Category: Booktalks

Friday Reads

Picture Book of the Day

Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons
by Agnes Rosenstiehl (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Lily plays in all four seasons in this easy reader comic for beginning readers.

Snippet: Wow! Look at all the snow!
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Chapter Book of the Day

The Salmon Bears: Giants of the Great Bear Rainforest
by Ian McAllister (Author) and Nicholas Read (Author)
96 pages

Booktalk: Explore the delicate balance between the grizzly, black and spirit bears of the Great Bear Rainforest and their natural environment on the central coast of British Columbia.

Snippet: As October turns to November, it’s time for the bears of the Great Bear Rainforest to go to sleep again. Many will return to the same dens they used the previous winter.
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STEM Friday

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

This week’s STEM Friday Round-up is hosted by Celebrate Science.

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Poetry Friday

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Book Aunt

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Nonfiction Monday on December 19, 2011

Nonfiction Monday is coming!

The Nonfiction Monday Round-up on December 19, 2011

is at Practically Paradise.

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Blog Countdown #1

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?
A. Two reasons:
1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.
2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.
2. I will count down for two weeks (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!
Anastasia
_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Young Readers

Picture Book of the Day

My Animal World

Booktalk: This charming collection holds fifteen tiny board books, sized just right for little hands. It’s an introduction to the animal world, from pigs to penguins, cow to cat and everything in between. Each title tells the animals name, where it lives, what its baby is called, what it eats, and the sound it makes.

Snippet: from Dog
My baby
is called
a puppy
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Chapter Book of the Day

Horrid Henry’s Christmas
by Francesca Simon (Author) and Tony Ross (Illustrator)
112 pages

Booktalk: They don’t call him Horrid Henry for nothing! In this 4 story collection, Horrid Henry sabotages the Christmas play; tries to do all his Christmas shopping without spending any of his allowance; attempts to ambush Santa Claus (to get more presents, of course); and has to endure the worst Christmas dinner ever!

Snippet: Miss Battle-Axe droned on about school lunches (yuck), the new drinking fountain blah blah blah, math homework blah blah blah, the school Christmas play blah blah … what? Did Miss Battle-Axe say … Christmas play? Horrid Henry sat up.
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Children’s Book Genres Workshop

Planning to write a children’s book in 2012?

(Ask someone to buy you a workshop gift certificate for the holidays!)

A children’s book isn’t just one kind of book – there are 6 very different children’s book genres. Each genre meets the needs of a different stage of childhood. How are books for the stages of childhood structured? What story layers do the books have? What promises do they make?

In the Children’s Book Genres Workshop you will begin at the beginning with a child’s everyday world (realistic fiction) as you read 3 books for each stage of childhood and look beneath the surface to see how each children’s book genre is put together.

The next Children’s Book Genres Workshop begins on January 4th. This online workshop does not have a physical meeting place or classroom hours. You will have 8 weeks to complete the 6 lessons in this online workshop. Turn your lessons in as you complete them, the next day…or on the due date two weeks later.

After you discover the genre that is right for you, take the Intensive Picture Book Workshop, Children’s Chapter Books Workshop or the Children’s Novels Workshop and begin writing your own children’s book!

The January workshop dates are January 4-February 22, 2012.

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STEM Friday on December 16, 2011

STEM Friday is coming! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

The STEM Friday Round-up on December 16, 2011

is at Celebrate Science.

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Blog Countdown #2

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?
A. Two reasons:
1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.
2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.
2. I will count down for two weeks (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!
Anastasia
_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Tales from Long Ago

Picture Book of the Day

A Christmas Spider’s Miracle
by Trinka Hakes Noble (Author) and Stephen Costanza (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Long ago in a faraway place there lived two mothers. One, a humble peasant woman who struggled daily to provide for her children. And the other, a mother spider who also worked hard to care for her family. And although it would appear they were as different as night and day, these two mothers had more in common than would first seem.

Snippet: Folks could barely wait until Christmas Eve, that long cold night when everyone would light candles to fill the darkness with hope.
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Chapter Book of the Day

The Last Dragon
by Jane Yolen (Author) and Rebecca Guay (Illustrator)
144 pages

Booktalk: Two hundred years ago, humans drove the dragons from the islands of May. Now, the last of the dragons rises to wreak havoc anew — with only a healer’s daughter and a kite-flying would-be hero standing in its way.

