Grace Lin's LING & TING Wins Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award!

Grace Lin

I listened to the ALA Youth Media Awards podcast earlier today. I was SOOOOOO happy when I heard that my good friend Grace Lin had won a (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Honor Award for her first early reader--Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! It's a wonderful book!

Congratulations, Grace!!!

Ling & Ting Book Trailer

Other Awards and Starred Reviews for Ting & Ting
•Junior Library Guild Selection
•starred Booklist review
•starred Kirkus review
•starred Horn Book review
•starred School Library Journal review
•NY Times Sunday Book Review
•2010 Kirkus Best Children's Books
•2010 Booklist Editor's Choice
•PW's Best of Books of 2010

Ling & Ting Paper Dolls

Ling & Ting Educator’s Guide

Here & There: July 19, 2010

Children's Books at ALA: A PW Photo-Essay (Publishers Weekly, July 2010)
NOTE: The photo-essay includes pictures of my fellow Blue Rose Girls Grace Lin and Alvina Ling.

Story behind the Story: Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan’s Ballet for Martha
The Art of Making Art
by Ilene Cooper (Booklist, July 2010).

Books and Authors: Talking with Cathryn and John Sill by Terrell A. Young and Barbara A. Ward (Book Links, June 2010)
The husband-and-wife creators of painterly picture books about wildlife and nature discuss their collaborative process.

The Summer Reading Network: To keep kids reading during the summer, librarians connect online to share resources (School Library Journal, July 2010)

RIF Reading Planet

Summer Reading Fun (RIF Reading Planet)

Pile them high; it's summer time by Sheila Wayman (Irish Times, 7/13/2010)
Excerpt:
School may be over for the summer, but that’s no reason for the reading to stop.

WITH NO school or homework to interrupt them, summer is invariably a time of great discovery for avid young book readers.

It is a chance to try different kinds of books or wallow in a whole series from a favourite author. Some holidays will forever be associated with who or what you found between those pages.
The only downside is likely to be a nagging parent: “What are you doing indoors on a lovely day like this? Put that book down and go out.”

But, according to the director of Children’s Books Ireland, Mags Walsh, “If they are happy reading, let them read. Don’t put any walls or barriers around it.”

Q & A with Grace Lin by Julie Yates Walton (Publishers Weekly, July 2010)

Over the years, author-illustrator Grace Lin has mined her own childhood for funny, upbeat stories that shed light on the unique experience of growing up Asian-American. The past year has been a good one for Lin, with her novel, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, winning a 2010 Newbery Honor and earning a selection on Al Roker's Book Club for Kids. Known for her novels and her vibrantly illustrated picture books, Lin is now reaching out to the audience in between. Her first early reader, Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same, features twin Asian-American girls, and is due out this month from Little, Brown.

NOTE: Grace has garnered another award for her fantasy novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Read about it here.

Let's Celebrate Grace Lin's First Early Reader--LING & TING

Grace Lin

Let's celebrate the publication of Grace Lin's fabulous first early reader--

Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same.
(It has already received four starred reviews!)

Check out Grace's post at Blue Rose Girls for more information.

You'll find links to the book trailer, to an activity guide, and details on how to get yourself a personalized, limited edition bookplate for your Ling & Ting book.

How Sweet It Is!: A Poetry Tale

Grace Lin at YUMMIES candy store in Kittery, Maine (2008).

Two years ago, my friend Grace Lin and I came up with what we thought would be a good idea for a poetry collection. We both love sweets—so we decided candy would be a good subject. In early June of 2008, Grace and I headed off to Kittery, Maine. Why Kittery, Maine? Because it’s the home of YUMMIES, a fantastic candy store that has thousands of kinds of candies—some I haven’t seen in stores since my childhood.

As soon as we arrived at Yummies, Grace and I got shopping baskets and proceeded to go up and down the aisles and fill them with all kinds of goodies—including salt water taffy, fireballs, gummi worms and bears, caramel creams, marzipan, butter mints, maple sugar candy, marshmallow cones, candy necklaces, rock candy, red licorice, circus peanuts…. I could go on.

Then we returned to my house for research—tasting the different candies. We thought the shopping spree at Yummies and the candy eating would inspire me to write some “sweet” poems.

I also bought books about candy to read for information. I learned some really interesting things about licorice and marshmallow and candy canes and chocolate. I thought I’d include some of that interesting information in the collection.

My collection of candy poems takes you through a year with sweets. For example, there are poems about a heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day, marshmallow chicks for Easter, toasting marshmallows for summer, licorice for Halloween, chocolate coins for Hanukkah and Christmas.

Here is one of the poems from my Sweet Dreams collection that I thought would be good for posting on a day in June.

SALT WATER TAFFY

Sticky morsels of candy
Wearing waxy suits…
An alphabet of flavors
To tantalize my sweet tooth:
Apple
Banana
Bubble gum
Butterscotch
Caramel
Cherry
Chocolate
Double mint
Dreamsicle…

DELICIOUS!

