Everyone has a story to tell, and some people need help telling it. Far too many stories go unpublished and unshared. We're working to help change that.
Our mission is to help authors bring their stories to light with professional editing, design, and good exposure to the marketplace. Through Belle Isle Books, we offer personal guidance and accessibility, encourage authors to actively participate in the publishing process, and produce high-quality books that exhibit editorial quality of the highest caliber.
We treat the publishing process as a partnership because when the book comes off the press, we want our authors to be confident and successful.
Our mission is to help authors bring their stories to light with professional editing, design, and good exposure to the marketplace. Through Belle Isle Books, we offer personal guidance and accessibility, encourage authors to actively participate in the publishing process, and produce high-quality books that exhibit editorial quality of the highest caliber.
We treat the publishing process as a partnership because when the book comes off the press, we want our authors to be confident and successful.
New and Upcoming Releases
Waiting for Scotland: Poems and Meditations
by S.A. Borders-Shoemaker
Waiting for Scotland is a poetry collection about reconciling the past with hopes for the future. Within these pages is the direct confrontation between youthful expectations and sobering realities. Born from the labors of deep soul work, it is all at once a comprehensive story and a series of meditations on identity. This collection acknowledges what has come before and how the past contends with a very real and powerful present. Borders-Shoemaker’s words declare a hope for a different future, rooted in honesty and compassion.
Waiting for Scotland is a poetry collection about reconciling the past with hopes for the future. Within these pages is the direct confrontation between youthful expectations and sobering realities. Born from the labors of deep soul work, it is all at once a comprehensive story and a series of meditations on identity. This collection acknowledges what has come before and how the past contends with a very real and powerful present. Borders-Shoemaker’s words declare a hope for a different future, rooted in honesty and compassion.
Curious Design
by Bonnie Stanard
We don't all think alike, but to some of us, life is an ever-present enigma. Stanard writes that life “chases me in cycles defying viewpoint.” With Bratecceli's cubist art as inspiration, she skillfully renders compositions that introduce us to an original and unexpected reading experience. This is a mix of pithy poems, some profound and others amusing.
We don't all think alike, but to some of us, life is an ever-present enigma. Stanard writes that life “chases me in cycles defying viewpoint.” With Bratecceli's cubist art as inspiration, she skillfully renders compositions that introduce us to an original and unexpected reading experience. This is a mix of pithy poems, some profound and others amusing.
Mato's Journey
written by Dave Bowles
illustrated by Elizabeth Lester
Mato knows he's supposed to be proud of being a mockingbird, but the loud, flashy blue jay and the other backyard birds taunt him for his dull gray feathers and his dreams of adventure. He wants to peck insects like the woodpecker, sip nectar like the hummingbird, or join the waxwings on their exciting trip to the faraway place. However, as Mato grows up, he begins to realize that colorful feathers aren't the only things that make a bird special.
Join Mato on his adventures in the backyard and beyond in a coming-of-age story that reveals the hidden lives of the birds right outside your back door.
illustrated by Elizabeth Lester
Mato knows he's supposed to be proud of being a mockingbird, but the loud, flashy blue jay and the other backyard birds taunt him for his dull gray feathers and his dreams of adventure. He wants to peck insects like the woodpecker, sip nectar like the hummingbird, or join the waxwings on their exciting trip to the faraway place. However, as Mato grows up, he begins to realize that colorful feathers aren't the only things that make a bird special.
Join Mato on his adventures in the backyard and beyond in a coming-of-age story that reveals the hidden lives of the birds right outside your back door.
Peter Polo and the White Elephant of Lan Xang
written by Craig Bradley
illustrated by Laurie A. Conley
Peter Polo is off on another thrilling mission for the Great Khan! This time, Peter and his friends travel across the rivers, mountains, and cities of ancient China to the kingdom of Lan Xang, to try and stop a war over a rare white elephant. According to legend, whoever possesses the elephant will rule over all the Tai people—and the sinister King Naja, ruler of neighboring Lan Na, will stop at nothing to steal it.
illustrated by Laurie A. Conley
Peter Polo is off on another thrilling mission for the Great Khan! This time, Peter and his friends travel across the rivers, mountains, and cities of ancient China to the kingdom of Lan Xang, to try and stop a war over a rare white elephant. According to legend, whoever possesses the elephant will rule over all the Tai people—and the sinister King Naja, ruler of neighboring Lan Na, will stop at nothing to steal it.
