…the touching story of how
the lives of forty-four children and the woman
who took them back to nature were changed
forever.
When
an eastern North Carolina naturalist and wildlife
biologist sought to return children to the wonders
of nature through their volunteer hours
at her own
nature refuge, she had aspirations of teaching them
many things. However, it didn’t take Gail Roberson
long to realize she would be the pupil instead of
the teacher. And she didn’t know that it would take
far more than knowledge about a butterfly to get
some of these children, already in difficult life
situations when they arrived at Morningstar Nature
Refuge, out of the cocoons they were wrapped so
tightly in. But nature is good medicine, and
together, teacher and pupils healed and blossomed
and brought this small, privately owned nature
center to the attention of the southeast. The true
story of a remarkable volunteer team of young
children and the determined woman leading them, this
book is filled with hilarious, touching and often
pivotal moments.
Juvenile through adult readers.
They question constantly. They keep me on my toes
with ones such as:
“How do you tell the front of this worm from the
back, Miss Gail?”
“If that’s the male, why has the female got one
too?”
“Do you think my daddy can skin me one?”
“Why was the moon following us the whole time we
were driving home last night?”
“Where do birds go after it gets dark?”
“What’s that thing on that bird’s head?”
“My daddy…he went hunting and got arrested. Why?”
“Miss Gail, a policeman brought his dog to our
school, and it didn’t have to poop all
morning. Why’s that?”
And I am constantly saying to them:
“No, son, I have no idea what boiled rabbit’s eyes
taste like.”
“Son, your britches are below your crack. Pull ‘em
up.”
“Eat that and you’ll die. You know it’s poisonous.”
“Get your hand out of that hole right this minute if
you want to keep it.”
“Who ate that cheese biscuit I hid in the cabinet?”
“What do you mean he’s stuck in the swamp? Stuck in
what? How deep? Lord, go get
everybody, and hurry up son.”
“You have exactly ten seconds to explain what
happened to my $400 trailer.”
at her own
nature refuge, she had aspirations of teaching them
many things. However, it didn’t take Gail Roberson
long to realize she would be the pupil instead of
the teacher. And she didn’t know that it would take
far more than knowledge about a butterfly to get
some of these children, already in difficult life
situations when they arrived at Morningstar Nature
Refuge, out of the cocoons they were wrapped so
tightly in. But nature is good medicine, and
together, teacher and pupils healed and blossomed
and brought this small, privately owned nature
center to the attention of the southeast. The true
story of a remarkable volunteer team of young
children and the determined woman leading them, this
book is filled with hilarious, touching and often
pivotal moments.