Words of Interest

This past week was an ordinary week. I attended a levy meeting, I made bread and soup, Emily did her school work, and Bobby and I watched an episode of Border Patrol NZ on Netflix.The interesting thing about that particular episode was the use of the term busker.

Earlier in the week I had heard the term busker and had looked up the definition which turned out to be a street performer. So when the airport security guard identified a visitor as a busker, Bobby and I laughed. We went from having never heard of a busker to having heard the word twice in the same week. It's one of those instances when you learn about something and then you start noticing it everywhere.

So imagine my delight when I opened up my book for the week, Tabby McTat The Musical Cat, and the first line read, "Tabby McTat was a busker's cat." I read it to Bobby and we giggled at the coincidence.

Tabby and his busker, Fred, sing for a living. But one day when Fred is busy eating lunch, Tabby takes a walk around the block and meets a new friend, Sock. While he's visiting, something happens to Fred. When Tabby can't find Fred, he ends up moving in with Sock and her people. A part of Tabby's heart can't forget Fred, and so one day he goes looking all over town for his old friend. They eventually reunite, but Tabby is torn between his new home and life and his old life with Fred. All does end well, but in a surprising and unexpected way.

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 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.

My Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2018

I read so many great books this year, and it took me a while to narrow down the list; but here are my Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2018.

10. The Best Mother


9.  Cat On The Bus



8.  A Different Pond



7.  Ocean Meets Sky



6.  Read the Book Lemmings




5.  My Pillow Keeps Moving



4.  Henry and the Yeti



3.  Nibbles the Book Monster



2.  Night Job



1.  Hello Light House




And since it was so difficult to choose, I have to share an Honorable Mention:

Samson the Piranha Who Went To Dinner



With The New Year just around the corner, I'm looking forward to all the fantastic, funny, creative, beautifully illustrated books 2019 has to offer.

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 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.

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.

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.

Wacky Weather, Car Care, and Beautiful Books

I don't know what's happening in your neck of the woods weather wise, but here in Ohio it's been a roller coaster of wackiness. We started the week only to have April Fools surprise us with the temperature dropping to below below freezing and snow. Day two offered rain by the bucketfuls. Day three was so windy the rain dried up everything but a puddle where there is a dip in my front yard. Day four it snowed some more and the lone remaining puddle froze creating an ice rink just the right size for chipmunks had they been inclined to skate. Day five gave us a reprieve from snow, but boy was it cold. Day six arrived overcast and cold, but not as cold as the day before. And finally day seven we had bright sunshine which gave the illusion that the cold had subsided. Illusion I say because it was still colder than snot.

It was on day six of this crazy week that I took my car in for an oil change. I thought this would be a good idea as we are getting ready to travel to the Southern Kentucky Book Festival in a week and a half. Needless to say, that day didn't go as planned. I decided to wait at our local repair shop while they changed the oil, but as the hour drew to a close, the technician informed me that I needed my tires rotated and I needed new brakes. I felt like April Fools Day had returned when my bill shot from $40 to nearly $400. At least our trip will occur in a well maintained car this year.

So finding two beautiful books in my to review stack sort of perked up my cold, expensive week. The first book, Albert and Sarah Jane, tells the tale of best friends who love to cuddle by the fire in a warm, doggy, kitty, snuggle, lump. The only thing Albert loves more than snuggling with Sarah Jane is eating kibble. Unfortunately after gobbling up all of his, he can't control his temptation to nibble on Sarah Jane's as well. This leads to a squabble and Sarah Jane moves out. Albert misses Sarah Jane tremendously and begs her to come. How they manage to resolve their squabble is definitely something you and your littles will want to read and find out for yourselves.

The second book, Wakem the Rooster Up All Night, has the barnyard in a tizzy when Wakem the Rooster allows the compliments about his voice to go to his head. Wakem sings all day and into the night and ends up with a backward sleeping schedule. Awake at night and asleep during the day, Wakem causes the sheep to run away in an attempt to find a quiet place to sleep. Will Wakem find the sheep and will he be able to rectify the problem? Be sure to grab a copy of your own and find out!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, 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.

Three Cats, Three Books

The weather this past weekend was a bit chilly, but it didn't keep kids from creating a little art at the market chalk-a-palooza where I manage. I passed out chalk and caramel apple suckers to the kids and sold almost everything from my table making it a pretty stellar day. And while I love the market, I am glad it's behind me as I am looking forward to taking a little break from baking until the holidays.