Where Do They Go?
written by Carolyn Sullivan Moore
illustrated by Natalia Logvanova
Where do frogs snooze when the pond freezes over? Where do butterflies land when flowers lie dormant? Curious children want to know where animals and other creatures go when summer fades and chilly temperatures send us all inside for the cozy winter months. Written in verse, Where Do They Go? is a delightfully illustrated study on hibernation, written for young children, that introduces the idea of changing seasons in a rhyming sing-song style. This is a title kids will insist on reading, “one more time!”
illustrated by Natalia Logvanova
Where do frogs snooze when the pond freezes over? Where do butterflies land when flowers lie dormant? Curious children want to know where animals and other creatures go when summer fades and chilly temperatures send us all inside for the cozy winter months. Written in verse, Where Do They Go? is a delightfully illustrated study on hibernation, written for young children, that introduces the idea of changing seasons in a rhyming sing-song style. This is a title kids will insist on reading, “one more time!”
Maggie Discovers the Rainbow
ON SALE 3/21/23!!!
written by Kara Navolio
illustrated by Tracie Timmer
Maggie Discovers the Rainbow will empower young people to reach out of their comfort zones to try something new. In this story, a cautious girl’s shiny new rain boots inspire her to explore the possibilities of a gray afternoon. When she finds the courage to seize the moment she is rewarded with an adventure through all the colors of a rainbow and the emotions they evoke from safe, comfortable purple to fierce, brave red. Children will love following Maggie as she dances, drifts, and delights in a magical world of color.
written by Kara Navolio
illustrated by Tracie Timmer
Maggie Discovers the Rainbow will empower young people to reach out of their comfort zones to try something new. In this story, a cautious girl’s shiny new rain boots inspire her to explore the possibilities of a gray afternoon. When she finds the courage to seize the moment she is rewarded with an adventure through all the colors of a rainbow and the emotions they evoke from safe, comfortable purple to fierce, brave red. Children will love following Maggie as she dances, drifts, and delights in a magical world of color.
Momento the Beast
ON SALE 3/31/23!!!
written by Eric Albright
illustrated by Kate Jordan
George has had enough! He’s sick of his three older brothers and their endless teasing, so he’s running away from home. But deep in the woods, George encounters a spirited, singing creature called Momento, who shares three tips to help George connect to his mind and body and keep his cool . . . in even the most stressful of moments!
written by Eric Albright
illustrated by Kate Jordan
George has had enough! He’s sick of his three older brothers and their endless teasing, so he’s running away from home. But deep in the woods, George encounters a spirited, singing creature called Momento, who shares three tips to help George connect to his mind and body and keep his cool . . . in even the most stressful of moments!
Odette’s Alphabet
ON SALE 4/4/23!!!
written by Sandrine Marlier
illustrated by Leonardo Schiavina
One day, Odette the ant wakes up feeling stressed. After realizing that all she does is work, Odette decides to leave her anthill in search of the freedom to create her own world. Along the way, she meets Marcus, a lost mouse, and together they discover simple ways to feel better. Inspired by her journey and this wonderful new friendship, Odette finds her way back home to the colony with a new sense of being.
Odette’s Alphabet is a mindful story that offers a map to handle big emotions with kindness, unity, and courage. Fun and easy activities support each of the chapters, along with letters of the alphabet to provide additional opportunities for learning while encouraging young readers to explore meditation practices.
written by Sandrine Marlier
illustrated by Leonardo Schiavina
One day, Odette the ant wakes up feeling stressed. After realizing that all she does is work, Odette decides to leave her anthill in search of the freedom to create her own world. Along the way, she meets Marcus, a lost mouse, and together they discover simple ways to feel better. Inspired by her journey and this wonderful new friendship, Odette finds her way back home to the colony with a new sense of being.
Odette’s Alphabet is a mindful story that offers a map to handle big emotions with kindness, unity, and courage. Fun and easy activities support each of the chapters, along with letters of the alphabet to provide additional opportunities for learning while encouraging young readers to explore meditation practices.
