Christmas & more: 5 new children's books by Cape Cod & Islands authors

Local authors have wonderful imaginations, treasured memories or fascinating information on history and science that they're sharing with children through some new books — in time for holiday giving or enjoyment anytime.

A Nantucket author takes an antique car to the Christmas stroll as a follow-up to an adventure at the island's daffodil festival. A West Harwich author remembers a magical childhood Christmas. One book reveals the fanciful secret behind delicious Cape doughnuts.

With a more educational slant, a new book introduces superhero oyster Sammy Spat, and another revisits the story of baseball hero Babe Ruth. Take a look:

'Maisie’s Merry Rescue,' by Bretworth Barry Hepworth, with illustrations by Ros Web (independently published, 2021)

This story of how Maisie the antique car comes to Santa’s rescue and saves Christmas on the island is the second in a series by Hepworth, a Nantucket author and jewelry maker. The car was a townwide hit in her “Maisie and the Nantucket Daffodil Parade” and here, it’s Christmas Eve and Maisie has just picked up the Tall Man and Lady from a party in the village of 'Sconset. When Maisie sees a light out in the foggy moors, she realizes Santa is in trouble and goes to the rescue.

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'A Bronx Boy's Christmas Story: When I believed in Santa Claus...,' by Sebastian Mudry, illustrated by Lydia M. Bell (SeaBass Books, 2020)

Mudry, who is retired to West Harwich, says this true story about his childhood in New York City is suitable for a child from age 8 to the child-within-adult at age 98. In this 35-page book with whimsical illustrations, he shows the profound effects that two toys had on him when he was 7 and "Santa delivered magic to me," expanding his imagination and sense of joy. An author's note says education was Mudry's escape from the projects, and Christmas is his favorite time of year.

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'Pink Sprinkle and the Donut Elves,' by Sharon Weagle (Page Publishing Inc., December 2020)

Weagle and husband Don are the owners of the seasonal Village Coffee Shop in Dennis, and she wrote this fantasy book after being inspired by children who visited and asked "Where do the doughnuts come from?" The secret: Elves are the dedicated bakers who slip into Cape Cod’s famous Donut Village, where they bake, frost and decorate the most delicious doughnuts in the world. Doughnuts aren’t Weagle’s only interest, though. She’s an international skier who was involved in the New England Handicap Sports Association as a blind guide ski instructor, and has worked in the special education field for 17 years.

'Sammy Spat and the Big Rescue,' by Kahren Dowcett, illustrated by Barbara Harmon (Ride the Tide Publishing, 2021)

Not every book has a science advisor, like this one's Anamarija Frankic. But Cape Codder Dowcett wanted to make sure to get the details right about oyster Sammy Spat, who travels via tide from bay to deeper waters to face the challenges needed to survive. Dowcett, who sits on the steering committee of the Japan-based World Oyster Society and organized its 2015 International Oyster Symposium on the Cape, has been working with the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster to champion oysters, as exhibits and programming are developed there. Both Dowcett and the museum hope to teach visitors about how oysters like Sammy are superheroes in the fight for the health of our oceans, protecting coastlines from storm surge and balancing ocean water quality. In that vein, Sammy Spat has been nominated for a Blue Marine Foundation Ocean Hero Award in the category of “Public Awareness.”

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'The Story of Babe Ruth,' by Jenna Grodzicki (Rockridge Press, 2021)

This is the 19th published or soon-to-be-published children’s book for Grodzicki, new library/media specialist at Chatham Elementary School, where students and staff recently held a celebration for the release of this book. Her Babe Ruth story is the latest juvenile nonfiction title in “The Story Of: A Biography Series for New Readers,” and she also wrote a biography of Princess Diana for that series. Grodzicki, who lives in Chatham, has previously taught kindergarten, and first and third grades, where reading to her students made her realize she wanted to write books herself.

Are you a Cape Cod author with a new book? Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com to be considered for future book columns.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Christmas reading: 5 new children's books by Cape Cod Islands authors