*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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

I am very excited to welcome Gloria Loring and her new book, Coincidence is God’s Way of Remaining Anonymous. Many of you will recognize Gloria for her fame and accomplishments–she starred for six years on Days of Our Lives as Liz Chandler. (Last night, I read a synopsis of Liz Chandler’s storyline on a soap [...]

**Humorous picture book about homophones for preschoolers through third graders (although adults will learn something here!) **Dear deer and Aunt Ant as main characters **Rating: I think a book like this is the type of material we should use to teach children, teenagers, and adults the English conventions. Gene Barretta’s book is funny and meaningful [...]

*Picture book, fantasy for preschoolers through second graders *Young fairy girl as the main character *Rating: Camilla, the Cupcake Fairy is a cute book with REALLY cute illustrations. I think I might like the illustrations better than the story, but my daughter (2) loves both. It does have a good message about working together for [...]

I am taking a slight break from talking about FINDING MY PLACE, my middle-grade historical fiction novel, to share a bit about my picture books that will be coming out in the future. The first one is Lucy and the Red Ribbon Week Adventure, publisher–High Hill Press, and here is an illustration from that book! [...]