Perfect Picture Book Friday: HANUKKAH HIPPITY-HOP Plus Giveaway

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Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! We are slipping in a board book this week, but I know you won’t mind because HANUKKAH HIPPITY-HOP is so adorable – and perfect with Hanukkah right around the corner. And we missed celebrating author Barbara Kimmel’s book birthday because I had to step away from blogging for a while. But Barbara kindly stopped by to chat about the book…and she offering a GIVEAWAY…a copy of the book to one lucky winner (U.S. addresses only).

HANUKKAH HIPPITY-HOP

Written by Barbara Kimmel

Illustrated by Ana Zurita

Published by Kar Ben (October 1, 2024)

Ages: 1-4

Themes: Hanukkah,

Synopsis: From Amazon:
Get ready to celebrate―and get your wiggles out―by doing the Hanukkah Hippity-Hop! March like a Maccabee and stomp your feet, then shake like the jelly in a doughnut treat!

This festive and fun rhyming board book invites toddlers to stomp, shake, and spin as they learn about Hanukkah. This joyful book is a wonderful gift that’s sure to become a cherished holiday favorite for children—and their grown-ups!

Why I Love This Book:
1. Joyful rhyming text!
2. Joyful colorful illustrations!
4. Joyful interactive read-aloud!

Here’s some praise from Hornbook:
‘MARCH like a Maccabee—stomping your feet! / SHAKE like the jelly in a doughnut treat.’ This board book dances through the details of Hanukkah, urging young listeners to spin like a dreidel and jump like a latke in a pan. Bold illustrations feature a diverse group of kids (and one mischievous cat) hippity-hopping their holiday hearts out amid Hanukkah treats, decorations, and spinning dreidels. A jaunty introduction to Hanukkah activities for the toddler set.”— The Horn Book Magazine, HOLIDAY HIGH NOTES 2024

We’ll get to the craft activity in a minute, but first I want to welcome Barbara. She’s a member of the #JewishBoardBooks group and is always busy helping spread the word about the importance of board books!
ME: Welcome, Barbara!

BARBARA:
As a new writer, I participated in as many contests as possible to sharpen my skills and connect with the wonderful KidLit community. One of my favorites was your annual “50 Precious Words” challenge. To my surprise, my story placed 5th out of 770 entries the first year I entered, and the following year, I was stunned to place 4th. To stay under 50 words, I wrote short, interactive rhymes—something I had never tried before. Placing in these contests inspired me to keep writing in that format, and the recognition from you and your judges gave me the confidence to stick with my dream of writing for children. Thank you!

ME: WOW! Thank you, Barbara! #50PreciousWords has inspired many writers, I think. And I’m already making plans for the 2025 contest…gathering prizes and I’ll soon be contacting my fabulous judges! By the way, for those of you who want to get a head start…the heads-up post will be up on the blog early in February…and the contest will take place from 12:01am March 2 to 11:59pm March 3.

But back to Hanukkah Hippity-Hop…it’s the perfect gift for little ones who will hold this sturdy book in their hands and will be developing early literacy skills as they turn the pages and focus on the vibrant illustrations!
Please help beautiful books like this succeed…we can:
Buy the book
Review the book
Tell friends about the book (Please share this post on your social media)
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection
And for more about the book and what Barbara is up to, please check out her website:https://barbarakimmelwrites.com/books/hanukkah-hippity-hop/

And here are a few fun crafts to keep the kiddos busy and engaged:

Photo: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/kids-crafts-to-celebrate-hanukkah-4117938

Just hippity-hop over to https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/kids-crafts-to-celebrate-hanukkah-4117938 for dozens of cool Hanukkah crafts for children of all ages!

Thank you for spending your precious time with us…blogging is still a bit frustrating because I’ve been away a while and WordPress seems to have updated things…I wish they would just leave everything the way it was. It seems as if once I learn how to navigate it, they change something and there is a whole new learning curve. Does that happen to you?

Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of this wonderful board book…and please share on your social media. I’m on Blue Sky now…are you?

