PARKERSBURG - A Mineral Wells woman has published a second book and will go on a two-week tour promoting it.
"Laughter from Heaven: Celestial Chuckles from Children" was written by Barbara Cozad and is a collection of remarks by children she has heard over her life.
"The inspiration for my book has been my whole life," said Cozad, a mother and grandmother married to her husband, Ralph, for 45 years.
Article Photos
Children, she said, are closer to God than adults.
"I can see Jesus in everything they say," Cozad said.
Cozad, 66, describes "Laughter from Heaven" as a book of inspiration through humor and is a compilation of jokes and comments along with verses from the Bible.
Among passages are a mother and young son looking for a turkey in a grocery store where the mother rhetorically asks if the turkeys can get any bigger. "No mom," the child says. "They're dead."
The passage means there's no opportunity to grow and change after death, Cozad said.
Another passage is about a mother helping her 3-year-old daughter with her bedtime prayers and after each prayer, she would say "And all girls." Mom finally asks why and the child answers 'Because we always finish our prayers by saying 'All men.'"
"Laughter from Heaven" is her second book and was published in February by Tate Publishing. Her first book, "Pearls from Heaven," was published in 2006 by PublishAmerica.
She has had 25 book signings so far and is preparing for a 12-day tour to Florida and back to West Virginia, through Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia.
Her schedule is:
* 9-11 a.m., May 22, Raleigh County Public Library, Beckley, W.Va.
* 1-2:30 p.m., May 22, Craft Memorial Library, Bluefield, W.Va.
* 2-3 p.m., May 23, Union County Public Library, Monroe, N.C.
* 6:30-8 p.m., May 26, Camden County Public Library, Kingsland, Ga.
* 3-5 p.m., May 26, Sweet Marlay's Coffee, Daytona Beach.
* 2-4 p.m., May 29, Titusville (Fla.) Public Library.
* 1:30-3:30 p.m., May 31, What's the Scoop, Richmond Hill, Ga.
* Noon-2 p.m., June 1, Sabine's Home of Sweet Thing Bakery, Statesville, N.C.
* 9-11 a.m., June 2, Wythe County Public Library, Wytheville, Va.
The 360-page paperback sells for $25.99. It is available at the Blennerhassett Museum and online at Tate Publishing at www.tatepublishing.com/tipsheet/book.php?key=15828.
