Sam's Desert Adventure, an Outstanding Young Reader Book

Sam's Desert Adventure, by Jonah Arizona, the newest young reader publication by Moonlight Mesa Associates, Inc., is a sure-fire pleaser for young readers in the age range of 7 to 11. Parents will be charmed by the mischievous, endearing Sam Davenport who will remind them of their own childhoods and their own children.

Set in Arizona, the story features a young boy named Sam Davenport and his hilariously acquired mule, Bucket. Sam's older sister, Alice, adds a charming touch to the story, and Sam's elderly neighbor, Mr. Melby, helps develop this tale of youthful adventure and hard-learned lessons.

Despite Sam's engaging appeal, he is an impulsive child with a wild imagination who regularly forgets to consider the consequences of his boyish antics. Sam learns many difficult lessons the summer he acquires Bucket, but he has many exciting adventures in the process. Slowly he grows to understand that actions have consequences and that he must be accountable for those actions.

This story goes beyond Sam's boyish behavior, however, and the author shows a sensitivity and thoughtfulness in the ten-year-old that is deeply touching. Sam's friendship with his elderly neighbor, Mr. Melby, is remarkable, and Sam's compassion for his aging grandparents will tug heart strings. Even his thoughtfulness regarding his sister's feelings will bring a smile.

Not to be forgotten in this story of childhood adventure, growth, and learning, is the book's other main character, Bucket. Sam's mule is unforgettable and perhaps even more charming than Sam himself. The little mule, in her own mulish way, teaches Sam some of the most important lessons he learns. Sam's attachment to, and love for, his mule is tender and stirring. Bucket fills a void in Sam's life since he had to move away from his childhood buddy, and the mule becomes Sam's best friend and constant companion.

Sam's Desert Adventure is filled with humor, warmth, hard-learned lessons, and extremely well-drawn characters. Sam's parents are to be both envied and admired for their patience and understanding in raising a boy who will, no doubt, become a fine young man despite the trials he sometimes presents them with. Though Sam's parents are strict, there is never any doubt that their actions are motivated purely by love for their son. The relationship Sam has with his parents is warm and stable - a model for all given the challenges that Sam sometimes presents.

Highly recommended by MidWest Book Review senior reviewer, Shirley Johnson, Sam's Desert Adventure is a title that will be read again and again by parents and young readers alike.

Barbra Lee, retired teacher and sometime book reviewer.

Sam's Desert Adventure is available from the publisher, Moonlight Mesa Associates, at http://www.moonlightmesaassociates.com and from amazon. Retail 9.95. Vendor queries welcomed.

Children's Literature Modern Fairy Tales and Fables - A Review of the Sisters Grimm

What was old is new again! In the book series The Sisters Grimm the writer Michael Buckley has reinvented all the old fairy tales and fables. Sabrina and her sister Daphne Grimm discover a whole new world within their own world as fairy tale and fable characters walk the streets like normal people in the town where their grandmother lives.

There are eight books out so far with the ninth one due out in May. The adventure starts out with the two sisters becoming orphans when their parents suddenly go missing. After a few foster homes they are sent to live with a grandmother they never knew they had. This is when they learn the family secret, the family business and the family legacy. They are descendants of the original Grimm brothers who wrote all those old fairy tales which turn out to be real stories. Their grandmother teaches them how to be detectives, that's the family business, and how to solve the mysteries they encounter on a daily basis.

I don't want to give too much of the story away for those of you who haven't read the books (I do have a tendency to do that) but the sisters have many adventures and nearly get killed several times. The Big Bad Wolf is their grandmother's best friend and body guard, Snow White is a teacher in the school they attend she also teaches a self defense class which includes martial arts, Prince Charming is the Mayor of the town (for a while), the Three Little Pigs are the sheriff and deputies in the town (for a while), Puck (the trickster king) is their grandmother's adopted grandson, the Scarecrow (from the Wizard of Oz) is the town librarian and Robin Hood is a lawyer!

