On Sunday March 26th I had the pleasure of hearing the LA Valley Girls' Choir sing the song "A World to Light" for which I wrote the lyrics, adapted from my book Mindel and the Misfit Dragons. It comes from the plea of the

dragoness Pointilla to her parents that she must leave home now because she wants to light the world with her fire, and knows she will find a place for herself to do just that.
Diana Warshawsky composed the gorgeous music and Marilyn Kay directed the choir and also produced a beautiful album, "Nishmas," in which this song appears. It was an incredible experience for me to listen to these wonderful young girls sing their hearts out and bring my words to life! "Nishmas" features the Shireynu Women's Choir singing original songs by LA Valley composers and lyricists.
I also wrote the lyrics for another song on the album, "If I Forget." Diana again wrote the music and the first time I heard it I was so humbled by the added dimension and richness that the music brought to what before had been mere words on paper. I want to thank Marilyn and Diana so much for including me in this wonderful project of "Nishmas."
You can listen to excerpts of these songs at www.MarilynKayProductions.com where you can also purchase the album.

dragoness Pointilla to her parents that she must leave home now because she wants to light the world with her fire, and knows she will find a place for herself to do just that.
Diana Warshawsky composed the gorgeous music and Marilyn Kay directed the choir and also produced a beautiful album, "Nishmas," in which this song appears. It was an incredible experience for me to listen to these wonderful young girls sing their hearts out and bring my words to life! "Nishmas" features the Shireynu Women's Choir singing original songs by LA Valley composers and lyricists.
I also wrote the lyrics for another song on the album, "If I Forget." Diana again wrote the music and the first time I heard it I was so humbled by the added dimension and richness that the music brought to what before had been mere words on paper. I want to thank Marilyn and Diana so much for including me in this wonderful project of "Nishmas."
You can listen to excerpts of these songs at www.MarilynKayProductions.com where you can also purchase the album.

By: Rabbi Rachel Esserman
What do the laws of Shabbat and dragons have in common? The answer will be obvious for readers of “Mindel and the Misfit Dragons: A Magical Tale By An Ancient Hand” by Xianna Michaels (Alcabal Press).

