Perfect Picture Book Friday: MOONCAKES MEAN FAMILY Plus Giveaway

Posted on July 26, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. Get ready for another wonderful book from one of my favorite author/illustrators, Benson Shum. He’s so lovely – he stopped by to chat and share the inspiration for this illustrated early reader – plus, he’s offering a giveaway of a copy of MOONCAKES MEAN FAMILY which just launched last week.

MOONCAKES MEAN FAMILY

Written and illustrated by Benson Shum

Published by Penguin Workshop

Ages: 5-7 (reader age) – but 3 & 4-year-olds would love to hear the story!

Themes: Mid-autumn festival, humor, early reader

Synopsis: From Amazon:
Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with this sweet story of food and family!

In this story designed to engage early readers, charming characters combine with simple text, lively illustrations, and laugh-out-loud humor to help boost kids’ confidence and create lifelong readers!

Jade and Crystal love the Mid-Autumn Festival because it means it’s time to make a tasty treat—mooncakes! Crystal’s favorite part of the delicious dessert made of lotus seed paste is the yummy salted egg yolk at the center, meant to represent the moon. Join the sisters as they gather with their family for a memorable meal together!

Complete with fun facts about the holiday in the back of the book, young readers will want to revisit this story again and again.

Exciting, easy-to-read books are the stepping stone a young reader needs to bridge the gap between being a beginner and being fluent.

Why I Love This Book:
1. I love stories that serve as windows and mirrors so that all children can feel seen as well as learn about different cultures.
2. I love this genre of early reader that engages a wide audience – the youngest who can enjoy the story and pictures – and the older child who gains confidence as a reader.
3. Benson’s art is so joyful – his color palette and characters always make me smile.

ME: Welcome, Benson. I love that you share the story behind the story – in this page from the book which details how the Mid-Autumn Festival started. What inspired you to write about this?

BENSON: Thank you for having me for Perfect Picture Book Friday! After my book Alex’s Good Fortune came out, I wanted to write another story in the same format about other holidays/festivities I grew up with and loved. That’s how the idea of Mooncakes Mean Family came about. The Mid-Autumn Festival was a special time. My sisters and I looked forward to mooncakes! They are only available in grocery stores during the Mid-Autumn Festival. They come in many shapes and sizes, and I remember picking one in the shape of a piglet wrapped in a red basket.

The design of the characters came from a painting I did for the Mid-Autumn Festival back in 2022. There are many folktales that go along with the holiday. One of them is about a jade rabbit. Hence I painted a bunny enjoying their mooncake. I posted the process of the painting on Tiktok and instagram and it got some traction. So my agent sent a link to my editor of Alex’s Good Fortune along with a pitch about Mooncakes and another idea (WE ARE LION DANCERS coming out Dec 31st, 2024). Fortunately she loved it and acquired both! I hope kids and adults will enjoy Mooncakes Means Family, learn a bit about the holiday and share mooncakes with their friends and family! I also have activities to go along with the books on my website. https://bensonshum.com |
Instagram-Twitter-Tiktok: @bshum79

ME: Thank you so much, Benson. And thank you for the generous giveaway of a copy of MOONCAKES MEAN FAMILY.

And here’s a fun paper mooncake craft from Benson:

And another paper mooncake craft with step by step instructions:

Dear friends, don’t miss the chance to WIN a copy of this beautiful book…please leave a comment and share on your social media for extra tickets in the giveaway hat.
What else can we do to help a book like this become successful?
Buy the book
Review the book
Place the book on your Goodreads Want to Read Shelf
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Thank you for spending your precious time here.

Perfect Picture Book Friday: SONIA AND THE SUPER DUPER DISASTER Plus Giveaway

Posted on July 19, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! Today’s featured book is very special – it launches in just a few days, on July 24th…and I think kids are going to love it! And author Rachel Funez is also very special – and generous…she’s offering a giveaway of a copy of SONIA AND THE SUPER DUPER DISASTER, so make sure you leave a comment for a chance to win.

SONIA AND THE SUPER SUPER DISASTER

Written by Rachel Funez

Illustrated by Kelly Kennedy

Published by Free Spirit Press

Ages: 4-9

Themes: Learning Disorders, Anxiety, Superheroes

Synopsis: From Amazon:
Sonia’s adventure-filled story with worry-fighting gadgets helps kids learn how to cope when it feels like everything is going wrong.

When Sonia forgets Mom’s birthday, she’s determined to whip up a super surprise and become Mom’s hero. But her ADHD foils her best-laid plans, and her anxiety multiplies as the chaos grows. Sonia has to use all her coping skills to find a new recipe for success and become her own superhero.

Celebrating the individual strengths and special qualities of neurodivergent children, Sonia helps children with ADHD and anxiety recognize how their bodies feel when they become anxious and gives them tools to calm down with her worry-fighting gadgets. Activate Breath Blasters! Stellar Self-Talk! Senses Scanner!

A section at the back of the book includes more information on Sonia’s worry-fighting gadgets for kids and tips and reminders for caring adults.

Why I Love This Book:
1. I love books where kids can connect with the characters and relate to what they are experiencing.
2. I love books that provide hands-on actionable methods for coping with anxiety and big emotions.
3. I love books where the art is such an integral part of the story.

