Books & Publications
For signed copies, please contact the author at [email protected].
Fallingwater: The Building of Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece
Co-authored with Marc Harshman, West Virginia Poet Laureate
Visit Amazon to purchase.
by Marc Harshman and Anna Smucker
In Bear Run, Pennsylvania, a home unlike any other perches atop a waterfall. The water's tune plays differently in each of its sunlight-dappled rooms; the structure itself blends effortlessly into the rock and forest behind it. This is Fallingwater, a masterpiece equally informed by meticulous research and unbounded imagination, designed by the lauded American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
This book guides readers through Wright's process designing Fallingwater, from his initial inspirations to the home's breathtaking culmination. It is a exploration of a man, of dreams, and of the creative process; a celebration of potential. Graceful prose and rich, dynamic illustrations breathe life into the story of Frank and Fallingwater, a man and home utterly unlike any other.
In Bear Run, Pennsylvania, a home unlike any other perches atop a waterfall. The water's tune plays differently in each of its sunlight-dappled rooms; the structure itself blends effortlessly into the rock and forest behind it. This is Fallingwater, a masterpiece equally informed by meticulous research and unbounded imagination, designed by the lauded American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
This book guides readers through Wright's process designing Fallingwater, from his initial inspirations to the home's breathtaking culmination. It is a exploration of a man, of dreams, and of the creative process; a celebration of potential. Graceful prose and rich, dynamic illustrations breathe life into the story of Frank and Fallingwater, a man and home utterly unlike any other.
Brother Giovanni's Little Reward: How the Pretzel Was Born
By Anna Egan Smucker; Illustrated by Amanda Hall
Brother Giovanni is a happy man, content to do what he knows best: baking. But all is not well at his monastery, where the monks are trying to teach the children their prayers in time for a very important visit from the Bishop. Having tried everything, they turn to Giovanni — but he doesn’t know anything about teaching! Eventually, though, Brother Giovanni discovers how to use his gifts to offer the children the perfect motivation and invents the tasty treat we now know as the pretzel.
This vibrant book, which includes a historical note and a pretzel recipe, tells the fascinating story behind one of the world’s most popular snacks. Visit Amazon to purchase the book.
Brother Giovanni is a happy man, content to do what he knows best: baking. But all is not well at his monastery, where the monks are trying to teach the children their prayers in time for a very important visit from the Bishop. Having tried everything, they turn to Giovanni — but he doesn’t know anything about teaching! Eventually, though, Brother Giovanni discovers how to use his gifts to offer the children the perfect motivation and invents the tasty treat we now know as the pretzel.
This vibrant book, which includes a historical note and a pretzel recipe, tells the fascinating story behind one of the world’s most popular snacks. Visit Amazon to purchase the book.
Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story
Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story, Albert Whitman & Company, Illustrated by Kathleen Kemly. It was chosen to represent West Virginia at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
From Booklist: "This lively, true tale is set in the American heartland more than 100 years ago. The Stark brothers dream of cultivating the perfect new apple ...A poor farmer in the hills of West Virginia finds a new tree with Golden Delicious apples in his field...(The Starks) rush by train and on horseback (and) find the tree. Since then, Golden Delicious apples have become known as the queen of the apple world.
Visit Amazon to buy Golden Delicious.
And through the West Virginia Book Company at wvbookco.com
From Booklist: "This lively, true tale is set in the American heartland more than 100 years ago. The Stark brothers dream of cultivating the perfect new apple ...A poor farmer in the hills of West Virginia finds a new tree with Golden Delicious apples in his field...(The Starks) rush by train and on horseback (and) find the tree. Since then, Golden Delicious apples have become known as the queen of the apple world.
Visit Amazon to buy Golden Delicious.
And through the West Virginia Book Company at wvbookco.com
No Star Nights
No Star Nights was my first published book. It's a story about growing up in a steel town in the 1950s, published by Alfred A. Knopf. Illustrated by Steve Johnson. No Star Nights received quite a bit of recognition including:
Available through Amazon
And through the West Virginia Book Company at wvbookco.com
- 1990 International Reading Association Children’s Book Award
- 1989 American Library Association Notable Book
- 1989 Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
Available through Amazon
And through the West Virginia Book Company at wvbookco.com
Outside the Window
Outside The Window is my second published book. It's a bedtime story, “gentle as a lullaby,” published by Knopf. Illustrated by Stacey Schuett, reprinted in 2005 by Quarrier Press.
It's been described as:
"A pleasant tuck-me-in.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"The quietly appealing narrative and warm, richly hued illustrations are just right for bedtime.” - The Horn Book
Follow this link to order the book. Also available through West Virginia Book Company at wvbookco.com
It's been described as:
"A pleasant tuck-me-in.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"The quietly appealing narrative and warm, richly hued illustrations are just right for bedtime.” - The Horn Book
Follow this link to order the book. Also available through West Virginia Book Company at wvbookco.com
To Keep the South Manitou Light
To Keep the South Manitou Light is a fast-paced historical novel (ages 8 and up) set on an island in Lake Michigan, published by Wayne State University Press. Winner of a 2006 Literary Merit Award presented by the Historical Society of Michigan.
The editor of "Biography for Beginners" says:
"To Keep the South Manitou Light is an exciting, well-paced narrative that captures the era as well as the continuing allure of Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula. An interesting and well-written addition to the historical literature genre for young readers.”
This book is available for purchase on Amazon.
