Spotlight: Spirit Riding Free: PALs Forever by Stacia Deutsch

Explore the world of DreamWorks Animation’s Spirit Riding Free with this adventurous new series, written in letter format, featuring the innermost thoughts of all of Miradero’s best PALs–Pru, Abigail, and Lucky!

Dear Friend,

The PALs are splitting up for spring break! Pru’s staying in Miradero to help her dad on the range, Abigail is visiting her fancy cousin, and Lucky is going on vacation to Destiny Falls with her dad and new stepmom. As if being apart isn’t weird enough, nothing over break is going as expected! Pru needs to run a children’s rodeo by herself, Abigail’s cousin Ariella doesn’t want to spend time with her, and Lucky’s cousin Julian keeps hinting that Lucky’s family might want to extend their visit to Destiny Falls…permanently! Not being together is hard, but we’re still there for one another through it all.

PALs Forever!

Pru, Abigail, and Lucky

DreamWorks Spirit Riding Free © 2019 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Love by Stacy McAnulty and Illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

From award-winning author Stacy McAnulty comes a sweet story about love and what it’s really all about. 

What is love? Can you only express it in fancy meals, greeting cards, and heart-shaped chocolates? Kids will find love everywhere in this delightful book. It can be found in everyday moments such as baking cookies with grandma, notes from Mom in your lunchbox, or a family singing together on a car trip, and it isn’t always what you expect!

With delightful illustrations by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff and sweetly simple prose by award-winning author Stacy McAnulty, this is the perfect book to teach children what love means, why it’s important, and how they can spread the love in their daily lives.

Buy on Amazon

About the Author

Stacy McAnulty is the author of Mr. Fuzz Buster Knows He’s the Favorite, 101 Reasons Why I’m Not Taking a Bath, Excellent Ed, Beautiful, and Brave. She lives in Kernersville, NC, with her family. 

Joanne Lew-Vriethoff is the award-winning illustrator of Beautiful and Brave, as well as such books as Another Day as Emily, The Dancing Pancake, and Peace, Baby! She lives in Amsterdam with her family.

Spotlight: Don't Touch My Hair! by Sharee Miller

An entertaining picture book that teaches the importance of asking for permission first as a young girl attempts to escape the curious hands that want to touch her hair.

It seems that wherever Aria goes, someone wants to touch her hair. In the street, strangers reach for her fluffy curls; and even under the sea, in the jungle, and in space, she’s chased by a mermaid, monkeys, and poked by aliens…until, finally, Aria has had enough!

Author-illustrator Sharee Miller takes the tradition of appreciation of black hair to a new, fresh, level as she doesn’t seek to convince or remind young readers that their curls are beautiful–she simply acknowledges black beauty while telling a fun, imaginative story.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Sharee Miller has a BFA in communication design from Pratt Institute. She lives in Brooklyn, where she enjoys spending time with her two cats and illustrating fun stories. Sharee is the author and illustrator of Princess Hair. She invites you to visit her website at shareemiller.com and her Instagram @coilyandcute.

Spotlight: A Christmas Story of Light by Ora Smith

God’s light shines in all of His creations, from the Star of Bethlehem, to the angel proclaiming Christ’s birth, to the Son of God Himself—the light of the world.

Through this light, He illuminates darkness, gives us guidance, and shows us how to love one another.

Experience the rich artwork and inspirational messages of A Christmas Story of Light this holiday season and let God’s light bring you the brightness of hope.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Ora is an artist, genealogist, seamstress, lover of a good book, traveler, antiquer, upcycler, and history buff. She’s one of those people who always has a project she’s excited about. Although she’s lived in Arizona since 1986, she spent her early life in Lake Tahoe, California, where her passion to write blossomed on a tranquil riverbank with a beautiful backdrop of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

She recently received her Master of Arts in Nonfiction Creative Writing at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She also writes children’s books and historical fiction. In 2013, she placed first in a short-story writing contest sponsored by Writers Unite to Fight Cancer, in partnership with the Virginia G. Piper Creative Writing Center at Arizona State University. Her historical novel, White Oak River, won first place in the 2017 Phoenix Rattler Contest sponsored by Christian Writers of the West (an ACFW affiliate).

Ora’s been a wife and mother for more than thirty-six years, raising four sons and one daughter. She has the three cutest grandchildren in existence.

For more than twenty years Ora’s taught family history research at conferences and to individuals. Read an article she wrote for the online magazine, Almost an Author, about “Using Ancestor’s Stories in Fiction.” Also visit her blog, Writing About Ancestors, to learn how you can write about your ancestors.

As a mother, genealogist, artist, and faithful follower of Jesus Christ, Ora blends her understanding and unique skills to create faith inspired stories that she hopes will give others an added testimony of God’s goodness.

Connect:~ Facebook ~ Website ~~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~~ Blog ~ Pinterest 

Spotlight: Bob the Littlest Dinosaur & Bob and the Color Fairies by Karlie Lucas

Bob the Little Dinosaur

Tired of being the smallest dinosaur, Bob sets out on an adventure to change his appearance. After facing many obstacles, Bob decides that being small isn't as bad as he thought it was.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Bob and the Color Fairy

When the wizards steals all the color from Bob's home, the littlest dinosaur goes in search of the color fairies. But when they refuse to help simply because he's different, he has to find another way to restore the colors.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Karlie Lucas is a preschool teacher by day and a writer/artist by night.

A graduate of Southern Utah University, Karlie received a B.A. in Creative Writing, with a minor in art. She is a member of Sigma Tau Delta, The International English Honor Society, as well as ANWA, the American Night Writers Association.

Karlie is interested in all things magical and mysterious, especially elves and dragons. She is an avid fan of J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling.

When not writing, Karlie can often be found drawing, baking, watching her favorite old school shows, or just spending time with her family.

She currently resides in Dallas, Texas with her husband and a cat named Kally

Connect: ~ Facebook ~ Website ~~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spotlight: Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina

Merci Suarez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, Merci has never been like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. They don’t have a big house or a fancy boat, and they have to do extra community service to make up for their free tuition. So when bossy Edna Santos sets her sights on the new boy who happens to be Merci’s school-assigned Sunshine Buddy, Merci becomes the target of Edna’s jealousy. Things aren't going well at home, either: Merci’s grandfather and most trusted ally, Lolo, has been acting strangely lately — forgetting important things, falling from his bike, and getting angry over nothing. No one in her family will tell Merci what's going on, so she’s left to her own worries, while also feeling all on her own at school. In a coming-of-age tale full of humor and wisdom, award-winning author Meg Medina gets to the heart of the confusion and constant change that defines middle school — and the steadfast connection that defines family.

Thoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suarez navigates difficult changes with friends, family, and everyone in between in a resonant new novel from Meg Medina.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Meg Medina is the author of the YA novels Burn Baby Burn; Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, winner of the Pura Belpré Author Award; and The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind.She also wrote the picture books Mango, Abuela, and Me, a Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Honor Book, and Tía Isa Wants a Car, recipient of an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. She lives in Richmond, Virginia.