I’m the author-illustrator of such books as The Table Sets Itself, Mo’s Mustache, and Something Extraordinary. When I’m not busy making books (and often when I am) I like to cook, read and listen to books (I know! Surprising!), and play basketball. I live in Seattle, WA with my family and friends both real and imagined.
☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: I love hot apple cider. Especially caramel hot apple cider! Makes me feel warm and cozy and puts me in a writing/reading sort of mood. Sure wish I had a fireplace to go with it. At least I’ve got my mustache Fred.
☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ STILL THIRSTY: Check out this Candlewick Five Questions (Plus One) video where Ben talks about another of his books, Rex Wrecks It. Love his laugh and the sound of his voice. Wonder if he can sing? 🙂
Ken grew up on the works of Margret & H.A. Rey, William Joyce, and DC Comics. He was born and raised in Los Angeles and studied illustration at Art Center, College of Design. He has storyboarded for various commercials and animated TV shows such as The PJs, Futurama and Fairly Odd Parents. His illustration work has been recognized numerous times by the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI). In 2012, the first picture book he illustrated, Hot, Hot Roti For Dada-Ji, received the Picture Book Honor Award for Literature from the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA). These days, you will find Ken illustrating, storyboarding, writing, and dreaming up stories for children.
☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: I’m not a coffee drinker (wha-?? that’s outrageous!) so when I’m in the mood for a hot beverage, I like a cup of tea or hot chocolate. BUT, I will say, nothing says literature like a cup of hot cocoa in an F. Scott Fitzgerald mug!
Lester is the author of 20 books for teachers and/or children and has two new projects under contract. He works as a consultant and visiting author in schools and school districts throughout the country and abroad. When he isn’t working you’ll likely find him roaming around with a camera in his hand.
☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: Coffee (aka “writer fluid”) should be hot, strong, slightly sweet, and with a dash of half-and-half leaving it the color of a paper bag.
abc bear pillow (made of natural organic hemp with embroidered alphabet and felt pocket) by Pi’lo
1. This could be the pillow of my dreams — the alphabet + a pocket with a teddy bear! Shall we pause for a moment of deep appreciation? *sigh* Toronto-based Heather Shaw is the artisan behind the P i’ l o collection of home goods, which includes tea towels, bags, mobiles, toys, notebooks, sachets, printed tapes, shawls, stationery and wall art. Everything is carefully made by hand with natural materials (cotton, linen, hemp, rocks) in a coach house studio with the hope that these items will be passed down as family heirlooms.
Typewriter CasePrinted Tape
Both her home and work space are serene and soothing environments filled with inspiration. Heather creates objects of beautiful simplicity — just looking at her collection makes me feel calm, cleansed and relaxed.
2.New book alert! Coretta Scott King Honor author Tanita S. Davis has just published a young adult novel called Peas and Carrots (Knopf, 2016)! Ooh-la-la — is that the best title ever, or what? This story is about 15-year-old Dess and how she adjusts to her new foster family. Check it:
Dess knows that nothing good lasts. Disappointment is never far away, and that’s a truth that Dess has learned to live with.
Dess’s mother’s most recent arrest is just the latest in a long line of disappointments, but this one lands her with her baby brother’s foster family. Dess doesn’t exactly fit in with the Carters. They’re so happy, so comfortable, so normal, and Hope, their teenage daughter, is so hopelessly naïve. Dess and Hope couldn’t be more unlike each other, but Austin loves them both like sisters. Over time their differences, insurmountable at first, fall away to reveal two girls who want the same thing: to belong.
