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.    .  .  .  .  .  . PEACHTREE BOOK BLOG TOUR Claude at the Circus By Alex T. Smith Peachtree Publishers 5 Stars . Back Cover:  Meet Claude. He’s no ordinary dog—he leads an extraordinary life! When his owners leave for the countryside, Claude decides what adventure he will have. What will happen today? Opening:  …

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.. . .   .    .     .  . PEACHTREE BOOK BLOG TOUR When Edgar Met Cecil by Kevin Luthardt Peachtree Publishers 5 Stars .. Inside Jacket:  When Edgar’s family moves to a new town, everything seems strange and scary.  The kids look funny.  They dress weird.  They listen to bizarre music.  They …

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Manelle graduated with a bachelor’s degree in illustration from Brigham Young University Idaho and has been working as an Illustrator since 2005.  She’s illustrated multiple books. Most recently, In the Garden, (spring 2012) In the Woods, (fall 2012) and At the Beach (spring 2013) for Peachtree Publishers.

Some of my other clients include: McGraw-Hill, Friend Magazine, The Empress Theatre, and Blooming Tree Press.

I work with watercolor, prismacolor pencil, pencil, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.

Manelle says, “My object in writing and illustrating books for children is: to recapture imagination, rekindle curiosity, and demonstrate the rewards of knowledge and virtue. Pretty good eh? I stole it from Walden Media. Regardless I am creating books and illustrations for children with this in mind. Hoping that others will have a chance to have fun, and learn from the products I create.”

Manelle has sent three panels that describe her process, thinking, and interview answers.

Have you always lived in Salt Lake Utah?

Basically, I did go to school in Idaho. I lived in West Yellowstone Montana one summer and I lived in Provo Utah for about a year after college.

How did you go to college to study illustration?

Well, yes, sort of, I went to college to study art. I thought I wanted to be a gallery artist but then I took an illustration class and the rest is history.

What types of classes did you take that really helped you to develop as an illustrator?

Like I said I took this one illustration class… It was intense and really hard. It seems like during the semester I was just exhausted the whole time but it really gave me the tools I needed to be able to draw the kinds of pictures I always wanted to draw. In the end I took that class three times, twice with the same teacher and once with another teacher. I learned so much in all of them.

What did you do after you graduated?

After I graduated I moved to Provo Utah and got a job doing layout for an educational publisher. I liked it there and I sometime I got to do small illustrations. It was fun learning more about Graphic design and layout there. I still use those skills all time.

What was the first thing you did that you got paid to do?

I think it was an illustration for the Friend magazine.

How long have you been illustrating?

Eight years

What materials did you start out using for your illustrations?

Watercolor and pen, and I also did a lot of digital painting at first.

Have those material changed over time?

Yes. I still use watercolor but now I use colored pencil and pencil more than pen. I just use the computer for prep work now, value studies and things like that. I stopped doing digital after I got a few jobs painting that way and realized I didn’t enjoy doing that as much. And sometimes l like to just try something completely different if I can. That is what Ruby and the Skateboard is, a fun style experiment.

Was the artwork for Don’t be Afraid a self-published book project?

No it was for a small Christian publisher. I think the first book job I got. I was pretty excited about it at the time.

How did you get involved with Familius?

It’s a long story. I’ll try to sum up. The Just In Time books were first being published by another publisher and they hired me. But before they were published the authors decided they wanted to go a different rout than that publisher was going so they pulled out. I had already done some sketches and things for them and I really, REALLY, wanted to do them. Luckily the authors, Cheri Earl and Carol Williams, live in Utah and I had met them at some SCBWI conferences, so the next time I saw one of them at a conference I told her how baldly I wanted to do those books. Later I emailed the sketches I had done and she liked them. She said she would suggest me as an illustrator if they found another publisher. Years later they found Familius and Familius hired me. So I think the moral of the story is be patient, and go to conferences, you never know what will happen.

Will there be other Just in Time books coming out?

Yes, 50 are planned, one for each state.

Can you tell us something about Familius?

They are new as of last year (2012). Christopher Robbins the publisher used to be CEO of Gibbs smith. So far they have been good to work with and we’ve enjoyed getting the Just In Time books ready for publication.

