Happy Book Birthday: WOMBAT AND THE FAMILY TREE Plus Giveaway

Posted on March 26, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Step right up! Gluten-free cake lovers on the left. Gluten cake lovers on the right. And in the middle, those who prefer to celebrate with a big bowl of ice cream! (and that’s where you’ll find me!). We are celebrating a book birthday for author/illustrator Marietta Apollonio’s new book: WOMBAT AND THE FAMILY TREE.
I ‘met’ Marietta last year when my NCTE panel, headed up by the amazing Kathy Halsey, was working on our presentation. Kathy was already connected with Marietta and asked if she’d be kind enough to look over our slides with her artist’s eye. She did…and WOW! She was so helpful – our slides were GORGEOUS! We were so grateful to her!
Stick around after you enjoy the cake because the kind and talented Marietta stopped by to chat…and she’s offering a FABULOUS GIVEAWAY.

Written and illustrated by Marietta Apollonio – Published by Tommy Nelson Books

Awww…look at that cover! Wombats are so adorable! Something tells me that this wombat loves to paint. And before we chat with Marietta, here’s a little bit about the story from the Amazon sales page.

Spark curiosity in children about family history, genealogy, and their place within that legacy as Wombat’s family tree project grows into an exploration of his relatives’ wisdom as well as what talent he can add to his community.

Wombat’s family tree assignment turns sour when he realizes that every ancestor has a special something they are good at–everyone except him. He tries all the talents he’s learned about from his family members, from music to carving to cooking, but nothing fits. Then, with a nudge to try again, the family tree branches out to grow into Wombat’s very own something.

Wombat and the Family Tree by Marietta Apollonio is for children aged 4 to 8 and features

a heartfelt and fun exploration of what a family tree is while finding a sense of self within your heritage,
a sweet and energetic main character who wants to do his best,
a supportive family who encourages Wombat to keep trying despite disappointment,
whimsical and nostalgic illustrations that enrich the story with delightful details,
a note from the author about her own adventures in genealogy, and
a blank family tree for children to fill in that allows room for a variety of family structures and caregiving situations.

Join Wombat for an adventure in self-discovery as he answers these questions: Where do I come from? What can I learn from people who have come before me? What are my special skills that I can contribute to my family and community?

ME: WELCOME, Marietta. Thank you so much for stopping by. We all love to hear about challenges on the path to pblication…and also what inspired someone.

MARIETTA: Thank you so much, Vivian. It’s a joy to be here on Picture Books Help Kids Soar.
The most challenging moment during my path to publication was a point when I doubted myself and what I was doing. And wanted to quit. I think a lot of people struggle with self doubt. But if we’re lucky, we have people in our lives that help to propel us forward, to help you quell the intrusive thoughts. Who supports you when you need a break, when things move quickly, through frustration, excitement, and joy. They celebrate the wins and help you through the losses. For me that was and still is the Saucy Supremes, a critique group of some very talented women, who were giving of their knowledge, time, and of support when things were hard in life and dreams.

Book Inspiration:
The flicker of an idea for Wombat and the Family Tree came before I had an agent and my first published book. At a writing workshop held by the very talented duo, Anika Denise and Chris Denise, we were asked to jot down a list of things that sparked interest for us. Included in my list amongst tiny glass ink jars and dragons, were these two separate items: Wombats (they’re poop is shaped like cubes) and vintage portraits (the kind you find in a basket at thrift or antique shops). We were asked to combine two items from the list. Vintage portraits of wombats. I went home that day and drew one. The outline for the story included a wombat named Wombat, vintage portraits, and included genealogy, which has been an interest of mine for a long time, as I continue connecting the branches of my family’s tree. I particularly like this description from the publisher, TommyNelson Books:

Join Wombat for an adventure in self-discovery as he answers these questions: Where do I come from? What can I learn from people who have come before me? What are my special skills that I can contribute to my family and community?

