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.

Perfect Picture Book Friday: A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL Plus Giveaway

Posted on May 10, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. Get ready for a FABULOUS post, thanks to the talented author/illustrator Miri Leshem-Pelly who stopped by to share some of the behind-the-pages process of her newest book, A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL.

ME: Welcome, Miri! Thanks for visiting. And we are listening!

When reality mimics imagination

Look at this photo vs drawing, both of a girl on a tree. I bet you’re thinking I used this photo as a reference while drawing this sketch, right? Wrong!

What if I tell you that I drew this tree out of my imagination? And that I took this picture AFTER I drew this sketch?

Well – let me tell you the story behind the picture.

It all happened after I’ve finished working on the pencil sketches for my book. The sketches were approved by the publisher, and I was about to start the final color illustrations.

One of the scenes in the book happens in a place called Sataf, in the Jerusalem mountains. When I drew the pencil sketch of the girl sitting on an olive tree in Sataf, I looked at many olive tree photos but couldn’t find exactly the tree I needed, so I made one up from my imagination.

Around that time, we were invited to my nephew’s Bar Mitzvah. This boy loves hiking and decided to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah with a family hike to Sataf! I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to take pictures of some ancient olive trees that grow there. But I didn’t expect to find the tree from my sketch! When I saw this tree, I asked my niece to sit and hug it just like the girl from my sketch. My sweet niece is about the same age of the girl character in my book and she even had a similar hat!

And that’s how this funny story happened. I imagined an olive tree in Sataf, drew it, and then discovered that this tree actually exists right there, in Sataf. Sometimes reality mimics imagination, and I have the picture to prove it.

WOW! That’s amazing! Thank you so much, Miri. And friends, take a look at the awesome cover of our Perfect Picture Book Friday feature:

A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL

Written and illustrated by Miri Leshem-Pelly

Published by Kar Ben (May 7, 2024)

Ages: 3-8

Themes: Nature/STEM, Girl explorer, Israel

Synopsis:
A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL follows a girl’s hikes through the diverse nature sites of Israel. Whenever she runs in a field, climbs up a hill or swims in the sea, she looks for something small to hold in her hand. It’s a picture book about curiosity and connection to nature, and about little wonders of nature that children love to discover!

Why I Love This Book:
I love picture book stories that take me on a journey. Child readers will be swept away to a calm and peaceful place in their hearts as the main character visits river, beach, and field. The writing is captivating – the language is lyrical and visual – and the illustrations are stunning. The additional STEM sidebars add value for teachers who can use this book in the classroom. Highly recommend!!

RELATED ACTIVITIES:

Photo courtesy: https://temeculablogs.com/nature-crafts/

Check out a bunch of lovely Nature crafts for kids here: https://temeculablogs.com/nature-crafts/

And there’s more! Miri has activities on her website:
Get here free downloads for this book: https://mirileshembooks.com/free-downloads/

To find out more about Miri and her books:
Miri Leshem-Pelly is an author-illustrator of 17 picture books, many of them about nature and animals. Miri does more than 100 school visits per year. She is an SCBWI RAE (Regional Advisor Emerita) after serving more than ten years as a regional advisor of SCBWI in Israel.
Miri is represented by literary agent Anna Olswanger.
Connect with Miri:
Website: http://mirileshembooks.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miri_leshem_pelly/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirileshem

Dear friends…great books need our help. Books like A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL need to be in library and school and home bookshelves all around the world. So, how can we help? We can:
Buy the book:
Lerner website: https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/23133
Amazon
Review the book:
Amazon
Add it to your Goodreads Want to Read Shelf
Tell friends about the book (Please share this post on your social media – that really helps)
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection

A Feather, A Pebble, A Shell 979-8-7656-0774-9 (LB) 979-8-7656-1339-9 (EB epub) Whenever the author-illustrator runs in a field, climbs a hill, or swims in the sea in Israel, she looks for something small to hold in her hand. She finds a basalt pebble from the ice-cold Dan River, formed from lava over 100,000 years ago. Israel’s national bird, the hoopoe, leaves a feather in the grass at HaYarkon Park. Dead hood coral grows in the Red Sea, where fish play hide-and-seek. She holds small things in her hand and then leaves them in their habitats. . . for the reader to find.

