By John C. O'Connell
Unlike all other trees, unique in nature, your family's Christmas tree was the sentinel of good cheer whose piney canopy sheltered piles of red-wrapped joys. But then, one day you came home from school and . . . gone. Where did it go? What became of it?
Joanne Ferrante wondered, too.
The little girl who went to Holy Name of Mary and Blessed Sacrament elementary schools in Valley Stream, who went to Memorial Jr. High and graduated from Central, who went on to college and grad school, decided to give children an answer. Christmas trees are burned, she wrote, and their ashes rise up to the heavens and become shooting stars that fall to Earth high in the mountains and, in time, grow into new Christmas trees.
Ferrante's tender story of magical rebirth had children enthralled Thursday night at the Henry Waldinger Library in Valley Stream. Dozens of kids listened intently as the author read "Where Do The Christmas Trees Go?" the book she wrote, illustrated and published with her business partner, Lisa L. Dwyer, who, like Ferrante, is a native of Valley Stream's Dogwood Road.
"This is just such a wonderful feeling to share my story with them," Ferrante, now a West Hempstead resident, said of Thursday night's reading. "I love children and I love working with children. Writing and illustrating this book has been a real passion for me." The book is appropriate for children ages 4 to 11.
But Ferrante admits that turning her charming story and imaginative drawings into a book required more than her creative skills. She couldn't have done it without partnering her talents with Lisa Dwyer's discipline, drive and focus. The two are now close friends.
Dwyer was looking for someone to illustrate one of her own books when she joined Classmates.com, an online site where people can reconnect with fellow alumni. Dwyer and Ferrante got together last February and decided to form their own publishing company, Window Seat Publishing Inc., so they could turn their shared passion into reality.
Ferrante remembers her Central High School days fondly, especially her outstanding art teachers, Ms. Hayden and Mr. Cimador. She earned her art education degree from Adelphi in 1980 and then a master's in elementary education. She's now an art teacher on child-rearing leave from Clara H. Carlson Elementary School in Elmont.
Ferrante and Dwyer are glad they made the leap into self-publishing. "Together, Lisa and I have the opportunity to go where we want to go," Ferrante said.
"We're excited about what we're doing," said Dwyer, a 1979 Central grad who now lives in Malverne.
Dwyer's own book, "RG's on Vacation," a children's counting book for 2- to 6-year-olds, will be available in April. She's also written and will soon publish "Oh Tinky," an hour in her daughter's life, appropriate for children ages 2 to 8.
To order or find out more about Ferrante's and Dwyer's work, call (516) 565-5562 or go online to windowseatpublishing.com.
