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These reindeers created by Christine Brallier are getting ready to take off on their Christmas Eve trip to help Santa deliver his gifts. It is from her children’s book, The Night Before Christmas.  The illustrations were created by Christine using stained glass mosaics. http://www.cbmosaics.com/book/

Creator of Clifford the Big Red Dog Norman Bridwell, 86, died last Friday at a hospital on Martha’s Vineyard. Scholastic says his over 150 titles have 129 million copies in print worldwide. Scholastic CEO Dick Robinson said, “Norman personified the values that we as parents and educators hope to communicate to our children – kindness, compassion, helpfulness, gratitude – through the Clifford stories which have been loved for more than fifty years.”

Jama Kim Rattigan on her blog, Jama’s Alphabet Soup, featured H CATCH THAT COOKIE. I feature the book written by Hallie Drand (A.K.A Holly McGhee) and illustrated by David Small in August. You can click their names to view those posts. But Jama’s post are so much fun. She always ties books in with recipes.

I think I am going to try the recipe for the cookies in the post and show them off like she did with the book during Christmas.

Below is a list of the Ingredients, click the Directions at the bottom to jump back over to Jama’s blog to read the rest and see her fun display of her cookies and the book.

GINGERBREAD CUTOUT COOKIES

Total Time: Prep: 30 minutes + chilling. Bake: 10 minutes/batch + cooling.

Yield: 60 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Vanilla frosting of your choice
• Red and green paste food coloring

Directions:

Children’s writer Jennifer Reinharz reported a few months ago that she became a contributing writer at Mamalode. Her second article, A Letter to my Palestinian-American Muslim Friend has been posted. They track the number of unique views, likes, comments, and shares and they base her success on this, so if you get a chance take a minute to read her new article.

Jennifer says, “My path to Kidlit author has yet to be a straight line, but I can’t help but think that getting a chance to connect and share one of my stories with the Mommies, etc. is an example of heading right direction.”

This is a goods lesson for all of us. You just never know where your next success will come from and how one little thing can lead to another.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

HAPPY LABOR DAY! 

Since it is now September, I figured I would post this opportunity for those children’s writers and Illustrators who live within driving distance in Michigan, New Jersey , PA, and New York to met David Small and Holly McGhee.

The third poster down: Studio B in Maplewood, NJ is bringing together five children’s author/illustrators to discuss the process of writing a children’s book.

You can see all the details in the posters below:

A COMPLETE LIST OF APPEARENCES:

Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 6 P.M., Kalamazoo Public Library

A Conversation with David Small & Hallie Durand

315 South Rose Street , Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Here’s the link.

Thursday, September 11, 2014, 5:00 P.M., Bookbug, Kalamazoo

Cookie hunt & Book signing

3019 Oakland Dr, Kalamazoo, MI 49008

And here’s the link for that one.

Saturday, September 13 2014, 3:00 P.M., Maplewood Library

Scavenger hunt & Cookie decorating, with a live rogue cookie!

51 Baker Street, Maplewood, NJ 07040

http://www.maplewoodlibrary.org/kids-events/

Sunday, September 14, 2014, 12:00 P.M., Paramus Public Library

Scavenger hunt & Reading, with a live rogue cookie!

E116 Century Road, Paramus, NJ 07652

RSVP 201-599-1309

Sunday, September 14, 2014, Studio B Honcho

Scratches & Scribbles Event for aspiring or already arrived Writers & Artists

60 Woodland Road, Maplewood, NJ 07040

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/830322

Monday, September 15, 4:00 P.M., WordsMaplewood Bookstore

Hallie Durand & David Small

Quick Drawing Lesson, Shapes & Contours, & Book Signing

179 Maplewood Avenue, Maplewood, NJ 07040

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

          
          
Now here's a book that's got my name written all over it.

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed my subtle tendency total obsession with baking and sweets. Like most writers, I am especially mad for chocolate. Dessert First by Hallie Durand features some particularly decadent chocolate and more than satisfied my present craving.

Eight-year-old Dessert Schneider (whose family owns the Fondue Paris restaurant), is just the kind of spunky, quirky little minx I love to read about. She follows in the tradition of Eloise, Ramona, Junie B., and Clementine -- the type of character who gets into the kind of mischief we'd secretly like to, if only we had the nerve.

