Stella and Sam are now on the television

A few years ago I started to review the Stella and Sam books, which are written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay. The series is one of my favorites, and I was delighted to hear that Stella and Sam now have their own television show. Here is some information about the show:

Astral’s Playhouse Disney premiered the new animated series Stella and Sam on Sunday, January 9 at 10:30 a.m. ET. The new series, based on the internationally best-selling Groundwood books by Canadian author and illustrator Marie-Louise Gay, follows the backyard adventures of four-year-old Sam and his older sister Stella.Gay has written and illustrated eight books in the Stella and Sam series to date. They have been translated into fifteen languages and sold more than one million copies worldwide.

Children can now venture further into the world of Stella and Sam with interactive adventures designed for children and their families to explore online at www.playhousedisney.ca. Families can learn more about show's characters, play Stella and Sam games and download printable activities.

New episodes of the show will premiere on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. ET with episodes also airing on Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m. ET as well as Saturday and Sunday evenings at 8 p.m. ET.

Groundwood will be publishing new paperback editions of Good Morning, Sam and Good Night, Sam in February 2011, followed by When Stella Was Very, Very Small and What Are You Doing, Sam? in the same format this August. All books can be purchased from booksellers nationwide or the Groundwood Books website.

Here is a little video about the series, with an interview with Marie-Louise Gay

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Twenty-Five

Every so often I encounter a situation that makes me wish I was someone or something else. As I try to cajole my body to open up for my yoga practice, I wish I was one of those yoga teachers who look as if every limb and joint is made of rubber. As I try to do everything that needs to be done, I wish I was the cat who can sleep the day away in the sun. Today's picture book is about some children who wish "just for one day" that they could be something else.

For just one Day

Laura Leuck

Illustrations by Marc Boutavant

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 7

Chronicle Books, 2009, 978-0-8118-5610-2

   Most of us have those moments when we wish we were someone or something else. As we try to look over tall grass in a field we wish we were a giraffe, as we puff and pant our way along during a race we wish we were a cheetah. In this book, we meet some children who dream, “just for one day,” that they could be something else.

   As she draws a picture of a flower, a little girl wishes she could be a bee, and as he waits to cross a road on a wet day, a little boy wishes he could be a crocodile that has “the sharpest, snapping smile.” As she struggles with her snarled hair, a girl wishes she could be a porcupine. How much better a “coat of needles” would be, than a head of hair. Then there is a boy whose brother is laughing at him. He would like to be a big bear who’d “give my brother quite a scare.”

   Young children will have no problem connecting with the children in this book. They know exactly what it is like to wish one was a bear, or a whale, a chimpanzee, or a snake. They will be especially delighted when they come to the surprise ending. 

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Twenty-Four

Several years ago I started reading and reviewing the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer, and in no time I was hooked. Just like so many other readers from around the world, I eagerly waited for the next title in the series to come out. I am delighted to tell you that Hyperion is now publishing graphic novel versions of the books. Here is the first Artemis Fowl story in graphic novel form.

Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel

Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin

Illustrated by Giovanni Rigano and Pailo Lamanna

Graphic Novel

Ages 10 and up

Hyperion, 2007, 07884881-2

   There can be no doubt that Artemis Fowl, though only twelve years old, is a force to be reckoned with. Brilliant, ruthless, and the heir to a criminal empire, Artemis has decided that the family coffers are in need of a healthy influx of gold. Does Artemis try to rob a bank or break into Fort Knox? Indeed he does not, for Artemis is above such mundane crimes. Instead Artemis is going to separate the People from their gold. That’s right, Artemis is going to steal from the fairy folk.

   Artemis has been doing a lot of research about these magical creatures, and when he manages to acquire the Book, the fairy bible if you will, he is fully equipped to deal with anything that the fairies throw at him. With the help of his bodyguard and aide, Butler, Artemis kidnaps Captain Holly Short, a fairy who is an officer in Recon, an elite fairy police force. If the fairies want Captain Short back, they are going to have to relinquish a sizeable amount of their gold reserves.

