Unveiling Pippa’s Hanukkah Hunt: A Joyful Journey Awaits!

Posted on February 4, 2026 by viviankirkfield

Today is a VERY SPECIAL DAY for several reasons!

Reason #1: It’s World Read Aloud Day! I’ll be sharing ONE GIRL’S VOICE with all of the 4th graders at P.S. 97 in the Bronx, NY.

Reason #2: Today is the anniversary of my very first published book. PIPPA’S PASSOVER PLATE, illustrated by Jill Weber and published by Holiday House, is 8 years old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR PIPPA!

And Reason #3: We are revealing the cover of Pippa’s next adventure…PIPPA’S HANUKKAH HUNT…which launches this coming fall on September 29!

Oh my goodness…I LOVE this cover…and I hope you do, too!
Jill Weber, the illustrator, really knows what young kids love! Her art is JOYFUL! I’m so excited for children to turn the pages and discover the MYSTERY of the Missing Potatoes. There are clues for the reader on every page, not in the text, but in the illustrations. Great picture book illustrators somehow find a way to show other layers to the story in the pictures…I’m grateful to Jill!

This wonderful book will be flying onto bookstore shelves on September 29…delighting children with Pippa’s search for the missing potatoes. Because Hanukkah is coming and Pippa wants to make potato latkes for all of her friends – and SOMEONE has been taking all of the potatoes.

Do you love Pippa? Did you enjoy the first book? While we wait for the new book to launch, there are a few things followers of Pippa can do:
1. Pre-order the book: At any local bookstore or on Amazon
2. Review the book on Goodreads
3. Ask your local library to purchase copies of the book
4. Tell your friends (Sharing this post on your social media REALLY helps!)

I also wanted to thank folks who have been reviewing ONE GIRL’S VOICE. In my previous blog post, I mentioned that even though that book is a finalist for a Golden Kite in the nonfiction for younger readers category and has received other awards and accolades, it only had 35 reviews on Amazon as of a week ago. After my post, 9 more reviews appeared…THANK YOU to everyone who left early reviews or recent ones! Remember, it’s never too late to review a book! It’s such a worthy book, I hope there will be more reviews. And I will let you all know what happens on Friday night when the SCBWI Golden Kite winners and honor books are announced.

Please make sure you return on Saturday when the Heads-Up-The-Contest-Is-Coming-Soon post goes live…with the huge list of INCREDIBLE prizes for the 2026 #50PreciousWords International Writing Contest. I and my awesome judges, Maria Marshall, Carmen Castillo Gilbert, Leah Moser, Pamela Courtney, Amber Bouchard, Shirin Shamsi, and Diane Tulloch, are so excited to read all of your precious words!

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week…and find joy in every day, no matter how challenging it may be.

Perfect Picture Book Friday: THE GREAT CAPER CAPER Plus Author Chat Giveaway

Posted on November 4, 2022 by viviankirkfield

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. Kids love a series, don’t they? There are plenty of chapter book and middle grade series…but picture book series are hard to find. Why, you may ask? Because it’s hard to develop characters that will resonate so much with kids that they want to read about their other adventures. The talented Josh Funk is definitely a master of this…and today’s featured book is the FIFTH in the Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast series…well done, Josh!!!! This post is part of Josh’s book blog tour so I’m sure everyone will be hearing a lot more about it – the book launches November 15th. But it’s available for PRE-ORDER right now! And please make sure you leave a comment for a chance to win a Zoom author chat with Josh…if you’ve never checked out his website, you should! It’s filled with amazing resources and posts for writers…and parents and librarians and teachers. Please SHARE the post on social media if you can and tag friends for extra tickets in the giveaway hat.

THE GREAT CAPER CAPER: Book 5 in the Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast Series

Continue reading →

Picture Book Review and Activity: WAY PAST BEDTIME

Posted on April 28, 2017 by viviankirkfield

Happy Friday! I’ve got a wonderful Perfect Picture Book for you today, but I wanted to share a bit about the NESCBWI conference.

I’m still processing the experience and I urge all of you who are writers or illustrators, but aren’t yet members of SCBWI, to please, run, don’t walk, and become a member.

It is an organization that supports all writers and illustrators and the conferences are the best. The keynote speakers, like Jane Yolen and Melissa Sweet, provided inspiration and information by the bucketful. The accommodations and food were great. But truthfully, the best part of the weekend was getting to hug old friends

and make new ones.

I also wanted to remind everyone to continue to spread the word about the #50PreciousWordsforKids Writing Challenge. This morning a teacher at the Birchwood School in Cleveland, Ohio emailed to say that her 5^th grade class is going to participate. Woo-hoo!

I’ll be putting up a post on Sunday, April 30 because the challenge starts May 1, but we may have international participants and on the other side of the globe they are many hours ahead of me. All entries should be emailed to me by either a teacher or parent. This is going to be GREAT FUN!

And before we get to today’s book, we need to giveaway a copy of Jackie Azúa Kramer’s THE GREEN UMBRELLA. And the winner is…

YVONA FAST

Congratulations, Yvona! Please email me so I can connect you and Jackie.

The author of today’s Perfect Picture Book Friday pick is well-known to most of this kidlit community. She’s the founder of Storystorm (formerly PiBoIdMo) and a force to be reckoned with.

Way Past Bedtime

Written by Tara Lazar

Illustrated by Rich Wake

Publisher: Aladdin (2017)

Ages: 4-7

Themes:

Mystery, ingenuity, bedtime

Synopsis:

From Amazon:

Little Joseph turns into a bedtime super-sleuth as he tries to solve the mystery of what happens after the lights go out in this fun spin on classic bedtime stories.

Bedtime is Joseph’s least favorite time of day. When his parents tuck him in at night, Joseph imagines all kinds of things that he’s missing out on: big parties, hot-fudge fountains, exotic animals, and more.

But there is only one way to find out if what he imagines is actually true—and bedtime super-sleuth Joseph is determined to discover what happens way past bedtime.

Why I like this book:

This book is a whole lot of fun…and kids will love sleuthing along with Joseph. I bet lots of kids wonder what goes on while they are sleeping.
Great cartoon-like illustrations…and that’s not a bad thing because I think it will encourage some kids, especially boys, to pick up the book and keep turning the pages…and that’s what it’s all about!
Oh, and did I say it was funny? Well, I’ll say it again…kids LOVE funny!

RELATED ACTIVITIES

Photo courtesy: http://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/spy-school-kids-activities/

Start a secret agent spy school with the downloadable forms from http://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/spy-school-kids-activities/
Set up a scavenger hunt with clues…my 8-year old grandson thinks being a detective is the coolest thing. I know I have to get a copy of this book for him!
Talk about how codes have been used to deliver secret messages: http://www.mathsweek.ie/2012/puzzles/code-breaking-for-young-secret-agents
Try writing a message in code and decipher it.

Have a wonderful weekend, dear friends…I hope you’ll visit tomorrow for:

Will Write for Cookies

Anna Forrester

(we reviewed her BAT COUNT book a couple of months ago)

This post is part of a series for parents and teachers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays hosted by Susannah Leonard Hill. Click on her link and find lots of other picture book suggestions with summaries and activities.