Around the Web with OAV Authors: September 2017

Note: Please enjoy this rerun of last year’s Back to School post.

You already know that you can find our team’s individual profiles right here on the OAV site. You can also find links to their websites in the right-hand sidebar of every OnlineAuthorVisits.com page. We try to make it easy for schools, libraries, and other groups to get to know us so you can select the right publishing pro(s) for your important virtual events.

So, for this Back to School edition of “Around the Web,” we thought we’d make it even easier to connect with our authors and author-illustrators by rounding up direct links to each OAVer’s primary public social media pages. Think: Facebook author pages, Twitter profiles, and writing blogs. You’re on your own for Instagram, Google+ Pinterest, Tumblr, Goodreads, YouTube, and others — but do let your fingers do the typing in those platforms’ search fields. You will get OAV-member results!

Ready? Let’s go!

Row 1, L to R: Patrick Jennings, Janet Lee Carey, Joan Holub, Dia Calhoun. Row 2: Dori Hillestad Butler, Lisa L. Owens, Trudi Trueit, Suzanne Williams, Deb Lund. Row 3: Erik Brooks, Clare Hodgson Meeker, Laurie Ann Thompson, Dana Sullivan, David Patneaude. (Missing: Dori Jones Yang.)

 

Dori Jones Yang (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Dori Jones Yang

Suzanne Williams (author): Goddess Girls series Facebook page

Trudi Trueit (author): Facebook page, Twitter

Laurie Ann Thompson (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Dana Sullivan (author-illustrator): Twitter, blog

David Patneaude (author): Twitter, blog

Lisa L. Owens (author): Twitter, blog

Clare Hodgson Meeker (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Deb Lund (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blogs

Patrick Jennings (author): Twitter, blog

Joan Holub (author-illustrator): Facebook page, Goddess Girls series Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Janet Lee Carey (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog 1, blog 2

Dia Calhoun (author): Twitter, blog

Dori Hillestad Butler (author): Twitter, blog

Erik Brooks (author-illustrator): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Martha Brockenbrough (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

That covers the whole crew!

And, while you’re out and about taking a peek at our wonderful team’s various profiles, don’t forget to connect with OAV’s official Facebook page. We’d love to see — and hear from you — there!

 

 

Around the Web with OAV Authors: July 2017

Our latest roundup of OAVer cyber sightings is best described as a virtual Cool Covers Show-and-Tell, featuring images from our talented members’ publication histories that make you want to dive into all the books!

This striking cover is from Trudi Trueit’s extensive nonfiction list.

 

Here’s the adorable cover of a chapter book from author-illustrator Patrick Jennings.

 

How about this beauty covering a novel by Dori Jones Yang. (It’s brand-spanking NEW, by the way — the book comes out next month.)

 

This covers the German edition of Martha Brockenbrough’s The Game of Love and Death.

 

The cover of this picture book by Deb Lund is a monstrous delight.

 

Lisa L. Owens counts this piece of cover art from her retold-classics series as a fave.

 

Video alert! Watch author-illustrator Erik Brooks preview his picture book Polar Opposites. (Naturally, he starts with the cover!)

 

Here’s the spooky-cute cover of a picture book by OAV’s founder, Suzanne Williams.

 

An evocative entry from a reprint edition of a David Patneaude novel.

 

What an engaging image on Clare Hodgson Meeker’s retelling of a classic Buddhist folktale.

 

This stunner is from one of Dia Calhoun’s novels.

 

Dana Sullivan created a darling illustration for the cover of Digger and Daisy Go to the Zoo, shown here on the book’s French edition.

 

Audio alert! A YouTube reading of Janet Lee Carey’s Wenny Has Wings features a sweetly spare cover image. (Note: To listen to the reading, you’ll need to head on over to YouTube, an option you’ll see and be able to click on in the lower right when you view the file embedded below.)

 

The photo on this Dori Hillestad Butler novel really sets the scene for the story to come.

 

This early reader by Joan Holub sports a fun depiction of the Woodstock setting.

 

And, finally, here’s another perfect representation of the story within, this time on a sweet picture book by Laurie Ann Thompson.

 

That covers all of us here at Online Author Visits!

Reminder: The back-to-school season is right around the corner — so be sure to check out our Author Profiles page to learn more about hosting an illustrious OAVer for a future Skype visit in your classroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clare Hodgson Meeker, Author of the Month: Born to Love Animals

A few months ago, I wrote a guest post for Newbery Honor-winning author Kirby Larson’s Friend Friday blog about my latest book, Rhino Rescue!, and the amazing and risky work that animal-care specialists do to help endangered animals survive.

