by: Sarah Momo Romero

Last year, three very adorable additions to my family were introduced to the world- my adorable little nephew and my best friend’s twins! I immediately grabbed the opportunity to start adding to their library, and these two books about our amazing planet Earth are a great introduction to the planet we live on for little ones who are just coming into it. This month, I want to share Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years and Here We Are, Notes for Living on Planet Earth, two different perspectives about Earth, with amazing illustrations and fun-facts about our favorite planet. ​

Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years by Earth and written by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by David Litchfield introduces us to Earth as a very spunky “Planet Awesome”. McAnulty creates such a distinctive voice for Earth, a planet who teaches us about her “siblings” and hanging out with her best friend, moon. Earth is a high-spirited character, sharing her baby photos and taking us through the jurassic times, and even a scary encounter with an asteroid!
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Do you have a favorite picture book about our planet Earth? I'd love to hear about it!

by Bryan Patrick Avery

I’ve been working the last few weeks on a magic effect which comes to a very unexpected conclusion. This got me thinking about a few books on my bookshelf which turn our expectations upside down. What’s great about this is the unexpected can engage us in ways that entertain, teach, and inspire. This month, let’s look at three such books.
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In most books, we see our protagonist overcome some obstacle or reach some goal. But what happens if they don’t? In Ashley Spires’ The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do, we meet a young girl who has never before climbed a tree. When her friends decide to climb to the top of a tree to play, Lou tries, through both bargaining and excuses, to avoid having to climb. Eventually, she realizes that she must try. 

This is where Spires’ story deviates from the usual story structure and ventures into the realm of the unexpected. Unlike most stories, where the protagonist tries, fails, and tries again until she eventually succeeds, Lou tries her best, but fails. The story ends without Lou succeeding in climbing the tree. It does end, however, with hope. In the books final illustration, we see Lou, on the next day or maybe event the day after that, still trying to climb the tree. It is an inspiration to anyone who has tried and failed. Like Lou, we only really fail when we stop trying.
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Another way to incorporate the unexpected into our stories is by telling the story of someone who overcomes incredible odds. Emmanuel’s Dream, written by Laurie Ann Thompson and illustrated by Sean Qualls, tells the story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah of Ghana, who overcame a physical disability and inspired millions. Born with only one strong leg, Emmanuel was considered by many to be cursed. Despite this, he worked hard to achieve his dreams. He would hop on one leg, four miles round-trip, to get to and from school. He even learned to ride a bike so he could ride with his friends.

When his mother passed away, Emmanuel had another dream: to show that his disability didn’t define what he was capable of. To do this, he decided to ride a bike around the country. His ten-day journey not only helped him spread his message, but turned him into a national hero. His tale, though unexpected, is incredibly inspiring.
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Lastly, let’s a look at a story where the bad guy does something truly unexpected: he tries to be good. This is what happens in The Bad Seed, written by Jory John and illustrated by Pete Oswald. How bad is this seed? He’s pretty bad. He lies, he cuts in line, he refuses to wash his hands. Most important, he’s okay with being bad. Until one day.

He decides he’s ready to be good. Now he holds door for others and he says please and thank you. Well, most of the time. Of course, he’s not good all the time, but he’s not so bad anymore. Jory John’s book sends an important message to readers. We can all change. It isn’t easy, but we can change. This is book that every kid (and adult) should read.
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Well, that’s all for this month. I’d love to hear about some of your favorite unexpected moments in kids’ books. Leave them in the comments below. As for the magic trick with the unexpected ending? Would you believe me if I said I could pull a rabbit out of a soup bowl?

​See you next time. 

​A book dedication often serves as a thank you to family and friends or anyone who helped the author along the way. In my chapter book, The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection: Return to Coney Island, I thank my grandparents, because “If they had not met on a trolley in Coney Island, I would not have written this book.” In ISH, Peter H. Reynolds dedicates to “my art teacher, who dared me to draw for myself and find my voice.” And Dashka Slater dedicates The Antlered Ship, “For my fellow voyagers....”

The dedication can offer a message of inspiration. In Vincent Can’t Sleep, author Barb Rosenstock dedicates her book “For those who know darkness and still look for light.” Drew Daywalt dedicates The Day the Crayons Came Home to his parents, “who taught me to always make room for everyone.” And Barbara DiLorenzo dedicates Renato and the Lion to her son, “who showed me that with a little bit of magic, stone lions come alive.”

And the dedication can highlight the theme or an element of the book. For example, my dedication reminded my children to “always make things happen.” This is one of my favorite sayings and also an important point in my story. My illustrator Callie Metler-Smith used her dedication to say to her children, “May you always find the magic in everything,” which alludes to the magic in the story and also in life. In Let Me Finish by Minh Le, illustrated by Isabel Roxas, the illustrator dedicates her work “For all the voracious readers of the world who believe that to love a book is to share it. And to those who love them anyway.” This clever dedication references the book’s plotline of characters sharing the ending of the book.

Finally, one other area that the dedication can venture into is the inside joke. In Dragons Love Tacos, Adam Rubin wrote “To my loving sister Bruce: smart, beautiful, and full of laughter. And in the sequel, Dragons Love Tacos 2, he wrote: “To my loving sister, Bryce. So sorry about the typo in the first book. Thanks for understanding. You’re the beast sister!”
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So, spend some time brainstorming and crafting your dedication. Go to libraries and bookstores to read dedications in several areas: by authors you admire, in new KidLit books, and in your writing genres. And when your book is published, make sure you give a signed copy to the person or people who meant enough to you to be included in your dedication. 

These are four of the best parody, read and sing-along books, I’ve come across from Australian authors and illustrators, in recent times. They are sure to raise laughs and inspire pre-schoolers / kindergarteners to interact with the reading process, promoting early literacy.​

The Croc and the Platypus by Jackie Hosking (author) and Marjorie Crosby-Fairall (illus.)
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This is a gorgeously illustrated tribute to the Australian outback, re-telling Edward Lear’s famous nonsense poem, The Owl and the Pussycat. Instead of a bird and a feline going to sea in a pea-green boat, the croc and the platypus, an equally unlikely pair, trundle off to the bush in a rusty old Holden ute. Though not uproariously funny, it’s a fun book to read with children. Its humour comes through clever rhyme (a great tool for encouraging literacy) and an unexpected turn of events on every page, just as with the original. Fortunately, Hosking gets the rhyming and meter right and re-enlivens a beloved tale which had become dated by its archaic language.  Anyone know what a runcible spoon is, for example? Having said thus, US readers may also challenge me after reading this book, asking for a translation on the Australian vernacular. I’ll start you off – ute means pick-up truck.