Josh Funk's Blog, page 5

International Rhyming Picture Book Day 2016

Happy International Rhyming Picture Book Day!

How are you gonna celebrate this most wondrously magical day of the year?

Where I’ll Be Next





Saturday, 4/9 from 10am-3pm: Cape Elizabeth Authorfest (Cape Elizabeth High School, ME, USA)





Two for You

(two books I recommend you read)

1. Guess Again! by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Adam Rex

2. Iggy Peck, Architect written by Andrea “No Lithgow” Beaty & illustrated by David Roberts

Emily Arrow’s “Curious Garden” song for a Lennon Award

The John Lennon Song Writing Contest voting opens today. Emily Arrow’s song “Curious Garden” inspired by Peter Brown’s 2009 picture book The Curious Garden is a finalist in the children’s category. I highly encourage you to visit the JLSWC Voting Page and vote for Emily Arrow and “Curious Garden” – if you haven’t listened to it, you can do so on that page (I’m doing that right now).

You can vote once per day during the month of April.

Here’s How Emily Will Thank You For Voting

(Screen shot your vote and tweet, post, or fb message it to her)

Vote 1x – raffle for free album

Vote 10x – raffle for free album AND kazoo

Vote 20x – raffle for free album AND kazoo AND 3 books

Vote 30x – you’ll receive an album, kazoo,

and be entered in a raffle for a song written about YOU!

How will you ever remember to vote every single day?

Click To Sign Up for a Daily Invite to Vote!

Bonus: Here’s the video for Emily Arrow’s “Curious Garden”:

Where I’ll Be Next





Saturday, 4/2 at 2pm: Storytime at the Harvey-Mitchell Memorial Library, Epping, NH, USA
Saturday, 4/9 from 10am-3pm: Cape Elizabeth Authorfest (Cape Elizabeth High School, ME, USA)





Two for You

(two books I recommend you read – or albums I recommend you listen to)

1. Storytime Singalong Volume I by Emily Arrow

2. The Curious Garden written & illustrated by Peter Brown

Dear Dragon Jacket

I recently got a chance to see the full Dear Dragon book jacket and I shared it over at Teach Mentor Texts on Saturday. The cover is fantastic, but the image continues around the spine and onto the back of the book. Rodolfo Montalvo has done such a fantastic job! I’m sharing the jacket here, but if you want to see the jacket flaps, too, then head over to Teach Mentor Texts (tease: Rodolfo has drawn little caricatures of each of us).

Don’t you want to just frame it and put it on your wall? (I sure do! Hey, Rodolfo, is there any way to make that happen?)

Dear Dragon will be available on 9.6.16 from Viking/Penguin (and is available for pre-order now)!

Where I’ll Be Next





Saturday, 4/2 at 2pm: Storytime at the Harvey-Mitchell Memorial Library, Epping, NH, USA
Saturday, 4/9 from 10am-3pm: Cape Elizabeth Authorfest (Cape Elizabeth High School, ME, USA)





Two for You

(two books I recommend you read)

1. Ducks Vacation written & illustrated by Gilad Soffer

2. Growing Up Pedro written & illustrated by Matt Tavares

#TeachersAreRockStars at the Nerdy Book Club

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know I’m a big fan of the Nerdy Book Club (see previous posts I’ve made here, here, and here). Today I was given the opportunity to write a post over at the Nerdy Book Club where I share my love for teachers, librarians, educators, and all that they do. Check it out here.

I also wrote a companion list on The List App (one of my favorite new social media apps) entitled “Reasons Teachers Are Rock Stars” – please feel free to add your own reasons to this list as well. Check the list out here.

Today (and every day) I encourage you to share the your love for educators. And if you do, may I request that you use the hashtag #TeachersAreRockStars in any social media posts you make? Thanks. And go hug a teacher.

