Cancer Daily Life, by Carola Schmidt, Illustrated by Rafael Antonio

Cancer Daily Life is a bittersweet collection of illustrations that readers highly involved in the C world can relate to, including friends and family of people with cancer.’ From back cover.

This short, colourful picture book finds the odd things, the weird things, and even the ironic things can bring a guarded smile, during cancer treatment. It’s a little something you could give a friend who is going through cancer, especially when you are lost for words to say to them yourself. (This certainly describes me.)

There are ironic reflections on the long days of feeling sick and lonely and terrible. There are little glimpses of the fears to be tackled and the fantasies conjured up during the hard hours of treatment. Recommended as a little splash of colour in the daily life of the “C” world.

Where to find Cancer Daily Life: Bookshop Org, Amazon.

Carola Schmidt, the author, is a Pediatric Oncology Pharmacist and author of several scientific books on paediatric oncology. She wrote Chubby’s Tale: The True Story of a Teddy Bear Who Beat Cancer, illustrated by Frederico Schmidt. Mawson and his friends reviewed it here. Carola also wrote Bald is Beautiful: A Letter for a Fabulous Girl, a book about ‘about love, beauty, happiness, and friendship when going through various changes in our lives ‘. Find it at Amazon and Abebooks.

Rafael Antonio is an illustrator for games, books and comics.

Mark, your host at Baffled Bear Books, is guardian of writer-Bear Mawson. Of Mawson’s book It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In ” was said, “Reading this book is like receiving a great big hug of reassurance and a huge hot chocolate with fluffy marshmallows.” Review by Lady Bracknell. Of Mawson’s She Ran Away From Love was said, “‘A magical little grand tour into the meaning of happiness.’ Sharrie Williams, Author of The Maybelline Story.

‘She Ran Away From Love’, by our Mawson Bear: A small pink heroine for our times

‘This gentle little book snuck up on me. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was glad I dove in.’ (Reviewer B. Sneedy)

A teddy on the cover, yes, but this is mostly a book for grownups

‘She Ran Away from Love is an adventure on more than one level. It’s the physical journey of a small, frightened bear who finds Love just a bit too bright for comfort, but it is also an inner journey in which the little bear finds herself.’

‘I suspect this book will touch different readers in different ways. I smiled through the entire book.’ Review by Bernice Sneedy at Amazon AU. ‘

Thank you Bernice Sneedy for this kind review of Frilly’s quest to find herself.*

Mawson’s Guardian adds: And LOOK! Its only $3 or do on Kindle everywhere.

Go on, get snuck up on to, yourself!

Where to find She Ran Away From Love by Mawson, one of this world’s few published Writer-Bears:

*Oooh, that reminds me of another Bernice, a really cool young detective. Why not plunge into my review of Bernice Takes A Plunge while you are here.

Your host, Mark, is Mawson Bear’s Guardian, photographer, editor, blundering typist, chocolates fetcher and cushions re-arranger. Baffled Bear Books ABN: 4787910119.

The Bad Bridesmaid, by Rachael Johns

Waylen: ‘Mum’s about to call you, and I thought I’d better give you a heads-up.’
Fred (aka Winifred): ‘Don’t tell me she’s got a new boyfriend.’
Waylene: ‘Worse. She’s getting married’.

So begins a desperate campaign by Fred, or Winifred as she hates to be called, to stop her mother, Tracy, marrying for the sixth time. She accepts being nominated as her mum’s Matron of Honour only because being on the spot will give her a better chance to stop what she feels is a terrible mistake. How far will she go to carry out her plot?

Rachel Johns novel the Bad Bridesmaid is avidly read by our romance loving bear, Lizbeth — Our in-house lover of romance, Lizbeth Bear, sets aside Sense and Sensibility to find out just how bad a bridesmaid can be

As we compulsively read on to find out why on earth Fred is so antagonist toward marriage generally and for her mother in particular, we are taken from Perth to Norfolk Island and even across to the world to London. Why has her mother married so often though? And isn’t Fred just a little too upset about her mother apparently finding happiness?

