Nancy J. Nash

Nancy J. Nash holds a B.A. in English composition from Mount Holyoke College and an M.F.A. in Writing for Children from Simmons College. She lives in western Massachusetts and has traveled extensively in Oregon.

Here is an excerpt from Mama's Books: An Oregon Trail Story:

Papa looked stricken. A wind had come up, and it rustled softly through the pages of their battered volume of poetry. Anna wanted to pick it up and hold it tightly, to hear once more the voices that spoke and sang and shouted between its covers. The wind whirled some sand toward the wooden chair and she turned away. She couldn't bear to hear the soft, rustling pages calling her back. Part of her would be left here forever on the prairie, in the books with pages flapping in the wind.

Here is an excerpt from Little Rooster's Christmas Eve:

"Cock-a-doodle do!

This story's for me and for you!

Come see the barn where the baby was born,

see where He lay in the sweet golden hay

and slept unafraid until morning!"