cooking with aliens: a delicious chat with erik weibel about the adventures of tomato and pea

December 10, 2013September 2, 2017 ~ jama ~ 33 Comments

I’m tickled pink (and red, green, yellow and blue) to welcome newly published author, faster-than-lightning reader, This Kid Reviews Books blogger and budding philanthropist Erik Weibel to Alphabet Soup today!

Eleven-year-old Erik is beloved in the kidlitosphere (he started blogging when he was just nine!), and continues to impress everyone with his consistently incisive and candid book reviews and irrepressible enthusiasm for reading and writing.

He worked on his new chapter book, THE ADVENTURES OF TOMATO AND PEA – Book 1: A Bad Idea, for 3 years (i.e., 1/4 of his life). It is the first in a planned trilogy featuring tiny aliens called Smidges from the planet Oarg, and is notable for its cast of colorful, quirky characters, lively narrative with hilarious rapid-fire dialogue, vivid descriptions, and enduring themes (friendship, cooperation, courage, the triumph of good over evil).

In Book 1, super crime-stopper Tomato, his techno-savvy sidekick Pea, and two other Smidges find themselves tricked, then trapped aboard the rocket ship S.S. Poofy with the evil Wintergreen and his unsavory cohorts. After they crash-land on planet EAR-TH, they must all learn to work together to ensure their survival and find a way to return home to Oarg.

Erik displays remarkable writing chops in this fun, quick read, and it’s exciting to see someone so young accomplish so much.

Yet one question remains:

Can this boy cook? 🙂

After all, he did include a character named Skew in the story, Tomato and Pea’s yellow friend who is a good, resourceful cook. Erik has said there’s a bit of him in each of his characters, and that he loves to cook. You can see why I had to investigate. 🙂 🙂 🙂

And so, my hungry readers —

*drumroll*

for the first time on any blog anywhere —

*trumpet flourish*

Erik the Great Weibel dishes about food in The Adventures of Tomato and Pea, his plans to take over the world, his personal food preferences, and then (*drool*) cooks up two mouthwatering, out of this world, Smidge-approved recipes with his alien friends (including notes and tips). Intergalactic Yum!!

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five, six, seven . . . (okay, nine) happy things on a tuesday

September 24, 2013September 24, 2013 ~ jama ~ 27 Comments

1. First things first! You’ve probably already heard, but this bears repeating again and again and again:

Colin Firth will be voicing Paddington in the new movie!!

I can’t even tell you how excited I was when I first heard about this last week — actually two lovely writer friends sent me a news link within seconds of each other with the same message: OMG! HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?!

And I died because I’ve loved Paddington forever, have read all his books numerous times and own 30+ Paddington stuffed bears and visited Paddington Station and like eating marmalade sandwiches and want a duffle coat and give people hard stares and want to change my last name to Brown and, and . . .

I mean, I was excited enough when I heard P was doing a genuine-for-real movie, but then to learn that of all the actors in the entire world with nice voices it will be COLIN FIRTH saying all of Paddington’s lines! Paddington’s character will be computer generated, but as Colin said, “Paddington will have something of me in his DNA because I’m going to do some sessions wearing one of those helmets with cameras to capture my face muscles, and all that data will somehow be incorporated into Paddington.”

Holey moley, two of my favorite guys morphed into one! Colin Firth face muscles for crying out loud. Too, too much!

*faints*

One of my friends said, “It’s almost like Colin’s doing this just for you.” SCREAM. Oxygen, I need oxygen! We’ll have to wait till 2015 before the movie comes out. Sigh. And here I thought I couldn’t possibly love Paddington or Colin any more than I already do . . .

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coming soon to a blog near you!

September 5, 2013August 29, 2013 ~ jama ~ 13 Comments

Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one —

It’s almost lift off time for Erik Weibel’s very first blog tour for his very first book!!

If you’re a cool reader in the know, you’ve probably been following Erik’s insanely awesome blog, This Kid Reviews Books, which he started when he was just nine. He’s still going strong and defying all expectations at age 11 by publishing The Adventures of Tomato and Pea, Book 1: A Bad Idea, a chapter book for ages 7-10. It’s currently available in both paperback and ebook formats.

Come September 8, Erik will kick off The Official Adventures of Tomato and Pea Blog Tour at This Kid Reviews Books, the first of 15, count ’em, 15 (!) ~~crash landings~~ stops at various blogs in the kidlitosphere.

Here’s a synopsis of Erik’s book:

For years the evil villain Wintergreen had tried to destroy super crime-stopper, Tomato and his sidekick, Pea, and take over planet Oarg. In a plan gone wrong, Wintergreen traps himself along with his arch-nemesis in a runaway rocket ship that crashes on a strange planet called “EAR-TH”. Now these perennial enemies must learn to work together to survive the dangers on this strange world. Hungry birds, enormous snakes and the giant inhabitants of EAR-TH stand between this brawling bunch of aliens and finding a way home.

