Hi gang,
Just wanted anyone poking around here to know…I’m shifting my blogging activities over to a Tumblr page, which will allow me to micro-blog in a more “Facebook updatey” way. Hopefully, that will make it a much more active place. You can access it and get all the newest info about my writing and my books by hitting the News page on my website: http://www.aaron-reynolds.com. You can also subscribe directly from the Tumblr page, once you land there.
Thanks!
In support of (print) books and indie bookstores, a group of authors gathered together in New Orleans earlier this fall to make a video where they all read aloud from Lane Smith’s It’s a Book. The project was devised by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) and once it was confirmed that Lane Smith and the book’s publisher Macmillan supported the project, the taping began. Authors graciously (and often gleefully) stepped into a makeshift studio to read their lines with little notion of what the final outcome would look like, but nevertheless believing in the good cause the project was designed to highlight: the benefit of print books and indie bookstores.
Here’s the result! Bottom line…nothing can ever replace the printed book! Long live the book!
Announcing the winner of the “I’ll Be Your School’s Best Friend!” Contest!
It’s PATRICIA BALLARD!
Patricia will receive SEVENTEEN of Aaron’s children’s books signed to her, SEVENTEEN of Aaron’s books signed to the Elementary School of her choice, and a free Skype Author Visit for the Elementary School of her choice! WOOT and SQUEEE to Patricia!
Thanks to the tons of people who entered the “I’ll Be Your School’s Best Friend!” Contest!
Stay posted to Facebook for upcoming contests, news, and events, including a possible fall contest where you and your students can compete to create the official book trailer for Aaron’s next book! More details coming soon!
Want to win a huge stack of signed books for yourself and your school, not to mention a free Author Visit for the school of your choice? It couldn’t be easier! Enter Aaron Reynolds’s “I’ll Be Your School’s Best Friend!” Contest. Here’s how:
What do I do to enter? Simply click HERE and “Friend” Aaron on Facebook. That’s it! You’re entered to win.
What’s the deadline? Anybody that “Friends” Aaron between now and April 15 (tax day) will be entered to win.
What’s the prize?
1) SEVENTEEN of Aaron’s children’s books, personally signed just to you, including the Caldecott Honor book CREEPY CARROTS! and Aaron’s newest picture book PIRATES VS. COWBOYS. That’s right…I said seventeen different books!
2) Another set of SEVENTEEN books signed by Aaron and donated to the Elementary School of your choice!
3) A free Skype Author Visit for the Elementary School of your choice!
The Winner will be selected randomly from all new Facebook friends that “Friend” Aaron between now and April 15.
Any restrictions? Only new “Friends” are eligible. No fair unfriending and refriending Aaron. He’s onto your tricks!
So that’s it! Aaron wants to be your school’s new best friend…and yours too! So what are you waiting for? Click here and “Friend” Aaron now!
In a thrilling and unexpected surprise, Creepy Carrots has been awarded the Caldecott Honor for Peter Brown’s magnificent illustrations.
This award, which is like the Oscars for children’s books, is awarded each year for outstanding illustration in a children’s book. I remember reading books as a kid with this little silver medal on them, but never dreamed that one day, one of MY books might have it emblazoned across the front.
Peter tells a delightful story on his blog about the morning he got the call. Check it out here.
Very exciting news!!!! Thanks to all who have made this book a success, to teachers and librarians who continue to put this book into kids’ hands, to parents who believe in buying books for kids in the e-crazy world, to the incredible Peter Brown for gracing my goofy little story with his award-winning artwork, and to the Caldecott Committee for recognizing funny quirky books and not just serious mushy ones!
Great news this week! I just found out that my newest book, Creepy Carrots! (illustrated by the brilliant Peter Brown) has just debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List at number 7!
http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2012-09-09/picture-books/list.html
The wait is over! Creepy Carrots! are out!
RUN!!! – don’t walk – to your nearest bookseller!
BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!
Already, Creepy Carrots! is collecting some nice buzz:
“…a spot-on parody of a paranoid thriller,” – Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Delicious suspense…” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Hilarious!” – School Library Journal
But these carrots won’t be satisfied until they HAVE…IT…ALL!!!
(What can I say? They’re creepy carrots.)
A Dozen Eggs Bake Shoppe in Vermont has custom created some fantastic sugar cookies to celebrate the release of my newest book, CREEPY CARROTS!
Check out this article on their blog, chock-a-block full of incredibly amazing photos of their finished creepy handiwork!
Well, it’s about 3 months until my newest picture book, CREEPY CARROTS is released (the scheduled release date is August 21).
I’m really quite excited about this book, and it seems that others are too. Kirkus just put out their advanced review of the book (a starred review!), and their response is lovely!
Here’s the full review. Enjoy!
Creepy Carrots
By Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown
(S&S BFYR; ISBN: 9781442402973; August 2012; Summer catalog)
Kids know vegetables can be scary, but rarely are edible roots out to get someone. In this whimsical mock-horror tale, carrots nearly frighten the whiskers off Jasper Rabbit, an interloper at Crackenhopper Field. Jasper loves carrots, especially those “free for the taking.” He pulls some in the morning, yanks out a few in the afternoon, and comes again at night to rip out more. Reynolds builds delicious suspense with succinct language that allows understatements to be fully exploited in Brown’s hilarious illustrations. The cartoon pictures, executed in pencil and then digitally colored, are in various shades of gray and serve as a perfectly gloomy backdrop for the vegetables’ eerie orange on each page. “Jasper couldn’t get enough carrots … / … until they started following him.” The plot intensifies as Jasper not only begins to hear the veggies nearby, but also begins to see them everywhere. Initially, young readers will wonder if this is all a product of Jasper’s imagination. Was it a few snarling carrots or just some bathing items peeking out from behind the shower curtain? The ending truly satisfies both readers and the book’s characters alike. And a lesson on greed goes down like honey instead of a forkful of spinach. Serve this superbly designed title to all who relish slightly scary stories.
BACK OF THE BUS has been chosen as a 2012-2013 Arkansas Diamond Award selection! Next school year, kids and librarians all over the great state of Arkansas will be reading it and kids will be voting for their top pick among the 12 selections.
Woot! Go Arkansas!
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