Shortly after the article was published, Dereck and Beverly Joubert, two National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence I interviewed for the book, had a close brush with death when a buffalo attacked Beverly near their camp one evening in the Okavango Delta. Beverly was speared by the animal’s horns, causing her serious injuries. Dereck was injured, too, but not as badly, and was able to rescue her. They then spent a long, perilous night waiting to be airlifted to a hospital.

Four surgeries later, Beverly has made a miraculous recovery and the couple was able to leave the hospital together earlier this month. Dereck’s comment on their Facebook page this week shows the true grit these Rhino rescuers possess as they look forward to getting back to work with Rhinos Without Borders airlifting these endangered animals to a safer home:

“You can anticipate more fire in our veins for this cause we appear to have been born to.”

Around the Web with OAV Authors: May 2017

How about another themed edition of our “Around the Web” feature, this time with a Throwback Thursday flavor. Our Online Author Visits members are always busy creating new works, but their earlier ones are just as fun to discover (or rediscover, as the case may be). The following roundup offers a clickable gem from each OAVer’s storied past!

Erik Brooks wrote and illustrated The Practically Perfect Pajamas, an adorable picture book about being true to yourself. It came out in 2000, and one teacher reviewer noted that it’s a perfect read-aloud for Pajama Day at school!

Kirkus called Dia Calhoun’s 1999 YA novel Firegold (her first!), “A heartfelt, emotionally trenchant coming-of-age adventure with a lightly mystical bent.”

Speaking of first novels, Patrick Jennings published Faith and the Electric Dogs in 1996, and Publishers Weekly said he took “a soaring flight into magic realism in this captivating tale narrated with brio by a Mexican street dog.”

For the October 2011 issue of Odyssey magazine, Laurie Thompson wrote the super-fun science article “Wanted for Breaking the Law (of Viscosity).” (It’s about non-Newtonian fluids. Activity included!)

Visit Dori Jones Yang’s website to learn the story of her collaboration with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on their popular 1997 business book, Pour Your Heart Into It.

Did you know that Martha Brockenbrough wrote a humorous book chronicling her pregnancy (and more) in 2002? It’s called It Could Happen to You: Diary of a Pregnancy and Beyond.

Here’s where you can find Suzanne Williams’s first-ever book, Mommy Doesn’t Know My Name. It launched in 1996, and according to School Library Journal, “It’s a fun, crazy book that works extremely well.”

Clare Hodgson Meeker’s lovely picture book Who Wakes Rooster? was a 1997 Bank Street College Book of the Year selection.

Talon, published in 2007, was the first novel in Janet Lee Carey’s Wilde Island Chronicles series.

Dori Hillestad Butler is known for her mystery series. Check out her 2003 nonfiction title Whodunit: How the Police Solve Crimes for a glimpse at a real-world process that informs her work.

In 1995, Booklist said, “Readers too young for Stephen King will find satisfaction” in David Patneaude’s eerie book Dark Starry Morning: Stories of This World and Beyond.

Former weather forecaster Trudi Trueit wrote Storm Chasers — one of her many, MANY informational titles — back in 2002.

Deb Lund published the sweet Tell Me My Story, Mama in 2004. Visit her author site for help tracking down a copy for a young one you know who’s about to become a sibling for the first time.

This looks like lots of fun: a 2004 picture book by Joan Holub called Geogra-Fleas! Riddles All Over the Map.

Click over to Lisa L. Owens’s website, then scroll down to see Booklist’s turn-of-the-21st-century comments on American Justice: Seven Famous Trials of the 20th Century.

And here you’ll find info on 2013’s BOB Books: Rhyming Words boxed set featuring Dana Sullivan’s always fetching illustration work.

That covers our whole crew. If you’d like to learn more about our members and consider booking one of us for a virtual or in-person visit, be sure to check out our Author Profiles page.

Happy #TBT, everyone — hope to see you again soon!

 

 

 

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team

 

Martha Brockenbrough’s novel, THE GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH, won a Washington State Book Award. She also spoke at the Harbor Springs Festival of the Book, and completed the manuscript for a biography of Alexander Hamilton that will be out in 2017.

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Dori Hillestad Butler has several cover reveals to share. First, HAUNTED LIBRARY #9: THE GHOSTS AT THE MOVIE THEATER (Grosset & Dunlap, Spring 2017) and HAUNTED LIBRARY #10: THE UNDERGROUND GHOSTS (Grosset & Dunlap, Summer 2017), which is a “Super Special” (that means it’s half again as long as previous books) and will conclude the series.

