Locally-written book can help you make memories with your little ones
FRESNO – Esta Raber’s favorite thing to do with her children is arts and crafts.
“Sometimes it was hard to come up with another idea though so I started writing stuff down,” she said. “Then I decided I need to write a book on arts and crafts and stuff for preschool age children so moms could go to it for quick ideas. I wanted it to be something they could go to when children say, ‘Mom what do we do now,’ which I know happens often.”
Raber put her ideas and some she had gathered from others into an 80 page book titled, “Making Memories with Little Helpers.”
The book is divided into arts and crafts, games, miscellaneous and cooking activities.
“My children love the gak, which is kind of like silly putty and the edible peanut butter playdough,” Raber said. “They also enjoyed Worming Our Way to a Special Day. We put circles on the wall and made a caterpillar. We were going to Colorado in 30 days and every day we took one off and sometimes they had something written on the back like let’s read a story or you get a treat. It was a big hit.”
When she started the book, Raber thought it would be mostly geared toward preschoolers, but she had discovered that even older children enjoy it.
“People have been giving it to older children and letting them get ideas out of it for themselves,” she said.
Raber has five children all under the age of 5 and said they and her husband were very supportive of her writing the book.
“Writing is my hobby and I just kind of made sure I made time for it,” she said. “The children also loved the idea of mom writing a book. They were at my elbow and fascinated by it and my husband was excited to.”
Raber has printed two large orders for her book and said sales are going better than she expected.
“My first order of 500 sold pretty quickly,” she said. “We took them (at the end of August) to Amish variety stores and they got rid of them in a hurry. I placed another order for 1,000 books and it looks like getting rid of them now won’t be a problem.”
The goal for “Making Memories with Little Helpers” is to help moms be able to spend more time with their children.
“It’s less stressful to do stuff with them if you don’t have to spend so much time coming up with ideas,” Raber said.
“Making Memories with Little Helpers,” is $8.95 per book and there are several ways to obtain a copy. Raber said the books are in almost all the area Amish variety stores, you can call her to order one at 740-502-0268 or order one by mail at: Esta Raber, 52213 TR 186, Fresno, OH 43824. Through December she is offering free shipping on orders of up to five books and after five books shipping is $5. You also can order 10 or more books for $5.50 a piece.
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: People & Places
