Bradford P. Ward  -  Children's Book Author
  • Welcome
    • From the Author
  • Parents and Teachers
    • Pre-Reading Activities
    • S.T.E.M. Activity Ideas and S.T.E.M. Education >
      • S.T.E.M. Activities to Complement Cockroach of Meadowfield >
        • Stop Motion Animation
        • Design an Insect Trap
        • Making Bug Robots
        • Pollination Project
    • Reading Activities for: 'A Pilgrimage of Pests' >
      • The Brownings
      • The Great Cold
      • The Warming Times
    • Reading Activities for: "The Great Cicada Ball" >
      • Deadlines
      • The Gates Open
      • The Finale
    • Reading Activities for "Heroes of Meadowfield" >
      • Search Parties
      • The Loomers
      • Revolution
    • The Moth Catcher: Cryptic Coloration
    • Metamorphosis Activity
    • Insect Picture Library
    • Mapping Meadowfield
  • Young Reader Pages
    • Bug Games to Play
    • A Pilgrimage of Pests >
      • Worker 1200
      • Cockroach
      • Silverfish
      • Praying Mantis
      • Glowworm
      • Old Yellow Fat
      • Stinkbug
      • Grand-Daddy Long Legs
      • Book Louse
      • Acorn Weevil
    • The Great Cicada Ball >
      • Water Strider
      • Gypsy Moth Caterpillar
      • Stag Beetle
      • Robber Fly
      • Luna Moth
      • Earwig
      • Goliath Beetle
      • Ra
      • Dung Beetle
      • Periodical Cicada
    • Heroes of Meadowfield >
      • Forager Bee
      • Bombardier Beetle
      • Scout Bee
      • Cicada Killer Wasp
      • Queen Bee
      • The Hive
  • Windward ArtWorks
    • Available Sconces 4/24
    • Framed Sea Glass Pictures
    • Ceramic Plant Sconces >
      • Cone Sconce Style Large
      • Cone Sconce Style Small
      • Round Sconce Style Large
      • Round Sconce Style Small
  • Brad's Blog

Welcome to Meadowfield

Where science and literature meet.
This website features activities, scientific information and educational lesson plans to complement the highly imaginative middle reader trilogy: Cockroach of Meadowfield by Bradford P. Ward.
  The bugfellows of Meadowfield will take you on a humorous, creative adventure that you'll hope will never end. But when it does, you'll never think of insects in the same way again! Welcome to Meadowfield.

View Book One:  A Pilgrimage of Pests
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As you explore this website and discover the awesome books in the Cockroach of Meadowfield trilogy, take a moment to check out some of the gorgeous pieces of ceramic and sea glass art created by the author and being offered by Windward Art Works.
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Click on the picture above to go there.  

2023 Upcoming Art and Craft Fairs 

Diane & I will be presenting our latest art from Windward Art Works at the following art shows starting November 2023. We will have the trilogy available to sell - signed and personalized for you.
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Junior League of Clearwater-Dunedin Art Harvest Sat & Sun, November 4-5, 2023
​10 am - 5 pm. One of the largest autumnal art shows in the Tampa Bay area. Art Harvest is a well-respected juried fine art show with 200+ artists,  and thousands of visitors.
Highlander Park - 1920 Pinehurst Road Dunedin, Florida. 
​                     
$2 suggested entry donation $5 parking

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The Temple Terrace 50th Arts and Crafts Festival —November 11th & 12th, 2023— will again be nestled under a lush canopy of majestic trees at enchanting, historic Woodmont Park in the heart of Temple Terrace, Florida.

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Nov 25-26, 2023 
32nd Annual 
​THANKSGIVING Art/Craft Festival TARPON SPRINGS~ 
Downtown Tarpon Springs 

100 E. Tarpon Ave., Tarpon Springs, FL
Get a jump start on your holiday shopping and enjoy the Arts & Crafts Festival in historic Downtown Tarpon Springs! The outdoor showcase, hosted by the Tarpon Springs Chamber of Commerce, has been a holiday favorite for over 30 years, and has always been held during Thanksgiving weekend on Small Business Saturday (and Sunday). 


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Dec. 2nd & Dec. 3rd 
Annual Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival
Keystone Prep High School
18105 Gunn Hwy. (north of Van Dyke), Odessa 33556.  This is a great art show. Over 200 vendors, a large Food Court and very ample parking (the school charges a $5 parking fee).  This very popular show is always a big hit with families enjoying a fun outing in a festive holiday atmosphere, with great food and very unique holiday shopping. Find that special gift or pick up some beautiful handcrafted jewelry, original artwork, photography, woodcrafts and metal work, plants and yard art.  