Michaels, the daughter of Samuel and Clare Ladenheim, of Binghamton, uses poetry to create a Medieval-style children’s story that combines Jewish faith with a lesson in how everyone – even if they’re different – can find their place in the world.
Although Michaels has written novels before “Mindel and the Misfit Dragons,” this is her first work for children. “I wrote ‘Mindel and The Misfit Dragons’ after my oldest grandchild, 10 at the time, asked me to write a book for children,” Michaels said in an e-mail interview. “She and her siblings wanted it to have a Jewish theme, and I had fallen in love with dragons after researching them for a workshop for her brother’s class. Dragons meant castles, medieval times and fairytales. And somehow there was Mindel. She came to me and began whispering her story about the castle she loved, how hard it was to keep the Sabbath there and how her family might have to leave.”
The misfit dragons are Serpenfin, Pointilla and Bibinfor, whose parents fear they are so odd that they will always be outcasts. Michaels deliberately wrote about three dragons because the number has mystical meanings in many religions, including Judaism. “There are three patriarchs in the Bible; the Jews are a threefold people (the Priests, the Levites and the Israelites),” she added. “We often repeat a prayer three times. It is the number of completion, of the beginning, middle and end. For me, it is the rhythm of stories. Remember there were three little pigs, three bears, three fairy godmothers, three wishes. So there were three dragons, each one a bit strange, whose own parents considered them misfits. I knew that the dragons and Mindel would meet and be the answers to each others’ prayers.”
Each of the characters speaks to Michaels, whether it’s Mindel, a child wanting her family to remain in its home and still be able to celebrate Shabbat, or the dragons, who must leave home in order to learn to use their special skills. “I love Mindel for her courage and feistiness and refusal to give up,” Michaels said. “I love Serpenfin for never going against his nature and for searching until he finds his place in the world. I love Pointilla for knowing she has a purpose, a mission, and, that somewhere, somehow, she will fulfill it. And I share Bibinfor’s love of books, the written word and lifelong learning. But I do not feel that I created these characters. They came to me because they had a story to tell, and I am honored that they chose me to tell it.”
Michaels acknowledges that people might be surprised to read a fairy tale in verse, but to her, it’s a natural fit. “Once upon a time, all stories were told as poems,” she noted. “Before the printing press, books were handwritten, but mostly stories were recited orally, and the rhythm and rhyme of poetry made them easier to remember. But that’s only part of it. The truth is, I’m a poet and almost all my stories come to me as poems. The characters talk to me and I transcribe. And as I write their stories, I come to love them, each and every one.”
Poetry has always been important to Michaels. “I began writing poetry at a very young age,” she said. “It was my way of recording the events and processing the emotions of my life. Others kept diaries; I wrote poems. In adulthood, this gradually evolved further into a means of clarifying dilemmas, finding meaning in difficulty and, ultimately, of healing. My poems became a way for me to connect with my deepest intuitive self, with my own soul; a way of praying to God and, sometimes, of getting answers.”
At one point, Michael’s life went in a different direction. “In high school and college, however, I somehow lost that connection to my creative center and became a full-on left-brained academic, eventually earning a master’s degree in linguistics,” she said. “When I began re-connecting to my creative core in my late 20s, it was through story. I did not choose a particular time or place in which to set my novels, any more than I chose the characters. They came to me and I crafted their stories. I enjoyed the process very much and learned a great deal about setting, characterization, about what constitutes a story and what gives it meaning. I learned about the discipline required of any writer, as of any artist, to go to the desk or studio, every day; and to work on balancing the writer’s need for solitude with my need to connect with those I love.”
However, Michaels learned something important from her experiences: “What the world defined as success might not necessarily be success for me. I enjoyed writing novels and received accolades for them. But I was blessed to realize fairly early on that this was only a stepping stone. My real work lay in seeking spiritual connection through my writing. And my medium, I knew, was poetry.”
Writing them became part of her spiritual practice. “I would go into my study very early each morning, light a candle and enter a meditative state,” Michaels said. “I would begin to draw with pen and ink, and then I let words come. I write rhymed, metered poetry. There is a mystical synergy that arises from the interplay of the music and meaning of the poems, often yielding revelations I would not have accessed with my conscious mind. Gradually, I was able to systematize what had become my daily practice. I created The Alchemy of Illuminated Poetry® process so that I could share it with others. It is a profound vehicle for inner transformation, which I am teaching and about which I am writing a book.”
Although “Mindel” teaches children and adults lessons about believing in themselves, Michaels didn’t plan for this to happen. “Firstly, I have to be clear that I did not set out to teach any lessons when I wrote this book,” she said. “I was simply writing the story that came to me. But when I was finished, I was delighted to realize that children – and adults as well – might learn something from the three so-called misfit dragons. Everyone is here for a purpose, and each of us has a special place in the world. Even though being different might at times be painful, it is often through what makes us seem odd, or not quite fit in, that we are able to fulfill our purpose. I would hope, for instance, that a child who is ridiculed for preferring playing the piano over playing sports might draw courage from the dragons and decide it’s okay to do what he loves. Or that someone who gets rejected over and over while trying to pursue her dream would keep trying, would think of Pointilla and her determination to light the world. Perhaps, too, parents might relax a bit about children who don’t seem to fit in and realize that one day they will, indeed, find their place.”
“Mindel and the Misfit Dragons” differs from many books in yet another way: the publisher has duplicated Michaels’ handwritten manuscript instead of using typeface and included her drawings to illustrate the work. The author noted that she always writes with a fountain pen, rather than using a computer. “The flow of pen-and-ink on the paper is an integral part of my creative process,” she added. “I first discovered fountain pens when I was a little girl visiting my father’s law office in downtown Brooklyn. He would sometimes take me to work with him in the summer. Everyone there was enamored of the new ‘ball-point’ pens. But I would sit at the big, old empty desks in the back and there discovered drawers full of abandoned fountain pens and bottles of ink. It was love-at-first-sight and I never looked back.”
The creative process, though, is still a mystery to her. “I do not always know what I will write before I put pen to paper,” she said. “But there is something about the movement of my hand and the flow of the ink that quiets my analytic left brain and lets my creative right brain take over. I find keyboards disruptive to my creative process, although for a book-length work I often have someone type the finished manuscript so I can edit with greater objectivity.”
Michaels notes that “Mindel” took her six years to finish: two years to write the story and four more to finish the calligraphy and illustrations. Michaels doesn’t begrudge the time and effort, though, because the work “was a labor of love originally undertaken for my grandchildren.”
The Reporter, Issue 48
Friday, November 28, 2014
Link to the original article.

