How do you make friends if you’re a shy introvert?  It’s not that you don’t want friends, it’s that you’re never quite sure how to proceed.

The charming Edmond: The Moonlit Party by Astrid Desbordes and illustrated  by Marc Boutavant (Enchanted Lion Books) tells the tale of how Edmond, a lonely squirrel and pompom hat maker, learns how to make friends.

 

Edmond lives in a tree with George, the owl, who loves to dress up in costumes.

Harry the bear also lives in the tree and he loves to throw parties.  Harry’s parties are THE best in the neighborhood.  Edmond wasn’t invited, and didn’t know what to do, so he makes his famous nut jam.

The aroma attracts the more social George who urges Edmond to go to the party with him.

What I loved most about this book is how it offers a whimsical look at how to live in community, how to create a neighborhood.  All the characters are eccentric in their individual ways, but they accept and celebrate their differences.  The tree is like an apartment building, so even though it’s set in the forest, it has the feel of an urban neighborhood.  It manages to give an organic feel to city living.

I live in the community Bridge Meadows, an intergenerational community that supports families adopting children out of the foster care system.  People here are creative and compassionate, but we all have our own way of being.  This book is as relevant to the adults here as it is to the children.  George reached out to Edmond.  It just takes one person reaching out to another to make life more interesting for everyone.

In a world that’s increasingly impersonal, this story provides a delightful look at how to make friends and inspire conversations.

When I read it to a child, we spend time talking about how each character differs from the other, how each one seems to have a unique way of living.  They are vivid and detailed.  Marc Boutavant uses bright colors and playful drawings to bring an odd assortment of neighbors together in harmony.

Astrid Desbordes received her degree in Philosophy, which is not surprising, since her characters tend to have a philosophical points of view.  She became a book editor in both the humanities and children’s literature.  She’s published work for both adults and children.  One of her most notable other children’s book, Daydreams of a Solitary Hamster was also published by Enchanted Lion Books.

Marc Boutavant is an award-winning author and illustrator. He’s drawn picture books, comics, and editorial illustration.

Enchanted Lion Books is a stellar publisher of children’s books. You can keep up with them through their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=enchanted%20lion%20books 

Hope you get to reach out to someone different today — or you have someone reach out to you.

Thanks for reading my blog!

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This Blog is a Children’s Book Week Champion.  Children’s Book Week is May 2 – 8, 2016.

Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes — wherever young readers and books connect!

Voting opened March 8 at ccbookawards.com for the ninth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens. Last year over 1.3 million votes were cast.  Let’s see if we can surpass that number in 2016.

 

Children’s Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. The Children’s Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children’s book publishers, is an anchor sponsor.

You can get free downloads of both the poster and the new bookmark on their website:

http://www.bookweekonline.com/ 

Ella Bailey has started a charming series of picture books on the different habitats on our planet.  The first, One Day On Our Blue Planet: In the Savannah, follows an energetic lion cub from dusk to dawn.

This is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces children to a whole host of animals, and it does so in a way that even very young children can understand.

 

A day is a length of time that children understand.  The book underscores all that can happen in that brief period of time that for children isn’t brief at all.  It gives them a window on a different environment and how animals spend their days.

For the very young it’s got a delightful narrative.

For the older reader, there’s a lot of information on how animals share their environment.  Bailey shows how lions hunt but spares us the grisly details you’d find in a nature documentary.  The little cub is still living on mother’s milk.  And when the pride isn’t hunting, it co-exists with the other animals that share the savannah.

 

I love books that spark conversation and the hunting scene always does that.  Children identify both with the hunter and hunted.  This book gives them a chance to think and talk about the cycle of life.

The second book in the series was just released.  One Day On Our Blue Planet:  In the Antarctic follows a little penguin through her day on an ice shelf.  We find out what she and her family eat, and what they do for fun.

I love the endpapers of each book.  They show all the animals of each environment.  You get an idea of how big and diverse the world is.  You see that many animals share each environment.  In the coldest and warmest worlds there is a way for animals to co-exist.

Maybe one day humans will learn how to do that, too.

Ella Bailey is also the author of No Such Thing, and At the Animal Ball.  You can find her website here.

The One Day On Our Blue Planet series is published by the innovative press Flying Eye Books.  You can find a wonderful interview with Ella Bailey here.

Hope your day on this blue planet is full of color and adventure.

Thanks for reading my blog.

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This Blog is a Children’s Book Week Champion.  Children’s Book Week is May 2 – 8, 2016.

Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes — wherever young readers and books connect!

Voting opens March 8 at ccbookawards.com for the ninth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens. You can read all about the amazing 2016 finalists here. Last year over 1.3 million votes were cast.  Let’s see if we can surpass that number in 2016.

Children’s Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. The Children’s Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children’s book publishers, is an anchor sponsor. Find out more about it here:

http://www.bookweekonline.com/

 

 

 

Great news from the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader.    The 2016 Children’s Book Week poster has been released and you can get a free copy!  You’ll also get lesson plans.  Children’s Book Week is May 2-8, but encouraging reading is a year round activity.   I’ll be participating in the event and featuring books from the 9th annual Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where winning titles are selected by children and teens.  I copied this from the Children’s Book Week website, but you can link to the original site if you’d like.  

2016 Children’s Book Week Poster!

Presenting the 2016 Children’s Book Week poster by Brian Won, commemorating the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country!

Brian Won is an author, illustrator, former animation artist, and 2015 Children’s Choice Illustrator of the Year Award-finalist for his debut picture book Hooray for Hat! The book stars Elephant and his animal friends, who you’ll also find on this year’s Book Week poster!

TO ORDER 2016 POSTERS BY BRIAN WON

Posters are available from the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader at no cost beyond shipping.

Please note that supplies are limited. This page will be updated as posters run out.

To receive a free poster(s) with activity guide, please send a 9 x 12 self-addressed envelope (for 1 or 10 posters) or a 10 x 13 self-addressed envelope (for 25 posters) with appropriate postage affixed.

Please include a note stating how many posters you are requesting.

Note that Postal regulations have changed. Please use the USPS Postage Price Calculator to determine postage cost, or ask for help at your local post office.

Weight of posters and an envelope:
1 poster and envelope: 1.2oz.
10 posters and envelope: 14oz.
25 posters and envelope: 2lb 6oz.

Mail envelopes with postage affixed to:
Children’s Book Council
ATTN: 2015 Poster Order
54 West 39th Street, 14th floor
New York, NY 10018

Please note: There is a 25 poster maximum per person.

Due to the volume of poster requests, we cannot process any poster orders that do not include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.