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!
Grab your shopping baskets and bags, let’s go to the Farmers’ Market!
InFresh Delicious (Wordsong, 2016), Irene Latham and Mique Moriuchi invite us to join a group of adorable animal friends as they celebrate the wonders of farm fresh fruits and veggies. This mostly free verse smorgasbord of 21 poems is chock full of mouthwatering sensory details, clever imagery and playful metaphors to whet the appetite and tease the imagination.
While nibbling on these whimsical poems, curious munchkins will meet basil (“a bouquet of minty green butterfly wings”), delight in how ears of corn listen to the sun, and consider that okra is really “a mountain of mouse-sized swords/stored in fuzzy sheaths.” Afterwards, they’ll likely be anxious to see, smell, touch and taste the produce in person, making up little scenarios so they can write their own poems.
Does crookneck squash really look like a question mark? How is zucchini like an exclamation point? Will wild honey really make our tongues “buzz with pleasure”? Can’t wait for summer, when it’ll be time to propel those seeds out of our mouths “like shooting stars.”
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.
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 