Humpty Dumpty - coming soon....

I just received word that my poem "Bubbles" will soon be appearing in the May/June issue of Humpty Dumpty magazine. Yay! Be sure to check it out at your local bookstore or library! Can't wait to see the illustration.

Dan Gutman visits Naperville

This past Thursday my daughter and I had the pleasure of listening to Dan Gutman speak at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville. The place was packed and he had the kids completely engaged and interacting with him. My fifth grade son is a huge fan of Gutman's books and was more than happy to add Gutman's newest release "Roberto and Me" to his collection. Now my first grader is excited to read Gutman's "My Weird School Daze" series. Dan Gutman will be back at Anderson's in May - so mark it on your calendar. You won't want to miss it!

Thanks Anderson's for hosting such wonderful events. What a great night!

Spot the Plot

From the bookshelves ~

Spot the Plot
written by J. Patrick Lewis
illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

This is "A Riddle Book of Book Riddles". Say that ten times fast. This unique concept is so fun for kids. They beg for more. I read it to a classroom of first graders recently and they loved it! So fun for them to listen for clues and and explore the beautiful illustrations. Do you think there might be a part two? Please?

Let's hear it for Critique Groups!

Let's give a cheer for our critique groups. I can't tell you how much I appreciate and value mine. They are your biggest supporters. They cheer you on. They don't let you get away with less than your best work. They don't let you lose sight of the dream. We should all be so lucky to have support groups like this. Have you told your group how much you appreciate them lately???

Buyers, Books and Buzz

This past Saturday I attended SCBWI-IL's "Buyers, Books and Buzz" workshop at the beautiful Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook.  The speakers were Jan Dundon, Children's Book Buyer and Seller for Anderson's Bookshop and Mary Harris Russell, Reviewer of Children's Books for the Chicago Tribune.  This dynamic duo spoke about which books they love, hooked them and why.  It was a wonderful morning discussing children's books.  But I always leave with a huge list of new books that I need to read!

Books for Boys

Over the winter break my children were reading maniacs. Especially my ten-year-old son, who for the longest time, really had a hard time finding books that he loved. I am beyond thrilled to report that this has completely changed. Hooray!

The author that has changed all of that is Dan Gutman. His baseball series books "Babe and Me", etc. have had my son reading a book every 24-48 hours. This is so amazing. My Danny has now finished 11 of Gutman's books. Thank you Dan Gutman. You are a genius! Last night my son was reading the bio for one of these books and we both found it so interesting that as a child, Dan Gutman said he hated to read. Gutman says that's one of the reasons why he makes an extra special effort not to write books that are boring.

A few other books that my fifth grader has also enjoyed are: Jerry Spinelli's "Crash" and "Loser" and all of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books by Jeff Kinney. Hooray! Definitely give these books a try.

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves." ~ Anna Quindlen

Happy New Year!

I love the "fresh start" feeling that a new year brings.  Time to reflect on what we've done the past year and give thought to what we will tackle in the new one.  Aside from an overwhelming urge to reorganize everything in my house and office, I feel new energy and enthusiasm to accomplish my goals.  Bring on 2010!  I wish everyone all the best that this next year has to offer.