Book Room

Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey

Greenwillow Books | 978-0062970428   I have so much admiration for an author who can write an endearing character with a unique personality to match. Such is the case with Marisol, in MAYBE MAYBE MARISOL RAINEY by Newbury award-winning author Erin Estrada Kelly. From the first pages of this chapter book, I was all in:… Read more »

Fred Gets Dressed

Little, Brown and Company | 978-0316200646 Fred Gets Dressed by Peter Brown   Fred is a busy boy who loves to romp through the house, around his bedroom, across the hall, and into his parent’s bedroom. Like many young kids his age, he also happens to love being naked! “Fred might never get dressed!” But… Read more »

Is It Over?

PenIt! Publications | ISBN: 978-1-952894-32-9 (Hardcover) | ISBN 978-1-954868-76-2 (Paperback)   Clouds tower. Waves crash. A storm is on its way and Risa is afraid. She runs to Daddy. “Make it stop!” Dad comforts Risa, gently reminding that soon the storm will pass and all will be well.  But as the winds grow louder, Risa… Read more »

Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring

Enchanted Lion Books | 978-1592702671   “In a way it’s as important to communicate to one person, to one ten-year-old person that’s growing up, as it is to try to make any big effect on the entire world.” — Keith Haring   Isn’t this how it is? Sometimes we have grand plans and we forget… Read more »

America, My Love, America, My Heart

978-0062993298 | Greenwillow Books   AMERICA, My Love, AMERICA, My Heart by Daria Peoples-Riley is a poem to the United States. A poem that carries questions for all of us who call America home. “Do you love me? Do you love me from the inside out? Do you love me from the outside in?” Is… Read more »

Becoming Emily: The Life of Emily Dickinson

Chicago Review Press | 978-0897330039 My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Clark, was very fond of poetry. She would stand behind our chairs and recite poems by heart. Robert Frost, John Masefield, Carl Sandburg. It’s a memory I’d mostly forgotten about until a few years ago. She had been the principal of the school for many… Read more »

How to Build an Insect

 978-1541578111 | Millbrook Press This week, I’m excited to share author Roberta Gibson‘s debut picture book, HOW TO BUILD AN INSECT, illustrated by Anne Lambelet. I met Roberta at a recent (virtual) gathering of local SCBWI PAL members in Arizona and couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of her book. This clever… Read more »