Dori also has a new easy reader series launching with Peachtree Publishers in 2017. The King & Kayla books are a prequel to her popular BUDDY FILES series.

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Chickens hatch holiday hilarity! Janet Lee Carey’s new picture book, THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS: STARRING THE CHICKENS (Caney Creek Books, October 2016) Illustrated by Molly Blaisdell  is out just in time for the holidays. Grand gifts given on each day of Christmas will delight all chicken lovers. Gentle warmth and humor will wrap families and friends in the joy of Christmas. Contact Janet to schedule a singalong Skype!

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Clare Hodgson Meeker teamed up with bestselling crime author Elizabeth George to teach a sold-out, one day writing class at Hugo House earlier this month called Building a Mystery. Beginning with the question, What is a mystery?, Clare used a just-published picture book called Bonesville to illustrate the elements of a traditional mystery and talk about how to use these element in outlining your story:

1) A secret, strange problem or crime that has to be explained or solved;

2)  A tight, fast-paced plot from beginning to end with lots of problems, twists and turns;

3) Suspense is key: lots of conflict involving characters readers care about to make them want to find out what happens next;

4) Clues to help solve the mystery and red herrings to throw them off course;

5) Setting that triggers the story idea and sets the mood for the mystery ( note to self: a great focus for writers to gather details when on an exotic vacation);

6) Characters who already have full lives before the mystery and live on after it is solved; and

7) A theme or nugget of human wisdom that is illuminated by the story. An example from Bonesville: If you know what you fear, you’ll fear it less.

a page from Bonesville written by Jean-Luc Fromental and published by AbramsKids

Elizabeth George focused on character and setting in the afternoon. She begins to envision each of her Inspector Lynley mystery novels by creating a place for the novel and characters who fit in to that place. She then imagines scenes where characters will be placed in conflict and begins to outline a story from there. She gave a wonderful writing exercise to illustrate how Character is Story:

1) She gave the class 4 characters –  a man 25 years old; a woman 86 years old; a boy 7 years old; and a girl 16 years old 0- and asked us to name each character.

2) Does anything about these names suggest the first inklings of a story?

3) Can you make a connection between the characters?

4) Think about characters lives before the crime or “primary event” as she called it.

5) Once their lives start touching on each other, you are already creating story. And as the characters are created, they will tell you what the story will be.

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Dana Sullivan was just informed that his VERY FIRST royalty check from Sleeping Bear Press is on the way! It’s for illustrating DIGGER AND DAISY GO ON A PICNIC, which published in 2014. Fellow Online Author Trudi Trueit is kindly showing Dana the ropes by letting him know the tradition of using your first royalty check to take all your author pals for dinner. He says maybe this one will be a picnic.

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Laurie Ann Thompson is thrilled to be able to announce her next book, TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: IT’S ALIVE!, which was co-authored with Ammi-Joan Paquette and will release onJune 27, 2017, from Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins! Mia Wenjen over at the awesome book blog Pragmatic Mom hosted a cover reveal and some sneak peeks at this fun middle-grade nonfiction/fiction hybrid, which will be the first in a series. “Every story in this book is strange and astounding. But not all of them are real. Just like the old game in this book’s title, two out of every three stories are completely true, and one is an outright lie. Can you guess which is which? It’s not going to be easy. Some false stories are based on truth, and some of the true stories are just plain unbelievable. And they’re all accompanied by dozens of photos, maps, and illustrations. Amaze yourself and trick your friends as you sort out the fakes from the facts!”

Also, she was honored to have EMMANUEL’S DREAM be celebrated as a Washington State Book Award finalist for the 2016 Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award in the Picture Book category! The book awards are given based on the strength of the publications’ literary merit, their lasting importance, and their overall quality to an author who was born in Washington state or is a current resident and has maintained residence there for at least three years.

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Trudi Trueit has put on her crafty hat with the release of two new nonfiction titles for early readers: BIRTHDAY CRAFTS & MOTHER’S DAY CRAFTS (The Child’s World). These titles are great for educators and parents looking for easy, fun, and affordable project ideas for children, ages 6 and up. Each book offers a brief history of the holiday, followed by a series of crafts with complete instructions and materials list. P.S.Trudi worked in a craft store in high school and can make pretty much anything out of Popsicle sticks!

