The 20 Question Interview with our very own Turkeybird is our feature interview that will be happening with all of the book authors, illustrators and poets we love! Today the Turkeybird has the wonderful opportunity of sharing with you his interview with a favorite author of his mom’s, Kim Culbertson. Her first book, Songs for a Teenage Nomad, was wonderful and her second book, Instructions for a Broken Heart has recently been is released and is quickly becoming a favorite as well. The Turkeybird has had a fantastic time thinking of crazy and fun questions to ask Kim! So, without further hesitation on our part, the Turkeybird’s 20 Question interview with Kim Culbertson…

1. What’s your favorite music?
Anything that I can dance around the house to!

2. Do you like to sing?
I do!  Especially in the car with my daughter.

3. Why?
It makes me happy.  And I like to get strange looks from people in the cars next to us.

4. Short or long stories? I like short ones because then I can read more of them!
I like any story with a main character I connect to – and who is funny.  And maybe who likes pizza as much as I do.

5. Crayons or Markers?
Crayons

6. Why?
Because you can do so much fun stuff with them – draw light or dark, melt them, snap them into tiny pieces, shade with them, peel their wrappers…they are multi-use color magic!

7. My mom said you are a teacher. What do you teach?
I try to show high school kids why I think reading and writing make the world a better place.  Sometimes, they listen to me.

8. Do you like it?
I LOVE my job.  I get to go to work and talk about books and people and words – it’s the best.

9. I’m starting school soon and there’s so much to learn! What was your favorite thing to learn in school?
I loved learning to learn.  That probably sounds funny, but I love that there are reasons for things and ideas about things and we get to be like detectives and find them out.  And here’s the cool thing – you never stop learning! I just learned some really cool things about Poison Dart Frogs.  Did you know they are brightly colored so they can tell other creatures, “Back off!  I’m poisonous!”  So cool.

10. Do you really like writing mushy books?
Yeah – I like all that love stuff!

11. Why?
Because I think it’s the most important thing in the world and we never run out of it.  Love is this world’s best natural resource (how’s that for mushy!?)

12. What did you like to read when you were my age?
Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, Ogden Nash, The Frances books, and anything by Mercer Mayer.

13. Do you have a favorite treat? (Mine is anything chocolate!)
Me too!  Mmmmmmmm.

14. It’s almost summertime, yay! Where is the very best place to go outside? (I love going to the park!)
We live near this beautiful river and it’s really green and rushing this time of year and I just love to go sit on these big, flat rocks by it and, sometimes, throw smaller rocks into it.

15. What’s your favorite thing to do outside?
Look at how amazing this world is.  Oh, and I like to walk with my dog.  I do both of these things at once.

16. What are you writing right now?
Another mushy book about a girl who goes to Idaho.

17. Do you ever think you would write a book for kids my age?
Ooooh, I don’t know if I’m that brave – books for your age are very special and important.  I’ll have to become a better writer before I do that.

18. Why?
Because I think children’s books are the most magical of all books.

19. Lakes or the ocean? We live next to the ocean and it is so neat!
You are so lucky!!  I love any body of water, especially if it has a beach!

20. If you were four what would you read next?
The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen – I’ve been meaning to read that one and it looks really good.

The Turkeybird Speaks: “Thank you so much Ms. Culbertson, Kim! I had so much fun reading your answers with my mom and my dad. My dad was here and he said that the mushy stuff is super okay and I will probably like it more when I get older. For now though I still think girls have something my mom says is called cooties!

“But I really like your dancing answers! I even started to dance when my mom was reading them to me and I had her turn some music on while we read. I love that! And I’m super super jealous that you have a dog! I really want a pet but we can’t get one yet…maybe some day soon.

“Thank you again Ms. Culbertson! I’m going to ask my mom if we can find The Circus Ship because that book looks super cool and I’d really like to read it! Maybe when I’m older I’ll give one of your books a try, but probably not while I’m at school, you know? Even if my dad says girls like that kind of thing!”

