As many of you know, we (Cari and Holly) are both aspiring to be genuine published authors. Tack on illustrator to Holly's goals and you have the whole picture. As part of the journey to publication, I (Holly) have created my  own website http://hollypapa.com where I will be posting insights about writing and illustrating and chronicling my journey to success. I will still be posting here at...

This was a challenge to take a picture book character and place the character into the setting from another picture book. Here is what I came up with:        

Oz, the youngest son of a French-American widow, drives a bicycle around town and works to help run the family restaurant, Chez Isabelle. While his mom is off in France caring for their ailing grandmother, Oz and his older brother Dave have to deal with the scariest most intense period of their lives.

One of the reasons that I (Cari) have not ben so active here, although it's not one of Holly's reasons (she somehow manages four busy boys, artwork, writing and posting book reviews and I am pretty sure her house is way cleaner than mine and I am NOT jealous or anything of my sister), is I just finished my first novel for Young Adults. Whoo Hoo, I am turning cyber cartwheels, which is the only...

A review of The Humming Room a fractured fairytale-type version of the infamous Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Roo Fanshaw is the victim of a modern plague, drugs- a parallel to the original story where Mary Lennox’s parent’s fall victim to a plague of cholera.

I love the soothing rhythm of this prehistoric tale. This is a fun read- especially for lovers of dinosaur lore. I felt like I was bobbing on the waves of the ocean as I read it out loud to my boys, who loved it as much as I did.

A quick review of a fun little story about a bird that finds a lost egg and devotes her days to finding a home for the precious little egg.

I have been waiting for this book to hit the shelves since last summer when I heard about it at the WIFYR writer's conference in Utah. Julie Olson, the illustrator, came and spoke to the students in the picture book class I was taking from Kristyn Crow, and gave us a sneak peak at some of the illustrations.  She has a great blog with tons of tips on honing your artistic skills. Ok, sometimes I...

I just finished this time-travel series and I have to say, I'm in awe. I only hope that someday I can do something this amazing, or at the very least in the shadow of something this amazing. I've read time-travel series before, and I'm usually fascinated by them at the same time that I'm a little annoyed because there is so much randomness to how the time travel actually takes place. I had no...

Ugly things can be transformed, communities can be changed. Life does get better. We create a wonderful synchronicity when we come together for a worthwhile cause. Kittinger’s nameless character expected starting over would bring adventure and possibly buried treasure. In her journey of beginning again, she really does find treasure- the treasure of a changing and caring community!

This book is hilarious. I just have to say it. Marjorie is a cow who can't seem to measure up to the amazing cows she sees all around her. Those cows can do handstands and ride bikes. Crazy cows! So, the chickens- mother hens that they are, hatch a plan to boost Marjorie's self esteem. It's so funny to see the other cows get jealous of how cool Marjorie is that she could actually have laid an...

I love graphic novels. I love picture books. This is not a graphic novel, but it appears to be a magical creative blend of graphic/comic/picture book. It reminds me of a comic in picture book form. Fitting, since the author and brilliant illustrator, Brian Anderson is also the comic artist for Dog Eat Doug. My third grader just finished reading two of the Lemony Snicket books and this brings to...

We've all seen these step by step guides to drawing. I thought it would be a fun project with my kids for spring break to see how many characters we could master drawing. We'll see if they go along with my plans. We have some dragon lovers in this household, so hopefully at least that part should be a success. Actually now that I think about it maybe I won't talk about mastering drawing...

I'm posting a review of the book Twilight Child, by Sally Warner In keeping with a faerie theme- since it's March, the month of St. Patrick's Day- the land of the faeries and all that. The closest this book comes to Ireland is Scotland, but as I well know from experience, most Americans celebrate them as one and the same. How do I know this? Well, if you must know, I grew up Irish Step Dancing...