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Debbie’s Blog

Welcome to my new blog, which now includes content from many of the blogs I’ve created over the years. You can now also access content via category from this one page instead of having to search for my individual blogs, which were scattered over various platforms and websites.

What I’m having for breakfast: LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST

Yay, my copy of LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST by Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney (Sterling) just arrived! Such a delicious read, plus I love the surprise fold-out ending. This would make a great readaloud, with lots of potential discussion with young readers about the fun art details, food and friendship. . . .



Something Amazing

Thanks to my friend Therese Walsh for the great caption! You can find out more about Therese at ThereseWalsh.com and on Twitter at @ThereseWalsh.




Children’s Book Finger Puppets: tips for children’s book creators, teachers and parents

I’ve added some free print-ready templates for creating finger puppets related to I’M BORED and WHERE ARE MY BOOKS? You can preview the I’m Bored puppets here and download here. You can get the Where Are My Books? puppets here: Spencer & Mom download, Sis and Dad download and Squirrel/Narwhal/Book download. For all my free, print-ready material, see my Print-Ready Archives. Note that you don’t HAVE . . .



Kathryn Stockett’s THE HELP was rejected 60 times

According to a Time interview with Kathryn Stockett, The Help was rejected 60 times by agents before being picked up by Susan Ramer at Don Congdon. The book was Kathryn’s debut as a novelist and took her five years to complete. Since it came out in 2009, The Help has been published in 35 countries . . .





Free print-ready poster: Tim Federle quote about books

I’ve added a new print-ready poster to my For The Love Of Reading page: You can download the poster here. For more free print-ready literacy posters, activity sheets, bookmarks and more, see For The Love Of Reading. You can also browse my full Print-Ready Archive for teachers, librarians and young readers.




SIX by M.M. Vaughan

I cannot resist a middle grade novel with unique/cool technology as a hook, so was intrigued by the basic synopsis of SIX by M. M. Vaughan (Margaret K. McElderry, 2015): Parker and his sister Emma, with the help of secret advanced technology, can communicate between themselves through their thoughts. When their father . . .