Take a look at the new book trailer for Kim’s new book, Instructions for a Broken Heart:

Find Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culbertson at the following spots:
Amazon
Powell’s Books
Indiebound
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads

Thank you to Sourcebooks for coordinating this interview and providing a copy of Instructions for a Broken Heart! Find Sourcebooks on Twitter and Facebook!
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our various affiliate relationships.

The 20 Question Interview with our very own Turkeybird is our feature interview that will be happening with all of the book authors, illustrators and poets we love! Today the Turkeybird has the wonderful opportunity of sharing with you his interview with author and National Ambassador for Children’s Literature emeritus, Jon Scieszka. The Turkeybird had a fantastic time thinking of crazy and fun questions! So, without further hesitation on our part, the Turkeybird’s 20 Question interview with Jon Scieszka…

1. I’m starting school this year, for the first time, ever. What joke should I tell?
What is brown and sticky?
A brown stick.

2. You don’t have any sisters? Really? Not even one? Maybe she’s hiding.
Not even one. Though if I did have one, she probably would be hiding.

3. Do you like all those brothers?
I like them all sometimes. But other times some of my brothers drive me crazy and then I have to wrestle them to the ground. Just like I used to.

4. There’s a girl in your Guys Read book (that’s what my mom said). Why? It’s not “Guys and a Girl Reads”? That’s so silly!
The book is for lots of guys to read. And lots of guys read writing by girls like Kate DiCamillo, JK Rowling, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Laurie Keller, Lois Lowry, Suzanne Collins, Rosemary Wells . . .

5. What’s your favorite color? Mine’s pink right now. The other day I really liked brown.
Today I am liking green. I’m usually a big fan of blue too. And orange is a lot of fun.

6. Do you like pigs? They seem kind of silly in your wolf book.
I don’t like pigs. I used to work with some (when I worked on a farm). And that’s when I found that pigs can be very mean.

7. I just turned four! What book did you read when you were four? I’ve been reading The Loud Book a lot right now.
Go, Dog. Go! was one of my favorite books when I was four. And it still is now.

8. Numbers or letters? I like numbers the best!
Both.

9. Why?
Numbers can do things letters can’t do. And letters can do things numbers can’t do.

10. My mom showed me a picture of you wearing a necklace. That seems kind of silly. Why would you do that?
That wasn’t my necklace. It was my medal. The President of the United States, his wife, and the guy in charge of all of the libraries in America gave it to me as the first National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature. So I wear it almost all of the time.

11. What’s your favorite word? Mine’s underpants, for right now at least.
Mine is underpants because you just made me think of it. But hoot is a pretty good word too. You get to do it while you say it.

12. What was your favorite book to read out loud to your kids when they were my age?
My daughter loved The Gingerbread Man. And my son liked anything with Davy Crockett in it.

13. Crayons or Markers?
Chalk.

14. Why?
Because it wasn’t one of the choices. And I do love the way chalk drawings wash away.

15. What’s the craziest thing you’ve learned? My dad just taught me that you’re not supposed to jump the lines in mazes, isn’t that so crazy?!
I just learned that there are some spiders who pretend like they are ants. They put some of their 8 legs up to look like ant antennae. They walk around in zig zags just like ants. And some of them even make smells like ant smells. Crazy.

16. Do you have a favorite treat? Mine is chocolate everything!
I love noodles. Italian noodles, Chinese noodles, Japanese noodles, oodles of noodles.

17. What’s the funniest book you’ve ever read? My favorite is There’s A Bird on Your Head!
I liked There’s A Bird on Your Head too. I laughed at Diary of A Wimpy Kid. And I always laugh at some of the George and Martha stories and some of the Frog and Toad stories.

18. What book are you writing right now?
I’m writing a book about all of the trucks in Trucktown having a giant Play Day . . . or maybe a race . . . or maybe a wrestling match . . . I can’t decide which.

19. Pirates or robots? I can’t pick.
Definitely robots, because they can do so many things. And definitely not pirates, because they are so smelly and can not be trusted.

