Julie PenshornJulie seeks to enhance young children's social and emotional smarts through memorable stories thus creating a more harmonious world. Using a background in writing, music, teaching, and horse training she explores realistic, vibrant characters that enourage children's engagement. Young children learn to love books because their hearts are filled and their spirits are inspired. Julie's stories reach for their natural humanity, so children can begin to create and sustain a culture of peace. Stories with characters expressing and seeking compassion nurture children's instincts to be kind and generous. These stories also build social and emotional skills and can become important resources for schools, families, and communities. A horse trainer since 1976, Penshorn also spent 10 years devoted to the nonprofit, Growing Communities for Peace that she co-directed with Rebecca Janke, M. Ed., the co-author of Peacemaker's A, B, Cs for Young Children: A guide for teaching conflict resolution with a peace table. That book showed teachers of ages 3 to 8 how to create the environment and improve the culture of their classroom to make it a safe and peaceful place for learning where equity includes encouraging children to solve their problems using a peace table. It sold over 13,000 copies. After a hiatus from the nonprofit, Julie decided to force some time into her life for peacemaking. So, in 2017, she took children into her part-real, part-imaginary barnyard with a story that taught them conflict resolution, empathy, and compassion. That story, The Barnyard Buddies STOP for Peace, taught a simple and memorable STOP process for conflict resolution. She also felt it was key to provide a resource that defined and inspired seeking peace, so she wrote what became the winner of the Indie Human Relations Peace Book of the Year, I Can See Peace (2018). As a songwriter and musician, Julie was convinced that a musical version of the essential content of these two books would be valuable for kids, so she worked with the Friends School of Minnesota and others to record music and short children's dialogues in which kids practiced the STOP process for conflict resolution and learned many more original songs for peace. In The Barnyard Buddies Meet a Newcomer, Julie once again welcomes kids into the barnyard where they empathize with the suffering of an abandoned dog who shows up one day. They wonder how this new mouth will be fed and what Farmer Jim will do when he sees him. We see their courage mount as, along with the Barnyard Buddies, they learn about decision-making in community and compassion for others as they work through their fears! They watch the dog bravely chase the coyote out of the chicken coup, and gasp when, after saving the chickens, the dog is still going to be sent to the animal shelter. They ultimately witness the full transformation of the grouchy farmer who finally exhibits acceptance and compassion along with the courage to bring the story to its satisfying conclusion. Julie believes courage is what makes her a good rider. And that courage is particularly important to our children right now. The polarization in society has become severe and presents a crisis the next generations will have to heal. Whether it's stopping the next school shooting or stopping the destruction of the environment, it takes courage to offer positions that utilize anger as a catalyst for change, while enhancing true understanding and compassion. Each of the kids' books has an extensive Parent and Educator Guide at the end which expands the learning and makes the book more powerful. The first two books have companion music as well. Julie believes that with education and practice, children can become wise decision-makers who are able to face the complexities of any problem without abandoning compassion and empathy. Read More Read Less