Please leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of this glorious book and tell us how you will help spread the word. Maybe you can also tell us what object YOU would have kept if you had been on those hikes.

And please come back here on Sunday for our special Mother’s Day post containing the #50PreciousWordsforKids stories!

Happy Book Birthday: LION OF THE SKY Plus Giveaway

Posted on May 7, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Thank you, dear friends, for stopping by today. How about a slice of yummy cake? Today’s featured book is a bit different from my usual picture book fare. We’re celebrating the launch of LION OF THE SKY, a middle grade in verse written by Ritu Hemnani and published by Balzer & Bray – so, let’s blow out the candles and sing!

Here’s a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
An evocative historical novel in verse about a boy and his family who are forced to flee their home and become refugees after the British Partition of India. Perfect for fans of Other Words for Home.

Twelve-year-old Raj is happiest flying kites with his best friend, Iqbal. As their kites soar, Raj feels free, like his beloved India soon will be, and he can’t wait to celebrate their independence.

But when a British lawyer draws a line across a map, splitting India in two, Raj is thrust into a fractured world. With Partition declared, Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim families are torn apart—and Raj’s Hindu and Iqbal’s Muslim families are among them.

Forced to flee and become refugees, Raj’s family is left to start over in a new country. After suffering devastating losses, Raj must summon the courage to survive the brutal upheaval of both his country and his heart.

Inspired by the author’s true family history, Lion of the Sky is a deeply moving coming-of-age tale about identity, belonging, and the power of hope.

WOW! I love middle grade novels – and LION OF THE SKY is such a compelling story. I hope you check it out.

And here’s a little bit about author Ritu from her wonderful website
Ritu is passionate about promoting diversity and nurturing inclusivity and empathy through
writing stories that center marginalized communities and encompass universal truths;
spotlighting human interest articles with heart, and collaborating with local literary and
charity organizations to promote literacy. She shares the seeds of her writing journey and
the inspiration behind her deep dive into her own family history in her 2019 TEDx Talk, An
Inheritance Worth Sharing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-GelCkt-t4

When not writing or teaching, Ritu delights in family game nights, strumming the strings of
her guitar, and paddling through Hong Kong waters on her carrot-colored kayak.
You can find Ritu on Twitter @rituhemwrites or at her website: www.rituhemnani.com

Please leave a comment if you’d like a chance to WIN a copy thanks to Ritu and her publisher. Maybe you can share the title of a favorite middle grade novel from your childhood.

BTW, we are also celebrating Children’s Book Week…and I’m looking forward to receiving lots of wonderful stories for #50PreciousWordsforKids. If you are a parent or teacher, please encourage your kids to participate…just email their entries to me at viviankirkfield@gmail.com and I’ll be publishing them in my special Mother’s Day post on Sunday. Let’s encourage our children to get in touch with the storyteller that lives inside each one of us!

I’m also celebrating Children’s Book Week at one of my local indie bookstores, BALIN BOOKS, Somerset Plaza, 375 Amherst St #101A, Nashua, NH on Saturday, May 11 at 1pm – 2pm. We’ll have coloring pages for the kids, 25% off discount for teachers (because it’s also Teacher Appreciation Week) and bookmarks and cookies for EVERYONE!! If you are local, please stop in…I’ll be reading PEDAL, BALANCE, STEER, and several of my local SCBWI author friends will be reading from their favorite books.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thank you for spending your precious time with us…speaking of precious…I’m up to distributing I#50PreciousWords prize #56.

Perfect Picture Book Friday: THE LAST DAY JULIAN WAS MY BEST FRIEND Plus Giveaway

Posted on May 3, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. Friendship is so very important – and being a good friend is one of the most important skills we can help children master. And whether we are 8 or 80, having good friends just makes life so much better! Huge thanks to author Jody Jensen Shaffer and illustrator Joanne Lew-Vriethoff for creating THE LAST DAY JULIAN WAS MY FRIEND.

THE LAST DAY JULIAN WAS MY BEST FRIEND

Written by Jody Jensen Shaffer

Illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

Published by Two Lions (June 4, 2024)

Ages: 5-8

Themes: Friendship, Honesty, Forgiveness

Synopsis: From the Amazon Sales Page:
A touching story of true friendship and the power of forgiveness.

