For Kids

Children’s Book Festivals!

By on April 13, 2018   /   For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

Little Annie looked at me across the table, her big brown eyes dancing. With a flick of my Sharpie, I finished signing a copy of Virginia Hamilton: America’s Storyteller for Annie. She took the book, her eyes even wider, thanked me, and then held it close to her, cradling it in her arms. A cherished gift for her.

And for me.

Book festivals allow these kinds of connections between reader and book creators. They provide the opportunity for attendees to meet their favorite authors and illustrators, and to purchase books and have them personally signed. These events also offer writers and artists to meet their fans and to talk about their work.

There are hundreds of literary festivals occurring in the United States annually. But did you know that there are many that cater to children and families?

As the founder of Claire’s Day, I thought I’d share other festivals (for the remainder of this year) that focus on children’s book authors and illustrators.

This partial listing serves as a resource for educators, media specialists and parents, as well as authors and illustrators!

The 17th annual Claire’s Day has three event dates this year, the first three Saturdays in May. A highlight of each event is the C.A.R.E. Awards, given to children nominated as being the most improved readers in their schools. Event includes school visits and fun Claire’s Night! www.clairesday.org

May 9: The Hudson Children’s Book Festival was established in 2009, and this year the featured author is none other than Kwame Alexander. https://hudsonchildrensbookfestival.com/

May 19: Children’s Festival of Reading in Knoxville, Tennessee offers storytelling, cuddly characters, science fun, and of course, authors and illustrators. This year Linda Sue Park and Eric Litwin are the featured authors. http://www.knoxlib.org/calendar-programs/childrens-festival-reading-2018

September 29: Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival features 90, count them, 90 children’s book authors and illustrators! To learn more, visit http://www.ccbfestival.org/

October 12-14 Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival’s theme this year is Here’s an Idea! The 9th annual event includes school visits and a two-day festival. http://www.sheboyganchildrensbookfestival.org/

November 3: Rochester Children’s Book Festival is still working on their invitation-only author list, but they’ve had incredible lineups in the past. To get updates, visit https://www.rcbfestival.com/

For a complete listing, I’d like to credit Laurie Renaud, a member of KidLit 411. Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/groups/KIDLIT411/permalink/2162580407290904/

 

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Interview with Newbery Winner, Erin Entrada Kelly

By on April 12, 2018   /   Diversity, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

I recently had the pleasure of talking to 2018 Newbery Winner, Erin Entrada Kelly, about her her newest middle-grade novel You Go First, which hit bookstores this week. In addition to winning the Newbery for Hello, Universe, Erin has won many other awards for her middle-grade novels, including the 2017 APALA Award for The Land of Forgotten Girls and the 2016 Golden Kite Honor Award for Blackbird Fly. You Go First was a Spring Indie Next Pick and a Junior Library Guild Selection.

Erin was raised in Louisiana, but now lives in the Philadelphia area. She is a professor of children’s literature in the graduate fiction and publishing programs at Rosemont College. Erin is also a short story writer. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Philippines Free Press Literary Award for Short Fiction and the Pushcart Prize. Erin has a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies and liberal arts from McNeese State University and an MFA in creative writing from Rosemont. Welcome, Erin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First let me say congratulations on winning the Newbery Medal and on the release this week of your fourth middle-grade novel. I know that you’re also an accomplished short story writer, and I’m wondering what attracts you to writing for the eight-to-twelve-year-old reader. In my opinion, it’s one of the most important phases of life. Tweens are not quite children, but not quite teenagers. At that age — particularly 11 and 12, which is the age of virtually all my characters — you’re looking for acceptance from your peers and trying to figure out who you are as an individual. Unfortunately, these two things don’t always go hand-in-hand. You want to be yourself, but you also want to fit in, so the pressure to conform is palpable. It’s a difficult age. It takes resilience to emerge unscathed. I remember being 12 as easily as I remember yesterday. That’s how weighty, difficult, and impressionable that phase was for me.

