Lisa Cohn's Blog, page 10

This Kids’ Dog Book Gets a High Rating From Kidlit Lover, 9

The kids’ dog book “Rumplepimple Goes to Jail” by Suzanne DeWitt Hall gets a very high rating from kidlit lover Michael, age 9.

Watch his review here:

Spoiler alert! Michael gives away the plot in this review.

Earlier, a 7-year-old Michael reviewed the first Rumplepimple kids’ dog book, and gave it 99 million stars.

Watch that review here:

Michael is chief of the Roving Reader Leaders, kidlit lovers who review books on playgrounds, in gyms, in bookstores and wherever kids can be found! The Reader Leaders also interview authors. The first interview was with author Laurie Sutton, who writes Scooby-Doo books.

In Rumplepimple Goes to Jail, the hero dog saves the day again. He tries to protect his tutu-wearing friend Mr. Noodles from danger at an event. While Mr. Noodles gets home, Rumplepimple goes to jail. where his two moms eventually find him.

For more fun kidlit reviews, visit http://www.RovingReaderLeaders.com. Follow us on twitter: @BashAndLucy_ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BashAndLucy/

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Our Reader Leaders Interview 8-yr-old Author Nia Mya Reese!

Nia Mya Reese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roving Reader Leaders Michael, age 9, and Lila, age 10, interviewed bestselling author Nia Mya Reese, age 8, about “How To Deal with And Care For Your Annoying Little Brother.” Michael, who is a little brother,  and Lila, who has a little brother, asked questions based on their experiences.

Watch our Reader Leaders talk to her here:

This is the third author our Roving Reader Leaders have interviewed. Recently, they interviewed Troy Cummings, popular author of the “Notebook of Doom” series.

You can watch that interview here:

Our very first author interview was with Laurie Sutton, who writes “Scooby Doo” books and now is working on a new series. She has offered to include an illustration based on a request from Michael!

You can watch Michael’s interview with Laurie here:

Learn more about our Roving Reader Leaders.

And stay tuned for more kidlit author interviews, more book reviews–and our new book, a chapter book! Email us at BashAndLucy@gmail.com with questions. Follow us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BashAndLucy/

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We Love Thank-You Notes Like These from Students!

“Your visit pushed me to…dream big dreams.”

–Daniel

 

We love the thank-you notes we receive from the students we visit via Skype in the classroom, and these are no exception!

This week, we worked with a group of 3rd and 4th graders attending a camp. On that day, they were focusing on careers, and visiting with authors and professionals in other careers. We told them about our journey and how it began with the death of our dear Lucy. The kids talked about losing pets and writing stories or doing art projects about them to overcome their grief. We touched on character development, conflict, illustration and publishing. We also answered questions about choosing writing as a career, reminding the students to write every day, share their writing, and put their work out there, even if it means getting rejected.

We were thrilled to receive these thank-you notes from the students a few days later.

Here’s what one student wrote: “Thank you for having the time for teaching us writing and reading subjects. Also I would really like to meet you in person. What I like about you is that your are a really inspiring person and I thought of the words you said yesterday it really pushed me to do the right choices, and dream big dreams. Also, I like how you and your son have a lot in common.” Love, Daniel

A letter like this makes our day, our week, our year!

 

“Thank you for sharing your book with us and for sharing how we can be perfect writers,” another student wrote.

“Thank you for your writing tips and your time,” wrote another student. “I tried to draw Lucy. I tried to draw Hudson.” Her illustrations of the two dogs were amazing!

To learn more about our author visits in the schools, email us at BashAndLucy@gmail.com! And if you follow us on twitter @BashAndLucy_ you’ll see some photos of our visits!

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Mom-Son Author Visits with Students Across the Country–and World!

Mom-Son Author Visits with Students

We love our Mom-son author visits with students!

This year, we visited kids from all over the US–plus students in Qatar and other countries–via Skype in the classroom and the Microsoft Educator Community ! To date, we’ve “traveled” 470,000 kilometers, visited 12 countries and earned a Certified Microsoft Innovative Educator badge!

During our visits, we tell kids and teachers about our journey: how our dog, Lucy, died suddenly at age 6 and how we were so sad we decided to write a book series to keep her alive in our hearts. We also introduce students to our new dog, Hudson, and give some writing tips. For example, Michael likes to explain conflict in a story:

Character development, strong verbs, and brainstorming are all issues we address. The kids often ask questions about where and how we write together. They want Michael to tell them what it feels like to be an author.

An important topic during our visits is writing drafts and sharing them. We encourage kids to share their drafts with others, and describe how excited we were when Ally, Michael’s 19-year-old sister, a huge book lover, told us she loved our first draft. Michael likes to show photos of Ally, telling kids, “These are her glamour shots!”

We’re now working on our third book–a chapter book–that features a sensitive boy who grapples with a tough conflict: His favorite cousin, Paula, says that Lucy–the best coach in the world–should coach her all-girls team under the provisions of Title Nine! Want to learn more about Title Nine? Want to learn more about girl power and some of the inspiring women in Bash’s (aka Michael’s) life? Stay tuned!

We’ve asked a few of our Skype in the classroom teachers to share our first draft with their students, and we’re excited about getting their feedback!

Kids love to give us ideas for our next book during our Mom-son author classroom visits with students. In fact, our second book, “Bash and Lucy Fetch Jealousy” was based on ideas from kids–plus a request from a mom who wanted her autistic son to be a character in our book. We happily agreed to feature her son, and she says it inspired him to read!

