SEPTEMBER 2023
School’s In! Our September line-up includes interviews with Matthew McConaughey, J.R. Balthazar, Penelope Paine, Teju Prasad, Marlene Bell, Ruth Amanda, Mary Ann Tyson-Arceneaux, Kelly DiPucchio, and Jessica Whipple!
Conrad Storad tells us about butterflies, Once Upon a Dance gets us moving, Judy Newman talks about choosing the perfect books, and Nick Spake reviews You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah!
Check out our newest book reviews and fall reading list! It's all inside!
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FEATURES
Matthew McConaughey
Inspires Readers with a Collection of Possibilities
by Raven Howell
“If you read Greenlights, and you read Just Because, you might say this could be by the same author,” figures Matthew McConaughey. And there’s hardly a doubt. That’s because Matthew’s encouraging, impassioned words and heartfelt lyricism shine through as bright as the sun, whether that’s for adults or children.
Although I’m the one purported to kick-start our conversation about his new picture book, Just Because, Matthew is quick to ask me a question first. No sooner do I congratulate him on authoring a wonderful children’s book, that he inquires, “What did you like about it?” Phew! He asked me something easy. When I say it’s thoughtful and tenderly inspirational, he’s thankful and smiles warmly.
Recently, I’ve seen him on the interview circuit quite a lot, and think he may be fatigued, but Matthew appears as spirited, enthusiastic, and engaged as ever. He’s settling into his cozy library/office, and I note I’m not the only one with reading glasses on hand.
“Coming from being a parent, children have both tough and easy questions they ask. That being on my mind a lot, and also because of the reason I always wanted to be a good father, inspired the writing of the book. It actually came to me in a dream. It was like a Bob Dylan ditty that I woke up with at 2:30 in the morning. I had the meter, ‘Just because...’ I wrote down the couplets, and then kept adding a whole lot more.”
Just Because gives perspective to many of life’s contradictions that we may encounter using part wisdom and part wit. It’s an empowering, whimsical picture book of life lessons set to playful verse.
Not only is Matthew the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Greenlights, but most of us know him as an Academy Award-winning actor, starring in popular movies for several decades. In recent years, he has strongly advocated for children’s health, safety, and literacy, among other things. For instance, in 2008, Matthew and his wife started the Just Keep Livin Foundation, dedicated to helping teenage kids lead active lives and make healthy choices for a better future.
Matthew was born in 1969 in Uvalde, Texas. “Growing up, The Fat Cat was my favorite picture book—properly scary and super fun at the same time,” he tells me. This Danish folktale is about a very hungry little cat who eats not only the gruel, but then the pot, and the old lady, and eventually the whole village as he gets fatter and fatter.
“We weren’t necessarily major readers in our house, but I remember going through many books with my mom, and we had our favorites that we would go back to, ones that would make us laugh.” He cracks up and recounts a recent funny interaction with his mother involving making lunch and a reference to The Fat Cat, even all these years later.
“Three days ago, my mom was just sitting down, it was past lunch, and I went to the fridge, and made myself a sandwich and she nonchalantly said something like, “Oh, what are you making there?” And I said, “I know what you’re doing, mom—now you want me to make you something for lunch, too. You’re like The Fat Cat!” We both joked about that.”
“Camila and I read to our kids, too. Camila did maybe more than I, but our kids devour books now, especially my youngest. He’d rather do that than watch a show. My daughter still loves graphic novels and even though she’s moved on to other genres, she goes back to them.”
J.R. Balthazar
Invites Readers into Andi’s World
by Marcella Comerford
I Am Andi is a tale inspired by the wonders of real-life events and synchronicities and is the first young adult novel from author J.R. Balthazar, who spins Andi’s multifaceted story.
Balthazar expressed having a deep love of writing that began in elementary school and eventually led her to professional writing. “I have always loved to write, since I was in grade school. I was the kid who wrote letters to my friends, my grandmother, and even my favorite teachers.” Balthazar conjures memories many of us have of writing secret notes and letters and shines a light on how impactful early written communication is to start a lifelong interest in the written word.
“That love of writing carried over into my career as a television producer,” Balthazar says. “From scripts to treatments to episodic descriptions, I embraced the written word throughout my career. It was the thing I loved most about my job and during those years, I realized how deeply I loved dialogue and interesting characters.”