• Book 1 - Fairy Tale Detectives
• Book 2 - The Unusual Suspects
• Book 3 - The Problem Child
• Book 4 - Once Upon a Crime
• Book 5 - Magic and Misdemeanors
• Book 6 - Tales From the Hood
• Book 7 - The Everafter War
• Book 8 - The Inside Story
• Book 9 - (Due out in May 2012) The Council of Mirrors

The reading level for these books is listed as age eight and up or third grade and up. I'm glad they put the up because I love them and I'm up there pretty far. These are great books for young readers and the rest of us because they allow us to get swept up in fun adventures and really enjoy reading children's literature. These are fun, the story is easy to keep up with and the characters are really well done!

Julie L. Worthington is a writer of fantasy adventure and science-fiction middle-grade and young adult books along with short stories. She is passionate about children's literature both old and new. To find out more or to read some of her work go to http://www.julieworthington.com

Plunked by Michael Northrop - Youth Baseball, Self-Confidence, and Elementary School-Aged Challenges

Jack Mogens is a sixth grader at Tall Pines Elementary School. It's late March as he begins his sixth season playing Little League baseball for the Tall Pines Braves.

Jack gets "plunked" on the side of his head while batting on Opening Day. The hit shakes his confidence to the point where he's now afraid of inside pitches.

Compounding Jack's challenge is the "revenge pitch" he takes during the team's following practice. His nemesis, Kurt "Malfoy" Beacham, heard him talking smack about him in school; and throws a pitch, hitting him in the ribs.

Nightmares haunt Jack, where a faceless pitcher is throwing balls at him, while glued to the batter's box. His anxiety builds, forcing him to feign injury to avoid playing in next weekend's game.

"Family emergency" is Jack's excuse as to why he missed Saturday's competition. His teammates and buddies aren't buying it in the cafeteria Monday morning. Jack finds his deceptions becoming harder to conceal.

Depressed, Jack unexpectedly coins the phrase, "open to mopin" when Andy Rossiter, (his best friend since second grade) questions his attitude.

Andy helps Jack save face with his buddies after missing Saturday's game. Their ultimate connection occurs at the Tall Pines Family Pharmacy while thumbing through comic books.

In an awkward moment of silence and avoided eye contact, Jack knows he owes Andy an explanation why he missed Saturday's game. When Andy asks, he exposes himself emotionally and admits his fear of getting hit by the ball. Andy affirms his feelings by responding, "Everyone is a little scared of the ball sometimes." It's a poignant display of emotions between two boys; not often encouraged in today's society.

Northrop has a talent for crafting narrative relatable to middle school-aged children: "but don't even pretend you've never faked a fever or blamed the cat for breaking something or anything like that. Don't even pretend to pretend." He also addresses doing homework and riding the school bus: "Right on cue, the bus pulls up, and its doors open. Shut up and get in it says."

Jack enjoys a loving relationship with his parents. They attend all of his games; and watch Major League Baseball together at home.

Even so, he sometimes frets over their parental control. Regarding his computer access: "Mom and dad have so many filters on this thing, it's a wonder anything gets through. Like St. Paul the Apostle could send me a personal email telling me to study hard, and it would end up in the spam folder."

Collecting Major League Baseball cards with his father is one of the duo's favorite pastimes. Viewing his dad's most prize-possessed rookie card, Cal Ripken, Jr., Jack shamefully realizes that Ripken Jr. would never fear inside pitches or let his team down. Baseball bobbleheads, a row of baseballs, and a big poster from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Jack's bedroom also provide him an a-ha moment.

Jack's emerging sexuality is evident in his awareness of the team's shortstop, Katie Bowes: "She glances up and I look down fast. I don't think she saw."

What kid doesn't have a favorite pet that's part of their being? Jack has his in Nax, a black Labrador retriever. Nax sleeps at the foot of Jack's bed; and knows when he's happy or upset.

Baseball language complements Plunked, including "ducks on the pond" (two men on base with two outs).

Well-written literature transcends time. The release of Plunked this March however, complements the start of Little League and Major League Baseball, making it an ideal read for any sports-minded kid.