That You Remember
ON SALE 6/9/23!!!
by Isabel Reddy
In 2019, Aleena Rowan, adrift in the wake of a failed marriage, receives a box of her father's desk diaries from the years he worked as a coal executive. She expects to find nothing more than the cost of business lunches and meeting notes. Instead, she finds a mysterious name, Sara, scrawled on a slip of paper in her father's handwriting.
Frank Rowan meets Sara Stone while fishing on a frigid January day, and sees her again waiting tables at Otter Creek’s only restaurant. It is 1970, and Frank and Sara’s relationship grows despite the impossible distance between a New York corner office and a Kentucky coal hollow. Initially, Sara sees Frank as her ticket to a better life, but other forces compete with her dreams – like protecting her town from the increasingly perilous coal slurry dam.
In her debut novel, told from both sides of the coal industry, Isabel Reddy brings to life the conflicts and undercurrents of an Appalachian mining town on the eve of disaster.
PRAISE FOR That You Remember
“Brilliant pacing, characterization, and imagery. That You Remember is a universally worthy, socioeconomic tour-de-force. It is fiction resonating as fact.”
—Peter Kilborn, New York Times correspondent and author, Next Stop Reloville
“With this novel, Isabel Reddy has given us a landscape so dramatically rendered, we can almost walk around in it. As thoughtful as it is evocative, That You Remember is an ode to a region, an elegy for a tidal wave of destruction, vivid and haunting, full of life and loss alike.”
—Judy Goldman, author, Child: A Memoir
“Isabel Reddy has written a big, sweeping novel with a big, beating heart. An entire mountain community comes to life in this epic story of a Kentucky mine disaster told from both sides as it follows the star-crossed love between an absentee mine owner from Connecticut and a beautiful local waitress. That You Remember could not be more relevant today, carrying an important message for our own time. Deep characterization and important themes mark this engrossing novel as a major achievement—as well as a page-turner.”
—Lee Smith, author, The Last Girls
“The characters in That You Remember are decent, humble, salt-of-the-earth types who, frankly, don’t much get written about. Isabel Reddy allows them their dignity, their struggles, their humanity. This is, for my money, what the novel does best of all—takes situations that we think are so foreign to us and reminds us of our shared humanity, of all the things that unite and link us: wishes for love, family, safety. It’s a big-hearted and compassionate view of the world, and I think that’s immensely valuable, especially now.”
—Mark Sarvas, author, Memento Park
“In this strongly felt, highly compelling debut novel, Isabel Reddy finds romance in the hardscrabble world of Appalachian coal mining.”
—Michael Shnayerson, author, Coal River
“A moving, imagined story of coal miners and their families leading up to a coal mine disaster in Appalachia.”
—Gerald M. Stern, author, The Buffalo Creek Disaster
by Isabel Reddy
In 2019, Aleena Rowan, adrift in the wake of a failed marriage, receives a box of her father's desk diaries from the years he worked as a coal executive. She expects to find nothing more than the cost of business lunches and meeting notes. Instead, she finds a mysterious name, Sara, scrawled on a slip of paper in her father's handwriting.
Frank Rowan meets Sara Stone while fishing on a frigid January day, and sees her again waiting tables at Otter Creek’s only restaurant. It is 1970, and Frank and Sara’s relationship grows despite the impossible distance between a New York corner office and a Kentucky coal hollow. Initially, Sara sees Frank as her ticket to a better life, but other forces compete with her dreams – like protecting her town from the increasingly perilous coal slurry dam.
In her debut novel, told from both sides of the coal industry, Isabel Reddy brings to life the conflicts and undercurrents of an Appalachian mining town on the eve of disaster.
PRAISE FOR That You Remember
“Brilliant pacing, characterization, and imagery. That You Remember is a universally worthy, socioeconomic tour-de-force. It is fiction resonating as fact.”
—Peter Kilborn, New York Times correspondent and author, Next Stop Reloville
“With this novel, Isabel Reddy has given us a landscape so dramatically rendered, we can almost walk around in it. As thoughtful as it is evocative, That You Remember is an ode to a region, an elegy for a tidal wave of destruction, vivid and haunting, full of life and loss alike.”
