Matt Phelan's A Snow Day for Plum!

 

Matt Phelan’s second book in the Plum series, A Snow Day for Plum! was published by Greenwillow Books an imprint of HarperCollins in 2023. Mr. Phelan has written and illustrated a fun adventure for Plum a peacock, Kevin a giant elephant shrew, and Itch a ningbing. Set in an empty school during a blizzard, Plum, Kevin, Itch and fellow zoo animals meet three school mice and embark on an exploration of the school. Along the way themes of fear of a new school, friendship and practice are depicted. Mr. Phelan’s engaging black and white illustrations draw the reader into the adventure and for artists he added a how to draw Plum section at the end.

Plum and friends are an amusing romp for those with March snowstorms and snow days and those wishing for snow days. This short book with many illustrations may be called a chapter book or a young middle grade novel. Pages:128.

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Learn about book designer Sylvie Le Floc'h

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Learn about Elephant Shrews 

Learn about Giant Elephant Shrews Houston Zoo

Learn about Giant Elephant Shrews Brookfield Zoo Chicago 

Learn about Ningbings  and here  and here

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Review: Tara Lazar's Absurd Words

Absurd Words illustrated by Michelle Mayhall

With Absurd Words: A kid’s fun and hilarious vocabulary builder for future word nerds Tara Lazar has written an entertaining word book with words grouped by topic. My favorites are space and weather. However, there are a variety of categories such as style or fashion and music. Michelle Mayhall’s colorful, engaging illustrations and book design guide the reader through the text. Ms. Lazar defines over 750 words in kid friendly language. This is a witty read and will benefit both elementary and middle grade students. Sourcebooks Explore published Absurd Words, a nonfiction text, on January 2, 2022 and it is recommended for grades 4-8. Ms. Lazar likes to make lists; her website has a list of 500 interesting words.

For writers and future writers, Ms. Lazar hosts Storystorm every January which is a romp through picture book craft and generating ideas. While it is February, past posts are easily accessed.

Greg Pattridge provides book recommendations and reviews on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday.

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Tonight!: A bedtime book

 

Tonight! - illustrated by Eric Parrish

Woohoo! Jamie Siebrase's bedtime picture book featuring animals of the Rocky Mountains was given to L. 

Happy Reading.

To read an interview with Jamie, please see Interview with Jamie Siebrase

French Bread

French bread by ET Charles

2 cups warm water

2 Tablespoons yeast or 2 individual packages dry yeast

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

3 Tablespoons olive oil

5 - 6 cups unsifted white flour

Small amount of butter

Directions: Pour warm water in bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Do not stir. Let sit until yeast is bubbly – proofed. Sprinkle in salt and add olive oil. Stir. Add one cup of flour and stir well with a wooden spoon. Add 2 more cups of flour and stir well. Add 2 more cups of flour for a total of 5 cups of flour. Stir well. If dough is very sticky add additional flour by the quarter cup and stir. Let rise in a warm, draft free, place until double in bulk.

Punch down dough. Knead briefly – 8 kneads. Divide dough into 2 or 4 equal pieces. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece into a rectangle, approximately 12x14 inches for two long baguettes and 6x8 inches for four short baguettes. Then roll each rectangle up into a long log. Place dough logs on baking pan greased with butter. Let rise again in a warm, draft free place until double in size.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Let cool. Loaves may be removed to a cutting board to continue cooling and while cooling use a butter wrapper to grease the top of the loaves.

Once you have made the bread a few times, it goes fairly quickly and easily.

Yields: Two long loaves or four shorter loaves or four pizza crusts which fit a 9.5-inch diameter pie pan 

Notes: This is an adaptation of my mother’s recipe for French bread. She did not add olive oil. She did not knead the dough. She rolled out two long loaves, slashed the loaves, sprinkled the loaves with water, placed them on a corn meal covered baking pan and baked at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. She then sprinkled the loaves with more water and baked at a lower temperature for 30 or 35 minutes. She never greased the tops of the loaves with butter after removing from the oven. The bread was delicious and consumed in two days.

Interview with Jamie Siebrase: Tonight!: A bedtime book plus giveaway

 

 

Tonight! illustrated by Eric Parrish

    With Tonight! A bedtime book Jamie Siebrase has written a delightful bedtime story which features animals of the Rocky Mountains. Eric Parrish who is affiliated with the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research illustrated the text. Muddy Boots an imprint of Globe Pequot, the trade division of Rowman & Littlefield published Tonight! Each evening a boy visits a different wild animal ranging from a large carnivore to birds to herbivores.

Jamie has donated a copy of Tonight: A bedtime book as a giveaway. Please comment after the post to enter the drawing.

Interview with Jamie Siebrase

ETC: Welcome Jamie. What advice would you give K-12 students who would like to be writers?

Note: Jamie’s response has been edited for clarity and space.

JS: Hmmm, that's a really good question. I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember.

My sixth grade Language Arts teacher, Mr. Winston, had students keep a dream journal for a month. I was so nervous to present mine in class! On the cover of the journal, in big, bubbly pre-teen girl handwriting I’d written: I dream of being a writter. Writter with two Ts. Right before class, when it was too late to change anything, my dad looked at the journal and said, “If you’re going to be a writer, maybe you should learn how to spell it. Then, immediately after class ended, my best friend, Lindy, came up to me and said in this really snobbish voice, “You know, Jamie, nobody ever does what they say they’re going to do.”

I think these important people were helping prepare me for a lifetime of rejection. 

The first thing to do is write. Preferably every day if you can.

The next thing to do is read as much as humanly possible. If you stopped scrolling through Instagram, stopped watching TikToks and YouTube shorts, just think of all the actual reading you could accomplish!

I'd also recommend taking some writing courses. . . . But could you take a few writing classes while pursuing a degree that might someday pay the bills? Here in Colorado we're so lucky to have lots of continuing education options. The Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, for example, offers adult classes as well as many youth workshops and classes. 

Last but not least, let criticism and rejection roll off your back. Even Stephen King was rejected with his first novel, Carrie.

     ETC: Thank you, Jamie.

    Jamie has generously donated a copy of her book to give away. My first give away! Thank you, Jamie. Please comment below to be eligible for the drawing. Please send an email if the comments do not work. U.S. addresses only, please. Drawing will take place January 16, 2024. 

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