“I also had an appreciation for humor and emotion. I knew early on that if the readers or viewers weren’t feeling what they were reading or watching, they were much less likely to identify with or even care about the characters,” Balthazar says. “I have to know my characters first. I need to know who they are, what their motivations are, why they make certain choices, and what they are feeling. These things define their behaviors. After I understand the characters, I write a rough chapter outline, then I open myself to the plot and pure inspiration.”
Penelope
Paine
Hopes to Inspire a New Generation of Changemakers
by Marcella Comerford
Penelope Paine has a mission and is hoping to utilize the newly revised edition of a children’s literature classic to spread an important message about caretaking of the environment to the younger generations. Mother Nature Nursery Rhymes first came out 33 years ago.
The creators—Paine, Mindy Bingham, Itoko Maeno, and Sandy Stryker—had a goal in mind: to make the book a manifesto of environmental awareness in a time when education about the environment was not as prevalent as it is today.
When the book first came out in 1990, Paine says, “Not everyone had cell phones, nor were they sharing Facebook information about the future plight of the natural world. The authors of Mother Nature Nursery Rhymes, however, were already working with materials addressing equitable opportunities through Advocacy Press, a division of Girls Incorporated of Santa Barbara, and had published a nursery rhyme book titled Father Gander Nursery Rhymes in 1986, and they thought perhaps Mother Nature might have some advice.”
“Back in the ’90s, there was a lot of interest in the original Mother Nature Nursery Rhymes. We were invited to some of the very first environmental awareness events in Los Angeles. This was also when Olivia Newton John became the Goodwill Ambassador for the Environment for the United Nations Environment Program. Olivia sent an endorsement for the book saying, ‘One of the most important things that we can do for our planet is instill a life-long appreciation of nature in the hearts and minds of our children. Sharing Mother Nature Nursery Rhymes is a perfect way to start.’ We were thrilled,” Paine said.
Teju Prasad
Inspires Readers to Turn Their Struggles into Success
by Lindsey Giardino
Teju Prasad has taken on the challenge of teaching the tiniest of children to learn science concepts with innovative board books, and along with this carries on a family legacy in the making.
Prasad’s father was a professor of mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he was devoted to studying acoustics, sound, and vibration. Dr. Prasad spent a number of years developing toys and methods to teach very young children about frequencies and amplitude. His son, Teju, a writer and software engineer, chose to pick up the torch and carry on the marvelous work his father had been able to accomplish, and created, so far, two board books for infants and toddlers.
The books, What’s My Amplitude? and What’s My Frequency? won the 2023 Purple Dragonfly Book Award in the Board Book and STEM categories. Prasad said the inspiration for these books came from two main sources.
“I was inspired by two things: The first was a line of baby board books that were focused on science through simple stories. I bought a few for my niece who was three years old at the time, and saw how she reacted to them at once, asking me, ‘Should we read about unicorns or quantum physics?’”
Prasad continues, “Second, my dad would regularly give live demonstrations to schools with a bag of sound-making toys that would keep kids engaged and teach them something in the process. I felt it was a natural fit for kids to make sounds and learn a little science in the process.”
“My father was first and foremost an educator, and that was his guiding mission in life both professionally and personally. He always advised us to try and find the lesson out of any situation, the best we could,” Prasad says.
Marlene Bell
Shares Her Love of Reading Through Her Writing
by Lindsey Giardino
Marlene Bell uses one sentence to describe herself: “I’m the city girl who landed in the country and wouldn’t leave.”
When she met her husband in the late 1970s in Modesto, California, he was raising sheep on a small acreage as a hobby farm. “I immediately fell in love with the idea of keeping sheep for their calming ways and as a subject for my art,” Bell says. “It was difficult to find sheep-related notecards and stationery at the time because farm animals other than cows weren’t that popular. My husband encouraged me to design my own cards, and that’s just what I did.”
“I wasn’t as fortunate as some and couldn’t afford a four-year college education,” Bell explains. “I went to work in receptionist positions from the time I graduated high school. Life lessons from the county airport while selling flight training packages and aircraft sales to pilots led me to receptionist job number two, a poultry farms firm in chick production. Both jobs, and my husband’s career (moving up the management ladder for a utility) were the ingredients that motivated us. Moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, I took yet another receptionist position in Pleasanton, California, working for a computer fire protection firm. While there, I found the opportunity to spend lunch hours designing my first stationery line. My early workforce experiences meeting diverse groups of people eventually led me to refining my artwork, photography, and writing career. Each step I took was a necessary building block to where I am today.”
