By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: April 15, 2011
Fans of Mythology and the Goddess Girls series will once again be thrilled to know that we have the next installment to giveaway. One lucky reader will be the winner of Athena the Wise signed by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, plus a colorful Goddess Girls bracelet made by the authors. Giveaway begins April 15, 2011, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends May 13, 2011, at 11:59 P.M. PST.
Reading Level: Ages 8-12
Paperback: 240 pages
Book overview: Athena isn’t the only new kid at Mount Olympus Academy. When a mortal named Heracles transfers in, she knows what he’s going through. She started at MOA just a few months ago! Not only does Heracles need help fitting in, he also has to complete twelve “labors” or he’ll be kicked out of the academy. When her dad, Principal Zeus, asks her to secretly watch out for the new boy, Athena winds ups capturing mythical beasts and shoveling poop. It will take all of her famed wisdom to sort out her own problems and help Heracles succeed!
Authors Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams put a modern spin on classic myths with the Goddess Girls series (ages 8-12, Aladdin). Follow the ins and outs of divine social life at Mount Olympus Academy, where the most privileged godboys and goddessgirls in the Greek pantheon hone their mythical skills.
“…a clever take on Greek deities…” ~ Booklist
“…an enchanting mythological world with middle-school woes compounded by life as a deity…” ~ School Library Journal
About the Authors: Joan Holub is the author and/or illustrator of over 130 books for young readers and Suzanne Williams has written over 40 books for young readers. Visit Joan at www.joanholub.com and Suzanne at www.suzanne-williams.com
How to enter:
- Leave a comment in the comments field below
- An extra entry will be given for each time you twitter about the giveaway and/or blog about it. You will need to paste the link in a separate comment to make this entry valid. Click here to follow us on Twitter.
- Maximum entries: Three (3)
Giveaway Rules:
- Shipping Guidelines: This book giveaway is open to participants with a United States address.
- Giveaway begins April 15, 2011, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends May 13, 2011, at 11:59 P.M. PST, when all entries must be received. No purchase necessary. See official rules for details. View our privacy policy.
Sponsored by Joan Holub.
Sign up for our free newsletter to be in the know about all of
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: April 1, 2011
Here’s the scoop on the most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases and bestsellers.
THE HOT SPOTS: THE TRENDS
Kids’ Earth Day Books: Green with Environmental Awareness
The 39 Clues Blog Tour: Access Granted, Peter Lerangis
How Picture Books Play a Role in a Child’s Development
Review: Scat by Carl Hiaasen
Where to Find Free eBooks for Children Online
THE NEW RELEASES
The most coveted books that release this month:
The 39 Clues, Book 11: Vespers Rising
by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman, Jude Watson
(Ages 8-12)
Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 10: The Emperor of Nihon-ja
by John Flanagan
(Ages 9-12)
Big Nate Boredom Buster: Super Scribbles, Cool Comix, and Lots of Laughs
by Lincoln Peirce
(Ages 8-12)
The Loud Book!
by Deborah Underwood
(Ages 1-6)
Athena the Wise (Goddess Girls)
by Joan Holub
(Ages 8-12)
THE BEST SELLERS
The best selling children’s books this month:
PICTURE BOOKS
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Artemis the Brave (Goddess Girls) Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
Artemis has never understood her boy-crazy friends (especially Aphrodite) but when she meets Orion, a new exchange student at school, watch out! Suddenly she's ditching her friends and even forgetting archery practice with Apollo just to follow Orion around. The problem is, Orion's an egotistical jerk. Artemis is sick of having to defend him to her friends, and her friends are sick of having to listen to her go on and on about how great he is. But... even when Artemis realizes that Orion does stuff wrong, she can't help like him.
