I am starting a new feature on my blog. Rather than simply reading and reviewing family-friendly books for my audience, I will be taking a peek behind the scenes at the writer. After all, we all want to know the mysterious person behind the curtain. So without delay, let me introduce you to the talented Eugenia Chu, who has a brand new release tomorrow, September 3.

About the Author:

Eugenia Chu is an attorney, turned stay-at-home mom, turned writer. She lives on a magical beach in Miami with her husband and son, Brandon, who is the inspiration for her stories. She enjoys reading, writing, traveling, yoga and drinking too much coffee. She has been a presenter at numerous schools, libraries and book festivals.

When Brandon was very little, the author couldn’t find children’s storybooks to read to him which touched upon Chinese culture and which included some Chinese (Mandarin) words to teach and/or reinforce his Chinese vocabulary, so she started writing her own. Brandon Goes to Beijing (北京) is her second “Brandon” story and first children’s chapter book. 

Brandon Goes to Beijing (北京), a brand new chapter book by author, Eugenia Chu, launches on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2019!As a special bonus, the Kindle Ebook version will be FREE on Amazon that day, too!!! Please download this adorable book and if you like it, please leave a review to thank the author and her illustrator, Eliza Hsu Chen, for all their hard work!

In this story, Brandon and his cousins are on a trip to visit their grandparents in Beijing, China! While bonding with family, practicing Chinese, touring historic sites and feasting on local dishes, Brandon thinks he sees a tiny panda. However, every time he gets close, the panda disappears! Is Brandon imagining this small creature, or is it real? Will Brandon find out before he has to fly back home?

Brandon Goes to Beijing (北京) is a multicultural, multigenerational chapter book. This book includes some Mandarin Chinese (Simplified) with Pinyin pronunciation, adding layers for those learning or interested in the Chinese language and culture. Brandon Goes to Beijing (北京) follows Eugenia’s debut picture book, Brandon Makes Jiǎo Zi (餃子)(a story about a boy and his grandma who bond while making Chinese dumplings, called jiǎo zi (餃子).

For more information about Eugenia or her books:

Website: http://eugeniachu.com

Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/eugeniachu

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/eugeniachuauthor/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/eugeniachu8245/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/chuauthor

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STRONG WORDS

SEEDS AND TREES: A Children’s Book About the Power of Words

WRITTEN BY BRANDON WALDON

ILLUSTRATED BY KRISTEN AND KEVIN HOWDESHELL

This book features a young prince as the protagonist. He lives in a castle by the sea. Every day he goes out to collect seeds. The prince soon realizes that some of these seeds become dark seeds, while others remain green. As the trees he plants grow, the dark seeds develop thistles and thorns. The green seeds blossom into beautiful shade trees. The reader comes to understand that the green seeds represent good words that are beautiful and true, while the dark seeds represent harmful, cruel words. As the prince becomes older, he notices that the dark trees are overshadowing the others. One day he meets a young girl who always speaks true and kind words. She carries with her the tools to remove the dark trees. She helps him take care of and nourish the green trees while removing the dark trees.

This tale is a beautiful way to teach children the importance of the type of words they use. Harsh words lead to hurt, bullying, and the destruction of good relationships. I would highly recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in elementary and middle school. It provides lots of material for a variety of discussions on behavior and developing good, strong relationships with peers and adults. The illustrations complement the text beautifully.

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GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a copy of Kat Kronenberg’s Love Big, signed by Kat Kronenberg, and a school visit from the author valued at $550! Plus, everyone can be a winner by visiting Kat’s website and collecting all of the fun downloads.

This giveaway is part of The Children’s Book Review awareness book tour

One (1) winner receives

• A school visit from Kat Kronenberg*
• A copy of Love Big, signed by Kat Kronenberg
• Kat’s new Light-Up Heart of Stars plush toy
• All of the downloadable activities and extras from Kat Kronenberg’s website

Five (5) winners receive:

• A copy of Love Big, signed by Kat Kronenberg
• Kat’s new Light-Up Heart of Stars plush toy

Giveaway begins June 20, 2019, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends July 20, 2019, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

Giveaway open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 17 and older. Kat Kronenberg is responsible for prize fulfillment. *Date, time, and school for the visit is to be worked out between the winner and author Kat Kronenberg. The school must be within 2 hours driving distance of any major airport and on the mainline. Parent’s at the school must be offered a chance to buy Love Big so that their students have the opportunity to take home an autographed copy with their name in it – thrilling. Kat Kronenberg must be able to set up at least one more school visit in the area. Click here for the giveaway rules.

OFFICIAL LINKS
www.katkronenberg.com: http://www.katkronenberg.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatKronenberg/Twitter:https://twitter.com/KatKronenbergInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kat.kronenberg/
ABOUT THE BOOK
Love Big

Love Big

Written by Kat Kronenberg

Publisher’s Synopsis: The once-thriving, African savanna has turned dry and desolate. Baboon watches animals who are so hungry that they seek only their own interest. Rhinoceros destroys Termite’s castle in his race to find food. Hare chooses not to share food with her family, and Lion steals from his pride. But after Baboon sees Rhinoceros give Hare his snack-on-a-stick, everything changes! Baboon realizes that a transformative power exists between the animals and the stardust that surrounds them once they share smiles and truly believe in themselves and each other. Read on to see if Baboon can save the savanna with this new secret and a very stinky, unlike hero…

Ages 3-10 | Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press | January 8, 2019, | ISBN-13: 978-1626346000 PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon

Barnes and Noble

IndieBound

Jerry the Squirrel: Volume One (Arestana Series)

Written and Illustrated by Shawn P.B. Robinson

This book is the first in a series that features Jerry, a squirrel who loves to invent things. Jerry uses his imagination to problem solve the issues of everyday life that confront him. One day Jerry decides to end the problem of not having his slippers next to his bed when he wakes up to a cold floor each morning. Jerry spends all day and night designing a pair of slippers that will come to him each morning. When Jerry succeeds in the task, he gets more than he bargained for. His slippers take charge and take him on a wild adventure. All the squirrel neighbors watch in fascination. They are eager to sign up for a pair of slippers just like Jerry’s.

