Anyway, Carrie Mouse and the Piano Lesson is here! Visit this page for purchase links and a free color sheet, and visit the bottom of this post for a chance to win a copy!
Carrie loves music, so she's excited to begin piano lessons! But piano takes a lot more work and patience than she expected. Will Carrie work hard to pursue her dream of playing "Oh! Susanna"? Or will piano prove to be too much for her?
Carrie Mouse and the Piano Lesson comes out next week!
I'm super excited about this...as a music teacher, it's a story that's very special to me. So, to help you get excited about this book too, I want to share some fun facts about the book.
It's inspired by one of my students.
I had a student whose mom told me he was disappointed after his first lesson that he couldn't just sit down at the piano and play songs already, but he worked hard to learn the concepts he needed to play Star Wars music and did a great job playing a custom arranged Star Wars medley the next spring. (BTW, I'm pretty sure I've taught more John Williams in my studio than any other composer.) This was the primary inspiration for the book. I just decided it was best to go with something public domain for the song Carrie wants so badly to play.
Miss Legato's teaching method is loosely based on Step by Step by Edna Mae Burnam.
It's a series that's pretty much never used by anyone but me in my music circles, and it's kind of theory-lite, but I've had the best success with teaching kids to read music with this series. It teaches the notes one at a time, which is a lot easier for someone new to music to keep up with, particularly for auditory learners. (I have a much easier time teaching sight reading to visual and tactile learners.)
Miss Legato's statement "The more you practice, the faster you'll learn," is one I've used repeatedly.
Yep, trying to get kids to practice is a constant part of teaching music. I actually used a variation of this phrase with a student last week. Practice 40 hours a day!
(This book is a good excuse to go binge watch TwoSetViolin. 😁 Or...go practice.)
There is an object in Carrie's room that foreshadows the next Carrie Mouse book my sister and I have planned.
But I'm not going to tell you what it is. 😉
You're not going to find any five-stringed violins in this book.
I mean, this is about piano, so there aren't any violins, but the point is, my sister plays piano, so the illustrations of instruments are as accurate as can be on that scale. I've seen some really inaccurate portrayals of instruments in picture books and they always drive me crazy.
Music is amazing.
And teaching it is one of my favorite things. So is writing, so combining the two in this little story was a lot of fun, and I love the way Rebekah's illustrations came out.
And I can't wait to share the book with you next week!
The cover for Carrie Mouse and the Piano Lesson is here!
I rarely say anything about Carrie on here for some reason—I need to fix that—but she's a special little mouse to me. I created her back when I was seven, this headstrong, determined little mouseling with much to learn, and I can hardly believe it's been nearly two years since she was first introduced to the world through my sister's amazing sculpting skills.
So, nearly two years after you got to read about her adventure being trapped in the giant garage, Carrie Mouse is back to take on her newest challenge: piano lessons!
Carrie Mouse and the Piano Lesson is inspired by my own experiences as a music teacher, and so, as someone who enjoys sharing my love of music, it's very special to me.
Carrie loves music, so she's excited to begin piano lessons! But piano takes a lot more work and patience than she expected. Will Carrie work hard to pursue her dream of playing "Oh! Susanna"? Or will piano prove to be too much for her?
And now, without further ado, I present the cover of Carrie Mouse and the Piano Lesson!
How is it that a year can simultaneously feel like it flew by and like it took at least a decade? If anybody ever solves that mystery, please let me know. Like, I can't believe it's already 2019, but when I look back at pictures from the beginning of 2018, it seems like that was ages ago.
So last winter, we kept having snow and ice and ice and snow. And it got old. This winter, it's rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain...and I am so SICK of rain. But I digress. The snow was pretty, but I'm good with one snowstorm per winter. I mean, there's a reason I live in Georgia.
Sometime in January or so, I started doing ballet for exercise. I was really good about keeping up with it until we went out of town for spring break. Since then, it's been quite sporadic, but oh, well.
My "Recording Studio"
Also in January, I started my successful run of Creighton Hill audiobook recording. Let me tell you, I have immense respect for audiobook narrators now. Audiobook recording is hard. And tedious. And frustrating. But hey, eight months later, my audiobook was available on Amazon! Now I need to get serious about recording The Crossways. I'm (I think) about a quarter of the way through, but I keep stopping.
Carrie Mouse storyboard
As books came back into the library from Christmas, I came across Barbara Reid's The Night Before Christmas, and the light bulbs went on for Carrie Mouse and the Giant Garage. We created a storyboard, my sister Rebekah sculpted illustrations, I rewrote the text from when I was seven, and an old project finally started to come to life!