Tanita herself was a foster sister from the age of nine until she graduated from college. I’ve been a fan of her writing since first reading A la Carte (Knopf, 2008)— yes, a foodie book with recipes! — and then, of course, thoroughly enjoyed the award winning Mare’s War (Knopf, 2009), as well as Happy Families (Knopf, 2012), the first YA novel I ever read featuring a transgender character. She is brilliant at exploring family dynamics and personal identity, making the reader question long-held stereotypes and assumptions about race, gender, and body image. I just started reading Peas and Carrots, which is told from Dess’s and Hope’s points of view in alternating chapters, and I love how both voices ring true with raw emotional honesty. The book has already garnered very favorable reviews from School Library Journal, PW, and Kirkus. Check out Tanita’s guest posts at Stacked Books and John Scalzi’s Big Idea, her Five Questions interview at The Horn Book, and her YA Open Mic contribution at Barnes & Noble.
Erik is a 13-year-old eighth grader who loves to read. He started his blog, This Kid Reviews Books, when he was nine. Erik writes a monthly book review column for his local free newspaper and is a Scholastic News Kid Reporter. He holds two black belts in martial arts but only uses his skills for good…or does he? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!
☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: Loose-Leaf Irish Breakfast Tea – I like the sweet smell, and steeping it for at least 7 minutes to make it taste a bit bitter (I know weird). I put no cream or sugar – sometimes a drop or two of lemon juice.
☕☕ JUST ONE MORE SIP: Read an excerpt from “The Accidental Agents”:
“I didn’t mean to blow it up,” I said as I slipped into the back seat of our minivan.
“Don’t worry about it, Oscar. It happened last year. They’ve probably forgotten about it,” Mom said. She nervously checked her phone as she piloted our van out of the driveway.
My little sister, Sam, sat next to me bobbing up and down on her seat, humming along to music only she could hear. She was clenching and relaxing her hands, never still for a minute. The doctors said she has SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder). SPD makes her brain work differently. That means what Sam sees and hears gets mixed up and she constantly tries to make sense out of it. Sam also has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and anxiety disorder too. I think I’d be hyper and anxious if I had all the information in the world coming at me a million miles a second and none of it made sense. My mom said labels are dumb and Sam just has SAM (She’s Absolutely Marvelous).
It’s one of the reasons we attend The Klinkman Alternative Learning Institute (KALI). The kids at our old school made fun of her. Sure, Sam can’t read as well as other kids and maybe she has some odd quirks, but she knows stuff. Like, she can tell you the best spot for fishing by just looking at the environment around a pond and she can build a campfire in a downpour. She can even tell the type and altitude of an airplane flying overhead just by its sound. Don’t let her tiny body fool you either. Sam can toss a 2×4 in the air and snap it in half with a sidekick before it hits the ground.
She saw me watching her blonde curls bounce to her imaginary music and stuck her tongue out at me.
Sisters.
Mom was biting her fingernails again. I thought it was odd she had her briefcase on her lap instead of on the seat next to her.
I hoped it wasn’t the explosion that she’s stressing about.
Sam was one of the reasons we now go to KALI. I am the other. I’ve been labeled genius, prodigy, and gifted. I’ve also been labeled braniac, egghead and poindexter. Labels are dumb. Unlike Sam who tries to take in all information around her, I get hung up on over-analyzing everything.
It took me 45 minutes yesterday to brush my teeth. Well, not so much brushing my teeth. I was calculating the circumference of the water droplets coming from the bathroom faucet and theorizing how large they have to be to break the surface tension of the water to fall. Before I knew it, I was late for school (again).
I won’t even go into the computations that go through my head while tying my shoes. Mom tried to get me sneakers with Velcro to stop that, but Velcro has some fascinating properties…
I digress.
Traffic on the beltway going into Washington, DC was pretty light today.
You are probably wondering about the explosion. Last year, Principal Rozo started a new program for the students at KALI. The “Young Apprentice Program” is pretty much bring your kid to work day, but we also had to do a job and write a report about it. I was excited because we got to go to work with our mom at the NSA (National Security Agency). The director of the NSA invited newspaper reporters in to do a story on the event.
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☕☕☕ CAN’T GET ENOUGH: Check out my interview with Erik about his book The Adventures of Tomato and Pea! 🙂
Jama's Alphabet Soup 