The Adventures of Mayor Molly McMole

  In her new book, Hoisting the Flag, Book 8, Mayor Molly finds out why General Henry Knox was an American hero: After the Americans had a significant battle win in Fort Ticonderoga, the Brits stupidly left 59 cannons.  Oops!  Washington chose Knox to go to the fort and get those cannons. Knox and his men built sleds for these cannons and transported them over mountainous terrain in the snow to the Delaware River to meet Washington.  Washington then gave Knox the job of getting those cannons across the Delaware for the next battle in Trenton, New Jersey.  And Knox was under Washington, in charge of the troops crossing the Delaware.   Then Knox and his men transported those 59 cannons to Yorktown where Washington and his men won the war with the help of the French navy. General Henry Knox was an American hero! Soon to be on Amazon #americanhistory #generalhenryknox #fortticonderoga #crossingthedelaware   Knox was the first Secretary of War

 Earthy Worm Cafe Ranger Greeting Mayor Molly Hi Folks      Well, after our trips to Alaska, Italy, Hawaii, and an American college town, my nomad mole tribe is ready to settle down, and that happens to be Vista in San Diego County.  We dug out our town and it is  magnificent.         Mole Town is under a house with a cement foundation,  protecting  us from rain and does  double duty as a sky for our whole town, Mole Town South.      Architects Fred and Keith did a bang up job, even building castles with onion domes.  I'm typing this on Lorraine Strieby's computer as you know, and I do this when she is out because I see her drive her car away. I don't think she knows I do this, but if she does she keeps it to herself, at least from me.      We have a new neighbor, Ranger, and he rides a Harley.  He know nothing about American History and I am going to hold a class in the Earthy ...

  Well, what can I say, Lorraine has just finished her seventh children's book about a badass crow. You know that crows are very  intelligent and they sometimes like to steal your bling but would rather steal your lunch.   This crow though had a thing for bling.  Lorraine was having a lot of fun writing about him which is a true story.  I'm a little jealous of this crow because Strieby is spending so much time writing and illustrating this  crow book that she didn't have time for us moles lately, but she now is with her producer and she is back painting too! Here is one of her illlustrations about this crow painted in her End of Hannalei Drive Studio. We will keep you posted,  I'm going to close now because Strieby just returned from the hair salon and she still doesn't know that I sometimes commandeer her computer, at least I don't think so. #crows #mayormollymcmole #whyisaspycalledamole #lorrainestrieby #author #illustrator #bling #childrenbooks...

 We just celebrated Juneteenth and I I bet there were no articles about this hero, black Warrant Office Mr. Billy Lee.  Do you know him? Bet not.  He was Commander George Washington's aide and right hand man in the American Revolution, historians called him a slave. OK, what did he do?   Well, he saved Washington's life more than once with his carbine Washington wouldn't go anywhere without him He was famous as the best horseman in the colonies with his horse, Chinkling.  Colonists would visit Mount Vernon afetr the Revolution to see Mr. Billy Lee ride his horse through the nearby virgin forest He did all of Washington's finances during the war and beyond He was in at least 6 paintings with Washington including Washington Crossing the Delaware (standing behind him) He helped Washington lead the troops on his famous horse Please let me know if you knew of him and learned about him in school He was probably the 2nd most important soldier in the American Revol...

 This is the famous banyan tree in Lahaina, HI,  and my impression above.                                                        Mole Mayor Molly is in the red had Banyan fig trees have  a unique root system that hangs from its limbs and grow into tree trunks that can overtake the mother tree in size and therefore are not recommended for your lawn because they will overtake it and are VERY hard and expensive to remove.  The famous Lahaina tree  above takes up a whole city block. Your kiddos can find out more about Hawaii--such as the Goddess Pele, Polynesian navigators, and volcano forming--in my book, Mayor Molly McMole Follows the Sun .  Cat Sophia also meets the villain Brooster the Rooster.  This book takes place in Kauai and it teaches a little Hawaii history as well. Kindle/Amazon Thanks for reading #banyan...

 EXAMPLES  OF MY BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS AND THAT'S  ME AT WORK IN MY STUDIO AT THE END OF HANNALEI DRIVE    Being an artist is fun but hard work when you have deadlines.  I am grateful to my mentors, Ron Pekar and Jim Gaines who taught me needed skills and Ron never tried to change me but encouraged and coached me beyond measure.  Along the way I was juried into art shows, received awards, galleries wanted my work,  and I participated in international shows in Britain, Italy, Sicily,  and France AND I survived.   When I gave up teaching business subjects in the 80s, I decided to be what I always wanted to be-- an artist, starting with oils (Jim Gaines) and then branched out to my real love--acrylics and mixed media. Little did I know that one day authors would want me to illustrate their books and that an idea I had would  become a 6-book children's adventure series starring Mayor Molly McMole.  She became my alter ego and som...

  HISTORY IS LIKE THE BIBLE,  it continues to be amazing, read/not read, and offers solutions to everyday problems. if you care to take a look. Here is Ben Franklin--as a young man--with his coonskin hat as he appeared in Versailles and the French courtesans found him charming. Here I took author's liberty, drawing him  as I thought he looked as a young man, in my book, Why Is a Spy Called a Mole, starring Master Spy Christopher McMole. Question:  What was Franklin's important role in the American Revolution? Were you taught about this extremely important role in school? Somehow, I think not, and neither was I.  I had to read an old dusty history book to  tell this story.  Hint--it involves some ships. The story is one of many in my book, which is sold on Amazon, Kindle, and Abebooks in Europe. You can reach me at strieby.org #benfranklin #americanrevolution #versailles #masterspy #whyisaspycalledamole #storyteller #americanhistory #americanforefather ...