fourteen

I wrote a poem for you

like I do every year

but this year

I don't feel like sharing it.

But I do want the world to know

I miss you.

Robert Mercer 

5/30/72-8/27/07

Bunny-scope!

 In Chinese culture, they say they see a bunny--not a man's face--on the moon.  Do you see it?

It's a little difficult, so I've made a little craft to help! The Bunny-scope! For this craft you will need:

• an 8.5x11 piece of card stock (preferably black) OR a cardboard paper towel tube

•  tape if you are using card stock 

• a piece of acetate

• black sharpie marker 

• scissors

• exacto knife

•  my bunny template

• optional: gold star stickers, decorative tape, colored markers

1. If you are using card stock, roll it into a tube with with  roughly 2in diameter (same as a paper towel tube) and use tape to secure the roll:

2. On your acetate, use your tube as a template to draw a circle:

3. Add a rectangle shape to the top half of the circle (this will serve as kind of a handle).

4. Print out the bunny template, it should look like this:

5. On the acetate, trace the bunny inside the circle (hint:looks best when it is off center, to the lower left). 

6. Color the bunny in black, just like the template. Your slide should look like this:

7. Cut out the whole slide:

8. The cut-out slide should look like this:

9. Go back to your tube. With an exact knife (adults will have to help kids with this), cut halfway through your telescope. 

10. Insert your slide into the slit:

Decorate your bunny-scope with stickers or any moon or start themed design you wish. And then look inside!

Your should see the bunny on the moon:

Happy bunny watching! Happy Moon Festival!

Don't Forget to Vote!

On our recent Book Friends Forever podcast, Alvina and I talked about how we want to help to get out the vote.  While we were talking, I realized I had a great resource as I actually illustrated this book:

When You Grow Up to Vote, by Eleanor Roosevelt, illustrated by me!

It's a great book outlining to kids how our government works and why we need to vote! I think some adults might need to read it too...

So I made some resources you might like to use!  In the podcast, I mentioned that I had joined Postcards to Voters--I encourage you to join me and send out postcards, too! Here is a postcard design you can use!

 

Click and print postcards! These  4 Postcards on 8.5 x11 use the Avery label 8387 template for your convenience OR you can copy/paste this single postcard image and place it in a postcard template of your choice!
 

I also made some 8.5x11 posters for parents and teachers to hang to help explain the voting process to kids:

Download this poster HERE!

Download this poster HERE!

 

Don't forget to VOTE!

thirteen

 I almost forgot today 

was the day

the number

the time

the date

I'm forgetting 

all

those 

things.

But 

you

I will always remember. 

Robert Mercer 

5/30/72-8/27/07

Mulan Pre-order and Book Party Details!!!

Are you ready?

 Here are all the details!!!

If you pre-order the book from Porter Square Books,  not only will the book be personally autographed (make sure you put to whom you wish the book to be made to in the comments section when ordering), I will include a beautiful, gold-foil bookmark with this design:

This is just the design! The printed piece will be gold and shiny!

It's bound to give you good luck for the New Year! So pre-order now! https://www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781368020336


AND THERE'S MORE!

If you come to the Book Party at Porter Square Books on February 9 at 3pm, I have a special party favor for you.

For those who come to the book party*,  I have these gorgeous, hand-cut paper greeting cards (custom-made by the lovely people at Evergreen Cards):

These are also more beautiful in real life!

And, if that wasn't enough, at the party I'll be having an in-conversation with the lovely Susan Tan (author of Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire!). So you'll get two authors at one event!

Doesn't that make you really want to come? So, pre-order the book!  Save the date!

I hope to see you there!


*Unfortunately, I have a limited supply of these greeting cards, so priority will go to those who pre-order and attend the party. If there are cards left over after the event, I will include them to those who pre-order from out-of-town, but I cannot promise it. But all pre-orders will receive the gold foil bookmark.

Mulan: Before the Sword Pre-Order and Book Party!!!

It's coming! It's coming!

There will be a pre-order gift! There will be a super beautiful party favor! Stay tuned for details!

But save the date for the Book Party:
February 9 at 3pm
Porter Square Books

Pre-order here: https://www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781368020336

This Year's Holiday Promotion!

For the past couple years, I've offered autographed bookplates for the holidays but this year there is a a new box set (!!) of  the Where the Mountain Meets the Moon trilogy and I am so excited about it, I thought I would offer something different!

