Hip Hop Hooray – An Author/Illustrator Blog Hop

Posted on October 26, 2013 by viviankirkfield

Are you ready for some fun?

It’s time to be hoppin’ happy!

It‘s time for THE CHILDREN’S AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR BLOG HOP!

I was tagged by Emily Lim, one of Singapore’s most popular and prolific picture book authors. We connected over a year ago through blogging – I linked one of my posts to one of her posts – she came to visit, left a comment – and the rest is history. What is so super cool is that this past May, I got to meet Emily in person when I went to Singapore for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, a week long celebration of exceptional children content creators – with two days of SCBWI conferences and dozens of presentations by authors and illustrators from around the globe.

Her first book took the reader along on Emily’s journey as she coped with Continue reading →

And the winner is…Awards, awards and more awards!

Posted on July 7, 2012 by viviankirkfield

We all need a break now and then. I just got back from an amazing week in Chicago…total rest and relaxation provided by my son and daughter-in-law.

Many bloggers I know are stepping back a little from their posting schedule…renewing and refreshing themselves with family time and/or vacations near and far.

I, too, have been less active with the business of blogging…but today I wanted to catch up on several awards that have been passed along to me over the last few months. I also want to announce the winner of the Lap-Time Song and Play Book by Jane Yolen that I am giving away in honor of my 300^th blog post.

Let me first thank:

1. Future Flying Saucers for the Mrs. Sparkly’s Ten Commandments Award

The “Mrs. Sparkly’s Ten Commandments Award” has to do with a woman of the same name, known for being very elegant and having high expectations, and who is committed to maintaining integrity, good manners and behavior, as well as a rich sense of humor.

Future Flying Saucers is a homeschooling SAHM now…but she had a career in education before…her story is inspiring…I hope you will pay her a visit. I’m honored with this award…not sure about the elegant part…but I do have high expectations and I am definitely committed to maintaining integrity, good manners and behavior…and I can laugh at myself and try to see the lighter, humorous side of life, especially when things aren’t going well.

2. Dawn at Tales of the Motherhood for the Good Apple Award.

Dawn has an amazing blog…her home is a veritable United Nations…take a look-see…I know you will enjoy it. As with most blogging awards, there are all kinds of rules…answer a bunch of questions and then nominate others and provide them with questions they need to answer…but it’s summer…and I don’t want to give anyone more work and stress.

3. Milka at Perfecting Motherhood for the ABC Award.

If you love reading and think it is an important activity for children, please stop over at Perfecting Motherhood! Milka is an amazing mother who encourages reading by reading to her children every day, by having books available all the time (her children probably think the library is just an extension of their home because they are there so often) and by being seen reading (she is always recommending books that she has read). The requirement of the ABC Award (Awesome Blog Content) is to describe yourself using every letter of the alphabet…I seriously doubt anyone wants to know that much about me, but in my post on Sunday, I will recommend twenty-six picture books (from A to Z) for great summer reading.

4. Marcy at Orples for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

Marcy is a talented children’s picture book author and illustrator. Her Orples picture book series is charming and each book presents a lesson to be learned. Please pay a call to her website and check out her lovely books. I hope I can live up to this award…perhaps my passion for reading picture books with children will inspire other parents…and my love of writing picture books will encourage others who dream of publishing their work.

One of the rules of all of these awards is to nominate others to receive them. There are dozens and dozens of bloggers whose posts I love reading who deserve all of these awards. Many of them probably have some of them already. Because it is summer…and I don’t want to put pressure on anyone…I’m going to list a baker’s dozen (13) of blogs that I encourage everyone to visit…and pass along the honor of all four awards to them…but I hope none of the thirteen will feel compelled to post about it now. This list of bloggers is an international one…enjoy!

Barbara at Spanish4Kiddos
Julie at Write Up My Life
Susanna at Susanna Leonard Hill
Darshana at Flowering Minds
Patricia at Children’s Books Heal
Joanna at Miss Marple’s Musings
Jake at Time after Time
Clar at Clarbojahn’s Blog
Nancy at Spirit Lights the Way
Elizabeth at Mirth and Motivation
Marylin at Things I Want to Tell My Mother
Barb at Plate Spinning 101
Milka at Perfecting Motherhood

Thank you for your patience. You all definitely deserve something sweet and good to eat.

