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!!!

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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...)

Mooncake Recipe

Some people have lamented that I didn't include a mooncake recipe in A Big Mooncake for Little Star.  There's a few reasons why I didn't-- there wasn't really enough room in the book to fit it in and mooncakes are  pretty difficult to make. I actually don't know anyone (not even my grandmother) who actually makes mooncakes, everyone I know just buys them. 

That said, if you do want to give it a shot, there is another children's book, The Shadow in the Moon by Christine Matula & illustrated by Pearl Law about the Moon Festival that does include a mooncake recipe.  To make a traditional looking mooncake, you will need a mooncake mold with the designs; but you can also use a silicone cookie mold to have it look more like the smooth cookie from A Big Mooncake for Little Star:

Mooncakes with Red-Bean Filling (from The Shadow in the Moon)

Ingredients

4 tbsp golden syrup (light corn syrup)

water mixture of 1tsp water & 1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

3tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 small can (200 g) sweetened red bean paste

egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp of water)

1. In a large bowl, mix golden syrup, water picture, vanilla and old, then add flour. Mix gently. Knead the dough for a minute and set aside for 40 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F

3. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a cylinder (1 inches in diameter) and cut into 12 equal pieces.

4. Roll each piece into a ball and flatten with your hand to make a small circle, not too thin.

5. Place a large rounded spoonful of the red bean pasties the center of each dough circle, wrap it, in the seams, then gently roll it into a ball shape. 

6. Place each ball in the mooncake mold and press. Transfer the mooncakes to a baking sheet.

7. Bake the mooncakes for 7 minutes, remove from the oven and brush on the egg wash with a baking brush.

8. Place the baking sheet back int he oven and bake for another 5 minutes, until golden brown. Let sit for 10 minutes, the remove from baking sheets.

9. Serve when cool.

*See all the Mooncake Activites I have available HERE!

And don't forget to share a photo of A Big Mooncake for Little Star on twitter* or instagram* with the #BigMooncake4LittleStar and to win one of these scarves!

A Big Mooncake Show

If you came to my book launch (thank you so much for coming!), you would have seen the real Little Star and I do what she calls "The Show." The Show is really just a little interactive readers' theater that you can do yourself! Below is the downloadable script.

 

Readers Theater
On the opening pages, Mama and Little Star are making a Big Mooncake in their kitchen. Here are some suggested ways to involve your read aloud audience from endpaper to endpaper.
DOWNLOAD Big Mooncake for Little Star: Readers Theater (PDF)

Of course, the huge mooncake prop that Little Star and I used for the show is a bit more elaborate than what you have to do! Here is a smaller, paper version that you can use:

Moon Nibble
This activity allows you to remove (and nibble) the phases of the moon just like Little Star. This activity pairs well with the Reader’s Theater.
DOWNLOAD Big Mooncake for Little Star: Moon Nibble (PDF)

*See all the Mooncake Activites I have available HERE!

And don't forget to share a photo of A Big Mooncake for Little Star on twitter* or instagram* with the #BigMooncake4LittleStar and to win one of these scarves!

Make a Big Mooncake Phase Viewer!

Spoiler! In A Big Mooncake for Little Star someone is making the moon change shape! Thanks to the brilliant minds at Curious City, you, too, can do it. Using the download and these instruction make your own Moon Phase viewer!

  DOWNLOAD THE CRAFT HERE! And in case you need some help, watch the instructional video:

See all the Mooncake Activites I have available HERE!

And don't forget to share a photo of A Big Mooncake for Little Star on twitter* or instagram* with the #BigMooncake4LittleStar and to win one of these scarves!