Storywalk Around the Neighborhood!
Check out these charming readers soaring, waddling, and quacking with the animal characters of Around the Neighborhood. The Springfield-Greene County Library District in Missouri (shout out to my home state!) made this lullaby book into a storywalk. So much fun, plus a great excuse to get outside (and pounce, hop, etc.) on a lovely summer day!
Read MoreMarmoset Madness
Marmosets rule!
Really, there’s just something so appealing about these little cuties, the superheroes of my rainforest adventure, Quick, Little Monkey! It’s the fuzz, I think…and the big eyes…and of course the tininess. A full-grown adults weighs about as much as a stick of butter. How adorable is that?
Some other fun marmoset facts:
• Yep, they really are monkeys. In fact, they are the world’s smallest true monkey.
• The adults are tiny, as mentioned above…and a baby is about the size of grown-up human’s thumb
• They can leap fifteen feet in one bound. Amazing!
• A group of monkeys is called a troop. (This always makes me imagine them in red uniforms and big hats, like a marching band.
• Pygmy marmosets are omnivores, but their favorite food is tree sap. They’ll digs holes in a tree’s bark with their teeth and lap up the sap. (New word for the day: gummivore. An animal that eats sap. Really, it’s a word.)
• And, just like in my book, father marmosets do most of the childcare. They carry the youngest babies piggyback and bring them back to their mothers to be nursed.
Free Books! Free Event Kit! Monkeys Everywhere!
Lita Judge, the illustrator of the picture book, created this charming Little Monkey who can take a ride on a reader’s wrist. Thanks, Lita!
Happy Father’s Day! Here’s a perfect treat for a day celebrating dads: a FREE copy of Quick, Little Monkey and a marvelous monkey event kit for bookstores, libraries, and schools. Couldn’t be better!
The fabulously talented and creative firm Curious City has created a story hour event kit for Quick, Little Monkey. Send readers on a quest throughout your bookshelves to find their very own Little Monkey, one they can carry home just like Papa Monkey carries Little Monkey through the rainforest.
And if this is not enough monkey madness, you can enter to win your very own FREE COPY of this sweet and tender picture book about a Little Monkey and her wise and protective Papa.
Read MoreSchool Library Journal STAR!
I’m doing happy dances in front of my computer (aren’t you glad you can’t see?) because Deadly Flowers got a STARRED review from School Library Journal!
Read MoreKata has been training since childhood to be the sly, disciplined ninja she’s become. She strives to live up to the standards Madame Chiyome has set for her “deadly flowers.” She has learned to trust no one, and is determined to not let anything or anyone deter her from her first mission as an assassin for hire. However, she never expected her target to be a young boy, and she suddenly finds herself confronted with the most difficult decision she’s ever faced–take a young boy’s life or accept the dire consequences of having failed her mission. This-action packed book will captivate both girls and boys and does a great job of portraying the importance of taking ownership for one’s life, despite the conflicts and social constraints one might face. Highly recommended.
Sarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Thomson focuses on newfound connection, magic, and suspense to conjure a fast-paced, heartwarming mystery. Thomson’s world is populated by resourceful protagonists, fanciful creatures, and quirky supporting characters.”
—Publishers Weekly