Yes, we definitely want to join Wombat!
And here’s a little bit about Marietta and how you can connect with her and learn more about her books:
Marietta Apollonio is the author-illustrator of Jack The Library Cat (Albert Whitman 2023) and Wombat And The Family Tree (Tommy Nelson Books/HarperCollins 2024). Her stories focus on characters who explore their curiosity and are looking for something—a home, acceptance, growth, their place within a family or community, magic. In creating an atmosphere inclusive of diverse characters, her illustrations use traditional materials and digital, with texture, patterns, and vibrant saturated moments pulling readers into universal experiences. Marietta received her BFA in illustration from Lesley University College of Art and Design. She spends her professional time doing what she loves: illustrating and writing for picture books, working with a weekly writers’ group, and mentoring. She is a member of SCBWI, the Boston Authors Club, and the PB23BUNCH. Marietta is a recipient of the 2019 SCBWI Memorial Scholarship for Illustrations, a 2022 PB Rising Stars Mentor, a 2023 PBParty Judge and a 2022 and 2023 mentor with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency’s Big Sur Children’s Writers Workshop. She is represented by Jemiscoe Chambers-Black of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Social Media:
X/Instagram/TikTok/Threads: mar_illustrates
Bluesky: mariettaa.bsky.social
mariettaapollonio.com

And Marietta says: I love supporting my local indie bookshop, https://www.silverunicornbooks.com . Happy to have folks directed to them for purchasing, but also anywhere they buy their books.

Please remember, dear friends, we can help books become successful when we:
Buy them
Review them
Put them on our Goodreads Want to Read Shelf
Tell friends about them
Ask our local library to purchase copies for their collection

And don’t forget to leave a comment and share on your social media for a chance to win a signed copy of WOMBAT AND THE FAMILY TREE plus some book swag.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Cover Reveal: GRACE LEE BOGGS: GARDENS OF HOPE Plus Giveaway

Posted on February 28, 2024 by viviankirkfield

When we look around the world, we see lots of sadness and pain. But when we look around the world of picture books, we see…
HOPE!!!

Yesterday we celebrated the book birthday for A FLICKER OF HOPE, written by Cynthia Harmony. And today, we are revealing the beautiful cover of GRACE LEE BOGGS: GARDENS OF HOPE, written by Songju Ma Daemicke and illustrated by Lin.

What do I see in this vibrant cover? Child agency! Diversity! Intergenerational interaction! Healthy plants growing! The hope and promise of the future!

Here’s a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
Grace Lee Boggs brought gardens to inner cities and planted seeds of hope and activism in the minds of young people.

When Grace Lee Boggs was eight years old, her teacher gave her a copy of The Secret Garden. As a Chinese-American who had experienced prejudice, Grace wanted to grow a garden of her own that would help people heal from the injustice in society. Grace dedicated her life to fighting for civil, environmental, labor, and women’s rights. In 1992, she and her husband founded Detroit Summer, a multicultural and intergenerational youth program that inspired kids to become leaders in their community. Together with these “solutionaries,” Grace finally created the garden she dreamed about, one that continues to inspire people to make the world a better place for everyone.

I’m so happy that Songju stopped by to chat with us and share why she wrote this story::

SONGJU: In the summer of 2020, I first read the name Grace Lee Boggs from the author’s notes of a children’s book, Leave It to Abigail!: The Revolutionary Life of Abigail Adams, by Barb Rosenstock. Grace Lee Boggs was the only Chinese American mentioned. I looked her up on the internet and was immediately drawn to her. Grace, a thinker, philosopher, and a tireless social activist, went beyond class and racial boundaries, devoting her life to fight for equality. She planted many seeds for change throughout her life. These seeds continue to sprout today, growing the world into a more just place. It’s my honor to tell her story and hopefully inspire young people to continue Grace’s legacy and her fight for a better world.

