March Issue
Happy spring! Our March line-up includes interviews with John Schu, Zandile Ndhlovu, T.L. McBeth, Laura Wifler, Alison Pearce Stevens, Cori Doerrfeld, and Sharon Giltrow!
Conrad Storad is playing possum, Judy Newman is looking for the perfect gift, and Nick Spake reviews Kung Fu Panda 4!
Check out our newest book reviews and spring reading list! It's all inside!
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FEATURES
One to Read:
John Schu
by Raven Howell
When I prod esteemed story ambassador, John Schu, to describe himself in succinct terms, the first words that immediately come to his mind are “reader, teacher, and theater lover.” Then, switching to adjectives and in a more confiding note, “I’d go with open-hearted, joyful, and determined.”
John is a dynamic and beloved children’s author who makes his career out of passionate advocating for children, books, and connecting readers with authors and illustrators. He’s a Library Journal Mover and Shaker, has served as the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Book Fairs, and is the children’s librarian for Bookelicious. He’s a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and incitingly shares his love of literature with educators and students around the world.
“Connecting through story is my favorite thing to do. It’s my purpose. It’s my mission. It’s what brings me genuine joy,” he says.
John’s books are abundant in uplifting messages and positive themes for our children’s communities. This is a School, his debut picture book with Candlewick Press, is a happy celebration of the hopes and healing, the work and play, and the people found in our schools.
One to Read:
Zandile Ndhlovu
by Raven Howell
Zandile Ndhlovu is a passionate advocate and leading spokesperson for ocean health and conservation. She’s also the first black female freediving instructor from South Africa on a mission to connect children—especially those of color—to the sea. This message of hope and healing is evidenced in her new semi-autobiographical picture book, Zandi’s Song.
Years back, Zandile had a debilitating fear of swimming in the ocean until she tried snorkeling. That’s when she fell in love with the underwater world. “Snorkeling is such a powerful way to access the water. It requires no deep investment like scuba diving or freediving, but it allows you to see beneath the surface of these waters … it brings us closer to understanding how dynamic the ocean is, and most importantly, life. Snorkeling is often accessible from the shore which again minimizes the resources required to access that beautiful world to explore. It really is one of my most favorite ways to introduce people who have never seen beneath the surface before, or to anyone who is afraid of the water … it’s such a powerful way to encounter the sea.”
Zandile’s childhood was spent in Soweto, Johannesburg. “My dad and I used to play all kinds of games over the weekend and being Daddy’s little girl meant we were always on the same team,” she recalls. “On Sundays my dad would play old school music—like Tracy Chapman and Sade—which meant daddy-daughter dances all while getting ready for church. Separately from this was the way we used to play outside, in the street. We played a game called umgusha, which was to see how high you can jump over the rope; and iy’ngedo, a game about navigating these little stones in and out of this drawn circle.”
“But every single year all the kids looked forward to Spring Day, the first day of September, where we would all wear our swimming costumes and grab buckets filled with water and spray each other under the sun. All you could hear were giggles and splashes … we didn’t have a pool, but we had those little buckets, the streets were safe, and this joy would last us from one year to the next … absolute favorites!”
T.L. McBeth
Introduces Readers to the REAL Easter Bunny … Maybe
Everyone, look! It’s the Easter Bunny! ... Isn’t it?
T.L. McBeth has written a hilariously clever picture book about a regular ol’ bunny who, despite all the evidence to the contrary, says he is definitely NOT the Easter Bunny. But he’s got a vest and a bow tie, and a big basket full of painted eggs and candy! He MUST be the Easter Bunny! Right? We had to talk to T.L. to get to the bottom of this basket.
Tell us a bit about your background/life growing up in Ohio.
I was born and raised in Findlay, Ohio. Growing up in the Midwest was fun; we lived close to most of my family, and I was given the room to be a creative kid. I was always trying to make something, cooking up an idea for some project. One day I would be making animations on the computer, then trying to make my own video games in Adobe Flash, or painting little robots on cardboard to leave around town. I was lucky that my parents were always extremely supportive of my artistic endeavors.
Tell us about your career and where you’ve worked before you became an author/illustrator. What inspired those career choices?