The book contains other adventures. One of these deals with Jerry needing to come up with an idea fast when he fails to garner enough nuts for the winter and another chronicles his adventure with the nut beetles. All of them feature the trials and tribulations of Jerry’s career as an inventor who experiences success and failure.

This book might best be described as a series of short stories rather than a chapter book. Because it does not contain illustrations and the stories are short, it is a good choice for reluctant or beginning readers. It encourages creativity and independent solutions to problem-solving. I would recommend it for ages six through fourteen.

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I recently had the opportunity to present Little Miss HISTORY  in animation. Thanks to Silas Merlin, who created the avatar, the character has come to life.

• Little Miss HISTORY insists, “If you don’t know your history, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” On the day of our birth, we become a character in history because each of us has an opportunity to create our story and place our mark on history.

• As we stand here in the twenty-first century, technology allows us to immerse ourselves in history. In 2003, Linden Lab launched a program called Second Life. Its users, who are called residents, use this technology to create virtual representations of themselves. These avatars can explore the virtual world, socialize and participate with other residents in a group or individual activities. Second Life has its own virtual currency that allows residents to create, shop, and trade virtual property with one another.

• In 2014, Linden Lab announced a plan to develop a new virtual world. Content creators began working on the program named Project Sansar. The platform was released in “creator beta” to the public in July 2017. Users create 3D spaces where people can create and share social experiences such as watching videos, playing games, and having conversations. Participants are represented by avatars they create. These avatars contain speech-driven facial animations and motion driven body animations.

• Sansar supports virtual reality headsets but can also be accessed with Windows computers. The program is free to use, but like Second Life Sansar has its own economy. Users can buy and sell their virtual creations with the Sansar dollar.

• HOW DID LITTLE MISS HISTORY GET INVOLVED IN VIRTUAL REALITY? A few months ago, I was approached by Bernhard Drax to appear on his Book Club Radio podcast. When I heard that Little Miss HISTORY would have an opportunity to appear in virtual reality, I jumped at the opportunity.

• Via “draxtor”..and media for all! Drax and his team now offer audio-visual storytelling for many media platforms. Bernhard Drax studied audio engineering at the University of California at Los Angeles and music at the Hochschule fur Musik and Theater Munchen. He is an expert in user-created content in Virtual Reality. His award-winning mixed reality documentary series “The Drax Files: World Makers” is just one of his many video series featured on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/user/draxtordespres

I invite you to join us in a discussion about books, education, and history, past, present, and future!

Check out Little Miss HISTORY’s journey into virtual reality!

If you would like to read the entire interview on the podcast, please go here:

https://wp.me/p485L9-1N9

Una Bo: The Magic Tree of Love

Written by Dr. Rebecca Verghese Paul

Illustrated by Ada Konewki

Podero is just a six-year-old boy when he meets Filgard, a wizard, who is passing through the town of Darae. Little Podero has been thinking about the way things were before the war. Podero wishes that he could have something sweet and that his parents would allow him to have a puppy. Filgard asks what he would do with the sweets and Podero says he would share them with his brothers. The wizard rewards Podero by causing a huge tree to grow in the center of town. This tree has the power to grant wishes, but only to those who are pure of heart and do not ask for more than they need.

Pretty soon the villagers gather round and try to rob the tree of its gifts, but they soon learn they will get nothing if they are greedy. Eventually, all learn to partake of the tree with good intentions and moderation. Podero and his best friend, Miyana develop a friendship and trusting relationship with the tree. They name it Una Bo, the tree of love. The tree helps the two friends to achieve their dreams of becoming a baker and a carpenter. Their life if happy until war threatens the town once more. Will the tree be able to save the villagers of Darae?

This chapter book tells a heartwarming story filled with lessons about bullying, generosity, greed, and coming of age. The characters are interesting and relatable. A few color illustrations enhance the tale. That adds to the appeal for beginning and reluctant readers. Highly recommended for middle-grade readers.

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Not for me, Please! I choose to act green

Written by Marie Godsey

Illustrated by Christoph J. Kellner

What a clever way to explain the concept of recycling to young children. Godsey uses a young boy presented in the guise of a superhero. At first, Luke is like most children who pay no attention to conserving the earth’s resources. When Luke notices trash all around him, he decides that he will become a part of the solution rather than the problem.

Luke shows his readers how to follow the three R’s: reduce, recycle and reuse. He discusses the problems of trash in the ocean, in our homes and in our schools. He talks about energy conservation tactics a child can practice like turning off faucets, being mindful of unnecessary electricity, and avoiding one-use plastics and paper. While the text is written in rhyme in simple language, the author includes teaching and discussion points at the bottom of each page. At the end of the book, a reflections page summarizes the content in the book and facilitates group discussion. This book is particularly targeted at the elementary school age child, but it is a richly illustrated and pleasing choice for a reader of any age.

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