Janelle Diller's Blog, page 8

Celebrate Read Across America!

March 2 is the birthday of the late Dr. Seuss, which means it’s also Read across America Day. The NEA sponsors this event to celebrate and encourage reading. If you’re a teacher, represent an organization, or are an individual, add your plans to the Read Across America site. Visit it to get ideas. Tweet it, Pinterest it, Facebook it, hashtag it. Spread the word!

And read a book! Better yet, read a book to a child. Do it for the sheer joy of it, but also do it because you play a crucial role in children’s education. It’s a fact: Children who read frequently are better readers and better students.

Of course, you know how much we love inspiring early readers. As always, we hope you’ll grab another fun Pack-n-Go Girls Adventure for your favorite child. Have you read our latest yet?

Mystery of the Min Min Lights  

Journey to the Australian outback in Mystery of the Min Min Lights.

It’s hot. It’s windy. It’s dusty. It’s the Australian outback. Wendy Lee arrives from California. She’s lucky to meet Chloe Taylor, who invites Wendy to their sheep station. It sounds like fun except that someone is stealing the sheep.

And the thief just might be something as crazy as a UFO.

As a little bonus, we’re celebrating the day with free downloadable coloring pages. Have fun coloring and reading!

And, by the way, Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Celebrate Read Across America!

March 2 is the birthday of the late Dr. Seuss, which means it’s also Read across America Day. The NEA sponsors this event to celebrate and encourage reading. If you’re a teacher, represent an organization, or are an individual, add your plans to the Read Across America site. Visit it to get ideas. Tweet it, Pinterest it, Facebook it, hashtag it. Spread the word!

And read a book! Better yet, read a book to a child. Do it for the sheer joy of it, but also do it because you play a crucial role in children’s education. It’s a fact: Children who read frequently are better readers and better students.

Of course, you know how much we love inspiring early readers.

Pack-n-Go Girls Sponsors Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Once again, we’re  proud to be Bronze Sponsors for Multicultural Children’s Book Day! We hope you’ll join us in support...

Pack-n-Go Girls is a Bronze Sponsor for Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Once again, we’re  proud to be Bronze Sponsors for Multicultural Children’s Book Day! We hope you’ll join us in support...

A Little Unexpected Perspective

 

Once again, we’re  proud to be Bronze Sponsors for Multicultural Children’s Book Day! We hope you’ll join us in support of this great organization, which puts books with diverse characters into classrooms across the country. 

Several years ago I was working on Mystery of the Thief in the Night, our Pack-n-Go Girls adventure about a girl from Seattle who sails to Mexico. Lisa, my business partner, and I had just made a conscious decision to make sure our American characters were as diverse as our international ones since we wanted to reflect the rich diversity of our own country. And so I turned to my friend Angela, a first generation Chinese-American woman, for help in creating an Asian American character as the American girl in the story. She helped me, of course, with language and cultural details that I didn’t know. But the most important thing she did for me was to give me perspective. As we were winding down the conversation, she said, “Janelle, I’m so excited that you’re adding a Chinese American girl to your story. I can’t tell you how much it would have meant to me as a child to read a book that had a girl who looked like me in it.”

Even though at the time I absolutely believed in the importance of more diverse characters, she made it visceral for me. What would it have been like for me if as a child I had never seen my own face on a page? Would I have been such a voracious reader? Would I have always felt like an outsider? Would I have felt like someone who didn’t really belong?

The loss isn’t just for children who don’t see themselves on the pages, but the loss is also for the children who only see themselves on the pages. How do they learn to appreciate and understand other cultures? I grew up in the cocoon of a monochromatic small town in Kansas. If I hadn’t grown up in a traveling family, I’m not sure when I would have had my first conversation with a person whose skin color differed from mine. Seeing different ethnicities in the books I read would have at least stretched me to be a little less egocentric.

It turned out that we were too far along with the story and illustrations to make the shift for Mystery of the Thief in the Night. But my conversation with Angela stayed with me. Since then, we’ve added a Cuban American in our Brazil series and an African American in our Thailand series. And now, finally, with our newest book, Mystery of the Min Min Lights, which takes place in Australia, we’ve added a Chinese American girl. We hope children will see themselves in our pages.

Thanks for the reminder, Angela, for what a difference that will make.

Discover Mystery of the Min Min Lights!

This is the perfect time to escape this wintry weather and explore another land. Journey to the Australian outback in Mystery of the Min Min Lights, the latest adventure from Pack-n-Go Girls.

It’s hot. It’s windy. It’s dusty. It’s the Australian outback. Wendy Lee arrives from California. She’s lucky to meet Chloe Taylor, who invites Wendy to their sheep station. It sounds like fun except that someone is stealing the sheep.

And the thief just might be something as crazy as a UFO.

 

 

 

Mystery of the Min Min Lights Is Here!

This is the perfect time to escape this wintry weather and explore another land. Journey to the Australian outback in...

Mystery of the Min Min Lights Is Here!

Mystery of the Min Min Lights is Here!

This is the perfect time to escape this wintry weather and explore another land. Journey to the Australian outback in Mystery of the Min Min Lights, the latest adventure from Pack-n-Go Girls.

It’s hot. It’s windy. It’s dusty. It’s the Australian outback. Wendy Lee arrives from California. She’s lucky to meet Chloe Taylor, who invites Wendy to their sheep station. It sounds like fun except that someone is stealing the sheep.

