So, I have a picture book coming out with Guardian Angel Publishing titled: Maggie Mae, Detective Extraordinaire, and the Case of the Missing Cookies. This book is near and dear to my heart because it is loosely based on a real story about my Grandma Dill. (Yes, that’s GG, for those of you who knew [...]

*Picture book, fantasy for preschoolers to second graders *A “big, scary monster” as the main character *Rating: Big Scary Monster is a cute picture book that you can use with children to talk about a lot of different themes/lessons. See below! Short, short summary: Big scary monster lives on top of a mountain and loves [...]

*Picture book, contemporary, for preschoolers through second graders *Young girl as main character *Rating: I loved this book, Someday by Eileen Spinelli. It’s clever and cute and full of imagination. Illustrations by Rosie Winstead are also super cute, as you can tell by the cover! Short, short summary: The pages in this picture book alternate [...]

I’m really excited to announce that Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg won 2nd place in the “Show-Me” Book Awards category at the Missouri Writers’ Guild conference on Saturday night. Any Missouri Writers’ Guild member can enter their adult or children’s book that was published the year before in this category, and they [...]

This past weekend, I was at the Missouri Writers’ Guild conference in St. Louis, MO. (By the way, FINDING MY PLACE won an award–but more on that on Wednesday. . . ) One of the sessions I attended was Lela Davidson’s “Search Engine Optimization.” I’m lucky enough to know Lela from the year before, when [...]

*Concept book on counting and the beach/ocean life *Little boy as the main character *Rating: 1, 2, 3, By the Sea (Kane Miller books) is a cute picture book with a lot going on–there’s counting, there’s the ocean/beach habitat, and there’s a rhyme/text pattern too. This will be a favorite with children AND parents/teachers. Cute [...]

This originally appeared on a great blog by Anne E. Johnson, JESTER HARLEY’S MANUSCRIPT PAGE, where she reveals her own writing as well as highlights several fiction authors in all genres! Check it out here: http://anneejohnson.blogspot.com/ When I do school visits, I often talk to students about “potato ideas.” These are ideas that are not [...]

I’m so thankful for libraries and librarians. And this week, it’s National Library Week! Since my book Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg has been published, I’ve been invited by librarians to speak at two different schools in St. Charles County this year–at Discovery Ridge Elementary School in Wentzville and All Saints School [...]

*Picture book, funny, contemporary for preschoolers through second graders *Two dogs as main characters *Rating: I liked this book, but I thought the author/illustrator could have done even more with the ending or the costume. I hear it’s a sequel, and that the first one is actually better and the reason why this one is [...]

*Picture book, preschoolers through first graders *Young girls as main characters *Rating: Here’s what I said on Goodreads: “I like this book. I think the message is important. I picked it up because my two-year-old is in love with the Disney princesses, and her favorite color she informed me is pink. So, the only complaint [...]