Literacy – Page 3 – Booktalking #kidlit

Great Books

Picture Book of the Day

The Vole Brothers
by Roslyn Schwartz (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: In this easy-to-read picture book comic the Vole Brothers are always hungry…so hungry they are ready to eat a cat. And then…

Snippet:
VOLE BROTHERS: Mmmmmm.
THE CAT: SNIFF SNIFF

VOLE BROTHERS: Something smells good.
VOLE BROTHERS: RiP RiP RiP RiP
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Chapter Book of the Day

Lilly and the Pirates
by Phyllis Root (Author) and Rob Shepperson (Illustrator)
116 pages

Booktalk: A sighting of the rare frangipani fruit fly sends Lilly’s scientist parents off in search of the fabled Shipwreck Islands. Lilly awaits their return at the home of her great-uncle Ernest, the chief librarian of Mundelaine, a town that seems to have more than its share of piratical-looking characters lurking about. When news comes that her parents’ ship has wrecked, she must overcome her fear of the sea, find the hidden island, and outsmart a bunch of treasure-hungry pirates to save the day.

Snippet: Lilly reached for her worry book, always at her side, ready for her to scribble down any worries she might think of. If Lilly worried enough about all of the things that could go wrong, if she wrote her worries down in her worry book, the bad things she worried about might not happen.
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CYBILS Easy Reader Finalists

The new CYBILS Easy Reader Finalists were just announced!

Aggie Gets Lost
by Lori Ries (Author) and Frank W. Dormer (Illustrator)
Ben throws the ball too far and his dog Aggie gets lost! Easy reader with 3 chapters

Dodsworth in Rome
by Tim Egan (Author, Illustrator)
Dodsworth and his misbehaving duck visit Rome. Easy reader with 4 chapters

Frog and Friends
by Eve Bunting (Author) and Josee Masse (Illustrator)
Frog likes things to stay the same, but that’s not how it goes in these 3 short stories. Easy reader with 3 chapters

I Broke My Trunk!
by Mo Willems (Author, Illustrator)
Uh-oh! Elephant broke his trunk, and now he has a CRAZY story to tell Piggie. Easy reader
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Literary Links

Walter Dean Myers named third National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature!

Reading is like oxygen (via The Globe and Mail)
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My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Nonfiction Monday

Picture Book of the Day

Weird but True Weather (Weird But True Science)
by Carmen Bredeson (Author)

Booktalk: Snow donuts? Dust devils? Clouds that look like flying saucers? Can this really be true? Find out in this easy-to-read information book.

Snippet:
Rain: This water fell on the dinosaurs!
Rain falls on you. Rain fell on the dinosaurs. It might be the same rain. Water on Earth is used over and over. It is called the water cycle.
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Chapter Book of the Day

Don’t Behave Like You Live in a Cave (Laugh & Learn)
by Elizabeth Verdick (Author) and Steve Mark (Illustrator)
128 pages

Booktalk: Full-color cartoons and humorous, kid-friendly text teach kids how to make smarter choices about how they behave at home and at school so they stay out of trouble, feel good about themselves and their choices, and get along better with family, friends, and teachers.

Snippet: This book isn’t about turning you into a “perfect” person, a goody-goody, the teacher’s pet, or some kind of robot-kid. Instead, it can help you take a look at how you act and how other people react. Do your actions help you–or do they hurt you?
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Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up host is The Nonfiction Detectives

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Nonfiction Book Blast 2012

12 for 2012
by Anastasia Suen, panel moderator

Happy New Year, everyone! It’s time to introduce the Nonfiction Book Blast panel for 2012…

Beginning next Monday, these twelve nonfiction authors will be sharing booktalks and activities for your classroom and library. On Nonfiction Monday through the winter and the spring, they will take you behind the scenes of their new books. Each author will share twice, so this series will last from January 9th to June 18th. On the first day of summer, the big event arrives…

The American Library Association will hold its 2012 Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA from June 21–26. I’m happy to say that ALSC has invited Nonfiction Book Blast: Booktalks and Activities for Your Library to be on the program again this year!

Save the date! June 23, 2012 Nonfiction Book Blast 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

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Literary Links

Join the Marvelous Middle Grade Read-a-thon-January 2, 2012-January 8, 2012
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My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

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

Our December 2011 host is Jean Little Library.
Please send in a link to YOUR post by December 26th.
The carnival will go live on December 28th.

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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
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My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

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.

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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.

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.

Thanks!

Anastasia

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My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

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!

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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.

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.

Thanks!

Anastasia

_____________________________________________________________________

My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

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.

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.

Thanks!
Anastasia
_____________________________________________________________________

My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

November 30, 2011

https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141865328794800128
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141896788851429376
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141928289894805505
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141959714878652416
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141987389525594114

My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

November 28, 2011

https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141140580985090049
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141172038835503104
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141177787145928706
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141192200062107648
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141203524603215873
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141234957610786816
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/141262633109172225

My NEW picture book is Road Work Ahead (Viking)

November 10, 2011

https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/134617585168809984
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/134649031950479360
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/134680512009736193
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/134711960762724352
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/134739635405471744

New format

Hello everyone! Tonight I begin using a new format that will help me keep the links I send you more up-to-date. With Twitter Blackbird Pie I can send you a digest at the end of the workday that is clickable! (Try it! Click on one of the colored links — even the hashtags — and you’ll be whisked away to the link!)

It’s just like the old nursery rhyme…

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,

Do you remember?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz1HW1PpXEE]

The book blogs will continue to post (and be sent via email) at 1am, but this “digest” blog will now be sent to you after 5pm. This means any “scoops” will be sent to you the day they occur! (Who knew that Google was indexing your Facebook comments? Yikes!)
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/131859708867915777
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/131825435377025024
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/131797742237392897
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/131786894580256768
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/131766311415066624
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/131734837861158912
https://twitter.com/#!/asuen1/status/131703369277521920