While this is the longest of the Goddess Girl series so far, it ties in the least with actual mythology. In this version, Orion (last name, Starr) is a mortal actor who does things like spray his body with something called "God Bod" to make him shimmer like his immortal classmates. He's not a hunter by any means, nor does he do anything heroic. The closest we come is that the fact he has a dog named Sirius. In another odd mythological quirk, the school play is the story of Eros and Psyche. With Aphrodite playing Psyche. While there is much mention of the "vengeful goddess" who causes all the harm, it never states that the goddess is supposed to be Aphrodite herself, because well, that wouldn't make sense in the context of the Mount Olympus Academy world. Also, let's just mention this-- BOY CRAZY ARTEMIS. What? Artemis?
While the mythology is thin in this one (and, with the school play, strained, and with Artemis chasing boys, laughable) it's still a good addition to the series, and it's a series I've been enjoying quite a bit. It's light and fun, showing good friendships with light romance. It's a good one for early middle grade and I'm very much looking forward to April's release of Athena the Wise and August's release of Aphrodite the Diva.
Book Provided by... my local library
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Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub (Illustrated by: Kristin Sorra)
Reviewed by: Renny Fong
About the author:
Joan Holub illustrated her first published children’s book in 1992 and soon began illustrating full time. She began completing manuscripts and mailing them out to publishers in the early 1990s. In 1996, she sold her first two manuscripts — Boo Who? A Spooky Lift-the-Flap Book (Scholastic) and Pen Pals (Grosset & Dunlap).
Today, she writes full time and has written and/or illustrated over 130 children’s books. Creating books that entertain, inform, and interest children (and herself) is a fabulous job she truly loves.
About the illustrator:
Kristin Sorra and her husband started Atomic Paintbrush, a business designed to cater to the niche market of comic books, where they were one of the first studios to provide digital coloring to all the major comic publishers.
While running Atomic, Kristin focused heavily on children’s book illustration and creating characters and stories for animation. Soon enough, her work was published by companies like Simon & Schuster, Harcourt, Highlights, Houghton Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, Penguin Putnam and Scholastic (see more comprehensive, rather impressive list under ‘clients’ link). She has presented her animation ideas to production companies like Dreamworks, Film Roman and Nickelodeon and was a finalist for Fox Studios’ Pitch-O-Rama, a one-time event in search of the next Simpson’s.
Beyond books and animation, her work has also appeared in magazines, stationery and paper products, off-Broadway shows, websites, clothing hang tags and her mom’s birthday cards.
About the book:
The must-have book for Groundhog Day—and the rest of the year!
With pop-art illustrations, a tongue-in-cheek tone, and a riot of detail, kids learn all the important aspects of Groundhog Day. And where better to learn it than Groundhog Weather School!
Professor Groundhog opens a school so groundhogs can learn to accurately forecast the weather each February. Following along with the amusing cast of students, kids are drawn in by the thoroughly engaging tale while they learn fun facts about different animals (groundhogs in particular), seasons, weather, and predicting the weather. With funny asides and a comic-style approach to the illustrations, this informational story presents a fresh look at Groundhog Day through the eyes of the animals who live it each year.
My take on the book:
Last year, it was Groundhog’s Day, every night, for a couple of weeks, as my 3-year-old son requested Groundhog Weather School for his bedtime story of choice again and again and again. Luckily, I loved it, too! After returning the book to the library, I had to get our very own copy.
The story begins with Rabbit in bed, watching a TV weather fo
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 15, 2011
The perfect giveaway for the littlest ones: a lift-the-flap board book! We have one copy of What Does Cow Say? written by Joan Holub and illustrated by Jannie Ho. Giveaway begins January 17, 2011, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends February 17 31, 2011, at 11:59 P.M. PST.
Reading Level: Ages 1-6
Board book: 18 pages
Book overview: The farm animals in this lift-the-flap board book have big mouths!
When the sun came up, Duck went QUACK and woke up his neighbor . . . As each animal awakens, young readers can guess what it says and open its big-flap beak, snout, or mouth to read its signature sound. The final spread shows a child waking up–with open arms and a final HOORAY! to welcome the day! Sweet!
A lift-the-flap board book published by Scholastic (Cartwheel Books), January 2010.
