About viviankirkfield

Writer for children - Reader forever - Mom of 3, educator, author of FOUR OTTERS TOBOGGAN: AN ANIMAL COUNTING BOOK (PomegranateKids, PIPPA'S PASSOVER PLATE (Holiday House), SWEET DREAMS, SARAH (Creston Books); MAKING THEIR VOICES HEARD: THE INSPIRING FRIENDSHIP OF ELLA FITZGERALD AND MARILYN MONROE (Little Bee Books); FROM HERE TO THERE: INVENTIONS THAT CHANGED THE WAY THE WORLD MOVES (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Jan 19, 2021); PEDAL, BALANCE, STEER: Annie Londonderry, First Woman to Bike Around the World (Calkins Creek/Astra, Feb 20, 2024) picture book junkie, lover of travel, hiking, fly-fishing, cooking, and playing Monopoly with my grandson.

Happy Book Birthday: WISHES, DARES, AND HOW TO STAND UP TO A BULLY Plus Giveaway

Posted on April 7, 2020 by viviankirkfield

Bookstores have closed their doors! And libraries are shut down! But never fear, parents, teachers, boys and girls…writers are still writing great stories and publishers are still getting them printed! Many bookstores are taking online orders and shipping for FREE or are enabling customers to do curbside pickup!

So today we are honored to sing a HUGE HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY to a brand-new Middle Grade novel from one of my favorite kidlit authors, Darlene Beck Jacobson.

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WISHES, DARES, AND HOW TO STAND UP TO A BULLY Continue reading →

Perfect Picture Book Friday: PLAY LIKE AN ANIMAL Plus Giveaway

Posted on April 3, 2020 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! I’m so happy to be back doing picture book reviews. The #50PreciousWords Contest kept me pretty busy – congratulations to ALL who participated…the generous industry pros who donated critiques, seats in writing classes, and books…my amazing judges, Maria Marshall, Julie Abery and Diane Tulloch…plus the 390 brave souls who shared their wonderful stories and the many people who took their time to leave 5734 positive, encouraging, and supportive comments. WOW!

We are in a new era – it almost feels like we are existing in a science fiction novel – and the author hasn’t finished the final chapters so we can’t skip ahead to find out how it ends. My heart goes out to those whose health has been impacted…to families struggling to keep things together as parents and children adjust to remote working/learning…to businesses trying to find new ways to create revenue.

I am, however, a very optimistic person…my sister used to call me Pollyanna because Continue reading →

#50PreciousWords Contest 2020: And the winner is…

Posted on March 21, 2020 by viviankirkfield

Art by Vicky Fang

WELCOME ALL! In the midst of this unprecedented health situation, the kidlit community is stepping up to the plate. Authors and illustrators are creating video storytimes and lessons for kids who are home because schools are closed. And I hope that participating in this contest has given many of us a sense of normalcy – focusing on writing a 50-word story doesn’t leave much brain power for worrying about anything else, right?

Since this is a contest that celebrates the life and genius of Theodore Geisel, the beloved Dr. Seuss, I wanted to give a special shout-out to one of the stories:

TRIBUTE TO DR. SEUSS
By Linda Staszak 49 words

The Cat in the Hat didn’t know what to do–
The Grinch was still pestering Cindi Lou Who.
And nobody wanted the green eggs and ham–
The Wockets and Horton were playing with Sam.
And Sneetches chased Thidwick, the big-hearted moose…
This craziness thanks to the great Dr. Seuss.

Thank you so much, Linda…I loved your rhythm and rhyme…and the topic was spot on! Have you thought about doing a nonfiction pb about him? Continue reading →