Something else I did this past month was run a cross a blurb showing that September was designated as Happy Cat Month. And though we are a few days into October now, I thought it would be fun to share three cat books I read for the occasion. But before I do, I'd like to introduce you to our family's three cats, Max, Daisy, and Fluffy.

Max

Daisy

Fluffy

 Do you see the theme I snuck in there?  Three cats owned, three books read!

The first book I read was titled, The big Meow. The story tells the tale of Little Cat who has a big meow. A meow much bigger than the meow's of his peers, and one that causes the others to leave him out of all their fun and games. That is until Little Cat uses his big meow to save the other kittens from Bruno the bullying Bulldog.

The next title was a cute book called, Cat Skidoo. Cat Skidoo takes the reader on a journey as they follow two kittens who are curious and manage to get into lots of mischief. This book would be great for kids four to six and has some very fun illustrations to admire along the way.

And last but certainly not least since it was my favorite of the three books was Goyangi Means Cat. It is the story of a small girl from Korea, Soo Min, who comes to America after being adopted. Her new parents only know four words of Korean but they have a Goyangi or cat. The cat helps Soo Min adjust to her new home that is different from anything she has ever known. But one day, the cat slips out the door and, Soo Min and her mother spend the day combing the neighbor hood for the naughty kitty.

I loved so many things about this book. I love the story's depiction of how a child might feel in a new and strange place no matter how loving the adoptive parents are. I love that she finds comfort in the family cat. and I love how both the parents and Soo Min make effort to learn each other's languages. But most of all, I loved the illustrations by husband and wife team Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. What they created on the pages of this book was a tapestry of Asian characters and patterns that made me the Korean culture a bit more deeply.

Since all these titles are a little older, I suggest you check you local library first. If that fails, there are some used copies floating around and Goyangi Means Cat is readily available in both Kindle and Nook form.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, 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  @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

 

Ohioana 2017

Those of you who have been following me for a long time know that one of my favorite things about being an author is attending book festivals. And this past Saturday I participated in the 11th Annual Ohioana Book Festival.

I was super excited to catch up with author friends. One of those friends, Lisa Amstutz, is a phenomenal nature author. Her latest book is all about gardening.

There was my friend, Julie Anne Lindsey, who writes mysteries under the pen name Julie Chase. How can you resist someone who writes mysteries involving cats?

 
There was my friend, Tricia Springstub, who writes for children.

 
And there was my friend, Tara Tyler, science fiction/fantasy writer.

 I also met several new friends. Illustrator Tim Bowers who illustrated four books I have read, reviewed, and enjoyed plus numerous others.

 

Author/Illustrator Adam Watkins whose bot books I can't wait to read.

Author/Illustrator Lindsay Ward who shared the back story of her latest book Brobarians. Who knew inspiration could come from Connan the Barbarian and your husband and his brother? She also created this year's Ohiana poster.

 

Cartoonist Steve Harpster who has some awesome how to draw books for kids.

Author/Illustrator Bill Cotter who is genius because he knows that kids always want to do what you tell them not to do.
 

Illustrator Joe Sutphin who illustrates for James Patterson and Sheila Grau for a start.

And author Marilyn Sadler who has sooo many interesting books including a new math inspired series that she co-authors.

So as you can well guess, I didn't have time to read and review any new books, but after introducing you to my friends from Ohioana, I'm pretty sure I've given you some great books to check out!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, 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 @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

A Dog, A Groundhog, and A Cat

Whew! Today's post is running a little late, but it was kind of crazy last week. Emily had choir rehearsal and church on Wednesday evening, the band/choir gala on Thursday evening, and Speech Meet on Friday. That , together with the time change (sigh, groan) put me off of my game a little. Oh, and I almost forgot, I added 4000 words to the MG manuscript I'm working on.

So when I woke up this morning and realized I had not yet written my Monday book review, I snatched two books off the shelf and got busy. Since everyone loves dogs, groundhogs, and cats_okay maybe just dogs and cats; my selections contain those furry friends.

The first book, Me and My Cat, is a wonderful story of the true nature of cats. Cats are picky, obstinate, their own beings. Cats like things on their own terms. I know this is accurate because we own three cats, or do they own us? I also like this book because at the end there are directions from cat on how to treat your cat.

 
A Greyhound A Groundhog reminded me of a Dr. Seuss book. The same handful of words were arranged and rearranged on every page. It was a simple yet fun book that I think children from four to eight will enjoy.

 
So there you have it. two great books. Find them at your library or chose something totally different. Either way, be sure to read with or to your kiddos!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, 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 @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.