Wages Creek, by Jeffrey Hickey

Title: Wages Creek

Paperback: 40 pages

Date: April 23, 2014 (2nd ed.)

Publisher: Big-n-Boo Productions

Language: English

About the author: Jeffrey Hickey is an author of three adult novels, The Coach's Son, Morehead, and scary, man. He is currently working on his fourth novel, a piece of historical fiction, Where She Stands. He also wrote and scored a CD of stories for teenage children and adults called Bat and Bones, which will be re-released in the fall of 2014. All his work is or will be available in print, kindle and audio book. He wrote and scored Wages Creek in May and June of 1994. While awaiting publication of this book, he picked many blackberries, and always kept a spatula close by in case things got out of hand.

About the book: There was once a campground on the Northern California coast where a fresh, bubbling stream met the vast Pacific Ocean. The sandy beach was large, the grasses were tall and soft, three ducks had a problem, one man had a cold, and a horseshoe pit was in the middle of the solution. This is the story of a trip my family took to Wages Creek.

My take: Can I start out by saying awesome story! It makes me remember all the times that my parents took us camping when we were younger. We had a lot of fun, but not sure if it was as fun as what happens in this story. I read the book first and then listened to it (you can download it from iTunes or Audible.com) with my daughter while she held the book in her hand. Wages Creek, by Jeffrey Hickey is a breath of fresh air. Listening to the story being read by him really gets you into the book. He is very over the top while reading the story. But I think this is awesome. It totally had my daughter laughing, grabbed her attention and kept her attention throughout the whole story. 

I purposely read the book first without listening to it. I wanted to see how the story read. Most of the time when you hear a story being read, it is different from when you read it yourself. I have to say, this one is different. The read was just as good as listening to it. The author's writing is very engaging. He makes you want to keep reading so that you can figure out what happens. I feel like his style of writing benefits all ages. Not only younger kids will enjoy this story, but older ones as well. I think that everyone should include this book on their child's bookshelf. I don't think there is a person who wouldn't enjoy reading/listening to this story. My daughter listened/followed along with the book twice in a row. She really enjoyed it.

I received this book from Bostick Communications for my honest opinion.