book trailer :: her right foot by dave eggers

I ran across a trailer for this book a few weeks ago and... wow.  I immediately checked out a copy from the library and found the book even more beautiful and powerful than revealed by the trailer.  As the grandchild of immigrants, the topic, for me, is poignant, and in light of the current political situation in the US, this book offers inspiration and hope.

In addition to the trailer, author Dave Eggers posted a letter to his readers on Amazon.  You can find the letter here (just scroll down a bit and you'll find it). 

book review :: journal sparks

FTC Compliant Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this book by Storey Publishing Co. to facilitate a review, however, all opinions expressed below are entirely my own.

Nearly 5 years ago Emily Neuburger came out with her first book, Show me a Story.  This book was utterly delightful, so you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Emily had written a new book: Journal Sparks.

 

These small images I was able to download from Storey Publishing in no way do this book justice.  It's jam-packed full of colorful, whimsical inspiration for "No-Rules Journaling." There are ideas for word-play, color-play, mixed media collage and fanciful imaginings.

In addition to the rainbow-buffet of ideas Emily lays on the table, this volume also contains instructions for building your own journal (instead of buying pre-fabricated notebooks), plus there are contributions from other authors/artists who bring yet more ideas and inspiration.

As I paged through this book, I thought to myself how perfect Journal Sparks would be for any teenage or adult journaling-enthusiast...

 

And for younger children, too... The moment my 6-year old lay eyes on the book, he claimed it as his own.

We started off constructing tiny journals out of printer-paper, which my little one immediately filled with washi-tape, rubber-stamps and pencil-doodles.  So we quickly upgraded to THESE lovely spiral-bound, watercolor paper journals.

"Hope" is the thing with feathers... (Emily Dickinson)

And here's where I admit to you that I am not a journaling-enthusiast.  I haven't kept any sort of journal since my years at university, but Emily's Journal Sparks brought back to me the memory of my favorite sort of journal: the florilegium.  Florilegia is a Medieval Latin term describing books in which are written small extracts from other works; in my own little florilegium, I scribbled favorite quotes and short passages.

I am blinded by the glare of all the silver linings. (Elizabeth Cohen)

I'm having so much fun adding watercolor and collage illustrations to my favorite quotes, and am grateful to Emily for inspiring my return to this journaling tradition.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough for anyone who loves to journal, for anyone who loves to create mixed media art, for anyone who loves to doodle and for anyone who thinks they cannot do any of these things but might like to give it go!

creative form drawing

After school, while I prepare something for my younger son to eat, he usually rummages for a book to read or some art supplies.  Lately his favorite activity involves crayons and the book Creative Form Drawing (Workbook 1) by Angela Lord.   In fact, he likes this book so much, it has taken up permanent residence on the kitchen table.

The book is broken down into lessons by age, with a gorgeous array of colorful drawings to illustrate the forms and principles.  Each lesson is methodically outlined by age/grade level and very clear; however, my son and I prefer to leaf through the book, choose a page of designs which appeal to us at that moment, and use the illustrations as inspirational launching points for our own kaleidoscope experiments.

While coloring books are a popular trend, the designs in this book take the user beyond mere coloring projects; with this book, my son & I feel encouraged to try our own original variations of each form. 

For our drawings, we adore the beeswax aroma of Stockmar crayons, however, our box of  regular crayons is too irresistible to leave on the shelf.  My son's favorite color is called "macaroni and cheese," while I keep coming back to the colors "tickle me pink," "dandelion," "wisteria" and "purple mountain majesty."

We might not bother to wait until he's 10 to get a copy of Workbook 2...

paper dolls

We have been big fans of The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven for many years...

And recently this sweet book came across our radar (The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson).

Our own paper doll adventures ensued...

... and speaking of skipping ropes

Andy Spandy Sugardy Candy

French Almond Rock!

Bread and Butter for your Supper's

All Your Mother's GOT!

