Young Readers

Picture Book of the Day

You Push, I Ride

By Abby Levine (Author) and Margot Apple (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A rhyming look at a toddler’s day from the child’s point-of-view. This 8″x 8″ board book is just the right size for a toddler’s hands.

Snippet:

We go outside.

You push, I ride.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Under Dogs: Three Novels

by Marcus Zusak

512 pages

Booktalk: From the author of The Book Thief, three books in one volume about the Wolfe brothers: The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe and Getting the Girl. The first book in this omnibus is also Zusak’s very first book, now published for the first time in the United States.

Snippet:

We were watching the telly when we decided to rob the dentist.

“The dentist?” I asked my brother.

“Sure, why not?” was his reply. “Do you know how much money goes through a dental surgery in a day? It’s obscene. If the prime minister was a dentist, the country wouldn’t be in the state it’s in right now, I tell you. There’d be no unemployment, no racism, no sexism. Just money.”

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January 2012 Carnival Of Children’s Literature

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STEM Friday on January 20, 2012

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

The STEM Friday Round-up on January 20, 2012

is at Laurie Thompson.

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Literary Links

Love children’s and YA poetry? Join the new Poetry Ambassadors listserv!

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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Friday Reads

Picture Book of the Day

The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families
by Susan L. Roth (Author, Illustrator) and Cindy Trumbore (Author)

Booktalk: For a long time, the people of Hargigo, a village in the tiny African country of Eritrea, were living without enough food for themselves and their animals. The families were hungry, and their goats and sheep were hungry too. Then along came a scientist, Dr. Gordon Sato, who helped change their lives for the better. And it all started with some special trees.

Snippet:
These are the trees,
Mangrove trees,
That were planted by the sea.

BONUS! Read an interview with the book’s creators!
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Poetry Friday

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by A Teaching Life

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Chapter Book of the Day

Infections, Infestations, and Diseases
by Shirley Smith Duke (Author)
48 pages

Booktalk: It’s that time of year again, cold and flu season. Are you staying well? Learn how in this book on communicable diseases.

Snippet: Infections and diseases are spread in several ways. They are spread through touch, air or water, food animal bites, or insects. Sneezing or coughing sprays germs into the air.
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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 Capstone Connect.

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Nonfiction Monday on January 16, 2012

Nonfiction Monday is coming!

The Nonfiction Monday Round-up on January 16, 2012

is at The Swimmer Writer.

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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Young Readers

Picture Book of the Day

Bedtime

Booktalk: A simple bedtime board book for babies…

Snippet:

It’s bedtime for Baby Bear.

First he puts on his pajamas.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Nikki and Deja: Election Madness

by Karen English (Author) and Laura Freeman (Illustrator)

112 pages

Booktalk: When the students in Nikki and Deja’s class find out that their school is going to hold its first-ever election for student body president, some kids are more excited than others. But none is as excited as Deja, who figures she’s a shoo-in for the third grade nomination. Deja decides that Nikki will be her campaign manager, of course, and puts her to work right away. But will Deja’s tendency to rush into things and boss people around alienate her best friend when she needs her most, and spoil her chances of becoming president of Carver Elementary?

Snippet: Nikki turns toward Deja then, and her lip quivers as she says loudly, “Be quiet, Deja. Quit bossing me around. You’re not the boss of me!”

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School Visit at John Paul II High School

Thanks for a great day, Cardinals!

Special thanks to Media Specialists Gracelyn Shea and Linda Berger!

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STEM Friday on January 13, 2012

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

The STEM Friday Round-up on January 13, 2012

is at Capstone Connect.

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Literary Links

Love children’s and YA poetry? Join the new Poetry Ambassadors listserv!

_____________________________________________________________________

Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Friday Reads

Picture Book of the Day

Do You Have a Dog?

by Eileen Spinelli (Author) and Geraldo Valrio (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Do you have a dog? Famous people owned dogs, too!

Snippet:

Admiral Richard Byrd had a dog-

Iggy-who kept Byrd warm,

a comfort in Antarctic storm.

Through blizzard, ice and wild weather

the two holed up, good friends together.

