Author #182 : The Survivor Tree by Gaye Sanders brings hope after OK bombing in 1995

 The Survivor Tree by Gaye Sanders and illustrated by Pamela Behrend published by The RoadRunner Press in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 2017.  Learn more about the memorial and the America Elm tree at the museum website at: https://memorialmuseum.com/experience/the-survivor-tree/  This beautiful book shares the hopeful story of the tree that stood outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and came back after the bombing when almost everyone thought it was dead.  Seedlings from the tree have been planted all over the United States. 

Author #181 : Mara Rockliff introduces Pioneering Filmmaker Alice Guy-Blache

 Lights! Camera! Alice! The Thrilling True Adventures of the First Woman Filmmaker by Mara Rockliff and illustrated by Simona Ciraolo and published by Chronicle Books in San Francisco in 2018.  Alice was a inventive pioneering filmmaker-doing such innovative things like running the film backward, stop motion filming so that objects appeared to move on their own, hand coloring frames (see the gypsy film), and added sound before other filmmakers had figured out how to do such things.  Unfortunately a number of Alice's films were credited to men-some of whom had never even made a film  She chronicled her life story and eventually in the 1980's it came to light and was published in America.  Thanks to the sons of Leon Gaumont who found information in their father's papers and made it public in France she received the Legion of Honor in 1955.  Thank you to "Looking For Alice" who has compiled a number of short films made by Alice Guy-Blache.  See some of these films at: https://www.youtube.com/user/LookingForAlice/videos

Authors #180 : Ann Hazzard, Marianna Celano, and Marietta Collins share how to help handle the strong emotion of fear

 

Doctors Ann Hazzard, Marianna Celano, and Marietta Collins are all psychologists who worked together at the Emory University School of Medicine and have worked for over twenty years with children’s behavioral health and social justice. They collaborated together to write the book entitled: Something Happened In Our Park: Standing Together After Gun Violence.  Illustrations are by Keith Henry Brown. The book explores the hard emotions after a cousin living with family is shot in the leg while attending a concert at a local park. The book shares some of the fears and how the characters in the story address those fears through art, talking with each other, coming up with ideas to change the neighborhood through community action, and how to move forward when you feel like you can’t move because of fear.  At the end of the story there are several pages of information in the reader’s note section. Some of the ideas the authors shared about dealing with anxiety include expressing feelings, encouraging positive thinking, and taking action. Find more information at: https://www.apa.org/pubs/magination/something-happened-in-our-park

Author #179 : Jane Goodall shares a story about pangolins

 

Pangolina by Jane Goodall and pictures by Daishu Ma  Published by Minedition (a division of Astra Publishing House) in 2021.  This fictionalized story of a young Pangolin shares her growing up in the forest, learning to hunt and eat termites, getting captured, and what happens after her captor tries to sell her. Written by the world-renowned conservationist, Jane Goodall, this is a sweet entry about an unusual mammal.  Pangolins are endangered around the world because they are the most trafficked species.  Habitat destruction and use of pangolin scales and meat account for much of the decline in the species.   Find out more about how you can help at: https://www.savepangolins.org/news/2019/5/19/dr-jane-goodall-urges-us-to-take-action-for-pangolins

Author #178 : Mr. Eggers shares a colorful story of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge

This Bridge Will Not Be Gray by Dave Eggers and illustrated by Tucker Nichols tells the story of the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge back in the 1930's and how it got and kept the beautiful "International Orange" color that it still sports to this day.  Dave Eggers also wrote the book The Circle which was made into a movie in 2017 starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson.  He also has another wonderful children's book called Her Right Foot that talks about some of the history of the Statue of Liberty.

Author #177 : Ed Vere and the kitten Max

Max at Night is only one of the cute books written and illustrated by Ed Vere.  His wide-eyed kitten wants to know where the moon has gone since he can't find it one evening.  Read more about Ed Vere and his books at http://www.edvere.com/ .

Author #176 : Art and Dinosaurs-looking at them in a new light with the Newbolds

If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur with text by Amy Newbold and art by Greg Newbold.  This husband and wife team also collaborated on If Picasso Painted a Snowman.  Both books take a whimsical look at great artists and imagine the art produced by them.  What if Diego Rivera painted dinosaurs (it would feature lilies) or dinosaurs in tutus ala Edgar Degas.  Not only do the books include little bios of each artist but the dinosaur book also includes the name of dinosaur featured in each piece of art such as Compsognathus in the picture done in the style of Rivera.  Have some reluctant art appreciation in your home?  These books are a cute way to introduce some famous works of art in a humorous way.