In high school, I fell in love with contemporary art. So right after college, I moved to New York to become an artist. I had no money, so I slept on an air mattress in a friend’s basement and took any odd jobs I could get. I worked as a studio assistant for a few different painters. I would help them paint their paintings, stretch canvas, organize their schedules, and do anything else they needed to keep the art studio running.
I was an assistant for a photographer; I would walk her dog and stand in for models while they set up lights. I also worked as an extra on a few TV shows and movies. It paid very little, and the hours were irregular, but I was just happy to be there. I was living my dream—I was in New York, I was working in the art world, and I was somehow staying afloat. I thought I might become a fine artist and painter, but I always felt like I had stories to tell, as corny as that sounds. While I was doing all my odd art jobs, I was still working on children’s books at night, writing and illustrating during any spare time I had. Over a year or two, I started sending my work out to agents and publishers to see if I could get any interest, but it was mostly polite rejections. Eventually, the art job opportunities started to dry up. I actually took an interview for a “real adult job” at an advertising firm, but in a stroke of pure luck, an agent who I had emailed got back with me, and I started my writing and illustration journey!
Laura Wifler
Invites Readers to a World of Wonder
by Raven Howell
Wintertime whirls in the neighborhood when author, podcaster, and Risen Motherhood’s Executive Director, Laura Wifler, props her feet up on the hearth. There’s a fire blazing nearby and she says, “My husband is from Minnesota, so that means this Iowa family has an ice rink in the backyard that has become the neighborhood hangout in the winter. We’re about to fill it and I can’t wait until it’s frozen over. It’s one of my favorite things to see kids out skating and then having them come in for hot cocoa.”
Laura’s welcoming personality invites a lot of creativity into her life. She’s a writer of books, articles, poetry, and resources with an emphasis on “the intersection of faith and life.” She’s authored several award-winning and bestselling books. Her newest, titled A World Wonder, helps parents and educators encourage children to both dream big, and to value beauty in the ordinary.
“It’s so fun to dream big. And you should! But we also want to be cautious not to wish away the life we’re living today. None of us know exactly what will matter most at the end of your days—it could be the accomplishments that litter your resume, but it also could be the kind word you shared with a friend in need. The hug you offered to a hurting family member. The time you took a whole afternoon to play with someone younger than you, even if it wasn’t exactly what you wanted to do. More than likely, each of us won’t realize every one of our dreams, but we can all consider what makes a life well-lived and learn to appreciate the beauty right in front of us.”
There are times when an author may find an idea for a book comes with swift inspiration. Other times, a thought may mill about for several months or longer. Uniquely, the storyline for A World Wonder dawdled with Laura for ... well, “for my entire life!” she exclaims. “A World Wonder is an autobiography of sorts, as I’ve always been a dreamer and someone who loves to pursue them. While it was tough to get the story just right, the general idea had been percolating for a long time.”
Alison Pearce Stevens
Inspires a New Generation of Changemakers
by Raven Howell
Growing up near the Rockies with incredible nature views and armed with curiosity of the ways science helps explain how the world works, Alison Pearce Stevens became a zoologist. She has degrees in Biology, Zoology, and a Ph.D. in Ecology, evolution, and animal behavior.
She knows too many interesting things about nature and science to not share them with children. A certified Climate Master, she writes science articles for kids and has co-authored four National Geographic books, including Weird But True and 5,000 Awesome Facts. She wrote the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard book, Rhinos in Nebraska: The Amazing Discovery of the Ashfall Fossil Beds and is now sharing Animal Climate Heroes.
“I’m hoping my new book brings two things: One, our natural systems are really hurting, and they need our protection just as much as we need to stop climate change. In fact, the two are intricately linked, and if we help these ecosystems flourish, they can help us address climate change. Two, every single one of us has the power to bring about change though small, everyday actions in our lives.”
Animal Climate Heroes is coming at a perfect time for those concerned about climate change and looking for clarity. “Some books are circuitous, but this one was pretty straightforward,” says Alison, explaining how the project came together. “The idea came from hearing that sea otters help fight climate change and reading an article that said the same of whales. I thought animals would be a great angle for a book that not only looks at climate, which we hear a lot about, but also nature, which gets less attention but is very much in peril.”
Q&A with
Cori Doerrfeld
by Julianne Black DiBlasi
If a bird gave you advice about flying, you’d probably take it. Birds kind of have that cornered, right? So say—hypothetically—you were making a paper airplane and every time you went to launch your creation, a bird stopped by to tell you why it wouldn’t fly.