My son & I have been skipping rope and you can read about how we made our own skipping ropes HERE. Our new favorite book is Elsie Piddock Skips in her Sleep by Eleanor Farjeon, because what could be more delightful than a story about a little girl who skips rope with the fairies? We love the rhyme Elsie Piddock sings about Andy Spandy -- did you know that Andy Spandy is the Fairy Skipping-Master? Plus, in the story, there is another special skipping song taught to Elsie by the fairies...

And then a few weeks ago I came across another magical book about skipping rope... The Fox Wish by Kimiko Aman.

What were your favorite skipping rope rhymes as a child?  I'd love to know about them in any comments you'd care to leave below!

guest posting over at 'this picture book life'

Today you can find me collaborating on a post with Danielle Davis over at her blog This Picture Book Life.

On her blog, Danielle pairs picture books with crafts; and with the approach of Valentine's Day, we decided to feature The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles by Michelle Cuevas.  While The Uncorker of Ocean Bottles is not specifically a Valentine-themed book, per se, the message it brings is one of appreciation & acceptance (on any given day, Valentine's or not, everyone could use some of that).

And while you are visiting Danielle at This Picture Book Life, I highly recommend having a look around... the books & crafts she features are particularly delightful.  Also, do keep your eyes open this fall; Danielle's middle-grade novel titled Zinnia and the Bees is slated for release!

Click here, and I'll see you over at This Picture Book Life!

blog tour :: the horribly hungry gingerbread boy

FTC Compliant Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this book by Heyday Books to facilitate this blog tour review., however, all opinions expressed below are entirely my own.

Today I am honored to be participating in a blog tour promoting the newest book by Elisa Kleven: The Horribly Hungry Gingerbread Boy (and please read to the end of this post for a *give away*).

If you're a regular a reader of my blog, you may have seen me mention Elisa Kleven's books once or twice (or thrice).  I love Elisa's work for the peacefulness and hope her work exudes. I love the luminous colors of her artwork, and I love every tiny bird, mouse, turtle, frog, butterfly, ladybug, and ant inhabiting her engagingly detailed illustrations.

I treasure each of Elisa's books for different reasons and what I love most about this newest book is that it is so very funny and feisty.  Elisa's take on the story is utterly original with a Gingerbread Boy who is deeply offended that the child who has created him then tries to eat him.  My favorite lines of the book are:

"Hey you," cried Shirley.  "Stop! Come back!"

"No way!" he said.  "I'm not your snack.

I thought you'd be my friend, but no,

You bit my thumb -- what next, my toe?"

As you can see in the illustration above, all is eventually resolved between Shirley and her Gingerbread Boy, but along the way we are treated to a madcap tour of San Francisco with notes at the end of the book telling us about the Landmarks visited by our two protagonists.  And what's more, at the end of the book there is also a recipe for baking your own gingerbread people (who hopefully won't try to run away).

If you're not up for baking, here is another way to make gingerbread people which Elisa shared with me a few weeks ago.  This sweet craft is one which Elisa sometimes offers at bookstores and schools when she visits to talk about her work.

SUPPLIES
-- A large sheet of blank paper
-- A sheet of brown paper (or a brown paper bag)
-- A cookie cutter for tracing a template (optional)
-- Colorful bits of paper and/or fabric
-- Buttons or other interesting collage materials
-- A pencil plus markers or crayons

-- White glue for attaching buttons & fabric
-- A glue stick
-- A pair of scissors

STEP ONE :: Using a pencil, sketch the outline of a gingerbread person onto a sheet of brown paper or a brown paper bag and then use a pair of scissors (or have your child use scissors) to cut it out.  Alternatively, if you are uncertain about freehand sketching a gingerbread person, you could trace around a person-shaped cookie cutter.

For extra fun, you could cut out more than one gingerbread person and create a scene with them interacting on the page.

STEP TWO :: Use the glue stick to affix your paper gingerbread folk to a larger piece of plain paper.

STEP 3 :: Cut out clothing from collage materials (paper or fabric) and affix with glue (glue stick for paper or white glue for fabric).

STEP 4 :: Use more collage materials plus pens & crayons to create a sky, clouds, grass & flowers, buttons, faces for your gingerfolk, etc...

