Book Announcements, Children's Books, Poets & Events, writing

Meet Ellen Kolman: Children’s Book Author

A portrait of Ellen Kolman, an award-winning author from Ohio, smiling with glasses and wearing a floral-patterned shirt, against a blue background. The text beside her highlights her passion for teaching children about kindness and Jesus.

Prolific Pulse Press LLC is proud to welcome award-winning Ohio author Ellen Kolman’s latest book to our collection.

Meet Ellen Kolman

Ellen Kolman has spent more than 35 years teaching and entertaining children in church and Christian school classrooms. Few authors know young readers as well as she does.

Her stories grow directly out of that work. Her students inspire tales about kindness, forgiveness, empathy, and friendship, the values she has nurtured in classrooms for decades. The result is books that delight children and give parents and teachers natural openings for meaningful conversations.

Ellen’s work has already earned recognition. Her picture book Crabby Abby the Decorator Crab’s Big Heart is an Ella’s Way award winner for promoting kindness through children’s literature, and a Children’s Book International finalist.

While we are featuring books published by Prolific Pulse Press LLC, you can find all of Ellen’s books here:

Ellen Kolman Website

The Books

Colorful book cover featuring cartoon sea creatures including a crab, fish, and seahorse. The title reads 'Crabby Abby The Decorator Crab's BIG Heart' with awards for children's literature visible in the corner.

Crabby Abby the Decorator Crab’s Big Heart Illustrated by Kaelen Felix. Dive under the sea with Crabby Abby, a decorator crab whose big heart shows young readers what kindness and friendship look like. Kaelen Felix’s vivid, colorful illustrations bring Abby and her ocean friends to life.

Crabby Abby is a decorator crab who literally looks like a sparkly boutique on ten legs! Abby’s clothing choices are unusual but so is Abby. Decorator crabs use whatever materials are nearby to camouflage themselves from predators. Abby is not worried about her safety; she just wants to pile on all the clothing and accessories she can because she loves them all! There is also a coloring book available!

Purchase Your Copy Here

Illustration of a colorful underwater scene featuring cartoonish sea creatures. The title 'The Search for a Star: A Crabby Abby Christmas' is prominently displayed, along with author and illustrator names.

The Search for a Star: A Crabby Abby Christmas Illustrated by Kaelen Felix Crabby Abby returns for a holiday adventure beneath the moonlit sea. Just in time for the Christmas season, it makes a heartwarming gift for families, classrooms, and Sunday schools.

It’s Christmas Eve in Ruby Reef, and no one under the sea is more excited than Crabby Abby the Decorator Crab. Covered from claw to shell in bows, baubles, and sparkly trinkets, Abby looks like a walking Christmas boutique!
The whole reef has gathered for the town tree-lighting ceremony when Daniel the Lionfish notices something is missing: there’s no star at the top of the tree. Daniel reminds everyone why the star matters so much. It was a star that led the wise men to Bethlehem to worship the baby Jesus.

With the lights waiting and Christmas almost here, Crabby Abby, Daniel, and their friend Lavender Urchin set off on an undersea quest to find a star. Along the way, they hear someone crying, and the friends stop to offer help and loving kindness to a sea creature in need. Could their new friend be exactly what they’ve been searching for? Will sharing God’s love turn out to be the truest blessing of Christmas?

Warm-hearted and full of ocean charm, The Search for a Star: A Crabby Abby Christmas is a faith-filled picture book for children ages 4 to 8. It celebrates the true meaning of Christmas and the story of Jesus’s birth, along with the joy of friendship, teamwork, and kindness. It’s a perfect Christmas Eve read-aloud, Advent story time, Sunday school lesson, or stocking stuffer for young ocean lovers.

Purchase Your Copy Here

Cover of 'Who Is Jesus? Easter Devotional and Coloring Book' featuring a cartoon depiction of Jesus with open arms, surrounded by colorful flowers and Easter-themed illustrations.

Who Is Jesus? Easter Devotional and Coloring Book A hands-on way for children to learn about Jesus during the Easter season. Devotional readings pair with coloring pages, making it a natural fit for families, children’s ministries, and Christian classrooms.

Spark your child’s curiosity and deepen your family’s faith this Easter season with Who Is Jesus? Easter Devotional Book—an engaging resource designed to bring parents, educators, and children together for meaningful conversations about Jesus.

Built around ten thoughtful questions—including “Does Jesus pray for me?” and “Does Jesus want me to be kind?”—these interactive devotionals invite children to explore who Jesus is and what His love means for their daily lives. Each question features a key Bible verse, a short, child-friendly devotion, space for personal reflection, one or two thought-provoking discussion prompts, and a guided prayer to help children speak to God with confidence and trust.

