Julia Taylor Ebel will sign copies of her new book, “Mama’s Wreaths,” on Thursday, Oct. 13, from 3-5 p.m. at Literary Bookpost, 110 S. Main St. in Salisbury.
The book consists of a collection of poems and soft, black and white drawings that tell the story of a mountain girl learning how to make live Christmas wreaths from her mother.
The poems cover trips to the woods with family to collect evergreen tips; warm nights in the kitchen, fragrant with the scent of firs, pines and hemlock; the early, awkard attempts of the child to make a tight, full wreath and the joys of Christmas and family.
Ebel wrote the book with M. Joanne Moretz, who lives in Watauga County amidst the Christmas tree farms. Moretz remembers making wreaths with her mother, in the tradition of many Appalachian Mountain women.
Ebel has published six other books, including “Jack Tales and Mountain Yarns as Told by Orville Hicks,” a well known mountain storyteller. Ebel, of Jamestown, makes her own wreaths each Christmas.
“Mama’s Wreaths” is published by Canterbury House Publishing in Vilas and distributed by John F. Blair Publishers in Winston-Salem.
She will sign copies of the book, which is suitable for children or adults.