Will you be the illustrator for all of them?

That’s the plan.

Did you do any interior art for The Princess and the Pee or was it just the cover?

Yeah, I did an illustration for each chapter.

I see that you just wrote and illustration your own picture book and are selling it on Amazon for $.99. Was it easy to take the book dummy and turn it into an ebook?

It wasn’t too hard. But like I said I had a job doing layout and I took some deign classes in college. I don’t know that it would have been as easy if I didn’t know how to do that.  After the layout there is just some mechanical stuff to figure out that takes time but isn’t too hard. Julie Olsen has a nice blog post about how to do that. http://jujubeeillustrations.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-create-and-publish-ebook-picture.html

How hard is it to get people to notice your ebook?

I haven’t been good at it yet. Gradually I’m selling more and more and I’ve been trying things here and there to market them. Just learning stuff from people online and trying it. No giant success yet but I kind of enjoy the trying.

Do you plan to produce the book and self publish it, so kids can hold it in their hands?

Not at this point. Both of the ebooks I have out right now were just little things I did for fun and for practice telling stories. I think they will always just be ebooks.

What are your thoughts about the acceptance of buying a digital picture book?

I think people are accepting it more and more and that we all aren’t sure what a digital book is exactly. It’s all a process and I just want to be involved in the new fun. I don’t have programing skills or animation skills so my books are just pictures and text but there are so many more things they can be. I plan to keeping learning and telling better stories and just seeing what happens with digital picture books.  And having fun with them as they evolve.

Do you plan to write and illustrate another children’s picture book?

Of course. I think the reason illustration appealed to me in the first place was the chance to tell stories with my art. I plan on doing that until I die and still doing it in the after life. Why stop right? I have some fun manuscripts written and new ideas all the time, and as I said I feel like I’ve just been practicing so far. I plan on getting better at telling better stories.

Are you concentrating on becoming a children’s picture book illustrator?

Um… yes, and no. I like variety I love picture books but that is not all that I want to do. Mostly I just want to tell good stories.

How did you get involved with Peach Tree Publishers and the board book you illustrated for them?

They hired me after I sent sample postcards.

Who is Jeremy D. Miller and how did you work together on a wordless picture book?

Ha ha, good question. Jeremy is my husband and after I had the idea for Ruby and the Skateboard he helped me figure out everything that would happen to her. Then I drew it.

What types of things do you do to get your work seen by publishing professionals?

Postcard mailings, and a website are the main things. Conferences are great also. You never know what is going to happen. I have heard of people getting jobs from twitter but that hasn’t happened to me yet.

Do you have an agent? If so, who and how long have the represented you?  If not, would you like one?

I don’t have one. I would like one but I want them to be the right one so I keep dragging my feet. I’ve submitted to some before and got some offers but they never felt right. I’ve also gotten a lot (and I mean a lot) of rejections. That was a couple years ago though so maybe I’ll try again soon. But not having an agent has been good for learning. I feel like I know my way around contracts and I’m getting better at taking better jobs. It’s hard asking for more money or changes in contracts. When I have to do stuff like that It’s always nerve racking but I like the feeling of accomplishment at doing something hard even if I don’t get what I want. And of course I’m getting better at it the more I do it.

I see you have used your artwork to make t-shirts, cards, ipad, iphone covers, etc.  Can you tell us a little bit about this?

Yeah, I just use the website society6 which is a service where I upload my art and they print on demand. If someone buys something of mine I get a percentage. I think they have good quality from what I’ve seen. It’s been a fun little side thing.

Do you ever use two different materials in one illustration?

Yes. Right now almost all of my color illustrations are a combination of watercolor and colored pencils. Some of my pencil stuff has a grayscale digital under painting. Doing that helps me save time.  Ruby and the Skateboard is ink and digital.

Have you seen your style change since you first started illustrating?

Yes. Although I don’t know how I can explain it in detail.

Have you gotten any work through networking?

Yes. I would say the just in time books are a good example of that.

Have you published any illustration in magazines or newspapers?

Yes. I’ve done a couple jobs for the Friend Magazine, and some other stuff here and there. I’ve also done illustrations for text books and thing like that.

Do you do any art exhibits to help get noticed?

