Perfect Picture Book Friday: A GIFT OF LIFE: A Story of Organ and Tissue Donation

Posted on April 12, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. In 2018, my husband passed away – it was a sad time, yet joy came out of it. He’d always registered as an organ donor – and months after his death, I received thank you notes from several people who had received restored sight or renewed health because of those gifts. And so, when author Rachelle Burk reached out and told me about her newest book, THE GIFT OF LIFE: A Story of Organ and Tissue Donation, I knew I’d want to share it with all of you. April is National Donate Life Month – the perfect time to welcome this much needed book.

Written by: Rachelle Burk

Illustrated by: Benjamin J. Hummel

Publisher: Wiggle Room Books

Ages: 4-10

Themes: Organ Donation, Death & Dying

Synopsis:
Sam has always been a hero to his son, Noah. When a tragedy happens, Sam becomes a superhero to many others. A Gift of Life: A Story of Organ and Tissue Donation is a sensitive picture book that honors organ and tissue donors. It shows how their final gifts change the course of others’ lives, and help their own families find meaning in their loss.

“A unique and meaningful story about a child learning to live with loss, while discovering the powerful, life-saving impact their loved one made through the gift of organ and tissue donation. Any adult supporting a child through loss and donation would benefit from this special book.” ~ Jacqueline Salvatore, MSW LSW, NJ Sharing Network

“Through its gentle narrative and vibrant illustrations, ‘A Gift of Life’ offers a clear and accessible understanding of the profound act of giving and receiving the gift of life. By delicately addressing the complex topic of organ donation with sensitivity, Rachelle is able to explain the importance of giving the gift of life in a way that is easy for young minds to grasp. This book will undoubtedly spark meaningful conversations about kindness, empathy and generosity. ~ Tara Storch, Co-Founder Taylor’s Gift Foundation and Donor Mom

“As a heart recipient of 28 years, I can attest to the power of this book in conveying the significance of organ donation, making it a must-read for anyone seeking understanding and inspiration in this journey of life and gratitude.” ~ Kelly Perkins, MovingHearts.org

“A thoughtful and heartwarming resource for organ and tissue donor families and those touched by the gift of life…an inspiring story of hope and heroes for all ages.” ~ Amanda Tibok, Sharing
Network Foundation

And happily, author Rachelle stopped by to fill us in on a bit of the back story.
ME: Hello Rachelle! Welcome to Picture Book Help Kids Soar! Thank you for visiting. I wanted to tell you that one of the most wonderful things about this book is the diversity, not only the ethnic diversity, but the range of illnesses the book touches on and portrays – like the teacher who uses oxygen in the classroom. How wonderful for the child reader to see this.

RACHELLE:
Thanks so much for featuring the book, Vivian.
My fiction picture book is called The Gift of Life: A Story of Organ Donation and Transplant. It was funded by the NJ Sharing Network, the federally designated organ procurement organization for the New Jersey.

It is the only picture book of its kind in existence (as far as we can tell). Unlike the few other children’s books about organ donation, which tend to follow the journey of a person who receives a transplant, A Gift of Life honors on the life and heroism of the donor from the point of view of his young son, and from the recipients of his gifts whose lives he saves.

I decided to write the book after my daughter, a clinical donation specialist (RN) for The NJ Sharing Network, lamented about their Family Support Services’ lack of resources for children whose loved one died and donated organs and/or tissue.

Although the target audience is relatively small – children whose lives have somehow been affected by organ donation or transplantation – I hope my book will help increase awareness of the importance of organ donation.
The release date has been delayed a few times because the illustrator has a serious illness which has him hospitalized quite often. He’s a liver transplant recipient with an autoimmune disorder. He’s powered through this in time for the book to come out by the spring. That’s because April is National Donate Life Month, a time to promote awareness of organ and tissue donation, and to honor those who gave the gift of life.

Thank you so much,, Rachelle. I know we are all so glad that Benjamin was able to complete the book…the illustrations are fabulous!

Dear friends, please jump on the bandwagon and spread the word about this book. There are many parents and children who need to hear about it. Let’s do what we can:
Buy the book
Review the book
Put the book on your Goodreads Want To Read Shelf
Tell friends about the book (share on social media
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend. Please come back tomorrow for a special Will Write for Cookies with several KidLit Clubhouse folks. And Sunday…the results of #50PreciousWords!

Perfect Picture Book Friday: BENI’S TINY TALES

Posted on January 12, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. And hold onto your hats – because today’s featured book is like a dozen books in one! That’s right! It’s a treasury of stories, recipes, crafts, and more – for Jewish holidays throughout the year. And the art by author/illustrator Jane Breskin Zalben is absolutely delightful!