Best friends and neighbors Anthony and Julian are having the summer of their lives. Making pancakes, riding bikes to the beach, playing in the sand and surf…They have everything they need for an epic summer vacation. But Anthony is worried. He has a secret―a secret about Julian’s missing marble. And he knows that once Julian finds out about it, he’ll be mad. He may not even want to be Anthony’s best friend anymore. So Anthony is determined to have the best last day as Julian’s best friend…until he can’t hold in his secret any longer. But maybe Julian has a surprise of his own to share with Anthony…

Why I Love This Book:
1. Grab your tissues…you will need them to wipe away the tears – the story captured my heart – a perfect story about the power of forgiveness!
2. The text is so perfect – with the rhythm, sets of three, and sparse language that keeps us engaged from beginning to end!
3. The illustrations are lovely – and we feel the emotions of both characters from the expressions on their faces – masterful!

ME: Author Jody stopped by to share a little bit of the story behind the story. Welcome, Jody! Thanks for spending some time with us.

JODY: Thanks so much for inviting me, Vivian.
When I tell kids at my author visits that some stories take two years or five years or maybe even ten years to go from idea to book, they’re stunned. Wait ’til they hear about the timeline for The Last Day Julian was My Best Friend! I wrote my first draft in 2008, when I was just learning how to write picture books. By my count, that’s 16 years from idea to book! But, boy, was it worth the effort and wait. I just love how it turned out, thanks to my editor, Marilyn Brigham, and the whole team at Two Lions, and to Joanne Lew-Vriethoff and her gorgeous illustrations. I hope readers will love it, too.

We are so glad you never gave up, Jody! The book is amazing!
Friends, here’s a little info about both the author and illustrator and how you can connect with them.

Jody Jensen Shaffer is an award-winning poet and the author of more than 80 books for children, including Creep, Leap, Crunch! A Food Chain Story, named an NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book and nominated for Oklahoma’s 2025 Donna Norvell Award, Prudence the Part-Time Cow, finalist for Missouri’s Show Me Award and Missouri’s choice for the National Book Festival, A Chip Off the Old Block, nominee for Iowa’s Goldfinch Award, It’s Your First Day of School, Busy Bus!, Amazon best seller, and more! Jody’s newest books include Sometimes I am Hot Lava and Porcupine Had a Fuzzy Sweater, which release in April and September, respectively.
Website:
Twitter

From Joanne’s website:
I am an illustrator of picture, chapter, middle grade and educational books. I was born in Malaysia, grew up in Los Angeles and New York, currently living between Malaysia and Amsterdam. I studied illustration at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. And for a short stint, I worked in the television industry as a character and concept illustrator for clients pitching children’s television shows. And then one day I decided to take a big leap and moved to New York where I worked as a graphic designer/Art Director at an AD Agency. Four years later, I found myself moving to Europe where I began my journey as a full time children’s book illustrator.
Website
Twitter

Here’s a lovely review from Kirkus:
“The tale delivers an important message about forgiveness and the importance of taking responsibility for wrongdoings… A touching exploration of the complicated dynamics of friendship.”

And here’s a Preorder link:
https://rb.gy/s2spa0

And our kind and generous guest is offering a fabulous Giveaway…a winner’s choice of a signed book, an Ask-Me-Anything Zoom chat, or a picture book critique. WOW! Please make sure you leave a comment, letting us know what you’d choose if you are the lucky winner…and please SHARE this post on social media, add the book to your Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf, review the book on Amazon, and ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection.

RELATED ACTIVITIES:

Kids love making and wearing friendship bracelets! Give it a try with your little ones!
More fun friendship activities – details at: https://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/friendship/

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I’m still immersed in distributing prizes…and this coming week, I’m excited to see the 50-word stories for #50PreciousWordsforKids. If you are a parent or teacher, please encourage your children to participate. It’s always a joy to see what these natural storytellers have to say.

Make sure you leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway…and guess what? Two Lions is doing a Goodreads giveaway of 20 physical copies of The Last Day Julian was My Best Friend. It begins on Monday, May 6 and goes until June 3. If you want to enter, here’s the link: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/388808-the-last-day-julian-was-my-best-friend