Not usually but sometimes if the opportunity arises.

Are you open to doing illustrations for self-published picture book authors?

No.

Do you ever use Photoshop?

Yes. I use it for value and color studies and all kinds of other stuff. I used to do a lot of my paintings with it but now I just do paintings with Photoshop for fun when I’m doing experiments and the like.

Do you own a graphic tablet? If so, how do you use it?

Yes. I use it  for painting in Photoshop mostly.

How much time do you spend illustrating?

As much as I can I suppose and sometimes more. I just finished the second book for Just in Time. We had a really tight deadline with it and I spent every waking hour illustrating.

Is there anything in your studio, other than paint and brushes that you couldn’t live without?

I suppose I would prefer not ever live without the salt lake county library system. They provide most excellent recorded books for me to listen to while I’m illustrating (It’s not technically in my studio but the books are).

Any picture books on the horizon?

Not right now.  I have some manuscripts I’ve been working on but it remains to be seen if I will turn them into ebooks or try to publish traditionally. Right now I’m just really busy with Just In Time.

What are your career goals?

Be amazing and keep getting better.  I did have the goal to illustrate cover and interiors for beginning chapter and middle grade books. That’s what Just in Time is and they will keep me busy for a long time.  So I met that goal and haven’t made any new ones yet. I suppose my goal would be to not mess them up. I have some personal projects in mind to do while I’m working on those as well.

What are you working on now?

I just finished the second, Just In time and will probably start on the third soon.

Are there any painting tips (materials, paper, etc.) you can share that work well for you? Technique tips?

Every painting needs an awesome composition and the right values.

Any words of wisdom you can share with the illustrators who are trying to develop their career?

Keep moving forward. I still think I’m in development stage but when I look back I can see that I have made progress. It has been slow going but the work is starting to pay off. I just had to be persistent and I have to keep being persistent and believe it’s gonna be great.

Thank you Manelle for sharing you process and journey with us. We look forward to hearing more success stories from you. Please make sure you let us know.

If you would like to visit Manelle you can go to her website: www.manelleoliphant.com And please take a minute to leave a comment here for Manelle. It would be  much appreciated. Thanks!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: authors and illustrators, demystify, How to, illustrating, Illustrator's Saturday, inspiration, Interview, picture books Tagged: Brigham Young University, Manelle Oliphant, Peachtree Publishers

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Win this book! See below to enter.

In a funny and frenetic remake of the traditional tale, Prairie Chicken Little by Jackie Mims Hopkins chronicles the over-reaction of one prairie chicken who thinks the sky is falling, or more accurately, a stampede is coming!

Listen to this text's unique voice as the story begins:

• In the event that your students are studying other ecosystems such as as rain forests or polar regions, you could adapt this idea, challenging students to create a crisis or calamity, as well as appropriate creatures who would help spread the word. It's a pretty cool way to synthesize students' collection of random facts from a unit into a creative response. Can't you just see a penguin or a toucan as the main character? The book Loony Little: An Environmental Tale by Dianna Hutts Aston does just that for the Arctic region.
• Fractured Fairy Tales are an all time favorite for kids to read, and they're fun to write as well. A recent post at the Peachtree Publishing blog provides some great titles to get you started.
• Contrast Prairie Chicken Little with other books of this genre such as Chicken Little by Rebecca and Ed Emberly, Chachalaca Chiquita by Melanie Chrismer, Earthquack by Margie Palatini, and The Rumor: A Jataka Tale by Jan Thornhill.  
• Try some other fun animal activities! Lots to choose from in my previous Animal Attraction post.
• Have students research any of the animals from Prairie Chicken Little. Some of the real-life critters who populate this book sport some pretty amazing features. A good place to start? The Minnesota Prairie Chicken Society.

You can win your very own copy of Prairie Chicken Little direct from Peachtree Publishers!
 
Simply email me at keithschoch at gmail dot com (standard format) with Chicken Little in the subject line, and you're all set! Contest ends on Friday, March 15 at 11:59pm EST. You can even double your chances to win by visiting other blogs on the Prairie Chicken blog tour.

Don't forget to enter to win a copy of Are the Dinosaurs Dead, Dad? as well. Contest ends 3/08/13.

