on my desk monday

On my desk is a brand new usb drive, a gift from the Sasquatch:

This is actually a very, very thoughtful gift as every time I start a new novel, I usually buy a new usb drive for backing it up.  For the last few novels, I've been buying "themed" drives to help me remember which files are on which drive.  So, what this really means is that I've finally begun a new novel! And the turtle shape is very appropriate, but you'll have to wait to find out why!

Can you guess which novels were on these drives?

fortune cookie friday

"When you accept yourself, the whole world accepts you."
— Lao Tzu

Big head

Recently, I did a couple of fun Skype visits:

Taking a group photo via skype was a first for me!

One of the schools even made a lovely video about the event:

4th Grade Skype with Grace Lin from Rodeph Sholom School on Vimeo.

Isn't that lovely?  Right now I only do free ten minute Q&A sessions, but these were so fun that I'm thinking of offering longer programs--especially with the weather being so horrible, it's nice to connect with readers without having to leave the house and wearing pajama bottoms! Hmm, maybe I can let kids choose which pajamas I wear as part of the program....

What We're reading Wednesday

Everything Goes Blue Bus, Red Balloon: A Book of Colors 
By Brian Biggs
(Board Book, 9780061958144, 22pp.

Indiebound Description:
 Learn about all the colors of the rainbow with flying, floating, zooming vehicles

My thoughts:
Fun! Great illustrations, I really enjoy how Brian Biggs'  "Everything Goes" series is kind of a new modern update on Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go! Especially love the cast of diverse characters--something that I really have to search for in board books.

Rain Dragon's reaction:
Rain Dragon likes looking for the balloon in each picture. At least I think she does. She points at it in each spread and says, "Boon up! Yah, Yah!"

pssst!

Starry River of the Sky is available in paperback TODAY!

Even though this book didn't win any awards,  Starry River of the Sky was my best reviewed book (6 stars)!  So, I am very proud of it. In fact, I might go on record and say that I think it is the best book I've written. And the softcover has been printed with the same attention to detail as the hardcover--in full color with 10 full page illustrations!  So, if you've been waiting for the paper back, well, here it is!

on my desk monday

It's the year of the green horse! I've made these little writing/creativity paper horses to share with my friends as well as a snake...more on this later!

fortune cookie friday

"A mountain cannot turn, but a road can."
-Chinese Proverb

New Year Gold

The other day, a surprise package came to our house. Since neither I nor the Sasquatch were expecting anything, we were quite curious. What was it?

Of course, Rain Dragon had to open it!

It was New Year gold! It was a box of fresh oranges from Paradise, what has become a traditional gift from librarian Mary Wong. And a very much prized and delighted at  yearly gift, I must add. This was Rain Dragon's first experience with the delicious oranges and she was very excited:

I had to explain that they taste better with the "wrapper" off.

As I mentioned earlier, oranges are super lucky for Chinese New Year. It's because the Chinese word for luck is a homonym for the word "wealth"--receiving oranges means we should receive wealth in the New Year!

We definitely feel richer already! Thanks, Mary!

What We're Reading Wednesday

It's a new year! One of the things that I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep up with on this blog is my Booktalk Tuesdays--I just don't have as much time to read as I used to! Actually, I take that back. I don't have as much time to read by myself as I used to. I do a lot of reading now, but it's all with Rain Dragon and mainly board books. But some of these board books I love! Some she loves! And sometimes, every once and a while, we both love! So I've decided to try to start What We're Reading Wednesdays, where I'll feature the book(or books) that we're reading non-stop.

Today, I'm featuring two board books written by a former teacher of mine, Mary Brigid Barrett. She sent them to me as a thank you for participating in the Literary Lights event at the National Book Festival, but I should be thanking her. These books are truly superb for babies!

Pat-a-Cake

All Fall Down

They are some of the few books that Rain Dragon and I both adore. I love the art, especially the multicultural cast of kids and she loves acting out the words.

she's patting the potato!

and she made her blocks "all fall down!"

Pat-a-Cake, written by Mary Brigid Barrett, illustrated by Leuyen Pham
All Fall Down, written by Mary Brigid Barrett, illustrated by Leuyen Pham
(Candlewick board books, 16 pages)

on my desk monday

Did you celebrate Lunar New Year?  Did you forget? No worries, because Lunar New Year celebrations last for 15 (yes, 15) days! So you still have 11 days left!

I say this because on my desk is a just-received-copy of the bilingual edition of  This Next New Year.
The original edition of this book recently went out of print which, in my opinion is a great travesty as I think it is a Lunar New Year classic. However, my friend Janet Wong made lemonade out of the lemons and reissued new bilingual versions of them! She made it available in Chinese/English as well Korean/English, which is super-completely awesome.

What I appreciate in this the bilingual version of This Next New Year is that it does not just Chinese characters, but it also has the pinyin. This is very important for me, considering my level of Chinese skill.  Having the pinyin in the book makes it actually useful to me and I can even share some Chinese with Rain Dragon!

So many readers ask me if my books are available in bilingual editions and I always have to disappoint them. At least now I can point them to a book that is (as well be inspired for my own books in the future)!