20. If you were four and had a little sister who always wanted to read about elephants. Plech! What would you read next?
I would read George and Martha stories. And I would explain to my little sister that George and Martha are big and grey just like elephants. (She could find out later that they are hippos.)

The Turkeybird Speaks: “Thank you so much Mr. Scieszka! Now that I know what that medal means, I think I’d like to wear one someday if I can. How neat!

“I’m so glad you like There Is A Bird on Your Head! We just read it again yesterday and I can’t stop laughing, it’s so good. My mom said that next time we go to the library we’ll look for the George and Martha books because I’ll probably like them a lot too.  And I can’t wait to read your new Trucktown book! We have one that my little sister is always picking up to read, which is super because I like trucks so much and she does too.

“You did a super great job with the interview Mr. Scieszka and I really liked your joke, I’m trying to learn it so I can tell it at school! Thank you again for all the great answers! (Now that I think about it…robots are way better than pirates!)”

About the Guys Read Libray:
Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read is a program designed to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers. Research shows that young boys don’t take to reading quite as readily as their girl counterparts—but also that boys will read, if they are given reading that interests them. That’s where the Guys Read Library of Great Reading comes in: Guys Read: Funny Business and Guys Read: Thriller are the first two volumes in the definitive series of short story collections just for guys. Contributors include the best-of-the-best in writing for children today: M.T. Anderson, Gennifer Choldenko, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo, Matt de la Pena, Paul Feig, Jack Gantos, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Bruce Hale, Anthony Horowitz, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Walter Dean Myers, James Patterson, Adam Rex, and David Yoo. And they’re writing stories about homicidal turkeys, teenage mummies, the world’s worst private detectives…What more could a guy ask for?

About John Scieszka:
Jon Scieszka is the National Ambassador for Children’s Literature emeritus and the bestselling author of more than twenty-five books for kids including The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Math Curse, Robot Zot!, and the Time Warp Trio series. Jon founded Guys Read to encourage a passion for reading among young boys, with the philosophy that boys love to read most when they are reading things they love. A former elementary school teacher, Jon lives in Brooklyn with his family. You can visit him online at www.guysread.com.

Today’s post is part of our month long celebration of Walden Pond Press for our monthly feature “Book Publishers 101“. Make sure to stop by the Walden Pond Press Site for more information about this title and more. For more information about our Book Publishers 101 feature take a look at this month’s opening post.

Make sure to stop by our huge month long giveaway from Walden Pond Press, including a chance to win both Guys Read: Funny Business and Guys Read: Thriller!

Thank you to Walden Pond Press for coordinating this interview! Find Walden Pond Press on Twitter and Facebook!
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our various affiliate relationships.

The 20 Question Interview with our very own Turkeybird is our feature interview that will be happening with all of the book authors, illustrators and poets we love! Today the Turkeybird is interviewing author Mark Jeffrey, who has a brand new book series out called The Max Quick Series. The Turkeybird isn’t quite old enough to read it on his own, but he’s been reading a little bit at a time with his mom and loves it! So, without further hesitation on our part, the Turkeybird’s 20 Question interview with Mark Jeffrey…

1. I read a lot, but I’ve never heard of a “podiobook”, what is that?
It’s basically an audiobook, but delivered on the Internet as an MP3 podcast — hence the term ‘podiobook’. I know, I know: us adults and our fancypants important-words for something that is actually very simple.

2. Which is better, Snakes or Fish?
Snakes, of course. Snakes are cool.

3. Crayons or Markers?
Crayons, of course.

4. Why?
Because when I was your age I had this massive box of crayons that had about 300 different colors in it. Markers, on the other hand, do not come in nearly as many colors.

5. What’s your favorite color?
Vreen. It’s actually a made-up new primary color that’s in my new book. There’s also Grinlo and Nraple.

6. If time stopped right now what would you do?
I would come to your house and steal all your stuff!

7. Why?
Because you have cool stuff! No, I’m just kidding, I wouldn’t really come take your stuff. Actually I’d come to your house and give you even more cool stuff because you sound like a pretty cool kid!