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• Students can bring in one of their own "prized possessions" and discuss what makes it special. 
• Students might want to create their own simple paper plate dinosaurs, which can be displayed with a colorful bucket on the bulletin board. 
• Students could imagine that they have a real, live dinosaur for a pet. How would that work? How would you feed him? Where would he sleep?
• Looking for a fun and easy cooking project? Check out these fossil cookies.

• Students can use clay to design their own dinosaurs. They don't need to sculpt one specific, real-life dino; instead, they should simply use their imaginations to create an original prehistoric monster. Since scientist continue to discover new dinosaurs all the time, who's to say what the next dino discovery might look like?
• Students might also enjoy building their own prehistoric pasta pets. Show students pictures of assembled dino skeletons in museums. Explain that while these models take many years to collect, piece together, and display, today students will create their own models using pasta as bones. Given a wide variety of different pasta shapes, students can assemble their own dinos by gluing their selected noodles to black construction paper. Once partially dry, the pasta will need a second coat to affix it well to the paper. 
• For a look at how those dinosaurs get to the museum, check out the book (coincidentally called) How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland. This book explains how dinosaur bones go from the earth to you, the museum visitor, via fourteen other people, who are named and collected in a House-that-Jack-Built type progression.

• Taking a cue from this book, students can create their own unique dino patterns on simple coloring sheets. They can either color with vivid colors (danger! stay back!, bold colors (look at me!), muted colors (I need to hide), or patterns which create camouflage (to avoid being seen by prey or predator).
• Older students can be given a simple white dino silhouette (shape) and a variety of a magazine from which to choose pictures. After choosing a large picture which can serve as a background, students will color in their dino shape to camouflage into the background.

• Have each student choose a dinosaur, and write about "a day in the life of..." Students may need to do some research on which dinosaurs lived in which period, and many students may discover that their dinos and their friends' dinos might have shared the same habitats!
• Instead of a dinosaur, have students choose any other animal (or use an animal they've already researched). Require that students illustrate their "daily routine" with view that would be seen from their critter's perspective.
• Create dino fossils in the classroom.

• Challenge students to draw dinosaurs in modern day settings. How would their traits and habits affect their interactions with people?
• Challenge students to put dinos to work. If they existed today, how could their size and strength be helpful to humans?

• The wordless format of both books offers the perfect opportunity for students to tell their own stories. Students can "write" similar books as a group, and tell their own stories.
• Students might also be challenged to write the tales they "see" using poetry rather than prose.

• Brainstorm a How to... problem with the class and write a similar story as a group, or challenge pairs or teams to come up with their own ideas (focusing on social skills seems to work well here).

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5 Stars Santa’s Last Present Marie Aude-Murail & Elvire Murail Quentin Blake Pages: 32       Ages: 6+ Inside Jacket: Julian is almost too old to believe in Santa Claus. But since his parents talk about Santa constantly, Julian decides to write the big guy in red one more time . . . just in case. This [...]

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5 Stars The Universe of Fair Leslie Bulion Frank W. Dormer Peachtree No. Pages: 264   Ages: 8-12 ..................... Inside Jacket:  For young science whiz Miller Sanford, an eagerly awaited day at the Fair turns into a wacky adventure with more twists and loops than the BlastoCoaster! Hopeful that this year his mom and dad will [...]

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……………….

I am excited to have two-time Grammy Award-winner, storyteller, musician, and writer Mr. Bill Harley with us today. Mr. Harley has won several national awards for his writing, including the Parent’s Choice Award and an award from the American Library Association.  Mr. Harley’s latest children’s book is Lost and Found, published by Peachtree.

Bill Harley

Lost and Found

Peachtree Publishers

website: BillHarley.com

………………..

1. Your new children’s book, Lost and Found, is based on the items we lose, though not always find. What was the idea that sparked this story?

I’m always interested in places where kids are exploring terrain without supervision, or going to places they don’t usually go, or where they have interactions with adults that are not structured like typical adult/child interactions. Justin’s interaction with Mr. Rumkowsky is out of the bounds of typical experiences for a kid. And there was a period when one of my sons was coming home with stuff he had found in the lost and found box. He was more interested in other people’s stuff than the stuff he lost. Mostly, though, the first draft was one of my writing experiments – self-imposed writing assigbments -  where I had to come up with a story in a day. I tinkered with it from there.