Young readers can practice reading the devotions aloud and sharing their insights. Families can gather to read, reflect, and pray together—creating intentional moments that strengthen both faith and connection.

Ideal for home use, Sunday school, Christian classrooms, or homeschool settings, Who Is Jesus? Easter Devotional book offers a simple yet powerful way to prepare hearts for Easter. Through Scripture, creativity, and honest conversation, this devotional helps children discover who Jesus is—and how deeply He loves them.

Purchase Your Copy Here

Every Reader Starts Somewhere

Every leader, teacher, and professional was once a child learning to read.

Before the degrees, the job titles, and the quarterly goals, there was a picture book. Someone sat beside us, turned the pages, and showed us that words open doors.

That is why we believe children’s books deserve a place in every serious conversation about education, careers, and community. Early reading builds the communication and critical-thinking skills every workplace depends on. Stories teach empathy and perspective long before any leadership training does. And for educators, librarians, and therapists, books are essential tools of the profession.

Why We Publish Children’s Books

Creating a children’s book is real professional work. Behind every title are months of writing, editing, illustration, design, production, and marketing. At Prolific Pulse Press, producing books like Ellen’s is some of the most meaningful work we do.

These books are made for the people who put stories to work every day: parents and grandparents reading at bedtime, teachers building literacy in the classroom, librarians, and children’s ministry leaders. The young readers they reach today will be the colleagues, founders, and leaders of tomorrow.

Please join us in congratulating Ellen Kolman. Pick up a copy for the children in your life, share this post with an educator who would love these books, and tell us in the comments: what book from your childhood still stays with you?

A Fun Video

Ready for a bonus?

Complete the Contact form and request a coloring page. You will receive a complimentary coloring page!

Announcements, Book Announcements, book launch, Children's Books, Gift Ideas, holiday

It’s Here! The Search for a Star: A Crabby Abby Christmas Is Ready for You!

Cover image of 'The Search for a Star: A Crabby Abby Christmas' featuring colorful underwater characters and a star on a blue background, promoting themes of kindness and God's love.

A Christmas Eve Problem in Ruby Reef

The Search for a Star: A Crabby Abby Christmas by Ellen Kolman, illustrated by Kaelen Felix, is out today from Prolific Pulse Press.

It’s Christmas Eve in Ruby Reef. The ornaments are hung, the ribbons are wrapped, and the whole town is ready to celebrate. There’s just one problem: the town tree has no star.

If you’ve ever stood back to admire a Christmas tree and felt that something was missing, you already know how big a problem that is. And if you know Crabby Abby, you know she won’t sit still while it goes unsolved.

An Undersea Quest

Crabby Abby, the decorator crab who first won readers over in Crabby Abby the Decorator Crab’s Big Heart, sets off with her friends Daniel and Lavender to find a star for the tree before Christmas morning.

Their search takes them across the reef, past swaying kelp forests and glowing coral, under a bright Christmas Eve moon. Along the way, young readers will find plenty to point at, laugh about, and talk over together.

We won’t spoil where the search leads. But we will say that the star they find may not be the one anyone expected.

The Light That Shines Brightest

At its heart, this is a story about what really makes Christmas shine. As Abby, Daniel and Lavender search the reef, they discover that kindness and God’s love shine brightest of all.

That message is woven into an adventure, not tacked on at the end. Children experience it through the friends’ choices along the way, which makes it easy to talk about afterward: Who was kind? How did it help? Where do we see God’s love at Christmas?

Meet the Creators

A portrait of Ellen Kolman, an award-winning author from Ohio, wearing glasses and a floral shirt. The background is a light blue, and she is smiling at the camera.

Ellen Kolman, author. Ohio native Ellen Kolman is an award-winning author driven by a passion to teach children the love of Jesus. She has been teaching and entertaining children in church and Christian school settings for over 35 years. Her young students inspired her to write stories that help them understand kindness, forgiveness, empathy, and friendship. Ellen and her husband Andy have five adult children, five grandchildren, and a little white dog named Chip. Learn more on Ellen’s author page.

Portrait of Kaelen Felix, an author and illustrator, smiling in a black outfit against a blurred green background. She is featured in a section highlighting her work in children's books.

Kaelen Felix, illustrator. Kaelen Felix brings Ruby Reef to life with richly colored, hand-drawn art, from Abby’s mismatched shoes to every ornament on the tree. She is the author, illustrator, and designer of Wings and Whispers – Tales of Friendship, Volume 1, and has been creating children’s books for clients since 2018 in her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. She holds a BFA in Illustration from Memphis College of Art.