When her third grade teacher, Mrs. Howdy Doody, encourages the class to march to their own drummers, Dessert decides eating dessert before supper is the way to go. She doesn't succeed with lemon squares or rice pudding, but cleverly finds a way to win her parents' approval with hermit cookies. 

Crediting Mrs. Howdy Doody with changing her whole life, Dessert is then committed to forever blazing her own trail, even if it leads straight to trouble -- notably, scarfing down an entire box of verboten Double-Decker Chocolate Bars. How could she resist? They called to her from the refrigerator in all their dark, fudgy glory. It's inconceivable that something so good could make her feel so bad. Dessert must find a way to redeem herself for this terrible mistake, as well as go an entire two weeks without any dessert at all, after she's tricked by her arch nemesis, Amy D., in a class fundraising project.


Hallie (center) with Normana Schaaf, the real Mrs. Howdy Doody.

A fun, fast read, Dessert First is well paced with a good balance of scenes taking place at school, home, and at the family's restaurant. The other characters are appealing and keep things lively and interesting. Mrs. Howdy Doody, who champions individualism, is the kind of teacher every parent appreciates -- patient, kind, and there to offer much needed comfort and understanding when a child is troubled. Dessert's younger sister, Charlie, and her brothers Wolfie and Mushy (the Beasties) round out the rambunctious family unit, providing lots of noise and laughs. And of course Guston and Dominique from the restaurant add a French flavor to the mix. How tempting to read about Dessert dunking strawberry hats, cookie braids and animal pretzels into bowls of Maisie's Melted Lollipop Fondue!   

All fun aside, Dessert's flaws make her human and believable. Sneaky, persistent, crafty and brazen, her genuine remorse endears her to the reader. The way she handles the fundraising project illustrates her ability to successfully meet a challenge without compromising who she is. At the end, we see that her love of dessert remains undiminished, though her perception of just what is best and how it should be eaten has changed: "sometimes dessert tastes better when you save it for last" -- a great sentiment in this day and age of instant gratification.

    
      Fondue Paris is based on loulou, a French bistro in Brooklyn
      formerly owned by Hallie's friend, Christine Snell,
      who also gave her the famous red fondue pot.

Durand (a.k.a. Holly McGhee of Pippin Properties), says Dessert popped into her head after sharing a slice of iced lemon cake with her best friend. A character who signs her name with a maraschino cherry seemed destined for some pretty tasty adventures. Add to the recipe a red fondue pot Hallie received from a French bistro-owning friend, a favorite family recipe for those scrumptious Double-Ds, and you have the inspiration for an irresistible story that gently teaches many life lessons: taking responsibility for your actions, the importance of self control, and knowing that even though you make mistakes, you are still loved and can find a way to make amends.

Guaranteed to induce hunger, Dessert First is recommended for those who like to taste their words while reading them: pineapple upside-down cake, Snickers cake, flourless chocolate cake, petit fours, snickerdoodles, raspberry truffle bars, apricot pockets, seven-layer bars, et. al. You get the idea. Selected for the Summer 2009 Indie Kids' List, it's the first book in what promises to be a divinely delicious series.

Now let's get to those scrumptious Double-Decker Chocolate bars, shall we?


Nom nom.

Back in her 4-H days, Hallie typed a bunch of recipes, including Double-Ds, for her sister Laurel's birthday:

     

MORE GOODNESS:

For an excerpt from the book, click here.

Great interviews with Hallie Durand at Hope is the Word and The Children's Book Review. Find out what her favorite desserts are, and about the time she worked the 3 - 6 a.m. shift with a baker named George!

Nice review at The Reading Zone.

Keep up with Dessert news at Hallie Durand's Facebook Fan Page!

    
       Don't miss the surprise under the book jacket!

Dessert First by Hallie Durand
Illustrated by Christine Davenier
Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2009
Ages 7-10, 153 pp.
Source: Library Copy


Dessert and her classmates will be back for the second book in the series, Just Desserts, to be released May 2010!

More 2009 Fall for Restaurants posts here.

*Photos posted by permission of author, copyright © 2009 Hallie Durand. All rights reserved.

*Spreads posted by permission, text copyright © 2009 Hallie Durand, illustrations © 2009 Christine Davenier, published by Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.