Can't Believe I Missed It

Apparently, the first week in February is Children's Authors and Illustrators Week—who knew? You would think someone who likes to call herself a children's author might know this. I didn't get the memo, so to celebrate, I will do Book Covers of the Week this week to celebrate kids' books.

I love children's books and ya books, along with historical fiction, biographies, and anything I can get my hands on. I just finished Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little and looovved the narrator. She was imprisoned for her mother's murder and doesn't know if she did it. It's not the plot that caught me (although a good mystery is a great find) but rather, the main character and her observations. Not a kid's book, but I highly recommend it anyway.

Some fabulous kid's books (imo) are:

Lilly is just the best and I will read anything by Kevin Henkes. He rocks.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne. I first found Pooh Bear on tv as a child and didn't even know there were books until I had my child...seriously. Both kids got copies of the adventures of Pooh. It's a fabulous story and adorable illustrations and just so wise. Read it if you haven't, even if you don't have little kids.

Nancy Drew is the penultimate female character who wasn't like other girls. The Mystery at the Ski Jump was the first Nancy Drew book I read and I didn't stop reading them. Nancy was a great role model for me at the time. She is plucky and fierce and she saves herself on lots of occasions. Brave and inquisitive and so flipping smart, Nancy always gets the bad guy. You can get the original stories, manga comics, first-person mysteries, little kid Nancy books and movie novelizations. All I know is that I want to be Nancy Drew someday.

Red Scarf Girl is absolutely riveting. If you know nothing of China's cultural revolution, this is a great read for learning more. It's about society in general and how we are products of our culture but we can also grow beyond our culture to connect with the greater world. I honestly thought this was fiction as I was reading it and realized it was memoir later. It reads like a compelling novel and I think everyone should read it. Everyone.

And, lastly, I thought I'd better throw in one last card I made for the nursing home. I used a Project Life kind of card, although I don't scrap with pocket pages. I love the little cards though! You can put together a birthday card or hello card in minutes with them.

I added a Doodlebug enamel heart to one of the hears and alphabet stickers and twine to finish it off.

That's it for President's Day! Happy Monday!
Chark

p.s. If you have a military family, you might want to check out the publisher, Elva Resa, who specialize in books for military families. I love the illustrations for my story and how easy they made the process of my first publication...see the cover on my sidebar here.

p.p.s. There's a newsletter that one of the editors runs that is worth signing up for, as well, called Books Make a Difference. The newsletter isn't just for military families and not just for writers, it's just about books...and how they make a difference. Weird, huh? :)