Author #175 : Alexandra Day shares her Good Dog Carl in book form

Alexandra Day has numerous tales of Carl, a very loveable Rottweiler that she has also illustrated.  See her website at: https://www.gooddogcarl.com/

Book Group post 1 : Henkes in Sept. and Donaldson in Oct.

In September of 2017, we talked about books by Kevin Henkes.  Interview from NPR (National Public Radio) in 2015: https://www.npr.org/2015/09/22/442521229/some-kids-books-are-worth-the-wait-they-do-take-time-says-kevin-henkes

Interview with BookPage in 1996: https://bookpage.com/interviews/8481-kevin-henkes#.Wq3sc2rwaUk

Kevin Henkes Homepage: https://kevinhenkes.com/  He's got activities and teaching and discussion guides!



In October of 2017 we talked about books by Julia Donaldson of Scotland. 

Julia Donaldson website: http://www.juliadonaldson.co.uk/   This woman is amazing!  She's written poems, songs, all kinds of books, and lots of wonderful things for children (and adults who love cleverly written works). 

Author #172: Furman, cookies, Santa, the world = a great grouping for a book!

M.E. Furman writes about Christmas traditions around the world and the different treats left for Santa in the book, A World of Cookies For Santa: Follow Santa's Tasty Trip Around The World.  Susan Gal illustrated the book with charcoal on paper and digital collage.  The book includes nine cookie recipes at the back.  Taste of Home magazine has a list of 35 cookie recipes that they think should be in every recipe file-find the link at https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/the-best-cookie-recipes/view-all/

Author #170: Develop map reading skills as Dillemuth explains maps in Mapping My Day

Julie Dillemuth wrote Mapping My Day with illustrations by Laura Wood.  Mapping My Day is another good book to start teaching about maps and directions.  In a world obsessed with GPS and online mapping services, there is still a place for knowing how to read a map whether it be online or hard copy.

Author #169: Hughes helps the world in her book What Matters

What Matters is written by Alison Hughes and illustrated by Holly Hatam.  A young boy picks up an abandoned soda pop can and puts it in the recycling bin.  It's a small thing but "what matters" is the impact his action has on the surroundings.  He influences many things from an ant to two baby birds to some flowers to the ocean with many creatures and things in between.  This is one of the best books I've ever read about the impact of cleaning up our garbage on the environment.  I still can hardly believe we only have one copy of this book in our local library system.  I loved Holly Hatam's delicate illustrations.  See more of her work at her website: http://www.hollyhatam.com/

Author #168 : Fantastic art on fantastic flowers! Stockdale is spectacular!

Susan Stockdale takes photos of real flowers and paints beautiful versions of them with acrylic paint. Fantastic Flowers is a gorgeous example of an artists' interpretation of the real world. You can visit Susan at her website: http://www.susanstockdale.com/ 

Author #166: Rosenthal with sweet cookie advice

Amy Krouse Rosenthal wrote many books but these two impart nuggets of wisdom with beautiful cookie baking illustrations.  From messages about compromise to consideration to listening and unconditionally accepting the cookies of others, her audience can learn to be better people through courtesy and respect.  The examples illustrated in the steps surrounding cookie making and baking echo the lessons in the text. Jane Dyer and Brooke Dyer did the beautiful illustrations for both Sugar Cookies and One Smart Cookie  Read more about Ms. Rosenthal at http://www.whoisamy.com/  There's also a cookie recipe at the end of each book.

Author #165: Birtha wrote a picture book to highlight the plight of children with a parent in prison or jail

Far Apart, Close in Heart Being a Family When a Loved One is Incarcerated by Becky Birtha and illustrated by Maja Kastelic is a timely picture book that should be read to almost all children whether they have a loved one in jail or prison or not.  The book explores some of the feelings of children and the relationship they have with their loved one and others.Children are often shunned by their peers for something a parent did and then the child is left isolated and marginalized.  The child also has a number of feelings that can be difficult to both feel and express ranging from anger to embarrassment to guilt and sadness.  This book does a good job at introducing the subject and helping give voice to the more than 2 million children with a parent in jail or prison.  See more of Ms, Birtha's books at: http://beckybirtha.net/

Author #164: Boelts maneuvers around a moral dilemma involving money and bikes

Maribeth Boelts tells the story of A Bike Like Sergio's with illustrations by Noah Z. Jones.  Ruben wants a bike like his friend, Sergio.  When he finds some money he thinks he will finally get the bike of his dreams.  But when he gets to feels empathy for the person who lost the money he has a change of heart.  Doing the right thing sometimes hurts but can also help us to ultimately feel better about ourselves when we try to understand and help others.  This story does not necessarily have a typical happy ending but I found it satisfying and morally uplifting.

