*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 [...]

As a writer, there are some books that when I start reading them, I think, I wish I would have written this. Not because it’s on the bestseller list, although that would be nice!, but because it’s an original idea and well executed, and you know that people are going to love it. This is [...]

I loved everything about Moonlit. Debut author Jadie Jones does an excellent job building a loveable and flawed heroine, Tanzy Hightower, while also creating a suspenseful plot, love-to-hate bad guys, and a jaw-dropping ending (as in–I e-mailed her to say: WHEN IS BOOK TWO COMING OUT??). I stayed up late into the night to finish [...]

My writing friend, Megg Jensen, is one of the most ambitious and go-getter authors I know. I admire the way she has taken ahold of her career and NEVER looked back. I am always super excited to be a part of her promotional efforts and getting the word out about her YA books. Today, we [...]

Adam Shepard is a very interesting man. That’s him to the right with a mustache that he grew as part of his list of things he wanted to do in his life. This list became a new book, One Year Lived, where Adam recounts a year of his life that he spent traveling and reading. [...]

It’s that time of year–time to take a week blogging break and enjoy some time with my family. I’ll be back next Monday, Dec. 31, to ring in 2013! Have a great week. Merry Christmas!

Kaolin, the author of Talking About Race (publisher: Crandall, Dostie & Douglass Books, Inc.), contacted me about her book, and I thought it sounded so interesting that I told her to send it to me. And I’m so glad she did. This post is going to be a little different than my normal posts about [...]

I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving. Share a meal, share a book, share a laugh, and share love! Don’t eat too much, grab the Tums, go for a walk, and enjoy your life! Peace and love to all! Happy Thanksgiving!

*Picture book for preschoolers through 1st graders *Little giraffe as main character *Rating: The illustrations of Stay Close to Mama are absolutely adorable, and it is a cute story, although parts confused me as an adult because the little giraffe gets in all sorts of dangerous situations because he doesn’t stay close to Mama, but [...]

If you haven’t heard about Sonia’s Song by Sonia Korn-Grimani (pictured to your right) yet, then here’s another chance! She has written a book mostly about her childhood surviving the Holocaust, and she has a copy to giveaway for my readers (or you can choose her music CD if you already have her book). Please [...]