The Azure Bluet (Damselfly) hums in Hmmm – M the Humdinger

The petals of the blue hydrangea were the better side of perfect for crafting the mating damselflies (azure bluet – enalagma aspersum), p. 48 in my just released botanical book Hmmm – M the Humdinger, available in hardcover and online audio Flipbook through the HARP webpage (https://stagingnest.tech/books/hmmm/)

The mating damselflies hum as together they create a blue heart.

Taking a leaf from the practice of 19th-century botanist and author Catharine Parr Traill, whose children’s story Canadian Crusoes is situated in part on the family farm overlooking Rice Lake where I grew up,  I include the Latin classification for the botanicals that feature in Hmmm.  In Hmmm, most of the botanicals were gathered from the land, Mi’kma’ki.  Horsetail (equisetum laevigatum) and Maidenhead spleenwort (aspenium trichomanes) are the plant companions for these mating humming damselflies.

• Looking for the perfect something for the Nature lover or child of any age on your gift list, Hmmm may be the answer.  Hmmm will also be of interest to advocates and allies for outdoor play and social inclusion.  Hmmm – M the Humdinger invites the reader to join M, a child of Nature who is “different,” on her journey as she navigates the world and the healthcare system.  You are invited to hum along with M every time that Hmmm appears in the story (in the Flipbook edition, Cathy DeWitt models the humming).   My grand-niece aged 7 offered the testimonial of my dreams, affirming that I had accomplished what I had set out to do. She also has praise for the Flipbook narrator, John Graham-Pole.

I thought the reader used good expression.

I liked how the story had a good message in the end about M, that it is ok to be different.