Michaels, the daughter of Samuel and Clare Ladenheim, of Binghamton, uses poetry to create a Medieval-style children’s story that combines Jewish faith with a lesson in how everyone – even if they’re different – can find their place in the world.
Although Michaels has written novels before “Mindel and the Misfit Dragons,” this is her first work for children. “I wrote ‘Mindel and The Misfit Dragons’ after my oldest grandchild, 10 at the time, asked me to write a book for children,” Michaels said in an e-mail interview. “She and her siblings wanted it to have a Jewish theme, and I had fallen in love with dragons after researching them for a workshop for her brother’s class. Dragons meant castles, medieval times and fairytales. And somehow there was Mindel. She came to me and began whispering her story about the castle she loved, how hard it was to keep the Sabbath there and how her family might have to leave.”
The misfit dragons are Serpenfin, Pointilla and Bibinfor, whose parents fear they are so odd that they will always be outcasts. Michaels deliberately wrote about three dragons because the number has mystical meanings in many religions, including Judaism. “There are three patriarchs in the Bible; the Jews are a threefold people (the Priests, the Levites and the Israelites),” she added. “We often repeat a prayer three times. It is the number of completion, of the beginning, middle and end. For me, it is the rhythm of stories. Remember there were three little pigs, three bears, three fairy godmothers, three wishes. So there were three dragons, each one a bit strange, whose own parents considered them misfits. I knew that the dragons and Mindel would meet and be the answers to each others’ prayers.”
Each of the characters speaks to Michaels, whether it’s Mindel, a child wanting her family to remain in its home and still be able to celebrate Shabbat, or the dragons, who must leave home in order to learn to use their special skills. “I love Mindel for her courage and feistiness and refusal to give up,” Michaels said. “I love Serpenfin for never going against his nature and for searching until he finds his place in the world. I love Pointilla for knowing she has a purpose, a mission, and, that somewhere, somehow, she will fulfill it. And I share Bibinfor’s love of books, the written word and lifelong learning. But I do not feel that I created these characters. They came to me because they had a story to tell, and I am honored that they chose me to tell it.”
Michaels acknowledges that people might be surprised to read a fairy tale in verse, but to her, it’s a natural fit. “Once upon a time, all stories were told as poems,” she noted. “Before the printing press, books were handwritten, but mostly stories were recited orally, and the rhythm and rhyme of poetry made them easier to remember. But that’s only part of it. The truth is, I’m a poet and almost all my stories come to me as poems. The characters talk to me and I transcribe. And as I write their stories, I come to love them, each and every one.”
Poetry has always been important to Michaels. “I began writing poetry at a very young age,” she said. “It was my way of recording the events and processing the emotions of my life. Others kept diaries; I wrote poems. In adulthood, this gradually evolved further into a means of clarifying dilemmas, finding meaning in difficulty and, ultimately, of healing. My poems became a way for me to connect with my deepest intuitive self, with my own soul; a way of praying to God and, sometimes, of getting answers.”
At one point, Michael’s life went in a different direction. “In high school and college, however, I somehow lost that connection to my creative center and became a full-on left-brained academic, eventually earning a master’s degree in linguistics,” she said. “When I began re-connecting to my creative core in my late 20s, it was through story. I did not choose a particular time or place in which to set my novels, any more than I chose the characters. They came to me and I crafted their stories. I enjoyed the process very much and learned a great deal about setting, characterization, about what constitutes a story and what gives it meaning. I learned about the discipline required of any writer, as of any artist, to go to the desk or studio, every day; and to work on balancing the writer’s need for solitude with my need to connect with those I love.”
However, Michaels learned something important from her experiences: “What the world defined as success might not necessarily be success for me. I enjoyed writing novels and received accolades for them. But I was blessed to realize fairly early on that this was only a stepping stone. My real work lay in seeking spiritual connection through my writing. And my medium, I knew, was poetry.”
Writing them became part of her spiritual practice. “I would go into my study very early each morning, light a candle and enter a meditative state,” Michaels said. “I would begin to draw with pen and ink, and then I let words come. I write rhymed, metered poetry. There is a mystical synergy that arises from the interplay of the music and meaning of the poems, often yielding revelations I would not have accessed with my conscious mind. Gradually, I was able to systematize what had become my daily practice. I created The Alchemy of Illuminated Poetry® process so that I could share it with others. It is a profound vehicle for inner transformation, which I am teaching and about which I am writing a book.”
Although “Mindel” teaches children and adults lessons about believing in themselves, Michaels didn’t plan for this to happen. “Firstly, I have to be clear that I did not set out to teach any lessons when I wrote this book,” she said. “I was simply writing the story that came to me. But when I was finished, I was delighted to realize that children – and adults as well – might learn something from the three so-called misfit dragons. Everyone is here for a purpose, and each of us has a special place in the world. Even though being different might at times be painful, it is often through what makes us seem odd, or not quite fit in, that we are able to fulfill our purpose. I would hope, for instance, that a child who is ridiculed for preferring playing the piano over playing sports might draw courage from the dragons and decide it’s okay to do what he loves. Or that someone who gets rejected over and over while trying to pursue her dream would keep trying, would think of Pointilla and her determination to light the world. Perhaps, too, parents might relax a bit about children who don’t seem to fit in and realize that one day they will, indeed, find their place.”
“Mindel and the Misfit Dragons” differs from many books in yet another way: the publisher has duplicated Michaels’ handwritten manuscript instead of using typeface and included her drawings to illustrate the work. The author noted that she always writes with a fountain pen, rather than using a computer. “The flow of pen-and-ink on the paper is an integral part of my creative process,” she added. “I first discovered fountain pens when I was a little girl visiting my father’s law office in downtown Brooklyn. He would sometimes take me to work with him in the summer. Everyone there was enamored of the new ‘ball-point’ pens. But I would sit at the big, old empty desks in the back and there discovered drawers full of abandoned fountain pens and bottles of ink. It was love-at-first-sight and I never looked back.”
The creative process, though, is still a mystery to her. “I do not always know what I will write before I put pen to paper,” she said. “But there is something about the movement of my hand and the flow of the ink that quiets my analytic left brain and lets my creative right brain take over. I find keyboards disruptive to my creative process, although for a book-length work I often have someone type the finished manuscript so I can edit with greater objectivity.”
Michaels notes that “Mindel” took her six years to finish: two years to write the story and four more to finish the calligraphy and illustrations. Michaels doesn’t begrudge the time and effort, though, because the work “was a labor of love originally undertaken for my grandchildren.”
The Reporter, Issue 48
Friday, November 28, 2014
Link to the original article.

