bookie & cookie

We’ve reached the point in the year when I start reading picture books in earnest – because the holidays are coming! It feels ridiculous to type that sentence in AUGUST of all months, when school hasn’t even started up again yet, but it’s true. By the time December rolls around, the gifts must already be selected and ordered so that they arrive on time. I’m happy to report that Blanca Gómez's new picture book Bookie & Cookie is a strong contender to gift to the young ones in your life, or to check out from your local library. After all, it combines two of the best simple pleasures in life: books and baking cookies!

Even the best friendships have rough moments, but a true friend will always find a way to compromise (especially when cookies are involved!) – a scrumptious and clever read-aloud by the illustrator of Very Good Hats and Besos for Baby.

Bookie and Cookie are best friends. They love to spend time together, reading books and snacking on treats. But whenever this happens, it’s always at Cookie’s home . . . until the day when Bookie insists on getting together at his home instead. Cookie refuses: He doesn’t want to try something new. And now Bookie and Cookie are both alone, and the activities they used to enjoy together aren’t nearly as much fun. Can the two buddies each try something new for the sake of their friendship?

Bookie and Cookie are best friends, but they have an unconventional living situation. Bookie lives in the left-hand page of the book, and Cookie lives in the right-hand page. And when they hang out together, they are always in/on Cookie’s page. Bookie would like Cookie to come visit, but he refuses! He doesn’t like change. How will these best friends finally resolve their conflict? Page is synonymous with house in this delightfully-illustrated book about compromise and the power of friendship. It celebrates the delicious pairing of cookies and books while teaching gentle lessons about conflict-resolution, and the only thing that would make it more my speed is if it somehow worked in ice coffee as well, lol.

Gómez's text is the sort of metanarrative that is delightful to book lovers – the characters acknowledge the spatiality of the book! Vocabulary-wise, the text is simple and sparse enough for early readers, so the book will appeal in both the read-aloud era and into independent reading. It also has a few useful messages: that conflict hurts both parties, compromise is necessary to maintain meaningful friendships, and being afraid of change will keep you from a life full of adventures. Gómez conveys this message in fairly equal amounts of narration and dialogue between Bookie and Cookie. Parents and caregivers will laugh (or cry, depending on the day!) when reading the familiar interplay between the characters: “I don’t like what I don’t know.” “How can you know you don’t like it if you don’t try it?” “I don’t know, but I know it’s true.” And of course, young children may see themselves reflected in some of the stubborn resistance to flexibility that Cookie displays. There are kinder emotions discussed as well, such as gifting cookies, reading together, and eventually adventuring outside the book. 

The art is simple, with figures and furniture in a crayon box full of bright colors against a white background, which will appeal to the intended audience. Gómez's flat, rounded characters have nearly perfect circles for heads, distinctive hats, and a few straight lines indicating their hair. The geometric shapes and figures call to mind cut paper art, and the book’s delightful details (the book titles and cookie containers move around and correspond to what’s happening in the story) will invite commentary and rereads to check – are items changing and moving from one page to the next? These clever Easter eggs encourage interactivity and engagement.

In all, Bookie & Cookie is a brief and rainbow-bright picture book sure to delight book-loving adults and the young children they read to.

Recommended for: read alouds and independent reading, and anyone who appreciates a well-designed and artful picture book experience. 

 

Bookie & Cookie will release from Rocky Pond Books (Penguin Random House) on September 3, 2024. 

 

Fine print: I received a final copy of the text from the publisher. I did not receive any compensation for this post.

#bookstagram

Are you on Instagram? I am! It’s fun! If you follow/have followed me there, I changed my handle to @ceceliareads in June. It’s all books all the time. My personal handle (for photos of not-book things – most likely scenery, sports & coffee) is still live, too.

After I changed my handle I mentioned to several real-life friends that I’d started to do the “bookstagram thing.” Most of them couldn’t see any difference between my feed then and my feed now, so I guess we’ll chalk that up to me being extra on-brand with bookstagram. I did get one complaint about too many photos of socks, but what can you do? #socksunday, y’all.

For those not in the know, bookstagram (with or without the #) is the bookish community on Instagram. Participants take photos of books or book-adjacent things, use the hashtag for easy discovery, and then (as far as I can tell), go around telling people how beautiful their photos are and how excited they are to read [insert book title here]. It’s pretty great.

