Blog Archives
Believe in Fairies
Believe in Fairies by Wayne Gerard Trotman and Sherrie Trotman is a children’s story about why you should believe in fairies. It discusses topics such as how devoted fairies are to keeping plants alive. Fairies will put dewdrops on flowers to cool them and cover them with parasols to protect them from the rain! Fairies also love healing, and feeding the weak flowers. They take pride in taking care of their plants and your garden because the beauty of those flowers is what proves that their magic is real.
The authors of this story give beautiful descriptions and rhymes to captivate their readers. They provide details on how the fays take care of plants, and what exactly they do for them. The art is vibrant with plenty of action on the page that will certainly capture a child’s interest. I especially loved a sad little snail that appears about halfway through, so cute. There is much to learn and see while reading Believe in Fairies which is why I found this book to be so enjoyable!
Believe in Fairies is an enchanting poetry book that I think is perfect for young readers. Children will learn a lot about the fairies and walk away with a better appreciation for nature. Wayne Gerard Trotman and Sherrie Trotman will have readers believing in fairies in no time.
Pages: 32 | ISBN:1916184863
Gratitude canBenefit Children
Honeycake: Counting All My Blessings teaches children about the importance of gratitude and how to focus on what matters most. Why is this an important lesson for kids to learn?
Firstly, I would like to say thank you for conducting this author interview. I’m so honoured and grateful to be given this platform to discuss the importance and the valuable lessons my books will give families around the world.
After reading Honeycake: Counting All My Blessings, I hope my readers come away with incorporating gratitude in their everyday lives. Most parents have taught their kids the importance of saying thank you by grade school, if not sooner. But how many have truly instructed them in the art of being grateful? You can be grateful for a wide range of “gifts,” everything from nature and good food to good luck or a wonderful opportunity for the people in your life. A sense of gratitude can benefit children (and adults) in a variety of ways. It can decrease stress and has other important emotional health benefits. A person who is grateful tends to spend less time comparing him or herself with others and feeling envious. I also feel that it’s important to showcase that we need to be grateful when things don’t go our way, or when we make a mistake. It’s through those challenges we have to overcome, that we learn our greatest lessons in life. Ultimately gratitude can help adults and children alike, and the best thing parents can do is be a good role model for their children. So, the next time something good — or even not so good — happens, express your appreciation out loud, start a gratitude journal, and start and end your day with what you are grateful for. Everyone will benefit from it.
Nala has to deal with feelings of jealousy when a new baby arrives. Is this something inspired from your own life?
Yes, this was inspired by my own daughter Shanaz’s reaction when her little brother Jean-Diar (JD) was born. She was only 15 months old at the time but I made sure we taught her the importance of gratitude and how to count all her blessings even at that age.
Where did the idea for the ‘green eyed monster’ come from?
Jealousy can lead even the nicest people to become angry or green with envy. That’s why it’s often referred to as the ‘green-eyed monster’. Because it’s so universal in human nature, jealousy is a common theme in storytelling, so I thought it would be a good metaphor for children to relate too.
What plans do you have to continue the Honeycake series?
I will be taking a break after this book, to focus on a bigger project. I have partnered up with a production company and my Co-Creator Lanette Ware-Bushfield CEO of AWWB Production Inc. is helping me take the Honeycake Book Series and adapting it into a tv series, which is being pitched to major television and animation studios.
I do plan to come back with another 5 books in the Honeycake series, with our heroine Nala and her little brother Luka when they are a little older with books that are geared for middle graders.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Amazon
This book teaches children the importance of gratitude and how to focus on what matters most in life. Showing gratitude is a great way to find balance in the materialistic culture we live in today.
With the help of her grandmother, Nala learns the importance of gratitude and how being thankful for all the wonderful things she has in her life equips her with a powerful tool to make those icky feelings of jealousy from the “Green-Eyed Monster” disappear.
Don’t Step on the Spider
Don’t Step on the Spider is a charming children’s picture book that educates readers on the importance of life and how every insect benefits mother nature and brings balance to the ecosystem. Kirk Raeber accomplishes this with very easy language and a cute comic art style.