Ways to Share It This Season

  • At home: Make it a Christmas Eve read-aloud, then let kids pick the star for your own tree.
  • In the classroom: Pair it with a lesson on kindness, or have students draw their own undersea Christmas tree.
  • In Sunday school or children’s church: Use the story to open a conversation about God’s love and the true light of Christmas.
  • As a gift: Tuck it into a stocking, an Advent basket, or a teacher gift bag.

Get Your Copy

The Search for a Star: A Crabby Abby Christmas is available now on Ellen Kolman. Order today and it can be under your tree well before Christmas Eve.

New to Crabby Abby? Start with her first adventure, Crabby Abby the Decorator Crab’s Big Heart (2025).

More books by Ellen Kolman

  • An Egg Called Easter (2026)
  • Who Is Jesus? Easter Devotional & Coloring Book (2026)
  • The Wonder of the Twinkly Lights (2025)
  • A Gentle Whisper (2025)
  • Sunshine Makes a Difference (2024)
  • Seeds of Sunshine (2022)
  • A Special Kind of Halo
  • Darwin the Wonder Dog Goes to School
  • And Purdie the Unicorn Can’t Stop Popping Balloons

Share your Christmas reading photos with us. We’d love to see Crabby Abby under your tree!

Short Fiction

Hope in the Desert

selective color photography of pine leaf
Photo by Char on Pexels.com

He moved to Needles, searching his soul, pining for his lost woman, she had left him right before Christmas eve.

Needless to say, his heart was broken, and he pondered the true meaning of life.

There was a sound in the distance, gaining volume as the sound of huffing and bells rang near.

Looking to the sky, noticing golden blades, shining brightly and hooves of tiny antlered animals, he was amazed.

Then the sounds of “Ho, ho, ho.” rang in his ears.

Gazing at the cactus and watching in amazement as the sleigh swooped down to land, he was once again revived to memories of his childhood, when life felt innocent and hope sprang in the daylight, and at this thought the smell of the pine trees overcame his senses and he was once again renewed to the meaning of hope.

This is in response to the Six Sentence Story prompt: Pine. Won’t you join in?

TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – December 20

box cheerful color cute
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Happy Friday! It’s Ten Things of Thankful Time AKA TTOT!!
As we enter into the week when folks are recognizing the wonderful gifts of sharing holidays with family and friends, it’s a great time to reflect on the gratitude which comes with these things! Let’s take a look at the sparkly lights of happy!

1. Daughter is coming tomorrow! And she is staying all week. She has to work Christmas Eve day, but that’s workable. Maybe that gives someone with children the day off.

2. Physical Therapy is coming along nicely. Right now, it’s focused on my neck and working its way down my spine. Before we know it, I will be a lithe old snake.

3. Crocheting is coming along well and the company is replacing some defective yarn. I like it when they take responsibility for things gone wrong. At least they don’t manufacture medical supplies.

4. People who really take the time to listen. I had two doctors I spoke with this week and they both really seemed to listen to what I had to say and this resulted in positive results.

5. 6. Getting to do some research with an associate and then they treated me to lunch. Both the research and the lunch conversation was interesting.

7. Safe driving. I maybe had less horn honking this week and for this I am VERY grateful.

8. My friend in Arizona (she’s the one who introduced me to TTOT) has just bought a home there and as of now, she should be moving in. This has been quite the process finding the right house and neighborhood and it’s all falling into place.

9. A friend who is like family learned today that her cancer prognosis is still favorable. It gives me hope for another friend who is in the midst of learning more about her own.

10. Gather around the Christmas Tree, sing a little song with me, one of cheer and one of joy, holding in our hearts, every girl and boy, let’s be sure to make this day, one where they can be happy and play, one this most lovely Christmas day…no matter if it’s Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa or whatever you celebrate, may you know peace and joy and all good things!

heart shape multicolored stand
Photo by Simon Matzinger on Pexels.com

Now it’s your turn! Won’t you join us?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

poetry, Poetry Forms

Mary’s Flocked Christmas Tree Mess Up

branch cold freezing frost
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

some say Mary lied
she said her Christmas tree died
truth is I will tell
she bleached the thing to pure hell
after seeing Christmas ads

trees in flocking white
she had to have one like that
and the efforts were a fright
trying to keep up with Jones
impressions for others cost

you’d think by now she’d
learn about these things for sure
so many things tried
cost more than she can afford
keeping up with the Joneses

never made much sense
Mary proved it much too much
when she flocked up the
Christmas tree, oh poor Mary
what’s she gonna do?

…..

This is in response to this: Living Poetry Prompt