Snippet: At first the dragon looked like any young lizard, for he had not shed his eggskin, which was lumpy and whitish, like clotted cream. But he grew fast, as dragons will.
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December 2011 Carnival Of Children’s Literature

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Literary Links

5 tips for releasing a book app (via @eBookNewser)
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Blog Countdown #3

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?
A. Two reasons:
1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.
2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.
2. I will count down for two weeks (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!
Anastasia
_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Sad Stories

Picture Book of the Day

The Christmas Tree Ship
by Carol Crane (Author) and Chris Ellison (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Grandpa loved to tell stories when he sat in his “remembering rocker.” One was about Captain Santa and the Christmas Tree Ship (disaster) of 1912.

Snippet: “Every year Captain Santa would load up his little schooner Rouse Simmons with thousands of beautiful Christmas trees from our northern Michigan forests.
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Chapter Book of the Day

My Name Is Not Easy
by Debby Dahl Edwardson (Author)
352 pages

Booktalk: Luke knows his Iñupiaq name is full of sounds white people can’t say. So he leaves it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles away from their Arctic village.

Snippet:

I hand the gun back to Joe, the gun that’s gonna be mine when I’m old enough to take the kick. Next spring maybe.

“Boys?” Mom says. “You hear? Get your stuff. Plane’s come.”

I’m twelve years old, all right, and Bunna, he’s ten. But Isaac, he’s only six, and all I can think of is those Catholics and what they say about kids. Why can’t we wait until Isaac turns seven?

When I climb up into that plane, the wind’s blowing hard, same as always.

“Take care of your brothers,” Mom calls, and I turn around quick. One last time.

BONUS! Hear the author read an excerpt at the 2011 National Book Award Finalists Reading!

[youtube=http://youtu.be/MmOPDDSM7PE]
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Literary Links

Digital Platform ePals Acquires Carus ( via FolioMag.com)
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Blog Countdown #4

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?
A. Two reasons:
1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.
2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.
2. I will count down for two weeks (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!
Anastasia
_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Nonfiction Monday

Picture Book of the Day

3D Theater: Oceans

by Kathryn Jewitt (Author) and Fiametta Dogi (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Learn all about the ocean in this 3-D pop-up book! (Can you find all of the animals in the pop-up scenes?)

Snippet:

Leatherback turtle

The biggest of all sea turtles, this creature spends most of its time in the open ocean, feeding on jellyfish.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Captain Mac: The Life of Donald Baxter Macmillian, Arctic Explorer

by Mary Morton Cowan (Author)

208 pages

Booktalk: From 1908 until 1954, Donald Baxter MacMillan spent nearly 50 years exploring the Arctic – longer than anyone else. Growing up near the ocean, and orphaned by 12, MacMillan forged an adventurous life.

Snippet: Most of the earth was well mapped, but no one knew what lay at the top. Many believed the North Pole was surrounded by water, while others thought there was a continent up there. Danny listened to tales of daring men who explored the Arctic. Some starved, froze to death, or perished when their ships were wrecked by ice or lost in storms.

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Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up host is Geo Librarian

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Online Writing Workshop Gift Certificates

Planning to write a children’s book in 2012?

(Ask someone to buy you a workshop for the holidays!)

It took most of the day on Friday but I finally figured out how offer gift certificates for my online workshops! Yay! With a Paypal Gift Certificate someone can pay for YOUR online workshop – and when you’re ready, you can choose both the workshop you want to take and the dates that fit in your schedule.

I will teach four different workshops in 2012:

New to children’s books?

Learn about the different types of children’s books in the Children’s Book Genres Workshop.

Ready to write?

Write and edit your book in the Intensive Picture Book Workshop, Children’s Chapter Books Workshop or the Children’s Novels Workshop.

After you finish a writing workshop you can work through two more edits in a “work-in-progress” workshop, by rewriting your picture book or working on the next chapter of your children’s chapter book or children’s novel.

The January workshop dates are January 4-February 22, 2012.

