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Take a look at our selection of hot new releases and popular kids' books and let us know which titles and covers catch your eyes. There are so many amazing new kids books coming in 2016!

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Trees are so much a part of our daily lives, whether we take them for granted or find ourselves fighting for their survival: so it is perhaps unsurprising that there are many stories from all over the world that feature trees, woods or forests as a central theme or ‘character’… … Continue reading ... →

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Award-winning author Jerdine Nolen‘s picture books often tell stories that blend fantasy and realism in an unsettling way that delights young readers and fires their imaginations, from her first book Harvey Potter’s Balloon Farm, which was made into a … Continue reading ... →

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Happy Friday, Everyone!

Guess what?

We got snow last night!

Have you had your first snow yet this year?

I'm afraid I wasn't ready with a book about snow, but I do have a lovely story of fall and friendship to share today :)

Title: The Very Best Pumpkin
Written By: Mark Kimball Moulton
Illustrated By: Karen Hillard Good
Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, August 2010, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: friendship, seasons (autumn), nature/gardening (pumpkins)

Opening: "Down a winding country lane and over a rolling hill you'll find Pumpkin Hollow Farm, where a young boy named Peter lives with his grandparents, Mimi and Papa."

Brief Synopsis: While caring for pumpkins on his grandparents' farm, Peter discovers a little lonely one all off by itself.  He takes special care of it, and it grows into a beautiful perfect pumpkin.  Will he save it for himself?  Or give it to someone special?


Links To Resources: the back of the book has "Peter's Guide To Growing Your Own Very Best Pumpkin"; easy recipe for pumpkin bread; Jack-O-Lantern and Pumpkin Coloring Pages; go for a walk and look for signs of autumn; talk about how to make a friend

Why I Like This Book: The story is simple, sweet, and very appealing.  Peter tends the pumpkins while Meg, brand new to the neighborhood and given to sitting alone and reading, keeps an interested (but distant) eye on the proceedings.  When Meg comes to the pumpkin farm to pick a pumpkin, she can't find the right one... until Peter leads her out to his special pumpkin (which he has carefully saved, knowing she has been there watching) and gives it to her - the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  The art is warm, and inviting - full of charm and homey details.  All around, a comforting and cozy read.  And you get to learn a little something about growing pumpkins as an added bonus :)

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Before we all go off to read everyone's wonderful selections for the week, I want to thank you all for your kind and supportive comments on Wednesday.  Such thoughtfulness and friendship truly make dealing with rejection easier, and your kindness meant so much to me.  And I just want you to know that I didn't write that post with the intent of getting sympathy - I wanted to share the things that matter to me, the things I love about my writing life, along with the reality of this path we've chosen.  I wanted other writers not to feel alone on their hard days because we all have them.  And I wanted people to know that rejection can happen at any stage in your writing career - it's not just for those who are new to the publishing world!  It just goes with the territory.  And maybe the rejections help us savor the acceptances just that much more, the disappointments making the joy that much sweeter. All that said, I very much appreciated your sympathy and feel lucky to have such friends! :)  And I hope any of you who gets an acceptance will come over here and shout it from the rooftops so we can all celebrate with you! :)

Oh!  And one more thing!  On Monday (good lord willing and the creek don't rise!) I will have a special post to share with y'all!  It's something good... something exciting... something full of potential goodies... so you won't want to miss it!  Come right over when you wake up on Monday!!!

PPBF bloggers please be sure to leave your post-specific link in the list below so we can all come visit you!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! :)

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Why create a Curriculum Guide for your books?  

“A discussion guide and/or activity guide is a valuable way for teachers, librarians and parents to give a book more depth and breadth,” says illustrator Melissa Sweet who collaborated with me on SPIKE, THE MIXED-UP MONSTER. Today, there’s more interest than ever in these guides. Why? Two words: Common Core. Educators everywhere are looking for ways to incorporate this new mandate.

And once you have a guide, it’s a win-win-win situation!

• For kids, the games, crafts and activities are fun. They encourage kids to play with ideas they’ve learned from the book and to dive deeper into the subject matter.

• For teachers, the guide helps them incorporate your book into lesson plans, especially if the guide aligns with the Common Core.

• For you, the guide increases your book’s exposure and lets you elaborate on ideas you’ve introduced. It makes a dandy handout for school and library visits and can drive traffic to your website.

What are the different kinds of guides?

Activity Guides

These offer interactive activities, such as cut-out masks, holiday cards, finger puppets, bookmarks and so on. They may include directions for games, activities, songs, recipes, and crafts.

Discussion Guides

These guides have more text, fewer cut-outs.  They might provide interviews with the author and illustrator, discussion prompts, projects and extension activities. They list questions to ask kids and suggest additional books, websites and resources.  See Michelle Markel and Melissa Sweet’s Discussion Guide for BRAVE GIRL.

