PPBF: Raindrops Roll PLUS The Inspirational Blogger Award

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Happy Friday, everyone! It’s time for a Perfect Picture Book review and activity. Susanna Hill’s blog is the place to go to find a whole bunch of other picture book reviews.

Spring is almost here – yes – can you hear the birds singing? Can you see the snow melting? I’m ready for Spring!

My perfect picture book pick makes me think about spring.

raindrops roll

Title: Raindrops Roll

Story and Photographs by April Pulley Sayre

Publisher: Beach Lane Books (2015)

Ages: 4-8

Themes: Rain, Nature

 

Opening Lines:

“Rain is coming. You can feel it in the air.”

Synopsis:

From Amazon:

“Discover the wonder of water in this refreshingly fun and fascinating exploration of rain, raindrops, and the water cycle from the creator of Rah, Rah, Radishes! and Go, Go Grapes!

Raindrops drop. They plop. They patter. They spatter. And in the process, they make the whole world feel fresh and new and clean.

In this gorgeously photo-illustrated nonfiction picture book, celebrated author April Pulley Sayre sheds new light on the wonders of rain, from the beauty of a raindrop balanced on a leaf to the amazing, never-ending water cycle that keeps our planet in perfect ecological balance.”

 

Why I like this book:

  • Simple lyrical text is perfectly matched to astonishingly beautiful photographs
  • Up close and personal look at insects, leaves, flowers

 

How a parent can use this book:

  • Discuss the effect rain has on the environment – what would animals and plants do without it?
  • Go on a nature walk in the rain
  • The author has wonderful information and resources at the end of the book

 

 

Related Activity:

Make a Nature Book

  1. Take a walk with your child on a rainy day – bring along a camera
  2. Snap photos of plants, insects and anything else that looks cool in the rain
  3. Put together a book with some of the photos – encourage your child to write a few words (or tell them to you so you can write them) about each picture

very-inspirational-blogger

I wanted to give a shout out to author Lauri Fortino who blogs at Frog on a Blog. If you haven’t visited her blog yet, run, don’t walk…it is fantastic! She does picture book reviews and author/illustrator interviews…she’s a supporter of Picture Book Pass It On and many other initiatives that help kids get books. At the end of December, she honored me with the Inspiring Blogger Award. The award comes with several rules:

  • Display the award on your blog
  • Link back to the person who nominated you
  • State 7 things about yourself
  • Nominate 15 bloggers, link to them, and notify them about their nominations

I know you are all on the edge of your seats to hear 7 things about me…I’ll try not to shock you too much:

  1. I stay up VERY late and often don’t get to bed until 3am,
  2. Because I am on the computer for 8+ hours every day,
  3. Because I participate in far too many critique groups (6),
  4. Because I love reading manuscripts,
  5. Because I adore helping other writers while honing my own writing skills,
  6. Because I want to write a picture book that sings,
  7. Because I believe 100% that exposure to good picture books gives children a great head start in life!

Okay…that was cheating a bit, I guess. I think most of you probably knew all of those things already. So here’s another list:

 

us_map

Photo courtesy http://www.50states.com/us

  1. I’ve been to every state except Alaska and I would love to go there one day – on a cruise.
  2. The first cross-country trip my husband and I took lasted 6 weeks – we went from NYC to Vancover, BC, then down the coast of Washington, Oregon and California to Ensenda, Mexico then to Las Vegas, on to the Grand Canyon and back to NY. Total cost including motels every night, breakfast and dinner every day, gas, admissions (Disneyland and many National Parks), souvenirs (like oil on velvet paintings and silver jewelry from Mexico) was $1200. Hard to believe. But see #3.
  3. I earned $100 a week in my first year of teaching kindergarten in the NYC public school system.
  4. My first international flight was probably the longest flight I could have planned – 24 hours of flight time from Colorado to Singapore.
  5. I LOVE air-popped popcorn sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and dark chocolate and ice cream (any flavor).
  6. I won a lindy dance contest with my husband many years ago.
  7. My favorite food is Indian –I learned how to make curries as a young bride because my hubby and I loved them so much.

I know the award rules say I should name 15 people to pass the award on to. I also know that many of you are so busy, this would be a hardship. All of you inspire me – so I offer the award to all of you – please post it on your blog if you don’t already have it.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

22 thoughts on “PPBF: Raindrops Roll PLUS The Inspirational Blogger Award”

  1. I love this post because I actually did learn more about you. After reading it I have these things to say:

    So cool that you’ve been to so many states. My husband has been to all the connected states but not to Alaska or Hawaii. Maybe someday.

    I love curry dishes. You’ll have to message me your secret tips to making a great one.

    I have said this before but I’ll say it again. You works will sing because you are so dedicated and put some much work into revisions and in fact I can think of a few that already “sing” (my favorite being your Sara story).

    Six critique groups!!!! You put me to shame. I can’t even keep up with the three that I am in.

    I agree with you whole-heartedly. Exposure to good picture books is so beneficial to children.

    Lastly, I wish I could do the lindy. Such a cool dance. Somehow I don’t think my feet would cooperate.

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    • Not sure my feet would still cooperate either, Linda! And 3 crit groups is probably still too much…you are an amazing crit partner…I’m so glad to have you…especially because you say such sweet things about my stories. 😉 😉 😉
      My secret to yummy curries is to add a bit of honey…I love when they are sweet. The sad thing is that hubby can’t eat spicy food anymore…so I rarely have it…but our daughter (and both sons) LOVE curries…so once in a while, I’ll go out with Carrie for Indian buffet.

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  4. Ooh I must try that popcorn! I love water books, I’ll have to look out for this one. Fun to learn more about you Vivian.

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  5. Our library has this book, Vivian. I took a new neighbor and her little girl to a “tea party” and readings of some wonderful children’s books. This was one of her favorites. It is truly musical.

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    • Oh, was the tea party and reading at the library? That would be such a lovey program, Marylin…I know our library here has a bunch of story events for kids, but I haven’t seen a tea party. 😉

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  7. Raindrops Roll is my kind of story. Thank you for sharing it today as well as introducing me to an author I was unfamiliar with. Will add this to my list for our grandchildren.

    Okay, what is your tea laced with? You’re really bursting with energy today. Love all the personal shares. I’ve been to Alaska — while the glaciers were more prominent. Hope you visit some day. You will love it.

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  10. Ooh! Intriguing book – I’ll look for it at the bookstore. But the best part of this blog post is learning more about you! Wish I’d known you when you lived in Colorado… but I’m so glad to know you now!

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  13. Thanks so much for the shout-out Vivian; I am thrilled you think so highly of my blog! Yours is well-deserving of the blogger award. I don’t remember how I found your blog last year, but I’m so glad I did. I’m also glad to learn more about you via this post. I had to look up lindy dance. I watched a couple of videos. Oh my goodness, it looks like so much fun! Thanks for accepting the award and for sharing yourself with your blog followers. 🙂

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  14. I loved all of the post – but most of all, learning that you won a Lindy hop contest! My husband and I met swing dancing (mostly east coast) and financed flights to see one another when we were in grad school far apart by teaching swing classes. So fun to find another little thing in common with one of my favorite kidlit bloggers!

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