Author Tammi Sauer Takes a "Book Break!"

I'm very happy to welcome author, Tammi Sauer!  Let's take a "Book Break!" with her, as she shares her reading and writing life with all of us!

Last year, NUGGET & FANG and I were featured on the 2015 Spring Scholastic Book Fair DVD which was shared with millions of kids across the nation. What an honor!

To create the video, people from Scholastic flew in from New York and Florida, set up a green screen in my living room, and made my characters come alive. It was fang-tastic!

This is the clip of our segment.

I came to write Nugget & Fang . . .              

...during a time in which I was struggling to come up with a new idea. I decided to list all of the settings I had previously used in books (cowboy camp, barnyard, monster academy, pond...). After reviewing my list, I realized I had yet to set a book in the ocean. Ooh!

Whenever I start a book with the setting, I think about that setting and ask myself one big question, "What can go wrong here?"

As I thought about the ocean and asked myself the big question, a shark came to mind. But I didn't want to write about a typical shark. I wanted my shark to face an unusual struggle. Sooo...I gave him a minnow for a best friend.

Readers should read my book because . . .

. . . just like Fang, everyone knows what it's like to be misunderstood. Plus, I think this book offers heart, humor, and, thanks to Michael Slack, amazing illustrations.

My favorite place to read . . .   

When I have a good book in my hands, I am happy to read just about anywhere. 

I find it inspiring to have great books next to me as I write. These are a few of them:

A book that has touched my heart . . . 

The book that made a big "heart connection" for me is the middle grade novel A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT. Linda Urban's book made me laugh and it made me cry--sometimes both at the same time! When I reached the last page, I wasn't ready for the experience to end so I started it all over again.

I collect my ideas and inspiration for writing . . .

...on my iPhone. It's something I almost always have with me. Whenever inspiration strikes—even in the middle of the night—I reach for my phone and jot down those ideas before they can slip away.

Readers should know . . .

...that I created my very own dance move in honor of librarians and my book CHICKEN DANCE, illustrated by Dan Santat. It's called "The Librarian." Sometimes kids invite me to perform it with them at school visits. So fun!

This is the link to "The Librarian":  

  

And, in case you want to get your groove on, you can find the link to “The Librarian” music right here.  

 
Readers should look forward to . . .

My four books that debut in 2016!

I LOVE CAKE!  STARRING RABBIT, PORCUPINE, AND MOOSE (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen, May 3)

GINNY LOUISE AND THE SCHOOL FIELD DAY (Disney*Hyperion, June 14)

MARY HAD A LITTLE GLAM (Sterling, August 2)

YOUR ALIEN RETURNS (Sterling, October 4)

Be sure to visit Tammi's website!
 

Welcome Author Jason Lefebvre

I'm super excited to welcome Jason Lefebvre, author of the picture book, Too Much Glue!, to "Mrs. Merrill's Book Break!"  He has stopped by to give us a glimpse into his reading and writing life.  Thanks for answering my questions, Jason!

I came to write TOO MUCH GLUE! . . .

After a crazy day in the preschool classroom I worked in.  One day a glue cup spilled on a table top and no one noticed.  As the spill crept slowly towards the table’s edge the kids and I busied ourselves playing a movement game where we pretended to be large, lumbering animals until I said sleepy three times.  Then the kids had to pretend to sleep.  When you play a sleepy game with a room full of three year olds you tend to make them sleep for a very long time.  During one of the sleepy times a little boy lay under the table with the spilled glue and while I made them all sleep for a very, very, very long time he got covered with the glue that had begun to waterfall off the edge of the table.  He never said a word and proceeded to track glue all over the room while we continued playing.  Later, while I was helping him clean up for a very, very, very long time, the idea for Too Much Glue was born.  Thank you to that sticky student wherever he may be.

Don't miss a reading and writing  curriculum guide!

Or a fun, Too Much Glue!  word search and maze!

Readers should read my book because . . . 

It is a very interactive story.  Thanks to the amazing talents of Zac Retz the pictures practically jump off the page and invite the reader to become part of the action.  I think it has heart too.  At the core Too Much Glue is a story about embracing the uniqueness of your kids and being able to realize that some messes and mini disasters lead to a great memory.

I spy Too Much Glue!

A book that has touched my heart . . . 

When I was little I can remember my mother reading me one of my favorite children’s books Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  It was one of many stories that we read together and if I try hard enough I can still smell her hand lotion as I turn the pages.   A great picture book story has the ability to leave the reader with the same feeling of satisfaction no matter how many times one may read it.  Alexander’s story speaks to me even today.  When I am having a terrible, horrible time I can always remind myself of Judith Viorst’s words.  "Some days are just like, even in Australia."  

My favorite place to read . . .

I still love reading in bed.  I enjoyed being read to there as a child and I guess some things never change.  It relaxes me and as much as I enjoy it, it puts me right to sleep.

Jason's personal bookshelf!

I collect my ideas and inspiration for writing . . .

From things that happen in my everyday life…which means they end up on everything!  Napkins, sticky notes, old mail, ripped envelopes.  I once found a rolled up gum wrapper in a pile of papers.  Not wanting to leave a stone unturned I un-krinkled it and in colored pencil I had written “poop detective.”  To this day I have no idea what that was in reference to, but it shows that not every idea is a winner.

More of Jason's book collection!

Readers should know . . .

My favorite kind of pizza is pepperoni with hamburger.  I’m allergic to cats but currently live with six of them and one giant dog that still thinks he’s a puppy.  It took me fourteen years to get one of my stories published and I wouldn’t trade that experience for all the money in the world.  No is not a bad word.  When you hear it over and over again it just makes the moment that you hear the word yes seem that much sweeter.

A project that I’m currently working on . . .

I have about forty-five unpublished manuscripts that I continue to tweak and polish.  My hope is that someday one of them will shine bright enough to make the right people notice.

Thank you so much to Jason Lefebvre for stopping by to take a "Book Break!" with me!  Every time I see a bottle of glue, I think of your fabulous picture book!  I'm looking forward to sharing your books with readers!