And now that we are done with our craft project, please let me tell you about the *give away*.  To participate, leave a comment below, and if you wish, please share your favorite kind of cookie or a favorite cookie-baking memory in your comment.  I will close the give away on Monday December 12 and choose a winner via random number generator.  Thank you to Heyday Books, publisher of The Horribly Hungry Gingerbread Boy, for kindly offering a copy of the book. (Note: due to high postage rates, this give away is limited to participants in the US only.)

If you enjoyed this blog post and are interested in reading more about Elisa & the The Horribly Hungry Gingerbread Boy, you can visit her website HERE. I also invite you to visit the other blogs participating in this blog tour (there is a book *give away* on each blog!)

12/6/16 :: Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)/Tara Lazar
12/7/16 :: We Bloom Here/Margaret Bloom
12/8/16 :: Wee Folk Studio/Salley Mavor
12/9/16 :: KidLit411/Sylvia Liu

The give-away has ended and comments are now closed.  Thank you for your interest!

holiday gift ideas

Over the past few years (and even more so over the past few weeks), I've been having conversations with friends about how December has become a month of gift buying; and with many people I know focused on minimizing unnecessary possessions, the thought of buying so many gifts feels especially ironic and burdensome.  But even so, I truly enjoy figuring out perfect (if simple) gifts for friends & family.

Handmade gifts are wonderful, but not always right for every recipient, and realistically, I'd need to start working on gifts in January in order to finish making presents for everyone on time (and maybe not even then...)  So, I make a few gifts every year (usually for my children's teachers), but my go-to gift for nearly everyone else is a book -- even used books are fair game, because it's not about how fancy the book is, but what's inside.  And it's gratifying to get a call or email from someone saying, "I just finished reading that book you gave me & it was wonderful."

So, here goes... my list of holiday gift ideas.  However, please note: if you suspect you might be receiving a gift from me, go away. Scram. Now.

1) Donations to Non-Profits :: When my husband asked what I wanted this year as a holiday gift, I told him to please make donations to the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Violence Policy Center. It's not that I'm feeling like a martyr or don't like gifts, but there's nothing I personally want or need for myself right now and these foundations are doing important work.  This is not to say that donations to non-profits are good gifts for everyone, but it might be something to discuss with your children -- and make a group decision regarding which non-profit (or non-profits) you would want to support as a family with a donation this year.

Not all non-profits are what they seem, so it's a good idea to do a little bit of research into what each organization really supports and what percentage of donations actually go toward doing the work they say they're doing (as opposed to spending your donations on telemarketers, sending endless junk-mail and lining the pockets of their CEO's & CFO's). I checked in with Mother Jones and also appreciated the information in THIS article plus THIS article.

2) Tickets to a Performance or Membership to a Museum ::
Okay... so maybe there IS something I want for myself: tickets to Cirque du Soleil (and because tickets for Cirque du Soleil are crazy-expensive, I think this will count double as my birthday present).  Cirque du Soleil might not be setting up their tent in your town any time soon, but maybe there's a concert, play or ballet performance you've been wanting to see?  A museum you've been wanting to visit? An ice-skating or hiking adventure? You get the idea...

 

3) Gift Ideas for Teachers ::
Last year I made these for my sons' teachers, and this year I potted grape hyacinth bulbs together with tête–à–tête jonquil bulbs (see photo above).  My other favorite plants to pot and give as gifts are cyclamen or amaryllis bulbs.

4) Books for Teens & Grown-Ups::
These books were my favorites this year (though not all were published this year) and they have made my list of "go-to gifts."  Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout, The Muse by Jessie Burton, The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and also A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy by Sarah Lazarovic. (This last suggestion is sort of an ironic gift, but really, the author's premise is brilliant -- instead of buying things she wanted, the author painted pictures of them and chronicled her impulses to spend & acquire.  It's thoughtful, inspiring, not at all preach-y, and very funny.)

And for my fav Harry Potter fans, young and older, there is THIS and THIS.

