1. It’s Octo-boo-ber! Come join this friendly autumnal gathering courtesy of children’s book author-illustrator Naoko Stoop. You may know her as the creator of the Red Knit Cap Girl picture books — see her up there with her woodland friends?

Originally from Japan, Naoko now lives and works in Brooklyn. Her favorite mediums are pastel, pencil, watercolor, gouache and acrylic, though during the pandemic she started to draw more and more digitally. She paints on used paper grocery bags and leftover plywood from a speaker factory in her neighborhood. She has loved art since childhood and is entirely self taught.

Inspired by everyday life, her mottos are “Stay authentic. Stay at your finest.” I enjoy following her on FB; her pictures are true to her description of being “cozy and comfy art therapy,” and I like the gentle innocence and sweet animals. Her intention is to “bring out the five-year-old in people” through her artwork.

For more, visit Naoko’s Website, X (Twitter), Instagram and Facebook Page. To purchase prints, please email her directly via her website.

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2. New Picture Book Alert!! Look what’s officially out today: The Thing to Remember About Stargazing by Matt Forrest Esenwine and Sonia Possentini (Tilbury Press, 2023):

A picture-book ode to stargazing with an underlying message of awe for the wonders of nature.

What is the most important thing to remember about stargazing? When to do it, who to do it with, what to look for? It’s none of those! This picture book’s spare, lyrical text offers many possible ways to do stargazing: with a friend, with family, or alone; on a moonless night, or with a full moon, or even with some clouds; on the beach, lying in the grass, or standing on a snowy hill. There is only one rule of stargazing, which is saved for the end, and that is just to do it! Magical illustrations show polar bears, whales, and other animals stargazing too, and in the final illustration, diverse kids and animals gaze at the night sky together. Back matter about the constellations completes this bedtime story with its underlying message of love and respect for nature.

This one sounds positively dreamy, doesn’t it? I like what I’ve seen so far of the beautifully crafted text and evocative illustrations, and look forward to savoring the entire book.

* Learn lots more via the Blog Tour:

10/2:  Linda Baie at TeacherDance will feature the book on her blog.

10/3: Matt will be featuring the book birthday on his blog; on Friday 10/6 he’ll have a more in-depth, post-book birthday spotlight on it when he hosts Poetry Friday. (The book began as a poem – and still is, really.)

10/3: Maria Marshall at MariaCMarshall.com will feature an interview/review.

10/4: Michele Knott reviews the book at MrsKnottsBookNook.blogspot.com.

10/24: Matt will be a guest blogger at WritersRumpus.

TBD:  Carol Varsalona will feature the book at BeyondLiteracyLink. 

**Heads up New Hampshire residents: as part of a coordinated effort with the Children’s Librarians of New Hampshire, nearly 20 libraries across the state will be featuring Stargazing on their StoryWalks® during October-November (check your event calendars!).

Congratulations and Happy Pub Day to Matt and Sonia!

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3. New Picture Book Alert 2!! We’ve got twice as much to celebrate today with the release of a gorgeous book by another Poetry Friday friend, Buffy Silverman: Check out On a Flake-Flying Day: Watching Winter’s Wonders (Millbrook Press, 2023):

On a feather-fluffing, seed-stuffing, cloud-puffing day . . .

Weasel whitens. / Cardinal brightens. / Frost glistens. / Owl listens.

From Buffy Silverman, author of On a Gold-Blooming Day and On a Snow-Melting Day, comes the third installment of a seasonal celebration. With winter’s arrival, plants and animals hunker down for the cold season. Rhyming text and eye-catching photos sparkle in this wonderful read-aloud that encourages kids to closely observe the natural world. Back matter offers more information on the featured animals, plants, and weather conditions.

You may remember my reviewing the first two titles in this wonderful series and I’m equally impressed by this third installment. Once again, Buffy gets the spare, lyrical text just right, and the beautiful color photos are a joy to behold. Don’t miss this one! See my previous reviews: On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring, On a Gold-Blooming Day: Finding Fall Treasures.

Happy Book Birthday, Buffy!!!