And the thief just might be something as crazy as a UFO.

Want to explore the Brazilian rainforest, the jungles of Thailand, the mountains of Austria, or the waters of Mexico? We’ve got plenty of other spooky mysteries to carry young readers all the way through to the new year and beyond. Check them all out on Amazon or on our website. Buy today and get them by Christmas!

Now is also a great time to remind everyone that Pack-n-Go Girls Adventures are not just for girls. Boys love the series as well because there’s plenty of adventure. They’re great mysteries with lots of fun stuff like like dolphins, sea turtles, toucans, jungles, estuaries, and boats! So if you haven’t thought about Pack-n-Go Girls for the boys in your life, give it a try.

We are so happy to have you along on our adventures around the world.

Happy Travels and Happy Reading and–most of all–Happy Holidays! ~Janelle

Enjoy a Taste of Vanillekipferl This Christmas

We’re joining the Multicultural Kid Blogs fourth annual Christmas in Different Lands series with a Christmas visit to Austria! This year each participating blogger is focusing on a different country, sharing a traditional dish and more about Christmas in that country. For even more glimpses of global Christmas celebrations, see the series from 2013, 2014, and 2015. Plus follow the Multicultural Kid Blogs Christmas board on Pinterest!

The holidays are here, and our kids are saying, “Finally!” What better way to celebrate than with a trip to a Christmas Market? If you’re not lucky enough to have the real thing close by, you can still bring the smells and tastes of the Christmas market to your own kitchen with Vanillekipferl, an easy Austrian Christmas cookie favorite. The hardest part about Vanillekipferl is waiting a couple of days to eat them. It takes a few days for them to get crumbly, which is how Austrians like them!

Vanillekipferl

Using a mixer, combine together:

1 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Add and knead into a soft dough:
2 ½ cups flour
½ cup ground almonds

Cover the dough and put it into the refrigerator for about an hour. Then divide the dough into four parts. Roll each part into a long rope about ½” thick. Cut the ropes into pieces that are 2-3” long. Curve each piece into a quarter moon shape. Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, or until they are a light brown. While the cookies are still hot, toss them in a small bowl of powdered sugar. Let the cookies cool completely on a rack.

Put them in a sealed container and hide them for a couple of days so they don’t all get eaten before they get crumbly! The recipe makes about 2 ½ dozen cookies.

Christmas in Austria

Ever since I wrote Mystery at the Christmas Market, I have a special place in my heart for Austria at Christmas. For Austrians, the season starts early with Saint Nicholas Eve on December 5. Saint Nicholas visits children’s homes and brings a Krampus with him.

Krampus

In the US, we have the tradition of Santa Claus, who gives presents based on whether children are good or bad. Austrians have Krampus, who is a very scary beast-like creature. The tradition is that Krampus punishes naughty children and will even capture them and take them away. You’ll see Krampus at Christmas markets, or Christkindlmarkt, especially on the evening of December 5, which is the eve of Saint Nicholas Day. Young men dress up as Krampus. They wear scary masks, carry chains and bells or brooms and stroll through the streets to beat the naughtiness out of children. These days, many groups of Krampusses, which the Austrians call a Pass, go through different villages on one evening. So you might see as many as a hundred of these devils. They playfully scare adults and children alike.

Saint Nicholas reads from his very large book all the misbehaving the children have done. He also reads some nice things he heard about the children over the last year. Children say a prayer or a poem and are rewarded with a bag filled with oranges, chocolates, and peanuts. Of course the Krampus will shake his chain when listening to misbehavior. As you can imagine, some children are afraid of the Krampus and dread his visit.

Christmas Eve

Austrians also have a tradition of Christmas trees. The door to the room is closed all day on Christmas Eve to allow the Christkind to decorate in secret. In the evening after dinner, a parent rings a bell. The children come into the room and see the beautiful tree. It may be decorated with cookies that are wrapped in paper, chocolate ornaments, and lit candles. This is also the time Austrians exchange Christmas gifts, which are nicely spread out under the tree.

Christkindlmarkt

Austria is full of Christmas markets, or Christkindlmarkte. It’s such a favorite tradition that many US cities also have them. An Austrian Christkindlmarkt begins the first week of Advent, or four weeks before Christmas. The market will have lots of little booths that sell homemade jam and honey, tea, baked treats like pretzels or cookies, grilled bratwursts, and gluhwein. You’ll also find Christmas decorations, handcrafted wooden dishes, candleholders, needlework, and Advent calendars. You’ll often hear groups singing or musical groups playing. The best Christkindlmarkte touch all the senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.

To get into the Christmas spirit Austrian-style, curl up with a cup of hot chocolate, a Vanillekipferl (or two or three!),  and Mystery at the Christmas Market.

Janelle Diller is a co-founder of Pack-n-Go Girls. She writes the Austria, Mexico, and Australia books and hands it off to her business partner, Lisa Travis, to write the Brazil and Thailand books.  Designed by girls for girls who love to play and travel, Pack-n-Go Girls engages the imagination of children ages 6-9 by introducing them to different countries around the world. Pack-n-Go Girls early chapter book adventures are packed with spooky mysteries, international friendships, and lots of fun and easy multicultural learning. Check out the Pack-n-Go Girls website for more learning fun and FREE learning activities: www.packngogirls.com

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