RELATED ACTIVITIES

Photo courtesy: https://modpodgerocksblog.com/superhero-crafts/

Check out these 40 superhero crafts: https://modpodgerocksblog.com/superhero-crafts/

It’s always fun to get to know a little bit about the creators of the books we love:

Rachel Funez was born in the United States, spent most of her childhood living in Latin America, and is now an attorney raising multicultural children in Peru with her Honduran American husband. Rachel knows exactly what it’s like to have ADHD and anxiety. She still uses her Breath Blasters, Stellar Self-Talk, Senses Scanner, and other tools to get through lots of tough and scary moments. She wishes she could hug every kid who is struggling with overwhelming feelings, but she will settle for creating stories that celebrate children with special brains and help them cope with their big emotions in productive ways. When Rachel isn’t writing or working, she enjoys walking her bearded collie, playing board games with her family, dancing like nobody’s watching, and cuddling up on rainy afternoons with a hot beverage and a good book. You can learn more about Rachel by checking out her website at rachelfunez.com.

Kelly Kennedy is an artist and a children’s book writer and illustrator. He is best known for illustrating the Dr. Seuss book Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet! and as a longtime contributor to Highlights magazines. He has also worked for various animation studios, such as Nickelodeon, where he directed and created the award-winning short film The Baseball Card Shop. When he’s not drawing, Kelly is usually in the garage working on his vintage cars or fixing up his old house. Kelly lives and works in the sleepy little town of Los Angeles. He often lies about his height. He is 6’5″.

And, dear friends, we can be superheroes too! We can help new books like SONIA AND THE SUPER DUPER DISASTER succeed by doing one or more of these things:
Buying them
Reviewing them
Placing them on our Goodreads Want to Read Shelf
Telling friends about them
Asking our local library to purchase copies for their collection

Please make sure you leave a comment and share the post on your social media for more chances in the giveaway hat.

Perfect Picture Book Friday: WAT TAKES HIS SHOT Plus Giveaway

Posted on June 28, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. I’ve taken a step back from blogging this summer because I have a couple of overseas trips plus eye surgery in the coming months. But I do have a number of posts already scheduled for July and August. And when I heard that Cheryl Kim’s new book, WAT TAKES HIS SHOT: The Life and Legacy of Basketball Hero Watara Misaka, had just launched this week, I knew I’d want to share it with all of you. And we are so lucky…the lovely Cheryl stopped by to share a bit of her path to publication and she is offering a giveaway of a signed copy of the book and book swag to ONE LUCKY WINNER.

WAT TAKES HIS SHOT: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF BASKETBALL HERO WATARU MISAKA

Written by Cheryl Kim

Illustrated by Nat Iwata

Published by Lee & Low Books

Age: 6-12

Themes: Sports biography, diversity & inclusion, determination

Synopsis: From Amazon:
The stirring biography of Japanese American basketball star Wataru Misaka–the first person of color to play in the NBA!

As a kid, Wataru Misaka channeled his endless energy into playing sports. Every Sunday, he raced to the park where his Japanese American community came together to play basketball. Wat wasn’t the tallest on the team, but he was fast and loved the game! Encouraged by his father to always do his best, Wat applied this mentality to every aspect and challenge in his life.

Wat was a college student when the US government forced more than 122,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast into incarceration camps during WWII. He overcame racism and segregation to join his college’s basketball team but despite Wat’s impressive skills, he was treated as an outsider because he was Japanese American. Wat kept his eye on the ball, and his team-player mentality made him shine on and off the court. He became an inspiration to his Japanese American community. After helping Utah University’s basketball team win the national championship in 1947, Wat was drafted by the New York Knicks, making him the first person of color to play in the NBA.

Wat’s motivational story of rising to any challenge and bringing your best to everything you do is a reminder of the power we each have to inspire others–if we just take our shot!

Why I Love This Book:
1. I love books that tell stories of real people who overcame great odds to succeed – and that hard work, determination, and never giving up are three elements necessary for success!
2. I love books that open a page of history to truthfully tell what happened – so that we can hopefully learn from history and do better and not make those same mistakes!
3. I love books with strong text, great page turns, and bold art!

RELATED ACTIVITIES:

Photo courtesy: https://www.redtedart.com/basketball-crafts-for-kids/

Take a look at these cool basketball crafts: https://www.redtedart.com/basketball-crafts-for-kids/

ME: And now let’s welcome Cheryl to Picture Books Help Kids Soar!

CHERYL: Thank you so much, Vivian. It’s a pleasure to be here.
A challenging moment on the path to publication:
My agent and I went out on submission with high hopes and over the course of a year, the rejections starting rolling in. We received one revise and resubmit and several no’s for various reasons.

I spent the next year and a half going through more rounds of revision before resubmitting again. Putting so much time into a project without knowing the outcome is hard! But ultimately, I’m thankful for all the feedback which helped make the manuscript stronger and for the eventual “yes” that came along!

Here’s a little bit about Cheryl and how to find out more about her books:
Cheryl is a second grade teacher from California. She and her family have lived in Thailand for the past 9 years. Her husband works with an anti-trafficking organization and she teaches at Grace International School. She is also a writer for Kane Press’ Sports Illustrated Stars of Sports series and Eureka! The Biography of an Idea series. Two things she loves: Spending time with family & friends and drinking all kinds of tea from boba to chai lattes.

Website:https://cherylkimbooks.com/
Instagram/X/Threads: @cheryltkim

And please remember, dear friends, we can help new books succeed if we:
Buy them
Review them
Place them on our Goodreads Want to Read Shelf
Tell friends about them (please share this post on your social media)
Ask our local library to purchase copies for their collection

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I’ll be packing for my trip…I’m flying to Vienna with my son on Monday…and will be gone till July 11 – and I am NOT taking my computer…but I’ll have my phone so I’ll be able to check emails and messages.
And don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to WIN a signed copy of WAT TAKES HIS SHOT and book swag.