celebrating books

There's so much to celebrate lately—I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the book goodness! But I'll try...

My new book IT'S A FIREFLY NIGHT by Dianne Ochiltree was released last Tuesday and I had the pleasure of sharing it for the first time with Fairfield Elementary, Keyser Elementary and attendees of Claire's Day. What a special few days of giving presentations, meeting students, and celebrating books together. It was an honor to be part of the events and enthusiasm surrounding Claire's Day—if you haven't heard of it, you can read more about it here. I have so much respect for the Rubini family—they have truly turned the tragedy of losing their young daughter into a positive force that now touches and uplifts the lives of so many.

Also, if you haven't been to the children's section of the Toledo Public Library, you are missing out! It's incredible—more like a children's museum—with original artwork from well-known children's book illustrators lining the walls. I'm excited to share that my piece below from TONS OF TRUCKS by Sue Fliess has been acquired for the collection, and will soon be on display in the main library for at least a year.



I have a few pre-Father's Day book events coming up that I wanted to share as well. Author Dianne Ochiltree and I will be doing a IT'S A FIREFLY NIGHT talk/story time/craft at the Strongsville Branch Library on Tues., June 11 at 7pm. Registration here.

I will also be doing a story time and craft on Sat., June 15 at 11am at the Learned Owl Book Shop in Hudson, Ohio. I'll be featuring my newest books IT'S A FIREFLY NIGHT and I HAIKU YOU.

I'd love to see some familiar and new faces at my June events!

unplug & read!

Screen-Free Week is almost here! Random House is encouraging everyone to make the pledge to "unplug and read". Thanks to Jen and Kellee at Teach Mentor Texts for spreading the word and their lovely review and feature of I Haiku You .

thanks GalleyCat!

Thanks at GalleyCat for a lovely poetry month Q/A feature!

I Haiku You poetry month giveaway!

April is national poetry month! Join me all month in tweeting a haiku a day for a chance to win a signed copy of my picture book I Haiku You! To enter, follow @betsysnyderart on Twitter and tweet your original haiku (in 5 syllable/7 syllable/5 syllable format) with the hash tag #ihaikuyou. One entry per person per day.

Sample tweet below:

Teachers, have your class play along! For a classroom submission, tweet "HAIKU KIDS #ihaikuyou" and attach an image (.jpeg or .pdf) of all your students' haiku (photo or text, whatever works). Each student will get their own entry—one entry per student per day. Just for fun, I'll also share student submissions via Twitter and/or a special blog post.

Entries accepted through April 30, 2013. A winner will be selected randomly on May 1 and contacted via Twitter by May 7. Please spread the word and pass it on—happy haiku-ing! 

For info on my process of creating I Haiku You: http://betsysnyder.blogspot.com/2013/02/i-haiku-you-trifecta-post-recap.html

For general info on writing haiku: http://www.ahapoetry.com/haiartjr.htm

sue fliess, you're it!

I'm tagging the talented Sue Fliess, author of Tons of Trucks, for the Global Blog Tour (see previous post). I loved the text for Tons of Trucks at first-read, and I'm so glad we got paired up for that book. Sue has lots of exciting book projects in the works, so check out her blog post and find out what she's up to! Thanks for playing along, Sue.

the next big thing: a global blog tour

I was tagged to participate in this global blog tour by Jennifer Goldfinger, an author-illustrator friend I met at Kindling Words last year. Please check out her wonderful work (sample below) and her own global blog tour post!

© Jennifer Goldfinger

Below is the blog tour Q/A about my upcoming book, due out May 14, 2013:

1) What is the working title of your next book?

It's a Firefly Night, written by Dianne Ochiltree.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

I'm not sure where Dianne got her idea for the text, but for me, the manuscript was love-at-first-read. It brought me back to times spent with my own dad and grandparents at our little mountain cabin in Pennsylvania—fishing, catching salamanders, toasting marshmallows by the bonfire, and chasing fireflies, of course!

3) What genre does your book fall under?

It's a counting book, a bedtime book, a nature-themed book and a great fit for Father's Day. It also has fun firefly facts in the back, for a touch of nonfiction.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Hm, I would chose my six year-old niece Ava. Any friendly, nature-loving dad will do. And the fireflies in my own backyard.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Capture the magic of fireflies while counting up and down from one to ten. 

6) Who is publishing your book?

