{"title":"Karen L. Feldbauer","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"bella-comes-home-and-meets-the-cats-a-gentle-giant-with-a-heart-of-gold-hardcover","title":"Bella Comes Home and Meets The Cats: A Gentle Giant With A Heart Of Gold - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBella was a gentle, floppy-eared red female bullmastiff puppy with a big heart and an even bigger desire to love everyone she meets. When she arrives at her new home, everything is exciting, new, and full of possibilities. But Bella soon discovers that her family already includes two very unexpected characters - Miss Zoe, a fluffy and elegant chinchilla cat, and Mr. Jazz, a bold tabby Persian cross with a tail that seems to have a personality of its own.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this sweet and funny story, Bella learns what it means to join a family, make new friends, and find her place in a world where even the smallest cat can be the bravest one in the house. Inspired by real pets and real moments, \u003cem\u003eBella Comes Home and Meets the Cats\u003c\/em\u003e celebrates kindness, patience, and the gentle friendships that grow when we least expect them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFilled with heartwarming moments, playful surprises, and characters children will instantly love, this book is the perfect beginning to \u003cem\u003eThe Adventure Tales of Bella, The Bullmastiff\u003c\/em\u003e - a series about a gentle giant with a heart of gold.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51456432046303,"sku":"9781764315722","price":32.35,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/gmqBjwtpcz9781764315722.webp?v=1790322707"},{"product_id":"bella-and-the-big-bang-a-gentle-giant-with-a-heart-of-gold-hardcover","title":"Bella and the Big Bang: A Gentle Giant With A Heart Of Gold - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBella and the Big Bang\u003c\/em\u003e is a gentle, heart-warming children's story about Bella, a kind and loving bullmastiff who adores her family and peaceful walks by the lake. Bella's days are filled with birds, picnics, friendly faces, and calm adventures-until one evening when unexpected fireworks light up the sky.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe loud bangs and bright flashes frightened Bella, sending her into a moment of panic. With the loving help of her family, Bella is comforted, kept safe, and gently reassured as the noise fades away. Though the experience leaves her wary of fireworks and storms, Bella learns that she is never alone when she feels afraid.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis tender story helps young readers understand fear, empathy, and reassurance through the eyes of a beloved family dog. \u003cem\u003eBella and the Big Bang\u003c\/em\u003e encourages compassion for animals, highlights the importance of feeling safe, and shows how love and support can help us face even the scariest moments together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith hugs, cuddles, and lots of love, Bella's family helps her feel safe again.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis story shows children that it's okay to feel scared sometimes and that love and comfort can help make everything better.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51456458326239,"sku":"9781764315739","price":32.35,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/4DZ7kWxoVL9781764315739.webp?v=1790322752"},{"product_id":"surviving-natures-fury-my-journey-through-fire-flood-and-cyclone-paperback","title":"Surviving Nature's Fury: My Journey Through Fire, Flood and Cyclone - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eImagine facing not one, but several of nature's most destructive forces in your lifetime bushfires, floods, and cyclones. Now imagine surviving them all, carrying the memories into adulthood, and only later realising the emotional scars they left behind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eSurviving Nature's Fury - My Journey through Fire, Flood and Cyclone\u003c\/em\u003e, author \u003cstrong\u003eKaren Feldbauer\u003c\/strong\u003e shares her deeply personal and extraordinary story of living through some of Australia's most devastating natural events. From the 1969 bushfires in Victoria to the 1973\/74 Queensland floods on the Burdekin River, catastrophic 1974 Cyclone Tracy in Darwin, and later the 2010-2011 Queensland floods, Karen's journey is one of resilience, fear, courage, and ultimately, gratitude.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold in a warm, conversational style, Karen invites readers into her childhood world a yellow-brick home built by her father in the bush outside Melbourne, where gum trees and wildlife shaped her adventurous spirit. She recalls the terror of watching her mother fight a raging bushfire alone while protecting her daughters, and seeing a blackened, silent landscape where life once thrived. These early experiences planted the seeds of resilience, even if their full meaning only became clear many decades later.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer story continues as her family travelled across Australia in a caravan, making homes in camp sites and small towns, meeting extraordinary people, and discovering both the beauty and the dangers of living close to nature. Karen shares memories of childhood pranks, friendships, and the simple joys of growing up in a time when resilience wasn't a word people used it was simply a way of life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut the heart of this book lies in her account of \u003cstrong\u003eCyclone Tracy\u003c\/strong\u003e, the Christmas Eve storm that changed Darwin forever. With honesty and emotion, Karen recalls the deafening roar of the wind, the terrifying hours huddled with her siblings in a concrete shower block, and the eerie silence when the eye passed overhead. She writes not only of fear and survival but also of the strange, unforgettable details: the refrigerator bouncing inside their caravan, the tarp that shielded them as they ran through sideways rain, and the miracle of a circus tent still standing the next morning. Her recollections are vivid, raw, and powerful - a child's-eye view of one of Australia's darkest nights.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDecades later, Karen again found herself facing rising floodwaters in Brisbane. This time, as an adult, she saw first-hand the heartbreak of neighbours and friends who lost everything. She joined the thousands of volunteers who became known as the \u003cem\u003eMud Army\u003c\/em\u003e, shovelling mud, clearing debris, and offering comfort to strangers who could only watch their memories pile up on the roadside in ruined heaps. These experiences deepened her understanding not only of loss, but of the emotional weight we attach to our belongings - the meaning behind the \"stuff\" we hold onto.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout the book, Karen balances these harrowing accounts with humour, warmth, and a deep appreciation for the communities who came together in times of crisis. From mischievous frog pranks in a Darwin caravan park to the shock of a huntsman spider leaping from flood-damaged shoes, she reminds us that even in the darkest times, there is room for laughter and humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSurviving Nature's Fury \u003c\/em\u003eis not a story of devastation, but of survival, resilience, and the quiet courage of ordinary people. It is a tribute to parents who acted instinctively, neighbours who stood shoulder to shoulder, and strangers who became heroes. It is also a reflection on the lessons these events leave behind: that \"home\" is not always a place, but where our heart lies; that belongings may be lost, but love and connection endure; and that even in the fiercest storms, there is always a way forward.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67981108084959,"sku":"9781764315708","price":21.58,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/S__IeJhiDM9781764315708.webp?v=1791921168"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/karen-l-feldbauer.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}