Where I’ll Be Next





Saturday, 3/19 at 2pm: Storytime at the Brighton Branch of the Boston Public Library (Brighton, MA, USA)
Saturday, 3/26 at 2pm: Storytime at the Books-A-Million South Portland (South Portland, ME, USA)
Saturday, 4/9 from 10am-3pm: Cape Elizabeth Authorfest (Cape Elizabeth, ME, USA)





Two for You

(two books I recommend you read)

1. Dario and the Whale written by Cheryl Lawton Malone & illustrated by Bistra Masseva

2. Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine written by Heather Lang & illustrated by Raúl Colón

Dear Dragon Is Now Available for Pre-Order

Dear Dragon is now available for pre-order wherever books are sold!

Indiebound             Barnes & Noble              Amazon

George and Blaise are pen pals. They write letters to each other about everything: their pets, birthdays, favorite sports, and Science Fair projects. There’s just one thing that the two friends don’t know:

George is a human, while Blaise is a dragon!

What will happen when these pen pals finally meet face-to-face? A sweet and clever friendship story about looking past physical differences to appreciate the person (or dragon) underneath.

Available September 6, 2016, illustrated by Rodolfo Montalvo, published by Viking/Penguin

And certainly feel free to add Dear Dragon to your goodreads ‘to-read’ shelf!

Where I’ll Be Next





Saturday, 3/12 at 11am: Storytime at the Waltham Public Library (Waltham, MA, USA)
Saturday, 3/12 at 1pm: Syrup Making with Gaining Ground at the Concord Public Library (Concord, MA, USA)
Monday, 3/14 at 6:30pm: Storytime at the Wilmington Public Library (Wilmington, MA, USA)
Saturday, 3/19 at 2pm: Storytime at the Brighton Branch of the Boston Public Library (Brighton, MA, USA)
Saturday, 3/26 at 2pm: Storytime at the Books-A-Million South Portland (South Portland, ME, USA)





Two for You

(two books I recommend you read)

1. Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat written & illustrated by Philip C. Stead

2. Good Night, Good Knight written by Shelley Moore Thomas & illustrated by Jennifer Plecas

Pirasaurs! Is Now Available for Pre-Order

PIRASAURS! is now available for pre-order wherever books are sold!

Indiebound             Barnes & Noble              Amazon

They’re pirates. They’re dinosaurs? They’re Pirasaurs! RAWRGH!

We’re Pirasaurs! We’re Pirasaurs!

We rule the open seas!

We’ll cannon-blast you to the past!

We do just what we please!

Meet the Pirasaurs, a ragtag team of seasoned pirate dinosaurs looking for adventure and treasure! There’s fearsome Captain Rex, golden-toothed Velocimate, one-eyed Bronto Beard, and more fearsome, buccaneering beasts….as well as one new recruit who may be small, but who’s eager to prove he can learn the ropes and find his place on the team.

But when a trap is set upon the Pirasaurs while looking for buried treasure, it’s up to the littlest recruit to show the team that there’s more to a Pirasaur than meets the eye patch!

Available August 30, 2016, illustrated by Michael Slack, published by Scholastic

Where I’ll Be Next





Saturday, 3/5 at 11am: Storytime at the Newbury Town Library (Newbury, MA, USA)
Saturday, 3/5 at 1:30pm: Dedham Little Free Library Unveiling, Legacy Place (Dedham, MA, USA)
Saturday, 3/12 at 11am: Storytime at the Waltham Public Library (Waltham, MA, USA)
Saturday, 3/12 at 1pm: Syrup Making with Gaining Ground at the Concord Public Library (Concord, MA, USA)
Monday, 3/14 at 6:30pm: Storytime at the Wilmington Public Library (Wilmington, MA, USA)





Two for You

(two books I recommend you read)

1. How to Cheer Up Dad written & illustrated by Fred Koehler

2. Be a Friend written & illustrated by Salina Yoon

Big News! Edwardian Taylor to illustrate IT’S NOT JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

Woo hoo! I get to share the big news! Edwardian Taylor has signed on to illustrate IT’S NOT JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (Two Lions, 2017). This is from last Thursday’s PW Children’s Bookshelf.

