“In Lift: A Gosling’s First Flight,” self-published author and illustrator Robin L. Gordon inspires children to value relationships and build community. The Georgia Writer’s Association, the oldest literary awards association in the Southeastern United States, recently selected Gordon as 48th “Children’s Book Author of the Year.” The book, appropriate for children age 4 to 10 but with lessons valuable for all, discovers why geese fly in a V formation.

“It’s a story about community and how nature can inform us about working together,” said Gordon, an east Cobb resident who is a former Fulton County teacher. Since 1998, Gordon, who also has a background in counseling, has acted as a mediator in civil, domestic and juvenile cases.

The self-taught writer inspired by her grandmother who wrote poetry said, “Writing has been something I’ve been interested since I was a child. I used to think in verse.”

Having lived on property with a pond in the backyard, Gordon often watched geese that migrated to the area.

“I was intrigued. I imagined what the goslings’ first flight might be like. The story sprung out of actually observing geese in the pond, watching them take flight and seeing the little ones join the flock,” she said.

The story is about a gosling’s first flight.

“The gosling is frightened and the parents are apprehensive. I’m sure it’s something everyone can relate to,” she said.

The gosling’s flight that does not go according to plan teaches life lessons.

“That’s the way it is for most of us when we try something for the first time. Like in real life, geese actually help each other and if a goose needs to go down from the flock while in flight, the other geese accompany it,” she said. They go down with it until it’s able to rejoin the flock.”

The book offers a sense of hope.

“People can apply (the lessons) to their own life and realize that we are a part of a larger community and generally there are people there to help us if we don’t succeed the first time,” she said. “I think people like to watch nature. I think we can learn from nature. It’s fun to figure why the natural world works in the way it does and see if we can apply some of those principles to ourselves.”

The book is available at www.liftforkids.com and wholesale pricing is available through the Publisher/Distributor, Peaceful Thoughts Press. Gordon is available for school visits.