Cars and Buses, Oh My!

This past week has been a bit crazy with finishing up school and getting ready to go on a trip to Niagara Falls with my sister and Emily. I mowed both our lawn and my mother-in-laws. I shopped for sun screen and road trip snacks. And I made enough food to feed an army even though only my husband will be home.

And while I was in the midst of all this preparing for our car trip I happened to see a twitter post by fellow author Josh Funk about a female illustrator/writer he wanted to promote. His exact words were, "Due to #Caldecott Gender Inequity, every day I'm posting an awesome picture book, published this century, illustrated by a woman. For Day #81, meet the CAT ON THE BUS by @StudioAram." Now @StudioAram happens to be Aram Kim, and the resaon I know this is because I had just picked up her book, Cat On The Bus at my local library.

So I was super excited to read this almost wordless picture book about a homeless kitty who rides the bus and finds a forever home. This touched a cord with me not only because the illustrations are so adorable, but because we have three cats, two of which are rescue cats. 

But since many of my readers are dog lovers, I also read The Very, Very, Very, Long Dog by Julia Patton. It is the story of Bartelby, an extremely long dog, whose friends take him on walks, that end in chaos caused by his extremely long back end. Never fear, however, because his friends come up with a fun way to help Bartelby avoid calamities.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Fine Reads By Friends

Hey everyone. I hope your past week was enjoyable and relaxing. Our week was indeed enjoyable even it wasn't so relaxing. For some reason, May seems to overflow with one event after another. Emily attended her last after school science class and her last Wednesday teen church  meeting until fall. She also had an orthodontist appointment and I mowed both our yard and my mother-in-laws. And finally, we rounded out the week by celebrating my mother-in-laws 81st birthday and my husband's aunt's 80th birthday.

In-between, I managed a trip to the library where I found a wonderful chapter book by my friend Jessica Young titled Haggis and Tank Unleashed - Digging for Dinos. Now if you and your sprouts have never read anything by Jessica Young, I highly encourage you to do so. Jessica has a wonderful way with words and the confusion those words cause between friends Haggis and Tank as they track dinosaurs is hilarious. The scene where the dogs egg sit some dinosaur eggs they find is pretty funny as well. Jessica is also a master of imagination as she unleashes a surprising ending!

I also managed to review two books sent to me in e form for my friend Holly Niner. I was particularly taken with The Day I Ran Away. Told from the pov of a young girl telling her dad about her day and how she rran away, this tale shows  how a child's day can go from horrible to memorable when a little love is added to the mix. The wonderful way this story unfolds, allows children to see that punishment for wrong doing doesn't mean parents don't love them. I especially loved the ending where the young girl turns the negativity of running away into something positive and fun she can share with her parents. 

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Fun In May

May is flying by quickly, but we're having lots of fun over here in Ohio. Emily and I attended our last Cook Book Club meeting until September (we close for summer reading).

I turned 49, and Emily made me the most beautiful birth day card.

She also made me an unbelievable Mother's Day card.

And I read the two books I found in the wild at my library a couple of weeks ago. "In the Wild," is what we authors say when we see books by friends in public places like book stores and libraries. The first book happened to be written by my friend Ame Dykman and is titled Read The Book, Lemmings.

Fox has a book all about lemmings, but the Lemmings won't read the book and keep jumping overboard every time Fox mentions that Lemmings "DON'T" jump off cliffs. Fox saves the lemmings repeatedly, but can't understand why they won't read the book. When Fox learns that the lemmings can't read, he sets about to remedy the situation because every lemming should know how to read!

The second book is illustrated by my friend and ultra talented human being, Will Hillenbrand, and is titled Sneeze Big Bear Sneeze! Now don't get me wrong, the author Maureen Wright does a brilliant job with the story of Big Bear arguing with Autumn Wind about who is causing the leaves and apples to fall, but Will's illustrations take the story to the next level.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Time For A Ride

The weather has warmed up here in Ohio, so my husband moved Emily's bike from the shed to the garage. Now she can easily access it any time she wants to ride which she does frequently. And that segues into the first book I read this past week which is Spin.

Spin is a simple story of few words about a mother and daughter on a bicycle ride. At the same time, the colorful pages subtly convey the message of persistence as the girl encourages herself to keep moving up the steep hills, down the long hills, and around the windy bends. Definitely a book great for reading and discussion with kids from five to eight.

The second book I read titled, My Pillow Keeps Moving, is a book about the creative way a dog and a cat find a new home and get out of the cold. This text in the book splits between page text and words on the signs in the illustrated buildings which I found to be a fun addition. Reading this book puts me in mind of how we came to adopt our oldest cat, Max. Someone had dumped several cats in the neighborhood, but Max decide he wanted in our house. He would sit at our back door looking in and when I went out to scare him away, he would not be deterred. Eventually we capitulated and let him in, and I must say he is quite the character.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.