Bedtime Book Review: The New Adventures of Mother Goose

Well to get back into things I've decided to review some of my favorite illustrated children's books. I've spent many a night reading these stories to my daughter, over and over again. First up:

The New Adventures of Mother Goose
Created by Bruce Lansky
Illustrated by Stephen Carpenter

So maybe the traditional Mother Goose is a little too scary for your little one? Never fear! The New Adventures of Mother Goose takes those antiquated creepy stories and turns them into gentle rhymes for happy times. My 5 year old loves this one and it's often in the pile of books to read before bed. My favorite rhyme:

There Was an Old Woman
There was an old lady who lived in a shoe,
which wasn’t too bad when the winter winds blew.
But the strong summer sun was too hot to handle,
so she packed up her stuff and moved to a sandal.
                       —Larry Cohen and Steve Zweig

The illustrations by Stephen Carpenter are bright, colorful and engaging. With more than 20 books by this author/illustrator team, The New Adventures of Mother Goose fits right in. Read what the creator, Bruce Lansky has to say here.

So if you're looking for some nursery rhymes a little more friendly than the traditional Mother Goose, this is it!

What's a Twoodle?

What's a Twoodle you ask? A Twoodle is a tweet and a doodle! The idea was thought up by the talented Ms. Alicia Padron. Through out the week artists can tweet random words using the #twoodle hashtag. On Wednesday you can choose any two of the words tweeted during the week, make a doodle and tweet it out... and you got yourself a twoodle! So here's my first ever twoodle. I went with dragon and teapot.

Annie is not too happy with her dragon for ruining the tea party. Poor Mr. Bunny will never be the same again.

Check out the new look!

So what do you think of the new blog?? Isn't it pretty? A lot easier to use than the last one.

Along with the new blog I have also completely redesigned my website. Take a look! Enjoy to view. On the fun page I have a twitter feed, instagram feed, and links to awesome blogs and illustrators. Eventually I'd like to add things like Free downloads (coloring pages, printable cards, etc.) and sketches; and maybe even a newsletter.

Let me know what you think. Any feedback would be helpful; I'm always open for suggestions!

Illustration Friday - Liquid

Here's my Illustration Friday submission this week for liquid…

So I know it's a bit of a stretch, but pirate ships sail on liquid right? It's part of my alphabet series that you can see here.

Happy Monday everyone!

Woo hoo, I won!

Recently I entered a contest by Illustrator Cally Johnson-Isaacs for a signed copy of her 1st book "Elephantantrum" to celebrate the launch of the paperback edition. And guess what, I won! 

Here's what Amazon has to say about "Elephantantrum":

There's tears and tantrums in this humorous picture book about manners when Ellie is tired of playing with her toys. Ellie has everything, but she wants more. She wants an elephant. And she won't eat or sleep or brush her hair until she gets one! But when she finally gets her wish, the elephant decides to teach Ellie a thing or two about manners!

It sounds so fun! I can't wait to read it to my 5 yr old daughter; she loves books. Actually she'll probably read it to me as she's pretty much got the whole reading thing down.

I love Cally's illustrations. They're bright, vibrant, and make me smile. She has a unique mix of traditional and digital mediums. Originally an in-house illustrator for 6 years at Hallmark cards, Cally moved on to pursue her dream of becoming a children's book illustrator. That dream came true last year with her first illustrated book "Elephantantrum" by Gillian Shields. This year "Elephantantrum" is being re-released as a paperback. Her second illustrated book (also by Gillian Shields), was released in February called "That Dog!" She also currently does work for Penny Black, Inc.; they make everything from cards to scrapbook do-dads.

If you want to learn more about Cally I found a couple interviews by RWD Illustration, and Cupcakes for Clara. You can also see what she's up to at her Blog, Facebook, and Twitter. AND if you're so inclined she's part of a fabulous group of children's illustrators called We Love to Illustrate. Phew! She's a busy girl.