As a reviewer, I read countless books each month. Some are very good, a few are excellent, and many are OK, but once in a blue moon, a book moves me. Someone Named Eva is a book that really moved me.

Someone Named Eva is historical fiction for middle readers ages 9-12. It is written from the perspective of a Czech girl who is forced by the Nazis to leave her home in Lidice. She is selected as part of a group of Aryan children (the Nazi’s opinion of the “pure” race) due to her facial features, blond hair and blue eyes. She is swiftly plucked from her family, forced to attend a special program living in a dormitory in Lebensborn, Poland and treated with special privileges. It was here that she was forced to change her name, learn to speak German and become a “proper” Aryan girl under the auspices of Adolf Hitler. While spending 2 years in the program, not knowing what happened to her siblings, parents and grandmother, “Eva” struggles to keep her original identity alive in her mind, because she is not allowed to speak about her family and her former life.  Outside of the school, she has more extraordinary experiences that test her resilience to survive.

What I love about Someone Named Eva is that the story is engaging from the very first sentence, and the words flow naturally off the page like maple syrup off a tall stack of hotcakes. The book educates young readers about an aspect of World War II that many children may not already know – that Jewish people were not the only victims of the Holocaust. The author does a beautiful job of portraying the innocence of a young child and how she ever so gradually comes to understand the many atrocities of Hitler, especially in her hometown of Lidice. Ironically Eva was treated with special privileges in many ways, yet was a prisoner nonetheless. All the sensitive subject matter of the war is appropriately handled in the book with grace and taste, ideal for the target age group of the readers.

Ms. Wolf traveled to the Czech Republic, where her Great Grandmother was born, and to Poland to do research about WWII to write the book. It was there that she met several people former Lidice children themselves, who shared their compelling and inspiring stories of survival with her. Someone Named Eva has been widely read by educators and young readers of the English language and has also been translated into French and Korean. I highly recommend the book – not just to middle readers and young adults – but to all who enjoy a beautifully written story set in a place and time we must not let ourselves forget.

Someone Named Eva is sure to remain an important piece of literature for generations to come, and I’m so grateful I had the chance to enjoy it.

Read my latest children’s book review on LA Parent Magazine. This book is REALLY cute!

I was invited to be one of 14 visiting authors at April is for Authorss in Palm Beach County this past weekend. This is the first year the county has held this event. The venue was the beautiful new Palm Beach Gardens Community High School. It has a tremendously large and modern Media Center. There were several author panel discussions, and each author presented to visiting groups twice. Plus author Dr. Joan Kaywell, Professor of English at the University of South Florida, was the Key Note Speaker. I sat on a panel for picture Book Authors with  two talented authors, Beth Erland and Helen Ketterman. We discussed the writing and illustration process and educated the audience about the realities of publishing.

I met the friendliest most interesting fellow authors during the event, and it was fascinating to hear about their writing and publishing experiences. Kudos to event co-chairs Sue Slone and Helen Zientek for planning and organizing such a wonderful event. Thank you to all the volunteers and school staff, who were so helpful as well.

If you missed the event this year, be sure to attend next year!

Palm Beach Gardens High School Media Center

My book signing station

“Dear Author”  panel in the media center

Always nice for an author to see her name on a sign!

Introducing Lilly Badilly during my author presentation

Great to see Alina Orenstein, one of my favorite Palm Beach County Media Specialists!

Fellow author and most talented batik artist Beth Erland.

Event Co-Chairs Sue Slone (left) and Helen Zientek

We’re just 5 days away from Palm Beach County’s

April is for Authors Event!

Come out to Palm Beach Gardens High School on Saturday April 30 from 9am until 3 pm to meet authors, listen to author panels and just enjoy books!

I will be presenting twice in Lilly costume during the day at 10:30 and 1:30 and will sit on an author panel to discuss informational picture books at 12:30.

“Created by a group of dedicated Palm Beach County educators as a way for students to interact with their favorite authors, April is for Authors, will provide not only a valuable experience for the children, but also an opportunity for authors and illustrators to connect with their audience as well as key decision makers in the local literacy programs.”

http://school.discoveryeducation.com

Every time I receive a stack of children’s books in the mail to review, I really get excited. Unlike most adult books, kids’ books are colorful and playful and really stir creativity in the reader. I thoroughly enjoy the process of taking the time to read each book, examine the illustrations and determine the message the writer intended to get across to the reader. Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Books are way more sophisticated than they used to be. Many writers have figured out that children do not want to be patronized and can understand more than experts once thought. Science book for kids, in particular, are incredibly advanced these days, and enlighten parents as much as they teach children.
2. A picture book with a good story but without great, vibrant illustrations is unappealing.
3. A picture book with spectacular illustrations and an uninteresting or poorly written story is unappealing.
4. Poor quality printing or binding makes a book a loser no matter how great the story or how great the illustrations may be.
5. Muted colors in illustrations do not appeal to children (or to me).
6. If I have to read a sentence over more than twice, it is not a well-written sentence.
7. A good story is one that flows from page to page.
8. A book that is not interesting to a parent will not be interesting to a child.
9. Humor in writing or in illustrating is a very good thing.
10. What a reviewer is looking for in a children’s book is a unique angle, a remarkable lesson, an informative message or just pure fun and adorableness.
11. A story topic does not have to be new to be good; it just has to be presented in a unique way.
12. Some story topics are way overdone. (i.e. being different, wanting to belong, stereotyped children, fluffy animals, etc)
13. Some self-published books are very professionally done through and through.
14. Some self-published books are riddled with errors, poor grammar, have shoddy printing or weak binding or all of the above.
15. Just because a book is traditionally published does not mean it is excellent. In fact, some traditionally published books are very mediocre.
16. A book that may excite one reader, may not excite another, but that doesn’t mean it is a bad book. Everyone has different tastes. In fact no matter how popular a book may be or how many have been sold, there is always going to be a critic who does not like it.
17. Just because a book does not get a review does not mean it is a bad book. Thousands of books are published every day, and no review source can physically get to every book sent its way.