2. Are any of the characters based on you?  Perhaps Justin or, possibly Mr. Rumkowsy?

I think I’m probably pretty much identifying with Justin – a kid just trying to get through childhood as well as he can, and at the mercy of many people around him – a little afraid or uncomfortable with authority and power – he’s getting it from all sides, but finds out it’s not as monolithic as it seems. I would have to think about how I’m Mr. Rumkowsky…

3. You have written eight picture books and two middle grade novels, most of which are funny. Which do you enjoy writing the most, picture books or middle grade novels, and how important is humor in your writing?

Humor plays a big part of many of my stories, although some of my books (e.g., Night of the Spadefoot Toads) have a more serious tone. It can sometimes be a weakness to go for the laugh, and that is where my weakness is, I guess. If my main job is to make an eight year old laugh, it’s a pretty good job. And humor and laughter open people up a little bit, so something else can get it inside.

Because I’m interested in story, the novels are a little more interesting to me right now. But frankly, the trend in publishing, where picture books have gotten shorter and shorter in terms of text, causes me problems. As an oral storyteller, I have a lot of stories that are not really novels, but can’t be told in less than 1000 words. I live somewhere between, and over the years I’ve had many editors say they like the story but it doesn’t fit into any format they can use.

Bedtime for Frances would never get published now – too much text. I even wonder about the length of some of Seuss’s work. But because I’m very interested in how story works, I need some more time and space (well, all writers love their own words and feel the same…) – I like it when seeds laid at the beginning bear fruit later, after the reader or listener has forgotten they are there. You can see that in Lost and Found – it’s important to know that Justin’s mother went to the same school, and that she had a similar hat. Then we have to talk about something else for a long while, so the reader kind of forgets that.

4. What keeps you writing for children?

I have to eat. Actually, this is not the greatest way to make scads of money. At least, from my experience. But I actually find children genuinely interesting and open to the world – the line between reality and fantasy is pretty porous, so they accept that anything might happen, if the rules are laid out clearly. I’ve spent my life wandering around the geography of childhoold, so it’s my home.

5.  For what did you win the two Grammy Awards?

Two of my spoken word recordings for children – Blah Blah Blah, and Yes to Running, which is the audio of a concert I did for Montana Public Television.

6. You were quoted as saying  you believe that all children should be given a ukulele at birth.  What does this mean, and what are the babies to do with the ukulele?

Well, they’re supposed to play it. Music is about the expression of feeling, and community – it opens us up to the world, and makes us more alive. I use the ukulele as a metaphor for exposing children to music because it is kid-sized and, if you can keep it in tune, it is pretty simple to play – there’s immediate gratification. As someone who works a lot with music, I am not so concerned with how well people sing, but that they sing.

7. Getting back to Lost and Found, Justin finds all sorts of things in the lost box but his hat. One of those other things is a dangerous looking animal, with sharp teeth, that  looks like it wants to bite Justin’s nose right off his face?  What animal is this?

That is totally Adam Gustafson’s wacky brain. He says it’s a flying badger, but I’m not sure.  It is just the kind of thing I was hoping the illustrator would come up with. To my mind, Adam’s work reinforces the idea of what a good picture book is – the words provide the spark to the illustrations, which deepen and influence the story – and sometimes move the story forward. We’ve had a contest on my web page about what that creature is, and it is stunning what people have come up with (see here http://www.billharley.com/whatisit.htm)

8. Justin’s elementary school had lost and found items stacking up for many years. Did the box ever contain a circus animal?

Could be. What did you have in mind? I made some suggestions to Adam (not the flying badger), but it’s quite possible there are things in there that neither Adam nor I are aware of.

9. For those aspiring to be a writer, can you tell us about your favorite writing place?

I need a quiet place with no distractions, because I’m very easily distracted. I do most of my writing in my little one room studio/office behind my house. It was originally built as a cottage-industry candy factory. Now, I have one desk where I write, and one other space on the other side of the room for my music – a computer where I record, and where the instruments are hanging.