   Of course, the Book does not prepare Artemis for the determination of the Recon commander, Commander Root, nor does it warn him about Mulch Diggums, a kleptomaniac dwarf who can dig himself in and out of almost anywhere. With Mulch’s help, Commander Root sets about trying to free Captain Holly. Who is going to prevail in this battle of wills and wits? Will Artemis’ actions bring humans and the People to the point of war?

   This fascinating and gripping graphic novel, will give older readers a very unique look at the fairy world. The fairies in this graphic novel are not ethereal delicate-winged creatures who sip from spring flowers. These are tough, well-armed characters who are centuries ahead of humans when it comes to technology, and who have no patience for us humans. Readers will be interested to see how the characters change as the adventure unfolds. They will find that Artemis Fowl has a soft side to his character, and there is even some hope that he might not be as evil as he believes himself to be.

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Twenty-Three

When I was a child, I was very much like the little boy in today's picture book. Just like silly Billy I was a chronic worrier, and I spent many hours lying in bed worrying about all kinds of things. Children who are like Billy and I, will find this book very comforting indeed.

Silly Billy

Anthony Browne

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 6

Candlewick Press, 2006, 0-7636-3124-8

   Billy is a little boy who is a chronic worrier. As he lies in bed he worries about hats, shoes, clouds, rain, and giant birds. He imagines that a huge bird might carry him out of his bedroom window, or that a rainstorm could flood his bedroom. His fertile imagination imagines all kinds of calamities. Not even the reassuring words of his loving parents helps.

   One night Billy spends the night at his grandma’s house, and he lies in bed worrying. He cannot help worrying “about staying at other people’s houses,” even though he knows that his worries are “silly.” Unable to sleep at all, Billy goes to tell his grandma about his problem, and he finds out that she has a solution for his predicament. The most amazing thing of it all is that her solution works, at least for a while.

   In this special picture book, we meet a little boy who really needs some help. Thankfully, someone who loves him knows just what to do. Children will be thrilled to hear that something can be done to alleviate those last-thing-at-night worries, and they will be interested to learn that Grandma’s solution is one that people all over the world really use. 

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Twenty-Two

Many children have a fondness for monsters, and in this book they will meet a very lovable and musical blue monster who is always game for a new adventure. This is the companion title to Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie

Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie on the road

Joel Stewart

Picture book

Ages 4 to 7

Holiday House, 2010, 978-0-8234-2292-0

   One night, Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie are standing on a roof hooting a horn and a bagpipe. Even when the neighbors tell them to be “Quiet up there!” the two friends cannot help hooting as hard as they can. So, they get thrown out of town and they find themselves in a “deep dark forest” where they can hoot their horn and bagpipes to their heart’s content.

   In the forest, Dexter and the Big Blue Beastie meet a young man called Sir Percy Pecket who needs their help. His “beloved” is asleep in a tower near by, and he wants the two friends to wake her up, which they do very well, to the delight of everybody.

   Sir Percy now wants to marry his princess (yes she is a princess), but he hasn’t slain the “frightful dragon” yet. Apparently, this is a requirement before you can marry a princess.

   In this delightful companion to Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie, Joel Stewart takes the little boy and his monsterish friend on another wonderfully peculiar adventure. Children are sure to enjoy the surprising ending. Throughout the book, colorful cartoon style art with speech bubbles fill the pages.

   

Poetry Friday - A review of City I love by Lee Bennett Hopkins

If you love cities to live in or to visit, then I have the perfect book for you. In this very special collection of poems, Lee Bennett Hopkins explores several cities around the world using a variety of poetry forms to do so.
City I love

Lee Bennett Hopkins

Illustrated by Marcellus Hall

Poetry

For ages 4 to 8

Abrams, 2009, 978-0-8109-8327-4

   Some of us like the quiet of country life, with expanses of green trees and grass, and meadows full of flowers. We like to hear the sound of bird song, and the smell the fresh air.