All of the Above 

Our SPIKE, THE MIXED-UP MONSTER Curriculum Guide has something for everyone—pages of interactive cut-out, crayon and drawing activities for kids, plus book-related questions that align with the Common Core for educators.

How do you create a Curriculum Guide?

Talk to your publisher. More and more houses are interested in developing them.  Some will work with the author and illustrator. Others will hire an outside reading specialist to write discussion questions, illustrated with pick-up art from the book.

For our book SPIKE, THE MIXED-UP MONSTER, Melissa Sweet and I agreed to work on the guide together.  I came up with the games and wrote the copy. (As the former Children’s Content Director of Nick Jr. Magazine, they were right up my alley!) Melissa did sketches for some pages and we used pick-up art from the book for other pages. We submitted the “manuscript” and later sketches to our editor and then worked with the Simon & Schuster marketing department to have the guide designed and copy-edited.  Simon & Schuster also hired a literacy specialist, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer to add a discussion guide with questions that align to the Common Core. Tracie says, “I’ve been writing guides for 10 years. My focus is to really try to find what’s unique about the book and bring that forward for teachers to use in their classroom. The new push is the alignment with The Common Core Standards, which I’ve been trained in extensively over the last two years.”

Who pays the costs?

Sometimes the publisher, sometimes you! For my book JUST SAY BOO,

I worked with my illustrator Jed Henry to create Halloween cards, masks, paper dolls, a charades card game, and more.  Jed agreed to create some original art and we used some pick-up art as well.  We both donated our time and then I hired a former Nick Jr. designer, Jennifer Starr, to put it together. This is key. Without a good designer, your guide won’t look professional or be as appealing.

How long does it take?

It depends on the scope of the guide. Our SPIKE guide is 15-pages long and includes original art so the production process took several months.  Guides that are mostly text or use pickup art will take less time. 

How does it get distributed?

You, your illustrator and your publisher post the guide as a free downloadable PDF on your websites, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest accounts. I also take copies along to school and library visits, conferences and other venues. To keep costs down, I might copy one or two pages, do those activities with the kids, and then provide the school the link for more. Or you can email your school contacts ahead of time and have the school download the guide before your visit.

To download the SPIKE, THE MIXED-UP MONSTER Curriculum Guide, visit: www.susanhoodbooks.com

For wonderful ideas for teaching SPIKE developed by the professors of Lesley University, see http://march23rdhandout.blogspot.com/p/panel-i.html

Have more questions? To get more information about creating guides, contact [email protected].

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Filed under: authors and illustrators, Interview, Marketing a book, Process, Tips Tagged: Curriculum Guide, Melissa Sweet, Paula Wiseman Books, Simon & Schuster, Spike the Mixed up Monster, Susan Hood

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"She shifts in her seat. She cranes her neck. She squints.
She carries on, flying blind.

1:00 a.m. The friendly night becomes a graph of fear:
a jagged line between where-I-am and not-quite-sure."

In May of 1932, Amelia Earhart boarded her red Lockheed Vega plane and set off on a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland. Her flight wasn't without challenges and despite inclement weather, a broken altimeter and other mechanical problems, she endeavored on to become the first woman to fly alone non-stop across the Atlantic. The talented Robert Burleigh takes readers along on this incredible journey by describing the flight in dramatic verses. His emotion-filled version of the harrowing, forever famous fifteen hour trip is an exceptional biographical work about Amelia Earhart, the bold and courageous aviatrix and her amazing trip.

Robert Burleigh on his website describes his book writing goals stating, "I like the book to convey the feeling of immediacy." Truly, while reading Night Flight it does seem as though you are right there, accompanying Earhart every step of the way. Wendell Minor's illustrations add to the drama and suspense, skillfully showing the white-knuckle, heart pounding moments flying over a churning ocean in darkness and finally the beauty and relief after a successful flight. Minor carefully researched the specifics of Earhart's plane before making the illustrations so that he could provide historically accurate paintings. The endpapers show a schematic of the plane and a map illustrating Earhart's flight path across the ocean. An afterward and other notes and quotes provide background information pertaining to Amelia Earhart's life.

Powerful, brilliant, fascinating, beautiful -- both my children sat quietly listening and hung onto every word as we read the story and took in the pictures together. What an incredible way to experience a moment of history, a remarkable night flight, and learn about the woman who at one time declared, "Everyone has his own Atlantics to fly. Whatever you want very much to do, against the opposition of tradition, neighborhood opinion, and so-called common sense -- that is an Atlantic."

Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic by Robert Burleigh, paintings by Wendell Minor. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
(February 2011); ISBN 9781416967330; 40 pages
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