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Literary Links

YALSA Announces Nonfiction Award Finalists (via The Hub)

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Blog Countdown #5

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?

A. Two reasons:

1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.

2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.

2. I will count down for two weeks (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!

Anastasia

_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Friday Reads

Picture Book of the Day

The Kvetch Who Stole Hanukkah

by Bill Berlin (Author), Susan Isakoff Berlin (Author), and Peter Welling (Illustrator)

Booktalk: In the town of Oyville, the children were preparing for Hanukkah. But the kvetch who lived high on the hill had other plans…

Snippet:

What is a kvetch, you may want to know.

What makes him so gloomy, what makes him say no?

A kvetch is a person who likes to complain.

When others see sun, a kvetch will see rain.

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Poetry Friday

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Read, Write, Howl

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Chapter Book of the Day

Lightning, Hurricanes, and Blizzards: The Science of Storms

by Paul Fleisher (Author)

48 pages

Booktalk: What causes thunderstorms and lightning? Where and why do hurricanes form? How are blizzards more dangerous than other snowstorms? To answer these questions, you’ll need to know about nature’s most powerful weather events. Storms of all types and sizes occur around the globe. Each storm needs just the right combination of weather conditions to form and become dangerous–or even destructive. In this fact-packed book, discover how storms form, where they strike, and what makes them so powerful.

Snippet: Sunlight provides energy for all weather–including storms. Sunlight warms the Earth’s surface. It causes water on the ocean’s surface to evaporate, or change from liquid to gas. A storm’s energy comes from the sun’s heat. Understanding storms involves four Cs: convection, condensation convergence, and the Coriolis effect.

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STEM Friday

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

This week’s STEM Friday Round-up is hosted by Wrapped in Foil

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Nonfiction Monday on December 12, 2011

Nonfiction Monday is coming!

The Nonfiction Monday Round-up on December 12, 2011

is at Geo Librarian.

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Blog Countdown #6

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?

A. Two reasons:

1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.

2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.

2. I will count down this week and next (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!

Anastasia

_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Young Readers

Picture Book of the Day

Baby Born

by Anastasia Suen (Author) and Chih-Wei Chang (Illustrator)

Booktalk: “The soothing verse follows a year in the life of a newborn…”

~Kirkus Reviews

Snippet:

Baby born

in winter’s sleep

snowflakes fall

snuggle deep

See inside this board book!

Also available in Spanish

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Chapter Book of the Day

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 6: Cabin Fever

by Jeff Kinney (Author, Illustrator)

224 pages

Booktalk: Greg Heffley is in big trouble. School property has been damaged, and Greg is the prime suspect. But the crazy thing is, he’s innocent. Or at least sort of.

The authorities are closing in, but when a surprise blizzard hits, the Heffley family is trapped indoors. Greg knows that when the snow melts he’s going to have to face the music, but could any punishment be worse than being stuck inside with your family for the holidays?

Snippet: Most people look forward to the holidays, but the stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas just makes me a nervous wreck. If you make a mistake in the first eleven months of the year, it’s no bog deal. But if you do something wrong during the holiday season you’re gonna pay for it.

BONUS! See the video!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpM5LuN6xRI]

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My Book of the Week

Road Work Ahead by Anastasia Suen

A transportation picture book

  • Copyright: 2011
  • Ages: 3-5
  • Hardcover
  • Publisher: Viking

“Suen’s sparse rhyming verse leads readers through the busy scenes and uses simple vocabulary that suits both the youngest listeners and those just beginning to read.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

“A batch of Grandma’s homemade oatmeal cookies beckons, but for this backseat narrator, the sights and sounds along the road to her house are equally compelling.” ~ Publishers Weekly

Activities:

Play the Road Signs Matching Game.

Take the online Traffic Sign Quiz for Kids.

Watch the construction site video.

Make a Traffic Light Necklace with yarn and stickers.

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Children’s Book Genres Workshop

Planning to write a children’s book in 2012?

(Ask someone to buy you a workshop for the holidays!)

A children’s book isn’t just one kind of book – there are 6 very different children’s book genres. Each genre meets the needs of a different stage of childhood. How are books for the stages of childhood structured? What story layers do the books have? What promises do they make?