Fred is even writing a book called “21 Rules For Not Catching Feelings” in which the 21st rule (this is not a spoiler) is, ‘If anyone shows signs of attachment, end it immediately.’ When she meets her prospective brother-in-law, Leo, Fred is horrified to discover she might in fact be catching a feeling or two. Her Rule 21 faces a severe test.

Among the little treats for readers to love along the way are the descriptions of Norfolk Island where the wedding is planned to take place, the references to Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and to the old movie, The Parent Trap, and the fact that Fred works in a library and that her house mate is a rag doll cat called Aunty. (Go on, try resisting all that. You have to read it now, don’t you.)

Author Rachael Johns not only has 30 novels to her name but also hosts an online bookclub and does podcasts and library visits. I heard her speak at a local library and she is very entertaining. Her books tend to be corralled under the heading “Women’s Literature” but she herself prefers the term “Life Literature”. For a good example of an often sombre, thoughtful and satisfying read about serious issues faced in life, consider looking for her novel, “The Greatest Gift” which revolves around issues of infertility and egg donation. This bloke really recommends that one.

Where to find The Bad Bridesmaid

All Rachael’s books can found through Rachael Johns own website . You can also listen to audio extracts there. They are available on all the big on-line retailer sites and in actual bookshops too. Print, Audio, and Ebook formats are available. I suggest getting a copy or several in print because after reading them, you are going to want to press them on to your friends so they can enjoy them too.

Your host, Mark, is Mawson Bear’s Guardian, photographer, editor, blundering typist, chocolates fetcher and cushions re-arranger. Mawson’s own Blog is Mawson, A Writer-Bear for Our Befuddled Times.
Baffled Bear Books ABN: 4787910119.

Captain Angus Steers for Madagascar; Gets Lost in Fiordland, New Zealand

Ships Log kept by Captain Angus.
Star Date: Have no idea. What stars? It’s raining. Have searched for amazing views and astonishing scenery in Madagascar. This doesn’t look like Madagascar. The charts given to me by hose chuckling penguins seem wrong. I did wonder if a chart scrawled with crayon would be reliable.

Ships Log: Star Date – Later than before. Still no stars. I have bravely steered where no bear has ever gone before. And it’s still raining. My hat is soggy. My beautiful captain’s hat. It’s soggy, I tell you. Bother those penguins! What’s that ahead? I can see something. Land ho!

Ships Log kept by Captain Angus.
Stardate: Still don’t know. Have reached Doubtful Sound. Possibly. Doubtful about it. Hard to see. Could be any old Sound. None of the pictures I ever saw of Madagascar looked like this. Where are the lemurs? Are we lost? Still raining. Forecast is for more rain. Oh look, another Sound up ahead. I’m tired. It isn’t easy being a small bear steering a big ship. I want to dry my hat. I need coffee.

Captain Angus Ships Log: Star date- still no idea. It’s been raining. Have steered away from Doubtful Sound. If it was Doubtful. Have my doubts. We are now seeking new mountains and drenched forests in Madagascar. Forecast is for more rain. Of course, it is.

LATER: HB Bear writing in Ships’s Log
Stardate: .. What? What the great sleeping bears is a ‘star date’? Today is today, of course. Captain Angus has gone below to wring out his soggy hat. Muttered something about, “Penguins, you just can’t trust them”. And, “Coffee, give me coffee”. The ship is now safely in my paws. Umm, How do you steer this thing? Who drew this chart? Oh look, green crayon and orange crayon and red crayon. Those are my favorites too. I wonder what it shows?

HB Bear writing in Ships Log.
Not raining so much. Starting to enjoy this. I’ve steered this way and steered that way and not hit anything yet. Maybe if I steer all the way through this wiggly gap in the mountains, we will come out on the other side at Madagascar.

HB Bear writing in Ships Log.
Just look at all these waterfalls. Wow, I love this place. Found a new chart. It is not scrawled in crayon. The proper chart says ‘Milford Sound’ and ‘New Zealand’. I wonder if Captain Angus will return to the helm? I wonder if Angus will bring me coffee? I wonder if Madagascar is close to New Zealand.

HB Bear writing in Ships Log.
I love steering this big ship. The rain is clearing! Oh look, mountains and waterfalls everywhere. I will just take my paws off the helm and run over to the rail to take a selfie. Oh yes! That’s me. Do you see me in my picture?. But wait … the land is getting closer. It’s getting closer fast. The land is coming straight for us really, really fast. Oh no! we’re running aground!