   Then there are those people who thrive in a big city where the “subway roars and rumbles,” and where “A hydrant is my swimming pool.” They love to be in a place where tall skyscrapers are built by workers who “balance on beams / dangle on derricks.” Here the sounds of sirens, horns, and traffic fill the air. Here too you can travel on a subway that is full of people who come in every possible color, age, shape, and size. People are “always on the go.”

   For this unique picture book, Lee Bennett Hopkins has created eighteen poems about cities that take the reader around the world, beginning in New York and then going on to Paris, Moscow, Cairo, Rio, Delhi, and many other cities. In each city, a little dog wearing a backpack accompanies us, sharing in the joys (and sometimes the woes) of city life. With many different poetry forms, the author paints a picture of cities that throb with life, that excite, and that delight the eye.

   Marcellus Hall’s wonderful illustrations perfectly compliment the poems, capturing the energy of the cities that are described in the poems.

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Twenty-One

Every Friday, I got to my daughter's school and I read books to some children who need a little help with their reading. Just before Christmas, my two little girls chose exactly the same book to read. Both of them shrieked with laughter as I read to them, and then both of them wanted to take the book home with them. This is the book that was so popular on that reading day.

The Hiccupotamus

Aaron Zenz

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 7

Marshall Cavendish, 2005, 978-0-7614-5622-3

   When you get the hiccups, you are often inclined to laugh at them. At first. Then they become rather annoying, and you do everything you can to get rid of them. Imagine what it would be like if you were a hippo who had the hiccups. In this story, you will meet one who is not only prone to hiccups, but his hiccups are also very violent. Every time this poor hippopotamus gets the hiccups, he ends up falling “upon his bottomus.”

   Unfortunately, his hiccups are not only a trial for him, but they are also a real nuisance for all the other animals. When he tries to say hello to the yellow elephant, the hippo’s hiccup startles her so much that she drops the cakes she is holding. Needless to say, she gets very angry, and she starts to chase the hippo.

   With the elephant in hot pursuit, the hippo comes across a centipede “pouring new cementipede.” One hic “by accidentipede,” and the elephant and the centipede end up face first in the cement.

   With its hilarious illustrations and its deliciously ridiculous rhyming text, this picture book will have young readers in floods of giggles. Be warned, this book is addictive and it may become necessary to hide it for a while. 

Listening Library Launches a Judy Blume Contest

Tell us your most memorable Judy Blume moment and you could win an iPod Touch and a personal message from Judy herself!

Can you remember the day you finished Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and felt like finally this was a book about girls just like you?  Or reading Superfudge and identifying a little too easily with the plight of having an annoying little brother like Fudge?

Judy Blume’s books have touched generations of kids and teens as they’ve grown up to share these stories with their own children, and now Listening Library is asking parents and kids alike to share their favorite Judy Blume memories in the Judy Blume Journal! 

To celebrate the release of five Blume classic audiobooks (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Freckle Juice & The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo, Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself, Deenie and Iggie’s House) for the first time on CD, we’re giving away a grand prize of an 8GB iPod Touch, a $200 audiobook collection and a personal message from Judy Blume to the writer of the best journal entry, as selected by Judy herself.

Visit www.judyblumecontest.com to submit your entry, read others’ memories and vote on your favorites for a chance to win.  The five finalists will be selected based on the number of votes for their entries, so share with friends and encourage them to vote for your journal entry!  

Contest is open to all legal residents of U.S. and Canada (excluding Québec) who are age 13 years or older as of January 3, 2011.  All entries must be received by 11:59 EST on February 18, 2011, and must be be in the entrants' own, original words. No quoting of other material is allowed unless attributed. In the final round, Judy Blume will select the three Finalists, a Runner-Up, and Grand Prize Winner from among the five finalists based on the entries’ creativity, originality, emotional appeal, and poignancy.

