Listen up! It's a Blog Tour -- It's a How-To-Be Revolutionary!

       Thanks to Beaming Books, I have the pleasure of sharing this book that shows how even young children notice and learn about the needs in our world and often want to do something to help! With poetic words by Cindy Wang Brandt and action-packed illustrations by Lynnor Bontigao, Kids will see they, too, can make a difference.  

         Cindy starts the child as a "revolutionary" at birth, a young one, writing "you giggled, you cried,/you declared, "I WILL BE HEARD!" She shows how children know that everyone has a right to food, shelter, water" while Lynnor Bontigao fills the pages with all kinds of children noticing the needs of others along with noticing those who are carrying signs to heighten awareness for the homeless. Through this journey of a child's wishes to make a change, support is given for those who are shy, who feel too young. She shows other children using their skills to make a difference. For example, she writes "If you excel at writing words/as mighty as a sword,/you can share a message/in ways that can't be ignored." And if you're good at music or art, you can write a song or create a sidewalk sign. 

        This will be an inspiration with these words and the colorful art full of children doing something. What fun it would be to read together in a group or with family and to make plans!

Here's part of an interview of Cindy Wang Brandt where she answers the question, "What inspired your story?"

              

       As I’ve previously mentioned, I have “faith shifted,” meaning I’ve left the faith of my childhood. This has caused significant anxiety and trauma in adulthood. As I’ve sought to understand the source of my angst, much of it was having power wielded over me when I was a child. A big part of my own healing is to become an advocate for children today, that they be afforded full autonomy because they are human beings, not any lesser than adults. If kids are to be treated and respected as adults are, then what excludes them from becoming revolutionaries, people who make a change in the world? It is a human right to have a say in the way we live our lives, and yet we exclude kids from this work. I think our world still has a long way to go to extend children the rights they deserve, and I hope my book helps move progress. 

Here is a coloring page for you that can accompany this special book!

Finally, here are links that may interest you:

Link to the book:  

https://www.beamingbooks.com/store/product/9781506478302/You-Are-Revolutionary 

 

For Twitter:  

Author: @cindywangbrandt  

Illustrator: @lynnorbontigao 

Publisher: @@BeamingBooksMN 

Literary Publicity Team: @prbythebook 

 

For Instagram:  

Author: @cindybrandt 

Illustrator: @lbontigao   

Publisher: @beamingbooksmn 

Literary Publicity Team: @prbythebook 

 

For Facebook:  

Author: Cindy Wang Brandt https://cindywangbrandt.com 

Illustrator: https://www.facebook.com/lynnorbontigaoillustrator 

Publisher: https://www.facebook.com/BeamingBooksPublishing 

 

I am grateful to Beaming Books for the opportunity to share this book of support for young "change-makers"!

Blog Tour - Nothing More Fun Than A Group Celebration

       I imagine many of you have sweet memories of evening reading. It's nearly time for bed but first, it's time to read, or tell, favorite stories. Along with a voice from someone loved, that voice might also bring a song memory. However, the evening isn't always the time we read. A quiet moment can be found anytime to stop, to read words that remind us what a wonder of a world we live in. Nancy Tupper Ling's new anthology will help do just that!

         I asked Nancy if a past memory, perhaps as a young child, motivated her to begin gathering these lovely poems so that others, family members or teachers, could share with their young ones how special the world they live in is? She answered with words and a poem! 

        One poem entitled “Tonight . . . “ from our For Every Little Thing collection was inspired by a beautiful day our family spent in San Francisco. This city is where my husband grew up and where most of his family still lives, so we visit often. When my daughter, Elizabeth, was about six years old, we walked down Lombard, the famously crooked street, and eventually ended up by The Marina, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. We had just experienced a quintessential San Francisco day. 

         That’s when Elizabeth said the words that lead to my poem’s creation. “Mama,” she said. “Tonight I will dream of the purple flowers, the ones that made you smile today. They’ll dance overhead. Their blossoms looked like fingers waving to the people. And I will dream that an orange fox sits beside me.” 

