Today is D.E.A.R. day– otherwise known as Drop Everything and Read. It’s a celebration of late author Beverly Cleary’s birthday; she would have been 105 today (April 12.)
The reference comes from one of Cleary’s most beloved books, RAMONA QUIMBY, AGE 8. The day is designed to remind families to celebrate reading and to make it a priority in their lives. We at MUF are always happy to carve out at least 30 minutes today just to read! And today, perhaps we’ll also have a cake and toast to Beverly Cleary and the wonderful legacy of literature she left us. (We’re also always happy to have cake!)
In addition to spending part of your day reading, you can hop on Twitter where Cleary’s publisher, HarperCollins Children’s, is looking for your Cleary remembrance tweets with the hashtag: #WeLoveBeverlyCleary
Heather Murphy Capps has always had a deep appreciation for comfort and elegance. She and Claudia would have run out of money quickly together but would absolutely have been on the same page about taxis and nice restaurants. And of course, solving mysteries about beautiful art. That said, Heather also appreciates Jamie’s love of complication, which is why she spent several years living in rural Kenya and then became a television news reporter, which involved standing for hours in the middle of hurricanes and political battles. Now she’s raising middle-grade readers and writing for them. She loves to read and write books with lots of great science, magic, mystery, and adventure. Heather is the communications coordinator for Mixed-Up Files, as well as creator/curator for our We Need Diverse MG series. She is committed to creating more diversity in publishing.
In today’s Author Spotlight, Jo Hackl chats with author Landra Jennings about her new middle-grade novel, Wand (Clarion Books, October 31). She’ll share her inspiration behind writing it, the works of literature that influenced it,...
From the Mixed-Up Files is the group blog of middle-grade authors celebrating books for middle-grade readers. For anyone with a passion for children’s literature—teachers, librarians, parents, kids, writers, industry professionals— we offer regularly updated book lists organized by unique categories, author interviews, market news, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a children's book from writing to publishing to promoting.
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