StoryFUSION was so much fun. All you people who did NOT attend, well, too late now. You will have to wait until next year.
There is a chance...just a chance...that Antonio Sacre will be in the Lehigh/Berks County area next year. He is clever, amusing, touching, dramatic, and engaging, among other things. I saw his Children's Show - funny and enthusiastic. He had 200+ 4th and 5th graders eating out of his hand. I saw him interact with high school students. Antonio was so respectful and encouraging of the teens' storytelling efforts.
And then I watched his short presentation on Friday night and his Feature Performance on Saturday and I am a true Antonio-ite, now. Today, I took a workshop from him that concentrated on how to become a successful working storyteller. This man WORKS for his money. He is relentless in pursuing storytelling excellence. So, see what you missed?
So Like him on Facebook, please. He deserves it.
I have two passes to StoryFUSION!!! They can be used on Friday, April 19th OR Saturday, April 20th to hear Antonio Sacre - who is every bit as much fun to hear as he is to see! Honest. If you want these tickets, comment below.
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| You totally want to see this guy! Honestly! |
I also have the COMPLETE hardbound works of Tom Angleberger, including
Art2-D2's Guide to Folding and Doodling. However, I am giving these away at my Book Review session at the
Kutztown University Children's Literature Conference ONLY. That's this Saturday, April 13th, at Kutztown University. So, sign up NOW! You will not only get a chance to win awesome books, you will also hear presentations by these great authors:
Suzanne Fisher-Staples, illustrator
Christopher Soentpiet and
Janet Wong. Amazing.
I have to go read more books. Good luck.
Nonna Tell Me a Story: Lidia's Christmas Kitchen, by Lidia Bastianich, illustrated by Laura Logan, Running Press, $15.95, ages 4-8, 56 pages. In this joyful book, beloved TV chef Bastianich draws grandchildren to her lap to hear the story of her childhood Christmases and along the way, becomes the Italian grandma we all wish we had. Simple, unaffected narrative brings out Bastianich's true voice, as she recounts the magic of holidaying with her grandparents in the Italian countryside. Among her memories: the aroma of drying orange peels mingling with the scent of a juniper bush they'd cut for their Christmas tree and afternoons stringing dried figs and bay leaves into wreaths, then hanging them with leafy-stemmed tangerines and cookies looped with ribbon. Everything about this book glows, from the cheeks of the characters to the tender way Bastianich's grandchildren embrace her traditions.
At the back, Bastianich shares 15 traditional dessert recipes and describes how to decorate an old-fashioned Italian tree. The most popular chef on public television, Bastianich hosts the award-winning show, Lidia's Italy, and is a world-famous restaurateur and cookbook author. Born in Croatia, she emigrated to Italy when she was 10 to escape the socialist dictatorship of Josip Tito.
La Noche Buena: A Christmas Story, by Antonio Sacre, illustrated by Angela Dominguez, Abrams, $16.95, ages 4-8, 32 pages. Being swapped from one home to another at Christmas isn't easy for a child, but if she's as lucky as Nina, she finds love waiting for her wherever she's sent. When Nina is told she's going to her dad's home in Miami for Christmas, she only imagines what she'll miss. Though she loves seeing her paternal grandmother abuela Mimi, Nina yearns for the holiday she knows, with her mother in snowy New England. But it's Dad's turn to have her and though he won't be back to abuela's until the following day, he's promised that La Noche Buena, the Cuban Christmas Eve, with Mimi in Little Havana is the best night of the year. At first, Nina wonders how Santa can land a sleigh in a place so hot, but by the next day, there's so much to do and see, she doesn't give it another thought. Nina is enveloped in a flurry of preparations for the La Noche Buena feast. She helps the women make pots of marinade to pour into a bathtub in Uncle Tito's backyard, while the men prepare a spit for roasting a pig. Everyone smells of campfire and garlic, and laugh so hard over the three-day celebration that Nina asks Mimi is she can come next year and bring along her cousins from the north.
By Tina Vasquez, for The Children’s Book Review
Published: October 7, 2010
By Antonio Sacre (Author), Angela Dominguez (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (November 1, 2010)
Source: Publisher
When young Nina arrives at her Cuban grandmother’s house in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida, she’s not quite sure what to make of the palm trees and hot, sunny weather. It’s winter time and though she’d prefer to be with her mother, American grandmother, cousins, and the snow up north, she quickly finds herself embracing her Cuban culture and helping her family prepare La Noche Buena feast, also known as Christmas Eve dinner.
For three days Nina peels onions and garlic, listens to her female family members tell stories about Cuba, and delivers jars of her grandmother’s homemade marinade to her uncle, who is roasting a whole pig in his backyard with all of the men in the family. Everywhere she looks in the neighborhood it seems as if people are preparing for their own Noche Buena feasts. On her countless walks to her uncle’s, Nina even samples the marinades of other families as she runs into neighborhood kids making the same deliveries.
La Noche Buena is an enchanting tale as much as about food and the holidays as it is about the importance of family. Like young Nina, many of us have found ourselves in unfamiliar settings around the holidays as we’re introduced to distant relatives and unfamiliar family friends, but if you can embrace these instances and make the most of them, you can create lasting memories and new traditions.
Add this book to your collection: La Noche Buena: A Christmas Story
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