8. If you were four what would you read next?
Hmmm. I really liked The Wonderful Flight To The Mushroom Planet when I was your age, you might want to try that. Really cool book.

9. Do you have a favorite treat? (Mine is anything chocolate!)
Right there with you. Chocolate everything it is!!

10. When my mom lets me, I really like playing on the computer. What game should I play next? (One of my favorites is Plants vs. Zombies.)
Angry Birds. Love that game. Especially the exploding black crows, they’re the best.
(The Turkeybird couldn’t help but show off his grandma’s Angry Birds cookies she made! On the right.)

11. What food do you like to eat? (I love yogurt and cereal.)
I really, really love sushi. I live in Santa Monica on the ocean, that could be why.

12. When you were my age did you like to read?
Pretty much what I read now: fantasy and scifi and magical realism.

13. I love to collect rocks! Do you like rocks?
I used to.

14. Why?
I grew up in New Hampshire and there were lots of interesting rocks there: granite, mica, red granite — even some fossils. Santa Monica is not so interesting rock-wise, I’m afraid.

15. Lakes or the ocean? We live next to the ocean and it is so neat!
Definitely ocean.

16. Do you have a favorite animal?
You mean besides dinosaurs?

17. Cats or Dogs?
Dogs. Dogs for sure.

18. Writing seems kind of boring, do you like to write?
Well if you’re interested in what you’re writing then it’s not boring Writing is kind of like doing a magic trick: you know behind the scenes that it’s really not ‘real’, but the challenge is to make everyone else think it’s real — and more than that — that they are there.

19. If I had to write, I think writing kids books would be way more fun. Do you like writing kids books or grown up books more?
Well in my view, a great kid’s book should work for grown ups because grown ups were once kids as well. So I view them as the same thing, really. Maybe I have the mind of a child

20. What are you writing right now?
I am writing answers to The Turkeybird’s sometimes funny questions! Oh you mean book-wise. Well I’m working on a rewrite of the second Max Quick book and the first draft of the third Max Quick book.

The Turkeybird Speaks: “Thank you so so much Mark for answering all of my questions! I’m really loving the Max Quick book and so I’m super happy to know there are going to be more books with Max and hopefully Casey. It’s always fun to listen to my mom read the story to me, so I’m happy to know it won’t stop after this book!

“Thank you again Mark! Now I’m off to see if my mom will either read more Max Quick to me or let me play Angry Birds on her phone!”

Want a sneak peak at this fantastic new series? Take a look at The Pocket and the Pendant synopsis and the first official Max Quick Podcasts:
The Official Max Quick Podcast – Episode 1
The Official Max Quick Podcast – Episode 2
Synopsis: When time mysteriously stops one day, nearly everyone in the world is trapped in suspension. But not Max Quick. Now Max must travel across America to see if he can discover how to set things right. Along the way, he joins forces with a girl named Casey and a boy named Ian. In their hunt for answers, Max and his companions encounter ancient mysteries, magical books, and clues to the riddle of stopped time and the suspicious villains who seem to have caused it in the first place. Yet the more Max learns about the time stop, the more it seems that his own true identity is not what he once believed.

First created as a digital audiobook that readers discovered online, the pulse-pounding tale of Max Quick reached hundreds of thousands of listeners who tuned in week after week for new chapters.

Find The Pocket and the Pendant (Max Quick #1) by Mark Jeffrey at the following spots:
Goodreads
Amazon
Powell’s Books
Indiebound
Barnes & Noble

Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our various affiliate relationships.

