A Poem for Peter

Children's picture book nerds have a few saints; Eric Carle, Leo Lionni, Trina Schart Hyman -(don't get me started.  What about the Petershams and Tomie DePaola and Frank Asch?...Of course, I am showing my age.)

But chief among them, for his groundbreaking work in diversity, is Ezra Jack Keats.  (Is that not a most poetic name?)  His books about Peter and Peter's neighborhood brought the children of Keats' neighborhood,- black children, brown children, tan and white children - into mainstream publishing.

Everybody knows The Snowy Day.  Now thank to Andrea Davis Pinkney, and illustrators Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, we get the story behind that book's creation - the story of Ezra Jack Keats.  A Poem for Peter hits the shelves on November 1st.  I can't wait to read it.

Check out the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, while we wait for this book to arrive.

The Secret Destiny of Pixie Piper

 
Pixie Piper lives in a house that looks like an acorn.  Rhymes pop into her head unbidden.  Things that used to feel cozy and fun, like her Mom's job planning fun events at the senior residence, or her father's job as caretaker for a toilet museum, have become embarrassing and awkward.

Then a series of odd things happen;
1.  Her Mom tells her a secret about her family history.
2.  She hurts her very best friend's feelings, because a classmate thinks they are a "couple".
3.  She meets a most annoying fortune-teller
4.  She finds a goose egg in the woods.

Now, Pixie Piper has an enemy, a secret, and worse, someone is trying to hurt her pet goose!

The Secret Destiny of Pixie Piper by Annabelle Fisher is a fun, fantastic read for kids in grades 4 and up.

Scary Stories

We hop straight from the Quaker Craft Fair to Scary Stories around the Fire!!!  So much hopping.  Check out our Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild's newsletter about Saturday night's event at Jordan UCC, 1837 Church Road, Allentown, PA 18102.  They have a nice big fire circle in their Peace Garden.

Dress warmly.  Bring a donation of non-perishable food for Second Harvest Food Bank or the Pennsylvania Avenue Interfaith Food Pantry. (You get $3 off the admission price if you donate.)  Bring blankets.  There are benches around the circle.

Here's a link to MORE information about this stellar (hopefully) event.  If it rains,...please check The Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild's website before heading out.

Feeling Neglected?

I am busy preparing for the Quaker Craft Fair tomorrow. (Oct. 22nd, 2016 from 10 am to 3 pm).  So I have not posted this week.

This does not mean that I stopped reading.  I continue to revisit cozy mysteries from my past with Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity series. 

I read Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk.  I owe you a review.  Til then, click through to see what Goodreads folks have to say about this historical middle grade fiction.  My opinion?  Good read.

Well I have to open up the Meeting House at 7 am.  So good night!

The Executioner's Daughter

In  The Excutioner's Daughter  by Jane Hardstaff, Moss is almost 12.  She has lived her whole life in the Tower of London where her father is King Henry VIII's executioner.  Moss's father told her that they must stay in the Tower as punishment for a crime he committed years ago. 

Moss is the basket girl.  She carries the newly chopped off heads from the block to the gates of the Tower where they will be on display.  When she is pressed into service in the kitchen ,she makes friends with the King's latest enemy, an abbot.  The day of the abbot's death, Moss runs away.

In her debut novel, Jane Hardstaff paints a realistic picture of the Tower and the river that flows by it during King Henry VIII's reign. The jacket blurb hints at a touch of fantasy in this otherwise historically accurate book.  The touch of fantasy adds suspense and terror to the sotry of Moss's coming of age.

Moss learns about the flawed nature of people who must struggle to survive.  She also learns about acceptance, love and forgiveness.

The Executioner's Daughter by Jane Hardstaff is a fine book. 

Once, Twice, Thrice

A little girl "reads" to her father at bedtime.  "One mouse, two mouses, three mouses."

So begins my friend's new picture book, "Once, Twice, Thrice" by Kim Chatel.  Like parents everywhere in the English speaking world, the father explains that when you add one mouse to another mouse, you get two mice.  Are two houses called hice, then?

The father daughter duo explore other irregular plurals in this cleverly written and charmingly illustrated book.  Artist Kathleen Bullock picks just the right color palette for a night time tale.

Besides being a sweet bedtime story, this book will be a winner in primary language arts classes and with ESL teachers. 

Click here to get your own copy.

A Squiggly Story - A New Picture Book - Available Now!

Full of Beans

Jennifer L. Holm returns to Key West during the Depression - the Great One, not the recent turn of the 21st century bank blow-up - just clarifying  - in Full of Beans.

Grown-ups lie.  There you have it.  It's a fact and Beans can give you example after example of how this works.  But as Beans tries to survive a sweltering summer in down and out Key West, he discovers that kids can be deceitful, too.  Even stand-up kids like himself.

Holm did her homework in verifying the New Deal program that turned a worn-out Florida village into a tourist attraction.  Beans calls the government agent a Crazy Man, and lampoons his "underwear" - bermuda shorts - in between marble tournaments and running errands for a shady businessman.  Everyone in town thinks the house paint they are given is ridiculous.

When Bean's plans put his friends in danger, he has to make amends.  He rallies his band of kids to help save Key West.  In an unrelated subplot, Holm reintroduces the miracle diaper rash remedy - somewhat modified - that she mentioned in Turtle in Paradise.

Oh and there's an adorable dog.  Can't lose with a dog in the book.



 

Life Saving Libraries

My first "real" job was working as a shelver (page) at the Bethlehem Area Public Library.  I was almost 16.  I worked in the Children's room.

It is 50 years later.  I have worked in public libraries (and an academic library and a high school library but those were substitute positions) for 30+ years- and counting.  I have always worked in Children's Departments.  That's where I belong.

This video speaks to the importance of libraries - the importance of reading - the importance of books and most of all, the importance of making access to all three available to everyone.

 

Libraries save lives.  Gary Paulsen credits a public library for his education.  Thomas Edison read his way through his public library after he left school.

Thanks to Brain Pickings for sharing this story.

The Dark Side? Or Adsense

After 7 years of blogging, I am thinking about "monetizing".  The easiest way is to sign up with Adsense.

This is not the most popular blog out there.  I write when I want.  Sometimes every day for a week.  Sometimes not at all for a month.  So, monetizing might not work for me.

Still, a little extra money would be nice.  They claim that I would have control on the ads they run, etc.

What say you, my eclectic mix of readers?  Do you have experience with this Adsense they speak of?

Should I continue to write this blog for the fun of it?

I await your reply.

Candlewick Press - Moving stories

From my inbox to yours!  Candlewick's Classroom Guide for October includes an annotated book list on immigration stories - about families moving here from far away. (Oh and other cool stuff, as well.)

Find books to share with classes, storytimes and your favorite small listener.  Maybe, you will get a chance to share your own family's story of arrival.

Some Writer - Book Trailer

Some people are lucky.  I received an ARC of this book several months ago.    I will never part with it.  Melissa Sweet has put together a masterpiece about a masterful writer, E. B. White.

Ada Twist, Scientist

STEM, STEAM and girls who do experiments - hearken!  A new scientist is on the block.