—Judy Goldman, author, Child: A Memoir
“Isabel Reddy has written a big, sweeping novel with a big, beating heart. An entire mountain community comes to life in this epic story of a Kentucky mine disaster told from both sides as it follows the star-crossed love between an absentee mine owner from Connecticut and a beautiful local waitress. That You Remember could not be more relevant today, carrying an important message for our own time. Deep characterization and important themes mark this engrossing novel as a major achievement—as well as a page-turner.”
—Lee Smith, author, The Last Girls
“The characters in That You Remember are decent, humble, salt-of-the-earth types who, frankly, don’t much get written about. Isabel Reddy allows them their dignity, their struggles, their humanity. This is, for my money, what the novel does best of all—takes situations that we think are so foreign to us and reminds us of our shared humanity, of all the things that unite and link us: wishes for love, family, safety. It’s a big-hearted and compassionate view of the world, and I think that’s immensely valuable, especially now.”
—Mark Sarvas, author, Memento Park
“In this strongly felt, highly compelling debut novel, Isabel Reddy finds romance in the hardscrabble world of Appalachian coal mining.”
—Michael Shnayerson, author, Coal River
“A moving, imagined story of coal miners and their families leading up to a coal mine disaster in Appalachia.”
—Gerald M. Stern, author, The Buffalo Creek Disaster
Adeline by the Sea
ON SALE 6/13/23!!!
written by Lauren Oakey
illustrated by Britt Van Deusen
It’s summer, and that means a family trip to visit Grandpa on the coast! Henry loves staying in the old house by the water; he loves listening to Grandpa’s stories, watching the purple martins build their nests, and of course, keeping an eye on his baby sister, Adeline. After all, that’s a big brother’s responsibility! But with little Adeline getting bigger, is it time for Henry to learn the difference between protecting someone and loving them enough to let go?
written by Lauren Oakey
illustrated by Britt Van Deusen
It’s summer, and that means a family trip to visit Grandpa on the coast! Henry loves staying in the old house by the water; he loves listening to Grandpa’s stories, watching the purple martins build their nests, and of course, keeping an eye on his baby sister, Adeline. After all, that’s a big brother’s responsibility! But with little Adeline getting bigger, is it time for Henry to learn the difference between protecting someone and loving them enough to let go?
Matewan Garden Club
ON SALE 7/5/23!
by Iris Underwood
Eighteen-year-old Henry Blankenship dreams of building a house for his childhood sweetheart, Annie Dill, and his mother, Gertie, known by their hill folk as the “woman with a shovel.” Annie dreams of six children and a room of her own to pen the unsung legacies of Appalachian women—yet Annie’s mother, Margaret Dill, President of Matewan Garden Club, has other, bigger plans for her only child. Unwittingly, Russian refugees Natalia Semenov and her son Olaf, Henry’s employers at Hunt’s Feed & Seed, come to Henry and Annie’s rescue.
Matewan Garden Club spans three generations and a multitude of dreams amongst the tight-knit immigrant coal camps and struggling towns along Tug Fork: Williamson, Blackberry City, Red Jacket, Thacker Holler, and countless hollers in between. Like the river’s many tributaries, these communities converge in Depression-era Matewan, West Virginia to build enduring love amid the business of native flora and fauna—seedlings of a post-WWI Europe in chaos, the Bolshevik Revolution—and a brand new America.
by Iris Underwood
Eighteen-year-old Henry Blankenship dreams of building a house for his childhood sweetheart, Annie Dill, and his mother, Gertie, known by their hill folk as the “woman with a shovel.” Annie dreams of six children and a room of her own to pen the unsung legacies of Appalachian women—yet Annie’s mother, Margaret Dill, President of Matewan Garden Club, has other, bigger plans for her only child. Unwittingly, Russian refugees Natalia Semenov and her son Olaf, Henry’s employers at Hunt’s Feed & Seed, come to Henry and Annie’s rescue.
Matewan Garden Club spans three generations and a multitude of dreams amongst the tight-knit immigrant coal camps and struggling towns along Tug Fork: Williamson, Blackberry City, Red Jacket, Thacker Holler, and countless hollers in between. Like the river’s many tributaries, these communities converge in Depression-era Matewan, West Virginia to build enduring love amid the business of native flora and fauna—seedlings of a post-WWI Europe in chaos, the Bolshevik Revolution—and a brand new America.
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