In our book, Nana Joanna's Wise Old New Tales, we had tried to recapture a gentler time when parents took advantage of opportunities to read poems and stories with their children. The ten original poems and stories are wrapped around "old time" proverbs such as "Every cloud has a silver lining," "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and "Too many cooks spoil the broth." These timeless sayings are still popular and have important messages even today, for both young and old alike.

The poems are in "kid speak" and contain subjects young readers can identify with. Each poem has a corresponding short story that emphasizes and illustrates the meaning behind the proverb. Each story is set in a different surrounding and with a different plot, which keeps it fresh and interesting.

Poetry encourages children to play and learn about language and words. The rhyming verses of these poems highlight the fun and playfulness of language while at the same time offering an easy-to-understand theme within the wordplay. The short stories that follow each poem provide an additional opportunity for the child and parent to read about and discuss the meanings of "two heads are better than one" or how "the pen is mightier than the sword." Simply put, these are age-old sayings brought into the twenty-first century. We hope you enjoy them.

--UrbanWoods