soup of the day

soup of the day: never ever talk to strangers! by anne marie pace

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

Oh boy! Today we get to do one of my very favorite things — celebrate the publication of a first book! Woo-Hoo!

I’m happy to be able to congratulate fellow Virginia author, Anne Marie Pace, on the official release of Never Ever Talk to Strangers (Scholastic, 2010)! You can see by the cover why the ursine kitchen helpers are especially tickled by this charming picture book. Yes, they love that the main character is a bear, but they also like what Jamie’s story teaches them about stranger danger.

 

Jamie is all excited about the Super Safety Expert badge he receives after hearing Officer Crane’s talk at the school assembly. Over a tasty snack of grapes and milk, he tells his mom, “Strangers are people you don’t know. If a stranger talks to you, you should yell and run away.”

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soup of the day: mostly monsterly by tammi sauer and scott magoon!

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

Hey hey!

Are you in the mood for a little Monster Mayhem?

You’ve come to the right place. Today, we’re celebrating the official release of Mostly Monsterly (Simon & Schuster, 2010) by Tammi Sauer and Scott Magoon! You know what that means, don’t you?

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soup of the day: time to pray by maha addasi and ned gannon

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

Today, I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to congratulate dear friend Maha Addasi on the release of her second picture book, Time to Pray (Boyds Mills Press, 2010)!

Although its official pub date is not until September 1st, I wanted to let you know about this beautiful book now, since we are in the midst of the Holy Month of Ramadan, which is being observed this year between August 11th and September 9th.


Prayer Room, King Hussein Ben Talal Mosque, Amman, Jordan (frankenschulz/flickr).

You may remember my review of Maha’s first book, The White Nights of Ramadan (Boyds Mills Press, 2008). Time to Pray is the perfect companion book to White Nights. It has been illustrated with more of Ned Gannon’s stunning oil paintings, and this time, there is a wonderful addition: an Arabic translation of the story by Maha’s mother, Nuha Albitar!

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soup of the day: touch blue by cynthia lord!

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

“Reaching into my pocket, I touch that lucky-blue sea glass and try to cram all my wishes about Aaron into one. Please let this plan work.” ~ Tess from Touch Blue


Maine blue lobster postcard available from paflip25.

Guess what just came ashore?

Hint: it’s heartwarming, funny, takes place on a small island in Maine, was inspired by a true story, and was written by one of my favorite children’s book authors.

Oh, and it’s beautifully, bountifully, breathtakingly BLUE!

Yes! Touch Blue, Cynthia Lord’s second middle grade novel, is officially out today! Big cause for celebration. BIG. Because ever since I read her Newbery Honor-winning debut novel, Rules (Scholastic, 2007), I’ve been hungry for more more more. As luck would have it, I did not receive my promised review copy from the publisher (ahem!), but I did receive the copy I pre-ordered online a few days early, just in time to write this post! I’m pretty sure I finally got lucky because I blogged about blue for most of last week, while I was wishing, wishing ☺.

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soup of the day: ling & ting: not exactly the same! by grace lin

~ jama ~ 2 Comments


 photo credit: Alexandre Ferron.

Polka dot polka dot. Hip hip hooray!!

Guess who’s got a brand new book officially out today?

Two clues:

  1. She’s one of my all-time favorite children’s author/illustrators.
  2. She likes to bake cupcakes.

Yes, Newbery Honor winner Grace Lin has done it again! Her new early reader, Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! (Little, Brown, 2010), packs a double wallop because it’s all about twins. If it’s possible to love a book twice as much as I should, I’m guilty times two.

How could I possibly resist these adorable imps? Everyone tells Ling and Ting they are exactly the same, but in six interconnected vignettes, they show us just how different they are — in personality and abilities.

In the first story, the girls get a haircut. Ling sits still and gets a nice clip, but Ting’s a bit of a wriggle worm, sneezing when hair falls on her nose. “Oh no!” She ends up sporting a cutting edge (giggle) set of bangs for the rest of the book. An ingenious way to set the stage, making us want to read more of their amusing antics.

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