Juba This, Juba That by Helaine Becker, Illustrated by Ron Lightburn – Picture Book Month, Day 6, English Selection

Welcome to Day 6 of READ SHARE CELEBRATE.

Today we have 2 different book choices.  One English, One French.

Juba This, Juba That by Helaine Becker and Illustrated by Ron Lightburn

Vite, Vite Benjamin! de Paulette Bourgeois et Brenda Clark ( https://kaelynsbookclub.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/vite-vite-benjamin-de-paulette-bourgeois-et-brenda-clark-lire-partage-celebrer-6-jours-selection-francaise/ )

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So our first encounter with this book, was actually a visit to Oaklawn Farm Zoo in Aylesford, NS.  The Annapolis Valley Regional Library [ http://www.valleylibrary.ca/ ] had installed a Story Walk, and this book was selected book.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/YB69sfklqiw“>http://

Even our #avrlchirpy got into the spirit and followed along.  [ NOTE: Chirpy was another AVRL program this past summer, connected with the TD Summer Reading Club. Make sure you check your local library next summer to see if they are participating in the Summer Reading Club.  We had A LOT of Family fun with this program ]

ABOUT THIS BOOK

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Traditional “juba” rhythms have a long history. They originated in Nigeria as hand-clapping games. People who were brought to the New World as slaves fought hard to keep their culture alive against terrible odds. They transformed “juba” rhythms into work songs that were passed down orally.

Juba This, Juba That is based on one of the most popular songs. With its strong beat and read-along repetition, it will delight small children. Along with all the fun there’s also fascinating history and concepts including opposites and prepositions. Children will have fun discovering the story told in the art about a boy named Juba who follows a mysterious yellow cat on a magical, middle-of-the night adventure that leaves them both happy and ready for slumber.

Imprint: Tundra Books
Format: Hardcover
Pub Date: September 2011
Age: 2-5 years
Trim Size: 8 x 10
# of Pages: 24 pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-975-7 (0-88776-975-6)

Source – http://www.tundrabooks.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780887769757

If you are interested in more information on the Juba Dance, check out this Wikipedia link, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juba_dance

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About Helaine Becker –

Helaine Becker is an award-winning writer of books for children. She has written over 60 books, including the best-selling picture book, A Porcupine in a Pine Tree, the Looney Bay All-Stars series; popular non-fiction, including Zoobots, Alphabest and The Quiz Book for Girls; and novels including Gottika, Dirk Daring, Secret Agent, and How to Survive Absolutely Anything.

 

She also writes for children’s magazines and for kids television. She has written four seasons of Dr. Greenie’s Mad Lab, a segment on Planet Echo, an environmental science show airing on APTN , and is hard at work on several other TV projects.

 

Helaine is ia popular presenter and performer at schools across Canada and the US. She was selected  to tour three times for Canadian Children’s Book Week. She went to Yukon in 2006 and Nunavut in 2008, and Manitoba in 2014. She has presented at the Orange County (California) Children’s Festival, the Festival of Women Writers, Frye Fest, Weaving Words, and other major venues. She presents to kids AND to writers, teaching writing skills re: fiction, non-fiction, verse and the business side of writing.

 

Both an American and Canadian citizen, Ms. Becker attended high school in New York and graduated cum laude from Duke University in another century. She is married, with two sons, and is an active swimmer, runner, cyclist, and compulsive read-aholic.  She has an orange belt in karate and is contemplating going for her grapefruit belt.

 

Helaine loves bright shiny colorful things, especially happy faces and flowers. She is crazy about fluffy dogs, coral reefs,  ice cream and color-changing nailpolish.

Source – http://www.helainebecker.com/index.html

About Ron Lightburn –

Ron Lightburn was born in 1954 in Cobourg, Ontario. In 1958 his family moved to British Columbia where Ron attended school in West Vancouver and Chemainus. He completed his secondary education in Calgary, Alberta and then attended the Alberta College of Art from 1973 – 75. Following a move to Victoria, B.C. in 1975 he began his illustration career with work for a variety of advertising, editorial and government clients. In 1984 he won the Western Magazine Award for Illustration.