I was inspired by a few bookstagrammers I met at the Fierce Reads party at Book Expo. I looked them up after the fact and thought, yeah, I could do that! And then I had to figure out how to take tons of photos of books without getting really boring and repetitive.

Well folks, aside from the #socksunday idea I was stumped about how to make my photos stand out. I don’t collect book swag (bookmarks, trading cards, branded knick knacks, etc.), I don’t subscribe to any book delivery services, and I can’t afford to spend a fortune at the craft store – nor do I want to. Then I had an awesome brainstorm: could I use the flowers at work?

an example of a typical bouquet at our office. see those orange mini roses?

Work for me is in a nice-ish building in downtown DC, and the office has a standing Monday morning bouquet order with a local florist. It makes the reception area look really classy. But from Friday at close of business through Monday AM, the last week’s flowers just sit there (rotting!) – and so I asked the receptionist if I could start taking them on Fridays after the end of the day. Thus, Cecelia’s Friday book & flower photoshoots were born. I now take a stack of books with me to work on Fridays and look forward to the end of the day, when I’ll get to deconstruct the current week’s vase of flowers and create a few looks to fill my feed for the following weeks. I’ve included an example of the before-and-after so you can see what I mean!

the petals made for a beautiful #bookstagram look!

Of course, the flower and book thing is a little precarious – it depends on the goodwill of the office staff and me staying late every Friday night. So, what else should I feature on my bookstagram? Hit me up with ideas!

book expo 2017 recap (+ a GIVEAWAY)

I went to BookExpo (for those not in the know, the biggest book conference in North America)(aka “BEA”) last week. I’ve been going every year since… oh… 2012? I’m insanely lucky and predictably nerdy, yes. I go for blogging, obvi, but I also manage the digital presence at my nonprofit, so this year I registered through work. I wasn’t sure how the “we’re cutting down on bloggers” direction the show was going would relate to me, an inconsistent small-timer, so I didn’t bother to try registering as press or as a blogger. If you saw me at the show, I was wearing a badge that said “Cecelia, Digital Content Strategist, [nonprofit name], NON-PROFIT.” Pretty VIP (but only on opposite day).

Let me recap: somehow I manage to attend a huge BOOK CONFERENCE every year and hang out with BOOK PEOPLE all day. It’s basically heaven!!!

Here’s what I saw and did, and also there’s a giveaway at the end if you’re into that kind of thing (yay!).

On Wednesday I worked a half-day and then took the bus up to NYC. I checked in to my friend Liza’s hotel room (thanks, dude!) and headed over to Blogbound Con for the evening. I attended Blogbound in July last year and had a fantastic time – it was free, had great programming, and a diverse audience. This time around it seemed a little less fabulous, but I definitely enjoyed the two panels I stayed for (Writing for 3rd Party Outlets & Tackling Problematic Books in Our Current Political Climate). Afterward, a non-blogging friend and I hit up Buvette, a tiny French cafe that I can’t recommend enough. Like, the food KILLED, they had a pop-up menu, and it was adorbs. Also $$$, but I like to splurge on good food once in a (long) while, so. And then I went back to the hotel and crashed, b/c I had to be up v. v. early the next morning.

Thursday morning started SO EARLY I CAN’T EVEN believe it in retrospect. I was out of the hotel room by 6:50am because…. I had a hair appointment! No, really, for real. When I checked out the hotel amenities online I noticed that they had a blow dry bar on site. And I’ve never been to one, but every time I get my hair done for anything (weddings) I request a braid, so I was like, why not? AND CAN I JUST TELL YOU, the braid was a *great* decision. Everyone complimented it and it still looked fabulous late that evening. Solid choices, past me.

I arrived at the Javits (the conference location) a little after 7:30 and lined up for a Maggie Stiefvater autograph ticket (which I got!) for her upcoming standalone All the Crooked Saints. And then I lined up for the show floor, which opened at 9, and met some lovely people and had a tote bag and ARC (advanced review copy) handed to me by an enthusiastic bride as promotion for a book that released today (the book is The People We Hate at the Wedding). When the show floor opened I wandered around a bit and ended up at the Macmillan booth, where the author of said book was hanging out with the Flatiron Books staff and the bride. The bride serenaded me, author Grant Ginder signed my book on the spot, and the whole thing basically made my morning.

