Blog Archives
Pippin’s Night-time Adventure
It is nighttime, and Pippins’s friend Blossom, the possum, asks him to join her as she goes out to see her friends. Having never been out at night, Pippin eagerly goes out to explore. They head down to the river, where they meet a wombat named Waddle, a fruit bat named Pixie, and a platypus named Platy. While exploring the river area, Pippin winds up in trouble, and his new friends must save him. This is an adventure Pippin will not forget.
Author Julia Seaborn continues her saga of Pippin’s adventures with the picture book Pippin’s Night-time Adventure. This creative story introduces young readers to several animals that live around a river. With charming illustrations from Richard Hoit, the river animals come to life while teaching readers about the animals that Pippin encounters. Seaborn uses Pippin’s conversations with the animals to educate readers about them, so Pippin is learning with readers. This helps kids really feel like part of the story.
Children will love how expressive all the animals are in the story. Each page has bold colors and detailed illustrations. So when the animals explain about themselves, children can see details like the wombat’s claws, the fruit bat’s fur and wings, and the platypus nose. This is a great way to introduce life around a river to an elementary class in a fun way.
When Pippen ends up in trouble, the animals all work together to save him. Teachers will love that this amazing children’s book teaches the values of teamwork and friendship even though they are all very different animals.
Pippin’s Night-time Adventure is a heartwarming picture book that will have children learning about all the animals and the value of teamwork and friendship. Children will love the images, and the fun story as all the animals meet Pippin and share their home at the river with him.
Pages: 32 | ASIN : B09R46HT8S
We Want Kids to Embody Joy, Breath, And Imagination
Andi’s Valentine Tree follows a child that wants nothing more than to dance, they befriend a tree that helps teach their classmates about kindness. What was the inspiration for your story?
The stories in this series (Andi’s Valentine Tree is book 13) are all developed around kids’ favorite stories when I taught children’s dance classes. The kids lit up when it was story time and asked for the same stories over and over again. It was funny because I’d work so hard to create something original for them and they’d be like, “Please, can you tell the [last-week’s] story.” Witnessing their joy in creating movement while using their imagination and being the star of their own show is my inspiration for the series.
I love that your series teaches dance along with the story. How do you approach this process, do you decide on the moves first, or do you write the story outline and fill in the dance moves after?
So far, the writing process has always initiated with some curriculum aspect from my dance classes, In the case of Andi’s Valentine Tree, the tree wanting someone to dance was one way we reviewed ballet vocabulary. So I started there and built the plot up around that idea.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
For each of our stories, we want kids to embody joy, breath, and imagination as well as dance and movement. We appreciate kind characters that can be positive role models. Each book encourages kids to use the stories in a way that works for them, their bodies, and their space. Of course, in this story, the importance of bystanders showing support in difficult situations, celebrating individuality, and the value of forgiveness are themes I was happy to incorporate.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Danika’s Dancing Day was just released. There are a few Dance-It-Out! stories with illustrators that should be out by summer. We are wrapping up the debut in a new series for kids 8+, which will hopefully be out in March.
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Ballerina Konora joins the pages with dance photos and suggestions for movement exploration. Three books in one: readers can enjoy the story, act out the tale in their own way, or try Konora’s suggested activities, designed by an award-winning ballet teacher to develop body awareness and movement knowledge. Each Dance-It-Out! story is a kids’ dance performance for the imagination stage. Andi’s Valentine Tree builds on previous Dance-It-Out! material and is ideal for ages 6+, dance students, or as a sequel to other stories.
Oh, No …Hacked Again!
Oh, No… Hacked Again! A Story About Online Safety by Zinet Kemal is based on her own children’s experiences with internet safety. Seeing her children go through this experience, led her to write a book so other families can avoid some of the dangers of the internet.
This informative children’s book is written from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl. It is broken out into five chapters, the story begins, the panic, the take over, doing the right thing, and the lesson. I really liked how the author broke the story down in this way. There is a lot of important information in this book and if it was not broken out I feel some children would get overwhelmed or lost. Breaking things out into chapters like this allows for an adult to read to or with the child and pause to discuss what happened and how they feel or relate to the story.
Elham loves to play online games and has had the unfortunate experience of being too trusting of people she meets online. Twice she had her game account hacked, she lost everything she had worked for. Kids today that play Minecraft and Roblox will be able to relate to how much work goes into collecting everything and making the perfect avatar. They are also constantly bombarded by the ads to earn free currency and all too often those scams look real. This book explains how, if it sounds too good to be true it is, and if you are unsure always ask an adult.
At the end of this important story is a page of lessons learned from the book, the number one lesson, never ever share your password with anyone, no matter how much they claim to be your best friend and are going to help you. It goes over other internet safety rules that parents can walk their children through and discuss. There is also a page on internet vocabulary so when discussing these topics they can look up words they may not have heard before.
