Guess what! October 13th is the 1st Annual International Ivy & Bean Day. Thanks to Chronicle Books, there 14 bloggers (see list below) who will be counting down the weeks until October 13th with a special Ivy & Bean post and giveaway. The winners of the giveways will be entered into a grand prize giveaway.
Chronicle Books is giving away is a copy of Ivy & Bean Book 1 to one lucky winner and a set of mini-note cards to 3 other winners. Click here to check out the Ivy & Bean official page.
Other Bloggers celebrating Ivy & Bean Blog-a-Bration:
To celebrate the first week of Ivy & Bean - I am reposting an Interview we did with Ivy & Bean back in December. Here is an excerpt from the interview. To read the whole interview, click here.
Hi Andrea,
Ivy says: We’re glad to know that you like the books about us.
Bean says: Of course she likes them. Who wouldn’t like them?
Ivy: She’s asking us what books we like besides The Amazing Book of World Records.
Bean: I don’t like any other books.
Ivy: Yes you do. You liked that book called The World of Weird: Unbelievable Animals.
Bean: Oh yeah. I did like that one. And I liked that one about how to pan for gold. Even though I never found any gold.
This week's giveaway will run from August 16th to August 22nd. Don't forget to enter the giveaway by filling in the form below:
The Winners of this week's giveaways will be entered into the Grand Prize Giveaway. Thanks Chronicle Books for this great prize pack:
A complete set of Ivy and Bean hardcover books signed by Annie Barrows
1 set of Ivy and Bean Paper Dolls
1 Ivy and Bean Button Factory
1 Ivy and Bean READ Poster signed by Annie Barrows
Set of Ivy and Bean Silly Bandz
· Set of Ivy and Bean stickers
AND – a super-secret really cool prize we’re working on (stay tuned!)
Authors: Jon Scieszka, Dan Gutman, Tim Green, Anne Ursu, Dustin Brown, Jacquelin Woodson, Chris Crutcher, James Brown, Joseph Bruchac, Gordon Korman, Chris Rylander Illustrator: Dan Santat Publisher: Walden Pond Press (July 10, 2012) Pages: 272 Audience: Grades 4 to 8 Source: Copy from the Publisher Sports * Fiction *
Description from Publisher:
A lineman with something to prove
A vendetta against a baseball legend
The rise of a real-life NHL all-star
The luckiest grapefruit in sports history
Open up The Sports Pages, the third volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading, and you're in for all of this and more. From fiction to nonfiction, from baseball to mixed martial arts and everything in between, these are ten stories about the rush of victory and the crush of defeat on and off the field. Compiled by kid-lit all-star Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: The Sports Pages is a thrilling collection of brand-new short stories from some of your favorite authors and athletes.
Check out the official book trailer for Guys Read: Funny Business:
My thoughts on the book/series:
Jon Sciezska, former National Ambassador of Young People's Literature, founded Guys Read to "help boys become self-motivated, life-long readers". One of the ways that Sciezska is working to make this mission a reality is by developing a series of books containing a collection of short stories that appeal specifically to boys. Sciezska has pulled together an all-star list of Middle Grade and Young Adult authors to develop stories around a theme. The current book is Guys Read: The Sports Pages. Each of the 10 stories in this collection celebrate or highlight some aspect of sports. I particularly enjoyed Dan Gutman's recollection of the 1986 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets in the story "How I Won the World Series". Probably because I remember watching those exact games. Though I enjoyed many of the stories in this volume, as with the other volumes, there are definitely stories that I have to remind myself that I am not the targeted audience. Some stories will be appreciated way more by a 10 or 12 year old boy than by me, and that is a good thing.
What I have come to love about this series is that I can easily read one of the stories to a group of students as part of book talking the book and know that I will quickly have students (boys and girls) raising their hands to be the first to read a copy of the book. Another aspect of the Guys Read Books is that many boys I know complain about sitting long enough to complete a book. There is a lot competing for their time. However, with a collection of short stories, readers can chose a story that appeals to them. It doesn't have to be the first story either. You can read the stories in order listed or jump around. Additionally, one story can be read easily during a silent reading time at school providing the reader with a sense of accomplishment.
Guys Read: The Giveaway:
To celebrate the release of Guys Read: The Sports Pages, Walden Pond Press will send out a set of all three (3) books in the Guys Read series. This is a great way to increase your classroom or school library with a set of books that are sure to attract readers.
1. Though comments are very much appreciated, please do not enter any
personal information in the comments section (including your email,
website, etc.). If you do enter personal information, your comment will
not be posted.
