Totz Newsflash: Jon Klassen

Remember my love post for Jon Klassen? And how I begged the industry to pick up Jon for the children's book market? Tada!



S&S just released this work this month! *squeee* I haven't seen it yet but will be on the look. And then thanks to annerenee who left me a comment that Candlewick Press is releasing Jon's The House Held Up By Trees, in February, 2012!

Okay, I'm very happy! Thank you, publishers! *do a little dance*

Now, how about a Jon Klassen board book for our totz!

Animal Babies Around the House

Picture (photos) and word clues help totz guess the baby animal and its mommy in this sturdy 24-page board book. Animal Babies Around the House includes photographs of seven common house pets: cats, dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, parrots, rabbits, and goldfish. An adorable golden retriever pup, a graceful, gliding goldfish, a peckish parrot, a cute kitten...

Meow!
I have four
furry paws.
Who is my mommy?

My mommy
is a cat.
I am her kitten.

Kudos to Kingfisher for these young, beginning books that boost totz' awareness of animals. Encouraging an early understanding and empathy for other living creatures in totz is a wonderful thing.

Also in the series: Animal Babies in Towns and Cities, which looks at foxes, squirrels, and other animals who co-exist with humans in our habitats.

Animal Babies Around the House
Kingfisher Publications, (PanMacmillan) 2005

Poetry Friday: We all Sing the Same Song

Thought this was great for Poetry Friday. Sing along with your totz!

Busy Birdies by John Schindel

So, yes, I'm a bird lover and writing a novel with birds at the heart, but really, how can you not love Busy Birdies? John Schindel has brought a cute text to totz which is paired with Steven Holt's photo-illustrations.

Aside from the first single image spread, each page holds a double image of birds in action with a rhyming couplet.


Birdie bottoms have to bring a smile to all! And then there are:

Birdies eyeing
Birdies flying
Birdy stretching
Birdy stepping

The colors zing off the page in these gorgeous photos caught by Steven.

Tricycle Press is doing a fantastic job with their contributions to the board book industry. Bravo!

Twitter about Busy Birdies with your readertotz!

Busy Birdies
by John Schindel
illustrated by Steven Holt
Tricycle Press, 2010

Poetry Friday: Blow, Wind, Blow

This sounds so yummy, right? Happy Poetry Friday!

photo from Healthy Eats

Blow, Wind, Blow

Blow, wind, blow! And go, mill, go!
That the miller may grind his corn;
That the baker may take it,
And into rolls make it,
And send us some hot in the morn.

Photototz: Dia Calhoun

What a sweet photo of Dia Calhoun! She's a cofounder of readergirlz and YA author. Dia's celebrating a new sale of her middle grade contemporary verse novel, Eva of the Farm. Congrats, Dia!

In the meantime, checkout Avielle of Rhia. It's just beautiful.

We'd love to share other totz photos, authors and illustrators. Send them our way to readertotzatclearwiredotnet

Thanks! ~Lorie Ann

Read to Me: Judi Moreillon

This sturdy 16-page, rhyming board book serves as a gentle encouragement to parents and children to engage in reading together as a team. It's written from the child's point of view and begins:

Read to me
and watch me grow.
Tell me all
the tales you know.
For in this life,
I'll need a map.
Let it begin
upon your lap--

I had the pleasure of sitting next to the author of this book at a dinner held by Albert Whitman & Co. at the AASL conference in Charlotte, NC a few months ago. You know how you meet someone and you like them and you are sooooo hoping you will like the book they wrote as well? I was delighted when Judi shared her book with me. It tugged at my heart and I enjoyed its gently-spoken message about parents bonding with their children through reading. I could hardly wait to share it on readertotz. As the blurb on the back of the book says: "Reading to children from a very early age is one of the most important contributions parents can make..."

Judi is currently an assistant professor at Texas Women's University. She's an advocate for literacy, an author, and has been a teacher-librarian at many classroom levels. And she was a delight to hang out with for an evening!

Read to Me is also available in a Spanish edition: Vamos a leer. And a Vietnamese edition: Doc sach cho con

Read to Me
Author: Judi Moreillon
Illustrator: Kyra Teis
Starbright Books, 2004

Poetry Friday: Come, Butter

engraving from Harvest of History

Come, Butter

Come, butter, come,
Come, butter, come!
Peter stands at the gate,
Waiting for a buttered cake;
Come, butter, come.

Happy Poetry Friday, totz!

Hop! by Phyllis Root

Hop! by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Holly Meade, totally hopped right into my heart. There's so much action packed into this little board book. From playing together, running, hiding, and finally munching lunch, these bunnies are full of charm.

Phyllis' rhythmic text zooms as quickly as the bunnies themselves:

Baby bunnies
bump and bumble.
Cottontails take a tumble.

Paired with Holly's warm watercolor and collage, these bunnies are absolutely endearing. The characters are not overdone bland figures, but rather, they are unique shapes in diverse positions. In the entire book, only one bunny smiles directly at the reader, which creates a more realistic tone.

What a great match between these two artists for your totz. Pick up Hop! and be ready to do so yourself.

Hop!
by Phyllis Root
illustrated by Holly Meade
Candlewick Press, 2010

Tails at Twilight baskets for the ASPCA Gala!

Many thanks to the New York Daily News for cross-posting

and helping to spread the word about this event!

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/pets/story/index.html?id=168576

I had way too much fun putting these baskets of my autographed books together

to donate to the upcoming auction at the:
Tails at Twilight Gala
The Animal Protection Society of Durham’s (ASPCA of Durham, NC) Tails at Twilight Gala is one of Durham’s signature charity events, featuring a silent auction, dinner and live auction. Each year more than 350 guests attend this elegant evening in support of helping abused and neglected pets throughout the community and placing them in loving homes.

March 20th, 2010

6:00 – 10:30pm

The Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club

3001 Cameron Blvd.

Durham, North Carolina

For information about the event, call Rebecca Hankins 919-560-0640 x231

To donate to the auction: Stephanie Kirby at 919-560-0640 x235

Poetry Friday: Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Poster from the Newark Library

Celebrating his 106th b-day this week, here he is in his own words:

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You’re on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

~Dr. Seuss

Happy Poetry Friday, readertotz!

Photototz: Martha Brockenbrough

How perfect to share Martha's photo on National Grammar Day, as she invented it!!! Check out her fab book which goes hand in hand with the celebration.

Set a great grammar example with your totz from day one! Hopefully, Martha will forgive any errors I might have in this entry...

We'd love to share other totz photos. Send them, authors and illustrators, to readertotzatclearwiredotnet with your latest book cover!

St. Patrick’s Day Countdown: Salina Yoon

Countdown from 5 to 1 with the forest friends in this shimmery board book. Five bright green holographic fabric-like shamrock tabs make it especially easy for totz to grab and turn the pages in this book. And it seems sturdy enough to hold up under repeated grabbing. It's a simple, lively, rhyming introduction to St Patrick's Day, and with bunnies, shamrocks, and a pot of gold, it captures the spirit of day.

Salina Yoon is the talented and prolific author-illustrator of numerous books for totz. Also in this five-tab series: Five Silly Turkeys.

More St. Patrick's Day books for the young and green-minded:
The Night Before St. Patrick's Day (8x8, Price Stern Sloan) Natasha Wing
Hooray for St. Patrick’s Day (Lift-the-flap; Puffin) by Joan Holub and Paul Meisel
St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning (Sandpiper) by Eve Bunting and Jan Brett



St. Patrick's Day Countdown
Author-illustrator: Salina Yoon
Price Stern Sloan, 2006