My Groundhog Day display
In the interim between youth coordinators at the library, I did the displays. These were my groundhogs. They were a lot of fun to make and everyone seemed to love them. They're still hanging around, so we may be putting them out again soon. Right now, we've got paper snowflakes on the windows. Yes, I made paper snowflakes at work. So did one of my coworkers. Hey, it's a small town library. What else are we going to do on Saturday? It looks really pretty too.
We got a new youth coordinator sometime around February/March. She's AWESOME. She's a lot of fun to work with, and we've done a lot of awesome projects with her. More on those later.
Early in the year, I switched Acktorek over from the computer to a notebook. I write better by hand. This book was such a good writing experience. It was hard to find the time, sometimes hard to focus, but it did so much to help me climb out of the writing slump I'd been in for the past several years. I finished it just before the new year. It still needs a lot of work, but it's the most usable thing I've written in the past several years and I love it.
I tried vlogging. Um...that didn't last. Videos are SOOOOOO much more work than blog posts. I enjoyed it, but it just takes too much time that I don't have.
3D printer adventures
We got a 3D printer at the library! It's actually still quite mesmerizing, even all these months later. I learned my lesson about using a knife to clean off supports, though. I sliced an approximately 1/4" long flap in my finger, and I still have a scar. I guess it matches the scar from slicing through my hand cutting the plastic off ice cream while babysitting. And the dog bite and plastic laundry basket scars on my other hand.
I took piano lessons all year, which has been great. It's been rather a challenge to stop thinking like a violinist while playing piano, but I've learned a ton. I don't like performing piano any more than I used to, but I've got more experience.
My dad, sisters, and me at Driftwood Beach
(my mom was taking the picture)
We went to St. Augustine for a few days during spring break. My cousin's doppelganger was there. Seriously. This guy looked so much like my cousin it was scary. They're even the same age. We also visited Jekyll Island and Driftwood Beach. There was a lot about Florida history we learned that I guess I never paid much attention to. I mean, Florida wasn't one of the thirteen colonies, so I must have just ignored it during the colonial period. But it was quite interesting.
My mom's birthday post
I turned "real old, like, 22" in April. Which is weird. My mom decided to pull together her pictures of me cleaning from over the years. When I was little, I apparently thought cleaning was fun. I'm not sure why. I actually asked for cleaning supplies for my eighth birthday and was excited about it. I used my sponges playing that I was a servant in a castle. Now, well, I don't like cleaning, but I hate messes worse.
Our church went on a hike for Mother's Day. Tallulah Gorge is really pretty, I'll admit that, but man, is it hard on your legs! LOTS of steps. The waterfalls are worth it, though. And my then-seven-year-old bestie (she just turned eight) kept asking me to take her picture, so I have quite a few of those. ;)
More library displays! I drew a sign for a classics table, and several of us put together a "blind date with a book" table. It was a ton of fun. And I got to draw at work!
We had a recital week. First, Rebekah had a cello recital, then I had my students' recital, which was amazing, and then my youngest sister, Addy, and I had a piano recital.
My family and me before the parade.
Campaign season again! We just had a general election opponent this time around, so we didn't do door to door until later, but we did walk in a parade and go to a BBQ. It was great, and the float we walked with was fabulous. Plus, I was able to listen to An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L'Engle on my phone while waiting for the parade to start.
That weekend, we went to the wedding of a longtime friend of mine. (Destiny, who I went to visit last year, to see her play. She actually met her now-husband in that play.) Our families have known each other since we were little kids. Before her "little" brother became a giant. It was seriously the most fun wedding I've ever been to. None of my pictures were any good, but the memories are terrific, and I'm so happy for Destiny and her husband. They're fun, and crazy, and just perfect for each other.
In July, I got officially hooked on Ranger's Apprentice. That series is amazing. And I already wrote way too much about it, so moving on...
I finished my cataloguing project! Though I haven't done my Christmas books yet. And I keep getting used books from the library and Goodwill, so I'm out of room.
I started some new students in August...a four and a six year old. They're some of the cutest kids ever and I love teaching them, but I will say, it takes a lot of creativity to teach a four-year-old to read music. I've drawn animals on notes (she loves playing "elephant") and made a custom music dry erase board (they both enjoy drawing on it), but the most popular thing seems to be the store-name rhythm sticks. We clap "Hooome De-pot" (half, quarter, quarter), "Ho-bby Lo-bby" (quarter, quarter, quarter, quarter), "Ta-co Beeell" (quarter, quarter, half), and "Good-will" (half, half), but the perennial favorite is "Loooowe's" (whole note). My student is so adorable when she pulls out the red sticks and claps and sings "Loooowe's." I'll never think of the stores the same way again.
