Tea with Lady Sapphire: Sharing the Love of Birds — Carl R. Sams II; Jean Stoick

Birds, nature and the relationship between a grandma and her grandchildren are the theme of Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick's new children's book Tea with Lady Sapphire: Sharing the Love of Birds.Wildlife photographers and authors of children's classic Stranger in the Woods, take kids on a journey into their own backyard where birds and critters are the featured guests at various feeding stations, including a snowman with a floppy-eared hat full of tasty treats. “We love gifting children with gentle lessons of nature and in Tea with Lady Sapphire: Sharing the Love of Birds we show them they don't have to go far to experience nature's wonders,” Stoick explains.Stunning photographs feature brilliantly colored birds that are admired and identified by Gram and two little members of her club when a packing snow -- a perfect snow -- brings the three together.“Our feathered friends are expecting us,” Gram explains in the book. “Winter is a difficult season and we take care of our feathered friends.” When the feeding stations are complete, the three enjoy steaming mugs of tea and chocolate, bird books and binoculars in hand. They marvel at the colorful visitors, all the while waiting for Gram's favorite bird, a 24” tall, almost prehistoric-looking pileated woodpecker Gram affectionately named “Lady Sapphire”.And, when at last Gram's Lady Sapphire arrives, in all her gigantic splendor, she's not alone! “Parents and grandparents love to create cherished memories for the little ones in their lives. They can often be the simplest pleasures . . . building a snowman together or the experience of a chickadee taking a seed out of a little hand,” Stoick says. “Tea with Lady Sapphire: Sharing the Love of Birds is a gentle reminder that those experiences can often be found just outside our window.”