What a world it would be if we never had to teach a child how to deal with bullying or how to help another who is being bullied. But, as that is not reality unfortunately, it is important for kids to see/read about characters in books dealing with a bully. While the actual strategies in these two books might not work in reality, their underlying message that we are more powerful if we stick together and help each other out, is an important one. Henry Herz has definitely been really busy this fall. In addition to Alice's Magic Garden: Before the Rabbit Hole (reviewed here last week), Henry released two more books, both illustrated by Luke Graber. Both books contain kid-friendly messages of th

I imagine most of you know my next guest - Hannah Holt. I had the privilege of getting to know Hannah over the past few years at the NESCBWI and SCBWI Oregon conferences. She is gracious, encouraging, and wicked smart. But for any of you who don't know her, Hannah is a children’s author with an engineering degree. Her books, The Diamond & The Boy (2018, Balzer & Bray) and A Father’s Love (2019, Philomel) weave together her love of language and science. She lives in Oregon with her husband, four children, and a very patient cat named Zephyr. She and her family enjoy reading, hiking, and eating chocolate chip cookies. Welcome Hannah, thank you for stopping by on your blog tour. ME: Tell us a l

In a climate where kindness to others and nature is needed with increasing urgency comes a cute book that draws on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and reminds me a bit of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Using a sharp dichotomy to represent life in a rigid school and a garden full of playful fun and imagination, Henry Herz and Natalie Hoops have created an interesting prequel. Alice's Magic Garden: Before the Rabbit Hole Author: Henry Herz Illustrator: Natalie Hoops Publisher: Famillius, LLC. (2018) Ages: 4-7 Fiction Themes: Imagination, kindness, and whimsy. Synopsis (from Amazon): Curiouser and curiouser! In this imaginative prequel to A

Henry Herz has taken a moment out of his busy fall schedule to pop back in and talk with me. If you missed our first interview on July 30, 2017, check out Henry Hertz's basic bio facts and discussion of his earlier book Cap'n Rex & His Clever Crew, here. So the big news is that Henry has three books releasing in short succession this fall - Alice’s Magic Garden (Familius 9/1, an imaginative prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), How Squid Got Two Long Arms (Pelican Publishing Co. 9/4, a new twist on a Pourquoi tale), and Good Egg and Bad Apple (Schiffer 9/28, the next “punny” food book). ME: Welcome back Henry! You have been very busy. Any changes to your process or preferred place to

I adore Christmas, decorating trees, and baking cookies. I know, I know it isn't even October yet. I suppose it IS a bit early to talk about Christmas. Guess we've got to deal with the ghouls first. However, I hope you'll forgive my brief foray toward the holidays. I've had the pleasure of reviewing an advance copy of a special book. I just had to offer a sneak peek at this beautiful treasure which Nancy Churnin and Luisa Uribe have created. One that I know you will want to add to your nonfiction and/or Christmas collections. If you love Nancy's other nonfiction books - The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game, Manjhi Moves a Mountain, Charlie Takes His Shot: How Ch

Today, I get the privilege to bring you an interview with a remarkable woman - Nancy Churnin. She writes beautiful nonfiction picture book biographies on little known individuals or those with little known stories. In addition, Nancy has an amazing feature on her website – associated with each book (in addition to teacher guides) – where she encourages kids, parents, and teachers to make a difference. These calls to action ranges from sending letters to get Hoy in the Hall of Fame or by helping out their community, a new kid on a team, an immigrant, or someone over the holidays. Be sure to visit her website and read the testimonials from kids and classrooms. Nancy, thank-you so much for stop

Last week I did a post on some of my favorite unique friendship books (here). One of the books, We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan Higgins, ties nicely into Suzanne's back to school theme. And thinking about a post for this week, I realized that I had missed (it was hiding under a pile of library books) a book that I had wanted to add to last week's post. It combines both a unique friendship and school, so it is perfect for this week's post. Hope you all like it too. Friends Stick Together Author/Illustrator: Hannah E. Harrison Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers (2018) Ages: 4-8 Fiction Themes: Friendship, school, uniqueness, acceptance, and science. Synopsis (from Barnes & Noble): A t