         Her words struck me then (enough to write the poem), but I also kept them close when creating FOR EVERY LITTLE THING with June! For a young child to treasure such specific things that happened in her day…so much so that she planned her nighttime dreams around them, that is the type of gratitude we hope this anthology fosters. Both a spontaneous and a planned gratitude are what we envisioned for our young readers. Let’s not pass by these simple gifts that we’re given daily. Let’s stop, breath, observe, and perchance dream. 

        It's exciting to share a new book and even more exciting to share one that fits my idea of a special pleasure, reading to children. I've read to all ages because I'm a teacher. I love when I finish and more than one child asks to borrow the book. Then, of course, we have to make a list to take turns. Also wonderful are the times I've read to my own children, and now grandchildren. Sharing books through a read-aloud means creating unique and special memories. 

         June Cotner and Nancy Tupper Ling have gathered, as the cover says, "poems and prayers to celebrate the day" into this new anthology, For Every Little Thing. In our recent months of challenges, there may be times when children hear the bad news and need reminding that there are many things to appreciate every single day! 

         The contents divide into seven parts such as "The World Around Us", "Night", and "Family and Friends". From the first to the last, sixty-six poems and prayers take readers traveling through the day from morning wake-up to evening goodnight. These poets bring the wondrous world to us through all their words.

 In "Waking Up Prayer", Susan J. Erickson writes "I like to wake up when the snow falls against my window/like confetti from an angel's party". I imagine rushing for the book to re-read that poem at first snow. 

In "Simple Graces", Jill Noblit MacGregor writes "Simple graces are everywhere, under rocks and in the air–/in crashing waves and tall, tall trees, simple graces for all to see." and readers search for their unique "simple graces".

In "Great Owl of Dreams", Maura D. Shaw asks an owl: "Bring me the dream in your mother beak."

And after sleep comes, Suzanne Wiggins Bunch ends her poem "Sea of Dreams" with "Waves of dreams that build and billow/return me to my comfy pillow./And though I've traveled wide and deep, I did it/while I was asleep." 

Along with wondrous words, reading aloud a book with illustrations brings more to appreciate, in this book when viewing sumptuous and varied creations by Helen Cann that accompany the poems. Small things, skyscapes, imaginary and joyful scenes, night and morning scenes brighten the pages. You will love them as you read.

 

It's a book to cherish for oneself, for a gift, for young and old. Thanks, Nancy and June for bringing this anthology to us all!

It's a Blog Tour - With Eight Legs & Poetry Friday!

           It's a blog tour and Poetry Friday hosted by Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference.            

        It's a perfect time for this new book to be born, alongside spring's awakening, and seeing more spiders, too, at least here in Colorado and other places moving out of a winter climate. 

          Non-fiction poetry books hold exceptional learning experiences, including literacy, natural history, art, and science all at the same time. Adults, including teachers, plus children, can take one wonderful book and begin a study on that topic, later also using the book as a mentor text for further studies of other topics. Leslie Bulion's words - prose and poetry plus Robert Meganck's illustrations offer so very much in every one of these areas. Additionally, if you're like one of my young granddaughters, you can read, learn, and enjoy a small bit at a time about your favorite subject, spiders!

          Catching interest is also key as Leslie opens with an overall poem titled with the scientific name, "Araneae All Around", a four stanza piece that amazingly covers everything, from where ("From leafy covers to forest floor,/Where foam-kissed ocean meets shimmery shore," and on) to hatching and bodies and what these eight-legged predators do! Each poem oozes with appreciation for spiders while including apt information. With creativity, Leslie offers a variety of poems, free-verse and patterned forms, adding a page of explanation for the poems in the back. One spider I have known of but wonder how many others will be surprised about is the "Diving Bell Spider" haiku described: "scuba spider/wears a silver bubble/dines in". 

          Each page includes text, a poem or more, and an illustration or more when spiders need to be grouped together. Here are a few samples:

         Helpful pages that highlight content are: a Table of Contents, a Glossary, Poetic Forms, Spi-ku spider identification for the pages, a 'how-to' for a "Spider Hunt", resources for further study, acknowledgments, a double-page spread of the book's spiders and their relative size compared to a pencil, and a page about the cover spiders. Information flows well, is entertaining in both text and poetry as it gives lots and lots (and lots) of information!

