Perfect Picture Book Friday: BENI’S TINY TALES

Posted on January 12, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. And hold onto your hats – because today’s featured book is like a dozen books in one! That’s right! It’s a treasury of stories, recipes, crafts, and more – for Jewish holidays throughout the year. And the art by author/illustrator Jane Breskin Zalben is absolutely delightful!

BENI’S TINY TALES: Around the World in Jewish Holidays

Written and illustrated by Jane Breskin Zalben

Published by Christy Ottaviano (August 8, 2023)

Ages: 4-8

Themes: Jewish holidays, family activities, diversity

Synopsis: From Amazon:
Join Beni and his family as they celebrate a year in Jewish Holidays, including all their favorite craft activities, recipes, songs, and stories for each occasion. The perfect gift book that gives all year long.

Chronicling a full year of Jewish festivities—from Rosh Hashanah through Shavuot, with every momentous occasion in between—this one-of-a-kind treasury includes homespun family stories, origin notes, craft activities, songs, and recipes for each holiday. With ideas on how to make masks for Purim, recipes to bake fresh honey-dipped challah to mark the new year, and so much more, this interactive holiday collection begs to be revisited again and again.

Beautifully crafted and with the right balance of factual details interspersed with fictional stories, this Jewish treasury is a welcome introduction to each holiday in the calendar year, and it is all told through the lens of Beni’s bear family. For parents who grew up reading Beni’s Family Treasury and Beni’s Family Cookbook, the family tradition lives on in this much anticipated compendium for contemporary readers.

“Mouthwatering recipes, activities, and songs round out the chapters…. Young readers and their grown-ups will find much to savor here.” —Kirkus Reviews

Why I Love This Book:
1. I love that this book has so many different layers – the stories of Beni’s bear family, the many different Jewish holidays and the how and why they are celebrated, fun craft activities and great recipes that everyone can enjoy!
2. I love the glorious art – the illustrations throughout the book are delightful and captivating – even the end papers engage the reader!
3. The publisher did not stint when it came to this book – the heavy glossy pages will survive many readings and the handling of young children – and the print is large enough for even my old eyes to see it – this s a quality book from cover to cover!

The book has received praise and write-ups from many, including:
ALA: https://journals.ala.org/index.php/cal/article/view/8109/11274
Betsy Bird: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2023/07/06/celebrating-jewish-holidays-all-year-round-an-interview-with-jane-zalben-about-benis-tiny-tales/

Usually, I share a craft activity with every Perfect Picture Book Friday post, but because this books is chockful of crafts and recipes – and because author/illustrator Jane Zalben is so generous, we have crafts AND recipes!!!

How about a recipe for Hamantaschen? When I lived in NYC, one of my favorite pastries was prune hamantaschen. YUM!!!

When the kids are home from school over the holidays, we often scramble for things to do with them. But with BENI’S TINY TALES, you’ll be scrambling no more!

When my first child was born, we moved from NYC to a small town in Connecticut. I’ve mentioned before how the backyard had 100 blueberry bushes…and the front yard had three huge old maple trees that we tapped for sap to make maple syrup several times while our children were growing up. It was a great experience…and Jane documents a similar time for Beni and his bear family.

The bear family on their way to tap the trees

And here is the recipe for making maple syrup!

To be honest, I have to admit that I don’t buy every book that I review…there are just too many of them…and my bookcases are already bursting at the seams – but when I saw the wealth of information and the quality of the illustrations, I couldn’t help myself – I hope you will all feel the same way because beautiful books like BENI’S TINY TALES need our help.
What can we do?
We can:
Buy a copy for ourselves or a friend
Review the book
Place the title on your Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf
Tell friends about the book (on social media, please!)
Ask our local library to purchase copies for their collection

I’ve bought the book, placed it on my Goodreads shelf, and reviewed it on Amazon.
And I’ll be sharing on Facebook and Twitter.
I hope you will find at least one way to help spread the word about this glorious book.

And I hope you all have a beautiful weekend! I’ve started reaching out to gather prizes for #50PreciousWords…yes, can you believe it…March will be here before you know it. And, dear blog followers, you are the first to know that we already have all of our judges from last year back again. My grateful thanks to Maria Marshall, Pamela Courtney, Carmen Castillo Gilbert, Shirin Shamsi, Leah Moser, Amber Bouchard, and Diane Tulloch for agreeing to this huge task of reading all of the stories (last year there were 756), and meeting multiple times to decide on the 50+ prize winners and 200+ Honorable Mentions. I’ve also heard from the first of the prize donors…we ALREADY have SEVERAL EDITORS AND AGENTS who will give feedback and/or submission opportunities.

Are you getting excited? AWESOME!!! But before you forget, please share this post on your social media and buy a copy of BENI’S TINY TALES!

Cover Reveal: ERNO RUBIK AND HIS MAGIC CUBE

Posted on January 9, 2024 by viviankirkfield

New picture books, like new works of art, add so much to the world: a chance to engage, educate, and inspire children – a chance to spark their creativity and curiosity…ESPECIALLY nonfiction biographies like this one!

And so, when I get a chance to reveal the cover of an upcoming picture book…ESPECIALLY one that I saw in it’s early stages, I’m totally thrilled!