Blue Apple Books

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Zero time, since I didn't write it. I took me about six or seven months (on and off) to do the sketches and art. But that was also mixed up with art for two other books—it was a busy summer!

 8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The closest comparison I can think of is Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle.

 9) Who or what inspired you to write and/or illustrate this book? The images were inspired by nostalgic childhood moments spent exploring in nature. See #2.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest? 
Preview more images at: http://www.blueapplebooks.com/books/its-a-firefly-night

Also, this book has been waiting almost 6 years to finally be published. The original publisher was sold in 2007, right when I delivered the final art. The author Dianne and I are tickled to have found the book a new home with Blue Apple and to finally be able to share it!

Stay tuned for another post that shares the author-illustrator(s) I am tagging for this global blog tour!

i haiku the new york times

I Haiku You just appeared in the New York Times Sunday Book Review. I'm tickled—what a compliment to be compared to "Gyo Fujikawa."

i haiku you trifecta post + recap

Thanks so much to Colby Sharp and John Schumacher for hosting a final I Haiku You "trifecta" blog posting today (plus who doesn't love that word?)! Their blogs (see #5 below) are super cool and you should check them out "just because."

Below is a recap of all the blog stops, starting with today's trifecta (which includes yet ANOTHER book giveaway!). Each post is unique and many features are written by me. Stop by to learn a little more about haiku, my bookmaking process and what it's like to be a children's book author-illustrator:
5^th Stop: Nerdy Book Club, Watch. Connect. Read. (w/ book giveaway), Sharpread
4^th Stop: Two Writing Teachers (w/ book giveaway)
3^rd Stop: U.S. Kids (w/ book giveaway)
2^nd Stop: Writing and Illustrating (w/ book giveaway)
1^st Stop: The Children’s Book Review

And another big thanks to my publicity gal Johanna and the whole behind-the-scenes team at Random House that helped put this together! And lastly, thanks to my agency Painted Words and all my book buds (especially my crit group girls) that have supported my book and events and helped spread the word. It takes a village to sell a book!

A little birdie (or Betsy) also says you may want to take a peek at the New York Times Book Review this Sunday, Feb. 10. Sorry, the little birdie can't share anything more until Sunday.

i haiku you blog stop #4: behind the scenes

My guest post today is here at Two Writing Teachers blog. This is a good post to read if you're curious about the process of creating a children's book. I share a behind-the-scenes peek at how I wrote and illustrated I Haiku You. Plus, there is ANOTHER book giveaway at the end of the post!

Stay tuned for a triple blog-stop tomorrow!

i haiku you blog stops #2 and #3

Blog stop #2: kathytemean.wordpress.com
Thanks to Kathy Temean for yesterday's lovely feature and for hosting an I Haiku You book giveaway. To enter: 1. Tweet this link: http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/i-haiku-you/. 2. Then go to the same link and leave a comment with your name and contact info.Winner will be announced on Valentine's Day!

Kathy also did this feature about me back on December 1st.

Blog stop #3: parentteacher.uskidsmags.com
Thanks to Sarah Hann at US Kids Magazine for today's feature! Sarah also did this review of I Haiku You. And there is another book giveaway here!

Follow me on Twitter + Facebook for blog tour updates and announcements!

the art of writing haiku for kids

My I Haiku You blog tour starts today! I'm so excited to announce that my first stop is the The Children's Book Review. My guest post is all about "The Art of Writing Haiku for Kids". Once I got over the nerves of writing it, I had so much fun and realized I had a lot to share about making books.

Please stay tuned all week for more blog stops and book giveaways! You can find I Haiku You at your local book shop or online sites like Amazon. It makes a perfect gift for that special someone or little one on Valentine's Day or any time of year.

Here's a great review that ran in yesterday's Cleveland Plain Dealer (my local paper):

Also, click here to view some photos from a Valentine Story Time I did with my friend Susan Reagan (check out her new book Tweet Hearts). We had a great turnout and I want to thank everyone that braved the snowflakes to come out and support us. It meant so much to be able to gather with family, friends and other book buds (at a flower shop, of course) to celebrate our love of books! I made my own haiku fortune cookies as party favors (with haiku from the book and stickers inside)!

who do you haiku?

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I've been planning some fun book events for my newest picture book, I Haiku You. Here's what's in store so far:

-Valentine Story Time Feb. 2 at 11am at the Urban Orchid in Ohio City. This is a joint book launch party for I Haiku You and my friend Susan Reagan's Tweet Hearts (both books published by Random House). We'll have a story time, crafts, and treats for the kids.