BENI’S TINY TALES: Around the World in Jewish Holidays

Written and illustrated by Jane Breskin Zalben

Published by Christy Ottaviano (August 8, 2023)

Ages: 4-8

Themes: Jewish holidays, family activities, diversity

Synopsis: From Amazon:
Join Beni and his family as they celebrate a year in Jewish Holidays, including all their favorite craft activities, recipes, songs, and stories for each occasion. The perfect gift book that gives all year long.

Chronicling a full year of Jewish festivities—from Rosh Hashanah through Shavuot, with every momentous occasion in between—this one-of-a-kind treasury includes homespun family stories, origin notes, craft activities, songs, and recipes for each holiday. With ideas on how to make masks for Purim, recipes to bake fresh honey-dipped challah to mark the new year, and so much more, this interactive holiday collection begs to be revisited again and again.

Beautifully crafted and with the right balance of factual details interspersed with fictional stories, this Jewish treasury is a welcome introduction to each holiday in the calendar year, and it is all told through the lens of Beni’s bear family. For parents who grew up reading Beni’s Family Treasury and Beni’s Family Cookbook, the family tradition lives on in this much anticipated compendium for contemporary readers.

“Mouthwatering recipes, activities, and songs round out the chapters…. Young readers and their grown-ups will find much to savor here.” —Kirkus Reviews

Why I Love This Book:
1. I love that this book has so many different layers – the stories of Beni’s bear family, the many different Jewish holidays and the how and why they are celebrated, fun craft activities and great recipes that everyone can enjoy!
2. I love the glorious art – the illustrations throughout the book are delightful and captivating – even the end papers engage the reader!
3. The publisher did not stint when it came to this book – the heavy glossy pages will survive many readings and the handling of young children – and the print is large enough for even my old eyes to see it – this s a quality book from cover to cover!

The book has received praise and write-ups from many, including:
ALA: https://journals.ala.org/index.php/cal/article/view/8109/11274
Betsy Bird: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2023/07/06/celebrating-jewish-holidays-all-year-round-an-interview-with-jane-zalben-about-benis-tiny-tales/

Usually, I share a craft activity with every Perfect Picture Book Friday post, but because this books is chockful of crafts and recipes – and because author/illustrator Jane Zalben is so generous, we have crafts AND recipes!!!

How about a recipe for Hamantaschen? When I lived in NYC, one of my favorite pastries was prune hamantaschen. YUM!!!

When the kids are home from school over the holidays, we often scramble for things to do with them. But with BENI’S TINY TALES, you’ll be scrambling no more!

When my first child was born, we moved from NYC to a small town in Connecticut. I’ve mentioned before how the backyard had 100 blueberry bushes…and the front yard had three huge old maple trees that we tapped for sap to make maple syrup several times while our children were growing up. It was a great experience…and Jane documents a similar time for Beni and his bear family.

The bear family on their way to tap the trees

And here is the recipe for making maple syrup!

To be honest, I have to admit that I don’t buy every book that I review…there are just too many of them…and my bookcases are already bursting at the seams – but when I saw the wealth of information and the quality of the illustrations, I couldn’t help myself – I hope you will all feel the same way because beautiful books like BENI’S TINY TALES need our help.
What can we do?
We can:
Buy a copy for ourselves or a friend
Review the book
Place the title on your Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf
Tell friends about the book (on social media, please!)
Ask our local library to purchase copies for their collection

I’ve bought the book, placed it on my Goodreads shelf, and reviewed it on Amazon.
And I’ll be sharing on Facebook and Twitter.
I hope you will find at least one way to help spread the word about this glorious book.

And I hope you all have a beautiful weekend! I’ve started reaching out to gather prizes for #50PreciousWords…yes, can you believe it…March will be here before you know it. And, dear blog followers, you are the first to know that we already have all of our judges from last year back again. My grateful thanks to Maria Marshall, Pamela Courtney, Carmen Castillo Gilbert, Shirin Shamsi, Leah Moser, Amber Bouchard, and Diane Tulloch for agreeing to this huge task of reading all of the stories (last year there were 756), and meeting multiple times to decide on the 50+ prize winners and 200+ Honorable Mentions. I’ve also heard from the first of the prize donors…we ALREADY have SEVERAL EDITORS AND AGENTS who will give feedback and/or submission opportunities.

Are you getting excited? AWESOME!!! But before you forget, please share this post on your social media and buy a copy of BENI’S TINY TALES!

Perfect Picture Book Friday: BEAUTIFUL NOISE: The Music of John Cage Plus Giveaway

Posted on October 13, 2023 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! Today’s author is a kidlit friend of mine…and we are both part of the New England SCBWI chapter. I love her books…and she has graciously offered a choice to whoever wins the giveaway: either a copy of BEAUTIFUL NOISE or a Picture Book Critique (nonrhyming under 800 words). So, please make sure you leave a comment.

