NJASL Presentation-Let SEL not be just another buzzword

Click here for presentation slides & links to resources

Author/Illustrator List for "FREE FIFTEEN" minutes: Virtual School Visits

Educators! List of Authors/Illustrators Found HERE.

If you are an Author or Illustrator that wants to participate, please feel free to add your information to the list!.
If you are an Educator participating with these authors, please do purchase AT LEAST one copy of the author’s book(s). Note: Sometimes publishers will offer discounts for classroom sets. Might as well ask!

Summer Reading Calendars!

Have fun in the sun with these summertime picture books! Download Here.

My Messy Muse #MayMashup 2020 PB Release Parties!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

FLIP GRID FOR AUTHORS

PART ONE

PART TWO

First Annual #NJBookHunt National Library Week Kickoff

DELAYED DUE TO COVID LOOK OUT FOR NEW DATES.

Authors & Illustrators Join us in the fun!
How it works:
1. Place a signed copy of your book(s) in a Little Free Library in NJ
2. Post a picture of your doing this on Social Media using #NJBookHunt
3. Let the kiddos hunt for your book!

My Messy Muse TV- COFFEE + CRAFT- Holiday Books Roundtable!

My Messy Muse T.V.- Holiday Books Roundtable

Inaugural #GirlPowerHour! October 11, 2019- International Day of the Girl

Sign-ups are now closed! Thank you to everyone that participated. Look out for us next year!

It’s here! Our first #GirlPowerHour on October 11, 2019 - International Day of the Girl.
Amazing female picture book & middle grade authors will offer one FREE hour of Skype visits to schools to celebrate girls everywhere!

We invite ALL schools to participate!

How it works! (t’s easy!)

1. Pick a Skype slot. (button below to Sign-up!)
2. Touch base with your author via email ahead of time to share information.
3. Enjoy a Skype visit on October 11th!

Format of Visits:
All time slots are for 20 minutes, only.
This includes logging in and saying goodbye
(No going over…Remember, your author needs to hop on with another school quickly!)
For MG Authors- Q&A Only!
(Please be prepared with questions for these fabulous ladies & be familiar with her title(s) ahead of time).
For PB Authors- Q&A. Optional, she can read her PB during the visit.
(Please be prepared with questions for these fabulous ladies (and be familiar with her title(s) ahead of time).

(fyi -all slots are listed in East Coast time but there are times convenient for all time zones!)

Yay! After you are all signed up, you can reference this contact list for information on your author.
Any problems you can always contact me at michele.c.mcavoy@gmail.com.
I am happy to help!

Enjoy your visit! Post pictures of the day and support these ladies!

My Messy Muse- Illustration Sketch-Off- Purchase Illustrations Here!

100% of proceeds goes to Tuesday’s Children!
A not-for-profit for children effected by terrorism & extreme violence formed in the wake of 9/11

How to purchase (It’s EASY!):
1. Donate to Tuesday’s Children (link here)
$10 for each color illustration below- Anne’s “Monster-book” and Lynnor’s “Jumping In Puddles”
$5 each for all others!
2. Forward the email confirmation of your donation to me at michele.c.mcavoy@gmail.com.
3. In your email choose your illustration(s) (from below).
4. I will email you a .jpeg(s) of your chosen illustration(s).
5. Voila!
You supported kidlit & a wonderful cause!
Congratulations!

Illustrations by Anne Appert

Illustrations by Lynnor Bontigao

Watch the live Sketch-off video in the
My Messy Muse group on Facebook.
Click Here!
If you love kidlit we would love to have you!

My Messy Muse Episode 5- Agent Stephanie Hansen (#AskAnAgent Series)

Senior Agent and Owner of Metamorphosis Literary Agency Answers all of your agent/publishing questions!

My Messy Muse Episode 4 - Author Rob Vlock

Rob Vlock is a Middle Grade author with two middle grade novels published with Simon & Schuster, Sven Carter & The Trashmouth Effect and Sven Carter & The Android Army.

What inspired you to write Sven Carter? 

I’ve always had kind of a fascination with the outsider in literature (which probably explains why I was so into Kafka in college). I also love characters like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson who discover something profoundly important about themselves and have to react to this newfound information. So I decided to combine these themes in Sven Carter. Instead of uncovering something wonderful about himself (for example, that he’s really a great wizard or a demigod), Sven discovers the worst imaginable thing—he’s an android programmed to destroy everyone he knows and loves. Exploring what a good kid would do when his very existence could usher in the extinction of humanity was really exciting for me. It’s the ultimate conundrum. And seeing how Sven responded to it while I was writing his story was so gratifying! I hope everyone who read my books feels the same!

My Messy Muse Episode 3- Author Ariel Bernstein

Tell us about yourself and your published titles.

I live in New Jersey with my husband, two kids, and a very adorable cat. I’m a children’s book author and my first published book is a picture book called I HAVE A BALLOON, illustrated by Scott Magoon (Paula Wiseman Book/Simon and Schuster). It’s about Owl who has a shiny red balloon, and Monkey who wants that balloon very much. My chapter book series, WARREN & DRAGON, is illustrated by Mike Malbrough (Viking/Penguin Random House). It stars seven-year-old Warren, and Dragon, his pet dragon. Only Warren knows that Dragon is real, everyone else sees him as a stuffed plushie. But that’s where the fun starts! The first two books in the series, 100 FRIENDS and WEEKEND WITH CHEWY, published August 28, 2018.

Tell us why you started to write for kid lit.

I read a ton of picture books to my two kids (I still do!), and started to think of stories. I didn’t know how to write picture books, so I joined SCBWI, and followed sites like Kidlit411.com. I learned a lot about the process of writing and submitting picture books before I gradually moved into writing chapter books as well.

Tell us about your Messy Muse- what inspired you/propelled you to write.

This is a good question, and I wish I had a profound answer, but unfortunately I rarely think about a muse before I start to write. It’s usually after I’ve written a story that I see the connection to things in my own life. For example, after I wrote I HAVE A BALLOON about an owl and monkey who covet the same balloon and sock, I realized that my kids often have a similar reaction when one is holding an item and the other suddenly wants it very badly. I also noticed that after I wrote the first WARREN & DRAGON BOOK that the sister character, Ellie, is very similar to my own sister, Debi. They are both very sociable and make friends easily. One time that I did have a muse before writing was when I saw an old picture of one of my family’s many camping trips growing up. My dad must have taken the photo as it shows my mom, sister, and me in a small boat. My mom and sister are smiling, while I am miserable, glaring at my dad. I thought it was a pretty funny juxtaposition and created a picture book called WE LOVE FISHING based just on the photo. It will be published in Fall 2020 by Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. It’s about four friends who go fishing. Three of them love to fish, while Squirrel does not. I’m obviously the Squirrel character.

Coming Soon!

In addition to WE LOVE FISHING, there will be a sequel to I HAVE A BALLOON called WHERE IS MY BALLOON? It is also illustrated by the wonderful Scott Magoon and will be available January 22, 2019 (Paula Wiseman Books/ Simon and Schuster). Two more books in the WAREEN & DRAGON chapter book series will be out in 2019. DELUXE VOLCANO pubs April 2, 2019, and SCARY SLEEPOVER is available June 25, 2019. WHERE IS MY BALLOON?, DELUXE VOLCANO, and SCARY SLEEPOVER can all be pre-ordered at a local bookstore, IndieBound, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon now!

My Messy Muse Interview Episode 2- with Amber Marchese- Breast Cancer Survivor, Reality TV Star & Mom (audio only)