To get updates about our third book and our audiobooks (recorded with the help of Michael and friends), be sure to follow us on Twitter @BashAndLucy_ and on Facebook!https://www.facebook.com/BashAndLucy/ Email us with questions and comments at BashAndLucy@gmail.com! We haven’t been blogging as often because we’re busy writing, but you can always find us on twitter!

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For Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017, We Reviewed Barefoot Book of Children

Multicultural Children’s Book Day

For Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017–which aims to raise awareness about the need to include children’s books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves–we reviewed the “Barefoot Book of Children.” Beautifully illustrated and full of fascinating detail, the book takes kids on an eye-opening world journey. It made us want to visit the many countries mentioned in the book!

Read our review here: http://www.rovingreaderleaders.com/2017/01/27/barefoot-book-of-children-takes-kids-on-world-journey/

 

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KidLit Lovers, Age 8, Appear on Live TV to Share Love of Reading

KidLit Lovers, Age 8, on Portland Today Live TV

By Lisa Cohn

Two Roving Reader Leaders–a club created by me and Michael–appeared on live TV yesterday to share their love of reading and discuss their book reviews and author interviews.

With teddy bears in hand, they discussed their favorite books and their recent interview with Troy Cummings, the popular author of the Notebook of Doom kidlit series. Watch them in action!

Book-Loving Boys, Age 8, Share Their Love of Reading on KGW’s Portland Today

Questions? Comments? Email us at BashAndLucy@gmail.com!

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Boys, Age 8-11, Show Love, Knowledge of Troy Cummings Books in Chat

Four Roving Reader Leaders–fans of children’s book author and illustrator Troy Cummings–demonstrated their love and knowledge of Cummings’ Notebook of Doom series in a fun Skype interview with the author.

During the interview, the boys, age 8-11, members of the Roving Reader Leaders, informed Cummings of when his next book was due to be released, recited the titles of his books by series number, and surprised him with questions that demonstrated the depth of their knowledge about his series. They also expressed disappointment that his series will end after 13 books.

Watch the boys interview Cummings here:

The Roving Reader Leaders include Michael, age 8, co-founder of the book club; two brothers, Lukyan, 11, and Levko, 9; and Oliver, 8.

Earlier this year, Michael did a 1-million-star video review of “The Notebook of Doom,” then asked Cummings to conduct an interview via Skype. Needless to say, he and his friends were thrilled when Cummings said yes.

Here’s Michael’s 1-million-star review:

In “The Notebook of Doom” series, Alexander Bopp moves to a new town with his father and discovers all sorts of monsters. Each book, illustrated by Cummings, introduces a new monster. Kids love the mystery, humor and illustrations in Cummings’ books. Cummings and publisher Scholastic plan to complete the series with 13 books.

In this interview, these boys shared their love of books with enthusiasm, humor and depth. That’s the mission of the Roving Reader Leaders–to do book reviews and author interviews that get other kids excited about reading and discussing books– in parks, gyms, libraries, and on playgrounds –or wherever kids can be found!

Last year, Michael was thrilled to interview Scooby-Doo book author Laurie Sutton. Watch the interview:

Cummings’ clients include AOL, Back Stage, the Boston Globe, Cambridge University Press, Capstone, the Chicago Tribune, Harper Collins, NY Daily News, Random House Time for Kids and others. Learn more about him at TroyCummings.net

To learn more about the Roving Reader Leaders, visit Roving Reader Leaders . For questions and requests for reviews, email BashAndLucy@gmail.com

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Stay Tuned for Our Next Kidlit Author Interview!

KidLit Author Interview via Skype

Keep an eye out for our next Kidlit author interview! Four of our Roving Reader Leaders, age 8-11, interviewed one of their favorite authors recently via Skype.

The boys were excited and nervous, but asked great questions and came away from the interview very inspired.

Watch our last author interview with Scooby author Laurie Sutton:

You can follow us on twitter at @Bashandlucy_

Or Facebook

And on Youtube: Roving Reader Leaders

Stay tuned!

Author Interview by Roving Reader Leaders

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Audiobook Recorded with Help of Boys, Age 6-8, Bestseller on Audible

Boys Record Bash and Lucy Fetch Jealousy

Our Bash and Lucy Fetch Jealousy audiobook, recorded with the help of Michael and his friends Edward, Matthew and Adam (age 6-8 at the time of recording) is a bestseller on Audible in two categories–animals and fiction (children’s books).

You can buy the audiobook download for $3.46 here: Bash and Lucy Fetch Jealousy Audiobook

You can buy the Bash and Lucy Fetch Confidence audiobook download here for $2.95 here: Bash and Lucy Fetch Confidence Audiobook

The audiobooks are one of Michael’s favorite parts of our “Bash and Lucy” project. And he’s so proud Bash and Lucy Fetch Jealousy is a bestseller in these categories!

Boys Recording Bash and Lucy Fetch Jealousy Audiobook

 

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“I Love This Book!” Says 8-Year-Old Budding Kidlit Reviewer

I Love This Book! Says Budding Reviewer

What prompts an 8-year-old budding book reviewer to shout “I love this book!” while swinging from a rope swing (while clutching the book in hand?).

In this case, Michael, our budding KidLit reviewer, says the book, “Teddy Mars: Book #1: Almost a World Record Breaker” prompted the excitement. He stayed up til 1 am to finish this book!

Read more here at Roving Reader Leaders!

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