About the Author: Joan Holub is the author of over 130 books for children including Boo Who? A Spooky Lift-the-Flap, and is co-founder of http://readertotz.blogspot.com a board book blog dedicated to raising the profile and quality of infant/toddler books.
About the illustrator: Jannie Ho studied illustration at Parsons School of Design in NYC, and was a designer at Nickelodeon, Scholastic, and associate art director at TIME Magazine for Kids before becoming a full-time illustrator.
Visit: http://www.joanholub.com/
How to enter:
- Leave a comment in the comments field below
- An extra entry will be given for each time you twitter about the giveaway and/or blog about it. You will need to paste the link in a separate comment to make this entry valid. Click here to follow us on Twitter.
- Maximum entries: Three (3)
Giveaway Rules:
- Shipping Guidelines: This book giveaway is open to participants with a United States address.
- Giveaway begins January 17, 2011, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends February 17, 2011, at 11:59 P.M. PST, when all entries must be received. No purchase necessary. See official rules for details. View our privacy policy.
Sponsored by Joan Holub.
Sign up for our free newsletter to be in the know about all of our giveaways!
Goddess Girls Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
A lot of my comments on this series hold for each book, so I thought I'd review them together instead of separately so you don't have to read the same thoughts over and over again.
The basic premise is that many of the Greek gods and goddesses attend Mount Olympus Academy, where they learn the things they need to know to become gods and goddesses. There are a few regular humans as well (Pandora) and non-immortal characters (Medusa, centaurs). Everyone's a student except Zeus, because he's the loud, good-natured, and slightly bumbling principal. If you know your Greek mythology, there's a lot of it represented here, but it's rather watered down to make the books more age appropriate* (I'll get into specifics in a bit).
Overall it's a light and fun series. While I'm not sure on the need to refer to everyone as godboys or goddessgirls (it gets a little annoying) there's something about this series that I really enjoy. Also, as a fast adult reader, they're the perfect length to read (and finish!) in the bath.
Athena the Brain
In the first book, Athena gets a letter from Zeus claiming he's her father and that she needs to transfer to Mount Olympus Academy immediately. Through her newcomer eyes, we get a good sense of the social structures and how the Academy functions. She immediately makes an enemy, but Medusa hates everyone so... eh. She also quickly becomes best friends with Persephone, Aphrodite, and Artemis.
Athena's mother is a fly, who still lives in Zeus's brain. They are still rather in love and talk to Athena a lot, giving her the family she always wished for. (See what I mean about watered down?)
This book also features the Trojan War, which is a class project in Hero-ology.
Persephone the Phony
As we learned in the first book, Persephone's mother, Demeter, is very over-protective-- Persephone's the only Academy student who has to live at home! Here we also learn how much Persephone hides of herself-- Demeter's always told her to "go along to get along" so she always agrees with her friends' thoughts and plans, even when deep down,
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: August 22, 2010
Congratulations to Deb K! She is the very lucky goddess that has been selected by the random sequence generator at random.org to win a a set of the first three books in the Goddess Girls series.
Deb K said: This looks like a great series of books for girls~I would love to win for my granddaughter.
Special Mentions:
Annmarie W. said: This looks like such a wonderful series, where girls can learn about themselves & others. It’s nice to have the inspiration of goddesses, and see that human qualities transcend the ages and that we all have human feelings & emotions!
Grutmorg said: My great-niece is a very wise and brainy Athena. Her grandfather – my brother – suggested the name to his daughter who thought it was perfect for this bright-eyed first grandchild. He has tried somewhat unsuccessfully to interest her in Greek and Roman myths. These look like books that Athena and her grandpa can share and enjoy.
For those of you who were not so lucky, you can still add these books to your collection:
Goddess Girls #1: Athena the Brain
Finding out she’s a goddess and being sent to Mount Olympus brings Athena new friends, a weird dad, and the meanest girl in mythology—Medusa!
Goddess Girls #2: Persephone the Phony
Hiding her feelings works fine for Persephone until she meets a guy she can be herself with—Hades, the bad-boy of the Underworld.