September 7th is Grandparents Day. I’ve already written about my maternal grandmother, who got off the boat and literally kissed the ground (Echoes of Emma Lazarus). She managed to transmit to me her reverence for this country and what it

stood for.
My paternal grandmother also had a story. In many ways it’s the story of the American Dream. Her name was Mindel. My oldest daughter is named for her, as is the heroine of my soon-to-be-released verse fairy tale, Mindel and The Misfit Dragons.
My grandmother Mindel came to America when she was nine-years-old and became known as Minnie. She was immediately put to work in a sweatshop because the family needed the pennies she could earn. So she had no formal education in this country. But she did learn what it meant to be an American.
The story is told in the family that she would walk on the streets of the Lower East Side with her older sister. Whenever she would hear a police siren, she would scream and run to hide under piles of garbage or old rags. Her sister would gently coax her out: “It’s okay, Minnie. You can come out now. This is America. The police won’t hurt us here. The police here are our friends.”
My grandmother would crawl out and eventually she learned. The streets might not be paved with gold in the fabled “Goldena Medina” that was now her home, but the police would not drag her away or burn her out of her house.
She would go on to marry a tailor and raise six children in extreme poverty during the Depression. My father used to say he had one toy growing up – a single roller skate. His brother had the other half of the pair. But somehow my grandparents always believed that life would be better for their children. Four of them, my father included, would fight overseas in World War II. My father – the baby – and his next youngest brother would go to college, as would all fourteen of Minnie’s grandchildren and her many, many great grandchildren. The American Dream was a gift that we all embraced.
I never knew my grandfathers and neither of my grandmothers was alive by the time I became a grandmother myself. But I think they all would be pleased that I try to convey to my own grandchildren what it means to be an American. Every time I read them a book about the Statue of Liberty or play patriotic songs at our 4th of July barbecues, I am remembering my grandparents. Every time I explain why I absolutely must vote on Election Day, or let them see me cry during the playing of “The Star Spangled Banner,” I am transmitting the lessons of my grandparents. They crossed an ocean in steerage so their descendants could live a life they could never have imagined.
Grandparents Day fills me with gratitude.

