Snow Wonder
by Charles Ghigna (Author) and Julia Woolf (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A rhyming easy reader about a snow day (with 2 pages of peel-off stickers!)

Snippet:
We wake and wonder
at the snow.
It puts on
such a lovely show.
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Poetry Friday

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Hey, Jim Hill!

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Chapter Book of the Day

Freaky-Strange Buildings
by Michael Sandler (Author)
24 pages

Booktalk: Some buildings look so strange that it’s hard to believe that they were actually meant for people.

Snippet: (For the building on the book cover, it says:) “It looks more like a cave than a building, but Crazy House in Dalat, Vietnam, is actually a hotel.”
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STEM Friday

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

This week’s STEM Friday Round-up is hosted by Wrapped in Foil.

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Nonfiction Monday on January 30, 2012

Nonfiction Monday is coming!

The Nonfiction Monday Round-up on January 30, 2012

is at Wendie’s Wanderings.

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My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Cinder: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles
by Marissa Meyer
400 pages

Booktalk: Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time…. Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Snippet: Tossing the screwdriver onto the table, Cinder gripped her heel and yanked the foot from its socket. A spark singed her fingertips and she jerked away, leaving the foot to dangle from a tangle of red and yellow wires.

BONUS! See the video!

 
BOOK GIVEAWAY! Do you want to read this debut novel? The publisher will send a copy to ONE of my blog readers (U.S. or Canada only). Add your name to the comments and I will select one name for today’s book giveaway.

Edited to add: The winner is Linda Baie! Congratulations, Linda!

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Picture Book of the Day

Bright Baby Touch & Feel Colors
by Roger Priddy (Author)

Booktalk: A board book with bright colors and stunning photos, each page has a new color and a new object to touch and feel.

Snippet:
yellow
banana
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STEM Friday on January 20, 2012

STEM Friday is coming! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

The STEM Friday Round-up on January 20, 2012

is at Wrapped in Foil.

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Literary Links

Next (online) Intensive Picture Book Workshop is Feb 1-Mar 14, 2012

74% Of Book Buyers Have Never Bought An eBook (via eBookNewser)
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My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred
by Samantha R. Vamos (Author) and  Rafael Lopez (Illustrator)

Booktalk: A bilingual story of how the farm maiden and all the farm animals worked together to make the rice pudding that they serve at the fiesta (with a “house that Jack built” pattern).

Snippet:
This is the goat
that churned the cream
to make the MANTEQUILLA
that went into the CAZUELA that the farm maiden stirred.

A Pura Belpré 2012 Illustrator Honor Book
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Chapter Book of the Day

Soldier Bear
by Bibi Dumon Tak (Author), Laura Watkinson (Translator) and Phiip Hopman (Illustrator)
144 pages

Booktalk: A group of Polish solders stationed in Iran during World War II trade a pen knife and some canned beef for an orphaned bear cub, and Voytek, as they name the bear, travels with them from Iran to Italy and then on to Scotland. See how they train a bear to help them in the war. (Photographs of the real Voytek are in the back of the book.)

Snippet: The air rippled with heat. At that time of day, the army camp was like a ghost town. If you ventured out into the sun, it felt like you were about to burst into flames.

But even so, one creature still came out into the blazing heat, bumbling along the path between the parked trucks and stopping to sniff at every vehicle.

*This book (shared in October) won the Batchelder Award (given to books translated into English).
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The (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award

Winners and honor books for the (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award for beginning readers were announced this week.

2012 Medal winner

Tales for Very Picky Eaters
by Josh Schneider (Author, Illustrator)
A father tells his son outrageous stories to try and get him to eat. Chapter book

2012 Honor Books

I Broke My Trunk!
by Mo Willems (Author, Illustrator)
Uh-oh! Elephant broke his trunk, and now he has a CRAZY story to tell Piggie. Easy reader

I Want My Hat Back
by Jon Klassen (Author, Illustrator)
Bear’s hat is gone, and he wants it back, so he asks everyone he sees about it. Picture book

See Me Run
by Paul Meisel (Author, Illustrator)
Dogs play in the park and find buried bones in this easy-to-read picture book.
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Literary Links

J.R.R. Tolkien & George Orwell Removed From Public Domain (via GalleyCat)

Take Your Child to the Library Day launches Feb 4th (via @sljournal)
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My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

The Children’s Literacy Workshop (for Writers) is a new 6 lesson email course
for writers who want to write easy-to-read books.