His career as a children’s book illustrator was launched with his Governor General’s Award-winning artwork for Waiting for the Whales in 1991. Since then he has won several other awards and has become internationally renowned for his visual storytelling skills and range of illustration styles, from the touching realism of How Smudge Came to the exuberant whimsy of Pumpkin People. His picture books have been published in seven countries and six languages with total sales of over 600,000 copies. He has given illustration presentations and workshops to audiences of all ages in Canada from Victoria to St. John’s. During the past thirty years his artwork has graced the covers of over sixty books and has been featured in magazines, calendars, posters and advertisements across North America. His client list includes the Province of Nova Scotia, the Town of Kentville, the Province of British Columbia, Aliant, McDonald’s Restaurants, The Walt Disney Company, CP Hotels, Heritage Canada Foundation and General Foods. His artwork has been recognized and exhibited by The Society of Illustrators in New York and is included in the permanent collections of Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, the Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books in Toronto and the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy in Toronto. In 2005 his paintings for A Poppy Is to Remember were selected to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in the Library and Archives Canada publication Read Up On It.

A resident of Nova Scotia since 1997, Ron lives in the beautiful Annapolis Valley with his partner Sandra.

Source – http://www.bookcentre.ca/directory/ron_lightburn_1

You can also find out more about Ron, and his other projects at his website, http://thelightburns.com/

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I’ll leave you today with this link I found while doing some research on this book, http://www.music2spark.com/2014/02/06/singable-book-juba-this-juba-that/.  It’s great to see how to get, especially the wee ones, engaged in this type of book by using music.  Or you can go directly to the video, from Music 2 Spark here, http://www.music2spark.com/2014/02/06/singable-book-juba-this-juba-that/

Enjoy, we have had a great time with this book.

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Mabel Murple by Sheree Fitch, Illustrated by Sydney Smith– Picture Book Month, Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of READ SHARE CELEBRATION.  Today we are Celebrating Nova Scotia Author Sheree Fitch.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/EaOX6dValjY“>http://

• Today’s English Selection is Mable Murple, Illustrated by Sydney Smith.

• And the French Selection is Bisous Bisous Bebe-O!, Illustrated by HildaRose, translated by Jo-Anne Elder [ Board book * 12 pages; 5.50 x 5.50 inches; 9781551096971; NB0830; Publisher: Nimbus Publishing ]
  

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I would love to say that we have known of Sheree Fitch forever, but we actually just discovered her, and her zany poems.  However since we read Mabel Murple for the first time we were immediately HOOKED.  ( NOTE: IF/WHEN you do read Mabel Murple for the first time…..TAKE IT SLLLLOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!  Those tongue twisters are dangerous!!!  lol )

Now for anyone who is familiar with Sheree’s other works, you may already be familiar with the character Mabel Murple….like we discovered while reading Toes in My Nose tonight before bed.

The year 2012 marked the 25th anniversary of Sheree Fitch’s first poetry collection, Toes in My Nose. It launched her career as one of Canada’s best nonsense poets, on par, or even better than, Dennis Lee. Now reissued by Nimbus Publishing and newly illustrated by Sydney Smith, a new generation of children can enjoy Fitch’s unique brand of whimsy and wordplay. 

Here’s a poem featuring one of her beloved characters:

Mabel Murple’s house was purple
So was Mabel’s hair
Mabel Murple’s cat was purple
Purple everywhere.

Mabel Murple’s bike was purple
So were Mabel’s ears
And when Mabel Murple cried
She cried terrible purple tears.

Source – http://inquisitive-kids.blogspot.ca/2013/01/poet-and-storyteller-sheree-fitch.html

The Mabel Murple book was originally published in 1995 and illustrated by Maryann Kovalski.[ Toronto, Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-25480-6 ]  This version of Mabel Murple won the Ann-Connor Brimmer Award (Best Book by an Atlantic Author), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Connor_Brimer_Award

A little girl is quietly soaking in the tub when she asks herself, “What if…There was a purple planet / With purple people in it / Would those purple people play / Whatever purple way they wanted?” So begins this rollicking romp through the zany land of purple, where Mabel Murple (who else?) rides a purple motorbike, skis down purple slopes, and rests in a purple bed. The cartoon-like illustrations, drawn with a predominantly purple palate, explode across the page with humour and vitality. They are a perfect complement to the spunky, quirky verse which is used to tell the story. This is a delightful picture book — not to be missed.

Source – http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/read-up-on-it/015020-6014-e.html

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25 years later (2010) Mabel Murple was back in print, this time being published by Nimbus Publishing,and Illustrated by Sydney Smith.  [ Age Range: 4 – 8 years; Hardcover: 24 pages; Publisher: Nimbus (Oct. 8 2010); Language: English;ISBN-10: 1551097885; ISBN-13: 978-1551097886 ]

Description

What if there was a purple planet with purple people on it? Sheree Fitch answers this question with a zany tongue-twister of a poem featuring Mabel Murple, a daredevil who rides a purple motorbike through purple puddles, skis on purple snow, and on her pancakes pours maple syrup.

