I have been working on booking storytimes and getting a fantastic program together to make these storytimes fun and engaging for young readers and their families. If you are in the Oklahoma region, I’d love to see you at one of my events.
March 8 @ Book and Bloom (Storytime and Signing)
10:30 AM
115 E Dallas St.
Broken Arrow, OK 74012
March 14 @ Building All Children (Preschool Playgroup and Storytime) – Registration Required
10:00 AM
6910 S 101st East Avenue
Suite 110
Tulsa, OK 74133
March 15 @ Enchanted Children’s Bookstore (Storytime and Signing)
10:30 AM
1023 W Main St
Collinsville, OK 74021
April 5 @ Knight’s Nook (Storytime and Signing)
10:30 AM
401 W Main St.
Yukon, OK 73099
Author/Illustrator Updates
In other updates, I am working on my first round of sketches for a new picture book. I don’t want to share too much yet, since it is early and the images might change a lot… but here’s a sneak peek at my next main character: Skylar. She’s spunky and SUPER, and suddenly… invisible after her new baby brother arrives home. I can’t wait for you to meet her!
Storytime Sparks:
There are some fun literary holidays coming in March:
March 2: Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’s Birthday
March 22: National Poetry Day
I challenge you to pick up a Dr. Seuss book and a poetry book on your next trip to the library and read those this month! If you click on those links, you’ll see some of my favorites!
Book Reviews:
Adult/Young Adult:
The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler
by John Hendricks
The Faithful Spy is the dramatic true story of German pastor and Nazi resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer come to life in this award-winning graphic novel from John Hendrix.
Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party is gaining strength and becoming more menacing every day. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor upset by the complacency of the German church toward the suffering around it, forms a breakaway church to speak out against the established political and religious authorities. When the Nazis outlaw the church, he escapes as a fugitive. Struggling to reconcile his faith and the teachings of the Bible with the Nazi Party’s evil agenda, Bonhoeffer decides that Hitler must be stopped by any means possible!
My Take: I LOVE John Hendrix’s books for many reasons. He makes historical biographies gripping with his illustrations, tells a story clearly and in a moving way, he uses typography and images together in amazing ways, and also because he is a Christian and is not skirting his faith in his books. He tells stories of Christian heroes in a way that is wonderful to see in the culture of books today.
In reading this right after I read Corrie Ten Boom’s story of WWII, it was almost a counterpoint, in that while Corrie learned to trust God and obey even while being tortured in concentration camps, Bonhoeffer was wrestling with whether Christians had a duty to physically fight back against evil in the form of Adolf Hitler. I enjoyed thinking about these issues and also would like to learn more about Bonhoeffer and read some of his own writings.
Middle Grade:
Find Her
by Ginger Reno
Five years, three months, and twelve days.
That’s how long Wren’s mother has been missing.
In dreams, Wren can see her again: her eyes, her hair, her smile. She can even hear her laugh. Her mother, one of hundreds of Native Americans considered missing or murdered in Oklahoma. Sometimes it seems like Wren and her grandmother are the only people still looking. Even more frustrating, Wren’s overprotective father won’t talk about it.
Wren refuses to give up, though. And an opportunity to find lost pets seems like a real way to hone her detective skills. But everything changes when one of the missing pets is found badly hurt. Soon, there are others.
With help from an unlikely friend, Wren vows to unmask whoever is behind the animal abuse. If she can do this, maybe she can do the same for her mother’s case. She’ll just have to keep it secret from her father who will certainly put an end to all her sleuthing if he finds out.
My Take: A great story about a young girl who struggles with the disappearance of her mother and how to continue on with her life even with the uncertainty. Finding another mystery to solve, a person is hurting animals, she learns to connect with others again and do something good even in the midst of her own pain.
This book does deal with missing persons, physical abuse, and animal abuse. Nothing overly graphic, but all sensitive topics that could be too much for some readers.
I especially love how Wren learns to handle her grief, and how she and her family keep their hearts open to loving others even when the unimaginable pain of having a missing family member could be overwhelming.
Children:
Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies
Featuring a wide range of beloved classics from William Shakespeare, Emily Dickenson, and Robert Frost to playful poems by Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein, this is the perfect collection for families to share throughout the years. Julie and Emma additionally contribute a number of their own poems and reveal the stories behind some of their family favorites. James McMullan’s stunning watercolor paintings bring each page to glorious life with his spectacular vision and artistic point of view.
My Take: Every night at reading time, my 11 year old has been reading one poem from this book. They are all lovely, some funny, most so classic that you might remember them from your own childhood. It has taken a few months, but she is now willing to tackle reading some of the longer ones and she is reading out loud much more clearly than she had been before we started this exercise. Before, she was reading as fast as she could, but as the months progressed, she is learning to read slower, clearer, and take a break between lines. She even has some favorite poems now!
This is a wonderful poetry collection, and a great one to start your children out with to learn about poetry and find a few favorites of their own!
Inspirational Thoughts:
Tick-tock tick-tock. The clock on the wall is moving with the steady pace of time as I write. It reminds me that I am fighting a war with time that we all lose in the end. Our lives whisper, or shout, or mumble along and eventually we are all silenced and return to dust. I used to write in the hope that my work might outlive me and I would be remembered after my life is over. I don’t believe I really will become the kind of writer that is long remembered and that’s okay. My focus now is to write for today. For the people I know and love. For the people in my community and neighborhood. For you.
When I write I am better able to tell the stories of my life that I want to tell others. Although I feel able to share face to face, I find I spend most of my time when I’m talking to others in listening. Asking questions about what they have done and where they are coming from. But when I write, that is when I share my stories. I hope they are helpful to you, and make your day a little bit brighter.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.
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