Shennen Bersani's Weblog

Firebird Book Awards

I’m pleased to announce Achoo! Why Pollen Counts has won three awards in the Firebird Book Awards! 

First Place Picture Books - All Ages

First Place Picture Books - Ages 4-8

Third Place - Children’s Fiction

Here is the press release:

SEVENTY TWO AUTHORS SNAG THE FIREBIRD BOOK AWARDS

January 2021 – Speak Up Talk Radio announced the winners of 2020’s fourth quarter FIREBIRD BOOK AWARDS contest. Seventy-two winners were announced in 87 categories.

One of the winning entries was from Massachusetts, author Shennen Bersani, whose book titled Achoo! Why Pollen Counts won in the following categories:

First place: Picture Books - All Ages

First place: Picture Books 4-8

Third place: Children’s Fiction

https://www.speakuptalkradio.com/book-award-winners/

 

Authors and publishers from around the world submitted their work to the Firebird Book Awards. A panel of 12 judges within the writing and publishing space then read every book and independently scored each entry according to a set of standardized criteria that evaluates the quality of the writing as well as production aspects. Only entries with the highest of scores are awarded the coveted Firebird.

Patricia J. Rullo, founder of the Firebird Book Awards, says, “The quality of the entries were stunning and speak to the talent out there that needs a marketing voice. At Speak Up Talk Radio, our mission is to offer radio interviews and podcasting services to help authors expand their reach. In addition to additional prizes, our winners have the opportunity to be interviewed and aired on radio stations, iHeart Radio, Pandora, as well as 50 additional online venues, giving them new ways to speak up and share their work.”

Pat adds, “We’ve included a charitable component to our awards by making all entry fees tax-deductible to the author. In return, we personally make and send handmade fun and whimsical pillowcases to women and children in homeless shelters via Enchanted Makeovers, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All entry fees fund this project. In this way, authors can get notoriety for their work while doing good for others. It’s been such a rewarding venture for everyone.”

The Firebird Book Awards run quarterly contests so authors can receive recognition on a timely basis. Authors from all genres, mainstream, independent, and self-published are welcome. Additional winning authors and titles as well as entry information is available at https://www.speakuptalkradio.com

Go to www.achoowhypollencounts.com to learn more about the book, and find free puzzles, crafts, and coloring pages. 
You can purchase the book in English, Spanish, German, or Portuguese at Arbordale Publishing. Or there’s always Amazon. If you visit Amazon, check out the 29 other books I’ve illustrated. There’s definitely something for everyone in your family. 

Legit KidLit Draw Off WINTER Episode

I love Legit KidLit! This time I participated in their Winter Draw Off episode. I was joined with fellow Arbordale illustrator, Veronica Jones. Also drawing were Jenn Kocsmiersky and John Green. Check out the episode, and don’t forget to like it and give Legit KidLit’s YouTube channel a follow.

Legit KidLit Draw Offs: Four kidlit creators. Two wheels of topics. Three rounds. Five minutes per round. Lots of creativity and so much fun!

As a bonus, here’s my first sketch you can print out and color or decorate however you like. 

You will find this and many more fun downloadables over at www.Achoowhypollencounts.com

Don’t forget how snowflakes form.... from Pollen! 

Welcome to Legit KidLit Draw Off number 2

 

Legit KidLit Draw Off 2! 
Here’s their description:

Welcome to Draw Off Volume 2 on Legit KidLit! We have four authors and illustrators joining us today. We have award-winning author and illustrator Shennen Bersani! Shennen’s books show a world of nature and science through emotions that create strong connections with her readers. We also have author Brooks Benjamin, author of My Seventh Grade Life in Tights, a middle school novel that is full of humor and heart. Jarrett Lerner is a guest creator today and his books are always full of humor and positive messages for readers, including his newest series Geeger the Robot! Last but not least, we have Larissa Marantz. Larissa has illustrated a dozen books, including the series Clyde the Hippo, and has worked as an animation artist for numerous shows, including Rugrats!

