readertotz Newsflash: Reach Out and Read

    

So excited to learn of Reach Out and Read and then hear my work was chosen for the program. Check it out and visit the drive. Here's to totz' community service! 

Reach Out and Read prepares America's youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. In the Greater New York region, we provide new, age-appropriate books and literacy guidance to over a quarter of a million children. 

Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish is one of 11 books included in the online Virtual Book Drive. www.reachoutandreadnyc.org/VirtualBookDrive.htm

This year the celebration is the 14^th Anniversary of Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, on May 6, 2013, at The Helen Mills Event Space and Theater in New York City. Susan Kaufman, Editor of Time Inc.’s People StyleWatch Magazine will serve as Auction Chair. 

Pediatrician Dr. Leora Mogilner

Thanks for taking a look. And thanks to Scholastic for their contributions! 

Photo Friday: Reading Totz

As an author, it's such a gift to receive a photo of a reader enjoying your work. Here's today's Photo Friday of the dearest tot reading Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish. The crab shirt couldn't be better!

Enjoy those snapshots or your totz reading today, whether you capture them with a camera or your mind. They are precious.

Congrats, Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish: 100,000 sold! Interview with illustrator Debra Ziss

In celebration of Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish selling over 100,000 copies, I thought to post this fun interview with illustrator Debra Ziss. Listen in with your totz:

1. Can you describe your process, Debra?

i usually see something in my head the moment i read the manuscript. then i sit down at the computer and "sculpt" in illustrator. by this i mean that i draw shapes and refine them until they begin to look like something. what i see in my head is NEVER what appears on screen. i'm usually pleasantly surprised by the end result.

2. Want to share an early sketch?

you can see sketches on: debbiedoesdoodles.blogspot.com i posted my original ideas for the book along with some finishes so readers could see the process. Like this:


3. Do you have any totz in your life now?

i sometimes test out my drawings on my "peanut gallery", my friends kids. if they like and understand what i've drawn, i know it's good!

4. Um, do you like to eat fish?

sushi is a personal favorite. good nite fishies!

Thanks, Debra! I love how our work came together. Thanks also to editor Rotem Moscovich and Scholastic. *hugs* And final thanks to everyone who has purchased copies for your totz!

Here's one last look at that sweetie pie reading to us:

Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish
by Lorie Ann Grover
illustrated by Debra Ziss
Scholastic, Cartwheel Books, 2009

Totz Fanfare: Bedtime Kiss For Little Fish makes the Parents Magazine Top 20 List!

Congratulations to Lorie Ann Grover and Debra Ziss! The totz are cheering them because their board book, Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish, just made the Parents 20 Best Children's Books, 2009 list. Publishers Weekly called this book "Utterly serene from start to finish." Woo hoo!

~ Joan Holub

Totz Video: Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish

Is this not the cutest ever?

If you recognize her as one of our totz, please don't divulge her name in the comments to protect her anonymity.

Thanks to her family for filming the moment and allowing me to share this. It just cheers my heart!

~Lorie Ann

Little Fish Signing

I had one of the best signings ever at Costco! Just take a look at Lucy, my perfect match. :~) Thanks to everyone for their support of this super event! *hug, hug, kiss, kiss*

~Lorie Ann

Author signing!

Just a quick note that I'm signing at my local Costco, Saturday at 1:00. If you are in the area, stop on by and help me celebrate the release of Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish!

Costco
1201 39th SW
Puyallup, Washington

Press Release for Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish

CO-FOUNDER OF READERGIRLZ AND READERTOTZ CELEBRATES A NEW BOARD BOOK: BEDTIME KISS FOR LITTLE FISH

Author/illustrator Lorie Ann Grover’s new board book for babies is “utterly serene from start to finish,” says Publishers Weekly.

June 1, 2009 (Seattle, Wash.) – readergirlz and readertotz co-founder and author/illustrator Lorie Ann Grover’s new board book Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish has just been released from Scholastic/Cartwheel. Endearingly illustrated by Debra Ziss, the work beautifully expresses soothing images of sea creatures preparing to sleep. A small orange fish instructs:

"Night is dark, baby shark.

Make no fuss, octopus."

Lorie Ann says, “I love the short rhymes offered up by the tiniest fish as he encourages the sea life to go to sleep. Thanks to my editor Rotem Moscovich for realizing the baby fish needs a bedtime kiss as well!”

Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish introduces sea life and adds a quiet calm to babies’ evenings.

About Lorie Ann Grover, Debra Ziss, readertotz, and readergirlz

Lorie Ann Grover is the author of three young adult verse novels (Loose Threads, On Pointe, Hold Me Tight) and three board books (When Daddy Comes Home, Hug Hug!, Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish). http://lorieanngrover.blogspot.com

Debra Ziss is an illustrator and hand lettering artist from New York. Her clients include: Scholastic, Random House, Houghton Mifflin, Grosset and Dunlap, Barnesandnoble.com, The Gap, The Limited, and American Girl Magazine. http://www.debraziss.com

readertotz is a blog which showcases infant-toddler books as important additions to children’s literature. http://readertotz.blogspot.com

readergirlz is the foremost online book community for teen girls, led by five critically acclaimed YA authors. The site is the recipient of a 2007 James Patterson PageTurner Award; the Association for Library Services to Children, ALA, Great Web Sites Award; and the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize. www.readergirlz.com