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.
Neko-mata
Neko-mata can be quite civilized, often wearing clothing and speaking in human language. This one is also apparently hiding its second tail under the kimono. Don’t let down your guard, however!
I’m hard at work these days on the sequel to Deadly Flowers, and so I’m encountering a delightfully creepy new crop of legendary creatures from Japan.
Such as the neko-mata.
Now, I’m a cat person. It doesn’t feel right to fall asleep at night without something furry and warm and purring cuddled up close by. But if you ever meet a cat with two tails, or a single tail that forks at the end–watch out. This is no ordinary cat.
Neko-mata walk on their hind legs, they can awaken and control the dead, and they have a taste for human flesh. If a stray cat comes to your door and begs to be let in, be careful to count the tails first.
Read MorePygmy Marmosets–Really, so Adorable. Truly.
Lita Judge, the oh-so-talented illustrator of Quick, Little Monkey! made Little Monkey so doggone adorable. (Plush toy, publishers? Come on, you know you want to make a plush toy.) Just so you can see that she did not exaggerate the cuteness of pygmy marmosets, the world’s smallest monkeys, I offer you this video.
Thanks to the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation for the video and for raising Ninita after her mother could not care for her. Just to note, she is not a pet (the pet trade is very, very damaging to species like pygmy marmosets).
Read MoreDeadly Flowers and the Critics
Deadly Flowers
I’ve been so excited and happy about the reviews for Deadly Flowers. This review from the (*cough*notoriously picky*cough*) Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books has my favorite adjective string of all time: “clever, vivacious, dangerous.” I’m going to get it put on a t-shirt.
Ninja-loving readers will rejoice at this clever, dangerous, vivacious book about a group rarely mentioned: girl ninja. Kata was orphaned as a young age, so all she knows as home is her place with Madame Chiyome (a real historical figure who trained young girls to be ninjas in the mid 1500s). She works willingly, eager to be offered her first mission so that all of her torturous, exhausting, dangerous training can be put to test. She’s stunned to realize, though, that her first job is an assassination, of a young boy no less; when she encounters the boy and his protective sister, she can’t go through with the deed, and she ultimately helps the kids escape and search for their uncle. The siblings are also protecting a pearl that has supernatural powers, while trying to evade other assassins, demons, ghostly beings, and vengeful family members. It’s a lot, but just as the descriptions and social settings start feeling a bit too dense, there’s a great fight scene or a creepy-cool mention of a double-mouthed woman or trickster spirit to change the tone and add excitement. An author’s note offers brief details about female ninjas and what is actually known about their history, as well as some additional details on Japanese ghosts and demons.
–The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
I’m also quite fond of The Horn Book for saying that the book first goes “from bad to worse” and then “from worse to much worse.”
First-person narrator Kata–in training since childhood to be a “deadly flower,” a female ninja, in Feudal Japan–sneers at rich new girl Saiko. When Saiko is assigned to assist in Kata’s very first assassination, Kata is dismayed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when the target is revealed to be Saiko’s younger brother, and Kata instead finds herself caught up in a rescue mission. Then things go from worse to much worse; someone is hunting the siblings to steal the wish-granting pearl Ichiro has recently inherited. This action-packed adventure blends historical fiction with intriguing supernatural elements drawn from Japanese folklore. While Kata herself–determined, stoic, honor-bound–has a somewhat limited emotional range, Saiko turns out to have unexpected depth and even more surprising motivations. An author’s note adds historical and mythological context.
–The Horn Book
Other reviewers have also chimed in:
“Nonstop action, interesting characters, and a journey into another time and culture.”
–VOYA
“This mission turns into a coming-of-age lesson for Kata that forces her to challenge herself while she learns about deception, trust and friendship. The story unfolds with many twists and turns that keep readers intrigued, including many frightening encounters with demons and ghosts pulled from Japanese folklore that range from spooky to outright terrifying. Kata struggles to survive and keep others around her safe. This book is a great combination of adventure, fantasy, and horror, with two strong heroines who form an unlikely alliance.”
–School Library Journal
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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