 

Beehive Maze

Help Honeybee make it through her hive! 

A little drawing

Last week I participated in Legit Kid Lit’s 1st Draw Off. Here’s their description of the event:
Legit Kid Lit Episode 11 is a special drawing episode featuring four authors and illustrators! This was a blast of an episode full of humor and fun sketches. Watch now to see Jeanette Bradley, Brooks Benjamin, Abi Cushman, and Shennen Bersani doodle and have fun. Why don’t you grab a pencil and some paper and join in the fun too? 

We plan on doing another Draw Off in November. 

I also did a webinar with the Darby Creek Valley Association and created this drawing page to go along with it.

 

Here’s the NOAA link to How a snowflake is formed: https://www.noaa.gov/stories/how-do-snowflakes-form-science-behind-snow

Don’t for get to check out all of my Achoo! puzzles, crafts, and coloring pages on www.achoowhypollencounts.com 

 

2020 disaster relief children’s book donations

Between hurricanes, wildfires, and Covid, 2020 has definitely taken a toll on our nation’s education. If an elementary school lost their library from a hurricane, tropical storm, or wildfire please have the staff leave a comment. I have two complete sets of my Arbordale books and a limited number of my Jerry Pallotta books to donate. Two schools will receive 20 books. I can donate smaller amounts to additional schools until my supply runs out. Please share and spread the word. 

Please leave a comment I will respond to. I no longer read my gmail. 

ps. I’ve also illustrated seven other books with smaller publishers. A few of these might be sent as well, while my supplies last. 

Fine print: Staff only should contact me, preferably the school’s principal or administration. I want to be certain the books get delivered to the proper people/location. 

My Jerry Pallotta books are published by Scholastic and Charlesbridge. Most of my books can be found on Amazon. 

Release day for River Otter’s Adventure

Hurray! Today is the official book release for River Otter’s Adventure! About the book: When a young river otter sneaks into a zoo, she wonders if she should be more like some of the other animals she meets. She wants a trunk like the elephant or be loud like the gorilla… By imitating and comparing herself to these other animals she learns to appreciate herself. Educational components are woven throughout this fun, read-aloud story and sidebar information complements and extends the learning, making it a perfect book for a wide variety of ages. 

Written by Linda Stanek, illustrated by me. 

You can purchase it from Arbordale here in English or Spanish

on Amazon, or ask your Indie publisher! 

What reviewers are saying about River Otter’s Adventure:

Kirkus Reviews - May 2020

The repetitive format will soothe younger children and build confidence in older ones. The introduction of exotic animals among more-familiar ones adds variety. Some readers might see the river otter’s journey as a support of identity play and self-acceptance; others can simply indulge in all the ways to act like animals. Cute and playful, like its featured critter. 

Edelweiss, Goodreads, and Other Community Reviews

What a fun book about adventure and accepting to be yourself! I loved River Otter's Journey! It was so much fun! The illustrations are beyond belief beautiful and capture the story perfectly! It taught a good lesson that it's okay to be ourselves! I also really loved that there was facts about river otters at the end!
Steph Dykhouse, Reviewer

Thank you, Steph Dykhouse for your review!! 

New award, new stickers! 🥰

Check out the book’s website for free coloring pages and craft projects. www.achoowhypollencounts.com

For free Teaching Activities and quizzes head over to Arbordale. 

Story Monsters Approved!

Congratulations to Achoo! Why Pollen Counts for becoming a 2019 Story Monster Approved Winner! The stickers arrived today. Looking good!

Visit www.achoowhypollencounts.com to find free resources and learn more about the book. You can purchase a copy at Arbordale or on Amazon.

Students Sending Love

Earlier this month I was contacted by teacher Kate Narita, author of 100 Bugs! A Counting Book. Kate asked if I would help with a project she was working on. A quickly said, yes! I want to share that project, Students Sending Love, with you. Perhaps you can share this info with a teacher. From the website:

Calling All Educators!