2. You must complete the entry form to official enter the giveaway.
3. The Contest runs from July 3, 2012 to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on July 10th.
4. You must be 13 years or older to participate.
5. If you are selected as the winner, you will be notified by email. If
you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
6. US participants only.
As part of the Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge 2012 (Twitter:
#nfpb2012), my goal is to read and review as many of the new
non-fiction picture books that are released this year. Wednesdays will
be my primary day to post the reviews.
I just realized that today is the last Wednesday of the month. Where did April go? Seriously!!! It is time for a giveaway. And it is also National Poetry Month. So I might be stretching this a bit to fit a poetry book into a nonfiction review, but I'll share why below. My nonfiction giveaway of the month will be a copy of Douglas Florian's unBEElievables. You have until Wednesday, May 2, 2012 to enter the contest. It is open to international participants.
Author/Illustrator: Douglas Florian Publisher: Beach Lane Books (March 2012) Number of Pages: 32 Source: Personal Copy Audience: K-5 Poetry * Bees * Nonfiction
Description from the publisher's page: The buzz is big for Douglas Florian’s new poetry collection about the unBEElieveably unique lives of honeybees—and the vital role they play in our ecosystem.
Come inside the honeycomb—a busy, buzzy, bee-filled home—and learn about the unexpected wonders of these tiny insects’ lifestyles, families, and communities. In fourteen funny, fact-filled honeybee poems and paintings, Douglas Florian explores the natural history of these often-unappreciated critters, revealing them to be a totally cool—and totally important—part of our ecosystem. Indeed, these buzzy bugs have been in the spotlight lately as wild bee populations are dwindling, honey prices are rising, and beekeeping has become a popular hobby.
My thoughts on this book:
When I first saw this book, I fell in love with it. My initial thought was how cool to mix poetry and nonfiction in the same book. Florian has a brilliant concept within the pages of this book. There are 14 poems about bees (bees, bee anatomy, queen bees, types of bees, and more), and they are all very accessible for children (or for those adults who are still trying to figure out poetry). Though I really enjoyed the poetry, I was impressed with how each poem was accompanied by a corresponding "bee fact" about the same topic as the poem. There was even a few further reading suggestions at the end.
This is certainly one of those books that can be used with various grade levels and also in different parts of a curriculum. I love books that I can keep referring to all through the year and not just for a specific unit or feature in a month. I also like things that I can share with more than one grade level and allows for multi-age projects. Additionally, Florian's illustrations had this great "kid" feel to them which gave me ideas of how to combine both art and poetry into a lesson for the students.
If you want a chance to check out this book, don't forget to enter the giveaway (no reviews necessary but you do need to fill out the form.)
Also, if you are participating in the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge, link up a recent review.
Don't forget to add a link to your own nonfiction picture book reviews
from this past week. Thanks for participating in the challenge.
Blog Tours are a fun way for readers to learn more about a new or favorite author or about an upcoming new book or a continuation on a book series. I am excited to be a part of Dom Testa's The Galahad LegacyBlog Tour. Dom has taken a moment to answer a few questions, there is an excerpt from Chapter 2, and a giveaway. So what are you waiting for...get reading.
One thing that always fascinates me is to learn how an author plans out a book series and develops the world in which his/her story takes place. The Galahad Series is comprised of six books. Did you have an idea of what kind of adventure your characters would take from the beginning or did each book unfold individually?
Alyson, this same question intrigues me when it comes to series that other authors have created. It might sound crazy, but when I began the Galahad series I had (a) no idea how many books it would eventually include, and (b) no idea of the plot for each individual volume. The first book, The Comet's Curse, ended how it needed to end, which then led me to sit down and pick up the tale in volume two, The Web of Titan. But at the end of each book I honestly didn't know what would happen in the following book. And the truth is, I really enjoyed writing them that way.
In this last book, The Galahad Legacy, there were huge questions that I didn't even know the answers to when I was halfway through the manuscript. One of the biggies, in fact - What's in the Storage Sections? - didn't occur to me until I was about a month away from finishing the book. That made it as much fun for me to find out as the readers!
Characters seem to take on a life of their own after they have been created. Did any of your characters change in unexpected ways from what you originally thought?
That's a definite Yes. Two of the main characters reached a point where they questioned their participation in the mission, and of all the characters, they would've been the LAST two I would've thought would feel that way. But the circumstances leading up to these feelings made their reactions understandable. As an author, you kinda mumble, "yeah, I suppose she WOULD feel that way."
