Media inquiries should be directed to:
Lori Lee Corson
Email: lori@lorileecreations.com
Phone 732-449-6031
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Published in the Asbury Park Press 2/22/04
Country cow meets city children
By RODNEY POINT-DU-JOUR • STAFF WRITER
ASBURY PARK -- Although she has seen cows up close before, 8-year-old Janessa Whitaker was startled when Anna Belle, a New Jersey cow, looked her way as she petted her.
"Whoa!" said Janessa, who jumped back from the cow. "It moved its head!"
Janessa was among several students at the Hope Academy Charter School who received a visit from Anna Belle and Lori Lee Corson, the author of "Everyone is Different."
Corson, who released the children's book in December, came to yesterday's Saturday session at the school to read to the children and offer them a chance to pet a cow from her farm in Wall.
Corson's visit to the school was part of an initiative to promote reading within the elementary grades, said Alexis Harris, the co-director of the Hope Academy Charter School.
Harris said she met the author when Corson, who is a paramedic for MONOC, responded to the school for an emergency.
"We started talking about writing, and she told me that she was writing a book," Harris said. "At the time, it took me by surprise because I didn't know I was going to actually meet a real author."
"Everyone is Different," is about a cow named Annie who befriends a goat named Scooter on a small farm. Scooter was the source of ridicule for Tilly the turkey, who made fun of the goat's beautiful black coat.
In the book, Annie explains to the other animals that "it's not the color or shape you are, but what's in your heart that makes up who you are," said Corson.
Tilly then apologizes to Scooter and the two "make a brand new start."
Corson said she got the inspiration to write and publish the book after watching one of her cows lick a goat on her farm.
"She didn't know that goat wasn't a cow," said Corson. "All she knew was that it needed to be comforted."
During a question-and-answer session, Ahdaizjah Bellamy, 7, a second-grader at the school, got straight to the point.
"Can I have a book?," she asked.
Rodney Point-Du-Jour: (732) 888-2619 or rpoint@app.com
