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Media Release
Recently Released Children’s Book ‘The Dragonfly Door’
Helps Students in Huntsville, Alabama Cope with Loss of
Classmates in November Bus Crash
Lee High School’s fine arts magnet program adapts
book into mini-play; students take play to help young
children at schools and churches
MAPLE PLAIN, MINNESOTA / HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, June 12,
2007 – The recently released children’s book, The
Dragonfly Door, has been adapted into a mini-play by
students enrolled in Lee High School’s fine arts magnet
program in Huntsville, Alabama. The play, which premiered
in May, is performed by students coping with the loss of
their classmates from a November 20 bus crash in
Huntsville. To help the high school students with their
grief, the fine arts magnet program adapted the book into a
play as a community service project with performances
offered to elementary school age children. The students
performing the play are also part of Students Health
Advocates Responsible for Peer Education (SHARPE), a
community service project sponsored by Big Brothers/Big
Sisters of North Alabama. “The Dragonfly Door” is expected
to become one of the mini-plays that SHARPE continues to
offer to elementary schools, churches and other groups.
“We are honored that a community has discovered a unique way
to use our book to help children,” said John Adams, CEO and
author of The Dragonfly Door. “We were very moved by
the students’ May opening performance and thank them for
inviting us to be part of their outreach to help others.”
Adams was inspired to write The Dragonfly Door after
reading an article about Anne Brooker, the teenage founder
of a nonprofit called The Dragonfly Project. Brooker sends
a packet of dragonfly-related condolence materials to
grieving families, including a dragonfly parable written in
the 1940s.
The Dragonfly Door features Lea and Nym, wingless
dragonflies living underwater in a marsh. When Lea doesn’t
come home one night, Nym searches the marsh for her, but Lea
is gone. Then, exhausted and sad, Nym discovers that her
friend has died. Through what may be interpreted as a
vision or dream, Nym receives a comforting glimpse of what
Lea has become.
“We treasure the comments we receive from parents,
grandparents and teachers who find our book when searching
for resources to help children in their lives cope with
loss,” said Clea Adams, executive director of Feather Rock
Books, Inc. “Our visit to Alabama confirmed the need for
this type of literature.”
One of the students in the play whose father died when she
was seven said, “I’m so glad somebody took the initiative to
do this. I wish I could have had this [book] when I was
seven.”
The Dragonfly Door
Written by John Adams / Illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson
US$17.95 / hardcover / 40 pages / ISBN 1934066125
Published by Feather Rock Books, Inc.
See more information at
http://www.featherrockbooks.com
About Feather Rock Books
Feather Rock Books, Inc. was founded in 2005 with a mission
to publish literature for all age groups, transforming
life's bumps and bruises into uplifting stories. The
company’s address is 4245 Chippewa Lane, Maple Plain, Minn.
55359. Telephone 952-473-9091 or 1-877-473-9091. Contact
Clea Adams, Executive Director, e-mail:
cadams@featherrockbooks.com.
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