I will send you a new lesson each Wednesday.
You have 2 weeks to complete each lesson, so the workshop lasts 8 weeks.

Easy-to-read books have many names. These books with simple words and short sentences for children who are learning to read are also called beginning readers, leveled readers and easy readers. While picture books are read to a child by an adult, easy readers are meant to be read by the child himself. (You’ll know you’ve found an easy reader when you see the words “read,” “reader,” or “reading” on the cover.)

Learning to read takes place on a continuum, and the books reflect that. Easy readers range from 8 page books with a single word or a simple phrase on each page to 64 page books divided into chapters.

As you study 5 easy readers per lesson you will explore 3 of the 5 literacy development phases that children experience as they learn to read. You will also learn three literacy strategies that writers use in books for beginning readers.

The first session of this NEW online workshop begins on Wednesday, February 1st.

The February workshop dates are February 1-March 14, 2012.

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Picture Book of the Day

Diego Rivera: His World and Ours
by Duncan Tonatiuh (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: See and hear the story of Diego as a young, mischievous boy who demonstrated a clear passion for art and then went on to become one of the most famous painters in the world.

Snippet: Diego Rivera was born in Mexico in a city called Guanajuato, which means the “land of frogs.” As a boy, Diego enjoyed playing with his trains, but more than anything, he liked to draw.

BONUS! Hear the author/illustrator talk about winning the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award!

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Chapter Book of the Day

Black and White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor
by Larry Dane Brimner (Author)
80 pages

Booktalk: With careful attention to history, Larry Dane Brimner relies on oral histories, FBI files, court records, archived newpapers, and other primary source documents to capture the clash between conviction and courage, on one hand, and tradition and hate on the other in this unforgettable story of Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and his stand against Eugene “Bull” Connor.

Snippet: The first time the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) tried to kill Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth was Christmas 1956. The KKK was a group that believed white people were superior to Negroes. Its members intimidated blacks–and whites who supoorted the Negro quest for equality and justice–through threats and violence.

BONUS! Hear the author talk about winning the Sibert Honor!

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Literary Links

Supreme Court Upholds Law Restoring Copyright to Some Public-Domain Works

Publishers Show Less Enthusiasm About eReaders Increasing Reading (via eBookNewser)
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My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Today is the big day! The eyes of the publishing world will turn to Dallas at 7:45 a.m. CT on Jan. 23, 2012, when the American Library Association (ALA) announces the top awards in children’s and young adult literature as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 20 – 24.

The 2012 Youth Media Award announcements include:

1. Alex Awards
2. Andrew Carnegie Medal
3. Coretta Scott King Book Awards
4. Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
5. John Newbery Medal
6. Margaret A. Edwards Award
7. May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture
8. Michael L. Printz Award
9. Mildred L. Batchelder Award
10. Odyssey Award
11. Pura Belpré Awards
12. Randolph Caldecott Medal
13. Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
14. Schneider Family Book Award
15. Stonewall Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award
16. Theodore Seuss Geisel Award
17. William C. Morris Award
18.  YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults 

ALA will host a live Webcast from the Dallas Convention Center begining at 7:30 a.m. CT, Jan. 23.  (Virtual seating will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.) You can also follow the announcements live via twitter at @ALAyma.

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January 2012 Carnival Of Children’s Literature

Add your post about this year’s winners to our carnival!

• Our January 2012 host is Delightful Children’s Books.
• Please send in a link to YOUR post by January 26th.
• The carnival will go live on January 28th.

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Nonfiction Book Blast 2012

Kathleen Krull booktalks
Lives of the Presidents: Fame, Shame (and What the Neighbors Thought)
on the Nonfiction Book Blast blog today…

Save the date! June 23, 2012 Nonfiction Book Blast 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

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Nonfiction Monday

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up host is Shelf-employed

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My NEW chapter book is Save the Best for Last, Abby (All-Star Cheerleaders)

Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.