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4. Paddington, Paddington, we love Paddington!! 2023 marks the 65th Anniversary of A Bear Called Paddington, the very first novel featuring the marmalade-loving bear from darkest Peru by the one and only Michael Bond. To celebrate this beary special occasion, the Royal Mail has issued a new 10-stamp series.

Choose from Presentation Packs, Miniature Sheets, Collectors Sheets (framed and unframed), postcards, Limited Edition Press Sheets and Medal Covers, and more.

There are six illustrations from Ivor Wood’s comic strip as well as images from the 1975 Paddington stop-motion puppet TV series.

See the full collection at The Royal Mail website.

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And there’s more!! A special 65th Anniversary Edition of the book contains the full unabridged text + full color drawings by Peggy Fortnum. Release date in the UK: October 12, 2023. Pre-order your copy here.

🐻 Please look after these stamps and new book. Thank You.

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5. Mad Tea Party!! I mentioned in a previous roundup how much I enjoy Hannah Ricketts’s YouTube channel — where she takes us along to various spots in London — for shopping, sightseeing, neighborhood meandering, and best of all, afternoon tea.

Especially liked a recent afternoon tea she attended at the Sanderson Hotel with her sister and two nieces. The Alice in Wonderland theme was such fun and the treats colorful and scrumptious. Worth a look if you’re in the mood for a virtual cuppa and many little cakes. 🙂

Read more about the Sanderson’s Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea here. Hannah’s channel is a great resource for those planning trips to London, as you hear about ‘off the beaten path’ places and activities the average tourist may miss. She posts new videos every Friday. 🙂

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6. Ceramics fix: It’s always better with butter! Saw a couple of cute butter dishes on Etsy recently. Just the thing to bring a little fun and pizzazz to your table or to delight a friend with a special gift.

These handpainted fruity dishes were made by Debbie, Vicky and Mary of TruelyTerrific. They use high quality glazes and recommend hand washing.

Or, if you need a little wake-up in the morning, these roosters fit the bill:

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

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7. New Poetry Book Alert! Hooray! James Crews has edited another cool anthology called The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal (Storey Publishing, 2023), just released last month.

James Crews, editor of two best-selling poetry anthologies, How to Love the World and The Path to Kindness, presents an all-new collection of highly accessible poems on the theme of celebrating moments of wonder and peace in everyday life. As Crews writes in the introduction: “[A] deep love for the world is present in every one of the poems gathered in this book. Wonder calls us back to the curiosity we are each born with, and it makes us want to move closer to what sparks our attention. Wonder opens our senses and helps us stay in touch with a humbling sense of our own human smallness in the face of unexpected beauty and the delicious mysteries of life on this planet.”

The anthology features a foreword by Nikita Gill and a carefully curated selection of poems from a diverse range of authors, including Native American poets Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, Kimberly Blaeser, and Joseph Bruchac, and BIPOC writers Ross Gay, Julia Alvarez, and Toi Derricotte. Crews features new poems from popular writers such as Natalie Goldberg, Mark Nepo, Ted Kooser, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Hirshfield, and Jacqueline Suskin, along with selections from emerging poets. Readers are guided in exploring the meaning and essence of the poems through a series of reflective pauses scattered through the pages and reading group questions in the back. This anthology offers the perfect intersection for the growing number of readers interested in mindful living and bringing poetry into their everyday lives.

Just received my copy and am slowly savoring each and every poem (dear friend Andrea Potos is in it too!). Since I enjoyed How to Love the World and The Path to Kindness so much, it was great having a third anthology to keep company with the other two. As before, in addition to the actual content of the book, I like the “comfortable in the hand” physical aspects: small trim size (5″ x 7″), ragged edge creamy paper, friendly font, pliability. Score your copy soon!

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8. Heads Up, Eloise Fans: Honk honk! Beep beep! Look what just rolled into town! A brand new rawther spiffy Eloise Taxi Plush Pillow!

Made by Yottoy (one of my fave manufacturers of children’s book- related merch), this cuddle-worthy cab measures 15″ x 8″ x 4″ and features Weenie at the wheel with Skipperdee riding along. Eloise’s signature pink striped pattern is on the back of this yellow plushie which is soft soft soft.