The 20 Question Interview with our very own Turkeybird is our feature interview that will be happening with all of the book authors, illustrators and poets we love! Today the Turkeybird is interviewing an illustrator that is actually an all-time favorite of his dads! Joel Seibel, illustrator for yesterday’s review book Bluebird Finds a Home, is also an illustrator for numerous motion picture movies as well as TV shows (including dad’s favorite, Pinky and the Brain). We loved the illustrations in Bluebird Finds a Home and so obviously the Turkeybird was excited to interview Joel! So, without further hesitation on our part, the Turkeybird’s 20 Question interview with Joel Seibel…

1. Did you always like to draw?
Yes, always.

2. What’s your favorite animal?
Oh, I love dogs.

3. Which one do you like to draw the most?
That’s a real toss-up. We’ll say bears.

4. Why?
Bears always seem to have such wonderful personalities. And they’re round. That makes them much easier to draw. People prefer round animals because round looks cute. You can stretch round characters and squash them and really do a lot with them.

5. What’s your favorite game? (I’m a big fan of memory, but if I can grab my mom’s phone I really like Angry Birds too. hehe)
Hmm, my wife and I play a lot of games. We love trivia. And Uno too!

6. My dad thinks Pinky and the Brain was the best! Which one did you like the most?
My favorite cartoon to work on was called Angry Beavers. The characters were great. It was beautifully written, very funny. I think adults probably liked them better than kids did. And the characters were fun to draw: real neat, unique shapes. The studio also let us draw whatever we wanted. They turned us loose. There was a lot of room for creativity. They let us use our crazy imaginations.

7. Crayons or Markers?
Crayons.

8. Why?
Crayons are very versatile. You can push softly and make the color lighter. You can push harder and make it darker. It’s easier to mix and match colors too. I actually use colored pencils a lot for that very same reason.

9. Which cartoon was your favorite when you were my age? I love Wow! Wow! Wubzy!
I bet you’ve never heard of this one: Crusader Rabbit. It was on a show called Sheriff John back in the late ‘40s or early ‘50s. Sheriff John was an L.A. sheriff who went out to schools, and he had a TV show. On his show, he had a Crusader Rabbit segment. It was a serial cartoon, meaning that it was continued every single day. I sometimes stayed home, pretending to be sick, just so I could watch it!

10. Have you ever built a birdhouse?
Oh, yes, many. We even have some outside my house. I like to build anyhow. I build things like furniture and cabinetry.

11. What’s your favorite color?
Green.

12. Why?
So much in nature is green. I love spring. I like to watch things grow. Everything in Minnesota turns from white and gray to green, and that means things are growing again.

13. Is Ryan (Jacobson) a fun guy to work with? He writes lots of books!
He’s a geek. Just kidding. He is a very fun guy and a good friend.

14. I’ve always wanted to go to Disneyland. Was it fun working there?
No. I didn’t get to go on the rides. It was all work, work, work.

15. Do you recycle? My mom said we’re supposed to.
Yes.

16. Why?
We really do need to take care of our surroundings. It’s the only planet we have, so let’s not screw it up too bad. Let’s keep the world clean. It’s a pretty neat place, and I like it.

17. What are you drawing right now?
I just finished working on an Angelina Ballerina cartoon. Right this moment, I’m doing a coloring book for a state fair.

18. It’s almost summertime, yay! What’s your favorite thing to do outside? (I love going to the park!)
Working on my farm.

19. Why?
A farm means a lot of work. I like hard work. I mend fences, prepare hay and clean up after winter. Plus, it’s a break from the drawing board. We’re having a family reunion here this summer that we need to get ready for. So there’s lots to do!

20. If you were four what would you read next?
I have a new book called Fuzzy Boy’s Special Day that’s coming out soon. It was just printed, so it’s brand new. It’s about a caterpillar who goes all around and tells all of his friends that God is going to turn him into a butterfly. Nobody believes him. Eventually, Fuzzy learns that you can’t just tell people some things; you have to show them.

The Turkeybird Speaks:“Thank you so much Mr. Seibel for answering all of my fun questions today! I know my dad was just as excited to see your answers and now he’s hoping we can watch The Angry Beavers sometime together.

“I may have to use the staying home sick thing on my mom some time after I start school. That’s a good trick! Oh, but now my mom knows. Also, your new book sounds like a lot of fun, I’ll have to see if my mom can get it from the library once it comes out!