Other stops on this blog tour:

                Monday (4/5): Picture Books 4 Learning

                Tuesday (4/6): Storymamas

                Wednesday (4/7): The Miss Rumphius Effect

                Thursday (4/8): Reading to the Core

                Friday (4/9): TeacherDance

                Teacher’s guide: https://peachtree-online.com/pdfs/TeachersGuides/SpikuTG.pdf

If you'd like to follow. . .

Leslie Bulion social handles:

Facebook: @leslie.bulion

Twitter: @LeslieBulion

Instagram: @lesliebulion

 

Robert Meganck social handles:

Facebook: @rmeganck

Twitter: @r2meganck

Instagram: @r2meganck

 

Peachtree social handles:

Facebook: @PeachtreePub

Twitter: @PeachtreePub

Instagram: @peachtreepublishing

Extra Fun: Leslie reads one poem from her book at Michelle Schaub's Poetry Boost: 

          

 

          Thanks to Leslie Bulion, Robert Meganck, and Peachtree Publishing for a wonderful book and the opportunity to share it!

Blog Tour - New Book and A Giveaway!

         I'm excited to share this new book in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Justine Avery, the author.

         According to their bios in the back of the book, both Justine Avery and Liuba Syrotiuk are adventurers and travelers. Justine has jumped out of airplanes and off high bridges; Liuba is happiest while traveling with a small box of watercolors! When I read the book, with Justine's words of inspiration illustrated in such varied ways of what "thinking outside the box" can mean, I knew that it would be a book to use throughout a school year or with one's child (or grandchild) at home. You can discover more about Justine on twitter @Justine_Avery and here! I found Liuba on Instagram - liobiko and in an art studio here.

         In poetic phrases, when faced with a problem or discovering that ways of living can be confusing, don't always worry about the regular path, but "think outside the box"! Rules at times can be broken. One needs to use one's brain to "think" and wander many different paths to come to workable solutions. 
        Some examples show the opposite of what is often imagined as a solution. Coloring "outside" the lines, walking on one's hands instead of feet, or eating an ice cream cone from the bottom up are some of the fun examples. 
         Relaxing while thinking can help, too. One can "Close your eyes, cover your ears. . . And wait for the ideas to come to you." It is lots of fun to view the creative graphic-style illustrations by Liuba Syrotiuk. You can see by the cover that she also creates "outside the box"!

         For all those who want support because they take different paths, love to create and invent, to discover what else can solve a problem, find this book!

The Giveaway - also 'outside the box'!

Enter for a chance to win a Think Outside the Box prize pack!

One (1) grand prize winner receives:

• A hardcover copy of Think Outside the Box.
• A pair of Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablets.
• A Creative Thinking in a Jar set.

Ten (10) winners receive:

• A hardcover copy of Think Outside the Box.

Ten (10) winners receive:

• A paperback copy of Think Outside the Box.

Giveaway begins June 15, 2020, at 12:01 A.M. MT and ends July 15, 2020, at 11:59 P.M. MT.

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Blog Tour and A Giveaway! Elephant In A Bathtub?

            It's always fun to know of a new book and offer a giveaway! I'm happy to share in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Connie Bowman.

Here's a picture of the cover! Every child will like imagining this and giggle!

On my first read, I laughed and loved this cumulative tale of a father who happens to be the one who found that elephant! And, calm as can be, he takes the elephant, the one with "sharp shiny tusks" who doesn't "make a trumpet sound" or "charge at all" off to someone's bedroom. This father tells the story to an unknown person, says that creature "followed me quietly to your bedroom." 
Hmm, then I read the story to my young granddaughter, seven, and she was immediately in a hurry, laughing and saying things like "hurry up, turn the page". She had a tough time waiting to see what was next. The father in the story, however, continues to be calm as calm can be, even when he discovered a camel in his study, a cobra in front of his bedroom window, and a rhinoceros in the laundry room. Colorful and realistic illustrations by Kelly O'Neill add to the story's matter-of-fact pace. Those animals behave with surprising calm although I spied a bit of eye-rolling from the father. The story will be a favorite as kids gather ALL their favorite stuffies while getting ready for a dream-filled sleep.

Here are some stars from Broadway singing about an elephant in the room and showing the book.

