Children's Books, and Other Cool Stuff

                                                                BIOGRAPHY                                                     Mary Griffith Chalupsky   Mary Griffith Chalupsky was born to Viola (Brown) and Edgar Griffith.  She married LaVerne Chalupsky and together they raised six children on a farm south of Fairfax, IA.  She attended Kirkwood College and studied the Arts.   Mary began writing poetry many years ago and won awards through the ...

  Author Spotlight August 2022    Bio Hi! I’m Sybrina. I have been writing since I was a little girl. My Dad was my main influence. He could tell a story like nobody’s business. He would hold an entire room enthralled, wildly recounting his youthful adventures. I could never tell stories like that, but I found that I could write them down pretty well. A little aside about my dad that you might find interesting...he thought he made up my name, Sybrina, and he was proud of it. Once I made the mistake of asking him if I could have a nickname because Sybrina (Si [rhymes with Hi]-Bree-Nuh) is awkward name to pronounce. No one ever got it right. Well, that was the angriest He ever was at me. His answer was unequivocally “NO!” He said, “I gave you that name for a reason. Someday the world is going to know who you are, and you need a name they will remember.” I scoffed at such a notion at the time but maybe that little lecture is what has motivated me to keep writing and sharing ...

  Author Spotlight July 2021 Book Review- “ The Fastest Dinosaur .” Overall, this book by Mrs. Caren Cantrell tries to work with a simple concept of a dinosaur who is in a race for being the fastest runner out of his friends. Yet, at the same time he has a large heart and wants to help everyone. So, when he is challenged by another dinosaur to a race, he accepts this challenge and as he races, he comes to situations where he is asked to help others. The illustrations by Mrs. Amy Klein use simple colors and shapes to represent the characters really well. The one issue I found with this book is that it seemed not to tell the full story bringing in many characters that we knew nothing about. The characters even the main one, Enzo were very genetic and not realistic. It also lacked a story arc where a character has to grow in some way. I am not sure what the target age of this book is or what message it was trying to send it’s readers? It could definitely have used some more work and ...

       Author Spotlight April 2021 Ni'matul-ain Muhammad is an author and artist in Washington DC. Ni'matul-ain Muhammad 's interest in writing stories started after watching her favorite cartoons as a toddler. She has been drawing ever since. She has never had trouble loving her skin or her race. However, her stories mainly revolve around children of color since doing research and learning how children seeing themselves in characters affects their outlook on life. Her books are educational in that they teach school subjects, life, and world lessons, and encourage creativity.  The books were also inspired by the author's own experience with working and volunteering to look after children. Her first book 'What Does Kitty Want?' was inspired one day when a hungry cat followed her home from the grocery store. "What Does Kitty Want?' has been featured on Stories with Santa, E Life Presented: Black Wall Street Renaissance, and Dream spire. Ni'mat...

  Author Spotlight 2021 Mr. James Cipollina           Book Review  The Eyedroids by James Cipollina - Was an interesting picture book and had very simple and colorful illustrations that were very well done. The blend of colors and how he expressed the emptions of this alien creatures he called Eyedroids was good. What the book was lacking was a solid storyline and it did not have any story Arc. It also lacked a hero that a reader can follow and grow with. It did do a decent  job of bringing this creatures  to life but the lack of storyline was a bit disappointing. overall as a reader I can give him 3 stars.                                           Biography     Hi, I am James Cipollina and the Author of The Eyedroids. Which was self-published in 2011 and is for sale on all onlin...

Picture Books Rip Van Winkle - Retold and illustrated by Will Moses, based on Washington Irving's book. Philomel Books a division of Penguin Putnam Books for young readers. New York 1999. This book is based on a  classical folk tale about a man who goes into the woods and falls asleep waking up many years later to a new world. This classic tale is retold with a combination of wonderful illustrations and words. It is probably better suited for the older child because of complex words and storyline. This new version brings a wonderful story back to our modern world. The storyline and sophisticated crafted words make it more suited for an older child.     Patti Cake and Her New Doll - Written by Patricia Reilly Giff and illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Published by Orchard books New York an imprint of Scholastic Inc. 2014. The book describes one day in a life of a little girl named Patti and her home companions m...