SPENCER FAMILY BOOKS is a joint effort by descendants of Louis and Mabel Spencer to write and illustrate quality children’s books. Our name is derived from that relationship and our book, "Harry Wesley Spencer’s Boots" which, to us, represents childhood, family and love.
"Harry Wesley Spencer’s Boots" is a children’s picture book about a young boy at the turn of the 19th century who is very proud of his beautiful, new boots like his Papa’s. By the end of the summer season, Harry Wesley views his boots more as a badge of honor reflecting his pride in being able to work and help his family.
Harry Wesley Spencer, Louis Spencer brother, was a real person. Sadly, little Harry died before his 5th birthday, but the story of his boots is essentially a true one. His boots still exist and are carefully kept by the family.
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ZANITA SPENCER COLLINS was born in 1910 in the Pleasant Valley Farmhouse featured in Harry Wesley Spencer’s Boots, Zanita was a graduate of Plymouth Normal School of New Hampshire. Her teaching career began in 1929 with eight grades in a one-room school. Nearly five decades later, she was teaching grades 5 through 8 in a two-room school when she retired in 1975. She serves today as a consultant on story lines and edits text for the books written and illustrated by her children and grandchildren.
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CEO/Author/Illustrator LOIS COLLINS KERR has served as assistant librarian at the American International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh; as USAID Assistant Project Officer in Afghanistan; and as the Records Management Consultant in the Philippines, Egypt, and Sri Lanka. In addition to The Paper Animal Bus, she has written and illustrated A Blink Is As Good As A Wink, written Harry Wesley Spencer’s Boots, and illustrated her daughter Alfie Kerr’s book, Duck Strut.
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Author ALFIE COLLINS KERR grew up in the mountains of New Hampshire and various countries of the Middle East. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Early Child Development and Young Child Education. Over the last ten years Alfie has helped develop early child education programs for the U.S. State Department, the National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency. She currently resides in Plymouth, NH and is an Education and Disabilities Program Manager for Head Start. In addition to Sweet Possum, Alfie has written Duck Strut for Spencer Family Books.
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Illustrator MELISSA A. MAIORANO has a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design. She paints commissioned works and exhibits in the New York area. Harry Wesley Spencer’s Boots and Grandmother’s Gift were her first efforts in the special world of illustrating children’s picture books but she has created wonderful illustrations that enchant adults as well as children.
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Author CAROLE ANN SALYER worked as an office manager for many years and is currently an Independent Marketing Director of Team National Company. With 8 children and 10 grandchildren, she has extensive practical experience with young people. Due to her passion for family history, it was her story Grandmother’s Gift and her urging that the story of Harry’s boots be told, that sparked the formation of Spencer Family Books.
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Illustrator OLIVIA MAIORANO currently attends the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY, majoring in Advertising. Olivia is the daughter of illustrator, Melissa A. Maiorano, and the niece of author Alfie Collins Kerr.
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