Giveaway | VIVIAN KIRKFIELD – Writer for Children

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!!

RELATED ACTIVITIES:

Photo courtesy: https://temeculablogs.com/nature-crafts/

Check out a bunch of lovely Nature crafts for kids here: https://temeculablogs.com/nature-crafts/

And there’s more! Miri has activities on her website:
Get here free downloads for this book: https://mirileshembooks.com/free-downloads/

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: 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!

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. The days are getting shorter, the temps are getting colder…and we are getting closer to a holiday that used to be a huge favorite with my kids: HALLOWEEN. They loved dressing up, they loved staying up later, and most of all, they loved the – CANDY! Of course, I always tried to make healthy snacks to give out when kids came trick-or-treating…but that stopped when we had that scare in the fall of 1982 and we were checking our kid’s candy and only giving out stuff that was sealed. And I cannot tell a lie…even before that I would confiscate their trick-or-treat bags and dole out one piece a day…first of all because I didn’t want them eating too much…and second of all, because I was a lover of candy and would pull out the York Peppermint Patties (remember those?) which were my favorite. These days, I love Twix and KitKats – my grandson is a sweetheart and always shares those with me. And now, finally, let’s meet our Perfect Picture Book, HAPPY OWL-OWEEN! A Halloween Story by the lovely Laura Gehl who is offering a giveaway of a brand new copy…please make sure you leave a comment. Maybe you can tell us what your favorite candy is. Or maybe you can share what character you had the most fun dressing up as.