Language During Mealtime

Interview with Jennifer Renieris

Today I will be interviewing author Jennifer Renieris.

 Jennifer’s love and appreciation for “aha”moments in her life has inspired her to write children’s stories that celebrate growth and enlightenment. Whether she is on her farm, at home, or exploring nature, teachable moments find their way to her. Young and old, teachable moments help us thrive and flourish, whether they come from our children, parents, friends, or even our pets.

Jennifer has written two pictures books titled, A Buck and a Puck and Hawk Eyes. Check out her website at jlwauthor.com. To learn more about Jennifer, read her interview here.

Watch Jennifer's interview on the local news and learn more by visiting my website here.

Interview with Donna Cowan, author of The Superhero School Series

Today I will be interviewing Donna Sager Cowan. Donna Sager Cowan is the author of The Superhero School series. The ideas for the series began with her youngest granddaughter asking about her cat, Ladybug, and why she stayed out all night.

As a grandmother, she enjoys reading and spinning tales for children. Each book in the series encourages positive attributes, acceptance, critical thinking, and inner strength.  

To learn more about Donna, her books and the Superhero School Series, visit my website here.

 

 

Interview with Writer and Ilustrator of Punk Taco, Adam Wallenta

Today I will be interviewing Adam Wallanta. Adam Wallenta is a publisher, writer, illustrator, editor, teacher, emcee and father. He founded Adam Wallenta Entertainment to help bring new independent creator owned projects to life. Adam has illustrated over fifty children’s books, numerous comics, graphic novels and illustrated album art for Rock n Roll Hall of Fame musicians such as Public Enemy & Lloyd Price among many others.

Check out Adam’s website at punktaco.com

To learn more about Adam and his son writing books together, check out my review and post on my website here. 

Interview with illustrator, John Parra

Today I will be interviewing John Parra, illustrator, designer and educator.   Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year, received a Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration, received an award from the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Book, and also received Smithsonian Best Book of the Year. John has received many awards and honors including three Pura Belpré Honors for Illustration, two SCBWI Golden Kite Awards for Illustration, and The Christopher Award, among many others.

John was awarded the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Illustration for Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans (written by Phil Binder, Chronicle Books); Pura Belpré Honor for Green Is a Chile Pepper (written by Roseanne G. Thong, Chronicle); The Christopher Award for Waiting for the Biblioburro (written by Monica Brown, Random House); and Hey, Wall (written by Susan Verde, Simon & Schuster, 2018) which received a School Library Journal starred review.

New picture books in 2019 include Little Libraries, Big Heroes (written by Miranda Paul, HMH, Sept 2019) and One Is a Piñata: A Book of Numbers (written by Roseanne G. Thong, Chronicle). John also illustrates for commercial clients including United Airlines, Hitachi, PBS, National Geographic, Virgin Records, Boston Children’s Hospital, El Museo del Barrio, and many others. In 2015, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York presented his books and artwork. John graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

 Visit John Parra’s website or follow him on twitter @johnparraart

To learn more about John and read my review with language and learning tips, click here.

Interview with Jaina Hatch, Author of My Superhero Mind

Today I will be interviewing Jaina Thatch, Author of the book series My Super Hero Mind. She is also a Physical Therapist, advocate for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Mom to 4 children. As a mom of boys, Jaina’s world changed when she had her daughter, Isla. When Isla wore Super Hero clothing, Jaina started to see her tenacious spirit, strong will, and determination come to life.

To learn more about Jaina, check out her website here.

Do you want learn language and learning tips when reading aloud to your child, click here.

 

 

Interview with Elly Swartz, Author of Finding Perfect, Smart Cookie and Give and Take

Today I will interviewing middle grade author, Elly Swartz.

Her debut novel, FINDING PERFECT (FSG 2016) is about 12-year-old Molly, friendship, family, OCD, and a slam poetry competition that will determine everything. In her second book, SMART COOKIE (Scholastic, 2018), you meet the spunky and big-hearted Frankie. Frankie’s all about family with a dash of mischief and mystery! Then in October, 2019, say hello to Maggie in GIVE AND TAKE (FSG). With the help of a foster baby named Izzie and Bert the turtle, Maggie learns that sometimes love means letting go.

Check out her website with tons of resources at ellyswartz.com, on Twitter @ellyswartz, on Instagram @ellyswartzbooks or on her webseries #BooksintheKitchen with author Victoria J. Coe.

