PB Review / Endlessly Ever After

Book: Endlessly Ever After (2022)
Author: Laurel Snyder
Illustrator: Dan Santat
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Genre: Picture Book

Opening Lines of the Book…
Your mama shakes you out of bed. She says, “My darling dear,
you need to run to Grandma’s, quick! She’s feeling ill, I fear.
“Now take this cake, to cheer her up, and have a lovely day.
But mind the path! For danger tends to lurk along the way.”

MY THOUGHTS…

As a kid, I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books! Well, this picture book mixes that type of story with another of my favorite story types—the fairy tale. This book follows the journey of Little Red Riding Hood as she heads to her grandmother’s house. Will she choose the red cape or the nice furry cape? Will she pick daisies or … well, you get the idea. But this book doesn’t just stick with the Little Red Riding Hood story. You’ll meet princesses and princes and pigs and all different characters from your favorite tales.

Also to note: This isn’t your standard 32-page picture book. There are lots of different options for how the story can turn out. So, yes, you’ll want to go back and try a different path to see what could happen next!

Thank you to my critique partner, Sarah Meade, for suggesting this title. What fun!

 

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12 CHALLENGE

12 months to feature 12 picture books…

This picture book review is part of a monthly challenge I’ve set for myself. Have a recommendation for me? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.  I may just feature your pick one of these months!

Review / Make a Move, Sunny Park

Book: Make a Move, Sunny Park (2023)
Author: Jessica Kim
Publisher: Kokila
Genre: MG, Contemporary

Opening lines from the book …
Three words: Inflatable. Dinosaur. Costume. That’s how I’ll stand out from all the other people doing the Supreme Beat Dance Challenge on my social media feed. It’s so genius, I could smack myself.

What makes this book stand out …

This is the story of two girls, Sunny and Bailey, and how they grow apart. Sunny has a personality as sunny as her name, but she also has a wee bit of social anxiety. But Bailey is determined to try out for the school dance team and drags Sunny along for the tryouts. Slight spoiler… Sunny makes the team and Bailey does not.

I loved the new friends Sunny makes. Kayden and Bea are such nice kids. Of course, Sunny is doomed to make cringe-worthy mistakes as she navigates old and new friendships… which will become important to the plot and to Sunny’s character arc. There’s also a nice side story with Sunny’s grandmother, Halmoni.

While this is not a direct sequel to Yumi Chung‘s story, it is a companion book. Sunny mentions at one point that Yumi is her cousin. I liked that, even though Yumi wasn’t really part of the book.

 

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YOUR TURN…

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Note: I’m posting this for Greg Pattridge’s Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday…

Newbery Verdict: Hatchet

Book: Hatchet (1987)
Author: Gary Paulsen
Publisher: Atheneum Books
Genre: MG, Contemporary
Newbery Honor Book (1988)

Opening Lines of the Book…

Brian Robison stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below. It was a small plane, a Cessna 406–a bush plane–and the engine was so loud, so roaring and consuming and loud, that it ruined any chance for conversation.

MY THOUGHTS…

This is the granddaddy of survival books for kids! Brian ends up in the middle of nowhere with only the hatchet given to him by his mother. (A hatchet which lends much to the themes of the book. It’s interesting that the hatchet is a gift from Brian’s mother. In the story, his parents are going through a divorce. While Brian’s dad doesn’t know the Secret that leads to the divorce, Brian does. Yes, it’s his mother that has taken a hatchet to her own family! It’s interesting to note that we never meet Brian’s parents over the course of the book.)

Over the story, we witness Brian becoming self-sufficient. He learns to hunt and trap and build a shelter. There’s a crazy moose attack, and there’s also a moment when Brian loses his precious hatchet a the bottom of the lake!

NEWBERY VERDICT…

I thought this book has aged quite nicely. No, there aren’t any smartphones, and yet Brian couldn’t really use one anyhow.

YOUR TURN…

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments!

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Newbery Verdict Reading Challenge: This is a personal challenge for me to read books that have either won the Newbery Medal or are a Newbery Honor book. The Newbery is named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. Since 1922, this annual award has given to the author of the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” A Newbery Honor book is given to the runners-up.

Note: I’m posting this for Greg Pattridge’s Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday…

Photo Challenge #52 / Time Out

“Foggy Christmas” / Theme: Time Out

A little about this photo…

It’s been a foggy Christmas this year. We went down to the pier, and we could barely see the lighthouse as we passed. This is a shot looking out onto the beach and lake. If was so foggy, you can’t really see where the sand ends and the water begins. 

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THIS 2023 WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – This year is YEAR SIX of doing this photography challenge! (I began in 2018.) For more information about the list of prompts for this year, click on this link. And join me in posting your own photos every Saturday with #2023picoftheweek

P.S. The 2024 Photography Challenge Bingo will be a monthly challenge. Post your photo on the final Saturday of the month with #2024picofthemonth

2023 / A Writing Year in Review

Celebrating 2023…

For the past number of years (I can’t remember how many now), I’ve been taking part in Julie Hedlund’s 12 Days of Christmas for Writers. As part of the end-of-the-year process, she challenges writers to post their SUCCESSES (rather than New Year’s resolutions) for the year. I like the idea of focusing on the positive. And that’s one reason why I keep a monthly gratitude tally at the end of my writing notebook … so I can keep track of the good things that happen. Little things and big things.