This year, if you order the box set from the Carle Museum, not only will I sign them but I will include an exclusive, made-just-for-this-box-set map of Minli's land:

Isn't that fun? I've been wanting to do a map for a long time and now I finally have an excuse! And, while supplies last, I will also include this beautiful hand-cut paper greeting card of Minli (which I also exclusively had made by the lovely people at Evergreen Cards).

I want to make whomever receives this box set as a gift this holiday season truly feel like it's something special! So, if you have someone on your list to whom you think the gift set would be good for...I hope you get it for them!

Specifics:

1. You must order the books from the Carle Museum. Please make sure you put to whom you wish the book to be personalized to in the comments section as you check out. I knowAmazon is always cheaper, but this is the only way I can autograph them (they are local to me) and include these gifts. And, you will be supporting an amazing museum as well as making your gift even more unique! 

2. You are more than welcome to order any of my other books from the store as well. I am happy to autograph any of them and will include the greeting card even if you do not purchase the box set.

3. This offer ends Dec 19th at midnight EST or earlier if supplies run out. There are limited quantities of both the map and greeting card, so best to order sooner rather than later!

Order: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon box set at the Carle Museum

Go to: All the  Grace Lin books available at the Carle Museum

If you have any problems ordering online, please contact the bookstore. They will be very happy to help  you: shop@carlemuseum.org or 413-559-6333

Thanks so much for sharing my books! I hope this makes you gift giving even more special!

LITTLE BEDS FOR LITTLE READERS: AN INTERACTIVE STORY TIME

A Big Bed for Little Snow is now available! Have fun reading the book with this guide and craft!


The best of story times engage children with dialogue, movement, and other hands-on play. This guide and companion craft puts a bed-shaped envelope filled with paper feathers into the hands of children at story time. In the story when a tear in the bed sets feathers flying, your readers can tear open their bed/envelope and create a snowstorm of feathers. Don’t worry, the story time includes a prompt to clean up those fallen feathers!.

 

DOWNLOAD THE STORYTIME GUIDE AND CRAFT HERE!

LITTLE SNOW'S SNOWSTORM

HOORAY! A Big Bed for Little Snow is now available! Here's another fun activity you can do with the book!


Are those feathers falling from Little Snow's bed or snowflakes falling from a blue gray cloud? From the point of view of the children in the apartments below, it is a snowy day in the city. With this activity, a sandwich bag, and a handful of confetti, you can make it snow on the buildings of Grace Lin's magical city.

Download this craft activity HERE!

MEASURE LITTLE SNOW'S SNOW!

Hooray! A Big Bed for Little Snow is out now! Here's a fun activity to to do with the book!

When the feathery flakes fall from the sky in your city, use a ruler to measure how deep the flakes are on the ground. Keep track of the snowfall on this chart using your high-jumping math skills. According to picture book meteorologists, one inch of snow = five Little Snow jumps. Let's do the math!

Download the Snow Chart HERE!

SEW LITTLE SNOW'S BED!

Jumping for joy because A Big Bed for Little Snow is out now! Here's a fun way activity to to do with the book! Little Snow's Mommy stuffs his Big Bed with feathers and sews it shut. With this activity you can stuff a small paper bed with feathery tissues and "sew" it shut with a two-sided sewing card. There is even a jumping Little Snow cut-out to insert in the top of the bed. Hang this craft from the ceiling to remind your young reader that one boy's bed may be another child's storm cloud.

Download the instructions for this craft: HERE 

Happy Birthday, Little Snow!

 

Thanks so much for coming! A Big Bed for Little Snow had a lovely birthday party  at Porter Square Books with homemade, kid-decorated blue and white cupcakes:

 

 People came (hooray!):

 I read the book:

and special guests Mommy and Little Snow came to the party, too:

Hooray! The book comes out officially tomorrow! Stay tuned for more fun!

twelve

Just like this morning
I woke up early
twelve years ago
the sun streamed in through the hospital window
golden, ethereal light
while you slept

I didn't know that would be the day
you would begin
your deepest sleep.

I hope you are sleeping well.

Robert Mercer 

5/30/72-8/27/07

Pre-order Gift announcement (and come to the party)!

A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW is coming! I'm pretty excited so I have lots of ways to celebrate!!

The book party is on  Sat, October 12 at 3pm at Porter Square Books. Please come! As usual, I will have special party favors (I think maybe snowflake ornaments...you'll have to come to find out) for those attending! 

AND if you pre-order the book you will get an exclusive super-cute snow chart and ruler (so you can measure your own snow!). You will receive this with a signed book (make sure you say to whom you wish the book to be signed to when you make your order) if you pre-order from Porter Square Books before October 12. You do not have to come to the party to get the pre-order gift (the party favor is something else, so you should still come and get everything, though!)

front

back

Isn't it so cute? Pre-order now!!!