Yes, I’m sure Jeremy will share some of his ice-cream cone with you as well!

And now…the winner of the 300^th post giveaway is…

Hannah Holt at Lightbulb Books…Congratulations!!!!

Hannah, please email me at vivian@positiveparentalparticipation.com and I’ll get that lovely book in the mail to you. 😉

I’ll be posting the Summer Reading List from A to Z on Sunday…hope you’ll all come back to check it out.

Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup: June in Review (jkrbooks.typepad.com)
A Child’s Picture Book: Flotsam (maryekstrand.com)
Writing Picture Books (kathytemean.wordpress.com)
Re-Imaging Your Picture Book (kathytemean.wordpress.com)
Kid Konnection: Workman Fun (bookingmama.net)
January Carnival of Children’s Literature (delightfulchildrensbooks.com)
Top 10: Best Old Fashioned Children’s Books and Their Modern Day Equivalents (pragmaticmom.com)
Award-Winning Children’s Books for the Dog Days of August (prweb.com)
It’s a Picture Book Party for 12 x 12′ers AND a Giveaway! (viviankirkfield.wordpress.com)

Reflections: Speak To Us Of Children…

Posted on March 15, 2012 by viviankirkfield

Today I’m “pressing” a post of one of my favorite bloggers…Elizabeth of Mirth and Motivation. It’s all about children…one of my most favorite topics in the world!

But first I’d like to pass along a couple of awards that came my way this past week.

Uplifting children and helping them develop a positive self-image is one of my missions in life. I try to provide parents and teachers with resources and activities and encouragement, because the task of raising and educating young children is a difficult one and it is crucial that adults feel good about themselves as well.

But bloggers also need encouragement to continue to carve out those precious moments to write…from a day that may be filled with other responsiblities and obligations.

And so various blogging awards are “born” and one blogger confers them on another to recognize and celebrate a job well done.

This past week, Clar at clarbojahn gave me two lovely ones: The Kreativ Blogger Award and The Sunshine Award.

Clar is a dedicated writer (of children’s picture books and other genres) and human being extraordinaire and I am honored to know her. I hope you will take the time to go and meet her.

The rules of these awards: List some things of interest about yourself and then pass the awards along to other deserving bloggers.

1. If I love a book, I can reread it dozens of times. Favorite book: Little Women. When I was 10, I went shopping with my mom and sister for her junior high school graduation dress. We lived in NYC at the time and went to a store (Abraham and Strauss) that has eight floors of merchandise. Instead of dragging me around while she and my sister shopped, my mom brought me to the book department, which encompassed the entire 8th floor of the building. Leaving me there to enjoy browsing through the books (yes, I know, this is something we would NEVER do these days…but times were different over a half a century ago) she and my sister went shopping for the dress. I picked a stack of Louisa May Alcott books and sat down on the floor and happily spent the next several hours, reading about the adventures of the March family.

2. If I love a movie, I never get tired of watching it. Favorite movie: Gone With the Wind. How many times have I seen it? Probably 10.

3. My favorite color is yellow…as a child, I shared a room with my older sister. I was 19 when she got married…the day after the wedding, I painted MY room a bright sunshiny yellow!

I hope you will have the time to visit with the following people whose hard work and wonderful writing motivate me to keep on blogging. Of course there are dozens and dozens more…but I only get to list 10. 🙂

1. Elizabeth of Mirth and Motivation

2. Nancy at Spirit Lights the Way

3. AngelaMarie at One In Creation

4. Pat at Children’s Books Heal

5. Erik at This Kid Reviews Books

6. Judy at Jay Jays Favorites

7. Kirsten at Creating Curious Kids

8. Marcy at Orples

9. Margaret at Pen to Print

10. SP at Spanish Pinay

And now, here is Elizabeth’s post that touched a chord in my heart and soul. I share this with all of my readers in hopes it will speak to you as well.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for holding children so dear!

Reflections: Speak To Us Of Children….