You Go First is such a heartfelt novel about two lonely kids who live far apart. What was the spark that gave you the idea to write about these two characters? Thank you! I wanted to write about two people who struggle with the pressures of middle school and tweendom while dealing with their unusual adult sensibilities. I love writing about underdogs and outcasts, and Charlotte and Ben are both of those things.

One of the many things I loved about You Go First was all the interesting facts at the beginning of Charlotte’s chapters. I pictured your head spinning with all of that wonderful knowledge. I’m curious as to whether you were like Charlotte and had been collecting these facts all your life or whether you looked them up specifically for the novel. Most of Charlotte’s “rabbit holes” were specifically researched for the book, but there were several that I already knew. I’ve traveled down many rabbit holes in my life. When I was a kid, I loved looking things up in the encyclopedia. This was before the internet, back when people actually had encyclopedia sets. I would sit down, pick a letter, open a page, and start reading.

One thing that struck me while reading the two point-of-view characters in You Go First is that although you’re writing in third person, it feels like first person. We’re so much in the minds of these characters. Can you share your secret on how you do this? I wish I could! I’m not sure how it happens. My characters come to me fully formed before I ever put a word on paper. I get to know them very well.

The characters in your novels tend to be outsiders. Is there a reason you’re attracted to writing that type of character? Because I was an outsider, and I know how difficult it can be. I have an affinity for kids (and adults) who veer away from the beaten path. It takes moxie to be an outsider. And they are often underestimated — by themselves and others.

I know you’re a professor of writing, and I’m sure our readers, who might also be writers, would love to hear a couple of your best tips on how to create the type of characters you write about–characters with a great deal of depth, heart, and authenticity. What an incredible compliment! A few pieces of advice I like to give: Know what your character is most afraid of. Know what they want most out of life. And find out how they feel about their name. Names are very personal. You’d be surprised the things our characters will reveal when we ask them how they feel about theirs.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? I’m currently working on my first MG fantasy, which is inspired by Filipino folklore. I can’t wait to share it with readers. It’s tentatively scheduled for summer 2019.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions. Thank YOU! 

Twelve-year-old Charlotte Lockard and eleven-year-old Ben Boxer are separated by more than a thousand miles. On the surface, their lives seem vastly different—Charlotte lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while Ben is in the small town of Lanester, Louisiana. Charlotte wants to be a geologist and keeps a rock collection in her room. Ben is obsessed with Harry Potter, presidential history, and recycling. But the two have more in common than they think. They’re both highly gifted. They’re both experiencing family turmoil. And they both sit alone at lunch. Over the course of a week, Charlotte and Ben—online friends connected only by a Scrabble game—will intersect in unexpected ways, as they struggle to navigate the turmoil of middle school.

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April New Releases

By on April 2, 2018   /   Book Lists, Common Core & NGSS, Cross-Curricular, Curriculum Tie-in, Diversity, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, MUF Contributor Books, New Releases, Nonfiction, STEM  

While April is supposed to bring showers, let’s all hope it actually brings good weather to some places across the country. But, if you do find yourself inside on a rainy day, check out some of these amazing new books. They are sure to delight!

Let’s start with a big Congrats to two of our very own MUF members, Michelle Houts and Tricia Springstubb, for their new books!

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgCount the Wings by Michelle Houts ( Ohio University Press)

When you look at a bird, do you see feathers and a beak? Or do you see circles and triangles? Artist Charley Harper spent his life reducing subjects to their simplest forms, their basic lines and shapes. This resulted in what he called minimal realism and the style that would become easily recognized as Charley Harper’s. Art fans and nature lovers around the world fell in love with Harper’s paintings, which often featured bright colors and intriguing nature subjects. Count the Wings is the first book for middle-grade readers about Harper’s life and work.

Cody and the Heart of a Champion by Tricia Springstubb (Candlewick Press)

What secret is Spencer keeping? Will Wyatt and old P.U. finally become boyfriend and girlfriend? Why does Pearl listen to that big boss Madison? Cody’s got a lot to figure out in the fourth and last book in this lively, award-winning series about a diverse cast of characters and their adventures.

