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.

The Hudson Children's Book Festival

I love to travel. I love to catch up with friends. I love to make new friends. I love books. So just imagine how much I love participating in the Hudson Children's Book Festival which occurred this past weekend!
This festival takes place each year in lovely Hudson, New York which is on the banks of the Hudson River and is quite a ways from my Shelby, Ohio home. So I set out on Thursday morning and drove many hours until I reached the home of my friends Barbara and Victor Mojica. They invited me to stay at the guest cottage behind their home and a lake view was included. Two more gracious hosts you will never find.

Victor is the creator of the CrossBones Comics and Eugenics as well as the illustrator of Barbara's Little Miss History Books. They both love, love, love history, which is evident in the fine books they produce. And if you happen to be visiting the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, be sure to check the gift shops for their books.

 

Victor and Barbara weren't the only authors and illustrators I was already acquainted with. I also had a blast with David Biedrzycki and his new selfie stick. David is the author and illustrator of several books including the Breaking News Series.

David and Me

There was also the Fabulous Susan Hood whose latest book released just days before the festival and David A. Kelly who writes the Ballpark Mysteries for all you baseball lovers. I particularly like book #6 The Wrigley Riddle because it reminds me of when my dad and I used to watch the Chicago Cubs together when I was a kid.

Beth Ferry, Me, and Susan Hood

There was Diane DeGroat a superb illustrator/author of the Gilbert books as well as illustrator of Ree Drummund's, Charlie books, the husband and wife team of Wendell and Florence Minor, and the creator of the Monster Needs series, Paul Czajak.

David and Diane DeGroat

David with Florence and Wendell Minor

David and Paul

 
I also met brand new author Katherine Gardner who is a pre-k teacher as well. She is just as cute as can be and the type of teacher every pre-ker dreams of. I met Beth Ferry, the author I mentioned last week, Daniel Mahoney, author of Monstergarten, and one of my table mates, Bianca Rell, who turned out to be with my very own publisher Tate.

Katherine Gardner and Me

Daniel Mahoney and me

Bianca Rell and Me

And did I mention I met Kwame Alexander, author of many books, including my favorite, Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band. For kids interested in the history of Jazz, this book is a must. It turns out, that Kwane is as sweet as he is tall and handsome!

Kwame Alexander and Me

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 and join the Literacy Musings Monday Blog Hop where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website, Fun With Aileen, where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own early grade Fern Valley chapter book series and my Quack and Daisy picture book series. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

Autumn's Arrival

Autumn has officially arrived and with it fall festivals. This weekend we attended the Heritage Festival at Malabar Farms State Park. We saw a broom maker...

A blacksmith who let Emily blow the bellows.

 

 

Civil War Soldiers firing the cannons.

 

A log cabin and the Big House where Charles Bromfield lived.

 

 

 

And a bit of movie history.

 

 

 

We even took a horse-drawn wagon ride.

 

 

And all of this fun autumn entertainment made me want o read an autumn book. The book I chose was a super beginning science book called The Autumn Leaf. It is the story of a big oak tree who has arrived at the season of change and is loosing her leaves until only one leaf is left. Try as hard as she could, she just could not get that one last leaf to drop. The last leaf was scared to drop. That is until some friendly children came up with a plan to help the little leaf overcome his fear and drop gently to the ground.

 

 

I also read a fun book called Acoustic Rooster which is the story of a musical chicken who starts his own jazz band in order to enter the farmers talent contest. He's the rockinest chicken around and even though he doesn't win first place, he has a great time. There are lots of references to past musical legends and in the back of the book there is a great glossary of musical terms, a page of the musical legends mentioned, and a musical timeline.

 

 

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, the soon to be released Cooking In Fern Valley (fall 2015)and my very first picture book, Quack and Daisy! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.