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Enter to win a copy of There’s an Elephant in My Bathtub by Connie Bowman, and a menagerie of stuffed animals!

Monday Reading - New Poetry - Blog Tour

          Visit Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders to see what everyone is reading and sharing. 

     “If getting our kids out into nature is a search for perfection, or is one more chore, then the belief in perfection and the chore defeats the joy. It's a good thing to learn more about nature in order to share this knowledge with children; it's even better if the adult and child learn about nature together. And it's a lot more fun.” 
― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

Margaret Simon, blogging at Reflections on The Teche, a poet friend I hope to meet someday, has recently published a poetry book that sings of her home in the Bayou Teche. It echoes the mantra of Richard Louv above, celebrating nature and inspiring everyone to get out there to see, feel, hear, taste and smell nature!

          I have a few friends who are prepping for a school start in a few weeks. Yes, it's nearly August and some schools begin earlier than can be imagined! This time, I am almost the final part of a blog tour for a marvelous new book that's just right for summer-into-autumn experiences, poetry beginnings, and being inspired by nature wherever one happens to live. Bayou Song: Creative Explorations of the South Louisiana Landscape offers adults and children, teachers and students a mentor text to wander through, learn of this new environment, then to sketch and craft personal poems from the ideas included.

         What's inside: 
Gorgeous illuminating photographs by Henry Cancienne

Margaret's introductions of different things in the Bayou like Spanish moss, eagles, great blue herons, and alligators, followed by her poems beautifully illustrated by Anna Cantrell. 

Double-page spreads with brief support, lined and blank ones for writing one's own poem and on the right side, room to sketch.

        

The Splendid Baron Submarine -- Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Yes! A second book about the Baron family! The Splendid Baron Submarine, the Bizarre Baron Inventions by Eric Bower was published in mid-November and it's sure to please a lot of young middle readers.

       The tour is in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Amberjack Publishing.

        Sometimes it's a challenge to get into the minds of middle-grade readers, but Eric Bower has succeeded in this book about W.B. (Waldo) Baron, a middle-grade boy who has started a new school year in the classroom corner wearing a dunce cap. He has just read some of his summertime adventures to his class, and his teacher is convinced he's lying.         
        Only those of us who have read this whole story realize that no matter the outrageous shenanigans W.B. told, it is true life for a young boy. At first, I too wondered how a boy whose family lives in the horse-drawn carriage age, whose parents, world-class inventors, can possibly already be "flying" an Air Oh! plane, shrinking things, and using a submarine to find treasure with a pirate's curse? Then I believe I understood. Young readers' inner imaginations are like this. They wish they could have these crazy adventures instead of their often-boring daily lives of school and soccer, music lessons and home. Yes, a good life, but not even close to as exciting as Waldo's. 
       In the corner, Waldo manages to whisper about his summer to a group of mice, also in a corner home and we readers get to listen, too. There are those unique inventions (a steam-powered submarine!), secret meetings, and a rude monkey one this journey.

Blog Tour & Giveaway- Ready for Halloween!

          I'm excited to share about a book in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Michael Okon, which is recently out on a perfect day: Friday, October 13th!  Michael sent more than a book, a spooky backpack just right for Halloween trick or treating. Here's a pic! There is more to win as shown in the giveaway picture below!

           One additional creation included was the front page of a newspaper that featured highlights of the story. Wouldn't it be fun for students to create something like this for the books they're reading, too?

           This book cries to be read on a 'dark and stormy night' and by young teens and up. With some science fiction, eerily familiar politics and quite gory details, it became a fast read for me. The tension rose page by page until it was hard to stop.  Senior Wyatt Baldwin takes a lead role in the story, along with his brother and stepfather, who have a  relationship that can only be termed "bearable". The parents have divorced and the boys' father has left them penniless and stayed out of touch, too. Wyatt's friends argue often about the most superior monster, but he would prefer hearing the voice of a girl named Jade. Sadly, she's dating a big guy, the quarterback named Nolan, and Wyatt yearns from afar.

Baby Chomper Blog Tour & Giveaway

Look For The Sunny Side! Book Releases November 7th!

       I'm excited to share about a book coming soon in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Nuggies Inc. It was a lot of fun to open the box to find the book, and then to find more than a book. There were sparkly pom poms and bath bombs, just perfect for little ones who want to have "real" or "pretend" bath fun!