Check out his terrific Instagram feed here to see some crazy awesome illustrations. I can’t wait to see what Edwardian does with JACK!

Where I’ll Be Next





Friday, 2/19 at 1pm: Double Storytime at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA (with Anna Staniszewski and her debut picture book Power Down, Little Robot)
Saturday, 2/20 at 11am: Funky Brunch at Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA





Two for You

(two books I recommend you read)

1. Power Down, Little Robot written by Anna Staniszewski & illustrated by Tim Zeltner



2. Pancakes, Pancakes! written & illustrated by Eric Carle

Dear Dragon Cover Reveal

Enormous news! Dear Dragon has a cover! Magnificently illustrated by Rodolfo Montalvo, Dear Dragon will hit shelves on September 6, 2016 (from Viking Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House).

The folks at the fabulous children’s literature resource All the Wonders have put together the most creatively genius reveal – so head over and check it out! And while you’re at it, peruse all the amazing posts, crafts, interviews, podcasts, and more that the All the Wonders team has put together.

*Bonus* In addition to the cover, there’s also an interview with Rodolfo and me.

Two for You

(two books I recommend you read)

1. Pink is for Blobfish written by Jess Keating & illustrated by David DeGrand



2. Hampire written by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen & illustrated by Howard Fine

Pirasaurs! Cover Reveal

Big news today! My 2nd book, Pirasaurs! now has a cover! Amazingly illustrated by the immensely talented Michael Slack, Pirasaurs! will be published by Scholastic on August 30, 2016. 

And even better news, librarian Travis Jonker is graciously hosting the reveal at his School Library Journal blog 100 Scope Notes (if you aren’t already following Travis’s blog, you really Must – with a capital M).

 

So head over, check it out, share with the world, and mark your calendars for August 30th. RAWRGH!!!

 

Two for You

(two books I recommend you read)

1. Circus Ship written & illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

  2. Faraway Friends written & illustrated by Russ Cox

  

The 2015 Nerdies

I’ve got stellar news! Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast was announced as a Fiction Picture Book Winner of the 2015 Nerdy Book Club Awards (or Nerdies). What are the Nerdies? According to Donalyn Miller, co-founder of the Nerdy Book Club:

The Nerdy Book Club began as a book award blog. Dismayed that so many books our students (and we) loved to read were overlooked during book award season, Colby [Sharp, Nerdy Book Club co-founder] and I created a people’s choice award for children’s and young adult book lovers. While the blog has expanded beyond our original dreams for it, we still host the Nerdy Book Club Awards, or Nerdies, every December. The award finalists exemplify the best children’s and young adult books for the current year—as nominated by the readers of Nerdy Book Club blog readers. Imagine an up-to-date bookshelf of engaging, high-quality titles hand-picked by savvy librarians and teachers who read and celebrate children’s books.

I’m truly honored (and rather overjoyed) that Lady Pancake is listed among these fantastic books (several of which I’ve shared in my Two for You’s). I think it’s safe to say I speak on behalf of the publisher, Sterling Children’s, and illustrator Brendan Kearney when I say I’d like to thank all the educators, students, parents, readers, and nerds who voted. I’m extremely pleased that Lady Pancake has been able to reach so many classrooms, libraries, and readers.

And also, a big thank you to the Nerdy Book Club.

You can read the entire list of Fiction Picture Book winners of the 2015 Nerdies here (and if you aren’t familiar with the Nerdy Book Club, you’ve got over 1,000 fabulous posts to catch up on).

 

Two for You

(two books I recommend you read – Nerdies style)

1. To the Sea written & illustrated by Cale Atkinson

2. Wolfie the Bunny written by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Zachariah OHora