If you're an educator looking to assign, or suggest a book for your middle school-aged boys, Plunked is it. If you're a parent anticipating your child's summer reading assignment, or support reading in your kids (especially boys), you'll hit a home run with Plunked.

To view excellent literature, written for grade school children and young adults, including author interviews and give-aways, visit: http://www.scholastic.com/kids/stacks/?lnkid=stacks/nav/home/main.

Timothy Zaun is a blogger, speaker and freelance writer. Visit him online at http://timzaun.com.

Important Tips for Publishing a Children's Book

The task of finding a publisher for your book can be daunting. Even J.K. Rowling, the highly acclaimed author of the Harry Potter books, received many rejections before achieving her phenomenal success. To circumvent the publisher problem, you may wish to consider publishing a children's book yourself. This route can be a very profitable one, providing you know what you're doing.

As soon as you start to investigate the possibility of self-publishing you will find yourself surrounded by apparent offers to assist. There are hundreds of companies only too ready to part you from your cash, and charge you a very high price indeed for publishing your work. Known as "vanity publishers", these organizations are out to make high profits - for themselves, not you!

As a self-publisher, your best option is to simply choose a regular, commercial printing company to carry out your work. You should fully investigate the market and choose a company that offers competitive prices. By following this route you will have full control of the process, and can make your own decisions about quality of materials and finish.

By using a mainstream printing company to assist you in publishing a children's book you will be able to retain full copyright to your work. There will be no requirement for you to sign a contract with the printer in this respect. This leaves you free to take all the profits from sales of your work, and also at liberty to use another printer, should you so wish, for any future reprints of your book.

It's important that you are fully aware of the work involved in publishing a children's book yourself. You must be prepared to take responsibility for all aspects of the process such as editing and proofreading. Also there will be important decisions to make on layout, font size, typefaces, bindings and so on. The level of involvement is considerable, but perhaps this is something you will in fact relish.

Providing you choose a printing company with a good reputation and high standards of customer care, these additional tasks need not be overtaxing. Ensure your children's book printing company is prepared to offer plenty of guidance, and that you can easily contact them for updates and clarifications.

Lastly, I'd like to touch on the subject of ISBNs. International Standard Book Numbers are unique 13 digit identifiers and enable books to be ordered and tracked in a commercial distribution network. If you are planning to handle sales of your children's book yourself, by selling directly in person or through a website, it's not necessary to have an ISBN.

Lesley Carr has a wealth of advice and tips for aspiring writers, including how to find inspiration for your work, getting your draft manuscript into shape, and how to manage your route into self-publishing. She works closely with http://www.printninja.com/ to assist authors with getting their work into print.

Mother and Son Write New Children's Book Series Beginning With "Monsters Below"

Laura Wharton, author of "Leaving Lukens," and her ten-year old son, Will, have written the first of a planned series of children's novels titled "Mystery at the Lake House." In this first book, "Monsters Below," we are introduced to Jock Avery, who has just finished fourth grade and is about to spend the summer with his grandparents at their home on Longleaf Lake. Jock is further excited when he learns his grandparents have new neighbors, including two children, Lynna, also ten years old, and her younger brother, Chip, age seven.

Spending the summer on a lake would be ideal for any boy or girl, but Chip, who once visited Loch Ness and claims to have seen its monster, is convinced that there is a monster in Longleaf Lake, and while Jock refuses to believe it is the Loch Ness Monster, when he starts hearing strange sounds coming from across the lake, he starts to wonder what could be causing them.

Soon Jock, Chip, and Lynna decide to investigate the mysterious noise. It seems to be coming from the direction of Mr. Harrison's house and his cove, and considering that Jock's grandfather says Mr. Harrison likes to keep to himself and was once in prison, Mr. Harrison appears to be the obvious culprit. When Mr. Harrison tries to chase Jock and Lynna with his boat when they are out sailing, and they also see him dumping something mysterious into the lake, they believe they have enough evidence to investigate further, including sneaking onto Mr. Harrison's property.