We went on a trip to Pennsylvania and DC that was one of the best vacations ever. We saw SOOOO many amazing history-related things. It's so surreal standing in places like Independence Hall where so much history was made. There was definitely an information overload, but it's a vacation I'll never forget.
Carrie Mouse came out! It was a lot of work, and I'm stiiiiiill making little purple sweaters (with my mom's help, they just take soooo long), but I'm super excited about the way it turned out. Little seven-year-old me could never have imagined it.
Me and Bob
We made a scarecrow at the library! Our town has a scarecrow contest every fall, and this time, our youth coordinator thought it would be a lot of fun for us to enter. She put together the head and stand and donated the hay and gloves, the circ manager donated the clothes and boots, I made the hat and face, and the youth coordinator and I (with some help from her husband...and a lot of hay strings, tape, and fishing line) put him together. I named him Bob, and he won third in the contest. It was fantastic. :)
Door to door happened, and election night happened, and Barry Loudermilk won the race for Congress again!
We went on a church camp out where it was very cold, but we hung out at the rented cabin and watched Christopher Robin and had a good time anyway, so it works. Even if it wasn't totally a "camp out."
The Ball Ground Christmas Parade happened. A coworker's daughter made us Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy, Woodstock, and Snoopy's doghouse and we played "Christmastime is Here" as we rode in the rain through town. It was so much fun and people loved our float!
Then Addy and I played Christmas music at the mall, we helped put on a Christmas formal, and had Christmas at home. I read a stack of Margaret Peterson Haddix books during Christmas break and it was great. Then we rang in the new year live-streaming the Disney fireworks.
And now it's 2019! I don't really know what's going to happen this year, but it's certainly going to be interesting!
And that's a wrap! My first picture book is out in the world, and I'm so excited. It's been an adventure, and the adventure will only continue. By the way, if you live in or around Cherokee County, GA, you're invited to the Ball Ground Library on Saturday, December 1 at 2:00 p.m. to hear the book and learn to sculpt Carrie Mouse. It's going to be fabulous.
Now to recap the blog tour and tell you the winners.
Reviews
"It's a short book - I read it in a couple minutes this morning, actually, and the illustrations are SUPER cute. It's also based on a true story, as you find out in the afterward, so that was awesome. It had very much a Beatrix Potter feel to the story itself - though much shorter than most of her books." --Kendra E. Ardnek
"My toddler also loved the book. She still keeps asking to “read the Mr. Mouse book” (either he was the character that stuck with her most, or else she thought Carrie’s full name is Mr. Mouse). Her favorite page was near the beginning, when Mrs. Mouse and Carrie have their important conversation. (“Read the cat page, Mama!”)" --Erika Mathews
"This is a super cute story about a little mouse who, like many children, struggles to understand why she needs to obey her parents. Especially when they are telling her not to do something that seems like a lot of fun. But as Carrie finds out by the end of the story, her parents are not trying to ruin her fun, they are merely trying to keep her safe. This is a story that can help children easily grasp the concept of how there can be unexpected consequences for their actions, and illustrates how boundaries are meant for their good." --Jenelle Schmidt
It's here! Carrie Mouse is here and we've got an awesome blog tour lined up, plus a giveaway you won't want to miss. Check it out!
Martha
Squirrel made her journey down the big hill seem like a grand adventure. But
what happens when Carrie Mouse disobeys her mama and explores the giant garage?
Inspired by a true story, Carrie Mouse and the Giant Garage tells
the story of a young mouse who gets trapped in the garage of the human house at
the bottom of the hill. Beautifully illustrated with clay sculptures, this is a
book you won’t want to miss!
Rebekah and I will be giving away a signed copy of Carrie Mouse and the Giant Garage with a handmade Carrie Mouse doll! Second prize is a signed copy of the book only. Be sure to enter the giveaway!
We're launching Carrie Mouse and the Giant Garage in just one week! I'm so excited about this! We've put a lot of work into this book, a lot of figuring things out as we go along, and we're finally done! So for fun, I'm going to give you a list of random facts about the background of this book.
It's based on a true story. It sounds kind of funny to say that about a book from the perspective of a mouse, but it's true. A mouse really got trapped in our garage.
