Vote for Me!

I just entered the Independent Book Blogger Awards over at Goodreads.  Unfortunately my limited technical ability failed me and I was unable to import the voting icon over to this blog, but if you take the time to click on the previous links, you can vote over there, starting on Tuesday, April 10th.  Thanks for your support!

Pass It On!

Thanks to my fellow kidlit bloggers, three of whom independently gave me a Liebster award!!

The award is given to blogs with fewer than 200 followers.  The "rules" of the award require that the awardee then pass the award along to five more bloggers, as well as thank the blogger who gave it to you.   So here goes!

First, I'd like to thank Annie and Aunt, Bill Kirk Writes and Writing on the Wall for giving me this award.  And now, for my chosen recipients:

Library Mice.  This British blog gives me a nice peek at books that haven't made it to the U.S. yet.  I especially love her Fabulous Five feature where she asks children's book authors to choose 5 children's books that were important to them or that share a theme.  I couldn't find how many followers this blog has, so if I underestimated the author's readership, I hope she forgives me!

Next up, From the Mixed-Up Files.  I was shocked to discover this blog has fewer than 200 followers.  It's written by a group of middle-grade authors and has really opened my eyes to the world of middle-grade fiction.  These authors' passion for their audience is truly inspiring.  And of course, you can't beat the name of their blog!

Young Readers has great reviews of a huge variety of books, for readers from birth to age 10.

Art on the Page, a blog about children's books by a children's book illustrator.  I especially like the window into the artist's techniques, particularly printmaking, which is something I know nothing about!

And finally, 32 Pages: A Passion for Picture Books.  I must admit, I again took liberties here as I could not find information about this blog's readership.  A great blog focused solely on picture books.

Pass it on!

Paying it Forward

Zoe at Playing by the Book was kind enough to award me the Versatile Blogger Award.  Thanks, Zoe! 

The Rules of the Award are:

Thank the person who gave you the award.
Tell us seven things about yourself.
Award fifteen recently discovered bloggers.
Contact the blogs to let them know they received the award.

So, for the seven things about me:

1. I have never been to London or Paris but I have been to Rome and Moscow.

2. I once died (in a role) onstage at Madison Square Garden.

3.  My mom claims that as soon as I learned to read she taught me to play Scrabble.

4.  I eat chocolate every day.

5.  I am always early.

6.  I have danced the Ribbon Dance in a Chinese New Year show.

7.  I hate summer.  Really.

As for naming fifteen newly discovered blogs, well, fifteen is way out of my reach.  As a new blogger myself, I mostly read a lot of the well-known kidlit blogs.   But here are four that you may not know about:

Storied Cities, all about picture and early chapter books with urban settings.

Annie and Aunt, wherein Annie, a high school English teacher and Deborah, her bookseller aunt discuss books that cover the spectrum from baby board books to young adult literature.

The Book Chook, which includes not only book reviews but great ideas for working with kids and improving their reading skills.

Library Chicken, which also spans a huge range of children's literature, both in terms of targeted age groups and genres.

Do you have any favorite children's literature blogs to recommend?