Posts Tagged children’s books

Happy 8th MUF-i-versary! #Giveaways Galore

By on June 8, 2018   /   Articles, Giveaways, MUF Contributor Books  

 

Happy Anniversary to the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors blog. Can you believe it’s been 8 years already?  To celebrate our anniversary, we gave ourselves a rockin’ new face lift!  Did you  notice?

We have brought this blog firmly into the 21st century with our updated and  dynamic new home page.  All of your favorite topics are right at your fingertips.  Each post has been placed into a specific category so if you need to look for one, you can just click on the drop down tab and go. Of course, we still have our search the blog option available, but using categories should make things a whole lot easier.

Take a moment and look around. Scroll up and down. See how things zoom across the page at you? Did our smiling faces across the bottom make you want to smile back? Great!  That was our goal.

After all, we want this blog to be a great place for you to visit when you need the latest information on all things Middle Grade KidLit.  But don’t worry, our face lift is not just cosmetic, we have some changes in store for you as well. We have already brought you STEM Tuesday, but now we will be bringing in two new features in the next few months:

Agent & Editor Spotlight   and  Teacher Tips Thursday

Stand by for more information on these exciting additions soon.

For now, our final party of our celebration is our gift to YOU.

Giveaways galore! Just in time to stock up for summer reading or to store in your classroom for next fall. Check out these amazing offerings and sign up now to be entered. Be sure to click through the different pages of the Rafflecopter to see all the great prizes.

The first giveaway is for BOOKS, BOOKS, and more BOOKS!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

The second giveaway is for our Writer friends–

1 free Speedpass to the Rate Your Story service

plus a few 5-page critiques and  query critiques from our amazing members

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Sign up and get the word out about our new site. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Go Middle Grade! Go Mixed-Up Files!

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STEM Tuesday – Shining the Light on Technology, Engineering, and Math — Book List

By on June 5, 2018   /   Engineering, Math, MUF Contributor Books, Nonfiction, STEM Tuesday, Technology  

This month’s theme focuses specifically on the TEM in STEM. The following list features  books that use technology, engineering, and math in real-world situations. We hope they inspire young readers–and you! the adults in their lives –to promo all STEM categories. If you have other title ideas for middle-grade readers, please share them in the comment section below.

The Next Wave: The Quest to Harness the Power of the Oceans  by Elizabeth Rusch  In this Scientists in the Field title, we meet the engineers working to transfer the power of the ocean into energy for us to use. Through imagination, innovation, and science they have developed devices to create “ocean electricity” that is renewable and an alternative to using fossil fuels.

Hidden Figures: Young Readers Edition by Margot Lee Sheerly  This edition of the bestselling book of the same title allows younger readers to become empowered by the powerful story of the African-American female NASA mathematicians who were instrumental in our early space program.

 

Everything Robots by Jennifer Swanson  We’ve already seen robotic vacuums, but can you imagine tiny robo-bees or a joke-telling robot? Readers will discover an entirely new world of technology in this National Geographic book. Packed with visuals, readers will explore what artificial intelligence is all about.

The Way Things Work Now by David Macauley
This revised and updated edition for Macauley’s The Way Things Work includes wi-fi, touchscreens, 3D printers, as well as levers, lasers, and windmills.  Budding engineers will love this one!

 

The Story of Buildings: From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond by Patrick Dillon, illustrated by Stephen Biesty Aspiring architects will enjoy the look at the inner workings of many famous buildings in this book.

 

Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers by Anna M. LewisThis book features 22 profiles of women who have designed, built, and landscaped our world. The inspirational stories are perfect for Women’s History Month and every month after.

 

 

Curious Jane: Science + Design + Engineering for Inquisitive Girls by Curious Jane   The pages of Curious Jane are filled with DIY projects from making face scrubs to building a cloud in a jar.

 

Coding programs have sprung up all over the country. These next two books can get girls (and boys) started on creating apps, games, and robots. Readers will have fun exploring the world of computer science .

Girls Who Code: Learn To Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani, illus. by Andrea Tsurum

 

Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting it Done by Andrea Gonzalez and Sophie Houser

 

 

And a fabulous FICTION series to pair with the above two coding titles:

Monsters and Modules by Gene Luen Yang and Mike Holmes — the final installment in the Secret Coders series
This title will be released October 2, 2018, but until then students can solve logic puzzles and learn basic coding skills while Hopper, Eni, and Josh solve a mind-bending mystery.