  

About Listening Library

After publishing its first audiobook in 1955, Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, Listening Library grew into one of the biggest names in the youth audio industry, releasing over 100 titles a year.  Listening Library titles have earned more than 200 ALSC and YALSA Audiobook Awards, 55 Audie® Awards and two Grammy® Awards with bestselling series like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle. Our backlist also includes dozens of Newbery and Printz award-winning authors whose titles we are proud to publish on audio.

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Twenty

When I was a child I always wanted a pet of my own. We had family pets, whom I loved, but they were not mine. I so much wanted a cat or a dog of my very own, a pet that would sleep in my room and that would be my special friend. Today's picture book is about a little girl who wants a pet so much that she ends up creating pets out of very ordinary everyday objects.

The best Pet Ever

Victoria Roberts

Illustrated by Deborah Allwright

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 6

Tiger Tales, 2010, 1-58925-089-3

   One day a little girl and her mother are walking past a pet shop and the little girl asks her mother, “Mom can I have a pet? Please?” The little girl’s mother gives an answer that is not very satisfactory. Everyone knows that “We’ll see,” basically means NO.

   The little girl takes her mother’s words literally, and she looks around and sees. She sees a nice smooth rock, which she picks up. Then the little girl ties a string around the rock, and she names it Fluffy. For a few days, Fluffy is a good pet, until his string breaks and he rolls down a hill.

   Next, the little girl decides to make a “soft, woolly glove” her pet. She calls her pet Nibbles, and she tends to her with loving care. For a day or two, Nibbles is a perfect pet, but after a time the glove is so stuffed with ‘food’ that the little girl is once again asking her mother if she can “have a pet? Please?”

   One would be hard pressed to find a child who has not badgered a parent or caregiver for a pet. This charming picture book shows readers how one little girl solves her pet-less problem for a while. She uses her imagination so that a rock, a glove, a candy wrapper, and a balloon serve as great pets for a time. What a delightful tribute to the power of the imagination this book is, and what a great reward the little girl gets for her perseverance. 

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Nineteen

Many years ago, when my husband and I lived on a farm in Virginia, we got a pot-bellied piglet. Gracie was an incredibly sweet little animal. She was very affectionate, funny, and intelligent. She was also incredibly stubborn. If Gracie did not want to do something, there was very little that you could do to force her to do so. She would scream - which was deafening - and she would kick her little hooves. Having had this first-hand pig experience, I was eager to read the book I have reviewed today, and I am so glad that I did. 

A Pig Parade is a terrible idea

Michael Ian Black

Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Picture Book

Ages 5 to 9

Simon and Schuster, 2010, 978-1-4169-7922-7

   Most of us love parades. We love the music, the floats, the bands, and the giant balloons that float above the street. What’s not to love? Now, imagine a different sort of parade, imagine what it might be like to attend a parade whose participants are all pigs. Can you see those porcine wonders marching down the street tootling their horns and oompa pa-ing their sousaphones? Can you see them in their red and white majorette uniforms with bright brass buttons on their coats and white plumes on their hats?

   Perhaps you can imagine all these wonders, but let me tell you that a pig parade “is a terrible idea.” Pigs hate to march, being partial to snuffling instead. They walk around with their noses to the ground looking for tidbits to eat. This might be a fine thing to do in a farmyard, but “snuffling is simply an inappropriate way to conduct yourself along a parade route.”

   If you think pigs will fancy those majorette uniforms you had better think again. Pigs hate uniforms, and trying to get them to wear them will be neigh on impossible, and this is just the beginning; there is a veritable litany of reasons why a pig parade is a terrible idea.

   Readers will be hard pressed not to laugh out loud when they read this book and look at the artwork. Michael Ian Black’s deliciously funny words are perfectly paired with Kevin Hawkes’ illustrations to give readers a picture book experience that is truly one of a kind.