It would be better, probably, to have a computer that has nothing but my word processing program on it. I usually put on some music, but it has to be instrumental, and it has to be pretty steady in dynamics – Bach works, or small ensemble jazz that’s not too much bebop or too dissonant. What’s more important is that I try to write first thing in the day, before the rest of the world intrudes. Like interviews.!

10. Do you have any advice for the kids who read your books?

It depends on what the question is. I guess I write books and tell stories and sing songs because I want them to carry those things  – story and reading and music – with them through life. The most interesting people I know are people who read a lot – their minds are always working – and if we can get people hooked on early enough, they’re probably going to lead pretty interesting lives. So, read something, play something.

11. Anything you would like to tell the kids about yourself?

I’m not done yet. I have a hard time sitting still. That’s good and bad – depends on what I do with it.

Mr. Harley, thank you for taking the time to do this interview. I greatly appreciate it. Have fun on your book tour. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to write a review about your new book, Lost and Found. The review is available after midnight tonight.

 Lost and Found
.Bill Harley
.Adam Gustavson
.Peachtree Publishing
.978-1-56145-628-4
.No. Pages: 32   Ages: 4 to 8
.....................

If you would like to learn more about Mr. Bill Harley, and is career, here are the  links.

Website:  http://www.billharley.com

Newsletter:  http://www.billharley.com/current_newsletter.asp

Activities for grades K to 8: http://www.billharley.com/resources.asp

Illustrator, Adam Gustavson’s website:  http://www.adamgustavson.com/

Peachtree’s Fall Releases:  http://peachtreepub.blogspot.com/p/fall-2012-frontlist.html

Filed under: Children's Books, Interviews Tagged: Adam Gustavson, ALA Award, author interview, Bill Harley, children's books, Grammy Awards, lost and found, Parent's Choice Award, Peachtree Publishers

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Homeschooled yourself and looking for good representation in a current novel? Or are you in public school and curious about homeschoolers? Either way, This Girl is Different by J.J. Johnson will be an engaging read that challenges you to think widely and then act for a good cause.

Evie, entering senior year of her local high school, is no Stargirl, and that is refreshing. Here's a homeschooled protagonist heading into public school to discover what it might offer, what she's missed, and what she might contribute. And Evie does. Empowered by her counter-culture mother, Evie has no hesitation challenging authority, righting wrongs, and speaking for the students. Eventually, her growth occurs as she gains a new perspective of others' situations beyond her unrealized stereotypes. The caution might be well taken: despite your zeal, take a breath before expressing indignation, no matter if it appears to be deserved. Investigate, understand, and then act with the fullest vision, in a responsible way.

J.J. Johnson gives a wide cast of adult characters for Evie to bounce against, make an impact on, and learn from herself. The teens in Evie's circle also have real weaknesses and strengths, giving weight and realism to This Girl is Different. 


I am a mother who homeschooled for fourteen years. It is refreshing to find Evie representing on the shelf. Thanks, Peachtree Publishing for giving voice to many.

This Girl is Different
by JJ Johnson
Peachtree Publishers, 2011

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They say you should never judge a book by its cover. Maybe so, but kids do anyway and so do adults, especially when it comes to picture books! Three Hens and a Peacock is one of those books that has spectacular and very funny cover art. On the front? -- A dismayed but fabulous looking peacock with three hens sticking their heads through his fan. On the back? -- The posteriors (a.k.a bottoms) of all four characters. Hilarious!


Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester L. Laminack, illustrated by Henry Cole. Peachtree Publishers (March 2011); ISBN 9781561455645; 32 pages
Book Source: Review copy from publisher

The cover sets the tone perfectly for the book. A peacock arrives on the Tucker family's farm and the once quiet farm becomes a bustling, noisy place. The shrieking, strutting peacock catches the attention of those passing by. Many visitors stop to admire the peacock and purchase produce from the farmer's stand. With ruffled, jealous feathers, the hens complain, "that lazy peacock gets all the attention and we do all the work." Hoping to smooth things over, the farm's wise old hound suggests that the hens switch places with the peacock. The hens get all gussied up in bangles and beads while the peacock tries his hardest to lay an egg and fails miserably. Eventually, they all learn that taking another's place is harder than it looks, and they gain an appreciation for each other's unique talents.

