Tag: Picture Book Release

Kid Lit Love: National Regular Average Ordinary Day

~ cynthiahm ~ 3 Comments

Welcome to the Kid Lit Love blog series, celebrating new picture book releases every Monday! Today’s new release is by Lisa Katzenberger, illustrated by Barbara Bakos, titled NATIONAL REGULAR AVERAGE ORDINARY DAY from Penguin Workshop. This celebratory book will be available June 23, 2020.

NATIONAL REGULAR AVERAGE ORDINARY DAY by Lisa Katzenberger, illustrated by Barbara Bakos


Synopsis: Peter does not like being bored, so he comes up with a way to have some festive fun–he’ll celebrate a different holiday each day! He even rates them on a scale of 1 to 10. But when he wakes up one morning to discover there isn’t a holiday, he realizes he’ll have to take matters into his own hands and make up his own! That’s easier said than done, though, and nothing seems to go right–until Peter realizes that even a regular, average, ordinary day can be something worth celebrating.

Lisa Katzenberger

I had the pleasure of connecting with Lisa through social media and I asked her a few questions about her experience as a writer. We realized that both of us have done the 12×12 Picture Book challenge and loved that experience. Here’s Lisa’s interview:

1. Tell us how you came to write books for children.
I have always loved books and wanted to be a writer since I was a kid, taking creative writing courses in school any chance I could and studying journalism. I even landed a job after college as a writer — albeit a technical writer. As an adult, I kept writing on the side, focusing on short stories at first and then a few novels. It wasn’t until I had kids that I remembered the joy of books for children. Reading piles of picture books, I finally knew where I fit in!


2. Tell us how you came up with the idea for your book.
I used to work as a Social Media Manager and we began writing content around national holidays like International Women’s Day. Then I started to notice all the fun national holidays became popular on social media — like National Waffle Day. I wondered how a child might celebrate these different holidays and the story grew from there! 


3. Share a piece of advice for children’s writers.
My really basic, no-frills advice is to just keep writing. This week I was looking back on some of the picture books I wrote when I was starting out 5 years ago. Stories that I queried with, stories that went out on submission to editors but never sold, stories that I thought were good. Looking back, they were fine stories but they are not as strong as the stories I am writing today. What if I had given up when the first book I went out on sub with didn’t sell? I would have completely lost the opportunity to grow and hone my craft. I would have lost book deals. I would have lost my dream. But even in the face of rejection and frustration (which I still face today), I just kept writing. Keep writing everyone!

You can connect with Lisa here…

Website link: www.lisakatzenberger.com

Twitter link: www.twitter.com/fictioncity

Look for more Kid Lit Love posts on Mondays! Want to have your book featured? Send an email request to authorcynthiamackey@gmail.com

Sign up for my newsletter and learn about release dates, pre-orders and free offers.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are welcome here any time!

Kid Lit Love: Little Mole Finds Hope

~ cynthiahm ~ 1 Comment

I am thrilled to feature Little Mole Finds Hope written by Glenys Nellist, illustrated by Sally Garland, on the Kid Lit Love Blog Series today! Little Mole Finds Hope is published by Beaming Books and comes out in a year (2020) where hope is exactly what the world needs.

Little Mole Finds Hope by Glenys Nellist, Illustrated by Sally Garland

Synopsis: When Little Mole is feeling sad in his dark, underground home, his mother shows him how to look for hope. He finds that signs of spring are everywhere, from the daffodil bulbs under the soil to the tiny buds on the branches above. Hope can be found–even in the darkest places. 

Author, Glenys Nellist

Today we welcome Glenys Nellist to the Kid Lit Love Blog Series!

1. Tell us how you came to write books for children.
Originally a primary school teacher in England, it wasn’t until I relocated to the USA in 2000 to become a Children’s Ministry Director in a small church that I began to explore writing for children in a serious way. In my position at that church, I began writing my own curriculum, which included retelling Bible stories. Then one day, I picked up The Jesus StoryBook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones. I read it, cover to cover, and immediately knew that I wanted to write like her. It was the inspiration I needed to write my first book, published in 2014 by Zonderkidz. It was called Love Letters from God and it quickly turned into a series of its own.


