Author: Dora Hiers

What Should Daisy Do? by Maria Bostian

/ Dora Hiers
Purchase Link

The Cover Story~

An Interactive Story with a Surprise Ending!
Daisy Dog and Pete the Pig are the best of friends, going everywhere and doing everything together. Oftentimes, Daisy has to get Pete out of tricky situations.

While at Pete’s house one rainy Saturday, Daisy is faced with a tough decision when Pete invites her to play with his special toys: matches and lighters.

Children Have a Voice!

No way, Pete! yells the group of preschool children. Matches and lighters are tools, not toys.

Imagine their voice being heard as they tell others what Daisy should do with dangerous matches and lighters!


My takeaway~
Our grandson’s only 4 1/2 years old, but What Should Daisy Do? has quickly become his go-to book at our house. He tugs that book out of the book tote and curls up on my lap. It’s worth every cent just for the cuddle factor. 🙂 He follows along in the book with his finger and even comments on how the characters might be feeling based on their facial expressions. And I appreciate that the author didn’t tell the kids what to do in the book, rather leaves it up to them to make the right choices. 

With her diverse background in fire service and education, Bostian crafted an entertaining and interactive story, sure to challenge students and satisfy teachers. Wish that all important lessons could be so much fun to learn!

Disclaimer: I received this book free from the author for the purpose of sharing my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own, and I received no monetary compensation.

Maria Bostian

Maria Bostian started her fire service career in 1999 and currently serves as the Fire & Life Safety Educator/Public Information Officer for Kannapolis Fire Department. In addition to her fire service experience, she has an M.Ed. in Montessori Integrative Learning with over 10+ years of Montessori classroom experience.

Her writing began out of necessity as she created lesson plans and instructional materials for preschool fire safety lessons. She recognized the need for good-quality teaching aids that provided correct messaging and additional resources for children, as well as, adults and caregivers. Her debut children’s picture book entitled What Should Daisy Do? began as a short story for a matches and lighters lesson.

Bostian is a N.C. certified Inspector I, Instructor II, Fire & Life Safety Educator III, and is an adjunct instructor for the National Fire Academy. She has taught safety education classes and workshops in N.C., S.C., G.A., I.L., and C.O.

When she isn’t working, Bostian can be found writing under a pecan tree, reading in her favorite lounge chair, or “riding around with the top down” searching for the next great story starter or inspirational character (cause you never know where your best ideas are going to be found). A vegetarian for many years now, Bostian’s favorite foods are mushrooms and cheese (which go together nicely on a great pizza).

Bostian happily resided in Concord, N.C. (not too far away from some of the South’s best mountains and beaches) with her firefighter husband, her precious mother, and several pets.

Excited about Eating by Ernie Hiers

/ Dora Hiers

For this edition of Excited about Eating we travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Why Puerto Rico? Because I judged the Smoking Hot BBQ event and then took some time off for a 7 day cruise.

It’s a challenge sometimes to find a good restaurant in an unfamiliar location but after some research, we selected Ropa Vieja Grill in the Condado area of San Juan.

Ropa Vieja Grill in San Juan

It was a thirty minute walk from our hotel but we were up for some exercise. The streets were clogged and sidewalks crowded, and a policio (police) told us that there was a large festival going on a few blocks away.

We found Ropa Vieja Grill to be very casual and a place where the locals eat. Since I had been judging BBQ all afternoon we decided to share an appetizer and meal. For our appetizer we ordered the Carne Frita con Tostones Peseteros which is Fried Pork Chunks with Fried Green Plantains.

Fried Pork Chunks with Plaintains

The fried pork was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with just the right amount of seasoning coming from the marinated onions. Plantains are starchy and must be cooked before eating (usually fried or baked) and are very popular in the Caribbean, as well as Florida where I lived for the first 49 years of my life. Many people confuse plantains with bananas, but plantains are longer and have thicker skin. The plantains tasted fresh and were sliced a little thicker than potato chips. The one thing that would have put this dish over the top would have been a dipping sauce.

For our main dish, we ordered the Canoas de Ropa Vieja, plantain “canoes” filled with Shredded Flank Steak and blanketed with an unidentifiable cheese. The sweet plantain and the shredded flank steak were a perfect match for each other. The sweetness and firmness of the plantain with the hearty savory taste of the shredded flank steak kept you coming back for more. The white rice and black beans were a great complement. Dora here. I wasn’t a huge fan of the fried pork chunks, but the canoas hit a homerun! 

Canoas de Ropa Vieja

This is a small restaurant and as the crowd increased, the noise level did also. If you are looking for a quiet dining experience, I would suggest you try another restaurant. Dora here. I enjoyed the food, but definitely noise overload. If you’re like me and find it difficult to tune out background noise, you’ll find conversation a challenge. Not a romantic dinner for two kinda place. 🙂 

I would rate this establishment 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.