Perfect Picture Book Friday: PERFECT MATCH

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Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! I’m so very excited about today’s featured book BECAUSE I know the author and met her at a conference TEN YEARS AGO and I got to see the manuscript before it became a book!!! That’s always fun, right? And the story is especially relevant today because it touches on racial and religious discrimination – and ALLYSHIP!

PERFECT MATCH

Written by Lori Dubbin

Illustrated by Amanda Quartey

Published by Kar Ben Publishing (September 10, 2024)

Ages: 6-11

Themes: Discrimination, courage, tennis

Synopsis: From Amazon:
When Althea Gibson first dreamed of joining the big American tennis leagues, she was denied because she was Black. Angela Buxton dreamed of joining the best tennis clubs in Britain, but she was rejected because she was Jewish. When Angela heard that Althea was coming to Britain to compete, she skipped school to see the match. If Althea didn’t let hatred stop her from playing the game she loved, Angela wouldn’t either.

At the French Championships in 1956, Angela told Althea about her dream of winning Wimbledon with a doubles partner. To win as a team, they would have to stick to their strengths―together.

Why I Love This Book:
1. I love that this is a true story about two women who encouraged and supported each other – and proved to the world that allyship wins over racial and religious discrimination!
2. I love the well-written text – filled with action and suspense – and lots of heart!
3. I love the lively illustrations that help bring the story to life and help connect the reader with the characters!

The book has received wonderful reviews, including being a Junior Library Guild Selection.

And guess what!! Author Dubbin and illustrator Quartey stopped by to chat with us and share a little bit about the story behind the story…and I know we all love that!
Welcome, Lori and Amanda!

LORI: In writing PERFECT MATCH, I found it harder to write about two people instead of just one. I wanted to be able to give Althea and Angela the same amount of time and space in the manuscript…as much as I could. It took a while to find just the right balance for two main characters. Althea and Angela were seven years apart and Althea was already playing in tournaments when Angela was still in high school. I finally figured out I needed to show glimpses of each of them separately, bring them together when they met on tour, and then keep Althea and Angela’s friendship and doubles partnership front and center. That’s when I finally started to hear “the ping of the ball in the racquet’s sweet spot” in the manuscript.

Then during the production stage of the book, I was delighted when I saw Amanda’s illustrations. She captures both players beautifully and takes the heart of the story to another level – by highlighting the warmth of Althea and Angela’s friendship and emphasizing the power of their partnership on the court.


AMANDA: Perfect match challenge
The most challenging part of working on this project was coming up with the initial illustrations for the book. As someone who is not the most familiar with tennis and its history, I made sure to do as much research as possible before hand on both Angela and Althea in order to simulate their real life friendship. While working on ‘Perfect Match’ I was enlightened to many tennis facts which I was not formerly aware of – like the fact that tennis balls used to be white!

It’s fascinating to know that even with the many challenges that pop up on the path to publication, in the end, there will be a beautiful book!

Here’s a little bit about the author:
Lori Dubbin is a writer and former early childhood educator. She enjoys researching and writing about people just outside the framework of history who have made extraordinary contributions to the world and who model kindness, compassion, and perseverance for young readers. When Lori isn’t researching or writing, she likes taking walks, solving crossword puzzles, and reading with her grandson. Her children’s picture book, Perfect Match, The Story of Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton is a Junior Library Guild Selection.
Twitter/X: @LoriDubbin
Website: loridubbin.com

And here’s a little bit about the illustrator:
Amanda was born and bred in London. At the age of 14 she moved to Ghana and studied art at school and later returned to the UK to study graphic design. Her artistic path deviated slightly when she studied Classics at University; and then later started working in finance. But over the years, in a bid to return to her artistic roots, Amanda has built a professional illustration portfolio and is now loving every bit of her illustration career!