I initially wrote it when I was seven. Yup, a super grown up seven. ;)
I illustrated the first version myself with crayon and gave it to my dad. I believe the cover was yellow.
It was the first book we actually seriously considered publishing. Way back when I was a kid. Obviously we didn't do it back then.
My cousin was going to illustrate it, but didn't.
I've never been able to let go of the idea of publishing this book. Obviously, since I'm doing it now.
I initially wanted my sister to make clay figures that we could pose in the original locations, but that never happened.
The current illustration style is inspired by Barbara Reid and Bekah did a fantabulous job on them.
We have more ideas for stories—mostly just topics, but there's one about playing the piano I've mostly thought out and just need to sit down and write.
Just one week left until the launch!
P.S. If you want to help with the blog tour, I can still fit you in. Sign up here.
Y'all want to see the whole cover, don't you? If you've put it together, lucky duck, you know what it looks like. If you didn't, here you go. :)
Isn't it awesome? I love Rebekah's sculptures, and I love the way it all came together.
But you're wanting to know who won the giveaway, aren't you? The winner is:
Mae
Congratulations! I'll be emailing you for your mailing address, and the book and doll will be in the mail as soon as I have a copy to send. The book will be here before we know it!
It's cover reveal time! I'm so excited about this. It's going to be awesome and you're going to love it. I'm telling you, my sister is one talented person.
We're going to do a scavenger hunt. The cover has been cut into nine different pieces and scattered across the blogosphere. Collect them all, piece them together (you can use something like PiZap.com if you don't have a collage creator handy), and email it to me at hunekeauthor(at)gmail(dot)com to be entered in an extra special giveaway: A book signed by both the author and the illustrator and a handmade Carrie Mouse doll to be shipped upon publication of the book. All entries must be submitted by midnight EDT on Thursday, September 20. The winner will be announced Friday, September 21 right here on my blog. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.
Here's piece number one to get you started. Links to the other pieces will be down below.
Martha Squirrel made her journey down the big hill seem like a grand adventure. But what happens when Carrie Mouse disobeys her mama and explores the giant garage?
Inspired by a true story, Carrie Mouse and the Giant Garage tells the story of a young mouse who gets trapped in the garage of the human house at the bottom of the hill. Beautifully illustrated with clay sculptures, this is a book you won’t want to miss!
Rebekah Huneke is a homeschool graduate who lives in Georgia with her parents, sisters, and yellow Labrador named Sophie. She has been working with Sculpey since age nine, and sells her creations in the Klay Kottage Etsy shop. She also creates and sells stuffed animals and knitted goods. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, and playing cello and piano. Carrie Mouse and the Giant Garage is her first book.
I hate that it's taking me so long to get Acktorek written. I really love this book, but it's taking forever. I just keep telling myself that it'll get done when God wants it to get done.
I haven't really said much about the story line of Acktorek, since I wasn't sure what would be spoilery and what wouldn't, but I think I'm far enough along now to have a good idea. I don't have an official description yet or even a logline, but I'll do my best.
Emma Edsel is a science nerd and the least popular girl in school, so when the new boy takes notice of her, she's immediately suspicious. Especially since he's snooping around the creek at the end of her street and she gets the odd sense he might be able to read her mind. His name is Mitchell. The popular crowd likes him. Emma's blind sister Carla likes him. Emma's dad even likes him. But Emma's sure there's something up.
Strange things begin to happen: her sister's mysterious seizure, a physics-defying energy field at school, secrets at which Mitchell keeps hinting but not explaining...and Emma just doesn't know what to make of any of it. Her world is crumbling and her family may be in serious danger. Is Mitchell the cause of everything, or is he the solution?
I'm writing from Mitchell's POV at the moment, which has been really interesting and I'm finding out all sorts of things about what's going on. This story isn't exactly turning out how I initially thought it would, but I love it anyway. Problem is...
Carrie Mouse is the priority. Which isn't exactly a problem because I'm really excited about that project too, but it does significantly cut down on Acktorek time when I have to spend the day cleaning up illustrations in Photoshop instead of writing. Or knitting little sweaters. I'm just so glad these sweaters are small because if they were any bigger I'd be even further behind. It takes my sister so much less time to create the Carrie dolls. But then, she just has to cut the fabric. I have to make my fabric.
