
Excited about spring? Well hold on to your crocuses, people. It's about to get better!
The most exciting day of the year is just around the corner, on April 25th!
No, not Easter.
Some people call it World Penguin Day. Same thing.
To be quickly followed by two other great holidays: Mother's Day (hint, hint) and Children's Book Week!
To celebrate, I'm going to give so much stuff away on Twitter | Facebook, it's crazy. Literally crazy, you can't run a career this way, it's not feasible.
But don't feel guilty -- get in on it! All you have to do is follow/like me on social media. Just if you're into fun stuff. Up to you!
xo Melissa
I'd like you to meet my colleague Pricilla, who has been heavily involved in the launch of BABY PENGUINS LOVE THEIR MAMA!
Kids! I'm blog touring for the next two weeks! What's blog touring? I lay in bed eating popcorn and drawing hedgehogs, while you lay in bed eating popcorn and visiting sites to learn about my work and maybe even get free stuff. It's a win-win! Here's the schedule:
Monday, Jan 13: Susan Heim on Parenting
Tuesday, Jan 14: The Children's Book Review
Wednesday, Jan 15: Once Upon a Story
Thursday, Jan 16: Kidlit Frenzy
Friday, Jan 17: Momma Drama
Saturday, Jan 18: Booking Mama
Monday, Jan 20: 5 Minutes for Books
Tuesday, Jan 21: Just A Little Creativity
Wednesday, Jan 22: Satisfaction For Insatiable Readers
Thursday, Jan 23: Geo Librarian
Friday, Jan 24: As They Grow Up
Saturday, Jan 25: Obsessive Mommy
I recently visited two great blogs that aren't on the official tour -- check those out, too! The Little Crooked Cottage (where Mama Penguin speaks publicly about her experience for the first time) and Annie's Doodlebugz!
People, BABY PENGUINS LOVE THEIR MAMA has arrived! Please consider getting a copy, because we have...a lot of them.
And The Penguion is going on tour. If I'm in your area, won't you come down? I promise big fun!!
Jan 5 | WORD Brooklyn |
Jan 11 | Greenlight Brooklyn |
Jan 12 | powerHouse on 8th Brooklyn |
Books Of Wonder NYC | |
Jan 18 | The Red Balloon Baltimore, MD |
Jan 25 | The Blue Bunny Dedham, MA |
Feb 1 | [words] Maplewood, NJ |
Town Book Store Westfield, NJ | |
Feb 8 | Boulevard Books & Cafe Brooklyn |
Feb 13 | Clinton Book Shop Clinton, NJ |
Feb 22 | The Children's Bookstore Baltimore, MD |
Feb 28 | Hooray For Books Alexandria, VA |
Mar 1 | Winchester Book Gallery Winchester, VA |
Mar 8 | Bernards Township Library Basking Ridge, NJ |
Mar 15-29 | California! TBD |
Apr 26 | Farley's Bookshop New Hope, PA |
May 8 | RJ Julia Booksellers Madison, CT |
I'm always adding to the calendar, so check back if your area isn't listed. You can even propose an event on Togather!
If you're still reading, maybe you want to check out my first-ever podcast interview with lovely Matthew Winner, too. Someone actually talked to me for an hour.
Wishing you a very happy 2014!
x, Melissa
Nelson Mandela and I shared a birthday, so I always felt a special, superstitious connection to him. (I also share a birthday with Vin Diesel but I have no superstition about that.)
While I hold Mandela in my heart, and am sad about his death yesterday, I don't want to let today go by without observing that it was exactly one year ago that BABY PENGUINS EVERYWHERE! came out, and I became a published author/illustrator. Such an incredible year!
So with respect to my birthday brother: Happy Author-versary to me. And to celebrate, here's a video from the painting of my new book. Share it with the little artists in your life!
x, M.
This Saturday afternoon, I'll be talking about making picture books at the incomparable Books of Wonder. An SCBWI-sponsored event.
I won't bring candy. Don't you bring any, either! Blech.
4-6pm, 18 West 18th Street, NYC
I'm happy to debut a new blog feature today: guest posts by real, live kids! I've wanted to do this for a long time and I'm super excited. Let's get to it!
Meet Ava. Ava with an A as in awesome. We met at the library after Ava posted my favorite review of BABY PENGUINS EVERYWHERE! ever on her blog. She included a photo of the book on a white carpet next to a penguin stuffy. Did any other reviewers think of doing that? Nope.
Hi Ava, and thanks for doing this. How old are you?
I am ten years old and I am in fifth grade.
What's your favorite picture book? You don't have to say mine.
DOG LOVES DRAWING by Louise Yates. My mom checked the book out from the library for my brother but thought I would like it and I did.
The reason I like this book is because I love to draw. In the story, the dog draws an owl. I love owls.
That's a great owl! Do you have a favorite author? You still don't have to say me.
I don’t have a favorite but I really liked reading THE SECRET ZOO by Bryan Chick. I can’t wait to read the next books in the series. Right now I am reading WHAT WE FOUND IN THE SOFA AND HOW IT SAVED THE WORLD by Henry Clark.
How long have you had your own blog, and why did you decide to start?
I started Reading Rascals Review in September of 2012. When I was in second grade, my mom started a book club for me and a few of my friends. When we were going into 4th grade, I started blogging to keep track of the books we were reading and what we thought about them. I named the blog after our club, The Reading Rascals.
Is there something else you'd like to share about yourself or your family?
I have a sister named Eliana, a brother named Aaron, a mom named Kimberly, and a dad named Carl, and me, Ava.
I have always loved art class. I do lots of arts and crafts in my basement craft room with my family. I also do sports such as Lacrosse and Swimming.
I love swimming, it's my favorite thing about summer. Did you do anything special this summer?
This summer I went on an RV trip to Williamsburg Virginia, Virginia Beach, and Jamestown. While we were there we went to Busch Gardens, an amusement park and water park.
When we go on vacations we like to stop and eat at restaurants that have been on the show "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." Most of the food is very tasty. I really like it.
There you have it, folks: the next generation of reading, blogging, RV-ing rascals. Thanks for visiting me today, Ava! I really like you.
Penguin lovers, join me tomorrow at the Warwick Children's Book Festival!
It's a wonderful day with over 50 authors & illustrators signing their books and meeting their wee fans.
If you need further inducement, I'm raffling off an original drawing for BABY PENGUINS EVERYWHERE. To enter, stop by my table and draw me a penguin. All drawings will go into the magic hat and a lucky winner will be chosen at random at the end of the day!
Hours and directions to the festival here.
CALLING ALL READERS! Baby Penguins Everywhere has joined the awesome literacy program We Give Books.
How it works: Every time your child/grandkid/student/Uncle Bob reads a book in We Give Books' online collection, We Give Books gives a book to a child in need.
You can even get your community or school involved here. Read! And spread the word!