stood for.
My paternal grandmother also had a story. In many ways it’s the story of the American Dream. Her name was Mindel. My oldest daughter is named for her, as is the heroine of my soon-to-be-released verse fairy tale, Mindel and The Misfit Dragons.
My grandmother Mindel came to America when she was nine-years-old and became known as Minnie. She was immediately put to work in a sweatshop because the family needed the pennies she could earn. So she had no formal education in this country. But she did learn what it meant to be an American.
The story is told in the family that she would walk on the streets of the Lower East Side with her older sister. Whenever she would hear a police siren, she would scream and run to hide under piles of garbage or old rags. Her sister would gently coax her out: “It’s okay, Minnie. You can come out now. This is America. The police won’t hurt us here. The police here are our friends.”
My grandmother would crawl out and eventually she learned. The streets might not be paved with gold in the fabled “Goldena Medina” that was now her home, but the police would not drag her away or burn her out of her house.
She would go on to marry a tailor and raise six children in extreme poverty during the Depression. My father used to say he had one toy growing up – a single roller skate. His brother had the other half of the pair. But somehow my grandparents always believed that life would be better for their children. Four of them, my father included, would fight overseas in World War II. My father – the baby – and his next youngest brother would go to college, as would all fourteen of Minnie’s grandchildren and her many, many great grandchildren. The American Dream was a gift that we all embraced.
I never knew my grandfathers and neither of my grandmothers was alive by the time I became a grandmother myself. But I think they all would be pleased that I try to convey to my own grandchildren what it means to be an American. Every time I read them a book about the Statue of Liberty or play patriotic songs at our 4th of July barbecues, I am remembering my grandparents. Every time I explain why I absolutely must vote on Election Day, or let them see me cry during the playing of “The Star Spangled Banner,” I am transmitting the lessons of my grandparents. They crossed an ocean in steerage so their descendants could live a life they could never have imagined.
Grandparents Day fills me with gratitude.

I am not a Luddite. Truly, I am not. I appreciate the marvels – even miracles – that technology has wrought. I even avail myself of some of them. I can Google with the best of them (and even use the proper noun as a verb),

I understand the value of a website, and I learned to text so I could communicate with my children. (My grandchildren, as it happens, are happy to actually speak with me, but I digress.)
So, yes, I appreciate technology, but I also believe in the Socratic adage, “know thyself.” And for some reason, machines and I have never quite gotten along. I learned from a young age to hand sew a beautiful hem – I still can – but the sewing machine, much to my mother’s consternation, utterly defeated me. I can hand wash fine linens, but my washing machines have tended to do things like shake, rattle and walk across the room. And please don’t even get me started on the microwave.
I came of age when computers were the size of entire buildings and everyone was enthralled with electric typewriters. I always had what was referred to as a “nice handwriting” and high school and college teachers accepted handwritten papers, but still I took several typewriting courses. To no avail. Keys got stuck, motors jammed, I could never think or create on a keyboard and I made so many mistakes per line that a paragraph could take hours to type. Corrections entailed either a wheel-like eraser with a brush attached, which necessitated blowing on the keys so as not to clog them too much with erasures, after which you had to re-type; or using some new-fangled erasure strips which, when positioned just so, could be typed over. Don’t ask.
So I happily completed college and most of graduate school by handing in quite legible, lengthy, handwritten papers. None of my professors objected. But the master’s thesis was another matter. There was an ironclad, department-wide rule that it had to be typed. I despaired but then I rallied. “Know thyself,” I thought, and since our linguistics department was small and friendly, the chairman knew me as well. I went to him and handed him two pieces of paper. I said, “Here is a sample of my typing. I can type about ten words per minute with seven mistakes. Here is a typical paragraph. And on this other paper is a sample of my hand printing. I can print thirty-five words a minute with no mistakes.
Then I threw myself on his mercy. “Can I please, please, please hand-letter my thesis?”
He looked at the two pages. “I can’t read your typing, “ he said, and laughed.  “Yes, please do handprint your thesis!”
And so I did, and never looked back. My fountain pen is and has always been an extension of my hand. And so I believe it is altogether fitting that my first verse fairytale, Mindel and The Misfit Dragons, is entirely handwritten.