To check out my review of Finding Perfect, click here.

Interview with Author and Child and Adolescent Psychologist, Dr. Janet Sasson Edgette

Do you have a son that is not sporty? How does that affect him? Does he feel left out? Check out this wonderful podcast with acclaimed author and psychologist Dr. Janet Sasson Edgette! 

After reading her book, The Last Boys Picked, I wanted to talk more with Janet about this important topic of bullying, sports and boys.

Janet Sasson Edgette is a clinical psychologist with 30 years of experience offering evaluation, counseling, and psychotherapy to children, preteens, teenagers, young adults, and their parents. She has spent her career thinking about how to provide services to kids and teenagers that they actually value and respect, and therefore want to participate in, eliminating the miserable and degrading tug of war and other power struggles that many clinicians endure when working with this population. Janet has served on faculty at Delaware Valley University, Immaculata University, and Villanova University in their graduate psychology and counseling programs and has conducted training workshops throughout the U.S. and Canada, and abroad.

Besides speaking to professional audiences, Janet often speaks to groups of parents about how they can stay connected to their kids as they enter adolescence and become young adults. Respect and accountability are cornerstone values in both her therapy and parenting approaches.

Janet has written six books and dozens of articles in the areas of parenting, counseling, boys, masculinity and gender norms, and sport psychology. They include the popular parenting paperback, Stop Negotiating with Your Teen: Strategies for Parenting Your Angry, Manipulative, Moody, or Depressed Adolescent, and a critically acclaimed book for mental health professionals entitled, Adolescent Therapy That Works: Helping Kids Who Never Asked for Help in the First Place. Her most recent book, The Last Boys Picked: Helping Boys Who Don’t Play Sports Survive Bullies and Boyhood, has been labeled by Parent magazine a “must read.”

To learn more about Janet, visit her website here!

Are you looking for more resources? Check out my post here!

Interview with Speech Language Pathologist and Owner of The Speak Boutique, Tali Kellerstein

Tali Kellerstein is a certified speech language pathologist and owner of The Speak Boutique. She is passionate about treating children struggling with speech sound disorders. She started her career at the Speech and Stuttering Institute in Toronto, and for the last 4 years has worked full time in her Private Practice, The Speak Boutique. Tali shares tips and ideas for speech therapy on her Speak Boutique YouTube Channel, and is currently working on a speech-sounds based children’s book - set to be released in 2020.

 

To learn more about Tali, go to her website here.

 

Do you want to learn more about Tali and how to help your child improve their speech and language abilities? Read my post here.

Interview with Marci Heit, Creator of Q.D. Foodie

Marci Heit is a professional voiceover artist, writer, producer, puppeteer, actress and SAG-AFTRA member. She is also the creator of Q.D. Foodie. Q.D. Foodie Kitchen Tools have easy grip, sensory friendly handles, braille on the measuring pieces and bright, engaging colors that attract a wide range of kids, allowing them to work together in the kitchen, gain cooking and social skills, make healthier choices and develop more independence. 

 From the time she was a child, Marci created voices for nearly everything she saw, including cars, clothes, and spices. The repertoire of characters inside her eventually needed to find a way out, so she recorded a demo and obtained representation with the William Morris Agency. These days, Marci works from her own recording studio and has clients around the country and worldwide. Her voice can be heard on video games, children’s television, commercials, greeting cards, training videos, websites, infomercials, telephone systems, and much, much more. 

 Marci was involved with a puppet show program for several years. That experience inspired her to start her own company to develop her own material and client projects. It’s Real Entertainment LLC is an animation production studio, which creates and develops original animated content for all areas of media and for all ages. Marci voices many of the characters. 

To read my review of these fabulous products from QD Foodie, click here.

 Check out her website here! 

Interview with Erin Morris, Author of Who is Sam the Soldier?

Erin Morris is an Army veteran and former Major in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.  She spent nine years in the Army and deployed to Afghanistan in 2013 with the 101st Airborne Division.  Since leaving the Army, Erin continues to practice law in Colorado where she lives with her husband, also an Army veteran, and her family.  In her free time, Erin volunteers to support through various outreaches and is the legal adviser to a veteran-support non-profit in Texas.  Erin also enjoys traveling and adventuring in the great outdoors.

To learn more about Erin visit her book website, Sam the Soldier.

To read my review of Who is Sam the Soldier with language and learning tips, click here.