Happy November! We hope you enjoyed your trick-or-treating. It’s time to meet our latest picture book, graphic novel, and young adult novel releases:
It’s October 1, and that means new picture books and graphic and YA novels from Lerner! So hit your local bookstore or library, pick up a pumpkin spice latte (as it’s National Pumpkin Spice Day, apparently), and start reading.
That’s right! It’s National Punctuation Day! Woot! Do you have a favorite punctuation mark? Most editors I know do. Geeky? Maybe. But hey, we can’t help it; we editors just love this kind of thing.
My favorite is the semicolon. See it up there, nestled in the final sentence of the paragraph above? The semicolon conveys so much in one simple, elegant mark. It is kind of like the Little Punctuation Mark that Could. It tells you which things in a list are separate items and which are modifiers. Take this sentence, for example: I love crunchy autumn leaves; red, juicy apples; and giant, glowing jack-o’-lanterns. Without the semicolons in there, you might think that red was one of the things I loved, rather than just a word to describe those tasty apples.
If you do have a favorite punctuation mark, I’d love to hear about it. In the meantime, I’ll be here in my office at Lerner, celebrating the semicolon and sending out wishes to each and every one of you for a very happy National Punctuation Day.
The semicolon…a thing of beauty
It’s the first of September, so that means we’re unleashing some fabulous Fall 2015 books on the world! Here are our picture books and YA titles to look for in your local bookstore:
Since we’re off for the holiday next Thursday, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of our blog readers a very Happy Thanksgiving.
May you take in the big parade,
enjoy a scrumptious meal,
maybe watch some football,
and be surrounded by the love of family and friends.
Good luck!
Are you as shocked as I am that today is Earth Day? I suppose it depends on where you live. Here in Minnesota, we still have SNOW ON THE GROUND. And the forecast for tonight? Why, it’s another 3-5 inches of the white stuff! But I have heard rumors that spring might actually be headed our way late this week or early the following week.
All that being said, the point of this blog post is not to garner pity from you, our dear readers. Rather, I was looking back at some of our books and seeing that we have some nice offerings for Earth Day—and for any other day of the year in which you’re feeling ecologically inclined!
Our Cloverleaf Books Planet Protectors 7-book set is a nice introduction to environmental topics for grades PreK-2. The books feature an engaging picture book format, spunky narrators, and great illustrations.
If you’re ready to get your hands dirty (literally!), check out Garbage Helps Our Garden Grow: A Compost Story. This wonderful book by Linda Glaser follows a family as they create a compost pile and then use the compost in their own garden the following spring.
The Cloverleaf titles would actually pair well with this book, and I think it would be fun for kids to see two different approaches to how they can do their part in helping to make our planet a cleaner place!
Happy New Year to each and every one of you from the Lerner imprint! Call me crazy, but January may be one of my favorite times in Minnesota. Why? It’s inevitably chilly here this time of year, and giant, fluffy snowbanks often line your house on every side. It’s not unusual to find yourself snowed in—or at least reluctant to travel far—as sparkly flakes pile up. What better time to curl up with a blanket and some hot tea and read a great book?
Below are a handful of the cold-weather reads that I recommend from Lerner. May this January find you with a great book in hand…and perhaps with a cozy blanket and some hot tea too!
In honor of tomorrow’s big day, I thought I’d share a little bit about our latest Christmas book, Carter’s Christmas. This book is part of our Cloverleaf Books Fall and Winter Holidays set.
For me, part of the fun of Carter’s Christmas book is learning about the origins of some of our Christmas traditions. For instance, did you know that long ago, before the advent of Christianity, Europeans decorated their homes with evergreens at this time of year? As time passed and Christianity spread, evergreen trees in homes became popular at Christmastime in Germany. German immigrants helped bring the tradition to the United States. You can find out much more about the fascinating history of Christmas trees here.
Whether you celebrate Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or some combination thereof, I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and a very happy new year!