I understand the value of a website, and I learned to text so I could communicate with my children. (My grandchildren, as it happens, are happy to actually speak with me, but I digress.)
So, yes, I appreciate technology, but I also believe in the Socratic adage, “know thyself.” And for some reason, machines and I have never quite gotten along. I learned from a young age to hand sew a beautiful hem – I still can – but the sewing machine, much to my mother’s consternation, utterly defeated me. I can hand wash fine linens, but my washing machines have tended to do things like shake, rattle and walk across the room. And please don’t even get me started on the microwave.
I came of age when computers were the size of entire buildings and everyone was enthralled with electric typewriters. I always had what was referred to as a “nice handwriting” and high school and college teachers accepted handwritten papers, but still I took several typewriting courses. To no avail. Keys got stuck, motors jammed, I could never think or create on a keyboard and I made so many mistakes per line that a paragraph could take hours to type. Corrections entailed either a wheel-like eraser with a brush attached, which necessitated blowing on the keys so as not to clog them too much with erasures, after which you had to re-type; or using some new-fangled erasure strips which, when positioned just so, could be typed over. Don’t ask.
So I happily completed college and most of graduate school by handing in quite legible, lengthy, handwritten papers. None of my professors objected. But the master’s thesis was another matter. There was an ironclad, department-wide rule that it had to be typed. I despaired but then I rallied. “Know thyself,” I thought, and since our linguistics department was small and friendly, the chairman knew me as well. I went to him and handed him two pieces of paper. I said, “Here is a sample of my typing. I can type about ten words per minute with seven mistakes. Here is a typical paragraph. And on this other paper is a sample of my hand printing. I can print thirty-five words a minute with no mistakes.
Then I threw myself on his mercy. “Can I please, please, please hand-letter my thesis?”
He looked at the two pages. “I can’t read your typing, “ he said, and laughed.  “Yes, please do handprint your thesis!”
And so I did, and never looked back. My fountain pen is and has always been an extension of my hand. And so I believe it is altogether fitting that my first verse fairytale, Mindel and The Misfit Dragons, is entirely handwritten.

Mindel and The Misfit Dragons: A Magical Tale by An Ancient Hand is a magical, medieval verse fairy tale imaginatively told by Xianna Michaels.

This is the story of a brave Jewish girl living in a castle where it is very hard to keep the Sabbath and where unknown villians are defacing sacred scrolls. In her quest to keep her family home, Mindel meets three dragons who are considered misfits by all, but whose very oddidites may save Castle Draconmere. Hand-lettered and lushly illustrated, this original, lyrical, entertaining tale will delight readers is specifically written for young readers age 8 to 12. Mindel and The Misfit Dragons will inspire readers of all ages all to ask whether misfits even exist, or if everyone has a special, much-needed place in the world. A solid entertainment with a meaningful social message deftly woven into a truly engaging story that is enhanced with the inclusion of 194 illustrated pages, Mindel and The Misfit Dragons is scheduled to be released in November 2014 and would prove to be an enduringly popular addition to both school and community library Fantasy Fiction collections.
The Midwest Book Review
Children’s Bookwatch: August 2014
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Diane Donovan, Editor
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575

This is the story of a brave Jewish girl living in a castle where it is very hard to keep the Sabbath and where unknown villians are defacing sacred scrolls. In her quest to keep her family home, Mindel meets three dragons who are considered misfits by all, but whose very oddidites may save Castle Draconmere. Hand-lettered and lushly illustrated, this original, lyrical, entertaining tale will delight readers is specifically written for young readers age 8 to 12. Mindel and The Misfit Dragons will inspire readers of all ages all to ask whether misfits even exist, or if everyone has a special, much-needed place in the world. A solid entertainment with a meaningful social message deftly woven into a truly engaging story that is enhanced with the inclusion of 194 illustrated pages, Mindel and The Misfit Dragons is scheduled to be released in November 2014 and would prove to be an enduringly popular addition to both school and community library Fantasy Fiction collections.
The Midwest Book Review
Children’s Bookwatch: August 2014
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Diane Donovan, Editor
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575

Mindel and The Misfit Dragons by Xianna Michaels is a beautiful fairy tale told in verse about a little girl of eight who has a serious problem to deal with and manages to solve it beautifully

with the aid of three rather unorthodox dragons. To begin with, the book is printed in black and white in the manner of a medieval illustrated manuscript, with each page displaying decorated capital letters, the text inscribed in Carolingian minuscule (as best I can tell) and with miniatures or full illustrations on every page throughout.
Mindel and her parents live in a drafty castle called Draconmere and although they love their home dearly, it presents a number of problems that may require their leaving it. Sir Benjamin, Lady Leah and Mindel wish very much to keep the Laws of the Sabbath in proper Jewish fashion but there is the problem of the castle gate which relies on the grinding wheel for its power and alas, that is not allowed on the Sabbath. Further, Lady Leah's cholent stew puts the guards to sleep and the drafty castle keeps blowing the Friday night candles out. Such unusual problems call for unusual solutions and this is where the three dragons—each unique in his or her own way—come to the rescue.
There are also some dastardly dragon eels, but you will get to them in good time and, as the book is in verse, you will get there all too swiftly as the story sings itself along before you can give each beautiful page the admiration it deserves.
Xianna Michaels has given us an unforgettable book perfect not only for her Jewish grandchildren to whom it is dedicated, but for all children who love castles and dragons and who, given pen and paper, could probably make some very wonderful decorated capital letters of their own. Bookreview.com suggests that, with a few simple art supplies tossed in, "Mindel and the Misfit Dragons" would make the perfect gift for the eight-twelve year olds on your list.
Rating: Excellent!
Reviewed by: M.K.Turner
Category: Children's Books
Publisher: Alcabal Press
Website: www.alcabalpress.com