With a rich and vivid purple palette, Sydney Smith’s brand-new illustrations reflect the wild joy in this classic poem. Originally published in 1995, Mabel Murple won the Ann Connor Brimer award for children’s literature.

Source – http://www.nimbus.ca/Mabel-Murple-pb-P58.aspx

In 2011 this new version of Mabel Murple won the Halifax’s Mayor Award for Illustration

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About Sheree Fitch –

Sheree Fitch’s first two books, Toes in My Nose (1987) and Sleeping Dragons All Around (1989), launched her career as a poet, rhymster, and a “kind of Canadian female Dr. Seuss.” Fitch has won almost every major award for Canadian children’s literature since then, including the 2000 Vicky Metcalf Award for a Body of Work Inspirational to Canadian Children. She has over twenty-five books to her credit, including her bestselling and critically praised adult novel, Kiss the Joy As It Flies (2008). Fitch’s home base is the East Coast of Canada.

 – Source – http://www.nimbus.ca/cw_contributorinfo.aspx?ContribID=2298&Name=Sheree+Fitch

But I also Love how Sheree describes herself on her own website,

I’m a writer, reciter, a speaker, a teacher, a sister, a daughter, a mother, a wife.
A listener, a seeker, a maker of nonsense, a reader, a leader, a lipslippery fool.
A doctor, a walker, a talk-talk-talk- talker, a giggle-glad Oma, an odd sort of soul.

Yearner and learner
An ever beginner!
Hope is my teacher
Life is my school.

I write books for all ages, speak, give workshops on creativity, literacy education, children’s and women’s issues, storytelling and narrative. I’ve published books in all genres. I also mentor/guide writers one on one—sometimes for free, sometimes for a fee. I’ve lived in New Brunswick, on Chocolate Lake, Nova Scotia, in Washington D. C. We now live in Pictou County, Nova Scotia on the hobby farm Happy Doodle Do. My posts on this site are riffs—what’s most on my mind. I hope you take a look, and in the words of Willam Blake: Kiss the Joy as it Flies.

Source – http://www.shereefitch.com/

For more information on Sheree and her other Books/Projects check out, http://www.shereefitch.com/

About Sydney Smith –

Sydney Smith was born in rural Nova Scotia, and has been drawing since an early age. Since graduating from NSCAD University, he has illustrated multiple children’s books, including the wordless picture book Sidewalk Flowers, and he has received awards for his illustrations, including the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration. He now lives in Toronto and works in a shared studio space in Chinatown where he eats too many banh mi sandwiches and goes to the library or the Art Gallery of Ontario on his breaks.

Source – http://groundwoodbooks.com/sidewalk-flowers-a-love-letter-to-toronto-from-illustrator-sydney-smith/

You can also check out Sydney’s website at, http://sydneydraws.tumblr.com/

We hope you enjoy Mabel Murple as much as we do!!!

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We are very excited that Mabel Murple is also the November Book Selection for Kaelyn’s Book Club.  So check back as we announce our Book Club gathering, and help us share this fun book with your Family, Friends and of course your Wee Ones!!!

For much more on Sheree Fitch, check out my Pinterest Board….https://www.pinterest.com/ralford/sheree-fitch-cdn-kaelyns-book-club/

Mi’kmaq History Month

Did you know that October is Mi’kmaq History Month?

Celebrations

In the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland andLabrador, October is celebrated as Mi’kmaq History Month. The entire Mi’kmaq Nation celebrates Treaty Day annually on October 1. This was date when the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1752 was signed by Jean-Baptiste Cope of Shubenacadie and the king’s representative. It was stated that the natives would be given gifts annually,”as long as they continued in Peace.”^[63]

–Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mi’kmaq#cite_note-63

For more information please check out, http://mikmaqhistorymonth.com/

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As Kaelyn’s Book Club Celebrates Mi’kmaq History Month, I wanted to share some Books that have been translated into the Mi’kmaq language.

Kisses Kisses Baby-O! by Sheree Fitch

Kisses Kisses Baby-O! is a story for newborns told from the point of view of a parent or caregiver, but with high interaction with baby’s world and tuned to events in baby’s day. Beloved children’s author, Sheree Fitch, delivers what she’s famous for: fun, intelligent, participatory text that is a joy to read. Using rhythm and onomatopoeia, the bubbly text begins with baby waking, and follows through eating, bathing, playing, and finally sleeping. Heartwarming illustrations by Hilda Rose combine realism and a whimsical, artistic style, while paying close attention to the needs of newborn readers. And babies will drool over the small, easy-to-hold format!