And here’s a few ways we can help this important book succeed:
We can buy a copy
We can review the book
We can place the book on our Goodreads Want to Read Shelf
We can tell friends about it (please share this post on your social media)
We can ask our local library to purchases copies for their collection

Thank you all for spending your precious time here with us. Just like Althea and Angela, we can support and encourage each other through challenging times, sharing light, love, and laughter.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Book Birthday: THE OTHER SIDE OF TOMORROW Plus Giveaway

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HURRAY! In the midst of what may right now feel like the depths of despair, there are always beacons of light. Our mission, should we decide to accept it, is to find those beacons of light and nourish them. One beacon of light for me has been the slow but sure improvement in my vision – this is the first blog post I’ve created since my eye surgery in July. It’s definitely been a challenge for someone who was used to spending almost 24 hours a day reading and writing. And it’s given me a greater appreciation for all those who continue reading, writing, and going about daily tasks, even though their vision is impaired. My vision will always be somewhat limited, but I feel blessed that I can be blogging again.

Another beacon of light for me is the fact that writers keep sharing their words and illustrators continue to delight us with their art. Now, more than ever, we need to fill the world with books that entertain, inform, and inspire. Which brings me to the main reason for this post…a glorious celebration of the launch of a new graphic novel written by one of my long-time CPs, Tina Cho, and illustrated by Deb JJ Lee.

Happily, author Cho stopped by to share a little bit about the book and what inspired her to write it – and also to offer a GIVEAWAY…a copy of the book!:
Welcome, Tina!!!!
TINA: “The Other Side of Tomorrow is a lyrical middle grade graphic novel about two kids who escape out of North Korea along the Asian Underground Railroad. While living in South Korea for ten years, I met North Koreans, heard their stories, and wanted kids around the world to know about them. This story started out as a picture book manuscript, morphed into a chapter book, then a novel in verse, and finally into its current form of a graphic novel. “

For more information about the book, the acknowledgements of all who helped, and an educator’s guide, please visit my website, http://www.tinamcho.com.

To buy the book:

The Other Side of Tomorrow

Here’s a little bit about the author:
Tina Cho is the author of Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans (Little Bee Books), Korean Celebrations (Tuttle), My Breakfast with Jesus: Worshipping God around the World (Harvest House), The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story (Kokila/Penguin Random House), God’s Little Astronomer (Waterbrook), God’s Little Oceanographer June 2025, & The Princess & the Grain of Rice (FSG Fall 2025). Her lyrical middle grade graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow, published from Harper Alley 11/12/2024. After living in South Korea for ten years, Tina, her husband, and two kids reside in Iowa where Tina also teaches kindergarten. 

And here’s a little bit about the illustrator:
Deb JJ Lee (they/them) is a trans nonbinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. They have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, NPR, Google, Radiolab, and more. They are known for their award-winning graphic memoir, In Limbo, about mental illness and difficult relationships with trauma. Their cat, Marlie, has three teeth.

The book has received glowing reviews all across the board including these:
“Triumphant, moving, and unforgettable.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“This gripping graphic novel about childhood under dictator Kim Jong Un balances horror and wonder in both its poetic language and vibrant imagery.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Dear friends, please help important books like this one become a success:
We can share on our social media
We can request our library purchase copies for their shelves
We can buy a copy as a holiday gift for a teacher – maybe she’ll be able to use it in her class
We can borrow the book from our local library
We can ask our indie bookstore if they will carry this title
WE CAN!
And remember to leave a comment and SHARE this post on your social media for a chance to WIN the giveaway copy of THE OTHER SIDE OF TOMORROW.

As the year winds down, I’ve got one more big event coming up…the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) conference in Boston from November 21-24. I’m excited for so many reasons…I’m honored to be part of two amazing panels, I’ll be at the Calkins Creek/Astra booth signing PEDAL, BALANCE, STEER: Annie Londonderry, the First Woman to Cycle Around the World, and the very best part of all of this…I’ll get to hug so many kid-lit friends. Here’s a graphic that gives the dates and times of my panel sessions and book signing…if you will be at NCTE, I hope we will connect in person!