5) Books for Younger Children ::  
Home by Carson Ellis (because it's gorgeous), Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi (because there's an impromptu parade through the snow... and cake), The Complete Polly and the Wolf by Catherine Storr (because we could all use a good laugh, and this book is hilarious), and finally The Horribly Hungry Gingerbread Boy (because this delicious version is by Elisa Kleven... and hint-hint... there will be a give-away for a copy here next week).

6) Craft Books for Children (and for the adults who hang out with them) ::
Paper Suncatchers by Christine Gross-Loh -- This little book is sold as a boxed kit with some translucent paper to get you started, but you will quickly need more paper (which you can find HERE).  We are obsessed with making window stars right now so this book lives on the kitchen table; we also love Window Stars by Thomas Berger which is sadly out of print, but if you can find a used copy for a good price, grab it!!

My younger son really enjoys activity books published by Usborne -- especially the Book of Things to Find and Color and I am fascinated by this optical illusion book... 

Make Faces by Tupera Tupera -- My mom gave a copy of this book to my son a few months ago, and trust me -- it's super fun (in fact, I'm surprised Amazon hasn't sold out because I've personally bought so many copies as gifts).

Magical Miniature Gardens & Homes by Donni Webber (there's a give-away for a copy of the book HERE)

7) Other Cool Stuff ::
My teenage son eats so much ice cream that our scoop is perpetually sitting in the sink in a puddle-y mess so I decided he should have his own special ice cream scoop.  This one seems really great so I got one for him.

I bought a box of rocks for my younger son; not regular rocks -- geodes.  He's going to love smashing them open with a hammer.

My parents bought this scooter for my younger son as a splurge-y holiday gift and gave it to him early so we could all enjoy it together over Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure who likes riding it more, me or my 6 year old.

And finally, when another family member asked what to buy as gifts for my kids, I suggested subscriptions to Kiwi Crate.

8) Stuff that Smells Good ::
My newest obsession is this Grapefruit Cardamom Skin Balm by Etta + Billie. It. Smells. So. Good.

9) What Would Dumbledore Want?  
These Socks.

For more ideas, Rachel's list of 101 Toy-Free Gift Ideas on her blog Clean is worth checking. Plus Catherine Newman's list HERE.

magical miniature gardens & homes :: book review and giveaway

FTC Compliant Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this book by Page Street Publishing Co. to facilitate this review., however, all opinions expressed below are entirely my own.

Dear lovely readers -- I have been in on a secret for a few months and am excited to share some ever-so-lovely fairy sized news with you today. Donni Webber of the blog The Magic Onions has written a book:  Magical Miniature Gardens & Homes.

If you are a reader of The Magic Onions, then you're already aware that, since 2010, Donni has been our ambassadress to the magical realm of fairy gardens. You can click HERE to see the enchantments which Donni has wrought & inspired. Who then would be better qualified to write a book on the topic of tiny, magical gardens?

 

What I love best about this book, and what I feel makes it unique, is that Donni explains how to make everything instead of relying on purchasing pre-fabricated items.  The book contains instructions for making everything from bedsteads to benches, toadstools to wishing trees; and while these gardens might look intricate, each item, for the most part, can be constructed from objects and craft supplies you might already have lying around the house.  Moreover, Donni's instructions are so very clear and uncomplicated for making each tiny item, that crafting is fun as opposed to intimidating.

Bravo to Donni and the editing team at Page Street Publishing Co. for putting together a book in which the crafts are accessible to children and which sparks their endless capacity for creativity (the book is wonderful for adults who love delving into imagination, too!!).

 

Now for the give-away.  Please leave a comment below for an opportunity to win a copy of Magical Miniature Gardens & Homes (and just for fun, if you wish, you might, in your comment say what your name would be if you were a fairy).  I will choose a winner via random number generator on Monday, December 5th.  Note: unfortunately, due to the high cost of international postage, this giveaway is only open to residents of the US and Canada.

Thank you to Donni for creating such a wonderful book and opening the fairy realms to all.  Thank you also to Page Street Publishing for spreading fairy magic and for kindly offering a copy of this gorgeous book to my readers.

Comments for this post are now closed and a winner has been selected for the give-away.  Thank you for your interest!