       For the youngest children, an adorable puppy gets into some stinky trouble with a puddle and a skunk. His story by Jeff Minich is Baby Chomper's Bath Time! It's number six in the Nuggies series, and Renan Garcia's bold and bright pictures show Chomper's puppy antics as he sneaks out the doggie door and not only greets a large mud puddle, but also an angry (or scared) skunk. He is stinky, in fact this time, he's the "stinkiest." That means A BATH! Many kids think bath time is fun. Playing in water is the best, and with bubbles, even better. Not Chomper! He hides; he resists, but the bath must be, and Chomper chooses a new thought, imagining all the fun this bath can be. From diving to swimming and playing with toys, imagining he's a ship's captain or a surfer in the waves, bath time for Chomper becomes a delight. And after, the softest towel and warmest blow dryer makes everything just right. Chomper has shown how trying new things with a new attitude makes life a whole lot better! 
      The use of words in several places in the story will make this book such fun to read aloud. From stink, stinkier, and stinkiest and so fresh, freshy fresh, and the freshest, kids will want to repeat what's read to them again and again. 

            Enter to win an autographed copy of Baby Chomper’s Bath Time, by Jeff Minich—plus a Dyson Supersonic hairdryer!

One (1) grand prize winner receives:

• A Dyson Supersonic hairdryer
• A complete autographed set of the Nuggies series
• A copy of If I Could Climb Trees: Nuggies: Vol. 5, signed by Jeff Minich
• A copy of Oui Oui Gigi: Nuggies: Vol. 4, signed by Jeff Minich
• A copy of  A Very Scary Pumpkin: Nuggies: Vol. 3, signed by Jeff Minich
• A copy of  All the Other Nuggies: Nuggies: Vol. 2, signed by Jeff Minich
• A copy of  Daddy Forgot My Dinner: Nuggies: Vol. 1, signed by Jeff Minich
• A copy of Baby Chomper’s Bath Time, signed by Jeff Minich

Value: $518+

Two (2) winners receive:

• A copy of Baby Chomper’s Bath Time, signed by Jeff Minich

Value: $19.95

Giveaway begins September 26, 2017, at 12:01 A.M. MT and ends October 26, 2017, at 11:59 P.M. MT.

Giveaway open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older.

Prizes provided by Jeff Minich

How To Enter

• Fill out the required fields in the form below. It may take a moment to load.
• You can also gain bonus daily entries.
• US and Canadian addresses only.

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Jeff Minich is the author of the Nuggies illustrated children’s book series. Created in collaboration with illustrator Renan Garcia, the series includes Daddy Forgot My Dinner (Vol. 1); All the Other Nuggies (Vol. 2); A Very Scary Pumpkin (Vol. 3); Oui Oui, Gigi! (Vol. 4); and If I Could Climb Trees (Vol. 5). You can learn more about the Nuggies book series by visiting: GetNuggies.com

TOUR SCHEDULE

The Children's Book Review	https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/weblog/2017/09/baby-chompers-bath-time-by-jeff-minich-awareness-tour.html	9/26
My Momma's Heart	www.tynealewis.com	9/26
Mommy Ramblings	http://www.MommyRamblings.org	9/27
Crafty Moms Share	http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/	9/28
Jrsbookreviews	https://jrsbookreviews.wordpress.com/	9/29
The Fairview Review	http://fveslibrary.blogspot.com	10/2
icefairy's Treasure Chest	http://icefairystreasurechest.blogspot.com	10/3
Word Spelunking	wordspelunking.blogspot.com	10/4
the review wire	www.thereviewwire.com	10/5
It's Fundamental	http://itsfundamental.info	10/6
TeacherDance	http://www.teacherdance.org	10/10
Little Miss History	http://Littlemisshistory.com	10/11
Bumbles and Fairy-Tales	http://bumblesandfairytales.blogspot.com	10/12
Tales of A Wanna-Be SuperHero Mom	https://wannabesuperheromom.blogspot.ca/	10/15
LitPick	https://litpick.com/	10/17
Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers	http://insatiablereaders.blogspot.com	10/19