The editor of "Biography for Beginners" says:
"To Keep the South Manitou Light is an exciting, well-paced narrative that captures the era as well as the continuing allure of Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula. An interesting and well-written addition to the historical literature genre for young readers.”
This book is available for purchase on Amazon.
The Life of Saint Brigid
I'm sad to say that this book is out of print now.
The Life of Saint Brigid, Appletree Press, Belfast, UK. Many readers have remarked how much the book's cover reminds them of a missallete.
A website all about Saint Brigid says The Life of Saint Brigid is:
"Beautifully produced little book with the Life of the Saint, Legends of the Goddess, Customs, Prayers and instructions to make Brigid's Cross."
The Life of Saint Brigid, Appletree Press, Belfast, UK. Many readers have remarked how much the book's cover reminds them of a missallete.
A website all about Saint Brigid says The Life of Saint Brigid is:
"Beautifully produced little book with the Life of the Saint, Legends of the Goddess, Customs, Prayers and instructions to make Brigid's Cross."
A History of West Virginia
This book presents the history of the Mountain State as a lively tale of conflict and triumph, as West Virginians have stood up for themselves and the place they love. The larger-than-life figures—John Henry, John Brown, Mother Jones, the Hatfields, Chief Logan and Stonewall Jackson, among others—who populate our past are shown here as the rightful forebears of today’s generation of Mountaineers.
"The history of West Virginia is the story of a place whose hills and hollows are a part of its people, a place where family has always been important," Ms. Smucker writes in her Introduction. "It is the story of people proud to call this beautiful, rugged land home."
You can order this book through Amazon.
"The history of West Virginia is the story of a place whose hills and hollows are a part of its people, a place where family has always been important," Ms. Smucker writes in her Introduction. "It is the story of people proud to call this beautiful, rugged land home."
You can order this book through Amazon.
Rowing Home
I'm honored and excited to announce that my first chapbook, ROWING HOME, was a semi-finalist in Finishing Line Press's New Women's Voices contest.
Rowing Home by Anna Egan Smucker
Rated 5.00
(1customer review)
$14.99
Anna Egan Smucker is a poet of the sacred: of trees and rivers, memory and loss, body and story. Her distinct and compassionate voice bears witness to violence, injustice, heartbreak. and transformation, and offers an anchor amid the falling and dissolving of this life. Rowing Home is a book to share and to come back to. Don’t miss it!
–George Ella Lyon, Kentucky Poet Laureate 2015-2016
Sorrow and loss may be a bitter weed that “forces its way through my flowers,” but like Gerard Manley Hopkins, poet Anna Smucker recalls to us the sacrament ever renewed in the natural world, calling us to celebrate all that is “green and holy” in our lives.
–Valerie Nieman, author of Leopard Lady: A Life in Verse
Without ever losing her focus on concrete observations of the natural world and human lives, Anna Egan Smucker fills Rowing Homewith glints of history, current events, rivers, dogs, trees, and a baker whose pizzelle cookies become a sacrament. The poems are condensed, supple, and many-layered, opening us to the toll industry and war take on human bodies, to the mind of a mass murderer, to participants in the Irish Revolution, and to what it feels like when a nursing mother’s milk unexpectedly lets down. In the final poems, she even captures a mystical rent in the veil between this world and the others.
–Meredith Sue Willis, author of Their Houses, Out of the Mountains, and other books
Available on Amazon.
Rowing Home by Anna Egan Smucker
Rated 5.00
(1customer review)
$14.99
Anna Egan Smucker is a poet of the sacred: of trees and rivers, memory and loss, body and story. Her distinct and compassionate voice bears witness to violence, injustice, heartbreak. and transformation, and offers an anchor amid the falling and dissolving of this life. Rowing Home is a book to share and to come back to. Don’t miss it!
–George Ella Lyon, Kentucky Poet Laureate 2015-2016
Sorrow and loss may be a bitter weed that “forces its way through my flowers,” but like Gerard Manley Hopkins, poet Anna Smucker recalls to us the sacrament ever renewed in the natural world, calling us to celebrate all that is “green and holy” in our lives.
–Valerie Nieman, author of Leopard Lady: A Life in Verse
Without ever losing her focus on concrete observations of the natural world and human lives, Anna Egan Smucker fills Rowing Homewith glints of history, current events, rivers, dogs, trees, and a baker whose pizzelle cookies become a sacrament. The poems are condensed, supple, and many-layered, opening us to the toll industry and war take on human bodies, to the mind of a mass murderer, to participants in the Irish Revolution, and to what it feels like when a nursing mother’s milk unexpectedly lets down. In the final poems, she even captures a mystical rent in the veil between this world and the others.
–Meredith Sue Willis, author of Their Houses, Out of the Mountains, and other books
Available on Amazon.
Other Publications & Recognition
Poems published in such journals as Kestrel, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Still: The Journal; several
volumes of the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Women Speak: Women of Appalachia Project, and the
anthologies Riparian, A Gathering at the Forks: Fifteen Years of the Hindman Settlement School
Appalachian Writers Workshop, Voices on Unity: Coming Together, Falling Apart; Wild Sweet Notes: Fifty
Years of West Virginia Poetry.
volumes of the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Women Speak: Women of Appalachia Project, and the
anthologies Riparian, A Gathering at the Forks: Fifteen Years of the Hindman Settlement School
Appalachian Writers Workshop, Voices on Unity: Coming Together, Falling Apart; Wild Sweet Notes: Fifty
Years of West Virginia Poetry.