Author #163: Ruurs Stepping Stones: a Refugee Family's Journey

Stepping Stones A Refugee Family's Journey by Margriet Ruurs with artwork by Nizar Ali Badr in both English and Arabic.  A beautiful book with elaborate rock artwork.  Read more about Ms. Ruurs and her other books at: http://www.margrietruurs.com/   See more of the artwork of Mr. Badr at: https://syriancreativehavens.com/portfolio/syrian-artist-nizar-ali-badr/

Authors #161 and #162 : From New Year's Peas to a New Year's Resolution (Piernas-Davenport and Miller)

 Gail Piernas-Davenport with illustrator Marion Eldridge shares a story of sharing in Shante Keys and the New Year's Peas and there's even a recipe for Grandma Louise's Hoppin John at the end.  Shante shares the new year with her neighbors in her quest for black-eyed peas.

 Ingredients for Hoppin' John include broth, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaf, blackeye peas, ham, and oil and cooked rice (not pictured)

Finished Hoppin' John over rice.  It was good with a definite southern flavor.

Squirrel's New Year's Resolution with pictures by Kathi Ember and text by Pat Miller gives us a look at squirrel who wants to make a resolution but isn't sure how to do so.  She helps her friends and finds the answer to her question as she goes through her day. See more of  Pat Miller's books at: http://www.patmillerbooks.com/books.html

Authors #157, #158, #159, and #160 Sawyer, Obed, Glaser, and Rose with humor and love for Hanukkah and Christmas

A simple tale by Ruth Sawyer and illustrated by Max Grafe is shared in The Wee Christmas Cabin of Carn-na-ween.  Where does one go when one has served others but has no place to call their own?  Ooona welcomes all who come to her bogland abode.

Nancy Cote's bright colors liven up this delightful tale of friendship and Hanukkah in The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes by Linda Glaser.  Read more about Linda Glaser at her website: http://www.lindaglaserauthor.com/

Who Would Like a Christmas Tree takes the reader from January through December to see how a Christmas tree fills the needs of a variety of creatures in each month of the year.  Ellen Bryan Obed wrote a wonderful story with simple illustrations by Anne Hunter. 


 Nancy Rose has inquisitive squirrels in her backyard and she's learned how to capture some of the most enchanting squirrel/prop interactions.  She explains in her books how she gets some of the pictures which involve having a lot of patience.  Merry Christmas, Squirrels! is well worth the read as is the companion book, The Secret Life of Squirrels.

Authors #155 and #156 : Mem Fox, Wombats, Nativities, and Goldman with gifts for Christmas and Hanukkah

*******Congrats to Nia!*********  (I'll get your prize to you by January 10th. And thank you for commenting.  I was going to get a card for everyone who entered within a reasonable number because I believed so few would comment but they just all lose out on a Menchie's outing.) Win a $5 Menchie's Frozen Yogurt gift card!  Ms. Goldman based her story on an older story that has been adapted into a number of films, an opera, a musical, and incorporated into an episode of Rugrats, Studio C, My Little Pony, and Futurama.  The story came out in 1905 and was first published in a book anthology in 1906.  The story is also available to read for free as part of Project Gutenberg.  Leave me a comment naming the author (either pen name or real name) and/or story title by December 30, 2016.   I will randomly pick a winner on January 2, 2017 from the comments with a correct answer and edit this post naming the winner and instructions on how to get your prize.

Hanukkah starts on the evening of December 24th, sharing the date with Christmas Eve.  Dara Goldman shares a story with a slight incorporation of both holidays in Boris and Stella and the Perfect Gift.

Wombat just wants to be part of the Nativity.  What role will be the right fit for him?  Mem Fox brings us a touching story of how there is a place for everyone in Wombat Divine starring illustrations by Kerry Argent.  Mem Fox is an Australian writer with many books to her credit.  You can read more about her at: http://memfox.com/