Happy 60th Anniversary, Eloise: Rawther Festive Musings, Reviews, and Tea, of course!

November 9, 2015August 15, 2017 ~ jama ~ 53 Comments

Guess who’s celebrating her 60th Anniversary this month?

ELOISE!

She isn’t 60 years old, silly. She’ll always be SIX. And a city child. Who lives at The Plaza.

But 60 years ago, the first Eloise book was published: Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grownups by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight. It became an instant phenomenon and was followed by four sequels: Eloise in Paris, Eloise at Christmastime, Eloise in Moscow, and Eloise Takes a Bawth. To date, these five original titles as well as other books based on the Eloise character and the art of Hilary Knight have sold an estimated 6 million copies. 🙂

Here’s what I like

my Eloise bookshelf

Here’s what you should do

make a splawsh

Whenever things get the teensiest bit dull, I skibble and skiddle and oh-so-artfully sklathe through any of the Eloise books.

Here’s what she taught me

live LARGE

rebel

imagine

eat oatmeal every morning or you’ll dry up

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[Review and Author Chat] Samantha R. Vamos on Alphabet Trains

November 6, 2015September 1, 2017 ~ jama ~ 44 Comments

#52 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

Tear the ticket.
Load the freight.
Sound the whistle.
Raise the gate.

Clank! Chug-chug! Whoosh!

Alphabet trains.

All Aboard, Letter-lovin’ Railroad Buffs!

Author Samantha R. Vamos is here to tell us all about her clickety-clack-cool new rhyming picture book Alphabet Trains (Charlesbridge, 2015)!

Not too long ago, we had so much fun cruising and vrooming through Alphabet Trucks (Charlesbridge, 2013), that we were pretty excited when this shiny new book hit the rails.

Since I’m especially fond of trains (blame it on the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” and the fact that I met my husband in London while he was designing a railroad in Algeria), I was anxious to ask Samantha a few questions about writing and researching this 26-track gem.

A is for Auto Train,
Load your car on the rack.

B is for bullet train —
high speed on welded track.

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hotTEAs of Children’s Literature: John Parra

October 29, 2015September 25, 2017 ~ jama ~ 14 Comments

John Parra is an award-winning illustrator, designer, teacher, and fine art painter. His books have earned starred reviews, the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for illustration, and the International Latino Book Award for Best Children’s Book Interior Illustrations. He lives in Queens, New York.

☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: Café Bustelo, a Cuban-Style coffee, brewed and cloth strained old fashion style mixed with milk and Solgar sweetener to kick start any day.

☕ HOT OFF THE PRESSES: Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans, written by Phil Bildner (Chronicle Books, 2015); Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors, written by Roseanne Greenfield Thong (Chronicle Books, 2014).

☕ FAVE FOODIE CHILDREN’S BOOK: The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred (Charlesbridge, 2011), written by Samantha R. Vamos, illustrated by Rafael López is wonderful. The NEW children’s book by Sonia Manzano [illustrated by Marjorie Priceman], Miracle on 133rd Street (Atheneum, 2015), is equally terrific. Lastly when I was young I loved Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

☕ hotTEA IN THE FLESH: I will be participating in the Third Annual Picture Book Panel: Too Good to Miss – Picture Books for Older Readers, November 8th, from 5pm to 8pm, at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.

☕ Visit John Parra’s Official Website

☕☕ JUST ONE MORE SIP: Bonus pic of little John with avocado tree (Santa Barbara, April 1975)

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[Review and Giveaway!] Feeding the Flying Fanellis and Other Poems from a Circus Chef by Kate Hosford and Cosei Kawa

October 16, 2015August 31, 2017 ~ jama ~ 58 Comments

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Welcome to the Big Top!

In the center ring, behold the rotund Circus Chef as he pulls off the most amazing feat of all: feeding all the circus performers!

IN THE CIRCUS KITCHEN

I’ve never turned a cartwheel, and I’m dizzy in high places.
I couldn’t ever be a clown — I don’t make funny faces.

But put me in the kitchen, and I think you’ll be delighted.
Join us for a circus meal. Everyone’s invited.

I handle special orders and unusual suggestions.
And if you have an allergy, just come to me with questions.

Put me in the kitchen, where the coffee’s percolating.
I’ll mash and melt with pleasure. I can’t keep the circus waiting!

My days are long and sweaty, and the chaos never ends.
But still, I find I’m most content when cooking for my friends.

Don’t you love him already? For each picky palate, for each quirky personality, this chef aims to please.

For the Ringmaster who’s always on the go, a picnic of salami and mini baguette stashed in his top hat. For the homesick Ukrainian Strongman, babushka’s vushka recipe. And if you must feed a Juggler who likes to juggle (rather than eat) anything that’s round? A square meal, of course!

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hotTEAs of Children’s Literature: Josh Funk

October 15, 2015September 25, 2017 ~ jama ~ 10 Comments

Josh Funk grew up in New England and studied Computer Science in school. Today, he still lives in New England and when not writing Java code or Python scripts, he drinks Java coffee and writes picture book manuscripts alongside his wife, children, and assorted pets & monsters.

☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: Black coffee, today’s choice was Baroida from Papua New Guinea – from Josh’s favorite local coffee shop, Haute Coffee in Concord, three steps away from his local indie, The Concord Bookshop.

☕ HOT OFF THE PRESSES: Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast, illustrated by Brendan Kearney (Sterling, 2015), as well as the forthcoming picture books Dear Dragon (Viking/Penguin 2016), Pirasaurs! (Scholastic 2017), and several more.

☕ FAVE FOODIE CHILDREN’S BOOK: The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss (Random House, 1984).

☕ HOTtea IN THE FLESH: Josh will be appearing at a special superstar storytime at Wellesley Books (Saturday, October 24, 11 a.m.) and at The Blue Bunny Books and Toys (Saturday, November 14, 2015, 10:30 a.m.).

☕ Visit Josh Funk’s Official Website and Blog. Catch him on Twitter: @joshfunkbooks. Josh will also be a guest poster for Tara Lazar’s Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo), on November 2.

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