“The authors intertwine an enchanting mythological world with middle-school woes compounded by life as a deity or blessed mortal. The books should be popular with fans of girly, light fantasy.”
~ School Library Journal 4/1/2010
Goddess Girls #3: Aphrodite the Beauty
Sure Aphrodite is beautiful, but being the goddessgirl of love is not always easy. Though others think she’s an expert on boy-girl relationships, they’re often just as confusing to her as to anyone else. And she certainly never thought she’d find herself jealous of one of her best friends!
Hey rgz!
Just had to let you know, the next tween Goddess Girls book has released! Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams have a fun blog tour lined up, during August and September, with swag bag prizes ready to go. So, share this with your younger sister or enjoy the series yourself! Like me!
Aphrodite the Beauty (Goddess Girls #3)
Aphrodite the Beauty Swag Bags
* 24-color eye shadow from Claire's
* 7 lip glosses with faux rhinestones
* Multi-color bracelet
* Goddess Girls bookmark
* Autographed copy of Aphrodite the Beauty
Entry details at these blogs:
Blog Tour Schedule:
Interview and 3-book giveaway
Interview and Aphrodite the Beauty Swag Bag giveaway
Aphrodite Beauty Advice Column and Swag Bag giveaway
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*Picture book for kindergarten students through third graders
*Groundhog teacher as main character
*Rating: A perfect picture book to celebrate Groundhog’s Day or to supplement a weather unit in science!
Short, short summary: Rabbit (and a few other animals) write to Professor W. Groundhog about his weather forecast on Feb. 2. Professor Groundhog said spring was coming, and Rabbit was all ready. But he found snow. Rabbit suggested recruiting some more groundhogs to help Professor predict the seasons across North America on Groundhog’s Day. The professor puts an ad in the newspaper for some groundhog students at his Groundhog Weather School. Groundhogs from all over the country attend his school (and even one skunk). They learn that Groundhog + Shadow = Winter or Groundhog – Shadow = Spring. They also learn geHOGraphy, Famous Furry Hognosticators, nature’s weather predictors (like cows!), and the reason for the seasons. Once the groundhogs graduate, they set their alarms for February 2 (Groundhog’s Day), and they are off to hibernate. A few of the groundhogs have some troubles when it’s time to see their shadows, but the majority see them, so there’s six more weeks of winter. Rabbit is so happy, and he can’t wait to go sledding. He gets all bundled up and. . . well, you’ll have to read the book to find out!
So, what do I do with this book?
1. Celebrate Groundhog’s Day with this book! Not only is it super cute, and kids will love the humor and Groundhog Weather School; but also it is full of facts about all sorts of things to do with this holiday. Read this book on Groundhog’s Day, and students can either draw a picture and write a fact they learned; or they can write a paragraph about it in their reading response journals; or they can create a pretend lesson for the Groundhog Weather School.
2. Groundhog Weather School by Joan Holub can also be used with a weather unit and not just on February 2. In the middle of this book, there are several pages of facts about shadows, the four seasons, famous weathermen, and weather and nature. Kristin Sorra’s illustrations make learning these facts interesting and fun!
3. Professor W.Groundhog puts an ad in the paper and tells the animals that if they meet six criteria then they should attend Groundhog Weather School to prepare for Groundhog’s Day. The six criteria are the animals have to be: a mammal, a rodent, a herbivore, furry, live in a burrow, and hibernate in the winter. Several different animals such as a pig, skunk, and monkey see the ad and are disappointed because they do not fit all six criteria. One fun activity to do with students, especially if you are studying different animals in science, is to see which animals fit most of the characteristics and if any animals fit all six like groundhogs do.
Happy Groundhog’s Day!
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I accept this award on behalf of the academy, the Society of Bloggers, and all the little people -- and I mean that literally, those kids are short -- who allowed me to have this career in the first place.
Julie, special thanks to you. I love how after reading your blog for a while, it suddenly dawned on me that your Karen Roosa might be my Karen Roosa. Nice that we have that connection.
James Preller