Jack Cooper

JACK COOPER

is the author of the poetry collection Across My Silence (World Audience, Inc., 2007). His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Earth Island Journal, Rattle and North American Review. His poetry has been nominated four times for a Pushcart Prize and was recently anthologized in Earth Song: A Nature Poem Experience (T. S. Poetry Press, NY, 2022). Cooper graduated with a BS in Biology from the University of Redlands, received a second bachelors in English from the University of Trondheim, Norway, and holds a teaching credential from Cal State Dominquez Hills. He is the former communication director at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, and worked for many years in the same capacity at John Tracy School for Deaf Children in Los Angeles. He lives with his wife Kazuko in Eugene, Oregon. They have a garden with English peas and roses, a cat named CouCou and two sons, Jesse and Clay, in Los Angeles.

Coming Soon!

978-1-945432-61-3

46 pages, color illustrations, paperback

$15.95 + fixed $5 shipping

Silly Lily's Rhyming Adventures in Nature

Written by Jack Cooper

Illustrated by Greta Gonzalez

Edited by Dennis R. Hoerner PhD

Silly Lily lives in a small apartment with her parents and cats in the medium-sized city of NoFrown Town, but her heart lies in the big outside. She loves lilies, of course, and all the beautiful flowers, but animals the most.

She treasures books and videos, but every chance she gets she goes to the Peek-A-Boo Zoo, the NoHarm Farm, the Peach Beach and the Please Trees Woods. Sometimes she travels alone, sometimes with family or friends.

When not on a real adventure, she daydreams about one. Whether it’s An Aardvark that searches in the bark for bugs in the dark, or A Goat that ate her coat right off the boat, whatever Lily sees in nature, it somehow magically rhymes, and she would like nothing more than to share her adventures with everyone, who might in turn learn something along with her.

Whether she travels by skateboard, bike or bus, she always stays safe, and friends and other good people love to help her.

Every teacher of young children knows the powerful tool that playfulness can be. The joys of rhyming, alliteration and silly speculation are some of the best teaching tools for literacy, and some of the most fun to engage in! This joyfulness, along with a deep appreciation for nature’s wisdom and wonder, are all present in Lily’s adventures. The illustrations reflect the spirited verse and the sense of wonder that Lily embraces. Dreamy backgrounds create a sense of being completely present and attention is given to details that are often noticed only by the curious gaze of a child out in the world.

– Sarah Monroe, Waldorf Teacher, Corvallis, Oregon

An invitation to creativity!

– Marco Elliott, parent, printmaker, painter and author, former art and graphic design teacher, Paris, France, and Venice, California

This inspired work will grab children’s imagination while building bonds with new words and playfully impressing our human call to steward all of earth’s living things!

–Dave Nissen, Founder, Wanderlust Tours, and proud parent, Bend, Oregon

I feel confident that this special book will become a favorite of children, parents and teachers. Rhyming is an important pre-reading skill for children as they listen to the rhythm of the words and enjoy the repetition of sounds. The book’s whimsical rhymes and colorful illustrations will also be helpful for students of any age who are learning English.

– Jerilyn Nolfi Brown, parent and former primary and bilingual teacher, Chula Vista, California

A lovely children’s book of beauty, humor, learning value and great respect for nature.

– Frank Keim, parent, poet, naturalist and author, north of Fairbanks, Alaska