with the aid of three rather unorthodox dragons. To begin with, the book is printed in black and white in the manner of a medieval illustrated manuscript, with each page displaying decorated capital letters, the text inscribed in Carolingian minuscule (as best I can tell) and with miniatures or full illustrations on every page throughout.
Mindel and her parents live in a drafty castle called Draconmere and although they love their home dearly, it presents a number of problems that may require their leaving it. Sir Benjamin, Lady Leah and Mindel wish very much to keep the Laws of the Sabbath in proper Jewish fashion but there is the problem of the castle gate which relies on the grinding wheel for its power and alas, that is not allowed on the Sabbath. Further, Lady Leah's cholent stew puts the guards to sleep and the drafty castle keeps blowing the Friday night candles out. Such unusual problems call for unusual solutions and this is where the three dragons—each unique in his or her own way—come to the rescue.
There are also some dastardly dragon eels, but you will get to them in good time and, as the book is in verse, you will get there all too swiftly as the story sings itself along before you can give each beautiful page the admiration it deserves.
Xianna Michaels has given us an unforgettable book perfect not only for her Jewish grandchildren to whom it is dedicated, but for all children who love castles and dragons and who, given pen and paper, could probably make some very wonderful decorated capital letters of their own. Bookreview.com suggests that, with a few simple art supplies tossed in, "Mindel and the Misfit Dragons" would make the perfect gift for the eight-twelve year olds on your list.
Rating: Excellent!
Reviewed by: M.K.Turner
Category: Children's Books
Publisher: Alcabal Press
Website: www.alcabalpress.com

I love this book! Mindel is a wonderful book about a smart and a wise-beyond-her-years girl who is determined to save her family home, Castle Draconmere.

I think this book is remarkable on so many levels. Thematically, the book brings together medieval folklore and dragon-lore with traditional Jewish themes, and although it is unexpected, it fits so beautifully and poignantly together. Mindel teaches young Jewish children that they can balance their traditions with their aspirations and that they do not have to be mutually exclusive. It also teaches children to embrace their identity and to realize that even if they havenít quite figured it out just yet, every individual has their own special place in the world.
The bookís hand lettering and illustrations draw the reader into the world of Mindel and one truly does feel as if one is poring over an ancient medieval manuscript. The rhyme scheme of the book also reinforces the immersive experience and makes it that much more fun to read aloud with young ones.
I think children of all ages and adults will finish this book feeling as if they have been enriched, enlightened and entertained. Highly Recommended!
Ruby Assis, Goodreads

I think this book is remarkable on so many levels. Thematically, the book brings together medieval folklore and dragon-lore with traditional Jewish themes, and although it is unexpected, it fits so beautifully and poignantly together. Mindel teaches young Jewish children that they can balance their traditions with their aspirations and that they do not have to be mutually exclusive. It also teaches children to embrace their identity and to realize that even if they havenít quite figured it out just yet, every individual has their own special place in the world.
The bookís hand lettering and illustrations draw the reader into the world of Mindel and one truly does feel as if one is poring over an ancient medieval manuscript. The rhyme scheme of the book also reinforces the immersive experience and makes it that much more fun to read aloud with young ones.
I think children of all ages and adults will finish this book feeling as if they have been enriched, enlightened and entertained. Highly Recommended!
Ruby Assis, Goodreads

Mindel and The Misfit Dragons was an amazing book. I love how she was so persistent and how even though the dragons looked to be misfits, they had a place where they belonged.

I think that the moral is no matter how much it may seem that you’re a misfit, G-d puts you in this world for a reason and every person and thing has its place.
My favorite character is Pointilla, and not just because I’m a girl. She knows that even though her flames are small she could still light up the world, and I admire that.
Sarina, age 11

I think that the moral is no matter how much it may seem that you’re a misfit, G-d puts you in this world for a reason and every person and thing has its place.
My favorite character is Pointilla, and not just because I’m a girl. She knows that even though her flames are small she could still light up the world, and I admire that.
Sarina, age 11

When my oldest granddaughter was 10 years old, she asked me to write a book for children.