And then… it was book after signing after panel after book, all in a big rush until lunch (with Emma & Nicole in the food court). My friend Sajda ended up with a last minute attendee badge, so we spent the rest of the day palling around together and taking ridiculous photos. And then after a healthy dinner at The Little Beet (veggie-friendly fast casual!) Liza and I met Sajda at the Big Honcho Media Stay Golden party, b/c of course. Afterward we headed home and fell into bed after having the same Uber driver on the way to AND from the party. Felix dropped some dating advice on us and we were like… o.O

Friday seemed crazier. Was it crazier in reality? Dunno. BUT. I didn’t really stop at all that day (minus a few fun photo opps). I met Leigh Bardugo and she told me my hair was so cute she wanted to punch it. She also signed a copy of Warbringer (the Wonder Woman YA novel!) for me. For a bit I was a booktubing group’s unofficial photographer. I also snagged Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince with some creative planning and line watching. It… was a lot. At the end of the show I shipped my books via UPS onsite, and then I sat down for like a half minute before heading off to the Fierce Reads author-blogger party. WHICH WAS GREAT. I chatted with Tomi Adeyemi (I added her book to Goodreads!) & Tillie Walden (comic artist I supported on Patreon!), some ladies from Forever Young Adult, and hugged author Emmy Laybourne twice (may have been tipsy by then). Publicist Gina from First Second gave me an amazing MCU fanfic rec. So, a successful party all-around.

AND THEN I TOOK THE BUS HOME.

Whew, I got tired writing that all out! I hope you can tell that it was the most fun. B/c it totes was.

And! To celebrate, I’m currently hosting my first ever Instagram book giveaway! Check it out. To enter you need to like & comment over on insta. Giveaway includes the items shown and ends tomorrow, June 7 at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be selected randomly and notified via the ‘gram.  Good luck!

free books for the summer

I love books (obviously). You probably love books. Can we agree that free books that you get to keep forever are a good idea? Okay, great. I’ve got a couple of tips for you: there are free books out there for the taking, all summer long. Let’s go.

AudioFile’s SYNC program allows you to download TWO audiobooks per week over the course of the summer, starting today. The program pairs a young adult book with a “classic,” and this year’s titles include the just-optioned-for-TV Shadowshaper and award-winning bestseller Between Shades of Gray, among others.

Any individual may participate by downloading the OverDrive App to their device of choice and returning to the SYNC website each Thursday after 7am Eastern Time to download the new audiobook pair for the week. Each title is available for one week only, but once downloaded they can be kept forever, so the opportunity to listen can extend well beyond the term of the summer program.

Tor.com’s eBook of the Month Club allows you to download the selected ebook each month – you’ll get an email reminder to download the book when it becomes available. This offer is good for every month, not just the summer! Selections are drawn from the Tor/Macmillan list, and are a mix of adult science fiction and fantasy (usually really great SFF, at that!).

Barnes & Noble’s Summer Reading Program allows kids in grades 1-6 (ages 6-12) to claim a free book at a Barnes & Noble store between May 16th & September 5th.

Kids need to read any eight books and record them in a B&N-provided Summer Reading Journal, along with what their favorite part of each book was, and why. Once they present a completed journal at a B&N store during the claim period, they can select a free book from the list on the back of the journal.

Do you know of any other ways to claim free books? Let me know!

winning at life, aka 10 bookish things that give me joy

I’ve had several lovely bookish things happening in my life, and I thought I’d share the joy a bit, in case they give you an idea or the nudge you need to add something book- or reading-related to your routine. I found many of these through excellent recommendations from the Twitter book world (thanks, all!).

1. One Book At A Time literacy project – This fantastic program pairs children in after school programs who don’t have access to books with someone (anyone!) willing to buy and send one book per month over the course of a year. Participants also get to exchange letters with their “book buddy.” I corresponded with a 14 year-old girl over the last school year and it was seriously SO REWARDING. I felt so proud when I finally figured out her reading preferences, and I just about burst with happiness every time one of her letters arrived in my mailbox. I can’t wait to be assigned to a new book buddy when school starts up again next month.

