Happy Sunday to you!  A few hours remain in the Premier of the 2010 Virtual Children’s Book Fair.    I want to thank my friend and Michigan author, Tara Michener, for inviting me to participate in this history-in-the-making event!  I am so grateful for her energy and vision, and I feel inspired and alive when she is near.

Are you a teacher, counselor or parent looking for ways to better connect with the challenge in the lives of the young people close to you?  I recommend checking out Adra Young’s The Everyday Living of Children and Teens Monologues (Volume I and II). Visit the Book Fair to learn more and/or purchase some great books!

And remember, the Book Fair ends at Midnight, Feb. 28!

Two of the books featured in the 2010 Virtual Children’s Book Fair are teen/preteen books written by teen authors!

Authors, Riley Carney & Grace Hatton, are two talented teenagers.  Ms. Carney crafts an intriguing story in The Fire Stone – one certain to captivate the minds of 11-18 year olds .   Ms.  Hatton speaks to teen girls like a true girlfriend in The Guys The Roses & The Regrets; the Girl to Girl Dating Guide.

Visit The Book Fair today!  Special giveaways end tomorrow!

Looking for some unique children’s books to those special young people in your lives?  Looking for a way to give back to the community by donating books to a local school or library?  Then visit Virtual Children’s Book Fair!

At the Book Fair, you can find a variety of delightful Children’s picture books as well as special giveaways for this weekend only.  Some of the giveaways include a clay pot filled with strawberry flavored gummy worms (yum!) or part of the proceeds from each book donated to a literacy non-profit.

Visit the Fair and check out these captivating picture books ideal for children ages 4-10, yet all ages are sure to enjoy!

The Tale of Eartha the Sea Turtle

Who I am Not What I am

100% Real

Engineering the ABC’s

The Little Pot

The One and Only Bernadette P. McMullen

and  Janoose the Goose

Enjoy your new treasures!

I am proud to be a part of the Premier event for the Virtual Children’s Book Fair, Feb. 26-28, 2010.   11 books, 9 authors from around the country.  All the books are children or young adult genres.

Each author is offering a special giveaway and/or special pricing and/or free shipping for this wonderful history in the making event.   Most books can be personalized too, if desired.

From the comfort of your home and computer, you can browse and purchase online by visiting the fair website at Virtual Children’s Book Fair

Share with me – what’s on your book wish list?

How can you critique a child’s work in a positive way?

By using the “Kisses & Wishes” method!  Read more at my friend’s blog  B_A_ Bookworm

Do you have any unique teaching methods to share?

Wow – I’m so excited to share my very 1st book trailer video with you!  I had so much fun working on this video over the weekend, I didn’t even watch the Super Bowl :0!

I used Animoto.com – a wonderful, FREE online tool for creating 30 second videos from still images or short video clips.   I captured images from my book, pasted them into Powerpoint, added some fun text, then saved them as a jpg file.

In Animoto, I uploaded my jpg files, picked a song from their music collection and I was done.   Anna joined me in playing around with some of the editing features.   Animoto even makes it easy to share videos on Facebook, Twitter and by email or export the video to your YouTube channel.

The service is free for 30 second videos or you can pay a yearly fee for upgraded service which allows longer videos, higher video quality, and some added features.

Could be a lot of fun for class projects, especially  in the early elementary years where the editing of a 30-second video is just the right project length.  Just remember to mention in class that engineers had a part in bringing these videos to life.   From developing and writing the Ruby on Rails software base to helping grow the Artificial Intelligence community to designing the massive internet infrastructure (the only way to access Animoto), engineering played a major role.

Have you used Animoto?  What types of projects have you completed?

At a time when many local Metro Detroit schools are faced with massive budget reductions, one school received a mid-year gift.  With a generous grant from the Detroit Section of the Society of Women Engineers, I donated 44 copies of my children’s book, “Engineering the ABC’s” to Dearborn Public Schools last week.

Dearborn Public Schools was selected to receive books because they have a high rate (~35%) of English Language Learners – one of the highest percentages in the nation. The District is implementing some unique programs to enhance the learning of all their students, including integrating Arabic reading and writing into their curriculum.

I delivered books to Associate Superintendent, NormaJean Sass, who was very excited to meet the author of the donated books!  We talked for a bit about the importance of introducing engineering to children at a young age and some ways the book can be used in the classroom.  I was delighted to discover that Ms. Sass’ daughter is an engineer with Barton Mallow Construction.

Three other schools are slated to receive books over the next few months for a total of 150 donated books.  Way to go SWE-Detroit!