Here’s a little bit about Songju:
SONGJU MA DAEMICKE, a former software engineer with Motorola, is an award-winning Chinese-American children’s book author. Her book, Tu Youyou’s Discovery – Finding a Cure for Malaria, is a finalist for the 2023 SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books; Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant was a Best STEM book, among many other honors. Her first board book, Our World: China received a starred review from the School Library Journal. When she is not writing, she loves attending to her garden, hiking, and shooting her next special photograph.
You can find out more about Songju here: www.songjumadaemicke.com
Twitter: @SongjuDaemicke
Instagram: @SongjuDaemicke
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/songju.daemicke

And here’s a little bit about the Illustrator:
Lin graduated from Hengyang Normal University with a degree in Environmental Art Design. She is an illustrator and painter working on children’s books, magazines, and other publications. She lives and works in Pingxiang City, China.

Dear friends, we can help important books like this one become a success. How will you help GRACE LEE BOGGS: GARDENS OF HOPE become a success?

You can add Grace Lee Boggs: Gardens of Hope to your Goodreads Want-To-Read list: https://bit.ly/49wEnz4
You can Pre-order:
Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3SNq5mm
Amazon: https://bit.ly/3TcR7EZ
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/49s4S8M

Please make sure you leave a comment and share the post widely to be entered in the Giveaway: One winner will receive a copy of Grace Lee Boggs: Gardens of Hope. U.S. address required for book mailing.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week…we are counting down the days till #50PreciousWords!!! Are you ready???

CHRISTY MIHALY AND DIANA MURRAY: Will Write for Cookies and Golden Books Plus Giveaway

Posted on January 6, 2024 by viviankirkfield

WILL WRITE FOR COOKIES

INSIGHT – INFORMATION – INSPIRATION

FOR WRITERS, ILLUSTRATORS, PARENTS, TEACHERS, LIBRARIANS,
AND BOOK LOVERS EVERYWHERE

TODAY’S GUESTS

Double the pleasure and double the fun – that’s what happens when TWO kid-lit friends have brand new GOLDEN BOOKS launching! I’ve know Christy Mihaly and Diana Murray for a LONG time…and when I heard they both had GOLDEN BOOKS coming out, I knew I’d want ask them to visit Picture Books Help Kds Soar.

Remember those Golden Books, dear friends? I still have a few of the originals that sat on the little bookshelf my sister and I had in our room. And I can’t wait to chat with Christy and Diana about how their books came to be. Plus, because I’m such a fan of both of these authors PLUS Golden Books PLUS the people they showcased, there will be TWO lucky giveaway winners…just let us know in the comments which Golden Book you would prefer and, if you are the lucky winner, I’ll send it right out to you.
But first, here’s a little bit about our guests:

Christy Mihaly is an award-winning children’s author, former lawyer, environmentalist, and poet who has published more than 35 titles on topics from hayfields to free speech to food. Recently, she enjoyed a little change of pace, writing a Little Golden Book Biography of comedian/actor/producer/director Mel Brooks (Jan. 2, 2024).

Christy has written many books about civics and government, including the picture books Free for You and Me: What Our First Amendment Means and The Supreme Court and Us (Albert Whitman 2020, 2022). She has a picture book about Congress coming out later in 2024. Her 2021 Barefoot Books WATER: A Deep Dive of Discovery, received a Kirkus star and Nautilus Book Awards Gold Medal. Her other picture books include Hey, Hey, Hay!, a mother-daughter farming book(Holiday House, 2018) and Patience, Patches!, in which a dog learns to deal with the addition of a new baby to the family(Dial, 2022).

She enjoys school visits and running poetry workshops and lives in Vermont, where she enjoys walking in the woods and playing cello (though not simultaneously). Christy (like Diana) is represented by Erzsi Deak of Hen&ink Literary Studio.

DIANA MURRAY is the author of over twenty five children’s books, including Firehouse Rainbow, Pizza Pig, Love Stinks!, the bestselling Unicorn Day series, and Jr. Library Guild Selections like Goodnight, Veggies and City Shapes.