GRIND SCRAP GRRRRRRIIIIIINNNDDDD SCRRRRRRRRRAAAPPP BANGGG.

HB Bear: Oops. Perhaps I ought not to have taken selfies while driving. Angus will not be happy with me. Oh dear. If only we had run aground on Madagascar.

What next: Will our small bears salvage the big ship from the fiords? Will they ever find Madagascar? Why did they ever listen to those penguins?

You are at Mark’s blog called Baffled Bear Books. Mark is a dark coffee tragic, bibliophile and Guardian of Mawson Bear, a Ponderer of Baffling Things and one of this bright world’s few published bears.

Little Books by Mawson Full of Fur Appeal and Cuteness: $14 at Amazon USA

‘A magical little grand tour into the meaning of happiness’. Review on Amazon by Sharrie Williams, author of The Maybelline Story.

She Ran Away From Love, by Mawson, features his nervous little friend Frilly who sets off on a quest to find herself. Read more about Frilly and her quiet quest here .

She Ran Away From Love by Mawson Bear — Frilly sets out on a quest for answers to big questions in She Ran Away From Love

Frilly sets out on a quest for answers to big questions in She Ran Away From Love

‘I fell in love with this book the instant I started reading it’. Review on Amazon by K. Blade.

‘Rather like a colouring book for adults, this book invites you to escape and explore adult issues in a blue sky childhood way of thinking. It is original, and refreshing, with a wide target audience.’ Jane Hunt, Writer.

It‘s a Bright World to Feel Lost In , by Mawson, is about that inexpressibly baffling feeling of being Lost and left behind. The Big Question here is: Can you go on being you when you no longer know who to be you for? Read more about it here. Only $14 for a soft cover to hold in your paws. In Kindle too.

Its A Bright world To Feel Lost In by Mawson Bear

‘Reading this book is like receiving a great big hug of reassurance and a huge hot chocolate with fluffy marshmallows.’ Lady Bracknell on Amazon.

‘This little story made me well up. A lovely, poignant story with delightful illustrations.’ Jackie Law, Amazon Top 500 reviewer.

Mawson is an expert on napping. And Dreamy Days and Random Naps is full of tips for creative napping. It celebrates taking time out for yourself, slowing down, enjoying the moment, allowing your daydreams to surface, and of course slipping into a nap. It will delight everyone who enjoy daydreaming and napping. Could this be you? Could this be one of your weary friend?

‘Do you love to take naps? Are you a dreamer? Are you a creative soul? Then this book is just for you!” Mrs Book Dragon, Instagram.”

‘These playful bears encourage the reader to dream big and take care of themselves. It’s a beautiful message presented in an enjoyable format. This book made me smile from start to finish.’ Lucy, The Write One

Where to get your paws on Mawson’s books.

KINDLE: It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and She Ran Away From Love are also on Kindle for around $US3. And on Kindle Unlimited for FREE. All the books are also in soft covers that you can go to look at again whenever your world seems to become a bit too baffling. Or give them as random gifts of kindness to your friends.

Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef: Coral and marine life

Welcome back to Lady Elliot Island, a coral quay on The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. The Barrier Reef, as everyone knows, is the mighty reef down which Nemo’s dad swam to find his little son. We flew here from Perth

Out on the Lagoon: But what do you really want to see at a coral lagoon? The coral, of course. The glass bottomed boats leave from the beach at the end of the runway that runs through the middle of the island (see aerial viewing pic below)

Almost all the trees you see here have been planted in the past 30 years during the patient restoration process – it had been stripped down for the guano in the years before that.

Those buildings marked in this photo are cabins of the Eco Resort. See how close they are to the sea. We stayed in one of those. They are not fancy because this is a low-impact eco resort. Our glass bottomed boat took us further out to just above the main reef where the water gets more blue and you can see the whole island from here.

Out and out we went. In the deeper water above the reef we went snorkelling with the boat crew keeping on eye on us so we felt quite safe. The staff on Lady Elliot Island must have the best job in Australia, in the world.

