Fostoria woman's 2nd book features flowers

FOSTORIA — Betsy Clevenger's career as a published author, in whatever form it eventually takes, has moved a step forward.After having "A Child's First Book of Birds," dedicated to her eldest grandchild, published through Amazon last year, the Fostoria resident now has "A Child's First Book of Flowers" to her credit, with it having been released in recent weeks.It may be found and purchased on website www.amazon.com. The book, which Clevenger also illustrated, is priced at $12.99."'A Child's First Book of Flowers' will introduce young children to the beautiful world of flowers," Amazon's description of the book says. "With vivid illustrations of 16 common flowers, fun facts, simple rhyme and learning activities, your child will soon learn to identify and appreciate the natural world of flowers in his world."After dedicating her first book to granddaughter Mary Alberti, now 7, Clevenger dedicated the flower book to Mary's sister, Betty Rose, 5. Mary and Betty, along with sister Louisa, 3, and brother George, four months, are the children of Betsy and Jim Clevenger's daughter, Abigail, and her husband, George Alberti. The Albertis live in Champaign, Illinois."My topics come with my grandchildren," Betsy Clevenger said. "The bird book, I did that because Mary loved birds. It just kind of evolved. My second granddaughter, Betty Rose, loves flowers. So, I thought, I'm going to do one for her.' And my third granddaughter, she loves dogs. She's the only one who loves dogs, so it's coming; I've already started writing it — it's 'A Child's First Book of Puppies,' about 16 different breeds. So, that's going to be really fun."Time will tell what interests little George, who is frequently referred to by family members as "Pip." But Clevenger, a retired teacher, has enjoyed researching her books. And it just so happened that she got an early education in flowers."When I was a child in Cleveland, there was a man across the street named Elmer Ackerman and he had a glorious garden," Clevenger said. "I remember, when I was 5 or 6 years old, he would walk me around his garden and (tell her about flowers). It stayed with me; I just thought it was so cool. At the beginning of the school year, he'd say, 'Come on over, Betsy.' He had a big bouquet of flowers for my teacher on the first day."That was my first exposure to flowers, from my neighbor. And I love flowers and my grandchildren love flowers and I love to give flowers. But writing this book, I learned so many things."Her giving hasn't been limited to flowers. She said her creation of non-published books actually began as a gift-giving gesture for her family and friends. The actual idea of publishing only went into action with the bird book."I think people put that into my head — 'You should publish so more people can enjoy it,'" Clevenger said. "I was, like, 'That's a good idea."Clevenger said she's made some money through Amazon sales and a couple of Illinois bookstores with which she works, but she said her own artistic pursuits come before doing the marketing work that may lead to greater sales."Money doesn't motivate me at all," she said. "I just want to be a blessing. It gives me such pleasure, to be able to give blessings to people with my art."Clevenger said she has put together a small book for her granddaughter, Betty, about the five years of her life, and she aims to do oil paintings of her grandchildren as well. She's also done a painting of a neighbor's house and given it to her.In addition to the books dedicated to the grandchildren, Clevenger has given thought to another venture into the written word with poetry that her father composed in years gone by."I'd love to publish a book of his poetry," she said. "I'd like to leave that for my family. He'd like that."