Full of plenty of humor and a subtle lesson in character, Three Hens and a Peacock is a frolicsome farmyard tale. Cole's eye-catching watercolor, ink and colored pencil illustrations play a huge part in advancing the storyline. Even the endpapers serve a purpose. The peacock feathers in the front announce the upcoming arrival of the peacock, and the back endpapers foretell the next surprising events on the farm -- hmm...what kind of animal lays a very big egg?

There are plenty of ways to use the book as a teaching tool. Besides discussing the problems of trying to be someone you're not, I took the opportunity to also discuss with my kids why a peacock with a fancy feather train cannot lay an egg. I opened our DK Encyclopedia of Animals (seriously, every home library should contain at least one animal encyclopedia) and found the page about peacocks. It shows a nice picture of a peahen next to a peacock. We learned that peahens, the female birds, do not have colorful fans. Male birds sport the fancy feathers and use them to attract the females. Thus, the bird pictured in Laminack's book is a male, and male peacocks cannot lay eggs. :) We also learned that a peacock's train can reach up to 5 ft.-3 in. high! Wow, that's only a few inches shorter than Mommy!
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That’s Not How You Play Soccer, Daddy by Sherry Shahan (Illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss)

Reviewed by: Chris Singer

About the author:

Sherry Shahan is a photojournalist and the author of numerous books for young readers, including Death Mountain, a young adult survival novel based on a real-life experience. Her bilingual picture books include Spicy Hot Colors and Cool Cats Counting. When not writing in her California beach bungalow, Sherry sits in the bleachers cheering on her grandsons’ soccer and baseball teams.

About the illustrator:

Tatjana Mai-Wyss was born in Switzerland. She grew up with her nose in a book and always wanted to be the one to draw the pictures. Today, she is a freelance illustrator in sunny South Carolina, where she can draw out on the screen porch all year long and listen to the birds. She has illustrated a number of picture books, including A Tree for Emmy and That’s Not How You Play Soccer, Daddy!

About the book:

Mikey takes his duties as captain of the Hot Diggity Diner soccer team very seriously. After a tough practice, his dad takes him to play in the park, but Mikey only wants to practice for the Big Game. Daddy offers to help, but to Mikey’s dismay he doesn’t put in much of an athletic effort. He keeps bending the rules and telling his impatient son to “just have fun.” After an irresistible ticklefest, however, Mikey comes around to Daddy’s way of thinking — and joins him and his dog Socks in the best soccer game ever!

My take on the book:

If you’ve been visiting Book Dads for awhile, you’ve probably noticed I have a tendency to review a lot of children’s books about soccer. Soccer is a beautiful game for so many reasons and while I can’t wait to share my love for soccer with my daughter (I already have, but there’s still more to share!!), I’m a little nervous about those soccer nazi parents who treat every game like it’s the World Cup.

One of the ways I plan on easing some of my nerves is by getting involved and coaching. Part two of my plan is to give everyone on the team a copy of this book. The beauty of Shahan’s book is that it is the complete opposite of so many sports books written for children which usually portray a young hero or heroine winning the game with a crucial play or having their team win the championship. Instead it focuses on the joy and good times when participati

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This week I’m featuring reviews of books by one of my favorite book publishers – Peachtree Publishers.

Peachtree Publishers is an independently owned trade book publisher, specializing in quality children’s books, from picture books to young adult fiction and nonfiction. They also publish self-help titles covering education, parenting, psychology, and health along with walking, hiking, fishing guides from the South (Peachtree is based in Atlanta, GA).

Besides offering high quality books, Peachtree Publishers offer many resources for their readers and customers including: Teacher Guides, Information on Guided Reading Levels, Book Trailers, Information on Author Visits to Schools and more.

You can catch the latest news from Peachtree by visiting their blog: The World of Peachtree Publishers. By the way, please congratulate them on their first Blog-O-Versary!!

