. “I want kids to read the story
and understand how words can hurt so they should think before saying something
that they believe is funny but could actually be hurtful.”
In
her last book, The Little Girl in the
Moon – Moxie & Tycho Town (the third in The Little Girl in the Moon series), Diann partnered with her
daughter, Katherine Louise Boehm, to create the illustrations. For this latest
book, she chose to work with Sri Lankan artist, Yoshita M. Ahmed, who she met
while living in Dubai, adding to the international flavour of her latest book.
“I
believe that different artists for different books help to define the look and
feel of the story,” she said. “Yoshita hails from the beautiful country of
Sri Lanka and has lived in the Middle East for years. Her artistry helps to
bring the simplicity of Harry and the beauty of the Gulf to the story.”
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| Author, Diann Floyd Boehm |
For more on Diann and her books visit www.ocpublishing.ca/diann-floyd-boehm.html or www.diannfloydboehm.com.
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