Making New Friends and Alliteration

Hey everyone. I hope the week past left everyone full of joy and energy. I attended a library author event in Fremont, Ohio this past week which was hosted by the Birchard Library. I generally don't sell many books at library events, but I love to visit and talk shop with other writers. I also didn't notice that I was standing under a sign for "Best Sellers". Maybe it's a sign of things to come, lol.

And along the way, I made some new friends like Holly Leemaster from the circulation desk who recently published a book of poetry.

There was Cas Miller, homeschool champion, steam punk dresser-upper, and author.

There was Sally Snyder author of children's books.

And there was Robert J Roman who just happened to be from the neighboring town of Mansfield.

But all this camaraderie didn't make me forget to grab a book from my library pile for review. And this week's review is an outstanding offering full of Onomatopoeia called Wodney Wat's Wobot. Rodney Rat has a problem pronouncing his r's and they all come out sounding like w's until he receives a robot for his birthday. Much to his surprise, Rodney's robot repeats everything he says but with r's in all the right places. Even more surprising is how Rodney uses h is robot to scare the school bully into leaving the school for good.

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.

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.

Remembering 2014 And Embracing 2015

It's hard to believe that 2014 is a thought of the past and this is my first post of the new year. I also can't believe that in a week's time, my husband will be heading to Japan for a three week business trip. I am both excited for him and anxious since we have never been apart more than three days since we were married eleven years ago. And if truth be told, I might even be a little bit envious since I am the lover of travel and he is the homebody.

But as I look forward to each new adventure that we will face in this 2015, I also wish to fondly look back one last time and list my top five reads of 2014 in no particular order.

Ruth And The Green Book

 

 

Ruth And The Green Book, by Calvin Alexander Ramsey, is the story of a young girl named Ruth who is traveling with her parents from Chicago to Rural Alabama in the 1950's to visit her grandmother. Many times they stop for gas, food, or an overnight stay and are turned away because they are negroes. Finally they stop at a gas station where the kindly attendant sells them a Green Book. The Green Book shows them friendly gas stations, hotels, and restaurants that serve traveling persons of color.

Although fictional, this story is based on the actual Green Books created for African American travelers by a New York postal worker by the name of Wendell P. Alston.

Henry and the Incredibly incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human

 

 

 

Once I started this book, I could hardly put it down. The story takes us to a world where robots are the predominate life force and humans are created to do the menial tasks robots do not want to perform. Robots have to be careful though, because sometimes the drooling zombie like humans go beserko. This is Henry's greatest fear until he gets to know his human and finds, much to his surprise, that he is quite intelligent.

The adventure that they embark on when they run away together is fraught full of the kind of danger that keeps you on the edge of your seat while reading, and the secrets they discover will amaze even the most skeptical of readers. Miss Messina has created a wonderful piece of fiction that is sure to keep both boys and girls between the ages of nine and thirteen intrigued from beginning to end.

 

Apples to Oregon: Being The (Slightly) True Narrative Of How A Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes, And Cherries (And Children) Across The Plains

 

 

Apples to Oregon is a terribly funny story of the pioneers traveling there and the cargo they brought. Even the title is funny claiming to be slightly true. So if you want a bit of history told in a fun manner, you really need to check out this realistic fictional piece!

 

 

The Paint Box

 

 

 

The Paint Box is a beautifully told story of a young Venetian girl in the late 1500's who had to dress like a boy in order to accompany her artist father around Venice to galleries and workshops. Although this story is fictional, the main character, Marietta, really existed and was a fine painter.

 

A Place Where Sunflowers Grow

 

 

 

This is a beautiful book by Amy Lee-Tai. It is the story of a Japanese family of artists who were taken from their happy California home and were forced to spend three years in an Internment camp in the Utah desert.

Based on actual events that Miss Lee-Tai's Grandmother experienced, this story is a beautiful testament of human courage and hope. The illustrations by Felicia Hoshino add dimension to this tale, but most interesting of all is the fact that it is written in both English and Japanese.

If you want children to have a real interest in history, a real interest in the plight of others, a real interest in what it would be like to be unfairly taken from everything you've ever known, then this book is a must add to your reading list.

 

It seems that my favorite reads of 2014 were mostly realistic fiction, but who knows what 2015 will hold as we take the journey.

 

 

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, the sequel, Return To Fern Valley, and the soon to be released Cooking In Fern Valley (fall 2015)! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vacation and a Book!

This past weekend was our family's annual vacation. Every year over the week of the fourth my  mom, sister, brother, sister-in-law, nephews, niece, hubby, Emily and I all pack up to spend three nights and four days at the local KOA campground. The weekend was chock full of bouncing, wet hayrides, bubbles, and wildlife, but I still managed to get some reading in.

 

 

About a month ago, I won a middle grade novel which I just hadn't had the time to read until now. But once I started, I could hardly put it down. What was I reading? Henry & The Incredibly Incorrigible, inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human by Lynn Messina. The story takes us to a world where robots are the predominate life force and humans are created to do the menial tasks robots do not want to perform. Robots have to be careful though, because sometimes the drooling zombie like humans go beserko. This is Henry's greatest fear until he gets to know his human and finds, much to his surprise, that he is quite intelligent.

 

The adventure that they embark on when they run away together is fraught full of  the kind of danger that keeps you on the edge of your seat while reading, and the secrets they discover will amaze even the most skeptical of readers. Miss Messina has created a wonderful piece of fiction that is sure to keep both boys and girls between the ages of nine and thirteen intrigued from beginning to end.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, and my soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming summer of 2014! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.