This week Book Dads will feature reviews of four books from Peachtree Publishers:

Tuesday, January 19th: Hey Daddy! Animal Fathers and Their Babies by Mary Batten

Wednesday, January 19th: Flying by Kevin Luthardt

Thursday, January 20th: That’s Not How You Play Soccer, Daddy! by Sherry Shahan

Friday, January 21st: Rolling Along – The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair by Jamee Riggio

There will be more reviews of some newly released Peachtree books coming out later this Winter and Spring.

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"Sofia dumped the little pear-shaped figs into a bowl on the table. She dished out more helpings of gelato, each with three scoops and a fig. " - Three Scoops and a Fig, Sara Laux Akin

I grew up in a town that was once covered in fig orchards (now many of those orchards have become housing developments and shopping malls), but I have to be honest, I don't think I'd actually eaten a fresh fig until sometime last year. I feel embarrassed to even admit this but its true. I wasn't sure what to do with them so I sliced them and put them in yogurt for the kids. That seemed about right.

Sara Laux Akin's Three Scoops and a Fig presents a similar but tastier option for those looking to use up a fig surplus. Sofia, Akins' young protagonist, comes from a family of cooks. Her family owns an Italian restaurant and her older siblings contribute their own specialties to the family dinner table. On the occasion of her grandparents' anniversary, Sofia just wants to help her family as their prepare a special dinner but she keeps getting in the way. Unnoticed by her busy family, Sofia decides to slip away with a bowl of gelato for breakfast. When an errant fig from the fig tree drops into Sofia's bowl she discovers a new treat--and a way to contribute to the family dinner. Illustrator Susan Kathleen Hartung's muted colors and depiction of a close knit, multi-generational family infuse the story with warmth.

Three Scoops and a Fig includes extras--a recipe for an "Italian Flag Sundae" and a glossary of Italian words and phrases used in the story. Although the Italian Flag Sundae sounded delicious, I decided to stick with Sofia's original recipe.

Sofia's Fig Tree Sundae








Ingredients:

• vanilla ice cream
• figs (fresh if you can find them)

17 Comments on A Place For Frogs & Little Critter: Where Is My Frog? - Book Reviews and Frog Camouflage Craft, last added: 9/11/2010

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When we first moved into our home, we enjoyed the shade of a large white oak tree in our front yard. The double-trunked tree added much interest to our lot, but the same year we moved, a strong storm with high winds hit our neighborhood. One part of the tree twisted and fell over, crashing within a foot of our home. We heard the bang as we huddled in our basement. The tree stood in the city right-away and the officials, concerned with the health of the remaining trunk, removed the other half of the tree a few years after the first half fell. The next spring after the removal, an amazing thing happened. Little oak trees sprouted up all over our front yard! It was almost if the tree had sensed its destiny and decided to ensure its survival through propagation. We have been nurturing a few of the seedlings and hope they survive, growing into strong and healthy native oaks. While we'll likely never see the grown trees, we hope other generations will enjoy the shade.



The last Friday of April, many states celebrate Arbor Day. Nebraska holds claim to the first Arbor Day, held on April 10, 1872. J. Sterling Morton initiated the tree planting and, according to the Arbor Day Foundation website, more than one million trees were planted on that first Arbor Day. This year we are celebrating by reading a few newly published books about trees.


"Year after year they gather in the Square for another Arbor Day, a tree planting day, a holiday. Carrying shovels, rakes, and hoes, Katie and Papa help plant trees throughout the town." - Arbor Day Square by Kathryn O. Galbraith, illustrated by Cyd Moore

Arbor Day Square takes readers back to frontier days on the prairie. While the pioneers like living in their new town, they decide something essential is missing -- trees. They take up a collection and order a large number of trees to be shipped by train. When the trees arrive, a little girl named Katie plants small sapling trees in the new town square along with her father and other townsfolk and farmers. Katie is concerned about the small size of the trees but her father assures her they will grow. Together they plant one very special tree in the corner of the square in memory of Katie's mother. Year after year they continue to plant trees in the town, for future generations to enjoy. The author's note in the back explains the origins and history behind Arbor Day.

This is a wonderful and quaintly illustrated picture book to share with children, and it is especially useful for teaching about Arbor Day. Arbor Day Square really captures the essence of what Arbor Day is about, kids and adults planting trees together for future generations to enjoy. My daughter was already familiar with the pioneer days through reading Little House on the Prairie books, and she q

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