BEAUTIFUL NOISE: The Music of John Cage

Written by Lisa Rogers

Illustrated by Il Sung Na

Published by Random House Kids/Anne Schwartz Books (October 10, 2023)

Ages: 4-8

Themes: Creativity, persistence, mindfulness, acceptance, listening

Synopsis: From Random House Kids: Open this unique picture book and meet John Cage, the pioneering, inspiring composer who believed all sound—from the crash of a slamming door to the whirr of a blender to the whoosh of the wind—was music.

For John Cage, music was everywhere: in the hum of the refrigerator, the screech of a garbage truck, the patter of the rain. But other people disagreed. They felt that, surely, a pianist on stage must actually play their piano to create music…not just sit there. And in no way was it melodic to turn a musician’s mic on and off as they do play their instruments–it was just chaos!

John Cage found sound in silence, and knew that all noises were unique. All you had to do was listen to hear it.

Told in second person and paired with exciting illustrations as innovative as Cage’s music, here is a picture book–perfect for any budding musician–that celebrates the genius of a nonconforming musician who always stayed true to his artistic vision.

Why I Love This Book
1. I love books that introduce children to people they probably never heard of!
2. I love books where the text is like a melody – lyrical and engaging!
3. I love books filled with glorious illustrations – what a wonderful opportunity for kids to see how color and lines can combine to create action and emotion while telling a story.

I was chatting with Lisa and mentioned that we all love to hear about the path to publication for our Perfect Picture Book Friday books…and she graciously stopped by.
Welcome, Lisa! Can you share a bit about why you wrote this story and how it came about?

Lisa: Thank you so much for featuring BEAUTIFUL NOISE, Vivian. I’m happy to share.
I was a listening kind of child who paid close attention to the world around me. Growing up on the beach, I remember listening in vain for the ocean to be completely silent. Later, I learned about John Cage and his “silent” piece, so when in 2016 I saw a photo of him listening intently to the vibrations of cactus spines, I knew I wanted to explore the life of this intriguing, brilliant, innovative person. I dove into research, but there was so much to share about him! I wrote polished draft after polished draft, trying many different paths to the story, but couldn’t get to his essence in a way that would resonate for children. Other projects intervened, until early one morning in 2022, the words and structure of this book came into my mind. I was thrilled that Anne Schwartz, who edited my debut, 16 Words: William Carlos Williams and “The Red Wheelbarrow,” decided to take on Beautiful Noise, and ecstatic when award-winning illustrator Il Sung Na agreed to illustrate my words. Il Sung created an unbelievably beautiful sonic environment for this story that is nothing short of genius. His magnificent illustrations included creating a visual glossary for each sound word I used. It’s so fun to seek and identify each sound image as you enjoy the world of this book!

WOW…thank you so much, Lisa. I loved hearing your path to publication for this book. And thank you, also, for providing the craft activity! I remember making these with my kindergarteners and with my own children.

RELATED ACTIVITIES:
Make a Rain Stick

Photo courtesy: https://www.giftofcuriosity.com/diy-rain-stick-craft/

This cool rain stick craft is easy and ingenious! https://www.giftofcuriosity.com/diy-rain-stick-craft/

BEAUTIFUL NOISE launched on October 10 and is available right now!
https://www.wellesleybooks.com/book/9780593646625
And it also helps to add it to your I WANT TO READ shelf on Goodreads.

Here’s a little bit about Lisa and how you can connect with her:
Lisa Rogers became inspired to write for children during her career as an elementary school librarian, but her love of reading began early with poetry, fairytales and folktales. She holds degrees in English from The College of William and Mary and Boston College and received her library science degree from Southern Connecticut State University. Her award-winning titles include her debut, 16 WORDS: WILLIAM CARLOS AND “THE RED WHEELBARROW,” HOUND WON’T GO, and BEAUTIFUL NOISE, which has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

A former daily news reporter and editor, Lisa lives with her family and sweet, obstreperous hound near the Boston Marathon route, which she has run four times. Find her at lisarogerswrites.com.

I hope you will all connect with Lisa – and check out her other books. We all know how important it is to support authors and illustrators and publishers – otherwise, there will be no more books like this one. We can support our favorite books by:
Buying them (links in the blog post)
Reviewing them
Putting them on your WANT TO READ shelf on Goodreads (There is a link for that in the post)
Telling friends about them (if you share on social media, that really helps)
Asking your local library to purchase copies for their collection.

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend. Leaf peepers had better get peeping…the colors are gorgeous…but after a few more rains, we’ll have bare branches and a carpet of colors on the ground.