These tasty tidbits of taffy are
Ooey
and
Gooey
and
Chew-chew-chewy!!!

Must rest my mandible

For the next round

Of masticating madness.

These are some of the books that I read:

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Two Writing Teachers.

More Good News for Grace Lin!!!

GRACE LIN

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Grace’s Lin’s wonderful fantasy novel—winner of a Newbery Honor Award and the Josette Frank Award for Fiction—has received yet another great honor. It recently received the 2010 Massachusetts Book Award for Children’s/Young Adult Literature!

In this richly textured novel about a young girl on a magical journey, Grace Lin weaves characters and stories from Chinese folklore with universal themes of independence and attachment. The heroine finds her strengths in cleverness, friendship, and daring as she discovers essential truths for herself. The delicately detailed illustrations complement and augment the narrative experience. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is as beautiful to hold and view as it is to read. -- The MassBook Judges

Learn more about Where the Mountain Meets the Moon at Grace’s website: http://www.gracelin.com/content.php?page=wherethemountainmeetsthemoon

You can download a copy of MASSBOOKS OF THE YEAR/CHILDREN’S/YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE: Recommended Reading from the 10thAnnual Massachusetts Book Awards at the following link: http://www.massbook.org/MassBooks10/MustReadCYA10.pdf

2010: The Year of Grace Lin

GRACE LIN

Well, 2010 certainly looks like it’s going to be a grand year for my good friend Grace Lin. She has already won a Newbery Honor Award and the Josette Frank Award for her wonderful fantasy novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. The book was on the NY Times Bestseller List (Feb 4th, March 14th 2010). In addition, it was designated a 2010 Indies Choice Book Awards Finalist for Middle Reader Book of the Year and was named one of Booklist’s Top 10 SF/Fantasy for Youth:2009 and to the 2010 CCBC Choices List.

Now the Association of Booksellers for Children has announced that Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is one of four books shortlisted for The 2010 E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers!

Hooray for Grace!

You can read all about Grace's NEW good news at her post wowee! over at her blog Gracenotes.

MORE GOOD NEWS: Grace is also planning another fabulous “book” birthday party this year for her first early reader—Ling and Ting. Click here to get all the details about the party.

BTW, Ling and Ting has already received a starred review from Booklist, a super review from Fuse #8, and has been named a Junior Library Guild Selection.

A Wedding Day Poem

Here's a poem I wrote about Grace Lin's lovely wedding that I attended last Sunday:

Fairy Tale Wedding

Origami cranes wearing party prints
watch over the day.
On tables, pink rosebuds
bloom in vases
filled with glitter.
Delicate paper cuttings
trim the room with lace.
Gold candles flicker on the mantle.

Flowers bloom on the hearth...

give off the scent of a spring day.
A painted teapot sits on a table
ready to pour sweet tradition

from its spout.
Paper lanterns hang from branches,

fill with light music
as the guitarist strums soft chords
and two women sing a song of love.
Enchanted guests await
the prince and princess
who are to marry today
and begin their journey
to happily ever after.

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

Find out more about Grace’s wedding at these blog posts:

• A Wonderful Wedding Day!!!!! (Wild Rose Reader)
• entropy (Blue Rose Girls)
• Wedding pics and links (Blue Rose Girls)
• my wedding things (on thursdays) (Grace Notes)
  
  

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Teaching Books


Edited to add: I forgot to include a link to my post at Blue Rose Girls. Click here to read the wedding poem that Janet Wong and I wrote for Grace Lin.

A Wonderful Wedding Day!!!!!

Oh, what a wonderful day!!! Here are some of the pictures that I took at Grace Lin's wedding yesterday. Everything looked beautiful. The food was scrumptious. Everyone was so happy--especially the bride and groom!

The following pictures were taken "upstairs" at The Lyceum Restaurant in historic Salem, Massachusetts.

Some handmade paper cranes for decoration

Which one is a Blue Rose Girl?

Grace's handmade paper cuttings and delicious desserts

The groom made the cupcake display.

Grace painted the bride and groom at the top of the display.
Some of the lovely and delicious homemade cookies

Alvina says a few words.

Grace prepared a special cupcake for each person who came to the wedding.

Who's the happy cupcake couple below?

That's my husband and me.

I don't think Grace stopped smiling for a minute!

Alvina has more wedding pictures at Blue Rose Girls.

Looking Back: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

I was ecstatic last week when I got news that my good friend Grace Lin had won a Newbery Honor Award for her wonderful fantasy novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.


I thought I'd put together a little retrospective post with videos of Grace talking about Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, the book trailer, pictures that I took at the launch party for the book, and the celebratory dinner we Blue Rose Girls had after the party.

Grace lin on the Today Show with Al Roker

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

Grace Lin on The Steve Katsos Show

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

The Inside Notes for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

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

The Book Trailer

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

Pictures Taken at the Launch Party for

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

After the Launch Party,
Grace Treated The Blue Rose Girls

to a Fabulous Dinner

at Upstairs on the Square

Congratulations, Grace!!!