 

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Skype school visits have been a terrific way for author/illustrator Erik Brooks to expand the participation in his Presidential Polar Bear Post Card Project. After some terrific in-person conversations in Boston at ILA, Erik just did his first PPBPC Skype visit of the new school year with a fantastic group of second graders in Maryville, TN. You can read about it on the classroom blogspot here. With much thanks to teachers Alyson and Courtney for the awesome write up!

Erik also has a new cover reveal for his fist board book project, If I Were a Whale by Shelley Gill (Little Bigfoot, Feb. 2017) and a newly published paperback version of last fall’s The Runaway Tortilla (by Eric Kimmel) that published on Sept. 1st.

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For those attending the upcoming Write on the Sound Writers’ Conference in Edmonds, WA, Lisa L. Owens would love to see you at her session “Exploring Your Voice As a Children’s Writer.” The content is appropriate for writers at all levels, whether you’re already actively publishing or just starting to think about writing for the children’s market. It’s scheduled for Sunday, October 2, at 1:45 p.m.

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Laurie Ann Thompson was thrilled to receive her author copies of the Japanese version of My Dog Is the Best! She’s also looking forward to reading the English version at the Seattle Public Library’s Central Library storytime on October 1st from 11am to noon.

 

In addition, she’s excited to be joining the incredible team of authors at iNK (Inter­est­ing Non­fic­tion for Kids), which “pro­motes the use of non­fic­tion in classrooms through pro­grams that help teach­ers use real books to teach to cur­ricu­lum stan­dards in ways that excite and inspire students.” Stay tuned for more!

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Suzanne Williams and Joan Holub are going to be writing a new series together! THUNDER GIRLS (tentative title) will be their fourth co-written series. This time they’ll be delving into the world of Norse mythology and writing about tween-age gods and godesses at Asgard Academy, which is located in the top one of nine worlds under the sheltering branches of the World-Tree, Yggdrasil. Books 1 and 2 (of an initial four) will pub Spring 2018. Suzanne is especially excited about this new series as she visits Norway often. Her daughter (and now a granddaughter too!) live in Oslo.

The Norse god, Odin, rides on his eight-legged horse, Sleipner, in this painted wooden frieze, one of many depicting Norse myths on the side of Oslo’s town hall.

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And if you’re attending the Washington Library Association’s conference on October 15 at Highline College in Des Moines, WA, come hear OAV members Erik Brooks, Dori Hillestad Butler, Martha Brockenbrough, Janet Lee Carey, Clare Hodgson Meeker and Dana Sullivan talk about their new books at two “Behind the Books” sessions. Deb Lund will be moderating the elementary session and Laurie Ann Thompson will be moderating the middle and high school session.

Around the Web with OAV Authors: August 2016

You already know that you can find our team’s individual profiles right here on the OAV site. You can also find links to their websites in the right-hand sidebar of every OnlineAuthorVisits.com page. We try to make it easy for schools, libraries, and other groups to get to know us so you can select the right publishing pro(s) for your important virtual events.

So, for this Back to School edition of “Around the Web,” we thought we’d make it even easier to connect with our authors and author-illustrators by rounding up direct links to each OAVer’s primary public social media pages. Think: Facebook author pages, Twitter profiles, and writing blogs. You’re on your own for Instagram, Google+ Pinterest, Tumblr, Goodreads, YouTube, and others — but do let your fingers do the typing in those platforms’ search fields. You will get OAV-member results!

Ready? Let’s go!

Row 1, L to R: Patrick Jennings, Janet Lee Carey, Joan Holub, Dia Calhoun. Row 2: Dori Hillestad Butler, Lisa L. Owens, Trudi Trueit, Suzanne Williams, Deb Lund. Row 3: Erik Brooks, Clare Hodgson Meeker, Laurie Ann Thompson, Dana Sullivan, David Patneaude. (Missing: Dori Jones Yang.)

 

Dori Jones Yang (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Dori Jones Yang

Suzanne Williams (author): Goddess Girls series Facebook page

Trudi Trueit (author): Facebook page, Twitter

Laurie Ann Thompson (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Dana Sullivan (author-illustrator): Twitter, blog

David Patneaude (author): Twitter, blog

Lisa L. Owens (author): Twitter, blog

Clare Hodgson Meeker (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Deb Lund (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blogs

Patrick Jennings (author): Twitter, blog

Joan Holub (author-illustrator): Facebook page, Goddess Girls series Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Janet Lee Carey (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog 1, blog 2

Dia Calhoun (author): Twitter, blog

Dori Hillestad Butler (author): Twitter, blog

Erik Brooks (author-illustrator): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

Martha Brockenbrough (author): Facebook page, Twitter, blog

That covers the whole crew!

