Description: "Cyndi Lou finds herself in a quite a fix when her beau, Billy Ray, tries to secure her affection with an assortment of Christmas gifts. This sounds like a pretty good deal for Cyndi Lou and her Memaw, but when the gifts go on for twelve days straight and include such Christmas "treasures" as razorback hogs, live catfish, and a dozen possums, it's hard for Cyndi Lou to really get into the Christmas spirit. What with all of the armadillos and those Nascar racers taking up residence in the double-wide, is it any wonder the sheriff has to put Memaw in the sanitarium? This enchantingly fractured version of the well-known rhyme for adults will truly "bless your heart!""--Publisher's website.
Brief description: Nancy Kelly Allen worked as a social worker and middle-school social studies teacher before becoming a primary-school librarian. She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and biology from Cumberland College and two master's degrees in elementary education and library science from Morehead State University and the University of Kentucky, respectively. Allen fell in love with children's books as a graduate student, and after ten years of perseverance, she published her first picture book in 1999. As she put it, "I am continually surprised that up-town editors understand the writing of this up-holler Kentuckian." She has written articles for Book Links, the Good Apple, Back Home in Kentucky, M Magazine, Kudzu, and Children's Book Insider and short stories for the Cup of Comfort books. She received a writing grant from the Kentucky Foundation of Women. She is a member of several organizations, including the Kentucky Retired Teachers Association, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Appalachian Authors Guild, Writers of the North Fork, and Art of the Mountains. Allen lives in the same log cabin in which she grew up in Hazard, Kentucky. She resides with her husband, Larry, and two assistant writers, miniature schnauzers Jazi and Roxi.