Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! I’m so glad you are here because I’m featuring a VERY SPECIAL BOOK written by a VERY SPECIAL AUTHOR…my dear friend, NCTE panel-mate Pamela Courtney! I remember seeing many of Pam’s early manuscripts…and I loved ALL of them. And so I am especially thrilled to welcome her debut book which launches in only a few days on May 20th and is brilliantly illustrated by Toni D. Chambers. And please stick around through the entire blog post because author Pam is giving away a SIGNED copy of this beautiful new book to One Lucky Winner who leaves a comment and SHARES this post on social media!
Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. #50PreciousWords 2025 is over…at least until next year. I’m immersed in distributing prizes, but don’t know if I’ll get through the entire list before I leave on my next trip. YES…I’m just getting ready for another trip…to Vienna and Salzburg (Sound of Music) in Austria and Lisbon and Porto in Portugal…my vision may be blurry, but I am moving forward with life – because forward is the way to go. And I’m excited to share a brand new book from one of my favorite kid lit folks, Rosie J. Pova.
SALLY’S MUSICAL TALE
Written by Rose J. Pova
Illustrated by Claire Zhang
Published by Yeehoo Press
And hurray…we are very lucky because Rosie has stopped by to tell us a little more about the book and the story behind the story! Welcome, Rosie!!!
ROSIE: Hello Vivian! Thank you so much for inviting me to chat about my newest book! Here’s a little bit About the book’s journey to publication
This story idea sparked during a writing exercise at an all-day, in-person workshop with Tammi Sauer back in 2015. After that, I drafted the manuscript, revised it, and began submitting it to agents and publishers over time.
Along the way, the story caught the attention of several publishing professionals, which was both encouraging and validating. I even received multiple offers of representation from agents. Ultimately, this manuscript found its perfect home with Yeehoo Press, the same publisher behind The School of Failure: A Story About Success.
Now, in 2025, I’m thrilled to finally share this book with readers—ten years after the idea first took root. Its journey to publication has been long, but I truly believe it’s arriving at just the right moment.
What makes this release even more special is that the book will also be translated into Chinese, debuting in the year of the Snake—how perfect is that?
Yeehoo Press has some exciting plans for educators, including a fun poster with snake facts, a Teacher’s Guide, and other classroom resources. I can’t wait to see teachers and librarians use these tools to engage their students and share the story!
Here’s a little bit about Rosie:
Rosie J. Pova is an award-winning children’s book author, poet, writing coach, and speaker. Her picture book Sunday Rain was featured in The New York Times and Parents magazine and has been translated into Arabic. She received a silver medal from the Readers’ Favorite Awards for The School of Failure: A Story About Success, and her latest book, Sally’s Musical Tale, was just released.
Rosie enjoys visiting schools to inspire children to read, write, and pursue their big dreams. As a writing coach, she has guided many aspiring picture book authors toward publishing success through her Mentorships, Picture Book Writers’ Hub Mastermind, and Picture Book Mastery course.
Follow Rosie on social media and find out more about her and her work at www.rosiejpova.com
Here’s a little bit about the book: Sally is an ambitious snake who dreams of playing the piano. Everyone says, “It’s hands-down impossible!” But she’s determined to succeed…
And, because we know how important it is to support new books, here are Book Order links:
Thank you, dear readers, for spending your precious time with us! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! And even though I won’t be here from April 10 through April 24, I’ve scheduled a couple of posts – because Martha Self Simpson has a new book, A RING FOR A KING – and we’ll be celebrating with a Perfect Picture Book Post on April 11…and Dana Miroballi has a new book, INVENTIONS TO COUNT ON, and we’ll be celebrating with a book birthday post on April 15 – that’s tax day, right? Have you filed yours yet?
Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. Get ready for a FABULOUS post, thanks to the talented author/illustrator Miri Leshem-Pelly who stopped by to share some of the behind-the-pages process of her newest book, A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL.