Are you and your students looking for a meaningful way to help others at this unprecedented time? Help us support hardworking nursing home staff and their isolated residents by sending uplifting, handmade messages to some of our most vulnerable populations.

 

The enormous ramifications of Covid-19 are rippling through our state, and nursing homes in Massachusetts have had to prohibit all visitors since early March. Residents have lost their community connections and activities, and dedicated staff are working under tremendous pressure to keep their residents safe. Together, we can help make their days a little brighter.

 

Join us in providing your students with a rewarding project that will bring joy to givers and recipients alike. It’s a win-win! Let’s send letters, artwork and even poems to the workers and residents in nursing homes. This is a terrific way for students to create work for an authentic audience.

 

Please note that Students Sending Love is run by volunteers and is not affiliated with any organization. We will run the program for as long as schools are closed or until we have met our goal of sending love to every one of Massachusetts' 388 nursing homes—whichever event occurs first!

 

Visit www.studentssendinglove.com for more info. 

You’ll find all four of my templates on the website.

 

 

Beehive egg carton mobile craft

Have you dyed Easter eggs? Just made some omelets? Reuse and repurpose your empty egg cartons with this fun and easy craft. 

Step 1. Start by printing this page out for your bees and an interior glimpse of an active beehive. Print out as many sheets as you’d like, it’s up to you how many bees you want your hive to have.

This is an example of a finished beehive mobile! Yours can be any colors you want, decorated any way you like!

Step 2. Collect your supplies. Empty egg cartons, scissors, glue, coffee stirrers, needle and thread, fishing line, and washers. Not shown I also used colored pencils and fingernail polish.

You don’t have to decorate your egg cartons, but I used paints to make mine look more like a beehive. Use any kind of paint - even spray paint if you have some - to decorate your beehive. Also feel free to experiment, you can also decoupage photos or put papier-mâché over the outside. This craft project is fun, let your imagination run freely. 😊

Start with your printed sheet.

Step 3. Color in your bees and the interior of your beehive.

I like adding glitter fingernail polish for a shimmering ‘pollen’ effect.

Color your pages in any way that makes you happy!

Step 4. Here I am cutting out hexagon hive holes to show a sneak peek into the hive’s interior. Please be careful. Adult supervision with sharp scissors advised. You can cut as few or as many holes as you’d like. Or skip this step altogether.

Your interior art will show through the holes you cut out as shown.

Step 5. Cut out your bees and hive pieces.



Step 6. Glue your bee medallions back to back so you will have a bee showing in all directions when your finished hive is hung.

Step 7. Paint your egg carton.

More painting.

Step 8. Decorate your beehive any way you like! Here I used a Sharpie to draw in honeycomb shapes. Note the hole punched in the bottom left cell. I will be pushing a coffee stirrer through that.

Step 9. This is optional. I added coffee stirrers to give more space to hang my flying bees.

Step 10. Here I punched a small hole through the top of the egg carton to thread the fishing line through. The fishing line will be used to hang the mobile.

 

 

Step 11. View from the inside, I’ve tied a washer to the end of the line to keep the line firmly in place while hanging.

 

 

Step 12. Now do the same thing to the other end of the fishing line.

 

Step 13. I’ve glued some of my bees to the hive.

Step 14. Now you’ll want to add your bees. Here I am sewing thread through the bottom of the egg carton.

 

Step 15. And then I sewed the thread to the bee medallion.

Step 16. Don’t forget to add your interior hive art inside the carton, to show through your holes. Alternatively, you could simply cut out the hive pieces and glue them to the outside.

The finished beehive mobile! 🐝💕

 

Visit www.achoowhypollencounts.com and click on the blog page to find more easy craft projects. Feel free to add those previous craft project insects to your mobile! Also check out free coloring pages while you are on the website. 🐝🤗💕

Here’s a quick link to my Pollen snow globe craft. Feel free to combine both crafts! 