2. Matched graphic novels & kids for a reading teacher – I have two close friends who work as reading teachers in local elementary schools. When we get together we often talk about their kids and the books they’re reading (or having trouble reading, as the case may be). One of those friends told me a heart-breaking story about two 10 year-old girls she tutors. The first student has no confidence in her reading, and her classroom teacher only cements that. I immediately thought of Dav Pilkey’s latest, Dog Man. The other student is stronger in math and science than reading, so I went to Gene Luen Yang’s Secret Coders. Thanks to my trip to BEA, I had ARCs of both on hand and donated them right then and there. My friend reported back that both girls were ecstatic about the books, boasted that they read “graphic novels” to teachers and friends alike, and that the reading practice helped them pass their end-of-the-year tests with confidence. It legit made me cry (happy tears).

3. Adult summer reading at my local library – Does your local library have a summer reading program for adults? Mine does, and it is GENIUS. I mean, I’m reading anyway, but it’s great incentive to log books read, and there are prizes!

4. Audiofile’s free ebook program SYNC – Two free audiobook downloads each week for 15 weeks over the course of the summer. Does that sound good to you? If so, you should totally sign up for the weekly reminder emails. I don’t even like audiobooks, but this offer is too good to pass up.

5. Crowdsourcing book suggestions – A coworker of mine mentors a 17 year-old boy, and she told me about him over a lunch one day. Her description of a curious, sharp, private kid who has seen way too much hardship hit me in the feels. I asked her if I could send him a book. When I got the okay, I turned to Twitter for recommendations. They delivered. I ended up ordering two of the suggested titles for a kid I don’t know. I really hope he likes them. I feel like a hero anyway.

6. OTSP Secret Sister – Have you seen the #otspsecretsister tag on the web and wondered what it meant? It’s six months of bookish secret santa, with an emphasis on cheer and sending thoughtful letters. It’s FUN to organize gifts and letters and little surprises for a new friend. And of course receiving little things in the mail isn’t too shabby, either. I signed up last month for my 3^rd round because I keep having such a great time. 10/10 would recommend.

7. Book club (in real life and everything!) – Many years ago in a galaxy far, far away I didn’t have any close friends who read the sort of books I liked. Then I discovered Forever Young Adult’s book club network and joined the DC chapter. I now know many excellent people who read YA for fun, and we meet up and talk at book club and outside of it too. It’s super gratifying to have friends who want to see the latest teen film-to-book adaptation (like I do!).

8. Tor.com eBook of the Month Club – If you read sci-fi and fantasy, get thee over to Tor.com and sign up for their free ebook of the month club! You get a free download that is yours to keep no matter what, and the titles are fab. Just do it.

9. Talking to my 97-year old grandmother about the formative books of her childhood, and what she’s reading now – I spent some time with family over a long weekend, and I got to chat with my grandmother about reading. Which, for the record, is the best. She’s so smart and strong – I’m honored to be related to her. By the way, she just finished David McCullough’s biography of the Wright brothers.

10. Reading a cookbook in French! – I’m headed to Paris for the first time next month for a short vacation, and I’ve been teaching myself elementary French via Duolingo. I helped a family friend make a sorbet recipe over the weekend and I read it in French (with help)! So exciting.

Honorable mention: It hasn’t happened yet, but I plan to attend Kate Milford’s book launch next week in Annapolis, MD for her new middle grade novel The Left-Handed Fate.

What are some bookish happenings in your life?

ten books i picked up on a whim

I think we’re all nostalgic about something or other, and as a person who writes about books, I am sometimes nostalgic for the days when book discovery was looser and freer.  When I was a teen I browsed the library (or occasionally store!) shelves and picked up whatever looked good, regardless of genre.  A pretty book cover doesn’t necessarily discriminate between fiction or nonfiction, or age-appropriateness!  That said, I’m much happier in general with the quality of the fiction I’m reading now that I mostly go on recommendations.  But in keeping with this week’s theme, here are some of the books I recently picked up on a whim (free of recommendations – from anyone!).

Ten Books I Picked Up On a Whim

1.  Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books by William Kuhn – I visited Dallas earlier this year to see a dear friend who relocated to Texas.  We went to the Book Depository, the building from which Lee Harvey Oswald (allegedly) shot JFK.  It’s an interesting museum, and I learned quite a lot.  I picked up this book in the museum shop because it looked interesting, and I bought it because I had no idea that Jackie Kennedy Onassis worked in publishing!

