My Galapagos. The Spacebar.

   Baby Girl broke my spacebar.  I usually work on my laptop in the gameroom while I watch the girls play/pull every box and bin off of every shelf, dump all contents on the floor, and proceed to stomp on the soupy mix of hundreds of dollars of toys I was never allowed to have, until I lose my patience and lecture them about starving children in Africa.  This morning was no different.  I had just stepped out of the room for a moment to get them a snack and returned to find the spacebar sandwiched between Baby Girl's little palms.  She opened her sweet, chubby hands, lifted them up to me, raised her eyebrows and tenderly whispered, "Uh oh."  The spacebar- the most commonly pressed key on a keyboard.  That's about right.  Smiling through gritted teeth I tried to soothe her, "It's ok baby.  Mama will fix it," while internally I was on the verge of tears and wondering if/when/how I'd ever have enough resources (time and energy) to achieve this seemingly unattainable dream of mine. 

Utterly Otterly Day

 

   Utterly Otterly Day by Mary Casanova is our second Blueberry Book and tells us all about a cheeky little otter's adventurous day!  When I read the alliteration on the spine, I was immediately hooked and tipped it off the shelf to reveal a delightful cover.  I flipped through a few pages to see if it was as well written as it was so adorably illustrated, and I was instantly charmed by the many onomatopoeic phrases like, "whippidy, slippidy," and, "swishily, swashily."

The Story

   Little Otter awakes in his cozy den and "tugs Sister's whiskers, wrestles Mama's tail," then heads off to crunch on clams for breakfast.  He starts to wander off from their nook of the creek as his parents warn him to stay close.  But no one, not his parents, not the seagull, nor the beaver, are able to dissuade the little rascal from exploring further and alone.  After all, "he's a big otter now."  His romp continues as he narrowly escapes the talons of an eagle, a beaver's falling tree, the jaws of a snapping turtle, a nettled fisherman's grasp, and finally a deadly cougar's pounce when his family swoops in and rescues him.  "Slip!  Slide!  Down the hill, the otters dart and swoosh.  Then whoooooooooosh!  They hide inside their den," which is where "his paws stop trembling, he tucks tail to nose.  He needs his family- no matter how big he grows."  That slippery little otter learned an invaluable lesson on his utterly otterly day, I'd say!

The Storytellers

   Mary Casanova is an award-winning author of over twenty children's books (including contemporary novels, historical fiction novels, American Girl books, and picture books) and it shows.  She really keeps my children on the edge of their seats/beds and brimming over with curiosity at every turn of the page.  When they aren't gasping at each of Little Otter's astonishing escapes, they're imitating all the "CRACK" or "WHACK" sounds and rubbing their bellies when "his tummy rumbles- grumbles."

   On her website and in an interview with Ella Johnson, Casanova shares her journey to becoming an author.  "Ever since high school—when I discovered the power of words—I wanted to be a writer," she states. "My love of the writing craft helped me get through college with a degree in English, and it helped propel me after college to learn from other published authors at various writing workshops and conferences."  Although as a child, she says, "I was a reluctant reader, so I strive to write books kids can’t put down."  Mission accomplished. 

   Casanova and her husband live on the Minnesota-Canadian border.  She describes it so clearly as a place "where there's more wildlife than people."  Among some of her neighbors are eagles, moose, black bears, and wolves but, most importantly, are the otters.  If you've ever had the pleasure to see otters in action, like my family and I have- not in the wild, but at the Dallas World Aquarium- you can certainly appreciate her accurate tale of their habitat and activities!

   The precious little otter face on the cover by Ard Hoyt captured my heart.  I love the combination of sketching, watercolors, and that wide little grin framed with a tiny nose and whiskers.  Raised on picture books, "he discovered that with a white sheet of paper he could change the weather."  After Hoyt graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, "he has illustrated over 15 children's books  including two New York Times Best Sellers (I'm a Manatee by John Lithgow and The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes To School by Laurie Halse Anderson)."   His depictions transport readers to the wet and wild world of otters by leading us to hear waves lapping under the dock, draw in the aromas on morning fishing trips among the pine trees, and to experience the cool, damp, moss-covered mud den of an otter family.

 The Review

   Utterly Otterly Day (published in the U.S. in 2008, not to be confused with  The Utterly Otterleys by Mairi Hedderwick which was published in the U.K. in 2006) is an exciting new addition to our Blueberry Books and recieves a fantastic 4 out of 5 blueberries from my girls! 

 

 

The Classroom

 

  If you want to broaden the excitement of this book, check out this great selection of otter stuffed animals and products starting at just $3.99 here at stuffedsafari.com! Puppets always enrich story time, whether they're the narrator or a commentator, and this one is my favorite! If you're in the UK, you can order an otter toy here! 

   Buy your copy of Utterly Otterly Day (picture book ages 3-6) HERE!  And check out the sequel, Utterly Otterly Night, next!

   And, only because my girls couldn't get enough otters, I'll leave you with some cute photos:



Dirt in My Lip Gloss

  When the housing market took a dive a few years ago, my husband and I felt the window to take advantage of the record-low home prices was small.  We better act fast.  Within months of the sudden drop, we put our house on the market and started shopping for our final home.  We were excited about finding the place in which we would raise our family and grow old together!  Whichever home we decided on would be the epicenter for this life we had always dreamed of and it was unbelievable that the time had come to discover our future!  I grew up on the Dallas side of the metroplex and my husband and his family are from Fort Worth (though he was a military brat and didn't grow up there but visited often and moved back after college).  We knew North Texas well.  So, we started scouring the most obvious cities and found some great neighborhoods in exemplary school districts, but none of them felt right.  None of them felt like home.  

Leo the Lightning Bug

 

   As the first book to be dubbed a Blueberry Book in our household, Leo the Lightning Bug by Eric Drachman, is a tender story about a lightning bug who can't glow no matter how hard he tries.  I was drawn to the book because of the picture on the cover of Leo longingly gazing out a window.  I immediately felt a sense of wonder, hope, and anticipation.

Blueberry Books- Introduction

   I am at the very beginning of my journey to become a published author.  First thing's first- find out if anyone else has already published books similar to, or exactly like, the ones I intend to write.  Those first few days of research were intense.  Heart-pounding with excitement and anxious with fear, I flew open the doors and ran into bookstores like the long-awaited day had finally come- my chance on Nickelodeon Super Toy Run.   

   After weeding through the hundreds of titles in the picture book section, I had narrowed it down to a mere fifty or so that I needed to purchase.  No big deal.  I squared up with the cashier and settled into an itty bitty chair at a tiny round table held up by four large crayons and started studying.  I couldn't help but flash back to elementary school and remember all the circle time, story time, and D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time.  (I wish I had kept the "book" of mine about an airplane that was laminated and displayed in publisher's corner in the second grade.  Funny.)