Diana is a first-generation immigrant who grew up in New York City. She still lives nearby with her husband, two daughters, and a dog who loves trips to the beach. http://www.dianamurray.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/diana.murray.718
Instagram: @dianaMurrayAuthor
Twitter/X: @dianaMWrites

ME: Welcome, dear friends! I’m so excited you both stopped by to visit and chat with us. I’ve featured some of your earlier books years ago – it’s wonderful to have you back! So, let’s get started because everyone’s here.
Who were your favorite authors/illustrators when you were a child?

CHRISTY: As a kid, I fell in love with specific books and didn’t pay much attention to the creators behind them. Before I could actually read, I had a favorite picture book: Do Baby Bears Sit in Chairs? by Ethel and Leonard Kessler. I had that thing memorized – and insisted on “reading” it to whoever was around.

That’s little Christy ‘reading to her Grammy

Later in life, I loved and re-read Charlotte’s Web, Harriet the Spy, A Wrinkle in Time and The Secret Garden. I think one reason I read a lot of middle grade and YA today (besides that it’s “my job”) is I crave that feeling of possibility that comes with being a young reader and just sinking into a good book.

DIANA: I didn’t read many picture books as a child, but I do distinctly remember reading some Little Golden Books. I think one of them was The Tawny Scrawny Lion. The first author I remember loving is Lucy Maud Montgomery, after I read Anne of Green Gables.

ME: What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started writing?

CHRISTY: I wish I’d known two things: First, writing is a journey rather than a destination. There are so many stepping stones and milestones along the way, and I wish someone had told me to celebrate each one (while surviving all the rejections and disappointments); and second, it’s so important to find others in the amazing writing community to celebrate these things with – and to lift one another up.

DIANA: I wish I hadn’t spent so much time on the very first story I ever wrote. I should have just put it aside, accepted that it wasn’t ready to be published, and kept on writing other stories. But I guess trying to get that story right was just part of the learning process.

ME: Where do you like to write – inside, outside, special room, laptop, pen and paper?

CHRISTY: Laptop. My handwriting is atrocious and I hate it when I cannot read something that I scribbled. I move around, depending on the weather, the light, and my mood. In winter, I keep the woodstove burning so I set up in the dining room near the stove. In the summer I move out to the barn. I can’t write outside – too many distractions.

DIANA: I always use my laptop and I often sit on the couch or outside on the patio. But it’s difficult to get comfortable and I have chronic pain in my neck and elbows. So I try to prop up various pillows and beanbags to get myself at the right angle or use plastic boxes and other items to get my computer at the right height. It’s a little comical. My family is used to my quirky ways.

ME: When do you write – early morning, late in the day, middle of the night, on schedule, as the muse strikes?

CHRISTY: I’m trying to make a living at this writing gig, so I write as often for as long as I can. When I have a looming assignment or deadline, I tend to spend most of my waking hours writing. I’ve learned that long days cause back injuries – so, now I set a timer to remind me to take breaks to get up and move around. When I’m “between jobs,” it’s a little harder to keep the B in the C. Those times, I schedule “brainstorming time” or “revising time” in my calendar, to make sure I sit down and get at least some words on the page.

DIANA: All day long, basically. Sometimes I jot things down when I’m in line at the grocery store or I scribble things in the middle of the night. This is my full-time job and my kids are older so I’m able to devote a lot of time to it. Writing is my favorite thing to do. I rarely take breaks, even when I’m on vacation. Why would I? I love it! It’s important to remember, though, that writing doesn’t always look like writing. Sometimes it involves just staring into space and thinking.

ME: Why do you write for children?

CHRISTY: I love doing it, and I keep having new ideas! I’m drawn to nonfiction, and I’ve got a particular passion for writing about civics and government for young people. I believe our best hope for the future is raising a generation of people who love to read. My wish is that by giving kids books that are engaging and fun, we can spark their love of learning, foster the critical thinking skills that this generation is going to need, and encourage kids to stand up for what’s right.

