Lauri Fortino's Blog, page 4
April 21, 2024
Two Tree-Mendous Picture Books For Arbor Day And Earth Day (My View Book Review)
Title: Hello, Trees
Author: Bailey Bezuidenhout
Illustrator: Maria Lebedeva
Publisher/Year: Kane Miller/2023 (first American edition)
Topic/Theme: Trees, seasons, nature, emotions, self-reflection
Of Note: Expressive text and illustrations
Title: Tree Spirits
Author: Louise Wannier
Illustrator: April Tatiana Jackson
Publisher/Year: True Roses Books/2023 (second edition)
Topic/Theme: Trees, emotions, imagination
Of Note: Rhyming text, interactive i...
April 16, 2024
Happy Book Birthday to DADDY, TELL ME A STORY by Kathleen Long Bostrom!
Title: Daddy, Tell Me a Story
Author: Kathleen Long Bostrom
Illustrator: Ela Smietanka
Publisher: WorthyKids
Release Date: April 16, 2024
Format: Hardcover
Summary: Bedtime is looming, and Sophie wants to hear a story. So she asks her dad—the best storyteller she knows—to tell her one. He’s just started telling a story about a queen and a unicorn when—HOLD ON—this is not the story Sophie had envisioned! She interrupts to request a teeny, tiny change. And then she interrupts...
April 11, 2024
Interview Alert: Wendy Goldstein
Calling all dog lovers! Happy Dog Therapy Appreciation Day! Please welcome Wendy Goldstein to Frog on a Blog! It’s a real treat to have Wendy here today to talk about her picture book Oscar’s Blue Bandana, which she both wrote and illustrated. The book stars her very own adorable dog Oscar, a Havanese, who is a real-life therapy dog. Wendy and Oscar visit kids at a cancer treatment center in New York City and a home for children and their families who receive care at New York City hospitals....
March 19, 2024
Happy Book Birthday to THE MOCHI MAKERS by Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson!
Title: The Mochi Makers
Author: Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson
Illustrator: Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane Books
Release Date: March 19, 2024
Format: Hardcover and eBook
Summary: A girl and her grandmother spend the day making mochi together in this gentle and joyous “storytelling treat” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) celebrating family, tradition, and the memories that matter most.
Do you have a children’s picture book coming out soon? I’d...
March 17, 2024
Two New Picture Books For Easter (My View Book Review)
Title: Journey with Jesus: an Easter Story
Author: Ann Ingalls
Illustrator: Steliyana Doneva
Publisher/Year: Paraclete Press/2024
Topic/Theme: Easter, the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christian holiday
Of Note: Meaningful, rhyming text and vivid illustrations
Favorite Line(s): And soon the ground began to shake. The skies grew dark, a huge earthquake! The guardians were terrified! “This was the son of God!” they cried.
Title: Bear Finds Eggs
Author:...
March 12, 2024
Happy Book Birthday to MISS MACDONALD HAS A FARM by Kalee Gwarjanski!
Title: Miss MacDonald Has A Farm
Author: Kalee Gwarjanski
Illustrator: Elizabet Vukovic
Publisher: Doubleday, Random House Children’s Books
Release Date: March 12, 2024
Format: Hardcover
Summary: In this female-forward spin on the traditional children’s song “Old MacDonald”, readers can join Miss MacDonald on her vegetable farm and see all the work that goes into growing healthy and delicious produce. With a “weed-weed” here and a “pick-pick” there, young readers can follow...
March 1, 2024
Interview Alert: Leslie Eva Tayloe (+ a Giveaway!)
Please welcome picture book author Leslie Eva Tayloe to Frog on a Blog! When Leslie first reached out to me about her upcoming book Save the Trees, I knew I wanted to hear more because I love trees and I know she does too. And when I learned her story was about invasive vines overtaking trees, which is something that’s happened here in my town, too, I was more than happy to feature an interview with Leslie on my blog.
Let’s hear more from Leslie about Save the Trees, which has received a...
February 22, 2024
Interview Alert: Laura Roettiger (+ a Giveaway!)
Please welcome author Laura Roettiger back to Frog on a Blog! Laura’s been here several times. She reviewed a few picture books here in 2018, she wrote a guest post in 2019 about her debut picture book Aliana Reaches for the Moon, and I reviewed her debut that same year.
Today, it’s my extreme pleasure to feature an interview with Laura about her brand-new picture book An Accidental Hero: A Mostly True Wombat Story, which just published on February 12th by Eifrig Publishing. This adorabl...
February 17, 2024
My View Book Review: CREEP, LEAP, CRUNCH: A Food Chain Story by Jody Jensen Shaffer
Title: Creep, Leap, Crunch: A Food Chain Story
Author: Jody Jensen Shaffer
Illustrator: Christopher Silas Neal
Publisher/Year: Alfred A. Knopf/2023
Favorite Line from the Book: There was a huge forest of grasses and trees that blew in the cool of a blustery breeze.
If you’re searching for an action-packed picture book that features animals, nature, educational back matter, and rollicking rhyming text, you’ve found it! Author Jody Jensen Shaffer’s book Creep, Leap, Crunch: ...
February 13, 2024
Happy Book Birthday to AFIKOMAN, WHERE’D YOU GO? A PASSOVER HIDE-AND-SEEK ADVENTURE by Rebecca Gardyn Levington!
Title: Afikoman, Where’d You Go? A Passover Hide-and-Seek Adventure
Author: Rebecca Gardyn Levington
Illustrator: Noa Kelner
Publisher: Penguin Random House/Rocky Pond Books
Release Date: February 13, 2024
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Summary: Ask any Jewish child what their favorite part of the Passover seder is and they will undoubtedly say “searching for the afikoman!” This ritual, in which a piece of broken matzah is hidden for the kids to find after the meal, is always a ...
