Local author practices what the mouse preaches

By Gail Peckler-Dziki

Correspondent

We all love stories. They entertain us, give us information, inspire and can move us to action. Retired elementary school teacher, mother and grandmother Nancy Lauzon knows the value of a good story and has self-published “Quiet Aza Mouse” to do all those things.

Lauzon is a retired primary school teacher.

“One night my husband Bill and I had dinner with his brother Jim and wife Lee. He shared some of his experience as sacristan (a sacristan is someone in charge of setting out items of worship prior to the church service) and I started thinking about a mouse in a church who moves things about.”

The message of “Quiet Aza Mouse” (Aza is an Arabic word meaning comfort) is a simple one. Lauzon explained that it is about faith in God and allowing that faith to move you into your community to serve each other. Lauzon has practiced that simple message when she has sold books at St. Francis Xavier and St. John the Baptist parishes and Providence Catholic School. She donated the profits to those institutions.

“Quiet Aza Mouse” is a small, frightened homeless mouse that dashes into a church one night to escape a hungry cat. It was right around Christmas, so he hid in the straw of some sort of strange box.

He explores the church where everything is new to him. He attempts to put out the fire in the candles with holy water, snacks on Communion wafers, samples the Communion wine and just moves stuff around. When Aza sees the trail he had left, he hops inside the pocket of the priest’s coat. As the priest heads out of the church with Aza is his pocket, the mouse adventure grows.

So far, Lauzon has done book-signing fundraisers at Shalom Center and St. Francis for Providence Catholic School and donated profits to both organizations. She has read her book at other area libraries.

Lauzon has the perfect Christmas message, “My purpose for my book is to encourage children to be positive, caring and helpful people. I too want to help others in need any way I can so I give the profits from my book to help charitable causes.”