Christy at a school visit in New Hampshire

DIANA: When my first daughter was born (she’s 18 now), we were constantly reading together. I quickly fell in love with the genre of picture books. They combine so many of my favorite things: art, wordplay, philosophy, humor. And the fact that they’re so short, makes them particularly impactful. But more than that, I fell in love with the experience of reading together. Reading together, with your child on your lap, is just so special and wonderful. It makes me happy that I still get to be part of that in a way.

Celebrating Unicorn Day at the Story Shop Bookstore in Georgia

ME: Also, if you have any thoughts or advice for aspiring writers, please share. As well as anything else you want to talk about that parents, educators, writers, librarians might want to hear.

CHRISTY: Here’s something to try if you’re stuck: write a poem. As Diana knows, I like to experiment with different poetic structures. It’s like working a word puzzle, but instead of earning a Queen Bee crown, you end up with a completed poem – tada! Lately I’ve had fun with Fibonacci poems. Other forms I’ve enjoyed are reversos, double dactyls, roundels, cinquains, and golden shovels. I’d say sonnets, but I’ve only completed one of those …

DIANA: My advice to writers is to keep writing and don’t get discouraged by rejections. Every time you revise or write something new, you learn. And even if you don’t publish a particular story, aspects of that story might creep into something else. So nothing is ever wasted. Just keep writing.

ME: Wow! I loved getting to know more about both of you. But we aren’t done yet! You’ve brought a great recipe that combines a bit of both of the main characters in your upcoming Golden Books…Mel Brooks loves healthy eating and is a huge fan of Raisin Bran…and the raisins? They are from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home state, California.

CHRISTY: In a 2023 interview, the 96-year-old icon shared his secrets to longevity, including: “Eat Raisin Bran.” https://www.distractify.com/p/mel-brooks-health-update.

So, how about this Betty Crocker recipe for peanut butter Raisin Bran cookies? https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/peanut-butter-raisin-bran-cookies/ab5f81e2-c49d-4e85-9607-c3e1aa84ac54

Hahaha…I’m also a fan of raisin bran and peanut butter…these look amazing!!
Thank you to both of our guests…their books are available at all indie book stores and at major retailers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Plus, their NEW Golden Books JUST launched, so please help them be successful by:
Buying them
Reviewing them
Put them on your Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf
Tell friends about them (sharing the post on social media really helps)
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection.

Local independent bookstores are wonderful to partner with – that way you can offer signed copies of your books. Here’s a list of Christy’s that are available through her favorite bookstore:

You’re welcome to buy my books anywhere you find them … but if you’d like me to sign and personalize your copy, you can order online through Montpelier’s Bear Pond Books, my local indie. https://www.bearpondbooks.com/. ***Just scroll to the end of the checkout page to specify in the special instructions/comment box how you’d like the book signed, and I’ll stop by and sign it before they send it out to you.***
Specific picture book links:
Mel Brooks: A Little Golden Book Biography: https://www.bearpondbooks.com/book/9780593648391.
Barefoot Books WATER: A Deep Dive of Discovery: https://www.bearpondbooks.com/book/9781646862801
Patience, Patches!: https://www.bearpondbooks.com/book/9780593108291
The Supreme Court and Us: https://www.bearpondbooks.com/book/9780807576649
Free for You and Me: What Our First Amendment Means: https://www.bearpondbooks.com/book/9780807524411.
Hey, Hey, Hay! (A Tale of Bales and the Machines That Make Them): https://www.bearpondbooks.com/book/9780823436668.

Please remember to leave a comment and let us know which Golden Book you’d like to get if you are one of the lucky winners.
And come back on MONDAY when we have a very special COVER REVEAL of a book written by one of my #PBChat Mentees – it was the manuscript I feel in love with that made me choose Kerry Aradhya.