Dreaming of Mocha

Description

Florence wants a dog. It doesn't matter what kind of dog. Just any dog. To take care of, and to pet. To run with, and to play with. If she gets a dog, she will NEVER whine again and she'll always be good. That's what she promised Mom. One day there's a little dog in Florence's garden. He came out of nowhere. "Mocha" it says on his collar. Mocha and Florence become the best of friends. But then Mocha's owner is suddenly at the door. And he is a very nice man. What will Florence do now? An endearing picture book about loving animals and loving people. For pet lovers ages 4 and up.

An Swerts (1973) grew up in Geel, Belgium. After studying pharmacy she taught at the college for lab assistants and dieticians. Then she could no longer deny she was drawn to journalism. In 2007 she graduated from the Advanced Academic Education of Journalism (Lessius College). Her final paper was turned into a book. An worked for Clavis Publishing for a while. Today she spends most of her time on journalism and writing. Picture books, though, are her biggest passion: "I don't know where my passion for picture books came from; I've loved them ever since I was a little girl and that feeling stayed with me when I became an adult. Now I am always on the lookout for those special gems touching or funny stories with beautiful illustrations in bookstores and libraries, wherever I am. When I find one, I walk around with a wonderful feeling of joy all day long. It's the same feeling I get when a story of my own is 'growing' in my head." She lives in Vorst-Laakdal, Belgium. Eline van Lindenhuizen was born in Meppel (Netherlands) on June 29th in 1983 and now lives in Kampen. From 2001 until 2006 she studied illustration at the Minerva Academy in Groningen. She loves drawing, books and flea markets. Clavis Publishing discovered her talent for drawing at Illustrator's Day, an open house for illustrator, in Hasselt and in Amsterdam. She lives in Zwolle, Netherlands.

"van Lindenhuizen's charming, naive-style illustrations add great appeal." -- Kirkus Reviews "I adored this book. I work with ELL students that are at varying levels of spoken English proficiency and this is a great book for them to express themselves. Some students may only be able to say dog, girl, while others can share sentences about the story. I will also be able use this for higher level students to discuss what happened, how the girl felt, how they would feel etc. I can even use this for setting, characters, etc. This is a book that will make my students smile and the book itself will differentiate to the ability of the child. No matter the background or 1st language of the student, all can relate to this." -- Cori Risner, Educator, Dublin City Schools "Young children will immediately connect with the endearing illustrations. Language is appropriate for use with younger children with a good balance between recognisable and challenging words for beginning readers. Transitions across the page were clear with even very young children able to track the progress of the story easily....a delightful story to introduce the value of pet ownership and highlight the special relationship that might exist between our children and animals." -- Tanya Grech Welden, OzBooks4Teachers "A sweet book for little animal lovers!" -- Taryn Villarreal, The Overly Attached Reader "Lovely book. Perfect for little dog lovers. I wish I had a Mocha." -- Heidi Vickery, City of Charles Sturt Library "Cute little book about animals and the people who love them for small ones. Illustrations were wonderful!"-Catherine Hankins, Cleveland Public Library "A funny, sweet, and entertaining picture book that will likely become a repeat request from many animal loving youngsters."-Sharon Tyler, Cheshire Public Library