But it's coming along. And Rebekah and I came up with some picture book ideas while we were playing tennis at the city park the other day. Some for Carrie Mouse, some for another series which will appeal to little boys. Think fairy tales/sneezing wolf. It's going to be fun. And then I came home to watch The Clone Wars with my other sister while knitting more sweaters. Not enough sweaters. :P But the cover reveal is coming next week, so yay!
And of course there are other things that keep me from spending as much time on Acktorek as I'd like. Like new violin students who are so super cute. And RANGER'S APPRENTICE!!!!!!!!
Seriously, this series is AMAZING! I just finished reading all of them, including Early Years and Royal Ranger. But there will be more Royal Ranger books, and I can't wait. If you haven't read Ranger's Apprentice yet, get thee to the library and get started now. Or Amazon because they're totally good enough to buy, but considering there are 15 in all right now, that's a lot of books. And you'll want to read them all. Will Treaty is the best. And so are Horace and Halt and Evanlyn and Alyss and Gilan and Crowley and Pauline and Maddie and Erak and Malcolm and Tug and Abelard (yes, Tug and Abelard are horses). And the new-apprentice-gets-his/her-first-horse thing never gets old. And I so want to be a Ranger. These books are so funny and intense and there are sad parts and it's amazing and I can't rave enough. I'm going to have to do a review or a video or both or something now that I'm done. I love these characters to pieces and the stories are so good too. And they're obsessed with coffee. It's so funny.
So yeah, John Flanagan is a reason Acktorek is going slow. But it's totally worth it.
I don't even want to think about how long this audiobook has been in progress. It's been a LOOOOONG time. But it's done! And on Amazon!
Audiobooks are great and I love them, but I had no idea how much work they are to make. I have a new respect for audiobook narrators. They're superheroes.
Response from my test listeners has been positive: one of my piano students listened to it multiple times. So I'm excited. And now y'all can give it a listen.
It's almost cover reveal time! I'm really excited about sharing the Carrie Mouse cover with y'all. The book has received very positive feedback from everyone who's seen it so far, and I have to say, Rebekah did a fabulous job with all the illustrations. This book is going to be terrific! Saying the book is amazing isn't patting myself on the back, by the way. I may have written it, but it's all about the illustrations. So I'm bragging on my very awesome, unbelievably talented sister. :) You guys are going to be so impressed.
So we need help sharing the cover. We're going to do this as a scavenger hunt, so we need plenty of people to post pieces of the cover. Collect all the pieces, send it in, and be entered to win a copy of the book and a Carrie Mouse doll. And if you post a piece of the cover, you're still eligible to enter the contest. Go ahead, sign up, and we'll get this show on the road!
Since I'm working on a picture book right now, I thought I'd share some of my top favorite picture books. I'm going to try to narrow it down to the top ten, and I may forget some, but at any rate, here are the top ten I can think of right now. (And by the way, this was SOOO UNBELIEVABLY HARD. Honorable mentions were a must.)
10. The Dumb Bunnies by Sue Denim, pictures by Dav Pilkey
Once upon a time there were three dumb bunnies who lived in a log cabin made out of bricks. Momma Bunny was really dumb. Poppa Bunny was even dumber. And Baby Bunny was the dumbest bunny of all.
My sisters and I loved this book so much. It's basically the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but instead of bears, you have three really dumb bunnies. It's totally off the wall ridiculous, but it's awesome. " 'Duh, okay,' said Poppa Bunny."
9. Rumpelstiltskin retold and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Once there was a poor miller who had a beautiful daughter. On his way to town one day, the miller encountered the king. Wanting to impress him, the miller said, "I have a daughter who knows the art of spinning straw into gold."
This book is the reason "Rumpelstiltskin" is my favorite fairy tale. I'm not really sure why it captured my imagination so, but it did. There's just something about it that's so fascinating. I love it and I want to write a retelling of my own someday.
8. Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
There once lived a penguin. His home was a nice icy land he shared with his companions. His companions were named Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect. His name was Tacky. Tacky was an odd bird.
Tacky is awesome. He's such an odd bird, not at all refined and elegant, but it's his craziness that saves them all from the hunters. I brought it along when I worked at a Classical Conversations Play Camp, and it was seriously heartwarming to hear a little preschool age girl singing "How many toes does a fish have?" as we were getting ready to go out to the playground. I've always loved Tacky.
7. Franklin and the Thunderstorm by Paulette Bourgeois, illustrated by Brenda Clark
Franklin could count by twos and tie his shoes. He could name the months of the year and all the seasons. He could read the thermometer, and he checked the barometer every day. Franklin worried about the weather because he was afraid of storms.
