The Work of Our Hands Featured in Local Author's Book

The Work of our Hands appears, not once, but twice, in a new book by Pella writer Carol Van Klompenburg, A World in a Grain of Sand: Lively Little Stories of Household Stuff.

In “Carving Collection,” Carol tells how, for many years, when her children needed a gift for their father, she took them to The Work of Our Hands to purchase a hand-carved animal for his wooden animal collection. It now includes a lion, a hippo, two cats, two antelope, four elephants, and five giraffes. The store eventually replaced those carvings with other purchase choices, but Carol says that today, when her children or husband ask what she would like for a gift, she still often tells them, “Anything from a fair-trade store.” She writes, “Buying a fair-trade item creates a double gift.”

Our store makes a second appearance in the chapter, “Guatemala Jewelry,” at Tulip Time when Carol has volunteered at our store wearing an improvised Dutch costume that includes a necklace she bought as a tourist in Guatemala and tulip earrings from Mexico she bought at our store just the previous week. The chapter includes humorous moments, both as she bargains for the Guatemala jewelry and as she interacts with Tulip Time tourists.

Newsletter readers who mention reading this article to store staff between Jan 25 and Feb 8 can  register for a free copy of the new book. Two winning names will be drawn on Feb 10 to receive their free copy, and their names will be posted on The Work of Our Hands social media pages

A World in a Grain of Sand is also available directly from the author (carolvk13@gmail.com)  and from Pella's Curiosity Shop. It is also available on Amazon. Carol says customers are also welcome to email her and request a free PDF sample of the opening chapters of the book before making a purchase decision.