We saw all kinds of fish and a huge groper, beach sharks, a manta ray and more.

THE REEF WALK. The staff members of the Eco-restort at Lady Elliot Island lead the groups out at low tide. Of course, the first thing they tell you about is safety. If you scrape against the coral you will get a nasty cut and likely an infection. We put on our reef walking shoes. These are thick soled plastic slip-on shoes to protect your feet.

The protective gear for the rest of the body simply consisted of a pole to lean on, like one of those poles that nordic walkers use. We walked in the sandy bits that you can see in the pictures, staying clear of the coral. Staying upright while clutching a camera in one hand and a pole in the other was tricky to do especially when the tide turned and the water started surging.

There are all kinds of creatures, many best seen during the reef walk at low tide. We took these pictures with an ordinary camera aiming down at the water. The water was clear, as you can see, although later in our walk it got murky as the tide came back in.

The coral is not easy to see in the deeper water especially as the swell builds, and from the boat itself this is about all you can make out (below). The startling blues of the starfish are clearly visible though.

And coral of many kinds: ‘brains’, spiky ones, and some like manicured shrubs and huge ‘brocolii’ like creatures.

Once back on shore we saw this little fella. He was just turtling along right among the people on the beach! It is after all, a turtle’s home, not a peoples’ home.

” I’m just a turtle,
Turtling along,
A happy green turtle,
Burbling a song…”

We settled on a deck chair as evening fell. Would the big female loggerhead turtles clamber up this very beach in the night? Yes, they did! But that’s for another post.

You are at Baffled Bear Books, brought to you by Mark, who is Guardian and blundering typist for Mawson Bear, one of this bright world’s few published bears. Mawson is the writer bear of It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In and of She Ran Away From Love and of Dreamy Days and Random Naps.

Lady Elliot Island on The Great Barrier Reef: Flying there

Lady Elliot Island is a coral quay on the south end of The Great Barrier Reef. The tiny island has featured on an episode of David Attenborough’s TV series, Great Barrier Reef not only because of the bird life, turtles and manta rays there but also because it is a conservation success story.

Where is Lady Elliot Island? Zoom in on a map of Australia. Find Hervey Bay in Queensland. Lady Elliot Island lies 1230 km NE of Hervey Bay.

Map showing where Lady Elliot Island is relative to Brisbane

map showing where Lady Elliot Island is relative to Hervey Bay and K'gari

Just getting there was an adventure for us. We flew all day from Perth in Western Australia to Brisbane in a Boeing 737 (comfort and movies) then boarded a turbo prop aircraft to reach Hervey Bay (rattling and sandwiches). Then the planes got even smaller. We flew out from Hervey Bay on a Beechcraft B 200 and returned on a Cesna 210 Centurion.

In the the photo below you can see the navigating thingy-gum. It shows our position and the red line shows our flight path. Yes, we were right behind the pilot.

Our flight from the coastal town of Hervey Bay to Lady Elliot Island took 80 minutes. We headed out over the sea and then northerly between the mainland and K’Gari Island, the big one in the distance (below). It’s the largest sand island in the world.

Beyond Fraser Island is The Pacific Ocean where the turtles roam for years on the currents after laying their eggs on Lady Elliot and on many other islands of The Barrier Reef. Just look at those blues!

The colours and swirls and patterns of coastal seas are just too blue for words. And these pics were taken through slightly fuzzy perspex windows. In fact they looked even bluer. We flew past K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) and had a good view of the little islands and sand banks too.

See that little island in the foreground of the picture above? Imagine an island like that all for oneself. You could just sit there in the shade by the sand all day simply being stunned by the colours of the sea. Cyclones could be a bother though.

Thar she blows! Lady Elliot Island hoves into sight (above). You can see the main coral reef where the deep dark blue ocean is breaking to white tops. Within the reef lies the lagoon. You can do reef walks at low tide and snorkel there at high tide. You see green turtles and reef sharks and all kinds of starfish and fish and lots of coral. The island is so small that, as you can see, the airstrip goes right across the middle, one side to the other.

If you look through the blur of the propellor (above) you can see two bands of blue at the end of the landing strip? That’s the lagoon, and after the lagoon you see the dark deep blue of the Pacific Ocean. We were later to see turtles right there where the runway strip ends.