 

Rebound by Kwame Alexander (HMH BFYR)

From the New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander comes Rebound, a dynamic novel in verse and companion to his Newbery Award-winner, The Crossover, illustrated with striking graphic novel panels.

Before Josh and Jordan Bell were streaking up and down the court, their father was learning his own moves. In this prequel to Newbery Medal winner The Crossover, Chuck Bell takes center stage, as readers get a glimpse of his childhood and how he became the jazz music worshiping, basketball star his sons look up to.

 

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Warriors: A Vision of Shadows #5: River of Fire by Erin Hunter (Harper Collins)

Erin Hunter’s #1 bestselling Warriors series continues in A Vision of Shadows #5: River of Fire. This hardcover edition includes a double-sided jacket with a bonus poster!

StarClan’s prophecy has been fulfilled, and the long-lost SkyClan has returned to its rightful place among the other four warrior Clans. Many cats believe the danger is past. But after moons of division and strife, ShadowClan is in danger of falling apart forever….

 

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The Creature of the Pines (The Unicorn Rescue Society) by
by Adam Gidwitz (Dutton BFYR)

A fully illustrated, globe-trotting new middle grade fantasy-adventure series about mythical creatures and their cultures of origin, from the Newbery Honor-winning author of The Inquisitor’s Tale.

Elliot Eisner isn’t exactly excited about starting at a brand-new school in a brand-new town; he’d much rather stay at home and read a book. But things take an unexpected turn when he finds out his weird new teacher, Professor Fauna, has planned a field trip for Elliot’s very first day. Along with a new friend–brave, outspoken Uchenna Devereaux–Elliot gets caught up in a secret group of adventurers, The Unicorn Rescue Society, whose goal is to protect and defend the world’s mythical creatures. Together with Professor Fauna, Elliot and Uchenna must help rescue a Jersey Devil from a duo of conniving, greedy billionaires, the Schmoke Brothers.

 

 

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Wedgie & Gizmo vs. the Toof  by Suzanne Selfors (Katherine Tegen Books)

Wedgie LOVES the new micro-pig next door. And she LOVES him! They both like to go for walks and roll in smelly things. They are going to be in the school pet parade together. They are best friends. But Gizmo knows the truth. The pig is Wedgie’s new sidekick. Super Wedgie and the Toof have teamed up to stop Gizmo from taking over the world.

But they will not win! Gizmo is an evil genius. He is smarter than most comic book villains. And more powerful than even Darth Vader! He ordered a flying machine online and he will use it to set free all the guinea pigs at the pet parade.


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Point Guard (Home Team) by Mike Lupica (S & S BFYR)

Gus and Cassie have always been on the same team off the field, but in this third novel in New York Times bestselling author Mike Lupica’s Home Team series can they stay friends when they’re on the same court?

 

You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow Books) Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

Twelve-year-old Charlotte Lockard and eleven-year-old Ben Boxer are separated by more than a thousand miles. On the surface, their lives seem vastly different—Charlotte lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while Ben is in the small town of Lanester, Louisiana. Charlotte wants to be a geologist and keeps a rock collection in her room. Ben is obsessed with Harry Potter, presidential history, and recycling. But the two have more in common than they think. They’re both highly gifted. They’re both experiencing family turmoil. And they both sit alone at lunch.

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

The Backward Season (Wishing Day) by Lauren Myracle (Katherine Tegen Boooks)

Now that her sisters Natasha and Darya have had their turn, Ava Blok finally gets her Wishing Day. But after seeing the unintended consequences of the wishes her sisters made, she’s not sure what to wish for. The only thing she’s certain of is that it’s her job to set things right.

 

 

Hopeful that she can put her broken family back together, and eager to prove her pessimistic older sisters wrong, Ava realizes that fixing the future means changing the past. Will the journey her wishes take her on end up costing her everything?

 

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