The Whartons excel at providing great cliffhanger moments at the end of each chapter, and here's one of them:

Jock and Lynna looked out at the lake in the direction Chip was pointing. The silhouette of a man in a rowboat was difficult to see that far out on the water without binoculars in the growing darkness. "It's a little too late to be fishing," Jock agreed.
"Maybe he's just out for a moonlit boat ride," Lynna offered.
"There's no moon out tonight," Jock countered. "Too much cloud cover."
Just then, they heard a loud ker-splash followed a moment later by an eerie screeching sound. Chip screamed, "He's feeding the monster!"

Full of fun adventure, and all the joys of summer-from bike riding to sailing, bird watching to Grandmother's baked goodies, and good books for the characters to read, "Monsters Below" will be enjoyed by boys and girls alike, and adults will find it a pleasant way to recall their own childhoods or share in the adventure by reading it aloud to their children.

A few notable features that make this book unique are that Jock enjoys reading adventure books called the "Sam Justice" series, so readers are given snippets of those books as Jock imagines himself acting like the hero of that series, providing stories within the larger story. The book also includes a bird watching checklist, the kids' favorite recipes, a diagram to teach children about the different parts of sailboats, and an interview with ten year old author Will Wharton about how his mother and he wrote the book. Finally, a preview is provided of the next book in the series, "The Mermaid's Tale," soon to be released. I can't wait to hear how the mermaid is explained!

Tyler R. Tichelaar holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree from Northern Michigan University and a Ph.D. from Western Michigan University. His family's long relationship with Upper Michigan and his avid interest in genealogy inspired Dr. Tichelaar to write his Marquette Trilogy: Iron Pioneers, The Queen City, and Superior Heritage. Dr. Tichelaar is also a professional book reviewer and editor. For more information about Tyler R. Tichelaar, his writing, and his author services, visit:

www.MarquetteFiction.com

The Benefit of Author Visits for Children Authors

It was an early spring morning and a young child author and her father visited a local grade school to discuss their chapter book. Three hundred and fifty students waited eagerly to discuss the book they had all read in their classes the prior weeks. Two grades at a time piled into the lunchroom for three separate sessions. This school visit was the first such occurrence for the father-daughter writing duo and they were not sure what to expect. It was quite a surprise how it ended.

After brief introductions of themselves and the story, the event opened up into question and answer sessions. The students came prepared with not only the typical questions of "why did you write this story" and "how did you come up with the character names", but also deeper inquiries that immediately let the authors know the students were fully engaged with the storyline.

At one point, a student asked a question about a dragonfly in the story. The father looked around the audience and asked the children to say the name of the character and they all screamed "Rainbow", and smiled. It was the first time the authors heard such a resounding recognition of their work, and they then realized that this event, which they initially thought of as an offering for the benefit of the students, held equally as much for themselves.

The event wrapped up as the last group of students went back to their classes. One teacher left a folder with the authors filled with sheets of paper. Each student from the first grade class had all written, as well as first graders can write, letters to the authors to thank them for their time and other special comments about the book. The details in these letters were all wonderful, but one comment was not so expected. As the young child author eagerly flipped through the papers once back at her house, remembering herself how it was to write such notes four years earlier, she set one aside and said "this is my favorite." She read to her mother and father the following words from that special note: "Mae - I love your book. It is amazing. You inspire me to write. I am starting my own adventure story now. Thank you so much!" Her co-author father turned away to wipe a small tear from his eye.

The writing duo started the project to bring their story to life, and for the father to show his daughter the importance of sticking with something, not giving up, and acting on your passions. He thought that seeing the book in a book store and knowing it was placed in different dinosaur museums was the light at the end of the tunnel. Weeks and months had transpired and they finally scheduled this first author visit at this school. The light in his daughter's eyes upon reading those words from the first grader truly marked the completion of this journey - at least this part of the journey. That is what they had been working for but not really known early on how incredible that experience could be.

In the few weeks since that visit, the writing duo were fully motivated and worked through the first several chapters of their next book - now book number two of a series that will continue, with many planned author visits.