In the Children’s Book Genres Workshop you will begin at the beginning with a child’s everyday world (realistic fiction) as you read 3 books for each stage of childhood and look beneath the surface to see how each children’s book genre is put together.

The next Children’s Book Genres Workshop begins on January 4th. This online workshop does not have a physical meeting place or classroom hours. You will have 8 weeks to complete the 6 lessons in this online workshop. Turn your lessons in as you complete them, the next day…or on the due date two weeks later.

After you discover the genre that is right for you, take the Intensive Picture Book Workshop, Children’s Chapter Books Workshop or the Children’s Novels Workshop and begin writing your own children’s book!

The January workshop dates are January 4-February 22, 2012.

_____________________________________________________________________

STEM Friday on December 9, 2011

STEM Friday is coming! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

The STEM Friday Round-up on December 9, 2011

is at Wrapped in Foil.

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Literary Link

As budgets get stretched, schools turn to free digital tools

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Blog Countdown #7

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?

A. Two reasons:

1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.

2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.

2. I will count down this week and next (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!

Anastasia

_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and Their New Skates (Updated Edition with Paperdolls)

by Maj Lindman (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: A classic book is back! (The original copyright is 1950, and yes, I read ALL of them as a child. Who knew what those triplets from Sweden would do next?) This updated version has a Christmas story AND paper dolls in the back.

Snippet: Early one Christmas morning in Sweden, Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka opened their eyes. They sat up in bed.

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5 MORE Great Christmas Books

Christmas Farm

by Mary Lyn Ray (Author) and Barry Root (Illustrator)

Wilma and the little boy next door grow a Christmas tree farm. Picture book

Gus and Grandpa and the Christmas Cookies

by Claudia Mills (Author) and Catherine Stock (Illustrator)

What will Gus and Grandpa to do with 12 dozen cookies? Easy reader with 4 chapters

Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry Christmas

by Cynthia Rylant (Author) and Suçie Stevenson (Illustrator)

The whole family comes over to celebrate Christmas! Easy reader with 3 chapters

Marvin’s Best Christmas Present Ever

by Katherine Paterson (Author) and Jane Clark Brown (Illustrator)

Marvin makes his parents the best Christmas present ever. Level 3 easy reader

Minnie and Moo: The Night Before Christmas

by Denys Cazet (Author, Illustrator)

Minnie and Moo have to save Christmas at the farm! Level 3 easy reader

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Chapter Book of the Day

Piper Reed, Rodeo Star

by Kimberly Willis Holt (Author) and Christine Davenier (Illustrator)

160 pages

Booktalk: Piper’s parents are going on vacation to France and not taking the whole family. What rotten luck! What will they do about Christmas?

Snippet:

“Where will we stay while you’re in France?” I asked.

“Piney Woods,” said the Chief. “You girls can have a nice visit with your grandparents.”

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Intensive Picture Book Workshop

Are you ready to write your picture book in 2012?

(Ask someone to buy you a workshop for the holidays!)

The next Intensive Picture Book Workshop begins on January 4th. Learn the basic elements of a picture book story (hook, theme, arc, beats, storyboarding, and read aloud) as you study 5 picture books per lesson to see how they use the Big Picture writing traits of ideas, organization and voice.

An online workshop does not have a physical meeting place or classroom hours. You will have 8 weeks to complete the 6 lessons in this online workshop. Turn your lessons in as you complete them, the next day…or on the due date two weeks later.

The January workshop dates are January 4-February 22, 2012.

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Literary Links

Amazon Publishing to Acquire Marshall Cavendish US Children’s Books Titles

My new @ALA_Booklist Hot Topics column, The Artist’s Life is here!

_____________________________________________________________________

Blog Countdown #8

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?

A. Two reasons:

1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.

2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.

2. I will count down this week and next (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!

Anastasia

_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

By Request…

Picture Book of the Day

M.O.M. (Mom Operating Manual)

by Doreen Cronin (Author) and Laura Cornell (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Take care of MOM and she’ll take care of YOU. Kids can see how in this detailed “Mom Operating Manual.” The snippet below is on the If All Else Fails Page where it recommends “a spontaneous song and dance routine” to override a “malfunction.”