 

STEM Tuesday book lists prepared by:

Nancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years including her 2016 title, THE STORY OF SEEDS: From Mendel’s Garden to Your Plate, and How There’s More of Less To Eat Around The World, which earned the Green Earth Book Award and other honors. Nancy’s research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia. She enjoys sharing her adventures, research, and writing tips. She strives to inform, inspire, and educate her readers. Nancy also serves as the Regional Advisor of the Eastern NY SCBWI region. Her 2018 title is BACK FROM THE BRINK: Saving Animals from Extinction. www.nancycastaldo.com

Patricia Newman writes middle-grade nonfiction that inspires kids to seek connections between science, literacy, and the environment. The recipient of  a Sibert Honor Award for Sea Otter Heroes and the Green Earth Book Award for Plastic, Ahoy!, her books have received starred reviews, been honored as Junior Library Guild Selections, and included on Bank Street College’s Best Books lists. During author visits, she demonstrates how her writing skills give a voice to our beleaguered environment. Visit her at www.patriciamnewman.com.

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Indie Spotlight: Bards Alley

By on May 30, 2018   /   children's bookstores, independent bookstores, Indie Spotlight  

Our Indie Spotlight shines today on Bards Alley, in Vienna, Virginia. The combination bookstore/café offers a homey, intimate space to browse for your favorite book and sample some local fare including coffee, hummus, bakery items, and even wine.

Owner Jen Morrow opened Bards just ten months ago and says the idea came as she watched her young son learn how to read. During that time, Jen rediscovered the nostalgia of going to a bookstore, and thus Bards Alley was born.

Here’s more from Jen:

MUF: What’s the biggest challenge in keeping an independent bookstore alive when the competition from big bookstores is so fierce?

Jen: It is simply finding ways to leverage being “small but mighty.” We don’t have access to the same resources, but what we are able to do locally is a differentiator. We employ people in the community, pay local taxes, donate to schools and non-profits, and bring customers to the town center who will hopefully shop at other local businesses. By offering in-store events, many of which provide access to authors, a curated selection of books tailored for our community, and programs for local aspiring writers, we are promoting culture and diversity. A place where people can unplug for awhile. I love it when a customer steps into the store, takes a deep breath, and says, “Ah, I love the smell of books!”

MUF: We love the smell of books too! What do you love most about Bards Alley?

Jen: I love seeing the joy on people’s faces when they walk in for the first time. I can’t tell you how many “thank-you’s” I have received over the past ten months. It is clear that our community was looking for a place to browse and talk about books, across many generations and genres of readers.

 

MUF: You clearly focus on making everything look welcoming—including folding the café experience right into that ambiance.

Jen: We take pride in how we curate local offerings as closely as we curate our book selections. Our outdoor patio is very popular this time of year! With our café, we are able to provide book clubs and customers who attend our author events a convenience that other bookstores can’t provide.

MUF: As middle-grade authors, we’re always interested in what readers want. What titles (fiction and non-fiction) do you find yourself most recommending to readers ages 8-12—and their parents? Which titles are the ones most frequently asked for?

Jen: This is such a good question! Series are wildly popular at our store, and I find myself recommending The Unwanteds, which my son (who is almost 11) read through in a few short weeks. I’ll also recommend anything by Stuart Gibbs and Louis Sachar. Debut novels are also a favorite of mine to recommend and recently I have talked a lot about The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes, as well as Orphan Island. Our young customers are also seeking graphic novels such as Smile and Drama and El Deafo. But we have also been recommending a lot of new and old classics, such as A Wrinkle in Time, Hatchet, Tuck Everlasting, and Anne of Green Gables. We are also seeing popularity with a lot of fiction based on real-life events, such as Refugee and The War that Saved My Life. Of course, most people have found Harry Potter on their own, but I can’t help but recommend it to those who haven’t yet given it a try!

One last note: this summer Bards will be offering a Summer Reading Challenge for school-aged children: read a book in each of these categories:

  1. Biography or Non-fiction
  2. Comic book or graphic novel
  3. A book written by an author of color
  4. Poetry

MUF: Thank you so much, Jen!

Bards Alley is located at 110 Church Street, in Vienna, VA.

(571) 459-2653

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