Tag: book-review

Wrapped In Love

Barbara Gruener

Today I’m grateful for readers like Tanya, a school counselor in Montana, for her touching post on IG earlier this week.

It makes my heart soar to see our book in the hands and on the heart of readers like her. And just look at the connection that she made with the book; her daughter’s handiwork (without needles!) is an incredible work of heart.

I had the blessing of gathering online with a panel of teacher authors; click {here} to listen in. It was so much fun to hear their stories and learn more about how their books came about. Special thanks to Josh Tovar and Dr. Moreno for including me in this group of educators.

My cousin texted a photo of Owen’s color sheet after my visit to his school. I just love how he connected back to the story by finishing off his slippers with a pom of a different color.

On this journey through life, I’m learning that love comes in all shapes and sizes, through a chance to connect in person or by receiving a phone call or text following up after the fact.

It might be coming by with a plate of cookies for my husband who just had knee surgery …

or posting a review of a book you liked, just to increase visibility or engagement with the product.

Mine heart happiness has always been sparked by baking, so this week, I baked our Halloween pumpkin, then made six batches of pumpkin bread. I posted on Facebook for anyone local to come pick some up. The Principal of a neighboring school took me up on it, so she could treat her front-office staff to some kindness from my kitchen.

It wrapped my heart in love to get this picture that afternoon. A couple of people I’ve never met came by to get one, too; one of the new friends is making pork egg rolls for us tomorrow. Talk about your win-win.

What’s your go-to way to wrap someone in love?

Birthday Swag

Barbara Gruener

It’s officially September, which means it’s our new book’s birthday month!

This time around, I thought it might be fun to celebrate with some swag, so I enlisted Daisy to make me some stickers.

What I didn’t know was that her mom would throw in some custom magnets and her sister Cecily would surprise me with some buttons, and I’m so grateful for their kindness and generosity.

So now all we need is for Amazon and B&N Online to let us know that it’s live and available for purchase. Fingers crossed that it’s this week.

In case you missed it on our home page, we’ve gotten some heart-felt reviews; check out these reflections from author and friend, Claire Noland.

KNIT {BACK} TOGETHER is a beautifully written and illustrated story of intergenerational love, remembrance, and friendship. This charming, heartwarming story is told in first person by Levi, a boy who has moved in with his grandmother. He feels safe and warm with Grams and loves their time together. Grams is a knitter and spends time creating gifts for others. She promised to teach her grandson to knit but, sadly, that day never came as she became ill and was gone too soon.

Lost and flooded with unfamiliar emotions, Levi struggles but learns that his new class has a knitting corner. Frances, a classmate, offers to teach him to knit, and though he’s reluctant, he agrees to try as he remembers Grams’ encouraging words to be patient, never panic and pull. Grams wise words guide him through a difficult encounter with a bully and help him to forge new friendships. When he and his Frances donate their joint project, Levi comes to truly understand what Grams meant when she called knitting for others heart work.

Five reasons you need to add KNIT {BACK} TOGETHER to your bookshelves:

Grief is handled sensitively in a way that speaks right to the heart of a child who has lost their guiding light and must deal with sadness and difficult emotions.

Knitting is a central feature of this lovely story showing how knitting creates a sense of calm peace and is a way to share kindness and develop connections. Knitted objects become expressions of love, or as Grams would say, works of heart.

The importance of passing on wisdom and love shines through on every page of this special story.

The backmatter is extensive with suggestions for starting a knitting club and a recipe for Gramma Emma’s Monster Cookies -yum!

There is a special section on practical ways to help grieving children by giving them the tools they need when dealing with loss.

KNIT {BACK} TOGETHER is a wonderful story that is meant to be read and shared together and perhaps will encourage readers to take up knitting. ~ Claire Noland, MSLIS, Children’s Book Author, Speaker, Field Trip Planner

Don’t you love that she’s a Field Trip Planner? I think that’s a fun addition to a byline.

Check out the home page for other reviews and to read a brief synopsis.

I’m booking author visits and virtual read-alouds for this Fall now, so do let me know if you’d like me to work with your school family.

Happy September, dear reader.

Meaningful Author Connections

Barbara Gruener

Today I’m feeling called to talk about connections, sparked by this Amazon review.

Just a few days into the new year, while I was at my childhood home caring for my Stepmom as she was dying, I received an email from a reader. Here’s a part of it.

Hello, how are you? My name is Michelle … I am a teacher in NJ. I have been teaching in the same town & school for 22 years … I absolutely love Mr. Quigley’s Keys … I am currently teaching 3rd grade and I LOVE reading to my class. We read 1-2 stories a day and I feel they are picking up a stronger passion for reading. Every month the students pick their favorite read aloud that I have read over the entire month to find the winner for our classroom. We call it “Bookflix” of the month.  Every March, I do the same thing but we make it like a tournament of books and each book battles another to make it through to the next bracket. We do this to celebrate March Madness with the NCAA basketball.

Well, being a relatively new basketball fan because of Caitlin Clark‘s days at Iowa, I think it’s soooooo cool to imagine Mr. Quigley’s Keys in a March Madness bracket. As you might imagine, it gave me great pleasure to send her class family a signed copy of Keys. I’ve also offered a virtual author visit, so, who knows? I might even get to meet them. Eeeeeeeek!

Michelle ended her letter with this: I look forward to hearing  from you if you have any time. I love telling my class I spoke to a REAL author. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Now here’s the thing: I will never forget the day that Phillip Hoose of Hey, Little Ant fame first emailed me. He’d enjoyed a blog post that I wrote about his rhyming “to squish or not to squish” treasure, and he invited me to write an article and submit it to Teaching Tolerance Magazine. I did, and it was not only accepted, but it was my first payment for a piece I’d scribed. My first author gig, if you will. Oh sure, I’d been writing for as long as I can remember, but getting paid for my words felt like next level, for sure.

Our friends Tricycle Press decided to put an excerpt from that article on the back of the hardback books 8th edition and beyond, and it felt so dreamy. Download a teachers’ guide from the publisher {here}.

Then when we invited Phil to come to Friendswood from the East Coast and lead a Family Character Night we hoped to call “Picnic With The Author Of Ant,” we were over-the-moon with delight that he agreed. Families brought their dinners to our gym, spread out their picnic blankets, and ate dinner while Phil lead a good old-fashioned Sing Along and then a read aloud of his blockbuster book.

So, Michelle, I can still feel what it feels like to hear back from an author, and I, for one, am grateful that you followed your heart and made this meaningful connection with me. Oh, and not that I’m uber competitive or anything, but I do so hope that Keys does well in your 3rd-grade March Madness bracket. 🔑💜🗝️