Perfect for play or use as a decorative piece (pretty chic no?), you’ll surely impress all your friends, whether they’re wee urchins or precocious grownups who like to skibble, skiddle and positively sklathe through life. As you know from this 60th Anniversary flashback post, we are huge Eloise fans and still dream about living at the Plaza. Calling Room Service — charge it, please!

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9. Art from the heart: Every now and then, we like to browse Vermont artist Ashley Wolff’s Etsy Shop for an inspiring dose of beauty and to see what’s new. Recently noticed these framed mixed media pieces containing paper clay elements.

Don’t you love this robin perched upon a branch of driftwood? Wonderful 3-D effect, like our little winged friend is ready to flutter right out of its wooden frame. It’s set against an original watercolor backdrop.

And what about this adorable bunny and his little wren friend? Both of these one-of-a-kind originals are 5″ x 7″ x 2″ and so charming!!

Finally, check out this scene of loons on a blue water lake with colorful cottages along the shore. This measures 11.5″ x 8″ x 2″, and is also a OOAK original.

I remain in awe of Ashley’s talent and versatility — fine art, children’s book illustration, printmaking, collages, and more. If you haven’t already, visit AshleyWolffArt for her full range of original paintings, prints, bird ornaments, books and greeting cards. If you’re a fan of her picture books, she does sell Miss Bindergarten, Baby Bear, In the Canyon, and Baby Beluga prints.

Since it’s October, enjoy a few of her Halloween-y prints and greeting cards, all for sale.

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♥️ Bonus Cool Thing: Toot toot! Hope you’ll indulge me for a moment while I toot my own horn. This October marks a special milestone anniversary for my first picture book, Dumpling Soup (Little, Brown, 1993).

Including the paperback edition, my little New Year’s family and food story has been continuously in print for 30 years. Would never have imagined it would have such longevity, especially since the trend shortly after its publication shifted to much shorter texts (DS is about 1500 words).

At the time, there was a short lived “fad” touting ‘multicultural’ books. That faded for awhile until the “We Need Diverse Books” movement gained steam in the mid 2000s. Now the umbrella has widened in support of not only ethnic, cultural and religious minorities, but includes gender diversity, LGBTQIA, and people with disabilities.

Really want to thank all the readers, parents, educators, media specialists, booksellers, bloggers — anyone who’s shared the book, purchased it, gifted it, or help spread the word about it, because it is YOU who has kept the book in print all these years. It may go out of print tomorrow, but at least I can say it hit the 30 year mark. 🙂

To read about the genesis of the book, check out this flashback post, written for DS’s 15th anniversary. I wrote DS on a Leading Edge word processor, before the internet, critique groups, or blogs. I didn’t know any other children’s writers, and it took forever to submit the manuscript and wait for a response via snail mail. How things have changed!

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We’re cranking up the way back time machine for this month’s Swoon Tune. If you’re of a certain age, you probably remember the British Invasion of the mid 60’s. I was absolutely mad for all the veddy English rock and pop groups gracing our shores with their hit records. Yes, it started with the Beatles, but also included the Dave Clark Five, Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, Animals, Hollies, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Who, the Kinks, et. al.

Though the Beatles never performed in Hawaii, the Dave Clark Five certainly did in 1965. How we LOVED them! My favorite group member was lead singer and keyboard player Mike Smith. Something about that tall thin frame and puppy dog eyes . . . *swoons*. I even wore an ID bracelet with “Mike Smith DC5” engraved on it. 🙂

Interestingly enough, my fave DC5 song is “Because,” co-written by Dave Clark and Mike Smith. It was a departure from their usual ‘stomping’ big beat sound, actually the only ballad of theirs I can recall. “Because” was their fifth U.S. single to sell more than a million copies, and I like it just as much now as I did back then. Whenever I hear it, I am transported to those happy innocent times when my life was all about British groups, Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine, Shindig, and the Ed Sullivan Show (the DC5 appeared two months after the Beatles in 1964). Here they are on Shindig in 1965.

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HAPPY TUESDAY

HAPPY WEEK

EAT SOMETHING PUMPKIN

BASK IN AUTUMN COLOR

GET YOUR COSTUME READY

DON’T EAT ALL YOUR HALLOWEEN CANDY

THINK ORANGE

HAVE FUN

BE TRUE

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*Copyright © 2023 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.