“Thank you again Mr. Seibel! We really enjoyed your book, Bluebird Finds a Home and hope you are having a great Earth Day!”

Giveaway!

Thanks to the publisher, Adventure Publications, I have one copy of Bluebird Finds a Home as well as an original pencil drawing by the illustrator, Joel Seibel, from the book as a giveaway too!

Please stop by our review of Bluebird Finds a Home for this fantastic giveaway!

Find Bluebird Finds a Home by Ryan Jacobson at the following spots:
Goodreads
Amazon
Powell’s Books
Indiebound

Thank you so much to the publisher, Adventure Publications, for providing a copy for review and giveaway!
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our various affiliate relationships.

The 20 Question Interview with our very own Turkeybird is our feature interview that will be happening with all of the book authors, illustrators and poets we love! Today the Turkeybird is interviewing an author we’ve been reading quite a bit recently, Mary McKenna Siddals. Her new book Compost Stew was recently released and we were able to post our review just a couple of days ago. Needless to say, we loved it and think Mary is pretty neat too! So, without further hesitation on our part, the Turkeybird’s 20 Question interview with Mary McKenna Siddals…

1. What’s the best part about compost? My mom said it’s not trash, but I think I’ll keep calling it that.
You and your mom are both right! Composting is nature’s way of recycling, so what starts out as trash is turned into treasure – a dark and crumbly, rich and sweet, delicious treat for the Earth. Compost is so enriching to the soil that some gardeners even call it “black gold”!

2. Rocks or flowers? I’m a rock guy.
I think I might be a flower girl. Rocks last longer, but flowers are beautiful while they last… and you know what you can do when their blooming days are through? (Just add to the pot…)

3. Do you have a favorite bug? Mine’s a ladybug.
Ladybugs are a favorite of mine, too. Whenever I find one on my windowsill, I lift it gently onto my finger, make a wish, and help it to fly away back outdoors again.

4. We have a garden with tomatoes. What would you plant?
I don’t have a garden right now, but if I did, I’d plant it with tomatoes, too.

5. Why?
I love tomatoes, and you can grow them just about anywhere. I’ve grown them in flowerpots on my patio, in a narrow strip of dirt alongside my fence, and one year I even planted them directly into bags of soil lying flat on the sidewalk beside my house.

6. What’s your favorite color? Today mine is green.
It’s hard to pick just one favorite color. I especially love mossy green and rusty red…

7. Why?
…but I also like aspen yellow and sky blue. I enjoy seeing all the different colors that nature displays throughout the year, so I might change my mind about my favorite, depending on what season it is, and where I am.

8. What is your favorite picture book to read out loud? (I love when my mom reads the Elephant and Piggie books, they’re so good!)
I love reading all picture books out loud, but most especially ones that are written in playful rhyme. One recent favorite is Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle. All the animal voices and noises are just so much fun to read out loud! (My favorite Elephant and Piggie read-aloud is I Love My New Toy!)

9. Spring or Winter? I like the Spring because it means I can play at the park more!
Definitely Spring because it means longer days, warmer weather, and fresh colors bursting out everywhere!

10. Are picture books your favorite thing to write?
Picture books are indeed my favorite thing to write… AND to read! I check out stacks of them at my library every week. You’re never too old to enjoy picture books!

11. I once saw a worm as long as my arm! What about you?
Wow! That’s one gigantic worm! Did you know that worms eat their way through the compost heap? I wonder how much trash a worm that size could eat…

12. Do you have any pets?
Not right now, but I do have a cute little grand-doggy who comes to visit.

13. It’s almost summertime, yay! What’s your favorite thing to do outside? (I love going to the park!)
Yay, summertime! I can hardly wait! I especially like hiking through the forest.

14. Crayons or Markers?
Both!

15. Why?
I love the rich colors you get when drawing with markers, but there are some special projects that you can do only with crayons, like wax resist painting, or batik Easter eggs. Hmm… I think I’ll make some of those now!

16. What are you writing right now?
Right now, I’m polishing up an alphabet book of animal babies. Did you know that a young turkey is called a poult?