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Chapter Book of the Day

Be Fit, Be Strong, Be You? (Be The Boss Of Your Body)

by Rebecca Kajander C.P.N.P. M.P.H. (Author) and Timothy Culbert M.D. (Author)

96 pages

Booktalk: Do you want to feel fit and strong-inside and out? Learn how in this book for tweens written by a pediatrician and an award-winning nurse practitioner.

Snippet:

What Does Your Body Need?

To maintain a healthy body, mind, and spirit, your diet should contain all of these important nutrients:

Proteins: These are the “building blocks” of the body, and they’re necessary for growth and for building body structures like muscle.

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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 rovingfiddlehead kidlit.

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Poetry Friday

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Teaching Authors

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Nonfiction Monday on January 9, 2012

Nonfiction Monday is coming!

The Nonfiction Monday Round-up on January 9, 2012

is at Great Kid Books.

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Site Meter My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Friday Reads

Picture Book of the Day

It’s Almost Time
by Debbie Bernstein (Author) and Sarah Chalek (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Two friends make their way through a clock-filled house, counting down, ready for all the different clock sounds to mark the hour. Cover your ears; it’s going to be noisy!

Snippet:
Tick-tick-tock.
It’s almost time.
The gears are winding,
getting ready to chime.
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Chapter Book of the Day

Planet Earth: What Planet Are You On? (Basher Science)
by Dan Gilpin (Author), Simon Basher (Author, Illustrator)
128 pages

Booktalk: A handy intro to earth science, with a new concept after each page turn.

Snippet: It’s a wide, wild world out there. Planet Earth is filled to the bursting point with Rivers, Mountain Ranges, Weather systems, Climate zones, Ocean Currents, Biomes, and all kinds of what-have-yous. There’s so much to understand about our planet that the mind boggles.
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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 Red Phoenix Books.

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Poetry Friday

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by The Drift Record

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Nonfiction Monday on January 2, 2012

Nonfiction Monday is coming!

The Nonfiction Monday Round-up on January 2, 2012

is at The Nonfiction Detectives.

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Happy New Year! See you in 2012!

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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

Red Sled
by Lita Judge (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: In this almost wordless picture book, a host of woodland creatures take a child’s sled for a nighttime joy ride.

Snippet: Scrinch scrunch scrinch scrunch scrinch scrunch
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Chapter Book of the Day

The Accidental Adventures of India McAllister
by Charlotte Agell (Author, Illustrator)
160 pages

Booktalk: Fourth grade is a year of changes, challenges, and ordinary joys for India McAllister. She lives in Maine with her artist mom and their dog, Tofu. Her father lives in the next town over with his new partner, Richard and their bird, Beatrice Strawberry. India – named for the ink, not the subcontinent – was adopted from China as a baby. Being the only Chinese girl in her small town fuels India’s search for identity. India reports in her own words and drawings about life, adventures (many with her good friend Colby) and all things annoying as well as what makes her happy.

Snippet: My name is India McAllister, and I’m nine and a half years old. I live in Wolfgang, Maine, where there are no wolves, but the coyotes grow almost as big. You can hear them calling to each other at night.
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Online Writing Workshops

Planning to write a children’s book in 2012?
The next Children’s Book Genres Workshop is Jan 4-Feb 22, 2012.

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STEM Friday on December 30, 2011

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

The STEM Friday Round-up on December 30, 2011

is at Red Phoenix Books.

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

Copyright © 2011 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

STEM Friday

Picture Book of the Day

A Polar Bear’s World
by Caroline Arnold (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: The Arctic wind howls, but the two polar bear cubs are warm inside their den. They snuggle tight against their mother…

Snippet: It is early January. The sky is dark both day and night. Inside the den, the mother polar bear has just given birth to two tiny cubs.
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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 here!

Leave your link in the comments and I will add you to the round-up! Thanks!

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Wrapped in Foil shares Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication

NC Teacher Stuff posts a review of Storm Chasers

SimplyScience debuts Forces and Motion at Work and adds some activities for it

rovingfiddlehead reviews The Secret World of Whales

Bring On the Birds cover

Laurie Thompson reviews Cybils Nonfiction Picture Book nominee Bring On the Birds

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Nonfiction Monday on December 26, 2011

Nonfiction Monday is coming!

The Nonfiction Monday Round-up on December 26, 2011

is at Jean Little Library.

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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

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
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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.