And, while you’re out and about taking a peek at our wonderful team’s various profiles, don’t forget to connect with OAV’s official Facebook page. We’d love to see — and hear from you — there!

 

 

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Erik Brooks happily welcomed his newest picture book, Later, Gator! (Sterling) into the world on July 19th. He was also excited to participate in the recent International Literacy Association Conference in Boston, MA, both as an exhibitor for the Alaska Wilderness League (continuing to share his Polar Bear Post Card Project with teachers and librarians around the country!) and as a presenter for the Children’s Book Council’s “Humor in Children’s Literature” discussion. Erik and fellow Children’s Choices selection recipient Paul Czajak, both talked about the role of humor in their work in advance of the Council’s official presentation of the 2016 Children’s Choices list. More specifically, Erik’s artwork in The Runaway Tortilla (Graphic Arts), by Eric Kimmel was the subject of his talk.

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The Hide & Seek Ghost, which is book 8 in Dori Hillestad Butler‘s Haunted Library series,  releases on August 16. Book 8 was originally supposed to be the end of the series, but Dori is happy to report there will be a book 9 (The Ghost at the Movie Theater, which will be out February, 2017) and a Haunted Library Super Special (The Underground Ghosts, which will be out July 2017)

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Laurie Ann Thompson traveled to Orlando last month for the ALA Annual Conference, where she was presented with the Schneider Family Book Award for Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah.

She was also the keynote speaker, via Skype, at the Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide Studies, a one-week summer camp program held in West Seneca, NY, dedicated to providing in-depth human rights education for local high school students and teachers. This summer’s theme was “What You Do Matters—Be a Changemaker.”

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Ta da! It’s a cover reveal for Trudi Trueit‘s new tween novel, MY TOP SECRET DARES & DON’Ts (Aladdin MIX). It’s the story of 12-year-old Kestrel Adams, an American, who heads north of the border to help save her grandmother’s ski lodge from developers. To succeed, she’ll have to battle a pair of evil twins, save a rock star dangling from a ski lift, and hope a little luck hops her way. DARES & DON’TS is set for publication in the spring of 2017 and is Trudi’s third title for Aladdin MIX. To read more about the book or see Trudi’s other MIX and middle grade titles, visit www.truditrueit.com

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Suzanne Williams and Joan Holub have two new books out in August in their co-written Goddess Girls and Grimmtastic Girls series: Goddess Girls #20: Calliope the Muse and Grimmtastic Girls #8: Gretel Pushes Back.

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And if you happen to be at the PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association) Writer’s Conference this weekend, come hear Dori Hillestad Butler, Dia Calhoun, Clare Hodgson Meeker, and Lisa L. Owens at noon on Saturday. We’ll be sharing our own personal tales of struggle and triumph on a panel entitled “Warrior Stories: True Tales of Survival in the Writing Biz.”

 

Good News from the Online Author Visits Team!

Martha Brockenbrough will have a biography of Alexander Hamilton for young adults coming out next fall. Meanwhile, The Game of Love and Death made the International Literary Association’s Young Adult Choices 2016 list.

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New on the drawing table for illustrator Erik Brooks? His first board book project with Sasquatch Books! Stay tuned for additional news in future posts, but here is a cover sketch and some sample color for IF I WERE A WHALE by Shelley Gill:

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Dori Hillestad Butler skyped with classrooms in Texas, Maine and Hawaii this month and shared some behind-the-scenes stories about  Haunted Library #7: The Ghost in the Tree House (Grosset & Dunlap), which was published this Spring. She also learned that Japanese, Portuguese and Czech language rights have been sold to the first three books in the series and that book club rights to book 2 were sold to Scholastic.

Dori was excited to hear that the Washington Library Media Association has created a new transitional chapter book award (the Otter Award) and her Haunted Library #1 is on that first list. Washington kids will vote on their favorite chapter book starting in 2017.

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Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams are happy to announce that film/TV animation rights to their Goddess Girls series have been optioned to Universal Home Entertainment.

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Clare Hodgson Meeker‘s Rhino Rescue! just got a great review from Booklist (May 1, 2016). Here are a few excerpts:

“Featuring three stories of dramatic, inspiring rescues and rife with color photos, this National Geographic Kids Chapter series entry offers and engaging, accessibly written addition to animal-rescue-themed books….”