Oh, No… Hacked Again! A Story About Online Safety is a practical children’s book to introduce the idea of computer safety to young elementary kids through middle grades. The message is told in a language that is easy to understand and the artwork fits well with the story.
Pages: 30 | ASIN : B09M85Y31J
The Silly Adventures of Petunia and Herman the Worm
Ever seen a worm with two arms, two hands, and a smiling face? Herman the worm is a unique creature, to say the least, and sadly, not many people are friendly towards this little guy. After scaring Ms. Walker so badly that she passes out and drives her car off the road, Herman is about to give up on humankind when he meets sweet Petunia and her father. The Silly Adventures of Petunia and Herman the Worm by Sam Baker follows an unlikely duo that come up with all sorts of shenanigans and have lots of laughs along the way.
This heartwarming story is absolutely wonderful. There are so many important messages in this book and life lessons that kids can learn from. Acceptance is the main message in this charming book. Many people try to get rid of Herman the moment they see him. Mr. and Mrs. James scream when Herman lands on their windshield, and they try whatever they can to get rid of him. Ms. Walker faints at the sight of Herman even though he smiles and waves, trying to look as friendly as possible. Only sweet and kind Petunia, who is not deterred by his appearance or strangeness, accepts him for who he is.
Another really amazing message in this book is change. Change is inevitable and scary. For kids, this is a lesson that’s learned the hard way. Herman goes through a big change and this scares Petunia, her father and their family friend, Emma. But it soon becomes clear that this is just a natural part of Herman’s lifecycle.
The illustrations by Ann Hess in the book remind me of classic children’s books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? The style is akin to realism using chalk or acrylic paints, and the grainy texture gives the pictures a more cartoony look. I like this style best when there is a lot of detail and focus on the subject of the illustration. A great example of this is the first illustration of Mr. Wilson, whose expression of admiration for his prize green tomato is very apparent in his raised eyebrows and pursed lips. I found it funny that Herman starts calling Emma’s Daddy, “Daddy” because that is what Emma refers to him as.
The Silly Adventures of Petunia and Herman the Worm is a light-hearted and well-meaning book. There are many life lessons for kids to learn through reading about Herman and his adventures.
Pages: 108 | ASIN : B07CRYXRRH
MANSA’S Little REMINDERS The Money Workbook for Kids Part 1
MANSA’S Little REMINDERS The Money Workbook for Kids is part of the Mansa’s Little Reminders series. This is a workbook designed for teachers, educators, parents, and caregivers to be able to teach six to twelve-year-olds about budgeting, saving money, and age-appropriate entrepreneur skills. This workbook outlines activities for adults and gives them worksheets, example pages, quiz questions, and links to print off additional resources.
When looking through this fantastic workbook I was impressed with the amount of information that is presented. Authors A.D. Williams and Kendal Fordham have laid out the materials in a clear step-by-step manner with vocabulary sheets, activities, questions, and everything someone could need to create a lesson plan either for a classroom or homeschooling.
The exceptional workbook is filled with bold and colorful illustrations done by Taylor Bou. The images jump off the page and present the concepts clearly. With clean lines and entertaining expressions, children will be drawn into the pages and better able to understand the information being presented.
What educators will like is that the information is realistic, the authors bring up failure and how it is a natural part of the process. Discussing how to manage failure and how to learn from it is often overlooked especially for children. This process sets aside time each week just for evaluating what works and doesn’t work. This is an important step towards learning and I am happy to see it highlighted.
MANSA’S Little REMINDERS The Money Workbook for Kids is a great workbook to continue the lessons that are started in MANSA’s Little REMINDERS: Scratching the surface of financial literacy. This workbook will help put into practice the information from the first book and give children a hands-on application for the lessons covered. This is a great resource for any adult that is trying to give kids an early start on understanding budgeting and saving money.
Pages: 49 | ASIN : B09QMGY4LM
All I Had To Do Was Write
The Adventurers and the Treasure Cave follow four cousins that despite their differences come together to solve a mystery involving a WWII submarine. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I idealized “The Adventurers and the Treasure Cave” at the request of readers who, after having read my first published book: “The Enchanted Forest”, grew up in the meantime and asked me to write adventure books that would be different from the ones available on the market at the time. I remembered those first adventure books I wrote when I was 11 years old, books that had pleased me so much, so I decided to humour them and thus, “The ADVENTURERS” were born. Instead of creating new characters, I took inspiration from my nephews. I also did not wish to include a dog, as was usual in this kind of young adult book, and so I took inspiration upon a friend’s pet crow, who can mimic everything and everyone in perfection, creating the most hilarious situations. The villains were also inspired by real people, who, in some way, I felt had wronged me. As for the location, it had to, of course, be Nazaré, my hometown that is so very special to me and such an amazing source of inspiration.