17. I love scrambled eggs and pancakes. What’s your favorite food?
Yum, I love scrambled eggs, too… but make mine CHOCOLATE pancakes! Chocolate is my favorite food, so I love being able to sneak it into my breakfast with my special chocolate pancake recipe.

18. My dad says it gets cold in Canada. Is that true?
Yes, it can get VERY cold here in winter, down to 40 degrees below zero. When it gets that cold, I stay inside, snuggle up with books, and read. We get a LOT of snow here, too. This year, it was piled up over 10 feet high on my front lawn. (That’s me, waving in front of that mountain of snow!) In fact, the snow still isn’t gone yet, although it has shrunk down into smaller patches. Winter can last a long time here!

19. Do you like it there?
Despite the long winters, I really do love living here. My backyard is filled with birds and squirrels, and my city is surrounded by beautiful forests. I love being so close to nature, and enjoy seeing the many wild animals who sometimes wander through my neighborhood, including foxes, deer, moose, and even bears!

20. If you were four what would you read next?
So many great books out there, it’s hard to choose! But if you like the Elephant and Piggie books, I think you might also like the Fly Guy books (my favorite of those is Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl), the Traction Man books (one of Traction Man’s adventures even takes him to a compost heap!), and the Harry and the Dinosaurs books. A few other favorites I think you might enjoy are Bark, George (by Jules Feiffer), Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp (by Denise Fleming), Me Hungry! (by Jeremy Tankard) and A Visitor for Bear (by Bonnie Becker). Can you tell I like LOTS of books?

My thanks to the Turkeybird for such a fun interview… and your questions really made me think! Keep enjoying books and exploring the wonders of the world all around you, one gigantic worm at a time…

The Turkeybird Speaks: “Thank you so much for answering all of my questions Ms. Siddals! I really liked your chocolate pancakes answer and my mom said we will have to try it out one day very very soon. We have pancakes a lot because my sister and I think they are the best thing for breakfast and even for dinner sometimes. I LOVE chocolate too! I can’t wait to try it! Maybe tomorrow! Do you think you could get me that recipe, I’ll try to slip it into my mom’s recipe while she’s not looking!

“My dad said he was right about all the snow in Canada, but my mom still wants to move there some day. I think I’m more of a shorts and t-shirt guy so I don’t know yet.

“And thank you for all the new books to look at! We are still reading Compost Stew a lot and when I’m done I’ll talk my mom into going to the library for these new books!

“It was so nice to have you answer all my questions and I love your book! Let me know when your animal baby book comes out, I want to see that turkey! He better look great!”

The Compost Stew Giveaway!

To celebrate Earth Day & thank her Facebook followers for their support, Mary McKenna Siddals is giving away 5 copies of the picture book COMPOST STEW as well as 2 art prints from the book, autographed by illustrator Ashley Wolff!
To enter go to Mary’s giveaway page on her site and follow the directions for your chance to win!

Find Compost Stew by Mary McKenna Siddals at the following spots:
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Amazon
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Thank you so much to the publisher, Tricycle Press, for providing a copy for review!
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The 20 Question Interview with our very own Turkeybird is a new feature interview that will be happening with all of the authors, illustrators and poets he loves (and sometimes the one’s his mom loves)! Today the Turkeybird is interviewing author Barbara Dee, who is a fantastic middle grade fiction writer and also happens to be one of his mom’s absolute favorites. She has a brand new book coming out called Trauma Queen and it’s one you definitely have to read! So, without further hesitation on our part, the Turkeybird’s 20 Question interview with Barbara Dee…

1. You come up with some crazy fun people in your books(at least that’s what my mom says), how come?
I write about crazy, funny people because I love comedies and I love to laugh!

2. Do you think you might write about boys sometime?
I already have! In Solving Zoe, one of the main characters is a boy named Lucas. He’s a code-solving genius, and I got his name from George Lucas (who directed the Star Wars movies).

