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I Don’t Want to Be a Frog Written by Dev Petty Illustrated by Mike Boldt Doubleday Books for Young Readers  2/10/2015 978-0-385-37866-6 32 pages      Ages 2—6 . “Let me ask you something . . . If you could be any animal in the world, what would it be? Probably NOT a frog, right? …

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Kid Lit Reviews is pleased to welcome Frog and his father. Frog is the star in Dev Petty’s debut picture book, I Don’t Want to be a Frog! from  Doubleday Books for Young Readers and artist Mike Boldt. Frog doesn’t like being a frog. He’s rather be a cat, or an owl, or even a pig. Dad just …

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This week I am excited to be participating in the Children's Author Blog Hop! For the hop, participating authors answer four identical questions and then invite three more authors to join in the hop. I was thrilled to be invited to participate in the hop by children's book author, Laura Sassi.

Laura’s poems, stories, articles and crafts have appeared in many publications including Highlights for Children, Cricket, Ladybug, Spider, Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr., FamilyFun, and Pack-O-Fun. She has a passion for playing with words and rhyming. Her first (awesome!) picture book, GOODNIGHT, ARK,  is now published by Zonderkidz, a HarperCollins Company. And Laura has a second book, GOODNIGHT, MANGER, slated for publication soon. Laura is represented by Lara Perkins of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Laura writes from her century-old home in New Jersey where she lives with her awesome husband, two adorable kids, and a black cockapoo named Sophie.

Thanks so very much, Laura, for inviting me to join in the hop!  And now for my answers to those four questions:



WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?

Right now, I am busy drafting and revising several picture book manuscripts. I tend to hop between manuscripts as I work until my excitement for one really catches fire. Then I work on it in every spare moment I can possibly find, trying to make every word and idea as perfect as I possibly can. Most recently I experienced this intense passion with a manuscript I was drafting about outer space.

HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM OTHER WORKS IN THE GENRE?

I love it when I can give a new twist to a familiar topic. An editor referred to it as a thematic mash up, and I love that description. But I don't want to reveal what the mash up is just yet... :o)

WHY DO YOU WRITE WHAT YOU DO?

I have wanted to write children's books since I was a child. But initially I imagined that I would write chapter books. I think I was one of the few beginning children's writers who thought that picture books would be too hard. In the beginning I wrote many, many manuscripts (short stories, magazine articles, poems and chapter books). And my first picture book efforts were pretty rough, I think. But somehow more and more picture books kept coming out of me and somehow I've turned into a (mainly) picture book writer. (which I love!)

WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT WRITING?

Sometimes I think the hardest part about writing is staring at a blank page. Or getting to the end. It is so much fun to start revising once I get a rough draft down. But each round of revisions presents its own challenges. Especially when I have a revision request from my agent or my editor and I am trying to get it just right.

And now for the three amazing children's book authors I get to share with you on this hop:


ROBIN CONSTANTINE: Robin writes YA novels and her debut novel, THE PROMISE OF AMAZING from Balzer + Bray is now available. And her next book, THE SECRETS OF ATTRACTION, is coming soon! Let me tell you, Robin's writing really truly is amazing! I was lucky enough to be in a critique group with Robin when we both lived in New Jersey. At the first meeting I attended, some of Robin's chapters were up for critique. From the moment I started reading, I knew that I was going to be reading Robin's work in print one day. And now that day is here and you can all read her wonderful stories too. Hooray! You can visit Robin on the web at www.robinconstantine.com and you can follow her on Twitter @RConstantine14.



DORINE WHITE: Dorine is a children's author and book reviewer. The first book in her Cleopatra's Legacy series, THE EMERALD RING, was published by Cedar Fort Books. It is an exciting middle fantasy novel that involves ancient Egypt, Cleopatra, and a magic emerald ring. I had the pleasure of meeting Dorine at an SCBWI conference and my son and I had so much fun attending her wonderful book launch for THE EMERALD RING. THE EMERALD RING was a great read-aloud for my then 6-year-old and I to share together and we enjoyed Dorine's sequel, THE RUBY PENDANT equally as much. Both books had so much excitement and suspense (which he and I both love)! My son and I are both looking forward to the next book in the series! You can visit Dorine on the web at www.dorinewhite.com or follow her on Twitter @DorineWhite.