In 1985, Bell became an entrepreneur with a print catalog and, later, a website showcasing their breeding sheep and line of products. Her company, Ewephoric, is still in business today.
One to Read:
Ruth Amanda
by Lindsey Giardino
Ruth Amanda tells us that she finds inspiration for her stories everywhere. Every hike she goes on, every trip to the beach … and even under a shrub! Any of these things, when seen from the perspective of a child, can inspire a silly story, like her award-winning book, Geckos in the Garden.
Q: Tell us a bit about your life growing up.
A: As a child we moved a lot, and I attended something in the neighborhood of seven schools by grade 7. Mom always made sure to get us involved in activities and cultural events in our new communities, but at an early age it became clear if you didn’t make friends fast, you might not make friends at all before you moved. Also, our relatives were all in Eastern Canada and we were now primarily living a three-day train ride from grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Books became family and friends. A bedroom instantly felt at home when you unpacked the bookshelf. An uncertain day turned right around when disappearing into the stories which were so familiar from multiple readings.
Our parents also encouraged reading and academics, so having your nose in a book was not normally something you were dragged away from—unless of course it was time for your chores or supper! No getting out of that with “Just one more page!”
Favorite books usually involved horses for me, and James Herriott with his humorous tales of a veterinary practice. I went through Anne of Green Gables (all of them), and the Laura Ingalls books. Later I graduated to Tolkien and Douglas Adams. The characters I read generally influenced the characters I played when we created our games.
Television was for Walt Disney on Sunday evenings, and maybe a little Loonie Tunes or Roy Rogers on a Saturday if the weather was bad. So, we often made up our own amusements. One farm we lived on, we shared the yard with the owner’s family and there was an empty old house in the yard that had been the original farmhouse. We would get together with the kids from across the driveway and have long elaborate games that often went on for months in that house. At one point, we had all the play money from the board games in the house and each child had a room where they operated their business of choice. Monopoly and PayDay money were our currency. I had the veterinary office, on the top floor under the eaves. My older sister was the mayor and coincidentally the banker and held office in the front parlor. Our younger brothers were “handymen” who received small amounts of cash to go get more juice from Mom or beg for cookies. It was a wonderful way to grow up, always using our imaginations.
Mary Ann Tyson-Arceneaux
Follows in Her Father’s Footsteps as an Inspirational Storyteller
by Marcella Comerford
Mary Ann Tyson-Arceneaux’s first children’s book. Grandpa Has Plants in His Garden That Eat Bugs for Breakfast, combines bright illustrations with a hook of curiosity—do some plants really eat bugs for breakfast? You’ll have to find out for yourself, but Arceneaux has plenty of surprises to share about how she came to start writing books for children.
Arceneaux’s father could not read or write but made certain that she learned how to do so, and imparted a love of writing and words to his daughter, knowing how much of a treasure this might prove to be in her lifetime.
“What do I say about the impact of my father on my love of words and writing? I am who I am because of him. My love of words, my love of writing, how I tell stories, and how I never give up is all because of him,” Arceneaux says. “When my father told stories, he became the character in the stories. He would talk, laugh, scream, and sometimes walk like a character. His facial expressions sometimes changed, and I do the same things. In my mind, I become each of my characters when I’m writing.”
Her father’s management of words was especially compelling, Arceneaux says. “My father was a minister. As a child, I loved hearing him preach in church. He had a particular way with how he used words. When he preached, he used words in ways no other minister used. The entire congregation enjoyed his preaching. This is how and why I developed a love of words and writing.”
MONTHLY COLUMNS
-
Monsters at the Movies
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
by Nick Spake -
Life of a Reader
Committing to Building Choosy Readers
by Judy Newman -
Dancing on the Page
New Series
by Once Upon a Dance -
Q&A
Kelly DiPucchio
by Julianne Black DiBlasi -
The Book Bug
Jessica Whipple
by Raven Howell -
Conrad‘s Classroom
Butterflies Bring Their Own Sippy Straws
by Conrad J. Storad -
Liv On Life
Help the Helpless
by Olivia Amiri -
Kids Corner
Enough is … Magnet Activity
by Jessica Whipple
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