I’m celebrating Maria Gianferrari’s new sequel to Penny and Jelly today by doing a three picture book giveaway! Penny and Jelly Slumber Under the Stars celebrates the pleasure of the great outdoors in the company of our favorite animal friends..
We have a fair amount of light pollution where I live, but sometimes on vacation when we can look up at the sky and see the stars and moon, we marvel at what we can see. My kids learned about the phases of the moon in 4th grade where they used Oreo cookies to recreate the moon phases. We read about the moon in picture books too. And we watched the Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Boston. The skies are amazing, aren’t they?
Image of moon view by Niko Grigorieff
In the spirit of making learning fun, I found this rap video that explains the Phases of the Moon. Pair it with the Oreo Phases of the Moon science project for summer learning fun!
I want to remind myself to look up at the night sky. There’s wonder all around us. Just look at these amazing photos from the Hubble Space Telescope. The photos below are from the Hubble site.
Penny and Jelly Constellation
For a fun activity, try this Penny and Jelly constellation project:
Penny and Jelly Slumber Under the Stars by Maria Gianferrari
Penny is excited for a sleepover under the stars except for one thing: no pets allowed. She tries and tries to make a facsimile of Jelly out of various materials. Nothing turns out right. But then she has a great idea of how to include Jelly!
Penny and Jelly learn about constellations for their outdoor sleepover. This picture book lends itself to learning about the night sky as well as trying to make a dog using all kinds of materials including marshmallows, yarn and paper. This is a great picture book for a book club for kids as it lends itself to all kinds of fun activities. Or, just enjoy it as a bedtime story and look out at the night sky! [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Penny & Jelly: 3 Picture Book GIVEAWAY!
To win one of three copies of picture book, Penny and Jelly Slumber Under the Stars, please fill out the Rafflecopter below.
Maria writes both fiction and nonfiction picture books from her sunny, book-lined study in northern Virginia, with dog, Becca as her muse. Maria’s debut picture book, Penny & Jelly: The School Show, illustrated by Thyra Heder, was released in July 2015 (HMH Books for Young Readers); a companion book, Penny & Jelly Slumber Under the Stars, will be released in June. Her debut nonfiction book, Coyote Moon, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, will be published by Roaring Brook Press in July, and Aladdin Books for Young Readers will publish Officer Katz & Houndini: A Tale of Two Tails in October. Maria has five additional books forthcoming from Roaring Brook Press, Boyds Mills Press and GP Putnam’s Sons. To learn more about Maria, visit her website and on Facebook.
And you can visit Penny & Jelly at their website.
I’m part of the Penny & Jelly blog tour. Check out the other stops:
PENNY & JELLY SLUMBER UNDER THE STARS BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAYS EVERY DAY:
Pre-tour post:
June 2nd: Jama’s Alphabet Soup: Hot-TEAS of Children’s Literature
June 9th: Pragmatic Mom + Three Book Giveaway!
June 10th: Mamabelly’s Lunches with Love
June 13th: Little Crooked Cottage + Homemade City
June 14th: Kid Lit Frenzy
June 15th: Miss Marple’s Musings
June 16th: Bildebok
June 17th: Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) + Three Book Giveaway!
Extra features:
June 24th: Picture Book Builders
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My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
A super stellar celebration indeed!
Can’t wait to share my post with Maria on the 16th!
Me too! I somehow missed the “reply” button before–not enough tea 😉
Hi Maria,
No problem!
Hi Cathy,
Hope your book birthday launch was great! I love the idea of a slumber party under the stars! The night sky is fascinating especially now that we are learning more and more about what is out there in the universe!
Cathy, you’re quite the early bird!!! <3
Thanks so much for hosting me, Mia! Such a fun post. I love the photos!!
Hi Maria,
It’s such a special treat to have the author AND illustrator here on my blog! Thank you both for coming by on your book birthday!! Congrats!
Can’t wait to get a copy of this book! It looks adorable!
Thanks for stopping by, Deb!!! 🙂
Hi Debra,
This is the second Penny and Jelly and both are adorable! I am hopeful that the third one is in the works!
I love the stars in a clear sky. I hope I am lucky this time.
Thanks so much for entering Elisabeth!
Favorite thing to look at in the sky: whatever stars we can manage to spot through the city lights. 😉 My favorite thing that I’ve ever seen in the night sky: the aurora borealis.
Thanks for this great post and wonderful reminder of how beautiful the universe is!
