My New Early Readers!

They'll be out in September!  Yea!  I had a blast writing these although it took some getting used to the format.  I usually write chapter books from 7,000 to 15,000 words and I had to tell these stories in 800 words...

Mission Accomplished!  

These are my first Early Readers and I'm excited that I'll be able to use them in my Guided Reading Groups!!

Look for them in your library in the fall!

Happy reading!

Introducing...The Pony Girls!

Last week, I finally got to see my new covers for my latest chapter book series from ABDO: The Pony Girls!  It was like Christmas Day!  I HEART EACH COVER!

  

These are the companion books to Storm Cliff Stables. These characters are 8 while Avery, Esha, Bree, and Jaelyn were 13 in the original set.   (Working on Set 2 now!)

Thanks to Paula Franco, the talented illustrator who brought the girls to life!  I'm wild about the book design, too! SPOT ON, isn't it?  I have the fabo Candice Keimig, Art Director, to thank for that!  And to my editor who keeps me on track- Megan Gunderson...you're the best!  I am beyond over the moon!  THANK YOU!!

Our Time Travel Series is Out!

John and I are thrilled that our The Art of Time Travel Series was published this week by ABDO Publishers.  We are in love with our covers!  Aren't they amazing?  Courtney Bernard is the illustrator and she knocked our socks off!  Take a second to enjoy the beauty...

 

 

 

 

The DESIGN of the books is simply amazing!  Our Art Director, Candice, really outdid herself  We cannot be more impressed with her work and dedication to this series!  Look how beautiful the INSIDE design is:

 



I wish I could show you ALL of the inside designs.  Each one has a color theme that just blows us away!  The design concept...all the touches you can't see, makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

 

The series was not our idea.  We were approached by ABDO to write it.  John (my husband) and I were excited but a bit nervous as we had many elements we had to mesh together.  While we had written/published historical fiction before, we didn't actually use real people in our past stories...just historical events but with fictional characters.  And time travel proved to be very tricky especially because we had to find a pivotal moment in our artist's life.  BUT, our incredible, insightful, editor, Tam, was SPOT ON with each and every piece of feedback/advice given.  John and I will be forever grateful to Tam for keeping us focused and pushing us to dig deeper into our characters. I've published dozens of books and truly think they are the strongest books I've written.

 

John and I had worked on two past books together.  One was a book for Scholastic's Book Club and the other was The Johnstown Flood. 

 

Illustrated by Dana Martin

 

John is a stickler for historical detail and spent hundreds of hours researching the lives of the people above.  This project was especially intriguing for John because, as an English major in college, he had a few classes of Shakespeare and a class just about the influence of Mary Shelley.  We were both excited about writing about Monet because we visited his home in Giverny, France while on our honeymoon.  Ella was the one we started off pretty much knowing very little but it ended up to be my favorite of the group.  We're huge Ella fans now! She  was amazing and such a strong, determined person.

 

Here's a description of the series from  ABDO's website:

Ella Fitzgerald was the queen of jazz. Mary Shelley created a monster. Claude Monet captured moments time with his paintbrush. William Shakespeare used language like no author before him. But what if their great works of art never existed? In the Art Of Time Travel, readers follow modern young people back in time and encounter each of these artists at a defining point in their lives. The artist is on the verge of making a choice that would deprive the world of his or her great art. Can our time travelers influence the past so the art will exist in the future? Calico is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO.

They should be available in your school library soon.  If you read one, let us know what you thought! 

Happy reading!

And the WINNERS are...

Thanks so much to EVERYONE for following me and blogging about my Katharine books.  You left such sweet comments!  I planned on announcing the winner on March 1st but my new teacher portfolio (after teaching almost 25 years Ha!) was due on the 5th and then I had my final observation, etc.  You teachers know how it is!  BUSY!

So, without further delay, the winner of my six-book series is...

http://sweettimesinfirst.blogspot.com/

And I've decided to pull five other names to win ONE book of their choice as well since I made everyone wait!  So, the five winners who can select a book are:

http://firstgradeblueskies.blogspot.com/

http://babyboybecker0710.blogspot.com/

http://acupcakefortheteacher.blogspot.com/

http://firstgradedelight.blogspot.com/

http://smilinginsecondgrade.blogspot.com/


Go to the post to see book descriptions and pick the one you want:

http://firstgradebloomabilities.blogspot.com/2012/02/chapter-book-series-giveaway.html

Send me your snailmail at lisamullarkey@aol.com.

Congrats!

Chapter Book Series Giveaway!

Yea!  I was thrilled to come home yesterday and see my author copies from ABDO!!!  In honor of Katharine's release (Set 2), I'm giving away all six books in this set to one lucky winner. How do you enter?

1.Follow me and leave a comment below. 

or

2.If you Blog about the giveaway on your blog or website,  you'll get FIVE extra entries.  (Just tell me in comments!)

A winner will be randomly chosen on March 1. 

A little background:  Katharine the Almost Great (Set 1) was published in January 2009. I stayed home to write for a few years and only returned to teaching this year.  I honestly loved doing author visits at schools but missed teaching WAY TOO MUCH.  Seriously.  I am so glad I'm back in the classroom where I feel I belong!

So, on with the contest!  Who doesn't need more books (GRL M) for their class library?  The characters are third graders but books are appropriate for kids in grades 1-4 and some wee ones also read them!

This one was inspired by a school visit at EJ Patten School in Perth Amboy, NJ. 

In fact, I dedicated it to them!

Katharine thought the school's art auction would be mucho mega fun. But it's no fun when no one bids on her bowl! To make matters worse, Katharine thinks Miss Priss-A-Poo is the secret bidder outbidding her on everything she wants. But when she spies something she really needs, Katharine makes a plan to get it. Will her plan cause more explode-a-rama bidding drama?

Someone's playing a trick on Katharine and Crockett -- a ring-the-doorbell-and-run-away-quick trick. Could it be The Invisible Man? Or is that Vanessa's shadow lurking outside their door? When Katharine thinks she knows who is Ding Dong Ditching them, she decides to get even. But her prank doesn't turn out quite the way she's planned. Can Katharine make things right again without getting zapped?

Katharine has a decision to make--a hairy scary decision! When her idol, movie star Penelope Parks, cuts her hair for charity, lots of Katharine's classmates donate their hair, too. Penelope says it's the only way to show you shine and sparkle on the inside. But Katharine isn't so sure she wants barely-there hair. Does that mean she's not a caring kid?

Katharine thinks writing is boring. Boring with a capital B. No matter how many details and dollar words she adds to her story, it's never enough for Mrs. Bingsley. Katharine wants a Write Stuff Pencil like everyone else. Even Miss Priss-A-Poo has one! Can she whip her story into shape before the Author's Tea and earn one?

Katharine and Crockett hope to make a splash during swim team tryouts. They want to earn a spot on the Stingrays, especially since Vanessa, the Unsinkable Garfinkle, is on the Sharks. When Katharine does a belly flop in front of everyone and gets caught telling an itty-bitty lie, she feels like shark bait. But when the Unsinkable Garfinkle faces her own troubles, will Katharine dive in to help her out?

Everyone's in the Christmas spirit . . . everyone except Mrs. Bingsley and Crockett! Mrs. Bingsley cancels the Secret Santa, doesn't laugh at jokes, and refuses to sing the new version of ''Jingle Bells.'' And Crockett's father has canceled their Christmas plans. Katharine knows they're both down in the dumps. Will her plan to become Santa's Secret Helper succeed and turn this ho hum season into a holly jolly holiday?

Good luck!  All are quick read-alouds with some good character education themes woven throughout!