-Random House has organized a blog tour for me that starts next week, with lots of interviews and guest posts and book giveaways!

-Susan and I will also be signing our books at Banyon Tree for the 20th Anniversary of Tremont Art Walk on Feb. 8.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates and announcements.

Oh, and have you seen the trailer my husband animated? (He's a keeper)

happy halloween!

© AGG, Inc.

Here's a card idea I did several years ago while working at American Greetings. Hope your Halloween is A-MAZING!

psst!

Psst! Since it seems that the word is getting out, I think it's finally safe to share the news myself. Are you ready? Ok. Here it is:

 I haiku you. 

Um (*blush*), I mean, that's the name of my next picture book with Random House.























 I Haiku You is coming this December 26, just in time for Valentine's Day but perfect for any day of the year! This book is very close to my heart, and I hope it can make its way into yours too. It's meant for all ages, and it's a sweet little gift for that special someone.

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks as the pub date gets closer!

very hungry caterpillars...

A few weeks ago, during my New England vacation, Jeff and I took a detour to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, where Eric Carle was doing a book signing. Thank goodness I have a husband that "gets" what this experience means to me and actually insisted we go. When it comes to children's book heroes, Eric Carle is "it" for me. And he was exactly what I expected in person—kind, humble, and so willing to share. And what a warm smile! I feel so lucky I had the chance to meet him and to visit his museum (which was wonderful, by the way).

Standing in line at the museum, waiting for my turn, made me realize how many lives all over the world have been touched and made better by Eric Carle's books. All those people that day were there for some reason—to shake his hand, to celebrate his books, to say thank you. His books are woven with universal messages of belonging and perseverance and hope, but I think the story of his own life is perhaps the best example of what each of us are capable of. We are all very hungry little caterpillars, awkwardly waiting to become, aren't we? Thanks to all those moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, teachers, kids, friends and mentors that encourage our hungry appetites for learning, recognize our talents, and inspire us to grow into something beautiful. And thanks Mr. Carle!

special delivery!

Hooray, the day is finally here! Ready, set, GO!...Tons of Trucks (the books, that is) are headed your way for a special delivery.

If you are in the Cincinnati or Cleveland/Akron areas, please come to one of my book signings and bring the kiddos for a story time and truck-related craft.

CINCINNATI
Monday, July 9 at 10:30am
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Rookwood Pavilion
2692 Madison Road
Cincinnati, OH 45208


CLEVELAND/AKRON
Saturday, July 14 at 1:00pm
The Learned Owl Book Shop
204 N. Main St.
Hudson, OH 44236

You can read a few nice reviews here and here.

Special thanks to author Sue Fliess for giving me such a great manuscript to work from and to the whole team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for being such a great support!

icing on the cake

I think one of the best parts about making books is hearing how they inspire people in ways I could have never anticipated. Which in turn inspires me. Right back atcha. It's really so gratifying to be part of this cycle of creativity and see how much talent is out there in the world!

I got a lovely e-mail out of the blue a few weeks ago from Sarah and thought I'd share a few photos she sent along of the cake she made for her daughter Daphne's first birthday.

Isn't it AMAZING?!? I'm so flattered she used art from Haiku Baby in a whole new way, and I think she did such a fantastic job.  I love how each layer has its own scene. And it is not that easy to "paint" in icing—I'm impressed! Thanks for sharing your talents, Sarah!

on my doorstep...

Yay, my Tons of Trucks book samples are here! The rest of you will have to wait until July (sorry). It is so fun to get that box of books. I finished this book about a year and a half ago, so it's great to be so close to sharing it with all of you. Jeff and I are getting started on a fun trailer for this book, so stay tuned for that!

welcome baby collection at papyrus

Yay! I walked out my back door this morning and discovered FedEx had delivered a mystery box. It was product samples for my Welcome Baby collection at Papyrus! It's a woodland animal theme for baby boy and girl, loosely inspired by the style and art of my book Haiku Baby.

The 13-piece collection is available in stores and on the Papyrus website, in case you want to take a peek or stock up for your next baby shower.

win a hoot owl hoot! game

Post your child's drawing of an owl by Monday, March 19 to Peaceable Kingdom's facebook page to be entered in a random drawing for a Hoot Owl Hoot! game. Click here for more info.

Happy St. Patrick's Day...may the luck of the Irish be with you!