Hello Karla!!
You’re soooo lucky! It’s my dream to one day see auroras–they’re so stunning!!
Hi Maria,
Me too! We have to go to Alaska?!
Or somewhere in Scandinavia. I vote for Norway 🙂
I will go to Norway with you to see it!! 🙂
Hi Karla,
I will have to catch the aurora borealis one day! It must have been a spectacular sight!
So do I, Elisabeth! It always seems to be cloudy or rainy when meteor showers are predicted too!
Wishing you some luck ;).
Hi Maria,
We get a lot of light pollution where I live so close to a city, so it’s a treat to be in a place with a clear night sky!
I love looking for Orion’s belt at the times of year when it’s visible!
And if you follow Orion’s belt toward the horizon, Kathy, that leads you to Sirius–Penny & Jelly’s favorite star (and the brightest one in the sky!) Thanks for your comment!
Hi Maria,
Great star gazing tip!
Hi Kathy,
Orion’s belt is fun to spot!
Congrats, Maria! This new Penny & Jelly book looks stellar. You are a PB star! 🙂
I’d love to add this to Mila’s collection. She and Champ enjoyed the first P & J book so much.
I’m curious. Any idea what the topic of the third P & J book might be? Or is that a secret.
Vielen Dank, Linda :)!! You are too kind! I’m so glad BFFs Mila & Champ liked book 1! How I wish there were a book 3, but I only had 2 under contract. I would love to work with Thyra and editor Cynthia Platt again, so one can hope (& cross many fingers & toes).
Hi Maria,
Can you make book 3 with a different team? Hopefully, they will want many more of Penny and Jelly!
I don’t think I would be permitted to do so based on my contract.
Hi Maria,
Then I hope they are convinced to do ten more books of Penny & Jelly (at least!)!
Hi Linda,
I am wondering about book 3 myself …
forgot to say to favorite thing to look at in the sky. I know most people are saying which stars but my favorite thing is the moon. I like to watch how it changes through the month. And sometimes it is clear and crisp and other nights hazy. As a child I remember watching it through the car window as we travelled.
I love the moon too! My husband hasn’t had much time lately, but he hopes to do some more astrophotography this summer. He took the photo of the moon in shadow in this post. We got some high power binoculars so that we could see craters–pretty cool!
Hi Maria,
Is he a professional photographer? His photograph was stunning!
No just a dabbler, and he hasn’t had time to do it in awhile. But resolution is his expertise–he’s an electron microscopist/structural biologist 🙂
Hi Maria,
Maybe he can devote more time when he retires! Or you empty nest!
Hi Linda,
We like to look at the moon too, especially when it’s huge and full like Cosmo’s moon from Moonstruck! Don’t even get us started be because we will sing the song too! When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie …
It’s amore!!
Haven’t seen that one in quite some time! There are some great lines!
My husband and I always seem to quote from this movie!
The best thing to see in the night sky is a shooting star!
Me, too, Renee!
The last few meteor showers have been obscured by bad weather here–total bummer!
Hi Renee,
Agree!!!
The moon … always the moon!
Howl at it!! Thanks for commenting, Gina 🙂
Hi Gina,
The moon is always gorgeous but especially when it’s full and huge!
I am loving the books that you share on this blog. I mostly arrive here via Facebook, and am so thrilled to have found you. We camp throughout the entire year. We use an app to name the constellations that are unknown, or hard to identify. Beach camping is our go to this time of year, and the night sky is wonderful to view over the ocean. We lived in Alabama off and on for years, and I have never seen such a brilliant sky full of shooting stars.
That must be so lovely, Regina! My mother lives in rural NH near a lake, and it’s perfect for star-gazing too. You can see the Milky Way with the naked eye!
Hi Maria,
The stars are so much brighter without light pollution! Rural NH sounds like a perfect spot for star gazing!
Hi Regina,
Beach camping sounds really fun, especially to watch for shooting stars! Thanks so much for coming by my blog! It’s nice to meet you!
I love everything about the night sky – from the moon and stars, to special events like falling stars and the aurora borealis. I wish we had a darker night sky for viewing!
Me, too, Liene!! Light pollution is a challenge!
Hi Liene,
Me too! But we watch the sunset every night from our porch. It’s our new summer evening ritual.
Thanks again, Mia for this wonderful post & to everyone who commented 🙂
Thanks for guest posting for me Maria!