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

September 8: This Kid Reviews Books – Cover Reveal and Announcements

September 9: Michelle Isenhoff’s Blog – Book Review

September 10: KidLit Reviews – Book Review

September 11: Mother Daughter Book Reviews – Book Review

The Story Reading Ape – Guest Post by Erik

September 12: Catherine Johnson’s Blog – Book Review

September 13: Julie Grasso’s Blog – Book Review

By Word of Beth – Book Review and Giveaway

September 14: The Patient Dreamer (Diane Tulloch’s Blog) – Book Review

September 15: Picture Books Help Kids Soar – Book Review

September 16: Susanna Leonard Hill’s Blog – Interview and Q&A with Commenters and Giveaway

September 17: Reading with Rhythm – Book Review

September 18: Julie Rowan-Zoch’s blog – Interview

September 19: Dr. Nana Plum’s (AKA Dr. Niamh Clune) – Book Review in Rhyme

September 20: S.W. Lothian’s blog – Book Review

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Erik1 — The one and only Erik the Great, whose future plans include taking over the world.

BUCKLE UP AND GET READY FOR A BLAST!!

PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD!!

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♥ a yummy chat with author natasha lowe on the power of poppy pendle (+ a giveaway!) ♥

October 23, 2012September 3, 2017 ~ jama ~ 55 Comments

What could be sweeter than having a lovely lady bring you a tray of freshly baked cupcakes?

Please help me welcome debut author Natasha Lowe, who’s just published an indescribably delicious middle grade novel that I absolutely adore!

The Power of Poppy Pendle (Paula Wiseman/S&S, 2012) is about a girl with a passion for baking who inherits an extraordinary gift of magic. Poppy’s parents enroll her in Ruthersfield Academy, an exclusive school for witchcraft, with high hopes she’ll follow in the footsteps of her famous Great-Granny Mabel.

But Poppy is miserable. She’s teased mercilessly in school because she’d rather create new recipes than cast spells. She repeatedly tells her parents she doesn’t like magic but they just won’t listen. Frustrated and angry at being misunderstood, and unwilling to give up her dreams of becoming a master baker someday, Poppy takes matters into her own hands, misusing her magic powers to disastrous results.

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blog tour stop #3: chatting with grace lin about starry river of the sky

October 3, 2012September 3, 2017 ~ jama ~ 32 Comments

I’m so pleased and excited to welcome back Newbery Honor award-winning author/illustrator Grace Lin to Alphabet Soup and to congratulate her on the publication this week of Starry River of the Sky (Little, Brown, 2012)!

When I featured Where the Mountain Meets the Moon back in 2009, I gave it my highest five spoon rating and hoped it would get a Newbery nod. Her hybrid folklore fantasy (with gorgeous full-color illustrations) felt like a modern classic. How could she possibly top herself?

In Starry River of the Sky, Grace once again creates a wondrous tapestry of Chinese folklore seamlessly interwoven within the main narrative. Lyrical prose, mystery, adventure, suspense, magic, an odd cast of characters, humor and delightful surprises characterize this enchanting companion novel about a young runaway who is “taught by kindness” and finds peace through empathy and forgiveness.

Angry, stranded Rendi begrudgingly works as an innkeeper’s chore boy in the remote Village of Clear Sky. He’s baffled and annoyed by its peculiar, unhappy residents and is troubled by the missing moon and the sky’s nightly moans.

When the mysterious Madame Chang arrives with the gift of storytelling, fortunes begin to change. She challenges Rendi to reciprocate with stories of his own, which gradually reveal who he really is and why he ran away. As he learns to trust the other villagers, Rendi realizes the stories hold answers to his many questions about how to save the dying village and resolve his own familial conflict.

“Master Chao seemed not to notice and brought Peiyi in front of him. He gently pushed her tangled hair from her cherry-blossom-pink face. She stood as still as a carved statue, with only her eyes moving, as her father dipped his finger into the wine mixture and carefully wrote ‘wang’, a symbol of power, with it on her forehead. Rendi watched from the doorway, and a strange, jealous anger filled him.” (Chapter 2)It’s an emotional journey of self discovery for Rendi, but all are transformed by the stories they hear and tell, as new friendships are forged, and moon, mountain, balance and harmony are restored.

The simply told stories are laced with profound universal truths. They circle back and build upon each other, suggesting the interrelationship of all things, adding rich layers of cultural and historical context. Starry River of the Sky is exquisitely crafted, by its own example a paean to the power of story — its ability to enlighten, heal, inspire, unite, and reconcile.