North Troy author’s children’s book chosen for Rutland Story Walk

NEWPORT — Northeast Kingdom author Tanya Sousa children’s picture book, Tossing Stars, is “Come Alive Outside”’s newest Trail Tale.

The book will be on display on the lower Georgetti Trail in Rutland until October 1.

Kids and adults are invited to walk the trail and enjoy the book.

Tossing Stars is a tale of imagination and whimsy where a child creates new and novel ways to use a bucket of stars.

Author Tanya Sousa took inspiration from artist Katie Findall for her book.

“I saw a painting Katie created called Tossing Stars,” Sousa said. “It shows a father with a child on his shoulders. The child is holding a bucket and tossing stars into the air. I was captivated. That one image started me writing. What would a child do if s/he had a bucket of stars to share?”

Katie and Tanya then worked together to create Tossing Stars. This is their second collaboration on a book.

The first was Life is a Bowl of Cherry Pits in 2009, which won a silver Moonbeam Children’s Book Award.

“Tossing Stars was a totally different experience, but all good,” Tanya says. “I already knew Katie’s paintings and her style, and instead of her paintings working around my words, I made sure my words worked around her paintings.”

Since childhood, Sousa has experienced a deep connection between the outdoors and imagination, which makes her the perfect author for Come Alive Outside’s Trail Tale.

“I took so much refuge and joy in my own creativity when I was a child,” she said. “I hope kids who read this book or hear it read to them, understand that imagination is their greatest playground. It can be enjoyed inside or outside – with others or alone.”

Come Alive Outside’s executive director Arwen Turner said it was serendipitous how she and Sousa found each other.

“She wrote an excellent love letter to her town during our “Love Letters” event last February. It was so good, she was selected as one of our winners. We talked a bit and I discovered that she was also a children’s author. After I read Tossing Stars, I knew immediately that I wanted to showcase her beautiful book on our Trail Tale.”

Sousa has several new books in the works which are about the love and connection kids have to the natural world.

One is called Rescued, which is the true story of how her childhood dog saved her and her older sister’s life.

The other, Frogs In the Baby Carriage, is a whimsical tale of a child who loves nature and how she uses her imagination to play gently with wild creatures.

Tossing Stars will be at Pine Hill Park’s Trail Tale until October 1, 2022.

Pine Hill Park is located at 2 Oak St Ext, Rutland, VT 05701 on the Lower Georgetti trail.

Visit comealiveoutside.com for more information.

Tanya’s book can be found on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Tossing-Stars-Tanya-Sousa/dp/1639881913.