Neesa's Backyard

By Marcia Mandel

Have you ever wished you had someone big and wise to help you figure things out? Eight year-old Neesa sure did. She had no one to play with or talk to until she found a good friend right in her backyard. Join the adventures in nature as Neesa discovers a most magnificent creature!
Each of the twelve chapters introduces a new character - Neesa, Oak, Butterfly, Snake, Cold Wind, OM, Painted Turtle, Apple Tree, Angel, Bear, River, and the Smile - from who she hears wondrous stories. In the end, Neesa realizes all nature and all life are always there to support and help her along. She is no longer alone and deeply feels this connection.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marcia Mandel
• Release date: Dec 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9780973557817

Marcia Mandel

For thirteen years, Marcia Mandel lived on a lake in a park accessible only by boat, snowmobile or foot. At the time, her husband, an executive in television network sports, often traveled, leaving her to wander the woods, stoke the cottage fire, and write.With guidance from a local trapper and a variety of books, Mandel learned to listen to the land and, eventually, to hear the wisdom of her own heart. As an explorer of the human spirit - a modern day Thoreau - she offers unique stories and insights to her audience.Mandel is a regular contributor to Haliburton’s County Life newspaper and author of the children’s chapter book, Neesa’s Backyard. She is a graduate of Ryerson University: Radio & Television Arts and Humber College: School for Writers (Correspondence). Her work has also appeared on CBC, TSN, and TVOntario, as well as in Canadian Living and Cottage Life magazines.Megan Stanford was a grade eleven student when she illustrated this book in 2004. She now works professionally as a commercial artist in Ottawa, Ontario.

Book preview

Neesa’s Backyard

Marcia Mandel

Illustrations by Megan Stanford

White Trail Publishing

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Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2004 Marcia Mandel

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher — or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from Access Copyright, the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency — is an infringement of the copyright law.

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National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

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Mandel, Marcia

Neesa’s backyard / Marcia Mandel; illustrations by Megan Stanford.

ISBN 978-0-9735578-1-7

I. Stanford, Megan II. Title.

PS8626.A52N43 2004 813’.6 004-902740-9

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White Trail Publishing

www.whitetraillanding.com

Minden, Ontario, Canada

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Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

chapter 1: Neesa

chapter 2: Neesa and the Oak

chapter 3: Neesa, the Oak & the Butterfly

chapter 4: Neesa, the Oak & the Snake

chapter 5: Neesa, the Oak & the Cold Wind

chapter 6: Neesa, the Oak & the OM

chapter 7: Neesa, the Oak & the Painted Turtle

chapter 8: Neesa, the Oak & the Apple Tree

chapter 9: Neesa, the Oak & the Angel

chapter 10: Neesa, the Oak & the Bear

chapter 11: Neesa, the Oak & the River

chapter 12: Neesa, the Oak & the Smile

Neesa’s Song

About the Artists

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To Alan Clark,

a man of wonder, love and passion.

Thank you for helping me see my own magnificence.

In memory of Gerald Mandel and Ray Hollend:

two strong oak trees in my life.

— Marcia Mandel

To my mom, dad and the rest of my extended family

for helping me through hard times.

To my friends, especially Caroline,

for always being there for me.

And to Veronica M. Stanford,

Gertrude A. DesRoches and Courtney Gibbs,

may they live in our hearts forever.

— Megan Stanford

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Seek not to follow in the footsteps of the sages of old.

Seek instead what they sought.

— Matsuo Basho

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking

new landscapes but in having new eyes.

— Marcel Proust

chapter 1

Neesa

"Can anyone see me? AM I INVISIBLE? IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?"

Neesa was a lonely eight-year-old girl who thought she must be invisible because no one ever seemed to notice her, call her on the phone, or come over and play. Of course living at the edge of town with only her mother didn’t make things any easier.

I wish I had someone to play with, she said sniffling into her pillow. "Someone to talk to. I wish … I wish … Aaaggghhhh!"

Neesa got really, really sad and angry and sat up and hit her pillow so hard the feathers came flying out all around her. They were floating … floating everywhere.

Watching them, Neesa began to smile, for it looked like she was in the middle of one of her favourite snow globes. Astonished, she just sat there with her mouth wide open as the feathers tumbled all around her.

Just as the last feather landed, a gust of wind swept through the window and tossed them about again. When they’d finished falling, Neesa gazed in awe at