Carol Cooper authors Gifts for the Heart

Gainesville resident Carol J. Cooper has published her second book, Gifts for the Heart. 

Cooper, who retired from Lutie School after a 34-year teaching career, says the book is a fun tale about a little girl, Emily, who wakes up in a cranky mood but opens her heart throughout the day to experiences with nature, a friend and the love of her family. 

The new volume, available in paperback, hardback and ebook, is available for online purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble or through Cooper’s publisher, Archway Publishing.

The book comes just a year after Cooper published her first book, Kickstands Up, which is available through Wal-Mart and Target. Cooper says the first book is also available through several book distributors in England. 

Gifts from the Heart is “totally different from my first book,” Cooper told the Times Friday. “The first book was more geared toward timed school curriculum and included lots of photographs. This one is just a beautiful story that will apply to anyone – old, young, whatever.”

Cooper said that, in writing and creating this book, she worked closely with Archway Publishing’s illustration team, a new experience for her. 

“When I was writing the book, I was basically seeing a movie in my mind. So it was fun to describe that to the illustration team and see those images put down on paper,” she said.

Cooper says she put special elements in the book, including purple walls in Emily’s bedroom and a teddy bear, things that were inspired by her own room and toys when she was a child.

She hopes to visit area schools this fall to discuss the new book and the process of having it published. She said she will donate copies to the school libraries, as well as to the Ozark County Volunteer Library. 

Cooper says her third book has been written, and she expects it may be published this coming spring. The next book features a tale based on an experience she had last year when a wounded bear found its way into her garage. 

For more information about Cooper’s books, search for “Kickstands Up” on Facebook.