Harry the Horn-Playing Hawk

About the Book

This is about a hawk that plays the blues on a blue-and-purple horn. When it comes time to fly south for the winter, he can’t fly and carry his horn at the same time, so he has to walk. It takes him all summer to get to Mexico, and when he gets there, he decides to live there, so he makes nests and stays. He wears a band hat that he sits on the ground for donations. People throw pieces of bread in his hat, so he literally eats his pay for a living. The reader is advised, if they’re ever in Mexico, to stop and put bread in his hat.

About the Author

Born with physical complications, Kimberlee spent most of her childhood as a patient in Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children. At 15 months old she underwent her first of a lifetime of surgeries.

Because she spent most of her childhood in the hospital, her Grandfather wrote and sent her children’s stories every week. These stories included her siblings and pets she had at home and didn’t get to spend much time with.

His stories took her out of her hospital bed and into adventures to magical places with her siblings, cousins and their pets. This helped ease her loneliness of not being able to be with her family. He also humanized her pets by giving them the ability to talk and do other things they could only do in fairy tales.

Inspired by her Grandfathers stories, she began writing children’s stories and poems at an early age. His stories brought her and her friends in the hospital so much joy and laughter, she has always dreamed of sharing her own stories with other disabled children as well as others.

On the occasions she was at home, she grew up on a 40 acre working farm, where her family took in foster children, grew a large garden and canned and froze vegetables and fruit from their garden andmany fruit trees. They also raised every farm animal you could imagine except for pigs. Most of all the family ate was off the farm and home cooked. Her mother baked bread and as a family the children helped make home-made root beer and ice-cream.

Living on a farm, she grew up with a deep love and respect for animals. Many of her own stories revolve around the antics and experiences she drew from farm animals and pets.

She resides in Washington State with her two dogs, Bella and Oreo, and her cat Cinderella. She’s written a long list of children’s stories under the collective title “In The Dog House” about past, present as well as friends pet dogs. Most of these stories are based on true events as well as humorous ones.