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  • A post in anticipation of Julie Gribble’s blog series

    By Beth | January 12, 2014

    This post is a heads-up notification that NEXT month in this time slot, the second Monday of the month, and moving forward into the months beyond, right here on this blog, there will be a blog series by Julie Gribble, writer, and director of New York Media Works, LLC. No, that picture to the left…

  • Year End, Year Beginning

    By Beth | December 29, 2013

    Janus, the Roman god from whom the month of January derives its name, is usually depicted with two faces, one looking forward, one looking back. He was considered to be able to see both past and future at the same time. As I stand on the brink of another January, I find myself looking both…

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERIK!

    By Beth | December 22, 2013

    Tomorrow, December 24th, is a very special day in the kidlit world, but we’re celebrating today, because early celebrations extend the joy. In our writing and reading community, there is a person who reads voraciously, writes book reviews by the score (both for his blog and for his local newspaper), has recently published his first…

  • A Word with Beth about Puzzling Punctuation

    By Beth | December 15, 2013

    Welcome to the first post of my new monthly Question and Answer series on grammar and word usage, “A Word With Beth.” In this series, I will do my best to answer questions sent to me by you, my readers, on the grammar and word use questions that have been perplexing you. To send a…

  • No Deer This Year? Oh DEAR! (Holiday Story Contest Entry)

    By Beth | December 9, 2013

    Susanna Leonard Hill is having another of her wonderful story-writing contests! The Third Annual Pretty Much World Famous Holiday Story Contest is starting today and running through until Friday, December 13th at 11:59 p.m. EST. Finalists will be chosen by Susanna and her elves over the weekend, and voting for the winners will begin on…

  • The Very Fairy Princess Sparkles in the Snow — Perfect Picture Book Friday

    By Beth | December 5, 2013

    I featured this book on my Starborn Revue blog earlier this week, but I thought it deserved a spot on the Perfect Picture Book list as well. Title: The Very Fairy Princess Sparkles in the Snow Author: Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton

  • Being Gifted — Make Your List!

    By Beth | December 1, 2013

    This post came into being due to a catalog that landed in the mailbox of my friend, Jan. She was delighted by the offerings in it, and knew I would be, too. Picture books with accompanying soft-toy animals? Lead me to them! I rushed to the website. I had a marvelous time. Oooooh! A stuffed…

  • Library Mouse — Perfect Picture Book Friday

    By Beth | November 21, 2013

    Title: Library Mouse Author/Illustrator: Daniel Kirk Publisher: New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2007. Genre: Picture book, fiction Audience Age: 4 to 8 years of age

  • Picture Book Month — Read! Share! Celebrate!

    By Beth | November 17, 2013

    Outside, the November days have been getting progressively colder and drearier. All weekend it snowed. That’s November where I live… at least, outside. Inside, it’s a celebration of picture books! As I posted earlier this month, I’ve been participating in PiBoIdMo — Picture Book Idea Month. I’m also, as you can see, an “ambassador” for…

  • ! (exclamation mark) — Perfect Picture Book Friday

    By Beth | November 14, 2013

    Title:     ! Author: Amy Krouse Rosenthal Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld Publisher: New York: Scholastic, 2013

  • Ready… Set… Copy Edit!

    By Beth | November 10, 2013

    I’m very happy to be posting this today! You may or may not know that I had a slight delay in getting my Flubs 2 Fixes Copy Editing and Proofreading service off the ground. That delay is over, and I am now able to offer my services as noted in the Services for Writers —…

  • Kindergarten ROCKS! — Perfect Picture Book Friday

    By Beth | November 7, 2013

    Katie Davis is one of the contributing author/illustrators for this month’s Picture Book Idea Month blog posts, (her post will be up on Sunday, November 10th) so I’m highlighting one of her books to complement my blog post about PiBoIdMo last Monday. She also hosts monthly podcasts about kidlit, Brain Burps About Books, and has…