And there was a personal relationship that began to unfold in the last book and a half, really, that I didn't see coming. I never suspected those two would get together, but they obviously were connecting while I wasn't looking.
When I think about writing a Science Fiction story, I freak out a little. The idea of researching and getting the balance between techno-babble and story to balance out seems like a challenge. What was the process like for you?
I understand what your saying about freaking out a bit, but it's probably different for me because I've always been such a science nerd. I guess it's like this: If I was just sitting around at lunch trying to share this really cool space/science info with you, your eyes might roll back in your head or you'd yawn yourself to death. But if I'm able to slip it into an action/adventure story, then it becomes part of the fabric, in a sense. Suddenly it's much more accessible to think about what it's like jumping through a wormhole when you're worried about Triana (the lead character) doing it. Will she survive? Will she make it back? What happens to you when you pass a boundary like that? In a sense, a science fiction writer is essentially camouflaging the "science" in the stories, so that it just seems natural to want to absorb it.
I went a step further, even, by creating a series of features called The Science Behind Galahad. They're short (2 or 3 pages), fun looks at some of the real science nestled within the pages of the Galahad series. I have one on Comets, one on Artificial Intelligence, one on Earth-like planets, and more to come. Teachers and readers really seem to like them.
Can you share with readers any plans for future books or what they might be able to expect from you now that the Galahad Series is ending?
I'd like to someday revisit the characters from the Galahad series and see what they're up to. I don't know what that project will look like, but I've already had a lot of inquiries about that. So it's always an option.
I'm also in the midst of creating a new series for Middle Grade/Young Adult. It's a mystery series, and I'm loving it. The first book is finished, and I'll likely finish numbers two and three before I sell it. Stay tuned.
Loving books as a reader is one thing. Wanting to write a book is another thing. Was there a book that inspired you as a reader and as a writer?
I credit the Hardy Boys and The Three Investigators as the books that really got me hooked on reading, followed by some of the sci fi masters like Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. I was in seventh grade when I read Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain, and that completely captivated me. It was real science mixed with action/adventure, which is how I see the Galahad books, too.
But the one book that convinced me to be a writer (also in seventh grade) was Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke. The last line of that book blew me away. (By the way, don't cheat and just read the last line...you have to read the whole thing first, or you'll ruin it!)
If you could write a sequel to any book (not written by you), what would it be and why?
Cool question. My gut instinct is to say "none," because I'd hate to think I took a great book and didn't fulfill the author's vision, blah blah blah. But, to play along, I'll say H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. I'd be fascinated to see what happened between the Eloi and the Morlocks.
As a child, I always wanted to insert myself into the story as I read a book either as the main character or another character in the story. Did you ever imagine yourself as a character in a book? If so, what book/character?
I thought it would be cool to be Milo from The Phantom Tollbooth.
What advice would you give to parents or teachers who are trying to encourage boys to read or read more?
My belief is that it's not so much a matter of encouraging boys to read, as it is finding the kinds of books or blogs or magazines that excite them. I'm also a believer that our culture portrays reading as a "chick thing," which is why so many boys think it's uncool for them - or unmanly. The more men that read - and make it known that they read - the more younger boys will accept it and find their own joy in it.
What does a typical writing day look like for you? Where do you write? Do you have any routines that you like to follow?
I have no firm writing time; it's truly a "write when you can" approach for me, primarily because of my hectic schedule. I host the top-rated morning radio show in Denver (The Dom and Jane Show on Mix 100), and I also run a non-profit foundation called The Big Brain Club. We help students recognize that Smart Is Cool. With all of these things on my plate, I have to carve out time to write, but, as a writer, it's what you have to do.
I've also found that I get the most writing accomplished when I leave my house. I'm too easily distracted, so I pack up my laptop and my notebooks and I get away by myself. If you see a guy in a restaurant, alone, with his laptop open and a glass of wine beside him, that's probably me.
What is currently in your To-read pile?
I'm on the third and final book in Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" trilogy. Next up will be Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith. I'd also like to read Captain Nemo, by Kevin J. Anderson. And then I'll probably find an Elmore Leonard book I haven't read yet, just to bask in the dialogue.
Alyson, thanks for the opportunity to participate in this interview with Kid Lit Frenzy, and thanks for all you do for readers and writers.
~ Dom
Thank you Dom for stopping by and for all the answers to the questions.
Check out this video of Dom talking about Creating the Curse:
Excerpt from the 2nd chapter:
“Oh, I’m bursting with thoughts,” the computer said. “But before we go on, is there any chance of getting some popcorn? How are you guys just sitting there, listening to this, without popcorn?”