“…Word pronunciations, including locations, are helpfully embedded within the main text, and factoid-rich sidebars add helpful bonus information…”

“…Throughout, the featured animals provide a personalized account of the challenges facing endangered animal species while highlighting their human rescuers. The back matter includes information on rescue organizations.”

 

It was also chosen as A Junior Library Guild Spring 2016 Selection.

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At the end of April, Lisa L. Owens had the great pleasure of Skyping with Grade 5 students from Konawaena Elementary in Hawaii. At the students’ request, she discussed the making of her graphic novelizations of the classic tales Black Beauty and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, then answered the kids’ insightful questions about the writing life. In early May, she donned her editor’s persona to give an in-depth talk for the Northwest Independent Editors Guild on her extensive experience doing developmental editing in the children’s market. And, just last week, she learned that her forthcoming elementary-level biographies about explorers Hernán Cortés and Robert de la Salle have a publication date. Look for them from Lerner in Fall 2017.

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Laurie Ann Thompson is thrilled to share that Emmanuel’s Dream is a Notable Book in the Children’s Africana Book Awards!

It has also appeared on several more state lists, including being a Star North Nominee in the Minnesota Youth Reading Awards, a nominee for the 2016-2017 Black-Eyed Susan Book Award by the Maryland Association of School Librarians, a nominee for the the 2017 Children’s Literature Association of Utah (CLAU) Beehive Award, and a Transitional Non-Fiction Honor Book in the 2015 Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Awards.

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Trudi Trueit is currently writing a pair of nonfiction books for the Detecting Disasters series: Detecting Avalanches and Detecting Volcanoes (ages 8 – 10). A former TV weather forecaster, she’s written a number of books about weather watching, storm chasing, and the water cycle for classroom and library use across North America. The disaster books will be published in the summer of 2017. In the meantime, look for her new nonfiction children’s titles later this summer, Mother’s Day Crafts and Birthday Crafts (both from The Child’s World). Trudi worked in a craft store through high school and college and loves all things crafty! For more of her nonfiction titles, visit her website at www.truditrueit.com

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Suzanne Williams had a great time speaking to K-5 students at Eastgate Elementary’s 27th annual Young Author’s Day in Bellevue on May 20th. She also signed 162 books!

Around the Web with OAV Authors: April 2016

It’s time for the first Online Author Visits “Around the Web” post since we made the move from Blogger to WordPress. (Hope you’ve been enjoying the new look and interface, btw — we sure like it.) Enjoy this roundup of a few random OAV-member sightings on the web!

Dori Jones Yang

Dori Jones Yang learned a lot about wisdom while working on the book Warm Cup of Wisdom: Inspirational Insights On Relationships and Life. Read about her findings here.

In this video, Dana Sullivan reads his adorable picture book Ozzie and the Art Contest during an elementary school assembly.

Janet Lee Carey is grilled by none other than “the Queen” (who’s read Janet’s In the Time of Dragon Moon) in this surprise video find. Don’t miss it!

Author Turf’s 2012 Q&A with Trudi Trueit covers a lot of interesting ground, including how Trudi would spend any lottery winnings and what she’d write about if she could only produce one more book.

Found on Amazon: This glowing reader review (the first one on the site’s book page) of Clare Hodgson Meeker’s recently released Rhino Rescue! And More True Stories of Saving Animals.

“Human efforts to rescue endangered animals make for rather compelling stories. Rhino Rescue does not disappoint in this regard. The experiences of rescuing a badly injured monk seal, orphaned tiger cubs, and African White Rhinos make for compelling reading. The amount of work that goes into helping these at-risk animals is amazing as are the people who work so hard to help them. Children who love animals or are considering working in the field of animal rescue will find this book fascinating reading. The sidebars that include additional generic information about the different species as well as the brief facts scattered throughout the book provide further interest-catching information. Another winning addition to a great series.”

Martha Brockenbrough shares how she approaches helping her children with homework in “Support Your Kids By Letting Learning Happen,” a New York Times opinion piece from November 2014.

Erik Brooks’s Presidential Polar Bear Post Card project is still going strong. Below is #128 in the series and wacreated April 18, 2016.

Illustration by Erik Brooks

And, that’s a wrap. See you next time!

Scheduling note: For a while we did a monthly “Good News” feature on the third Thursday and this feature on the fourth. Today’s post marks the beginning of a fresh schedule to go with our fresh digs: From now on, “Around the Web” and “Good News” will appear on the third Thursday of alternate months. Scheduling for the regular “Author of the Month” remains unchanged.