This book is a MUST BUY for kids with busy moms!

Snippet:

Cranky Pants

(sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Why do you wear cranky pants?

Cranky pants?

Cranky pants?

Why do you wear cranky pants?

Breathe deep and count to ten.

_____________________________________________________________________

Chapter Book of the Day

All-Star Cheerleaders: Tick Tock, Taylor

by Anastasia Suen (Author) and Hazel Mitchell (Illustrator)

96 pages

Booktalk: It’s the first big competition for Taylor, Abby and the rest of the Glitter cheer squad from the Big D Elite gym. Competitions are nerve-wracking enough, but add in a teammate who is always perfect – and wants everyone else to be too – a slow back walkover and some intense competition and the Glitter squad will have to perform better than ever to take first place.

Snippet: “I thought this day would never come,” said Taylor to her best friend Abby. The two girls looked around the hallway of the sports arena. There were cheerleaders everywhere. They had come from across the state to compete. It was October — time for the first All-Star competition of the season.

BONUS! Find out how this series started!

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Children’s Chapter Books Workshop

I’ve had many requests this year to teach a workshop about writing chapter books, so…the Children’s Chapter Books Workshop will begin on Wednesday, January 4, 2012.

The Children’s Chapter Books Workshop is a 12 lesson email course. Due to the economy, I have divided it into 2 parts: Lessons 1-6 and Lessons 7-12.

This is an online workshop, so it does not have a physical meeting place or classroom hours. You will have 8 weeks to complete the 6 lessons in this online workshop. Turn your lessons in as you complete them, the next day…or on the due date two weeks later.

The January workshop dates are January 4-February 22, 2012.

_____________________________________________________________________

Blog Countdown #9

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?

A. Two reasons:

1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.

2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.

2. I will count down this week and next (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!

Anastasia

_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Nonfiction Monday

Picture Book of the Day

Life Cycles: Polar Lands
by Sean Callery (Author)

Booktalk: The Arctic and Antarctic regions are full of animals looking for food and trying not to be eaten themselves! Learn about the life cycle of 11 amazing animals and their food webs.

Snippet: The Arctic and Antarctic regions are known as the polar lands. They are the toughest habitats in the world: dark all winter, with freezing temperatures and storms. Against all odds, plants and animals live here.
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Chapter Book of the Day

Learn to Speak Dance: A Guide to Creating, Performing & Promoting Your Moves
by Ann-Marie Williams (Author) and Jeff Kulak (Illustrator)
96 pages

Booktalk: Watching a flashy music video or an episode of So You Think You Can Dance probably makes most people a little shy about their dancing skills, but we all know how to dance. After all, dance is just a mash up of everyday movement and imagination. And while a musician might learn how to play piano or guitar, a dancer’s instrument is her own body.

Snippet: When you feel good, you want to share the love. That’s why dancing is always involved when there’s something to celebrate, like a wedding or a party. Dancing together is kind like a big group hug, because it makes us feel closer to each other. It reminds us that we belong to a group, and that’s a powerful feeling.
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Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up host is GatheringBooks

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Literary Links

The first printed book created from an iPad app. (via @bdlpub)

New Spilling Ink writing contest for ages 8-12! (via @annemazer)
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Blog Countdown #10

Dear Readers,

Due to technical difficulties (see below) I am moving ALL of my blogs here to Booktalking.

Q. Why are you moving your blogs during the busy holidays?
A. Two reasons:
1. I’m being innundated by foreign language spam.
2. The Feedburner subscription service has locked me out.

This means that while others have found me (in a BIG way!) I can no longer find you. I can’t access my subscriber lists. I’ve had the same login since 2006, but Feedburner was sold to Google and now my passwords no longer work!

I have to START OVER.

1. I will consolidate ALL 8 blogs into 1 at Booktalking.
2. I will count down this week and next (from 10-1)…and then close the other 7 blogs.

If you read this blog via a Google subscription, please click here and sign up for email with WordPress. (It’s the widget on the right that says “Send me this blog via email.”) Then I can see you – and help you – if you need assistance with your subscription.

Thanks!
Anastasia
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Site Meter My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.