“Well, let’s start with your thoughts on the wormhole,” Gap said.
“To begin with,” Roc said, “you have to stop thinking of a wormhole as a tunnel. It’s not. It’s a theoretical doorway between points in the universe, with no real depth to it. Does that make sense?”
Channy, who had been listening to everything with her fingers tented in front of her mouth, dropped her hands into her lap. “Or a window. When Triana shot through, it was like crashing through a window, from one side to the other.”
Please visit Star Shadow for the next excerpt from the second chapter of The Galahad Legacy.
DOM TESTA has been a radio show host since 1977. He is currently a co-host of the popular "Dom and Jane Show" on Mix 100 in Denver. A strong advocate of literacy programs for children, Dom began The Big Brain Club to help young people recognize that Smart Is Cool. More information on Dom Testa, his books and educational work can be found here at www.DomTesta.com.
* Saturday, April 14th: Murder by the Book, Houston, TX; 11:00 am
*Wednesday, April 18th and Thursday, April 19th: Texas Library Association Annual Conference, Houston, TX; various times
*Friday, April 20th: Barnes & Noble, 1000 Research Drive, Austin, TX; 7:00 pm
*Saturday, April 21st: Barnes & Noble, 15900 La Cantera Parkway, San Antonio, TX; 2:00 pm
Information about the Publisher:
Follow Tor Books on Twitter: @torbooks
Like the Tor Books Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/torbooks
To sign up for Tor Community Newsletter, click here.
Enter to win a copy of The Galahad Legacy - Contest Rules:
1.
Though comments are very much appreciated, please do not enter any
personal information in the comments section (including your email,
website, etc.). If you do enter personal information, you comment will
not be posted.
2. You must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
3. The Giveaway is open from April 1, 2012 to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on April 7, 2012.
4. You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
5. If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail. If
you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
Author: Andrea Menotti Illustrator: Yancy Labatt Publisher: Chronicle Books (February 29, 2012) Source: Book for Review Audience: Elementary Nonfiction * Math * Picture Book
Description from Chronicle Books: How many jelly beans are enough? How many are too many? Aiden and Emma
can’t decide. Is 10 enough? How about 1,000? That’s a lot of jelly
beans. But eaten over a whole year, it’s only two or three a day. This
giant picture book offers kids a fun and easy way to understand large
numbers. Starting with 10, each page shows more and more colorful
candies, leading up to a giant fold-out surprise—ONE MILLION JELLY
BEANS! With bright illustrations and an irresistible extra-large format,
How Many Jelly Beans? makes learning about big numbers absolutely scrumptious!
When this book arrived from the publisher, it was in a huge box. I assumed it contained several books until I opened it up and realized that this book was larger than the typical picture book and required a larger than normal box. The brightly colored jelly beans and black & white illustrations drew me in immediately. I had to read this one. Since receiving it, I have read it several times and enjoyed it every single time. I even read this one aloud to a group of teacher/librarians recently who also loved it. We couldn't stop plotting about ways to use this book with children.
The story kicks off with Emma being asked "how many jelly beans would you like?" She starts off with a conservative 10. The corresponding illustration shows 10 realistically sized jelly beans in all colors. Emma's younger brother, Aiden, though isn't as hesitant and asks for 20 jelly beans. Quickly the number goes up 25, 50, 75, 500, 1000. The two children eventually try to figure out how many jelly beans per day you would need to eat to consume 1000 in a year. Even Murphy the dog finds a way to get into the action. As the number of jelly beans goes up, the size of the jelly beans goes down. The book ends with a surprise pull-out to represent 1,000,000 jelly beans.
This is a fabulous book. It has it all - great concept, engaging illustrations, and well executed. The size of the book may be a challenge on a shelf and the pull out at the end may be a bit difficult for younger children to re-fold (think how hard it is to refold a map properly). However, this book needs to be used with children. I can see a child reading it and calling others over to "check this out". I can also see teachers using it with groups of children to discuss number sense.
Andrea Menotti and Chronicle Books have a winner on their hands. I am so excited about this book that I am giving away the copy I received (it is in perfect condition - I was careful in looking at it). And I plan on picking up several copies for the school library and for a personal copy at my local indie bookstore.
Rules for the Giveaway:
1.
Though comments are very much appreciated, please do not enter any
personal information in the comments section (including your email,
website, etc.). If you do enter personal information, you comment will
not be posted.
2. You must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
3. The Contest runs from 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 15, 2012 to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on March 22, 2012.
4. You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
5. If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail. If
you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