2. Tell us about the inspiration for your book.
Little Mole Finds Hope was inspired by one of the letters from God that I penned in that first book, Love Letters from God. In the letter, I was exploring the idea that hope lives in darkness: a baby is born from the darkness of the womb; a butterfly emerges from the darkness of the cocoon, and daffodil bulbs spring forth from deepest, darkest earth. I knew, then, that I wanted to write a story of hope that would encompass this truth, and Little Mole Finds Hope was born.


3. Share a piece of advice for children’s writers.
When I was writing that first book (Love Letters from God) I became discouraged and gave up half-way though. I put the manuscript on the shelf, where it sat for over a year. If it hadn’t been for my husband, who encouraged me, I would never have picked it up and finished it. And without that first book, I would never have written twenty more. I often think about all those half-written manuscripts, lying on dusty shelves in hope-robbed rooms. So, my advice to all children’s writers and aspiring authors would be.. don’t give up!  

Thank you, Glenys, for sharing your lovely new book with us today! Please find links below to learn more about Glenys and her books.

Peek Inside Little Mole Finds Hope
Author Website Facebook
Twitter Instagram

For more new picture book releases, both fiction and non-fiction, stop by the blog on Mondays!

Sign up for my newsletter and learn about release dates, pre-orders and free offers for my picture books, including my 2020 release, The Lullaby Monsters.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. You are welcome back any time!

Kid Lit Love Series Resumes!

~ cynthiahm

Hello Picture Book Lovers!

I am pleased to announce that my Kid Lit Love Series will resume very soon with a focus on new picture book releases in 2020 both fiction and non-fiction.

The entire Kid Lit Community is so amazing and I’ve been fortunate to connect with a number of authors who are releasing picture books this year. Kid Lit Love posts will be on Mondays. I am excited to say I have a bunch of wonderful books to share. So if you are looking for something new this year to read with the children in your life, come and visit my blog on a Monday and you just might find a new picture book that is exactly what you’re looking for.

Here are just a few of my favourite picture books!

Some of the books are fun, some are whimsical, some share important historical information, some deal with social and emotional issues, some feature diversity, some have themes related to caring for our world or each other. And with each book, you will learn a little about the making of it and how it came to be.

Curious? Follow my blog or like my facebook page where I share the posts. And if you love a book, I encourage you to leave a review, add it to your ‘to-read’ list on Goodreads, recommend it to a friend, request it at your library, or share it on your social media.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my blog! I hope you’ll leave a comment and visit again. Have a wonderful day!

And if you have a moment, sign up for my newsletter!

Kid Lit Love Series Resumes!

~ cynthiahm ~ 1 Comment

Hello Picture Book Lovers!

I am pleased to announce that my Kid Lit Love Series will resume very soon with a focus on new picture book releases in 2020 both fiction and non-fiction.

The entire Kid Lit Community is so amazing and I’ve been fortunate to connect with a number of authors who are releasing picture books this year. Kid Lit Love posts will be on Mondays. I am excited to say I have a bunch of wonderful books to share. So if you are looking for something new this year to read with the children in your life, come and visit my blog on a Monday and you just might find a new picture book that is exactly what you’re looking for.

Here are just a few of my favourite picture books!

Some of the books are fun, some are whimsical, some share important historical information, some deal with social and emotional issues, some feature diversity, some have themes related to caring for our world or each other. And with each book, you will learn a little about the making of it and how it came to be.

Curious? Follow my blog or like my facebook page where I share the posts. And if you love a book, I encourage you to leave a review, add it to your ‘to-read’ list on Goodreads, recommend it to a friend, request it at your library, or share it on your social media.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my blog! I hope you’ll leave a comment and visit again. Have a wonderful day!

And if you have a moment, sign up for my newsletter!