Currently, this collection is composed of 14 published books with many sold out editions.
How did the mystery develop for this story? Did you plan it before writing or did it develop organically?
After idealizing the characters and becoming convinced that this first adventure would take place in Nazaré, I reminisced in ancient legends that my grandmother used to tell me about the history of Nazaré, such as the cave called Boca do Inferno (Hell’s Mouth), who the elders claimed was a meeting spot for pirates, for Nazaré used to be plagued by the likes of them. I also decided to include the real story of the sunken German submarine, a little ways into the ocean in front of the beach, since I thought youngsters would get a kick out of knowing this, such as I did when I first heard about it. In addition, during my research I came across a very ancient book that was written by a monk in the 17th century, who portrayed the history of Nazaré and thus, the plot came to me naturally. After this, all I had to do was write. The completed work gave me immense pleasure.
What research did you do for this novel to get it right?
I always visit the sites where the story will take place, in order to better capture the ambiance and, this way, better transmit it to my readers, encouraging them to later visit those same locations. My main goal is to captivate my younger audience into reading more and provide to them the charm and enthusiasm I used to feel when I was their age. In this particular case it was different, since I’ve always lived in Nazaré and everything was familiar to me. All I had to do was investigate all the information, return to the sites and photograph them, in order to facilitate the illustrator’s work.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am currently writing my next historical novel, in my native language which is Portuguese, which demands very deep and intense research and a lot of focus. I am also preparing a few children and young adult books to be published later this year by Underline Publishing, such as: “The Enchanted Forest”; “The Forgotten Treasure”, the continuation of “The Quest for the Lost Map”, which is set to be released in the second semester of 2022; and also another adventure with these five special friends: “The Adventurers in the Underground River”.
I have also very recently published “Sofia Gama and the Templar’s Prophecy”, the first volume of the Warrior’s of Light, that I think will positively surprise and excite readers. In March, the historical novel: “The Last Conspirator” is set to be published by Underline Publishing as well.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
Danika’s Dancing Day
This educational children’s book serves to instruct children on dancing while also delivering a very sweet story. I think it’s cute that Korona creates and demonstrates dance steps for every illustration and story plot whether or not it’s part of a dance. For example, when Danika has had all the fun she can have, she decides to lay down and take a nap. Korona shows readers how to do a sitting spin on the floor before demonstrating how to curl up for a nap.
The illustrations are beautiful and very realistic. Danika’s dress, while dancing with the vacuum, is gorgeous with an almost opalescent glow. All the illustrations are as bright and colorful throughout the book. I especially love the little woodland animals in the backyard. The illustrator has put a great amount of detail into the nature scenes, and every time I look, I spot something new: a bird, chipmunk, a dragonfly, cute little things I love picking out from the landscape.
There are extra dance instructions at the bottom of the page that provide extra content, and value, to the book but I found it hard to understand sometimes. I think that a good audience for this book is children between the ages of five and seven; kids who are likely highly energetic. This is why I think this book is best read with an adult who can read the instructional material that is provided. But older children will easily be able to take the time to learn the steps.
The dance instructions use dance terminology and are accompanied by visuals as well. The story is adorable, and young readers will enjoy the story as parents help them work on their dancing.
The illustration of Danika’s mother is beautiful and wholesome. This book is absolutely charming, and I love how the book serves the double purpose of instructing little kids on how to dance. It makes me wonder if I would have loved dancing more if I read a book like this when I was a kid. I was not lucky enough to have an encouraging dance teacher; however, this book is full of positive, fun-loving vibes and delivers such a beautiful message.
Pages: 38 | ISBN: 1955555133
Inspired By A Girl Named Daisha
Daisha Gets the “I” in KIND follows a young school girl that wins an award for all the kind things she has done at her school. What was the inspiration for your story?
I was inspired by a girl named Daisha and other students that I work with. Their positive actions are noticeable and sparked an idea in my head.
The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Marcos Rodrigues?
I am so glad that you loved the artwork. I imagined each illustration and he brought it to life. I provided samples of the style that I envisioned, then wrote detailed notes about each scene of the story. He created sketches for my approval or for adjustments.
In the end I love the results.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The main theme was kindness. I wanted readers to understand that kindness can be shown in many different ways. Also the main character Daisha, made the connection that she learned to be kind from observing in and participating with her own family.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next book just came out. It is about self love, ” I Love Myself, Willliam’s Whys”. It explores the love that Willliam has for himself even when he makes mistakes or isn’t perfect. It is now available on amazon: https://amzn.to/34CO96t
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
LITERARY TITAN 