Ellie's Day in the Woods
Ellie and her cousins' crew go for a walk in the woods. With the help of a magical holly tree, they can see the natural wonders of the woods in all four seasons. They learn fascinating facts about the plants and animals that live in the woods, and they do it all in a single day! You can see everything right along with them, in the many beautiful photographs that accompany the story. The "Do You Want to Know More?" section at the end provides additional information about the things the four girls see in the woods, making it the perfect book for the entire family to read together.
In her retirement, Carol began volunteering for various environmental causes, such as walking the beach in Stratford for the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. She would share her observations with her mother, who had long been interested in birds. After her mother's death and at the suggestion of a friend, she wrote "Ellie's Day at the Shore" as a way to tie together her mother's memory with her volunteer work. "Ellie's Day at the Shore" earned a five-star review from Readers Favorite. It was also featured in a blog for Audubon Connecticut, where Carol talked about her volunteer work, in Birds of New England, a birding column by Chris Bosak, and in an article in Hearst Media Connecticut.
Carol Story's mother had a habit of writing rhymes to mark special occasions; she always referred to them as "Rotten Rhymes". Over the years, Carol had picked up that habit and would write rhymes to commemorate special occasions of friends and family – retirements, weddings, relocations. She started writing Rotten Rhymes late in her career in the corporate world and continued to do so even more after retirement. In 2019, Carol began volunteering for Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, where she chats with guests and gives them information and insights about the many animal residents there, as well as a little about the history of the Zoo. She enjoyed writing "Ellie's Day at the Shore" so much that she decided to write a book about Ellie and Carol going to the zoo. She collaborated on the project with Jack Bradley, another zoo volunteer who is also a photographer. After finishing these two books, Carol's partner George would suggest she write a book about hiking in the Connecticut woods. "Ellie's Day in the Woods" is the result of that! Carol also writes for and edits "The Howler," a newsletter for volunteers and staff of Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport. Carol lives in Connecticut and is a volunteer Docent at the Zoo.
