CURRENT ISSUE
Butterflies Are Pretty ... Gross! by Rosemary Mosco illustrated by Jacob Souva
CURRENT ISSUE PREVIEW
JUNE 2022
Our June line-up includes interviews with Alysson Foti Bourque, Adam Lehrhaupt, Tae Keller, Peter Bakalian, Megan Bryant, Rose Brock, Rosemary Mosco, and E. Lockhart!
Taylor Moxey is closing an important chapter, Judy Newman gets the lead out, Linda Harkey has a tale-wagging writing assignment for little readers, Once Upon a Dance discusses the self-publishing market, Olivia Amiri talks about community issues, and Nick Spake reviews Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.
Check out our newest book reviews and summer reading list! It's all inside!
⇓ Scroll down to preview this issue.
Sponsored by Linda Harkey and Once Upon a Dance.
FEATURES
ALYSSON FOTI BOURQUE
Is the Smartest Author in the Universe
by Melissa Fales
Through her award-winning Alycat series, former teacher and attorney-turned children’s author Alysson Foti Bourque gently teaches her young readers valuable life lessons about ingenuity, self-confidence, and friendship. In her latest book, Alycat and the Cattywampus Wednesday, Bourque explains that everyone has a bad day once in a while, and that sometimes all we can do in response to a topsy-turvy day is to take things one step at a time. “The character Alycat represents all of us: the dreamers, the doers, and even the vulnerable,” says Bourque. “Everyone can relate to her at one point or another. She’s happy when she succeeds, sad when dessert runs out, and can feel left out or misguided at times. But all in all, she realizes that no matter the circumstances, she can fix any problem with her imagination, creativity, and the support of her friends and family.”
ADAM LEHRHAUPT
Writes a Book for Everyone to Read
by Melissa Fales
In his latest book, There Was a Hole, award-winning author Adam Lehrhaupt sets out to help children understand painful emotions and offer them tips on how to help manage their feelings when they’re hurting inside. The book follows a little girl named Lily who is struggling with a loss that prevents her from enjoying all the good things in life. “At its heart, There Was a Hole is a book about loss, grief, and depression,” says Lehrhaupt. “These emotions can be big, scary, uncontrollable, and even unwanted. That doesn’t mean the feelings don’t exist. And it definitely doesn’t mean you should ignore them.”
ONE TO READ:
TAE KELLER
by Melissa Fales
Jennifer Chan is the awkward, new girl in school in Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone, the latest middle-grade book by Newbery Award Winner Tae Keller. Jennifer is already having trouble fitting in, but once she professes her belief in aliens, she’s shunned by her classmates. Then, Jennifer goes missing. “Her friend-turned-bully, Mallory Moss, may be the only one who can find her,” says Keller, “but to find her, Mallory must make new friends, dig into alien research, and confront the hard truths about what she did—and the lasting consequences.”
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION ONLY $5
Get access to the latest author interviews, book news, and more!
Includes 12 new issues plus all of the past issues.
PETER BAKALIAN
Writes a Manual for Families Against Rotten Teens
by Melissa Fales
Peter Bakalian is an Emmy-winning, Writers Guild-nominated screen writer who began as an intern at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. He later joined the production team of ThunderCats at Rankin/Bass Productions and went on to write for Curious George, The King & I, Santa, Baby!, Big & Small, and Clifford’s Puppy Days. We just had to find out more about his first novel, F.A.R.T.: Top Secret! No Kids Allowed!
DON’T MISS AN ISSUE
MEGAN E. BRYANT
Introduces Readers to a Little Girl Grappling with Growing Up
by Melissa Fales
Author Megan E. Bryant was inspired to pen
her new series, Abby in Between, after the eye-opening discovery that, statistically, girls are now starting puberty at younger ages than ever before. The first book in the series, Ready or Not, introduces 9-year-old Abby who’s experiencing many changes in her life, not the least of which are changes with her body. Bryant says she wrote Ready or Not because there are a lack of children’s books addressing this trend. “I realized that society hasn’t really caught up, and as a result we aren’t meeting the needs of girls who are going through puberty in elementary school,” says Bryant. “I wondered, Where’s the book for the girl who goes bra shopping in the morning and puts a tooth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy at night? And then I started to write it.”
ROSE BROCK
Creates an Inspiring Collection of Essays for Young Readers
by Melissa Fales
Dr. Rose Brock is a librarian and professor at Sam Houston State University who is passionate about turning kids into readers. She has created a collection of personal stories and essays from award-winning and bestselling artists, from Matt de la Peña and Veera Hiranandani to Max Brallier and R.L. Stine, that shows that hope can live everywhere, even—or especially—during the darkest of times.
Teaching Toolbox:
SUMMER READING!
by Melissa Fales
What comes to mind when you think about summer with your children? Swimming? Summer camp? Barbecues? Music in the park? All of those sweet summer experiences should be part of your family time, and this year, let’s add some fun literacy projects and book series exploration as well! Research consistently shows us that children regress one to two reading levels every summer because of lack of daily reading experiences.
COLUMNS
-
Life of a Reader
JUNE
by Judy Newman -
Q&A
ROSEMARY MOSCO
by Julianne Black DiBlasi -
The Book Bug
E. LOCKHART’S HAPPY DANCE
by Raven Howell -
Monsters at the Movies
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
by Nick Spake -
Taylor Talk
The Home Stretch
by Taylor Moxey -
Doc's Dog Days
MONTHLY COLUMN
by Linda Harkey -
Liv On Life
BRING ATTENTION TO A LOCAL ISSUE!
by Olivia Amiri -
Dancing on the Page
TOTAL ADDRESSABLE MARKET
by Once Upon a Dance
“With each month I'm more impressed with the content of this magazine. It always has something of interest for educators, for parents, and for children in each issue. I find that it does a great job of balancing inspirational messaging with useful information. Great subscription.”
— Review by Amazon Customer, 5 out of 5 stars, “Great subscription”