Category Archives: Book Birthday

Happy Book Birthday: LION OF THE SKY Plus Giveaway

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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.

Happy Book Birthday: NOURA’S CRESCENT MOON

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Cake? Check! Candles? Check!
And a gorgeous new debut book written by Zainab Khan and illustrated by Nabila Adani that checks every box!!!!

WOW! What a beautiful cover! Nabila Adani’s art is so engaging. And a perfect match up with Zainab Khan’s lovely text!

Here’s a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
Venturing out after dusk with her family, a child is eager to watch for the new moon that signals the start of Eid ul-Fitr celebrations in this charming picture-book debut.

Noura can’t wait for the sun to go down! With Ramadan and her first month of fasting almost over, she and Mama and Papa are headed to the hills for a moonsighting picnic. It would be truly special if Noura could catch a glimpse of the faint silvery crescent, something even her mother has never managed to do. If the moon stays hidden, that means one more long day before Noura can wear her sparkly new dress and the joyful Eid celebrations begin—bringing with them visits with friends, eating sweets, and painting henna on her hands. In a lighthearted introduction to Ramadan and Eid, this family-centered tale of anticipation under the stars pairs an inviting text from Zainab Khan with Nabila Adani’s vibrant illustrations, capturing everything from the bustle of a shared meal to the swirling magic of the night sky. Relevant terms, from food items to the Islamic lunar calendar, are explained in a glossary at the end.

Noura’s Crescent Moon – text by Zainab Khan – art by Nabila Adani

I’m always so honored to join in the celebration of the launch of a new book…and we can ALL join that celebration and help. We can:
Buy the book
Review the book
Place the book on our Goodreads Want to Read shelf
Tell friends about the book (Please share on social media)
Ask our local library to purchase copies
How will you help?

And here’s a little bit about the author and illustrator:
Zainab Khan received her BA from Boston University and taught elementary school for several years before starting her own preschool program. Noura’s Crescent Moon is her first picture book. Through it she hopes that children will learn a little something about the Islamic lunar month Eid ul-Fitr and Ramadan and recognize that “regardless of their faith, people celebrate in similar ways: with family, food, and gifts, and with prayers for those who are religious.” Of Pakistani heritage, Zainab Khan lives on Long Island with her husband, two children, and a cat.

Nabila Adani worked briefly as a product designer in Japan and Indonesia before moving to the United States to study children’s book illustration. Among the children’s books she has illustrated are Be a Bridge by Irene Latham and Charles Waters and Sunny and the Birds by Wendy Meddour. Nabila Adani lives in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she enjoys illustrating and telling stories for children around the world.

Thank you for spending your precious time withC us…I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Happy Book Birthday: THE MUD ANGELS: How Students Saved the City of Florence

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A couple of years ago, author Karen Greenwald showed me the manuscript for THE MUD ANGELS: How Students Saved the City of Florence. I read it and I told her: THIS IS A BOOK!

And now it is!!! HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO THE MUD ANGELS!!!

The cover is everything we could hope – wonderful color palette…and beautiful art! And I love how the title is sitting in the muck and mud! Olga Lee did a fabulous job!

Here’s a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
Based on real events, this story shows how a team of international volunteers worked together to save priceless artifacts after a flood.

When the Arno River floods the city of Florence, Italy in 1966, it leaves slimy, smelly mud everywhere. A young girl watches students from around the world, many from the US, help save the town’s rare treasures, earning themselves the nickname Gli Angeli del Fango, the Mud Angels.

According to the publisher, the book targets ages 4-8 – but honestly, this is a picture book that also belongs in the upper elementary and middle school classroom! What a fabulous story to encourage young readers to become activists – to get involved with what’s going on around them, in their school and in their community and beyond.
So please, dear friends, spread the word:
Share on your social media
Place it on your GOODREADS WANT TO READ SHELF
Review it on Amazon
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection
Buy the book

And now, because author Karen is such a sweetheart, she stopped by to share a bit of the story behind the story – what drew her to write MUD ANGELS.
ME: Welcome, dear Karen…thank you for coming to chat with us!

KAREN: Hi Vivian, it’s lovely to be here. Thank you so much for joining the celebration for THE MUD ANGELS.
When you first begin learning how to write picture books, you start hearing about all the rules. This can feel overwhelming at times. However, there is one that I find myself returning to again and again—the idea that you should write what you feel personally connected to or have experience with. This is advice not to ignore! The Mud Angels touches on many facets of my life, from the environmental aspects to my obvious and enormous love of libraries, from the fact that it was the first-time books were treated as art, to my interest in studying various cultures…and, ultimately, the community of global youth that joined harmoniously to do something important for the world. I have loved researching, interviewing, and learning about this dark (and yet, hopeful) period in history. Along the way, the process has yielded me new friendships, education, and food for thought. It even inspired me to take Italian!

I hope others in kid lit find stories to write that nurture their souls as much as this one does mine!

That’s fabulous advice, Karen. Because when we feel connected with the story we are researching, the writing shows that – and the reader connects, too.

To connect with Karen and find out more about her books: https://www.karengreenwald.com/

And here’s a totally cool trailer for MUD ANGELS from Italy:

Thank you for spending your precious time with us. Please come back tomorrow for Perfect Picture Book Friday when we welcome Lydia Lukidis and her new book, DANCING THROUGH SPACE!