She asked that it have a Jewish theme. I had recently fallen in love with dragons, having researched dragon lore for a workshop I did for her younger brother’s class. Somehow all that came together and Mindel began whispering her story to me.
The book took me over two years to write and an additional 4 years to do the calligraphy and artwork, during which time I studied (and continue to study) under master calligrapher DeAnn Singh of Designing Letters.
My oldest granddaughter, A, by the way, now has her driver’s license!

She asked that it have a Jewish theme. I had recently fallen in love with dragons, having researched dragon lore for a workshop I did for her younger brother’s class. Somehow all that came together and Mindel began whispering her story to me.
The book took me over two years to write and an additional 4 years to do the calligraphy and artwork, during which time I studied (and continue to study) under master calligrapher DeAnn Singh of Designing Letters.
My oldest granddaughter, A, by the way, now has her driver’s license!

I wrote Mindel and The Misfit Dragons after my oldest grandchild, ten at the time, asked me to write a book for children. She and her siblings wanted it to have a Jewish theme, and I had fallen in love with dragons after

researching them for a workshop for her brother’s class. Dragons meant castles, medieval times and fairytales. And somehow there was Mindel. She came to me and began whispering her story about the castle she loved, how hard it was to keep the Sabbath there, and how her family might have to leave.
At the same time three baby dragons were born in a cave not far away. Why three, you ask? Three is a mystical number in many cultures and religions, including Judaism. There are three Patriarchs in the Bible; the Jews are a threefold people (the Priests, the Levites and the Israelites.) We often repeat a prayer three times. It is the number of completion, of the beginning, middle and end. For me it is the rhythm of stories. Remember there were Three Little Pigs, Three Bears, Three Fairy Godmothers, Three Wishes. So there were three dragons, each one a bit strange, whose own parents considered them misfits. I knew that the dragons and Mindel would meet and be the answers to each others’ prayers.
And why a fairytale in verse, you might ask? I might answer that once upon a time, all stories were told as poems. Before the printing press, books were handwritten, but mostly, stories were recited orally and the rhythm and rhyme of poetry made them easier to remember. But that’s only part of it. The truth is, I’m a poet and almost all my stories come to me as poems. The characters talk to me, and I transcribe. And as I write their stories, I come to love them, each and every one.
I love Mindel for her courage and feistiness and refusal to give up. I love Serpenfin for never going against his nature and for searching until he finds his place in the world. I love Pointilla for knowing she has a purpose, a mission, and that somewhere, somehow, she will fulfill it. And I share Bibinfor’s love of books, the written word and lifelong learning. But I do not feel that I created these characters. They came to me because they had a story to tell, and I am honored that they chose me to tell it.

researching them for a workshop for her brother’s class. Dragons meant castles, medieval times and fairytales. And somehow there was Mindel. She came to me and began whispering her story about the castle she loved, how hard it was to keep the Sabbath there, and how her family might have to leave.
At the same time three baby dragons were born in a cave not far away. Why three, you ask? Three is a mystical number in many cultures and religions, including Judaism. There are three Patriarchs in the Bible; the Jews are a threefold people (the Priests, the Levites and the Israelites.) We often repeat a prayer three times. It is the number of completion, of the beginning, middle and end. For me it is the rhythm of stories. Remember there were Three Little Pigs, Three Bears, Three Fairy Godmothers, Three Wishes. So there were three dragons, each one a bit strange, whose own parents considered them misfits. I knew that the dragons and Mindel would meet and be the answers to each others’ prayers.
And why a fairytale in verse, you might ask? I might answer that once upon a time, all stories were told as poems. Before the printing press, books were handwritten, but mostly, stories were recited orally and the rhythm and rhyme of poetry made them easier to remember. But that’s only part of it. The truth is, I’m a poet and almost all my stories come to me as poems. The characters talk to me, and I transcribe. And as I write their stories, I come to love them, each and every one.
I love Mindel for her courage and feistiness and refusal to give up. I love Serpenfin for never going against his nature and for searching until he finds his place in the world. I love Pointilla for knowing she has a purpose, a mission, and that somewhere, somehow, she will fulfill it. And I share Bibinfor’s love of books, the written word and lifelong learning. But I do not feel that I created these characters. They came to me because they had a story to tell, and I am honored that they chose me to tell it.