Austin Bound
The Austin SCBWI Regional Conference is just around the corner and they are touting the title, “Something for Everyone.” I am happy to say that Curious City is one of those “Somethings.” Whether or not we are for “Everyone” is up for debate… Honored to be invited to speak and hold consults with nine fine authors including Cynthia Levinson, Nikki Loftin, Lindsey Lane, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Margaret Wortham and Jennifer Zimmerly, Debbie Gonzales, Carmen Oliver, and Mark G. Mitchell. Also...
read moreBalloons Over Broadway & No Strings International
It was was with loud cheers and bright tears that children’s literature enthusiasts met the news that Melissa Sweet had won The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal for her visually stunning, playfully funny, and meticulously researched, Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade. In honor of Melissa’s brilliant work and in memory of puppeteer Tony Sarg who she so lovingly portrays, readers around the country are making small donations to No Strings International, an incredible UK...
read moreWalk a Mile
On entering the sound studio at Mind’s Eye Productions you are confronted with a pile of shoes (as producer and narrator Bill Dufris welcomes only those that tiptoe into the sound booth on stocking feet). Cowboy boots kicked off, striped tights hiked up, and my script in hand, I was ready to work on another book trailer audio with Bill and his merry band of voice actors. Actor Brent Askari followed me in with his copy of the script (marked with all the inflections taught to him by his Italian friends and from hours spent...
read moreSirenz Song
In Greek myth, the Sirens were said to be impossible to resist. I found the Sirenz creators to be equally tempting. How is this for a first client meeting? Pop to the front of the line of Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty show at the Met with a snap of author Natalie Zaman’s manicured hand and then off to Alice’s Tea Cup to nibble scones with Zaman and classy co-author Charlotte Bennardo. We all had “The Nibble” (and were stuffed for a week). Charlotte and Natalie write in the alternate voices of...
read more20 Libraries Get 10 Turkeys!
Are there 10 Turkeys in the Road? Yes, there are 2o of them! What?? Let me clarify. 20 free copies of the new picture book 10 Turkeys in the Road (and clown noses) have hit the road and are headed to the winning libraries below thanks to Marshall Cavendish and author Brenda Sturgis. Didn’t Win a Free Book? No worries! There are free story hour and classroom activities for 10 Turkeys in the Road on Brenda’s website! And the Winners Are… • Zeb Vance Elementary School, Kittrell, NC • South Main Street...
read moreLibrarian Giveaway of 10 TURKEYS IN THE ROAD
My Dear Librarians, It is November and time to talk turkey. Marshall Cavendish and author Brenda Sturgis are giving away 20 copies of their new picture book, 10 Turkeys in the Road as well as clown noses! Clown noses and turkeys?? You have to see the hilarious book to imagine this combo. “The turkey tableaux are deliriously silly…Slonim’s bright acrylics amp the loopiness of Sturgis’ verses. A cute combo sure to bring many smiles. –Kirkus Reviews GIVEAWAY Simply email your...
read moreLibrarian Lobsters!
No…this is not some genetic mutation to bring you protein-rich book curators… Author Craig Moodie (former fisherman, now author) is giving away 4 live lobsters to be delivered on New Year’s Eve. Or rather his character is giving away lobsters. Let me explain… Moodie has decided to continue the storyline of Into the Trap (Roaring Brook) in a (quite funny, quite content rich) blog written by the teen lobsterman character, Eddie Atwell (aka Lobster Boy). For kids that love action adventures, the book and...
read moreStoryWalk: The Bugliest Bug of Them All!
Some days you would not trade for all the tea in Buckingham Palace. After a year of hard work and creative solutions the City of Portland, Health and Human Services Dept, Public Health Division, the Portland Public Library, and Portland Recreation unveiled a StoryWalk for the picture book, The Bugliest Bug by Carol Diggory Shields and illustrated by Scott Nash (Candlewick Press). What’s a StoryWalk? Picture book pages spread through an outdoor space to create an active, engaging read aloud experience for kids. Here...
read moreStories TBD
Long ago I decided to only post when a project was complete. Complete? Whenever is the messy, compelling work of engagement work around children’s lit complete? What about the ideas that bubble up every day? The sweet progress and frightful road blocks? Each day we have brainstorms around manuscripts, galleys, and F&G’s–things happening now that will not happen to readers until months or years from now. Illustrator Jamie Hogan’s Jamie Peeps blog is endlessly compelling because it is about the rich...
read moreFlamethrower at the Ready
Honored to have my article “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” about Angie Smibert’s Memento Nora Project and the need for flamethrowers in children’s book promotion in Hunger Mountain: The VCFA Journal of the Arts. Excerpt “Feeling a bit dystopic these days? On my worst days, I can go from reading the newspaper in the morning to reading a dystopian YA novel in the evening and find comfort only in my foresight—foresight that the world is simply headed along its forecasted fictional...
read more