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I write picture books and middle grade fiction. Each of my characters holds a place in my heart.
And, watch this space for updates on my Writing Alphabet Book to be published by Sleeping Bear Press in 2009!
THERE GOES LOWELL'S PARTY!
Written by Esther Hershenhorn
Illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers
Holiday House ISBN #0-8234-1313-6
In all of Crumm County, past Piggott's Peak and Slocum's Bluff,
no one loved his Birthday better than Lowell. No siree.
Lowell visions a May Birthday Party with wall-to-wall kin: Crumm Creek loggers from his Mama's side, Piggott's Peak barrel-makers from his Papa's side, plus a passel of Granny Slocum's grape-growin', fiddlin' relatives from up on Slocum's Bluff.
No matter that an Ozark rain storm is a-loomin' in the distance. Lowell knows jest as sure as snakes crawl that even iffen red skies an' low geese an' leafbacks mean rain, and even iffen that rain begets floods, slides an' twisters, no hard-workin', family-lovin', smart an' clever folk would a-miss a kin's Birthday jest because of some pourdown. No siree. They'd do what they had to. Lowell's kin would a-chorus “Happy Birthday!”
* * *
“This rhythmic tale mixes Ozark weather lore and steadfast kinship…An appended list of weather proverbs adds to the book's value. A terrific read-aloud for groups exploring weather, birthdays or families.”—School Library Journal
To purchase this book go to:
TEACHERS: click HERE for classroom activities to use with your students!
CHICKEN SOUP BY HEART
Written by Esther Hershenhorn
Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger
Simon & Schuster ISBN: 0-689-82665-6
It was a very nice Sunday in the middle of spring, in the middle of breakfast, in the middle of the morning. Rudie Dinkins heard his mama say that Rudie's sitter, Mrs. Gittel, had the flu.
Oy! Oy! Oy!
Rudie needs his after-school babysitter Mrs. Gittel good-as-new by the next afternoon!
Rudie decides he'll cook Mrs. Gittel chicken soup just the way she cooks it for him. It just so happens he knows her Chicken Soup Secret: she stirs in very nice stories about her soon-to-be soup-eaters.
Rudie stirs in such nice (and sweet) stories. How could they not save the Chicken Soup Queen?
* * *
Winner: The 2003 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Younger Readers
“In this coziest and most comforting picture book, young Rudie saves his baby-sitter, the Chicken Soup Queen..... Gouache, watercolor, and colored-pencil illustrations highlight the emotion in the warm colors, and special attention is paid to homey detail. Love and care radiate from the pages; this will surely inspire a lot of children to get into the kitchen so they can put stories in their own soup. An excellent recipe for chicken soup follows the story.” —*Starred Review - Booklist
To purchase books go to:
TEACHERS: click HERE for classroom activities to use with your students!
Now available! A Reader’s Theatre script for CHICKEN SOUP BY HEART!
See Toni Buzzeo’s READ! PERFORM! LEARN!, Upstart Books, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, 2006, for a 7-role script plus literacy enhancements.
THE CONFE$$ION$ AND $ECRET$
OF HOWARD J. FINGERHUT
Written by Esther Hershenhorn
Holiday House ISBN: 0-8234-1642-9
“Hi! My name is Howard J. Fingerhut but everyone calls me Howie.
I am the author of the book you are reading. Some authors of how-to books make all sorts of claims right here on this first paragraph. I won't do that, except to say that my book, THE CONFE$$ION$ AND $ECRET$ OF HOWARD J. FINGERHUT,
will probably change your life.”
—Howard J. Fingerhut, Soon-to-be-announced Winner of the H. Marion Muckley Junior Business Person of the Year Contest, September 30
It was a no-brainer, at least in September: how could Howie not win the H. Marion Muckley Junior Businessperson of the Year Contest? Didn't his lawn care business, A Boy for All Seasons, have $ucce$$ written all over it? Why not chronicle his $ucce$$ September through June, then sell his journal as a how-to book for junior businesspeople!
Many how-to books offer advice, shortcuts and inspiration. THE CONFE$$ION$ AND $ECRET$ OF HOWARD J. FINGERHUT offers that and so much more — humor, heart and a resilient spirit.
* * *
2004-2005 Crown Award Nominee
Bank Street College/Best Books of the Year
“No one will be able to resist its spirit……” —Kirkus
To purchase this book go to:
TEACHERS: click HERE for classroom activities to use with your students!
FANCY THAT
Written by Esther Hershenhorn
Illustrated by Megan Lloyd
Holiday House ISBN: 0-8234-1603-4
Pippin Biddle did the only thing he could once he and his sisters were orphaned without warning. He packed up his father's paints and readied for the road.
“Be brave!” he told the sweet three. There was Emma, the oldest, and Lyddie, the littlest, and Martha, in-between. “I'll travel about and paint people's portraits, earning my keep as Father once did. I promise by Christmas we'll have our own home.”
But the life of a limner was not as easy as Pip expected. Spring turned to summer, summer turned to fall, and still Pip's paintings went unsold. His young heart broke for his faraway sisters.
Little did Pip know that his faraway sisters had plans of their own, thanks to Pip and his portraits.
* * *
“Told with engagingly rhythmic language and the repeating structure of a folktale, this tongue in-cheek piece of Americana will delight a wide range of readers and listeners.” *Starred Review - Kirkus
“In sonorous prose, Hershenhorn spins a historical story about a young “limner” (a traveling portrait painter)…..Hershenhorn and Lloyd's collaboration is an unqualified success.” *Starred Review - Publishers Weekly
*Junior Library Guild Selection
*Bank Street College Best Books of the Year - *for Special Merit
To purchase this book go to:
TEACHERS: click HERE for classroom activities to use with your students!