   Hope to see you at all these great shows.
​Look for our Windward Art Works booth and check out some of the art pieces we feature here on this website.

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What the Readers are Saying:

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Order

Book One:

A Pilgrimage of Pests

Click on one of the green buttons below to order Book One

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Order

Book Two:
The Great Cicada Ball


Click on one of the green buttons below to order Book Two
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Order

Book Three: Heroes of Meadowfield


Click on one of the green buttons below
to order Book Three

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          A Pilgrimage of Pests
             Book One: 
             Cockroach of Meadowfield



      When his stink pile of tasty tidbits
       is washed away in a terrible storm,
       the cantankerous Cockroach
is forced
       to travel far away from his home in
       Meadowfield to the foreboding Smoking Hills where there are rumors of countless tidbits for the taking.  The only problem is, it's also where the dreaded Loomers live; legendary creatures known only through the stories of the dead ancestors.


     With a lively and incredible cast of pests including the scheming Silverfish, the bashful Stinkbug, the brilliant Book Louse and Scarab the Dung,  just to name a few, this adventure is full of humor, intrigue and genuine scientific insight into the behavior of insects as told through a fictional tale.  The reader is not only thoroughly entertained by the antics of the "bug-fellows", but will come away with a whole new way of seeing the world of insects and imagining how our six-legged Arthropods might really think.




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Note:  If you don't have a Kindle, you can download the free
Kindle Reading App to use with your phone, tablet or PC.
Click on the Amazon Web Services logo to take  you to the Amazon Kindle Reading App page. Then download the app and enjoy the story.


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    I always love to hear from my                      Readers.
  

       Feel free to drop me an                                  Email at:


                                           [email protected]                                                      
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           In the sun she warmed her wings

            And listened to the cicadas sing.
                                  The Dragonfly
                                   by Ziggy  Marley



   
                           

                           Author's notes about the Trilogy:
                          Cockroach of Meadowfield

          
I believe this series of chapter books is such a unique piece of children's fiction that I find it hard to provide a comparison.  My hope is that you will read them for yourself and see if you agree.



As a former teacher, now enjoying retirement, I have never lost my passion to educate, inspire and share my enthusiasm for the natural world.
                                                             —Bradford P Ward
 

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         The Great Cicada Ball
          Book Two:
          Cockroach of Meadowfield



      N
othing in Meadowfield stirs up
      more anticipation and excitement than
      the emergence of The Great Cicada.
      The rare event happens but once every
       17 Great Colds and Warming Times. Several suntimes of celebration surrounds the event; and the only bug-fellows to attend The Great Cicada Ball are those lucky enough to be alive and lucky enough to receive the Queen Bee's invitation. The second book in the Cockroach trilogy, The Great Cicada Ball, begins as final preparations for the festivities are underway.

     The Queen Bee's demands have reached the point of obsession.  She  orders her workers, especially Worker 1200, to complete every plan, schedule every event and organize each and every detail for the Ball.  She does not intend for anything to go wrong.  Her reputation and her legacy are on the line.  More importantly, the future of Meadowfield is  on the line as well.  The Queen's decision to invite Cockroach, Stinkbug and Silverfish to the Ball
and insist they take part in the entertainment could prove to be a big mistake.  Then again, that decision may be the least of her problems.

     All the whimsical characters from A Pilgrimage of Pests, the first book in the series, return in this sequel.  Cockroach, Silverfish and Stinkbug are up to their usual tricks; but Praying Mantis plays a bigger role, as does Worker 1200, the demanding Queen and the mysterious beetle known as Scarab the Dung.  There's a host of new characters too and many new surprises leading right up to the exciting, final moments of The Great Cicada Ball.





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           Heroes of Meadowfield
              Book Three:
              Cockroach of Meadowfield
          

 
    M
eadowfield is on the brink. The pasture
   is dying, nectar has stopped flowing, the
   Beak Beasts are terrorizing the land and, to
   make matters worse, a rebellion is brewing in
   the depths of The Unknown Forest. So, in
   midst of all this chaos, who has been entrusted to save the Kingdom? The most unlikely group of heroes any bug-fellow could ever imagine   — Cockroach, Stinkbug and Silverfish!


     Heroes of Meadowfield, the final book in the Cockroach of Meadowfield trilogy, promises all the scientific insight, humor, adventure and intrigue of the first two books. Rediscover the quirky characters, learn the secret of the dreadful Loomers and find out how real heroes are made.

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