The Franklin books are some of my top favorites ever. They're just so cute and sweet and deal with problems that are so relevant to small children. Like losing your blankie. Or in this one, being afraid of thunderstorms. I especially love it because it explores imaginative explanations for thunder and lightning, and then gives the scientific explanation. It's awesome, and it's Franklin.
6. Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping by Peggy Parish, pictures by Lynn Sweat
"Good," said Mr. Rogers. "It's time to hit the road." "Hit the road?" asked Amelia Bedelia. "All right." She picked up a stick. And Amelia Bedelia hit the road.
Amelia Bedelia basically is me. I've always been quite literal. This is probably the Amelia Bedelia book I remember the best. She pitches the tent into the bushes, cuts the steaks in the shape of a tent, brings the paper bags that are asleep... I love her. And how her talent for making dessert always saves her job.
5. The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
One day the mother called the three little wolves around her and said, "My children, it is time for you to go out into the world. Go and build a house for yourselves. But beware of the big bad pig." "Don't worry, Mother, we will watch out for him," said the three little wolves, and they set off.
Yes, you read that right. Three little wolves, and the big bad pig. It's a fun twist on the "Three Little Pigs" where it's not only a role reversal, but the pig who "wasn't called big and bad for nothing" uses a sledge hammer to demolish the brick house, a pneumatic drill to destroy the concrete house, and dynamite to blow up the barbed wire, iron bar, and armor plated house. It's fun and it's different, and it's awesome.
4. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
In an old house in Paris/that was covered with vines/lived two little girls in two straight lines./In two straight lines they broke their bread/and brushed their teeth/and went to bed.
I got Mad About Madeline: The Complete Tales when I was little and quickly grew to love Madeline. I love the stories, I love the rhyming, I loved the Madeline dollhouse I once got to play with... It's such a classic. A little girl at the library a few years ago told me how she read Madeline and "Fell. In. Love!" It was so cute, and I can totally relate. Madeline is so special.
3. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith
A long time ago, people used to tell magical stories of wonder and enchantment. Those stories were called Fairy Tales. Those stories are not in this book. The stories in this book are almost Fairy Tales. But not quite. The stories in this book are Fairly Stupid Tales. I mean, what else would you call a story like "Goldilocks and the Three Elephants?"
Oh, the Stinky Cheese Man. I have so many memories of this book. The stories are so completely ridiculous, but in a very clever way, and the narration. Like "So stop now. I mean it. Quit reading. Turn the page. If you read this last sentence, it won't tell you anything." And all the book design jokes. Like how "The sky wasn't falling. The Table of Contents was." Moving up the endpaper to try not to wake the giant. I love it. I read this so many times to the kids I used to babysit. It was their absolute favorite. To the point of sulking if I didn't bring it. That only happened once—I wasn't making that mistake again.
2. Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin
Running a farm is very hard work. At the end of each day Farmer Brown is covered from head to toe in hay, horsehair, seeds, sprouts, feathers, filth, mud, muck, and coffee stains. He doesn't smell very good either.
When you grow up involved in politics, Duck for President inevitably becomes one of the best books ever. Duck runs for farmer, wins, Farmer Brown demands a recount. One sticky ballot is found stuck to the bottom of a pig. Duck still wins. But he gets tired of being a farmer and decides to run for governor. And on it goes. So many campaign/political jokes. So many sticky ballots. So many coffee stains. So much awesomeness. "And Duck is working on his autobiography."
1. It's the Bear by Jez Alborough.
Eddie doesn't want to come and picnic in the woods with Mom. "I'm scared," he said, "about the bear, the great big bear that lives in there."
This book is so special to me. It's the first book I memorized as a little bitty kid, and I still can recite the whole thing. Mom has to dash back to get the blueberry pie she forgot, and while she's gone, the bear comes out and eats their picnic...while Eddie "cuddled his teddy, he huddled and hid" in the picnic basket and "a great big bear bottom sat down on the lid." I'm so resisting quoting the whole book right now. It's so cute, it rhymes, and it has somewhat of a complicated vocabulary, using words like "clambered." I was torn when my library discarded it because I could no longer send it home with kids, but hey, I got my own copy and it's library bound! It's the best.
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)
Froggy Learns to Swim by Jonathan London
Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
No Moon, No Milk! by Chris Babcock
Pigsty by Mark Teague
Moon Dance by Frank Asch
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Eggbert The Slightly Cracked Egg by Tom Ross
Dear Mrs. Larue Letters From Obedience School by Mark Teague