Board book, 10 pages. Nimbus Publishing (Jan 14 2008). ISBN-10: 1551096463  /  ISBN-13: 978-1551096469

–source http://www.shereefitch.com/kisses-kisses-baby-o

http://www.nimbus.ca/Weskaqelmut-Apjejuanu-P5422C1043.aspx

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And now Robert Munsch has been translated into Mi’kmaw too.  I just ran across this article from the Atlantic Books Today, http://atlanticbookstoday.ca/mikmaw-munsch/

Monthly Book Selection – November 2015

For November we have selected Mabel Murple by Sheree Fitch (Illustrated by Sydney Smith) as our Monthly Book Selection.  This is an incredibly fun book to read (although I do suggest you take it slow and easy the first couple times that you try to read it.  Or you’re tongue might get away from you!! 🙂  )Thanks to Miranda and The Inquisitive Toy Company, Wolfville, NS for letting me take this photo with the Sock Monkey’s and friends the other day when we were in the store doing some ‘toy testing!!”

Mabel Murple was originally published in 1995 by Nimbus Publishing.

If you are Local to Wolfville, NS, please think about stopping in at The Box of Delights Book Shop, http://www.boxofdelightsbooks.com/ .  Hilary and staff would be more than happy to hook you up with your own copy of this fun Canadian Picture Book.  And you can save 10% off by telling them you are a member of Kaelyn’s Book Club.

or reserve your copy online, http://bookmanager.com/1680560/?STG=1273360564&q=h.tviewer&using_sb=status&qsb=keyword&so=oh&searchtype=keyword&qs=mabel+murple&x=12&y=8&qs_file=

To Come……Tomorrow, we are very excited to share the rest of our November project.  November celebrates Picture Book Month, so we have created an English and French calendar highlighting 30 AMAZING CANADIAN Children’s Picture Books.

READ SHARE CELEBRATE – 30 days of AMAZING CANADIAN Children’s Picture Books 

Friday Favorites – LOCAL Favorites, October 23, 2015

Do you have a Favorite LOCAL Author/Illustrator?

We were at our favorite LOCAL book shop yesterday and they were unpacking some boxes of NEW books!!!  That’s like Christmas for those of us who LOVE books.  Anyhow, one of the books that was in those boxes was Hot off the presses,

I’m drawing a Picture by Doretta Groenendyk.

I can already give this book 2 Thumbs up.  Yes, Kaelyn and I did read it and look at the amazing pictures when we were checking out what else was new on the Book Shelves.

Doretta has a few other books out there as well.  We also just borrowed Step Outside from our Local Library. 

For more information on Doretta, her art and her books, check out her website, http://doretta-art.com/

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A few other LOCAL (to us) authors out there.

Ron Lightburn, http://thelightburns.com/

Ron’s most recent book is Frankenstink:Garbage Gone Bad

And if you are Local to the Annapolis Valley, you have probably heard of the Pumpkin People and the book with the same name.  This book was written and illustrated by Ron and his wife Sandra.

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Hal Jessome, Big Bad Storm

http://www.kingscountynews.ca/Living/2011-12-07/article-2826807/The-Big-Bad-Storm-educates-youth/1

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Holly Carr, Illustrator – What is Pink?

Other works and projects by Holly Carr can be found on her website, http://hollycarr.weebly.com/

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Jan Coates, lives in Wolfville, NS and is another amazing Maritime author.  She has several children’s books, including The King of Keji, http://www.nimbus.ca/King-of-Keji-P6983.aspx

There is lots more information on Jan and her books available on her website, http://jancoates.ca/.  Her newest book, Ollie and Jack will be released by Pajama Press in the Spring of 2016.

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Another recognizable name if you live inthe Annapolis Valley is Lila Hope-Simpson.  She is a writer and columnist, poet, adult educator, and the list goes on.  Here’s an article she wrote for the Chronicle Herald, What I love about Wolfville. http://thechronicleherald.ca/community/annapolis-valley/1221827-what-i-love-about-wolfville

Lila has a book published by Nimbus, and illustrated by Doretta Groenendyk called Fiddles and Spoons:Journey of an Acadian Mouse.  http://www.nimbus.ca/Fiddles-and-Spoons-P6499.aspx

Now those are just a few of probably many Children’s Book Authors living and working in the Annapolis Valley, NS.

We would love to hear from you, if you have a favorite LOCAL author/illustrator.  Please share it with us in the comments.

Enjoy your Friday.