Hmmm. Regardless of how you felt about what you had made, you might be quick to put their advice ahead of your own intuition and excitement. And maybe after a while, if you kept getting unsolicited advice, you might feel pretty down. Maybe dejected. Frustrated. And then, ultimately, uninspired to continue trying. Your ideas just obviously aren’t good enough.
As parents, teachers, and caregivers, we are so quick to offer “help.” After all, we are grown-ups! We should know everything, and if we don’t, we still come across like we do. Ready to Soar is about exactly this. For children, the point is made that their ideas are great no matter what anyone says! And for adults … maybe we should practice keeping our “SQUAAWK!” to ourselves a bit more often?
Cori Doerrfeld takes her adorable main character Riley (nongender assigned! Woohoo!) through a beautiful, creative adventure navigating the slurps, chirps, and tweets of our outside critics in her newly released picture book: Ready to Soar!
Q: Can you tell our Story Monsters how Ready to Soar came about? Was there a specific instance or inspirational moment that kind of drove you to focus on the concept?
A: For most of my life, I struggled with feeling comfortable in my body or confident in what I could do physically. I failed gym more than once, was always the last to finish the mile run, and still can’t do a cartwheel. But—it was never for lack of trying. It always seemed like anyone who was supposed to guide me criticized me instead. But about five years ago, I met a group of women through my local gym who changed all of that. What started out as a class I took a couple times a week turned into a full-on support team that literally became a lifeline through the pandemic. For the first time ever, I felt included and cheered on every time we met to exercise. So much so, that I did the impossible and went through training to become a Pound Fitness instructor myself. I wanted to write a book that captured how important it is to cheer for others when they are brave enough to try something new. I feel that all kids have so much potential and courage until someone chooses to tell them otherwise. If you truly want to help someone succeed, lift them up, don’t bring them down.
Q: Riley is adorable, and I love that the character is created without a specific gender associated. At what point in the creative process was that decision made?
A: Making my characters gender-neutral is simply something I’ve been drawn to for a long time. I think leaving it open gives readers a better opportunity to seem themselves in the story. It also helps tear down gender stereotypes or that your gender matters at all when it comes to what you are capable of or deserving of love and support. So, Riley was simply Riley from the very beginning.
The Book Bug
Sharon Giltrow
Introduces Readers to Samara Rubin
by Raven Howell
“Quite a lot of my real-life made up the story,” says author Sharon Giltrow from her home in Perth, Australia. Sharon, an award-winning writer of several children’s books, is sharing the inspiration behind Bedtime, Daddy!, the first of three humorous role-reversal picture books she’s published. “In fact, the idea for the story came one night when my son refused to go to bed. His dad said, “Alright then, I will go to bed instead,” and he jumped into bed. Also, some of the delaying tactics in the book, such as one more story and endless questions came from my own children.”
Sharon is a teacher for young students with developmental language disorders, and dedicated to writing quality literature for kids. Her EK Books’ 2020 release, Bedtime, Daddy!, is full of heart and humor in a cute storyline portraying the role reversal of a little bear and his dad. “I always pictured the story as having humans. However, the publisher asked the super-talented illustrator Katrin Dreiling to do initial sketches for humans and bears. Once we saw the cute bears, we all decided they were the way to go.”
As soon as Sharon secured the book deal, it was full steam ahead. She says, “There were very little manuscript edits once I signed the contract. Mostly it was adding or deleting a word here and there. However, it then took nearly two years from signing the contract to holding the book in my hands.”
The book is vibrant with Dreiling’s quirky, gorgeous illustrations. “I love all of Katrin’s illustrations. But if there was one I had to choose as a favorite, it would be the page where Daddy Bear and Child Bear are reading a book together, and I like the pictures of ducks with arms and sneezing sharks.”
MONTHLY COLUMNS
-
Monsters at the Movies
Kung Fu Panda 4
by Nick Spake -
Life of a Reader
Gift Giving
by Judy Newman -
Conrad‘s Classroom
Word Play: Do You Say Possum or Opossum?
by Conrad J. Storad -
Liv On Life
Do Dress Codes Affect Our Learning?
by Olivia Amiri -
Kids Corner
Bedtime Daddy
Word Scramble
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