2. The Christmas Eve Tree by Delia Huddy, illustrated by Emily Sutton – When I was at BEA this last week, I did one last ‘wander’ around the convention exhibits floor before I left.  Candlewick was closing up shop and giving away all of their display titles.  I happened to pick this one up, and I’m so glad I did! I LOVED it, and have already written & scheduled my review for September.

3. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho – This title and the next one were books I picked up while browsing at Amazon Books, the new Amazon bookshop concept in Seattle.  I was there with my mom, sister-in-law and aunt, and I was the only one who picked up anything to purchase.  We had a great time checking out the unique layout and sharing our opinions afterwards, though!

4. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken – As I mentioned in my review of the Amazon Books shop, they had an interesting (and limited) selection of titles.  This was one of the few older titles on the shelf, so I read the cover copy and then realized I had to have it.

5. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin – There used to be a bookshop in Skaneateles, New York, where my grandmother and uncles live (and since they host Thanksgiving and Easter, I visit!).  It was right across the way from the bakery, so when I was sent out to get fresh bread I’d pop into the bookstore.  I picked this up on one of those little trips, mostly because it was about books and I recognized the author name.

6. Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by John Boyne – As an adult I have certain requirements when I travel: there must be good food, good museums, and a bookshop visit.  I went to Ireland with friends in 2013, and had an amazing time. Some of my favorite souvenirs were the books I picked up from a shop in Dublin, including a signed copy of this middle grade title (which I still haven’t read)(no judgement).

7. Armada by Eric Cline – The story of this one is simple.  My friend Melissa sent out an email to our book club asking if anyone wanted the book. I replied back first.

8. The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas – My mother used this cookbook all the time when I was growing up.  I saw this copy at a book sale a few years back and immediately added it to my library. Another step on the (mostly unconscious) life journey to turn into my mother? Maybe.

9. Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures  by Jackson Pearce & Maggie Stiefvater – There’s a Barnes & Noble bookstore around the corner from the Apple Store I frequent, so I go there to wait and browse a few times a year (hey look! books! entertainment!). I picked up this title and the next one on one of those journeys.

10. Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt – I didn’t mean to read this book at all – I just wanted to look at the pictures. But it’s really too cute for words, so I ended up finishing it right there in the store. Art can make or break a book!

What’s the last book you picked up on a whim?

how to replace a classroom library

I may be the book blogger in my family, but all of my siblings love to read, and my sister (and best friend!) Ginny is a huge fan of YA lit – and not only does she love reading it, she teaches it!  She’s a 9th grade English teacher in Washington State.  Ginny is an amazing teacher and inspiration, and this was her first week back teaching after an intense summer of volunteering.  Last night severe storms caused parts of the roof of her school to collapse, and classrooms flooded.  When she went in to work this morning, there was standing water 2" deep in her classroom, and part of the ceiling had fallen.

The good news is that she and her kids are safe – all of the major damage happened overnight.  They closed down the whole school, as around twelve classrooms were affected (here's the video news segment).  The bad news is that there’s a ton of work to do to make it safe for classes again, and part of that work means ripping out walls she’s spent hours decorating. 

The flooding also destroyed Ginny’s classroom library, which she has collected over the past 7 years (with my help!).  Her 300+ books were sitting at ground level and soaked up the water and debris.  Visualizing all of that hard work and those lost books made me cry, and I know I’m not even close to feeling what she feels, and I can’t imagine what her students will lose out on.

My heart is aching for her, and I need to do something to help. 

I can’t do anything about the walls of her room, but I can do something about the books.  I’m going to donate from my own shelves and fill a couple of boxes to send to her.  I’d also like to solicit your help, dear readers.  In the comments, please tell me what books you’d put in a 9th grade classroom library.  I’ll search for used copies of those titles on Amazon and other sites and put together a big order for Ginny and her kids.

Do you know other ways to help?  Please mention them!  Thank you!

(If by some miracle you’d also like to donate appropriate books, you can send them to Ferrucci Junior High in Puyallup, Washington, care of Miss Larsen.  The mailing address should be easily searchable on the interwebs.)

*All photos (before and after) by Ginny