Good News Day Tuesday: An Interview with Debut Author Tara Lazar (in celebration of her recently released picture book, THE MONSTORE!)

Happy Good News Day Tuesday! Today I am thrilled to be celebrating with debut picture book author, Tara Lazar.

Not only is Tara an incredibly gifted picture book author (with two more upcoming picture books in addition to THE MONSTORE!), she is also an incredibly giving, helpful and talented member of the kidlit community. And she is the founder of the super-awesome PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) which I'm sure I will be blogging about as November approaches!

Hope you enjoy this informative interview with Tara!:

"Read it again, Mommy!" (and why it's important... even when it drives me a bit crazy! :o) )

Happy Keep Reading Fun Day! Before I forget, please remember to read this interview with Chieu Anh Urban and enter for a chance to win a copy of her newest book!  That will certainly help keep reading fun!

My son's latest favorite book to say,
"Read it again, Mommy!"

Also thanks so much to illustrator and writer, Dani Duck, for her lovely review of Brianna's Book Stop on her own wonderful blog!

And now on to today's "keep reading fun day" topic... "Read it again, Mommy!"

Have you ever heard these words? I have. Many times.

And, while they bring joy to my heart. I also have to admit that they can also drive me a bit...

Good News Day Tuesday: An Interview with Novelty Book Author/ Illustrator Chiêu Anh Urban (And a Giveaway Too!)

Happy Good News Day Tuesday! Today I am excited to be celebrating with Chiêu Anh Uban. Chiêu's novelty board book, AWAY WE GO!, was recently published by Scholastic Cartwheel. What a clever concept!

Thanks so much to Chiêu for these very informative answers! And hope you enter for a chance to win a copy of Away We Go!. Details about the giveaway are at the end of this post!

Enjoy the interview!:

Motivating Young Readers: Rewarding Reading with... Reading!

Happy Keep Reading Fun Day!  Today I'm going to talk about fun ways to motivate young readers.

As mom to a beginning reader, this is a topic that is frequently on my mind. And it was also a topic that was on my mind a great deal when I was a classroom teacher and when I taught reading in private practice.

Before I begin talking about motivating young readers, I have to talk about how I don't try to motivate young readers. I don't offer pizza parties for reading or points or prizes. I'm sure these motivations can work for some young readers and their parents and teachers, but they don't match with my philosophy of teaching reading.

I want my kids and my students to know that reading is its own reward. But, when readers are at the very beginning stages, reading isn't as rewarding as it will be when they are a bit more advanced. They can't yet just curl up with a good book and get lost in the world of a story.

So I have found a variety of other ways to reward reading with.... reading!

Here are just a few of the ways I've found to motivate young readers:

Good News Day Tuesday: An Interview with Author/Illustrator Joyce Wan (in celebration of her TWO about to be released books!)

Happy Good News Day Tuesday! Today I am so excited to be celebrating with the fantastic author/illustrator Joyce Wan! 

Joyce creates some of the most adorable board books I have ever seen! In fact, she is busy creating lots and lots of amazing books! (Just read the interview to see all that she's working on.) 

And, just like Tina Kugler (the awesome author/ illustrator I interviewed last week), Joyce is also represented by that super-awesome agent, Teresa Kietlinski. :o)

A sketch by author/illustrator Joyce Wan 

Hope you appreciate Joyce's insights into her creative process as much as  I do! Enjoy the interview!:

Keep Reading Fun Day: Why We Love Bedtime Stories (and a list of some of our favorites)!

We love many, many bedtime stories,
but  WHERE DO DIGGERS SLEEP AT NIGHT?
is sort of a favorite around here.
Don't know why? ;o)

Yes, I'm a fan of bedtime stories! I think they're awesome (and not just because I wrote one :o) ).

Bedtime stories are such an easy and wonderful way to keep reading fun for young readers.

But a recent study showed that many kids and parents are not cuddling up with bedtime stories on a regular basis (or even at all).  So, for today's "Keep Reading Fun Day", I want to talk about the many benefits of bedtime stories (and to list just a few of our favorites)!:

Go Outside the Rhymes: A Video With J.Patrick Lewis

My published (and soon-to-be-published) picture books are both written in rhyme. And I have published several rhyming poems in magazines as well. But when I was a teacher, I always encouraged my young writers NOT to write in rhyme. This is often good advice for beginning adult writers as well.

Rhyming is hard work. Especially if you want to do it well. And it is important to do it well. (As I have such fun teaching young readers and writers during my "Rhyme Crime Time" workshop where we investigate crimes of rhyme.)

So I absolutely loved this Reading Rockets video with the incredible children's poet, J. Patrick Lewis::


 


Hope you enjoyed it too!

p.s. Please make sure to visit my critique group's blog, The Paper Wait, for a cover reveal of Robin Constantine's upcoming YA novel, THE PROMISE OF AMAZING! And for a chance to win one of two advanced reader copies! Robin is an amazing author, so be sure to check it out!