Find Communities in Australia

Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.

Learn about the Baha’i Faith

Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.

DISMISS MENU

Explore

This post is featured in the following collections:

Alvin: The Green Acre Water Boy

December 15, 2021, in Articles > Books, by

Ronald Tomanio has penned a new children’s book relating to Abdu’l-Baha called Alvin – The Green Acre Water Boy.

Based on a true story, the book asks its readers the questions: What would you have done if you met Abdu’l-Baha on a hot August afternoon at Green Acre? Would you have offered Him a ladle of cool spring water? What would you have said to Him? What would He have said to you?

Ron graciously agreed to tell us about his book and here’s what he shared with us:

Baha’i Blog: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m 74 years old, married for 40 years to a wonderful woman named Karen. We have two daughters and five grandchildren who are all Baha’is. Karen and I live in the shadow of Green Acre a few miles away in Eliot, Maine (USA). I became a Baha’i at Green Acre when I was 17. My early teachers were Stanwood Cobb and Curtis Kelsey. Both men knew Abdu’l-Baha and all they wanted to talk about was Him, which was fine with me. I wrote my first children’s book 27 years ago. It was called Lilly & Peggy for George Ronald. I write mostly books for children, but did co-author With Thine Own: Why Imitate When You Can Investigate Reality? for George Ronald. This is a book I didn’t want to write because it diverted my focus from writing books for children.

Baha’i Blog: How did you get started writing?

Good friends Janet and Chris Ruhe-Shoen returned from their pioneering post in Chile ages ago. She was working on A Love Which Does Not Wait. She encouraged me and that is when I got the writing bug which soon produced Lilly & Peggy.

Author Ronald Tomanio

Baha’i Blog: Could you please tell us a little about your book, Alvin: The Green Acre Water Boy, and what inspired you to write it?

My mother was chiropractor who lived next to the entrance to Green Acre ages ago. An elderly man knocked on her door. He apologized explaining that his old car insisted on stopping. He explained that when he was a Green Acre water boy he gave water to someone he described could only be Abdu’l-Baha. Alvin never tired of telling this story. He even made a copy of the ladle he used to draw from a bucket filled from a spring on my mother’s land. I still have the ladle hanging from my wall. This property now belongs to the National Spiritual Assembly. I then had to satisfy myself that his story was genuine which I was able to do. I then had to imagine what life was like for a young boy in 1912. It is a simple but moving story — I hope anyway. I need to mention the book was easy to write and it was written rather quickly. Frankly, I was surprised that George Ronald chose to publish two books of mine at the same time (I’ve also published a book called The Winter Cloak). I need to mention that the line drawings by my good friend Thomas Rines are incredible!

Baha’i Blog: Who is the intended audience of your book?

I believe children and adults will both like this simple story.

Baha’i Blog: What do you hope people will take away long after they’ve finished reading?

We only know a tiny fraction of all the stories about the Central Figures of the Baha’i Faith. History will continue to reveal itself!

Baha’i Blog: Thank you, Ron, for taking the time to share this with us.

You can purchase Ron’s book here on Amazon: Alvin – The Green Acre Water Boy. You can also find it for sale at book stores and Baha’i book distributors, such as Bahaibooks.com.au in Australia.

Posted by

Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.
Sonjel Vreeland

Discussion 1 Comment

” these human creatures are even as children, they are brash and unconcerned. These children must be reared with infinite loving care, and tenderly fostered in the embraces of mercy, so that they may taste the spiritual honey-sweetness of God’s love.”
(p.21, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdiu’l-Baha, translated by a committee at the Baha’i World Centre and by Marzieh Gail, Haifa)

Marco Kappenberger

Marco Kappenberger (December 12, 2021 at 12:39 AM)

Leave a Reply

YOUR EMAIL WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED
REQUIRED FIELDS ARE MARKED *

"*" indicates required fields

Receive our regular newsletter

Join activities, celebrations, study groups, spiritual empowerment and education programs for young people, and more.

Find Communities in Australia

or Internationally

The arts and media have a critical role in how we share our community experiences. We’ve got resources, projects and more to help you get involved.

Visit our Creator Hub

Baha’i beliefs address essential spiritual themes for humanity’s collective and individual advancement. Learn more about these and more.

What Baha’is Believe

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia.

We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.

Baha’i Blog is a non-profit independent initiative

The views expressed in our content reflect individual perspectives and do not represent the official views of the Baha’i Faith.