We Are Free You and Me by Colin Kaepernick and Nessa Diab

We Are Free You and Me by Colin Kaepernick and Nessa Diab

Not only are Kaepernick’s children’s picture books thought provoking and fun to read aloud, they are an example of social entrepreneurship of the purest kind, as 100% of their proceeds go to Know Your Rights Camp, which provides over $1.75 million in partnerships and collaborative grants to Black and brown communities as well as all-inclusive camps that are conducted nationwide to educate and empower Black and brown youth to be the change they want to see.

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The Importance of Repetition
Children, Education, Published, Children's Books, Essays Melissa Rooney Children, Education, Published, Children's Books, Essays Melissa Rooney

The Importance of Repetition

If you want your kids to digest the information in a book, you have to read it more than once. And it’s always best if you read it *together*. Many teaching styles are based on engaging repetition, including those of well-known Shinichi Suzuki. My hope is that you will approach my children’s books in this way as well.

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The Museum of Very Bad Smells: A Dare to Scratch 'n' Sniff Mystery by Monica Arnaldo
Children's Books, Published, Community Melissa Rooney Children's Books, Published, Community Melissa Rooney

The Museum of Very Bad Smells: A Dare to Scratch 'n' Sniff Mystery by Monica Arnaldo

The Museum of Very Bad Smells will, no doubt, be interesting to children for the first read or two. It will also, no doubt, be disappointing to children who open the book to find that the smells “don’t work.” For this reason, you may want to purchase the book in a store where you can test it out, rather than online.

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Mouse on the River by Alice Melvin: A Review
Children's Books, Published, Travel, Community Melissa Rooney Children's Books, Published, Travel, Community Melissa Rooney

Mouse on the River by Alice Melvin: A Review

Mouse on the River is—in a word—delightful. This is not just a book that you’ll read once or twice. It is a book that children will want to read over and over again, with pictures they will scrutinize repeatedly on their own, and that will, no doubt, remain on many of their bookshelves until they are adults and have children of their own.

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Mix A Pancake by Christina Rossetti and Monique Felix: A Review
Children's Books, Children, Published, Poetry Melissa Rooney Children's Books, Children, Published, Poetry Melissa Rooney

Mix A Pancake by Christina Rossetti and Monique Felix: A Review

Mix a Pancake, the latest book illustrated by Monique Felix for Creative Editions, an imprint of The Creative Company, is a kitten-filled visual feast akin to the Little Golden Books that have lined children’s bookshelves since 1942. This comes as no surprise, given that The Creative Company, itself, was founded just 10 years earlier, in 1932. 

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See This Little Dot by Jane Yolen and Laetitia Devernay: A Review
Children's Books, Children, Published Melissa Rooney Children's Books, Children, Published Melissa Rooney

See This Little Dot by Jane Yolen and Laetitia Devernay: A Review

True to its mission of pairing clear and compelling written content with “the most brilliant illustrations,” Creative Editions—an imprint of The Creative Company, founded in 1932—can be proud of their next thought-provoking and eye-catching creation in Jane Yolen’s and Laetitia Devernay’s newest picture book, See This Little Dot.

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Home Is Where the Heart Is (Emma Dodd's Love You Books)

Home Is Where the Heart Is (Emma Dodd's Love You Books)

“Home Is Where the Heart Is features a mother cat and her young kitten, who live in a house that clearly has human owners. The story uses simple and repetitive words to describe what “home” means to all of us, emphasizing the security that notion provides even when we are far away from our physical house and/or one another.”

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This Book Is Banned: A Hilarious Picture Book about Censorship and Free Speech

This Book Is Banned: A Hilarious Picture Book about Censorship and Free Speech

“Let’s face it. Without their caretakers' insistent input, most children do not know that books are being made unavailable to them at their schools. It’s debatable whether adult caretakers who oppose book bans even want them to. But the adult-child combination who reads This Book Is Banned together will have fun discussing the issue of “banning” in the hypothetical, thanks to the busy and engaging illustrations and text that await them.”

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See the Ghost: Three Stories About Things You Cannot See
Education, Children's Books, Published, Children Melissa Rooney Education, Children's Books, Published, Children Melissa Rooney

See the Ghost: Three Stories About Things You Cannot See

“Though it is meant to be read by early elementary students, middle-grade students will enjoy reading this book to their younger siblings and classmates, thanks to the clever trickery within its pages. For the same reason, See the Ghost makes a good, non-baby-ish picture book to share with reading-challenged students in middle-school and beyond.”

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Mom’s Hugs and Kisses: A Review
Children's Books, Published, Children Melissa Rooney Children's Books, Published, Children Melissa Rooney

Mom’s Hugs and Kisses: A Review

Like Nancy Tafuri’s All Kinds of Kisses and Steven Henry’s picture book by the same name, Loupy’s story describes the different kisses given by numerous animals, in this case through a puppy protagonist who requests and receives others' kisses throughout the day. In the end, of course, “the best kiss of all is the kiss he gets from his mother.”

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Q&A with Amberjack Author Melissa Rooney, Creator of Eddie the Electron
Education, Children's Books, Published, Children Melissa Rooney Education, Children's Books, Published, Children Melissa Rooney

Q&A with Amberjack Author Melissa Rooney, Creator of Eddie the Electron

My Ph.D. advisor urged me to come back to work for him, eventually making me an offer he thought I couldn’t refuse. When I finally admitted that I hated lab work and, by no means, wanted to return to academics, he asked me, insistently, how I was going to put my degree to use. I told him I’ve always wanted to write a children’s book, he gave me a deadline, and Eddie the Electron was born.

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What to do with a Stick, by Jane Yolen: A Book Review
Inspiration, Children's Books, Published, Children Melissa Rooney Inspiration, Children's Books, Published, Children Melissa Rooney

What to do with a Stick, by Jane Yolen: A Book Review

My 1st review for New York Journal of Books is Jane Yolen's What To Do With A Stick. JY’s Owl Moon is one of my absolute favorites - I take it to elementary writing residencies. The story being written by one of my current Winston Salem students centers on a stick, which I is surely no coincidence…

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