Click here to read some of my reviews and other great kids’ book reviews on the Good Reads with Ronna blog on LA Parent Magazine Online.

We have three large open bookcases in our family room that were stuffed over capacity with books and knick knacks. I dust them regularly, but it really isn’t enough to get all the crud that settles on top of the pages and under the books. So I decided to take everything off the shelves, clean them thoroughly, donate the books we never plan to use again and reorganize the shelves. This was massive labor. And I just want to say, thank God for dust masks!

Nice BIG pile of books to be donated!

What I didn’t count on, was the wonderful walk down memory lane this process would generate. I took books from my Mom’s house after she passed away three years ago, and most of them once belonged to my Father. (He died in 1975 when I was 14.) It was enlightening to look through the books he cherished, most from the 1960′s. While thumbing through his titles on architecture, psychology and business, I realzed just how inteliggent my Dad was and just how much the world has changed since I was a child. I was excited to find his signature in one of the books as well as a few notes from people who gave him various volumes.I am so grateful that he was a lover of art, because I now have an impressive collection of full color coffee table art books – Renoir, Picasso, Monet, Da Vinci and more. I am curious about the value of the 2 Beatles Illustrated Lyrics books from 1971 that belonged to my Dad as well. He was a huge Beatles fan, and looking at these books reminded me of how he used to play Beatles records in the living room while I twirled around in circles. I was about 4 years old!

One of the books I forgot I had was a collection of hippie-like poems and photos from one of my Dad’s former business partners. I wouldn’t have even remembered he gave it to me if it weren’t for the note he wrote to me inside the front cover. I think I’ll look him up on line and see if he’s still alive.

One of the best finds was a stash of pressed leaves and flowers I discovered in an old encyclopedia at the bottom of a tall stack of piled volumes. These clippings were collected on a walk I took with my daughter down the alleys in our neighborhood one spring when she was about 3 years old. She is now a freshman in college, so I guess no one ever moved or opened those books in the past 15 years!Among the other treasures I discovered inside some of the books were an old grocery list I made for a Thanksgiving dinner about 12 years ago, a beautiful bookmark with flowers and quotes on it, I forgot I ever had, and an old photo of my Grandfather, Joe.

I decided it was time to pass on a bunch of the books we no longer need – trivia books, novels we’ve read, yesterday’s business books and a few books we never finished reading due their boring nature. (Just cuz a book is published, doesn’t mean it is well written!)

But I was unable to part with my college English books – short stories, poems and plays – all with notes written in the margins. My husband and I both kept our massive-sized Complete Works of Shakespeare and have no intention of ever getting rid of them.  However, I had to part with a partially shattered art project my daughter made in 3rd grade. It was a plaque with her name on it, made from unfired pottery.

Now I only hope that whoever inherits my old volumes will enjoy them as much as we have.

“Any Book is a New Book if You Haven’t Read it Yet.”

Newly organized book cases. Wonder how long they’ll stay this nice and clean?

This article proves that there are self-published authors out there who have taken risks and had great success!

Read about 7 Self-Published books that made it into mainstream here.

http://www.dailyclipart.net

Read my reviews of these adorable animalbooks on LA Parent Magazine.

If you love puppets, you’ll love this book too! 10-Minute Puppets by Noel MacNeal. Read my review on LA Parent Mag’s website.

Smart Poodle Publishing strives to promote children’s literacy programs and young talent. So you may remember that in October, 2009, we interviewed inspiring young writer/entrepreneur, Dallas Woodburn. Her organization, Write On! For Literacy has helped more than 3,000 kids with self-expression through literacy and publishing programs They have visited 65 classrooms and have distributed close to 12,000 donated books to underprivileged children through their Holiday Book Drive.

Write On! Books Publishing Company, founded in 2010 as an offshoot to Write On! For Literacy, just announced the release of its debut anthology. Dancing with the Pen features stories, poems, and essays by more than 60 young writers in middle school and high school from across the United States and even abroad: Singapore, Canada, and New Zealand. How exciting that must be for young students to see their works published!

Dallas explained, “Dancing with the Pen is a book for young writers, young readers, and the young at heart. Even if you are not normally a big reader, this book is still for you. Maybe you’ll recognize yourself in these pages. Maybe you’ll even be inspired to pick up a pen, step out on the dance floor, and go for a whirl yourself!”

Dallas Woodburn, anthology editor, is the author of two award-winning collections of short stories. She has written more than 80 articles and essays for national publications including Family Circle, Writer’s Digest, The Los Angeles Times, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Creative Writing and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Fiction Writing at Purdue University.

Dallas Woodburn during the Write On! Holiday Book Drive

Copies of Dancing With The Pen are available at www.writeonbooks.org for $24.95, which includes shipping and handling. Discounted bulk orders are also available. For every copy purchased, a new book will be donated to Write On’s Holiday Book Drive to benefit disadvantaged youth.

Best of luck with the book, Dallas. I can’t wait to read it myself. Your talents and motivation are sure to inspire countless kids and adults alike. The world needs more people like you!