Monday, September 24, 2012

An awesome place to read Children's Books Online: We Give Books

I have recently discovered a wonderful resource for children's books online called "We Give Books," a relatively new digital initiative that allows anyone with internet access the ability to read a large, quality selection of children's book titles. Check out there video below to find out more.

So far I have read and loved the following stories:
  1. Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd - A witty, modern day parody of a classic picture book.
  2. Start Saving, Henry  by Nancy Carlson - A fun tale that illustrates the benefits of saving vs. spending. 
  3. Dog Wants to Play  by Christine McDonnell - Sparse with words, but fun and slightly rhyming. Follows dog on a search for a 'today' playmate.
 It's a great way to help me research picture books to grow my writing skills as well as search for new, fun, or even classic titles that the children I work would enjoy.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

The Liebster Blog Award


The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Thank you Krissy for tagging me and giving me this award. I love the graphic and will proudly post it on my blog. Please visit Krissy's blog The Brain of a Children's Author to find out more about her.

The Rules: 
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves. 
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you and create eleven questions for the people you've tagged. 
3. Choose eleven people and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them. 
5. Remember no tag backs!

Krissy's 11 Questions for me and My Answers:

1.   What's the most recent book you've read?
The last book I read was actually a second read. It was Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why

2.  What's a really embarrassing thing that has happened to you?
Hah - Probably many, many things. But the most vivid one was when I was six or seven. It was Easter Sunday and my best friend and I wore pastel dresses and white tights. For some reason we ended up at a farm after church. Perfectly normal, right? We were so busy talking to each other that we didn't realize we stepped into a giant pile of manure. We were covered in it up to our knees! The Farmer had to hose us off. We were pretty mortified.

3.  What would you choose for your last meal?
All the sushi I could eat prepared by my favorite sushi chef, and a large dark chocolate raspberry Godiva milkshake with whipped cream. (I don't do dairy...so if it were my last meal, I'd splurge.)

4.  Which song do you secretly rock out to and have absolutely no idea why? 
Whatever song happens to be running through my head at the time. Which is currently alternating between the theme songs from 'Monk' and 'True Blood'.

5.  What is something other people do that irritates you like no other? 
Throwing trash on the floor and/or leaving crumbs and sticky stuff everywhere. Sticky stuff is my ultimate pet peeve.

6.  What is something you do that irritates other people like no other?
Forgetting to turn off the light in the bathroom...oopsies.

7.  What is your dream vacation?
I was lucky enough to experience my dream vacation in Tahiti in 2010. You can see some of my photos in the post Storytelling with Pictures. But it would be beyond awesome is to go back there again...maybe even for an extended stay!

8.  What is something that you don't know a lot about but would like to?
I would like to know more about writing nonfiction and poetry.

9.  Which perfume or cologne makes you weak in the knees?
Tuscany for Men

10.  Dogs or cats?
Dogs. Bull Terriers in particular. 

11.  Do you believe in soulmates? Yes.

Questions for the people I tagged:

1. What is your favorite book?
2. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
3. What technology do you think you will never adopt?
4. What is your favorite comfort food?
5. What was your most embarrassing hairstyle?
6. What was your favorite childhood candy?
7. What is the prettiest city you have ever been to?
8. If you had 10 minutes on a popular TV talk show, what would you talk about?
9. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
10. What is your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon?
11. Is there such a thing as too much chocolate?

People I Tagged: (5 instead of 11)