The lesson to all is that the benefit of your hard work and perseverance may not always be what you expect. Open your minds, follow your passions, share and collaborate with others, and do everything you can to expand and invigorate our next generation of authors, teachers, scientists, etc. The rewards will come, and may be as simple as a smile or a letter from a first grade student.

John Dolbey lives in the Midwest with his wife and daughter. He began feeding his daughter's deep fascination of dinosaurs with countless bedtime and drive-to-school adventure stories. The creation of Iggy, Guana, and Dawn is the result of years of collaborative character building. John's first book, Sunrise Over Fire Rock Field, is a tribute to his daughter, her love of dinosaurs, and those adventurous iguanodon siblings. John and his daughter are still telling stories and coming up with new journeys for Iggy and his sisters.

Please visit us at https://iggyadventures.com

New Children's E-Book Review

If you have children, then you have probably read more than your share of books. Those of us, who read to our kids, can see the wonderful results that investment returns. There are lots of good reasons to read your children stories. It sparks their imaginations. It calms them down at bedtime. It establishes a pattern of reading when the children are most impressionable.

As a general rule, reading early in life translates to kids wanting to read later in life. I'm not sure if there have been scientific research on this, but from personal experience, I can confirm this presumption. All of my siblings read to their children and all of them love to read. The friends we have that read to their children all have children who love to read; while those who didn't read to their kids find their children are less than enthusiastic.

I was not read to as a child. Not surprisingly, I didn't start enjoy reading until I was married with children. I'm still very particular about the books I read for myself and I'm in my forties.

When should you read to them? In my experience, we read to our kids from the very start. Once they could hold their heads up by themselves, we started reading to them. Mainly before naps and bedtime. But as they grew up, we found ourselves reading to them on the floor while they were playing.

Something about the undulating tone of reading a children's book was soothing to our kids. They always played better when we were reading from a book. It also helped calm them down before going to sleep.

Which books should you read? Wow, that's a good question. There are literally tons of great books out there. Talk to your family and friends about which books they liked. Some of our favorites were the classics like Curious George, Tumble Bumble, Goodnight Moon, and any book by Sandra Boyton. Sadly, there are a lot of poorly written books too. A quick glance through the book will let you know if it's a keeper.

In this review, we're going to look at a new eBook series destined to become a classic, written by Emma Ward. Ms. Ward says she is a stay at home mom who understands the challenges of parenting. It appears the new series, known as "The Adventures of Bob and Joe", was written with that very view in mind.

Her books are grounded in family values. Looking out for each other, putting aside selfishness, and pitching in to help are all themes that run through her new "Bob and Joe" book series. Here's the main premise: Bob and Joe are identical twin turtles who like to have racing adventures. Basically, they'll race anyone, anytime, any place. The setting is primarily a pond, found in a deep forest of oak trees. They venture out for some other adventures, but as you'd expect, the turtles stay pretty close to home most of the time.

There are a host of characters that help Bob and Joe teach the kids a great lesson. My favorite is a squirrel named Sammy who can't get enough acorns.

There are six "Bob and Joe" ebooks published on Amazon, along with a complete collection eBook that includes all six stories. The titles are as follows...

1. Bob and Joe in Our First Race
2. Bob and Joe in Abandon Ship
3. Bob and Joe in The Chariot Race
4. Bob and Joe in Photo Finish
5. Bob and Joe in The Serious Badger
6. Bob and Joe in Skating with Penguins
7. The Complete Adventures of Bob and Joe, Volume 1

These books seem to only be available on Amazon. The price is reasonable at $0.99 for each individual book and $4.99 for the complete collection. So download them to your Kindle or other reading app. and enjoy reading them to your children.

I have included a link to the author page here in Amazon. This is a new book to Amazon (published in April 2012), so there aren't a lot of reviews yet. But don't let that stop you from downloading them, trust me, your kids will enjoy following the characters from one race to another.

Our next review will be Bullfrog Pops, Kindle edition.