ME: Welcome, Miri! Thanks for visiting. And we are listening!
When reality mimics imagination
Look at this photo vs drawing, both of a girl on a tree. I bet you’re thinking I used this photo as a reference while drawing this sketch, right? Wrong!
What if I tell you that I drew this tree out of my imagination? And that I took this picture AFTER I drew this sketch?
Well – let me tell you the story behind the picture.
It all happened after I’ve finished working on the pencil sketches for my book. The sketches were approved by the publisher, and I was about to start the final color illustrations.
One of the scenes in the book happens in a place called Sataf, in the Jerusalem mountains. When I drew the pencil sketch of the girl sitting on an olive tree in Sataf, I looked at many olive tree photos but couldn’t find exactly the tree I needed, so I made one up from my imagination.
Around that time, we were invited to my nephew’s Bar Mitzvah. This boy loves hiking and decided to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah with a family hike to Sataf! I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to take pictures of some ancient olive trees that grow there. But I didn’t expect to find the tree from my sketch! When I saw this tree, I asked my niece to sit and hug it just like the girl from my sketch. My sweet niece is about the same age of the girl character in my book and she even had a similar hat!
And that’s how this funny story happened. I imagined an olive tree in Sataf, drew it, and then discovered that this tree actually exists right there, in Sataf. Sometimes reality mimics imagination, and I have the picture to prove it.
WOW! That’s amazing! Thank you so much, Miri. And friends, take a look at the awesome cover of our Perfect Picture Book Friday feature:
A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL
Written and illustrated by Miri Leshem-Pelly
Published by Kar Ben (May 7, 2024)
Ages: 3-8
Themes: Nature/STEM, Girl explorer, Israel
Synopsis: A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL follows a girl’s hikes through the diverse nature sites of Israel. Whenever she runs in a field, climbs up a hill or swims in the sea, she looks for something small to hold in her hand. It’s a picture book about curiosity and connection to nature, and about little wonders of nature that children love to discover!
Why I Love This Book: I love picture book stories that take me on a journey. Child readers will be swept away to a calm and peaceful place in their hearts as the main character visits river, beach, and field. The writing is captivating – the language is lyrical and visual – and the illustrations are stunning. The additional STEM sidebars add value for teachers who can use this book in the classroom. Highly recommend!!
To find out more about Miri and her books: Miri Leshem-Pelly is an author-illustrator of 17 picture books, many of them about nature and animals. Miri does more than 100 school visits per year. She is an SCBWI RAE (Regional Advisor Emerita) after serving more than ten years as a regional advisor of SCBWI in Israel. Miri is represented by literary agent Anna Olswanger. Connect with Miri: Website: http://mirileshembooks.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miri_leshem_pelly/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirileshem
Dear friends…great books need our help. Books like A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL need to be in library and school and home bookshelves all around the world. So, how can we help? We can: Buy the book: Lerner website:Â https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/23133 Amazon Review the book: Amazon Add it to your Goodreads Want to Read Shelf Tell friends about the book (Please share this post on your social media – that really helps) Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection
A Feather, A Pebble, A Shell
979-8-7656-0774-9 (LB)
979-8-7656-1339-9 (EB epub)
Whenever the author-illustrator runs in a field, climbs a hill, or swims in the sea in Israel, she looks for something small to hold in her hand. She finds a basalt pebble from the ice-cold Dan River, formed from lava over 100,000 years ago. Israel’s national bird, the hoopoe, leaves a feather in the grass at HaYarkon Park. Dead hood coral grows in the Red Sea, where fish play hide-and-seek. She holds small things in her hand and then leaves them in their habitats. . . for the reader to find.
Please leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of this glorious book and tell us how you will help spread the word. Maybe you can also tell us what object YOU would have kept if you had been on those hikes.
And please come back here on Sunday for our special Mother’s Day post containing the #50PreciousWordsforKids stories!
