That's the Way It Always Happened

by Margo L. Dill, Pamella Withroder (Illustrator)

Lucy has a listening problem everywhere she goes—at the zoo, at home, and at school. But during Red Ribbon Week at her elementary school, her lack of listening and her love of polar bears cause her to miss out on celebrating being drug free and making good, healthy choices. Before the big celebration at the end of the week, will Lucy figure out how to listen and join in the fun with her classmates? Join Lucy as she tackles her listening problem and helps a friend in the end, too!

That's the Way It Always Happened tackles the themes of being a good listener and making healthy choices for our bodies at an age-appropriate level (preschool through second grade). It’s perfect for primary school teachers to use this book during Red Ribbon Week. However, the story about Lucy's listening problem makes this picture book, fully illustrated with watercolor paintings by Pamella Withroder, relevant for any day of the year at home, at school, or even at the library!

Genres: Childrens

18 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 11, 2020

About the author

Margo L. Dill is the author of Maggie Mae, Detective Extraordinaire: The Case of the Missing Cookies (picture book); the American Civil War Adventure Series: Anna and the Baking Championship (1) and Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg (2), for historical fiction, middle-grade readers; and That's the Way It Always Happened (picture book)*. Besides being a children's author, she is also a freelance editor with the business, Editor 911 and Editor-911 Books, and she is the managing editor for WOW! Women On Writing. Margo loves presenting workshops to writing groups and school groups. She also loves blogging and does so regularly on WOW!'s blog, The Muffin, and on her own website. When she is not writing or editing, Margo loves to spend time with her daughter and crazy rescue dog, Sudsi. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri; and if she could eat out every day, she would!

*Caught Between Two Curses (YA paranormal romance) is currently out of print.

Reviews

[Sara Lintner · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars from my whole family - 1st grader, 4th grader, and adults! This book contains a great message about missing out on important things when you don't listen, and how not listening can potentially cause dangerous situations. It's a really fun detail to see the main character's love of animals tie elements of the story together. 

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lu (little Ladybug) her favorite place to sit a white daisy flower.
All the other ladybugs were flying.
Lu would learn to fly soon.
1-day day a big wind blew her off the white daisy flower.
Lu was scared.
Mr. Caterpillar tried to comfort her.

Who else gave her lot of advice on how to learn to fly?

I do not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing free books from publishers & authors. Therefore, I am under no obligation to write a positive review, only an honest one.

An awesome book cover, great hand-drawn colored pictures, charming illustrations & proper font & writing style. A very professionally written children’s (preschool/elementary age) Lady Bug storybook. It was quite easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters, settings, etc. to keep track of. This could also make another great children’s educational presentation (overcoming fears, confidence), movie, an animated cartoon, or better yet a mini-TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is an extremely easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free author(s); FreeBooksy; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[Karen Wiesner · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars! "How do you talk to very young children about a serious topic like taking drugs? Margo L. Dill has shown us one way to do that with adorable illustrations provided by Pamella Withroder. That's the Way It Always Happened is dedicated to the Red Ribbon Campaign celebrated every year in October which carries on Drug Enforcement Agent Enrique (Kiki) Camarena's valiant war against drugs. Sweet Lucy loves polar bears and other animals so much, they fill her head even when she should be listening to the loving guidance of those around her. If you're wondering how to introduce this sensitive topic to your child, this gentle, amusing story is the perfect way to do it." ~Karen Wiesner, author of the Making Good Choices Series http://www.karenwiesner.com

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

I got the book for free but the review is my own. it's a very cute book about the power of listening hard and encouragement to be drug-free celebrating Red Ribbon Week