And this year, I’ve had some BIG things (and little things too) to celebrate. So, here’s a list of my “good news stories” from 2023…

1. The Big One: I had a two picture book deal with Paraclete Press for THE CHRISTMAS ELEPHANT and THE RUNAWAY SHEEP. Very exciting! 🎉🐘🐑
2. I got my first royalty check in the mail! (I’m not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m not complaining!)
3. I set up my first author website, complete with newsletter! (So far, 3 newsletters are under my belt. Looking forward to more.)
4. Two of my short stories were accepted for publication in magazines. One of them will be published in March 2024.
5. My Speedy the Goat story was the “cover kid” for the July issue of Clubhouse Jr. magazine.
6. I completed or worked on several MG manuscripts, one of which is out on submission and another for which a first draft was completed during the month of November.
7. In 2023, I offered free PB/MG critiques called #3WordsCritiqueGiveaway. I was able to do three this fall!
8. I critiqued lots of manuscripts for my critique partners this year.
9. I won a PB critique for one of my stories back in February.
10. I finished another year of 52 Photos posted for my #2023picoftheweek Photography Challenge! (A challenge that is going to become a monthly challenge in 2024.)

Here’s to 2024…

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YOUR TURN…

Do you have good news from 2023 to share? Looking forward to something in 2024? Let me know about it in the comments! And no, it doesn’t have to be writing-related, but it could be.☺️

2024 Photo Challenge Bingo!

This new year will be bringing changes to my photography challenge. Instead of a weekly challenge, I’m going with a monthly one. One bingo card for the whole year!

At the end of each month, on the last Saturday, we will post our best photo of the month. Please use the #2024picofthemonth so I can find your photos and leave a comment⁠.  There is no “Choose Your Own Prompt” this time. And if you look carefully, each prompt is alphabetical. (A & B are kind of special.) You have a WHOLE YEAR to get your bingo!

Happy New Year!

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PROMPTS FOR 2024

Above / Below
Cheeky
Dappled Light
Expression
Flower Power
Golden Hour
Heads Up
Interior
Just Right
Keep Up
Lost and Found
Mirrored
Nowhere
Open Wide
Possibility
Quiet Time
Read Me
Something Scary
Thankful
Ultra-Wide Shot
Vintage
Water
X Marks the Spot
Yellow
Zounds!

Photo Challenge #51 / Patterns

“Elephant Spotting” / Theme: Patterns

A little about this photo…

I was talking to my dad about the title of my upcoming picture book, The Christmas Elephant. About how there are no Christmas elephants, except the elephant in my own book. And then my mom showed me this wrapping paper. I saw, right there in the pattern of the wrapping paper, a jaunty Christmas elephant. Apparently, there are Christmas elephants!

Happy Christmas!

P.S. In this year leading up to my book release, I’m hoping to post any elephants that I spot. If you see any elephants out there, take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter/X! Use the hashtag: #elephantspotting

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THIS 2023 WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – This year is YEAR SIX of doing this photography challenge! (I began in 2018.) For more information about the list of prompts for this year, click on this link. And join me in posting your own photos every Saturday with #2023picoftheweek

P.S. The 2024 Photography Challenge Bingo is in the works. There will be a few changes in the new year. Stay tuned!

PB Review / Bright Winter Night

Book: Bright Winter Night (2022)
Author: Alli Brydon
Illustrator: Ashling Lindsay
Publisher: Two Lions
Genre: Picture Book

Opening Lines of the Book…
There’s magic in the winter air,
as all the creatures are aware
A sway and creak as pines bow low,
and then begins the song of snow.

MY THOUGHTS…

I’m reviewing this book just in time for the first day of winter! This story is all about teamwork as the forest animals come together to build a conveyance to look at the northern lights. Told in rhyme, the lyricism makes the perfect read right before bedtime. I particularly love the art. It just captures a cold winter’s night.

And their final destination (i.e. the northern lights) is worth the wait. (I’ve always wanted to see the northern lights dancing!) Happy First Day of Winter!

 

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12 CHALLENGE

12 months to feature 12 picture books…

This picture book review is part of a monthly challenge I’ve set for myself. Have a recommendation for me? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.  I may just feature your pick one of these months!

Photo Challenge #50 / Entry Way

“For the Birds” / Theme: Entry Way

A little about this photo…

Saw this birdhouse. I liked it. I took a photo.

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THIS 2023 WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – This year is YEAR SIX of doing this photography challenge! (I began in 2018.) For more information about the list of prompts for this year, click on this link. And join me in posting your own photos every Saturday with #2023picoftheweek

P.S. The 2024 Photography Challenge Bingo is in the works. There will be a few changes in the new year. Stay tuned!

Review / The Hope of Elephants

Book: The Hope of Elephants (2022)
Author: Amanda Rawson Hill
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Genre: MG, Novel in Verse

Opening lines from the book …
There’s a hill you have to climb
before you bike over the Golden Gate Bridge.
I did it when I was nine,
and it was so steep,
I wanted to quit right there.

What makes this book stand out …

This is a book about cancer and grieving and living through tough days. Cass’ dad has had every sort of cancer in the book, and now the doctor has news that this is due to a missing cancer-fighting gene. But there’s more, except they’re not telling Cass. But at 12 years of age, she puts together clues and does her own research to realize that she might be missing that same gene. Her research also shows that elephants have this cancer-fighting gene in spades.

This is a novel in verse. You’ll go on this emotional roller coaster as she keeps secrets of her own from Mom, as well as her journey to get her dad to the World Series one last time. And there are elephants, especially one that Cass bonds with at the local zoo.

P.S. How cute is that little blue origami elephant on the front cover? Actually, I love everything about this cover!

 

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YOUR TURN…

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Note: I’m posting this for Greg Pattridge’s Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday…