I’m thrilled that Sumo Joe shares a book birthday with Rajani LaRocca’s Midsummer Mayhem!
She held a wonderful book launch party at The Concord Bookshop and it was fun to see other authors including Carol Gordon Ekster, Alison Goldberg, Susan Tan, Hayley Barrett, and Lisa Rogers. (Lisa is also part of my New in ’19 picture book group and I would see her again at Erin Dionne’s Secrets of a Fangirl book launch at Wellesley Books). My fellow Cybils Picture Book judge (and picture book author) Kirsti Call was also there. Kirsti also runs Reading for Research, ReFoReMo.
I always love hearing about the inspiration behind a book and loved learning about Rajani’s love of Shakespeare since a child. What’s really amazing about Rajani is that not only is she an author, but she’s also a primary care doctor and mother of two children! Writing was on the backburner while she attended medical school and did her residency but med school also kept that spark alive as you will learn in this video clip…
Midsummer’s Mayhem is a fun mashup of Shakespeare meets Masterchef Junior! Rajani reads from her book here:
I can’t wait to read Midsummer’s Mayhem! How about you? Have you been to author book events recently? Who did you see?
My Book Lists: South Asian Books for Kids
Seven Amazing Folk Tales from India
Books for Kids and Teens to Learn About Indian Culture
Children’s Books on Holi, the Hindu Spring Festival
Top 10: Best Southeast Asian American Children’s Books (ages 2-14)
It was sad to find that most of the books on this list were out of print. There are some great ones lately but with such a large population of Southeast Asian Americans, I’m hoping more books in this genre will be published.
4th Grade Skype Author Visit: Sheela Chari of Vanished
Sheela Chari’s debut mystery chapter book is award winning!
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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
- 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 longlist
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me