***************************************************

About  A Big Bed for Little Snow:

(Starred Review from Horn Book, September/October 2019)

Lin takes readers to the sky once again in this follow-up to Caldecott Honor Book A Big Mooncake for Little Star (rev. 7/18). Whereas a black night sky dominated Mooncake’s palette and a girl among the stars was the mischief-maker, here our protagonist is an impish boy at home amidst the clouds. “When winter began, Little Snow’s mommy made a big new bed just for him.” The bed, in cornflower blue (the illustrations’ main accent color, with warm browns, blacks, and grays), looks a lot like a cloud; and though mom tells him it’s for sleeping, he gives in to temptation after she departs and jumps gleefully on the “puffy and big and bouncy” thing. As he leaps, feathers flutter down, and eventually he rips the bed. We turn the page to see an apartment complex rooftop covered in snow: “What a lot of feathers fell that day!” Lin’s illustrations are spare but expressive, with copious white space used thoughtfully and deliberately. The boy’s pajamas are outlined by the negative space around the snowflakes that adorn them and not by any paint strokes, for example, giving the child—and the cloud-bed—all the focus. The repeated use of “thump, thump, thump” for the mother’s inevitable return (“Uh-oh!”) brings an exhilarating air of discovery to this already exuberant story, to which boisterous listeners and readers will surely relate. What child doesn’t want to jump on the bed? Playful type placement and varying font size accentuate the joy of the jumping. A wondrous, wintry read.

this happened on Monday!

Yes, A Big Mooncake for Little Star really was awarded a Caldecott Honor. I'm still trying to believe it myself.

I told Mr. Schu all the call details and more HERE, but here's an excerpt:

I’ve been trying to embrace vulnerability (I’ve been reading Brene Brown’s books), so when the Mock Caldecott buzz began to whisper about my book, I decided, instead of trying to be cool and block it out, to just get excited and enjoy it. I mean when you think about all the amazing books out this year, being considered is pretty incredible. However, I also knew that the odds of getting anything were pretty slim—again, think of all the amazing books!! So, while I was enjoying the dream, I did also truly believe there would be a bubble pop at the end…and to pre-comfort myself I actually purposely splurged and scheduled a massage (something I rarely do!) for the same time the awards were to be announced. I thought it would be a nice way to feel special when the dream ended. To my surprise, it turned into a celebratory massage! 

 So, on the morning of the awards, I turned the ringer on my phone (another thing I rarely do!). I did think of it often, but luckily the daily chaos of getting my daughter to school, etc. made it impossible for me to wait by the phone! Around 9:30 EST, there was still no call, so I resigned myself to being unmentioned and thought, “So glad I booked that massage!” and continued with errands, slightly sadly. About 15 minutes later, my husband and I were walking out of our local grocery store, when my pocket started ringing. I think I said, “Oh, my gosh!” and my husband said, “Oh! Awards committee!” and it was! 

So, we were outside on the sidewalk-- in front of people coming in and out of the store and in front of traffic and dirty snowbanks--when the committee told me I had won the Honor. I kept thinking, “Is this for real?” and then I started tearing up because it was for real, and not a dream, even though it was a dream I’d had for so long. I actually got off the phone with the committee as fast as possible because I was crying and I was embarrassed!

Obviously, I am THRILLED. This book means the world (and the moon) to me and I'm so honored that it will now find it's way to more small hands and hearts.

 
Book Chat with the Illustrator: Grace Lin on A BIG MOONCAKE FOR LITTLE STAR from LB School on Vimeo.

and the winners are...

It's time to announce the winners of my scarf giveaway!!!

The winners are (I had Rain Dragon pick number and I counted, very scientific method used...also I had said 8 winners but I had extra scarves so I decided to make it 10!):

1.Jen Kraar‏ @Kraarster

2.@patoney

3. Anna Barba @MyRedCooper

4. Jennifer‏ @JenKnollTweets 

5. Debbi Michiko Florence‏ @DebbiMichiko

6. Amanda Coppedge‏ @amandacoppedge

7. Lori Faas‏ @teacherlor 

8. sylviavardell

9. susansmtan

10. sw33psfun

Hooray for the winners! Congratulations to the winners!

Didn't see your name but still want a scarf? I'm thinking about offering them for sale on my etsy shop. Let me know if you are interested so I can gage if there is demand (and if there are other books you'd want featured! A Dim Sum scarf? hmm...)