Special Valentine’s Day hotTEA of Children’s Literature: Erik Weibel

February 14, 2016February 12, 2016 ~ jama ~ 22 Comments

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.

☕ HOT OFF THE PRESSES: The Adventures of Tomato and Pea – Book 1: A Bad Idea (CreateSpace, 2013), and a short story entitled, “The Accidental Agents” in the Kissed by an Angel anthology edited by Robyn Campbell (CreateSpace, December, 2015). Proceeds from Kissed by an Angel benefit the Sturge-Weber Foundation.

☕ FAVE FOODIE CHILDREN’S BOOK: The Redwall Cookbook by Brian Jacques and Christopher Denise (Philomel, 2005).

☕ Visit Erik’s blog This Kid Reviews Books!

☕☕ 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.

☕☕☕ CAN’T GET ENOUGH: Check out my interview with Erik about his book The Adventures of Tomato and Pea! 🙂

♥♥ HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! ♥♥

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hotTEAs of Children’s Literature: Jessixa Bagley

February 11, 2016September 25, 2017 ~ jama ~ 15 Comments

Jessixa Bagley is a picture book author/illustrator known for her debut picture book Boats for Papa. She loves hamburgers and making things out of cardboard. She lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and son.

☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: My current favorite hot beverage is Choice peppermint licorice tea! It’s personally a very controversial choice for me because I hate black licorice, but this tea is AMAZING!

☕ HOT OFF THE PRESS: Before I Leave (Roaring Brook Press, 2016) — comes out February 16 -yay! — is a book about having to move away from your best friend; Boats for Papa (Roaring Brook Press, 2015). Forthcoming: My third picture book, Laundry Day, is a fun and silly book and comes out winter 2017. I’m currently working on my fourth picture book, Vincent Comes Home, which a collaboration with my husband Aaron Bagley! It’s due out winter 2018. I’m super excited about it!

☕ FAVE FOODIE CHILDREN’S BOOK: Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola. I love that overflowing pasta pot overtaking the town. Those images have stuck with me for nearly 30 years!

☕☕ Visit Jessixa Bagley’s Official Website and blog, Rambling Meat.

☕☕☕ JUST ONE MORE SIP: Check out this cool feature about Boats for Papa (with sketches and final illos) at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

☕☕☕☕ CAN’T GET ENOUGH: Wonderful reviews of Boats for Papa by Sam Juliano at Wonders in the Dark, and Margie Culver at Librarian’s Quest.

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[tasty little review] The Adventures of Miss Petitfour by Anne Michaels and Emma Block

February 9, 2016August 27, 2017 ~ jama ~ 17 Comments

Petit fours: dainty little iced cakes, delicately layered with fruit or buttercream, an adorable bite-size treat. Eating one of these pastel pretties can make you feel quite special, maybe even a little giddy with delight.

That was just how I felt reading The Adventures of Miss Petitfour by award winning author and poet Anne Michaels. Meeting the inimitable, eccentric Miss Petitfour was a singular pleasure since she’s an expert at baking and eating little cakes. A very good talent to have, I must say.

Miss P also likes to read, chat, and dance. She thrives on small pleasures. Fond of “pockets, paisley, playful patterns and anything hand-knitted,” she travels by tablecloth with her 16 cats trailing aloft, a fanciful kind of Mary Poppins sans umbrella with her own brand of magic.

Laced with just the right amounts of whimsy and fun, this charming book features five everyday adventures of precisely the right size:

Some adventures are so small, you hardly know they’ve happened. Like the adventure of sharpening your pencil to a perfect point, just before it breaks and that little bit gets stuck in the sharpener. That, I think we will all agree, is a very small adventure.

Other adventures are so big and last so long, you might forget they are adventures at all — like growing up.

And some adventures are just the right size — fitting into a single, magical day. And these are the sort of adventures Miss Petitfour had.

And guess what else?

Miss Petitfour believed firmly that every adventure past her doorstep — even just a jaunt to the grocery shop — must end with a tea party . . .

Huzzah! 🙂

Continue reading →

hotTEAs of Children’s Literature: Will Hillenbrand

February 4, 2016September 25, 2017 ~ jama ~ 20 Comments

Will Hillenbrand is a celebrated author and illustrator whose published works include nearly sixty books for young readers. In addition to his own self-illustrated titles, he has illustrated the works of writers and retellers including Verna Aardema, Judy Sierra, Margery Cuyler, Judith St. George, Phyllis Root, Jane Yolen, Karma Wilson, Maureen Wright, Daniel Pinkwater and Jane Hillenbrand. Will has lived almost all of his life in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he grew up as the youngest of four boys. He now lives in Terrace Park. (Pictured here taking his first pull of the day of strong black coffee.)

☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: Coffee black, so strong it makes the day brighter. Like Dunkin’ Donuts coffee best!

☕ HOT OFF THE PRESSES: Bear and Bunny, written by Daniel Pinkwater (Candlewick Press, December 2015); All for a Dime: A Bear and Mole Story (Holiday House, July 2015). Forthcoming: Me and Annie McPhee, written by Olivier Dunrea (Philomel, June 2016).

☕ FAVE FOODIE CHILDREN’S BOOK: Please Say Please!: Penguin’s Guide to Manners, written by Margery Cuyler (Scholastic, 2004).

☕ Visit Will Hillenbrand’s Official Website

☕☕ JUST ONE MORE SIP: Book Trailer for Bear and Bunny

☕☕☕ CAN’T GET ENOUGH: Visit Will in his studio:

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[sweet review] Timothy and Sarah: The Homemade Cake Contest by Midori Basho

February 2, 2016September 9, 2017 ~ jama ~ 18 Comments

Didn’t someone once say you can’t have your cake and eat it too?

Well, anyone who reads Midori Basho’s Timothy and Sarah: The Homemade Cake Contest (Museyon, 2015) will certainly be able to do both. First published in Japan six years ago, The Homemade Cake Contest is the first title from Basho’s popular 13-book Timothy and Sarah series to be translated into English, and it’s quite scrumptious.

In this charming story, mouse twins Timothy and Sarah are excited about helping Miss Flora and their mother raise funds to restore an old house in the forest. It was once a wonderful café where guests could have tea and chat while their children played outside. If only they could repair the building and reopen the café! Then young and old alike could enjoy it together!