 

And while you are at it, check out all the free Teaching Activities on Arbordale’s website. Perfect for homeschooling. You will find the links on the top right of this page.

 

Much love, Shennen

Adding books to Little Free Libraries during Coronavirus closures.

Today I’m Challenging my fellow authors and illustrators to add their books to Little Free Libraries while their local libraries and schools are closed for the Coronavirus19 outbreak. Let’s get great books into the hands of kids! Here I’ve added 15 brand new books; 12 of the books I’ve illustrated, and 3 copies of the book I wrote and illustrated, Achoo! Why Pollen Counts, to the Little Free Library in Natick Center, in Massachusetts. The library across the street in Natick is closed indefinitely. Children will find some award-winning books, and three very popular books written by Jerry Pallotta! Watch the video to see all the books I added today. 

 

Last year, this year

My two 2019 releases were, A Family Walk, written by Jennifer Butenas; and Not a Butterfly Alphabet Book, written by Jerry Pallotta.

Here’s a little peek inside of each:

The styles and techniques are different, but both pure me! I would find my job boring if I did the exact same style in each book. I’ve been blessed to have done such an amazing variety.

Here is my upcoming 2020 release, River Otter’s Adventure, written by Linda Stanek.

and a small peek inside of it:

Very different from the Uber realistic art I’m now doing for my 31st book, which happens to be my 9th Jerry Pallotta book.... but I’m keeping that under wraps for now.

I love my job!

Traveling Elephants

Pure joy! Tears ran down my face today when Ryan sent this photo from Luxor, Egypt. Tears of joy, seeing the girls’ smile at receiving a copy of Once Upon an Elephant, translated into Arabic. Thank you, Ryan, for helping me donate the books. You can read about this award-winning book from Arbordale here.

Once Upon an Elephant, in Cairo

Following on the joy I received donating my Portuguese books to a school in Brazil, I’m now using my royalties to buy Arabic books for Egyptians. With a little assist from my son, Ryan, some have already made their way to Cairo. Here he is reading to the Sphinx. Ryan’s comment, “I read your book to the Sphinx. Learning experience for the Sphinx as he only knows hieroglyphics.”

I’m still Challenging authors and illustrators out there to buy books with your royalties and donate them to children who can use them! #PayItForward 

Thank you, Ryan, for your help.

Learn more about award-winning, Once Upon an Elephant, at Arbordale. Written by Linda Stanek, illustrated by me. Winner of the Children’s Choice Book of the Year, 2017. Other Linda’s books I’ve illustrated are: Cheetah Dreams, Night Creepers, and River Otter’s Adventure. All can be found at Arbordale, along with eleven of my other illustrated books, including the one I authored, Achoo! Why Pollen Counts. 

My book Challenge to other authors and illustrators.

Meet my friend, Pablah.

Her and her husband own a restaurant my husband and I visit often. Pablah and Mac both come from Brazil. One day they hung this poster:

Both hot chocolate specials are delicious, but I especially like the s’mores one. 😋

So each visit I reflect on the poster and it occurred to me, I have Arbordale picture books that have been translated into Portuguese. I’m going to use my royalty money to buy Portuguese books for the children at this school. (Currently the children are having their classes outside while the building is being built.)

Soooo I took my royalties and bought 40 Portuguese picture books. Yesterday I donated them. Here’s a short video:

The Challenge Video

I’m working on a longer video, and will post a link when it’s done. Until then, here’s my Challenge video. Fellow children’s authors and illustrators, join me in getting books to children and schools who have none. I know all of you are not in a position to do this, but for those who can, I challenge you to take your royalties and use them to get vital books to these schools. Further details follow in the video.

To donate, email Pablah @ pfchwres @ Gmail dot com. And thank you from both of us! ❤️