3. What’s your favorite movie? Right now mine is Despicable Me, so funny!
That’s a great movie! I have so many favorites—it’s impossible for me to pick just one. So let me tell you two I really like—E.T. and Best in Show.

4. Do your kids like your favorite kids book, Bread and Jam for Frances?
They still love it—and they’re teenagers! Just a few days ago, my daughter said to me at dinner, “How do you know what I’ll like if you won’t even try me?”

5. What’s your favorite color? (Mine’s pink right now.)
I’ve always liked purple best.

6. Why?
I like grape Tootsie Pops.

7. My mom said you wrote a book about Spanish rice and robots, it sounds cool! Where is it?
It’s right here in my desk drawer! And guess what—I just did a video celebrating the fifth anniversary of Aladdin MIX books, and I showed that page from the book! So when the video comes out (maybe this summer), I hope you can see it! I also shared it on VYou.com/barbaradee.

8. What’s your favorite book right now?
The one I’m writing!

9. What about your favorite book you read to your kids when they were my age?
I read SOOO MANY BOOKS to my kids when they were your age! It’s impossible for me to pick just one favorite, but I especially loved sharing Bread and Jam for Frances (of course), Dr. Seuss’s The Sneeches,  Where the Wild Things Are, The Story of Ferdinand,  We’re Going on A Bear Hunt, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Julius The Baby of the World, Curious George, and anything by Shirley Hughes.

10. Why?
They’re all great books to read out loud!

11. Crayons or Markers?
Markers.

12. How come?
Markers don’t melt, they don’t break in half, and they stay pointy. Also, when crayons lose their paper, they feel kind of weird, don’t they?

13. Who’s your best friend?
My husband!

14. Why?
He’s really funny and smart.

15. Is that why your write about friends a lot?
Well, I do like to think about smart, funny characters!

16. What’s your favorite kind of chocolate? (I love chocolate ice cream right now, but sometimes I really want some M&M’s. So there’s no wrong answer.)
I love love love Snickers! In my new book, Trauma Queen, the main character’s mom declares Chocolate Day whenever things go bad, and then she lets her kids eat a whole supper of chocolate. Do you think that’s a good idea? (Ask your mom what she thinks!)

17. Will you ever write a book for little kids? (picture book)
Hmm. I’m not sure. Any ideas for one, Turkeybird?

18. Have you ever been on a roller coaster?
Yes! And I closed my eyes!

19. What are you writing right now?
This interview.

20. What should I read next?
Have you read all the books I mentioned in Question 9? Also Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day is great! Oh yes, and Squids Will Be Squids! And  don’t forget The Stinky Cheese Man!

The Turkeybird Speaks: “Thank you so much Mrs. Dee! I love meeting a great chocolate fan like me! I asked my mom about the chocolate day and she said she didn’t think it was such a bad idea if it didn’t happen very much. (So I think maybe I got her!)

“You know? I was thinking about your picture book idea and I thought of something really super! My sister is one of those crazy funny people you like to write about. From what my mom says she’s not going to change much with all that crazy business, she laughs all the time! It’s crazy! So maybe you could write about a Turkeybird who has a crazy little sister who is always bugging him, but is only sometimes super fun. What do you think?

“My mom said she will have to get out her copy of Where the Wild Things Are and we will go looking for the other books at the library or bookstore, so thank you for all the new books to read! And thank you for answering all of my fun questions! It was really good you were on, maybe I’ll have a Chocolate Day of my own soon!”

Trauma Queen fab giveaway!

Three lucky winners will receive one copy of TRAUMA QUEEN by Barbara Dee along with a limited edition t-shirt! To enter, send an e-mail to TQgiveaway@gmail.com. In the body of the e-mail, include your name and e-mail address (if you’re under 13, have a parent enter for you). One entry per person and prizes will only be shipped to US or Canadian addresses. Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on 5/13/11. Winners will be selected in a random drawing on 5/14/11 and notified via email.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Simon & Schuster Aladdin, for providing a copy of this book for review via Galley Grab! Find them on Twitter and on Facebook!