Young Tim is at his grandparent’s house when he decides to go out and play and encounters a spider. He’s about to step on it, like I think most people would do, but is stopped by his grandfather. His grandfather tells him that every creature has a right to live, and to prove his point he takes Tim on a jaunt through the forest to meet many more insect friends.
Every insect they meet along the way is adorable and friendly, and each one explains how they contribute to the ecosystem. There is plenty to learn in this book, even I learned about the importance of ants! This is a great book for early readers or for parents and teachers to read to children. This book provides many opportunities to discuss nature and how everyone has a role. Don’t Step on the Spider skillfully informs and entertains young readers and is one book I can see reading several times.
Pages: 35 | ASIN: B0842DJSWV
The Garden and the Glen – Trailer
“You are all different and all perfect, just as you are. Lately, you have become more than that. Now, you reach beyond yourselves, using your differences to help your friends. That is the magic of belonging.”
A tiny blue butterfly is chased out of a yellow garden because she does not blend in.
She flees to the nearby forest glen, where she encounters a colorful band of woodland creatures-all of them expelled from the garden for the same reason-being different. The glen provides safety, friendship, and acceptance. However, it’s the garden that holds the blue butterfly’s true destiny.
A Queen, a mystical potion, and the fate of their natural world hang in the balance. The blue butterfly, and what makes her different, holds the key.
The Garden and the Glen is about the magic that finds us when we’re brave enough to be our unique selves.
Jam Sessions: Sometimes in Middle School, the best you can do is survive
![Jam Sessions: Sometimes in Middle School, the best you can do is survive. by [Jerry Harwood, Myles Richardson, Timothy Sisemore]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DT3f668GL.jpg)
Jam Sessions follows a middle school boy named Phillip who has to forge a new path for himself through a new school that he’s transferred to in the middle of the school year. Phillip struggles with bullies, but finds a creative outlet in Mr. Filter’s class where he starts the day with a writing prompt that sends Phillips imagination soaring. Now, if only he could apply that creativity and passion in his real life.
Jerry Harwood has created a cast of characters that are both easy to dislike and easy to empathize with. Chuck and his friends are easily unlikable and I loved Ashley, Daniel and Jaylan. I really liked all the teachers too, especially the language arts and P.E. teachers. I did feel like Phillips mom should have played a bigger part in the story, but it didn’t hurt the story in any way. From the first time we meet Chuck I thought that he was just a pain in the butt kid who likes to be a bully and embarrass people. Chuck and his gang of hooligans didn’t really evolve much but that honestly worked for the story because they continue to be the fundamental antagonists.
Jerry Harwood does a great job detailing what a panic/anxiety attack feels like, I could almost feel and see Phillip having his attacks. It was great that he found a way to cope with his attacks. Even at the beginning when the author is describing Phillip and his mom running away from home, everything is perfectly detailed. When Phillip is standing in the back of the room on the first day of school, you could feel him praying that he is invisible and then realizing that he really had been during that class because not one person had cared about him being there or noticed his presence. It was sort of sad.
The story flowed easily and was well written. I enjoyed the small cartoon characters at the beginning of each chapter and I liked how short the chapters were. I read the book in one sitting, because it was an enjoyable read and I loved that Phillip was able to turn things around which gave the book a feel good ending.
Pages: 214 | ASIN: B0868XNSH9
Honeycake: Counting All My Blessings
When there’s a new baby in your home, it’s easy for a child to feel jealous or forgotten because the baby will need lots of attention and care. But having the right people there for you can change everything. You can learn to be thankful for all the things in your life instead of focusing on the bad things.
Honeycake: Counting All My Blessings, by Medea Kalantar is a touching story about a little girl named Nala that has to deal with all the attention being placed on her newborn brother. She begins to wonder why her brother is getting gifts and why he’s, seemingly, more important than her. Lucky for her, Nala has a wonderful family member to talk her through it and teach her to count her blessings. She learns all about the Green-Eyed Monster and its negative effects on her. She learns to be thankful for everything in her life and to accept this new change as the blessing that it is.