Hope you enjoy checking out all these wonderful authors! Happy Hopping!

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See now, this is what I get for waiting when I see a good video.  I’ve been doing my Video Sundays a little less frequently since I like to do them when the content is primo.  The flipside is that sometimes I get scooped.  Such is the case with today’s video.  It is a delight and I have watched it multiple times, but it’s not as new as it once was.  No matter.  You will enjoy it thoroughly, I think.  Thanks to Jon Scieszka and, by extension, Lisa Brown for the link.

Next up, a triple threat.  He writes books like Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities (which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed).  He blogs at Mike Jung’s Little Bloggy Wog.  But the kicker?  He sings.  And goldurnit . . . he’s good.

Brother Iz step aside.  I may have to rework my children’s book boy band roster around to include him.  Dude has pipes.

Speaking of music, I am of the opinion that a catchy score can make or break a book trailer.  Example A: As the Crow Flies by Sheila Keenan and Kevin Duggan.  Catchy as all get out.

And where would this little trailer for the oh-so Canadian Little Jack Horner LIVE from the Corner be without its catchy tunes?  Only author Helaine Becker and illustrator Mike Boldt know for sure.

In other news, J.K. Rowling was in town.  Care to watch her chatter?  Here’s the uncut interview with Jon Stewart in all it Daily Showy glory.

Finally, our off-topic video comes to us from good man Mike Lewis.  As he says, it’s the reactions that make this one a classic.

Love it!

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It was kind of a kooky idea, I admit it.  I’ve seen plenty of sites where artists will reinterpret someone like Maurice Sendak in their own styles.  What I wanted was something a little different.  I wanted to see what would happen if great children’s book illustrators illustrated one another.  If a Lobel illustrated a Bemelmans.  If a Carle illustrated a Silverstein.  Trouble is, famous folk have a way of not bothering to illustrate one another (to say nothing of the fact that a bunch of them are dead as doornails).  The solution?  To offer a silly fun challenge.  And so the Re-Seussification Project was offered: To re-illustrate any Dr. Seuss book in the style of another illustrator.

Now there was some question at first about revealing the identities of the people making the mash-ups.  Some folks thought this fun contest was unfortunate because I wasn’t celebrating the great talents of up-and-coming artists.  So as a compromise, I’ll present the art first and then the names of the artists at the bottom of the page.  Makes it a little more streamlined anyway.

And now . . . the moment you’ve all been waiting for . . . in the order of the faux artists, here’s the lot!

So, we’re all friends here, right?  Right off the bat I’m going to make a confession.  In offering this contest all I really wanted was for someone somewhere to do an Eric Carle.  It was a lot to ask since we’re talking about an artist dealing in the medium of cut paper.  It looked like it wasn’t going to happen.  Then, last night, the final submission was sent in and it was . . .

1. GREEN EGGS AND HAM IN AN ERIC CARLE STYLE

A brilliant way to start us off!

Next up, I’ve fond memories of this book.  As a child of Kalamazoo I was slightly obsessed with any and every mention of my hometown, no matter where it might be.  Dr. Seuss was one of the few authors to understand the true glory of my hometown’s name and for that I shall forever be grateful.  It lifts my heart a little then to see him memorialized in the form of . . .

2. HORTON HATCHES THE EGG IN A LAURENT DE BRUNHOFF STYLE

I particularly like how worried Babar appears.  One thing’s for certain.  That elephant bird is gonna be one snappy dresser.

This next image didn’t go the easy route, no sir.  Some illustrators have styles that are easier to imitate than others.  For this next one I was incredibly impressed by the sheer details at work.  From the border to the font to the colors to the fact that this looks like an honest-to-gosh watercolor.  Hold onto your hats folks, for you are now in the presence of . . .

3. GREEN EGGS AND HAM IN A TOMIE DEPAOLA STYLE

The best part is that his name is signed with dePaola’s customary little heart.  THAT is the attention to detail I crave.

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