And there is the Eco Resort on Lady Elliot Island. It’s deliberately low key and low impact. No vehicles other than for the staff to do their work. The staff are very involved in caring for the island. They are always planting more trees and counting the birds nests and the turtle nests

The island was actually a conservation disaster until some decades ago, and since then it has been restored tree by tree. More about Lady Elliot Island in future posts.

Mark is guardian and blundering typist for Mawson, one of this bright world’s few published bears. Of Mawson’s first book, ‘It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In’, a reviewer said, ‘Reading this book is like receiving a great big hug of reassurance and a huge hot chocolate with fluffy marshmallows.’

Safe Inside Old Bear: A Humm by Mawson

You guard them as they laugh and grow,
Till, big and strong and brave,
They dash off to excitements,
Without a backward wave.

They plan, they build, they fill their world,
Till one hard night they yearn,
Quite suddenly, to be safe Home.
And softly they return.

They find a place long left behind,
And through a portal peer,
But now it’s strange and different.
What they need’s no longer there.

Did someone take it all away,
When off they went to roam?
How could they go and lose it –
Their Certainty of Home?

But –
That place where all is simple,
Where all is true and dear,
That space they knew so long ago,
Is safe –
Inside Old Bear.

A Humm by Mark, Mawson Bear’s Guardian. You can listen too on Spotify.

A gentle book about that Lost and Crumpled feeling: It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In

Have you ever felt all alone on the world’s wide floor. And no-one’s said what for. Nor if you can be found? That lost feeling can crumple you anywhere.

It would be grand to be found by, well, Someone. But how does that happen? Does anyone know? Is anyone there?

‘Reading this book is like receiving a great big hug of reassurance and a huge hot chocolate with fluffy marshmallows.’ Lady Bracknell, review on Amazon

It’s A Bright World To Feel Lost In is a book about optimism, searching for new adventures, and making the most of life and love. Review on Goodreads by Debbie Young, author of Sophie Sayer Mysteries.

“Ready comparisons can be made to the giants of literary beardom, such as Paddington and Winnie the Pooh”. Review by Joey Madia.

‘Mawson is a precious teddy who should be a staple read on every little one’s bookshelf. He certainly has a home on ours. I know he certainly inspired my own inner child.’ Lyndie, Bookaholic reviews.

Dreamy Days and Random Naps, by Mawson: Perfect tired day-dream-believers who just want to rest. Could this be you?

Flop down and relax awhile with Mawson and his drowsy friends. Refresh the soul in the tranquility of simple joys and innocent dreams.

‘Mawson Bear awakes and ponders on the art of creative napping. Scotland The Brave imagines doing great deeds. Professors Caddy and Bree hold the highest hopes for their visionary inventions. Samantha sees wondrous things all round her. The Seekers journey all the way to the edge of the world, being sure to return, of course, by bedtime.

Dreamy Days and Random Naps celebrates taking time out for yourself, slowing down, enjoying the moment, allowing your daydreams to surface, and of course slipping into a nap for a while, or for even longer. It will delight all who enjoy daydreaming and napping. Could this be you?

‘I enjoyed Dreamy Days and Random Naps for its ability to show the young and old that it is good to use your imagination. This was another delightful read from Mawson Bear.’ Jolenes Book Corner.

‘The images in the Mawson Bear books are so charming and endearing you can’t help but smile at them.’ Review by Adele on GoodReads

Dreamy Days and Random Naps is marked down on Amazon UK right now! (Mawson’s other book can be read for free in most regions if you have Kindle Unlimited.

Where to find Dreamy Days and Random Naps:
Our publisher is Odyssey Books. Or roll off the cushions and flop over to Bookshop Org (supporting local bookshops), Amazon everywhere, Dymocks, Booktopia, Walmart, AbeBooks, at Loot (South Africa), Mighty Ape (New Zealand), Google Books, at Booklubben and more.

Mawson Bears books for cheering up frazzled grownups. Kids like them too!

You can also see all about Mawson on Amazon Page. (This writer-bear is all over the book world.) And be sure to plonk a paw down on the ‘FOLLOW‘ buttons on this page. And click Here for Mawson on GoodReads.

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