The way the author is able to send a message to young readers about the importance of being thankful is amazing. She is able to write in a way that would capture any child’s attention. I enjoyed the cute and emotive drawings that do a great job of showing how Nala is feeling. This makes it easy for any reader to relate to Nala. Not only do children get an eye-catching story but they learn an important life lesson.
Honeycake: Counting All My Blessings is definitely one of the most educational books for a child to read. It teaches thing not often taught in school. Young readers will learn about gratitude and thankfulness towards things in their lives.
Pages: 37 | ASIN: B08FPK3Q53
Literary Titan Book Awards September 2020
The Literary Titan Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors.
Gold Award Winners
A Little Bit Extraordinary by Esther Robinson
A Saint and a Sinner by Stephen H. Donnelly and Diane O’Bryan
Silver Award Winners
Mountain Heat by Natrelle Long
Pandora’s Gardener by David C Mason
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information and see all award winners.
Children are the Future of our Society
A little bit Extraordinary follows Juliette as she explains Down’s syndrome and promotes acceptance and diversity. Why was this an important book for you to write?
Children are the future of our society and I feel it’s important to teach them the importance of being kind, considerate and understanding. This way of being is simple and achievable and can make a huge positive impact on people’s lives. My older brother, Martin, has an ultra-rare genetic syndrome called WAGR. Growing up, I was saddened by people bullying him, making assumptions about his capabilities and by him being made to attend a different school to me. Our family connected with other families whose children had various disabilities, including Down’s syndrome. I was such a shy, reserved child and I was taken aback by the open display of affection from the children I met with Down’s syndrome; they seemed free to be who they wanted to be. I saw they had individual personalities with different traits and abilities, but other people who did not mix with people with disabilities did not necessarily understand this. Down’s syndrome affects many more people than WAGR, so focusing my book on Down’s syndrome enabled me to reach more people as they would be able to identify with the character and themes of the book more easily. I also felt that many people did not know the cause of Down’s syndrome and that this book would explain it in a simplistic way, helping to reduce prejudice and judgment, thereby encouraging understanding, acceptance and integration in education and the community.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about Down’s syndrome?
People may assume people with a disability such as Down’s syndrome are unable to contribute to society, that they don’t have any skills or talents to share with the community and ostracise them. People may assume they are stupid or don’t understand what people are saying, and think they don’t feel hurt when someone is unkind to them or bullies them. This was why it was important to introduce the theme of empathy into my book.
I loved the art in this book. What was the art collaboration like with illustrator Grainne Knox?
Gráinne was enamoured with my book idea, really believing in it having an important purpose, so I knew she would put her heart and soul into it. Gráinne paid great attention to the words I had written, so she came up with picture ideas for the stanzas that really reflected the meaning of the words. If there were no words in the book, I feel the pictures would convey the story. Gráinne was a pleasure to work with – very accommodating – and came up with great ideas. I gave her ideas on what I thought Juliette should look like and with some small changes I feel we got her appearance just right. When it came to an idea for a picture to go with the stanza on how Juliette does things differently, Gráinne put out a request on social media for ideas and a mum of a child who has a disability suggested the child lining items up in rows, while a nurse who works with children with disabilities suggested the use of Makaton, so Gráinne combined those two ideas into one picture.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your book?
The understanding that kindness, compassion, empathy and love enable people to live in harmony with one another and put this into practice in their daily lives.
Author Links: Facebook | Website |estherrobinson.co.uk
This story helps young readers to understand Down’s syndrome in simple terms. This book is an excellent resource for every parent, primary school and preschool and aims to help children to celebrate difference, cultivate a caring community and prevent bullying.
This book will help parents and teachers to see the potential in all children. Seeing beyond limitations and labels applied in society, adults will be more open to recognising talents and skills that children are showing, or may be shy at demonstrating, and can then help to nurture and develop these gifts.
This book teaches that when a decision is made from a place of love, it is always the right one. It also emphasises that following your joy brings fulfilment and happiness.
LITERARY TITAN 