WOW! Kids will rush to read this book! The cover is so engaging…and the Rubik’s Cube is still fascinating children and adults alike…even after 50 years!

Here’s a little bit about the book from the Goodreads page:
This first picture book biography of Erno Rubik, creator of the Rubik’s Cube, reveals the obsession, imagination, and engineering process behind the creation of a bestselling puzzle that will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024.

In 2023, the world record for solving the Rubik’s Cube was broken by Max Park, who finished in 3.13 seconds!

And then there’s you. Did you ever get so frustrated with a Rubik’s Cube that you wanted to pull it apart and put it back together in order? Were you to do so, you’d see how cleverly one of the world’s most popular toys is assembled. Working together, the 26 pieces combine to make 43 quintillion possible configurations—but only one solution.

A solitary child, Erno Rubik grew up in post-World War II Hungary obsessed with puzzles, art, nature, and the underlying patterns and structures. He became a professor of art, architecture, and design, who was still fascinated with how objects work together, sometimes becoming greater than their components. In a quest to help his students understand three-dimensional objects and how they move—not to mention a desire to entertain himself—he fashioned a cube whose pieces twisted and turned without breaking, and unexpectedly invented the Rubik’s Cube, the most popular puzzle in history, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024.

To pre-order, please go to:

And to put the book on your Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf, go here.

I met Kerry back in 2021 when she applied to the #PBChat Mentorship Program and I fell in love with her manuscript (about Erno) and her application (about herself). I chose Kerry as one of my mentees and it was a joy to work with her. She stopped by today to share a little bit about that path to publication.

KERRY: I couldn’t be happier that Vivian is revealing the cover of my debut picture book, as she played an important role in my path to publication. I am forever grateful that she chose me as her mentee for the 2021 PBChat Mentorship program hosted by children’s author Justin Colón. She has always believed in this manuscript, and the support she has offered me and so many other picture book creators is astounding. Thank you, Vivian!

ME: You are so very welcome, dear Kerry! What a joy to see your diligent efforts and desire to craft the best story possible rewarded with this beautiful book.

Here’s a little bit about Kerry:
Kerry Aradhya is a children’s author who loves puzzling over words and immersing herself in the creative process. When not writing for youngsters, she works as a science editor and performs with a quirky modern dance ensemble in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives with her family and their cute but naughty pooch named Sofie.

And here’s a little bit about the illustrator:
Kara Kramer is a mixed media artist, and illustrator who loves to PLORK with all mediums. She has taught creative art workshops for both children and adults. Ever since she was little, her happiest hours are spent moving her hands to make something new. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.

Thank you, dear friends, for spending your precious time with us. I’m already in the planning stages for #50PreciousWords 2024 – and will be reaching out to my assistant judges shortly – and to prize donors, too. The contest will run for only TWO DAYS…March 2 and March 3…so please sharpen your pencils and get busy!

Cover Reveal: LUPITA’S BROWN BALLET SLIPPERS

Posted on January 8, 2024 by viviankirkfield

When I was a little girl, most of the characters in children’s books looked enough like me so that I felt seen even though nobody wore glasses or was as height-challenged as I was…but they were white…and so was I. These days we know now how critical it is for young kids to see themselves…not only as the child characters in stories, but also as adults in positive leadership roles. And that’s why I’m so excited to share the COVER of a new picture book, written by Steena Hernandez and illustrated by Melissa Castillo that launches October 15th from Beaming Books.

Huge props to Melissa Castillo for this GORGEOUS cover!!!! And don’t you love how the little girl’s pose is directing us to open the book?

Here’s a little bitt about the book from the Amazon sales page:
Everyone deserves to shine.

Lupita’s big ballet recital is approaching. The music is perfect. Her ballet moves are strong. But her peachy pink ballet slippers don’t match her skin tone. Lupita searches for the right pair only to discover it will take hard work–and messy measures–in order for her shoes to dance with her.

Inspired by the author’s own experiences as a Latina dancer, Lupita’s Brown Ballet Slippers is a charming story filled with determination. The final few spreads teach readers about the history of ballet slippers as well as the crucial changes the industry has seen for dancers of all races and ethnicities.

This is definitely a book that needs to be in classroom and public libraries, as well as home bookshelves. And guess what? We can help!!!
Please share the post widely on your social media.
You can put it on your Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf.
You can review it.
You can ask your local library to order copies for their collection.
And of course, you can pre-order a copy.

Here’s a bit about author Steena:
Steena Hernandez holds a BFA in theatre, music, and dance from Texas Tech University, and has performed with the Rent Broadway tour, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra as a vocalist, and the United Service Organization (USO) tour, and more. She now resides in San Antonio, Texas, with her family. She’s a storyteller at heart, and when she’s not writing or cooking, you can find her curled up in a cozy spot reading with her two children.

And here’s a little about illustrator Melissa:
Melissa Castillo’s work is heavily inspired by her Peruvian culture and heritage. With the lack of diverse representation of Latinx culture in illustration, she hopes to properly represent people of color and create relatable art for all cultures

We love these beautiful new picture books that are popping up in the pipeline. And we are grateful to the writers, artists, and publishers who are creating them!