Featured Titles for Kids: Mouster Works and Hiss
Mouster Works by Angela C. Hawkins
Published by Gnome Road Publishing
World rights available
Age Range: 4 -6
Everyday moments can often led to the creation of beautiful art, even for the tiniest of creatures.
When young mice, Cosette and Pepin, join their Grand-mere on a visit to a mouse-sized museum, they cannot help but notice details, ask questions, and think creatively. As they move from gallery to gallery featuring the MOUSTERWORKS of famous master artists, their senses are awakened to spark their imaginations.
From the dribble, dribble of milk splashing out of a pail to the pitter pat of toddeling feet on a stone floor, Cosette and Pepin are inspired to create their own mouster-pieces, using items and events found in their everyday lives, including a hunk of delicious cheese!
Filled with lovely representations of famous works of art, this delightful book engages the senses and will leave readers filled with wonder and inspiration to create their own works of art.
Perfect for art teachers, school, counselors, elementary teachers, library story times, and caregivers.
Reviews
"This book is a delight to read! My children loved looking at the illustrated interpretations of the master art works displayed in the mouse art gallery. It inspired my kids to get out the paints today and try their hand at some artwork! I love reading the onomatopoeia (who doesn’t love saying, “whoosh”?!) and my kids laughed at Pépin’s unrelenting search for cheese. As always, my kids love looking for the hidden mice on each page. I think this book is a beautiful introduction to classical art for young readers." — Nea, Amazon Review
"A lively introduction to fine art and museum visits with two adorable whiskered siblings and their Grand-Mère. Together they stroll and observe with their eyes and imaginations replicas of real-life paintings, taking in sounds and scents and for Pepin, some wishful thinking. Perfect to share with youngsters before their first museum visits and to inspire them too!" — Julie, Amazon Review
Angela C. Hawkins
The Arts are embedded in Angela’s DNA: Not only has she wielded pencils, crayons, and markers from when she was as small as her book characters, she’s also studied violin, piano, voice, and ballet (her heart won’t let go!). Much to her teenage sons’ chagrin, she is often found – and heard! – singing, humming, whistling, and dancing to the music swirling through her neurons.
Angela has won a number of illustration awards, including the 2021 SW-Texas SCBWI Portfolio Award, the 2020 Summer SCBWI Bulletin Art Spot, the 2017 SCBWI Don Freeman Grant Winner, and the 2017 RMC-SCBWI Portfolio Showcase. She’s illustrated for several clients, including Babybug, Ladybug, and Spider Magazines. Cute kids and charismatic animals are her specialty. Above all else, she aims to delight, educate, and inspire love while attempting to capture the wonder of our world and the beauty within each human soul.
Hiss by Kirsten Marion
Published by Common Deer Press
World Rights Available
Age Range: 10 - 12 years
When a bullied boy is unexpectedly turned into a python, his opportunity for revenge comes with complications.
Twelve-year-old Max is a scientist, a pioneer eager to discover the secrets of the universe, a young mind alight with hypotheses and theories waiting to be proven. Too bad nobody--not the bullies at school, the new girl Darya, or worst of all, his own dad--can see it. They only see him as a shy, nerdy kid. If they see him at all.
But everything changes when Max transforms into a giant python after an accident in his dad's laboratory. He has cool new senses, powerful muscles, and an entirely different perspective to explore. This could be his chance to be strong and courageous!
But when rumours of a boy-eating snake go viral and Max's animal instincts grow harder to control, Max realizes that being a wild snake in a suburban world is dangerous.
If he doesn't find his way back to his true form, he risks losing his humanity forever. But first, he must convince others of his identity and learn to see himself in a new way.
Kirsten Marion pursued her writing passion with a degree in English Literature. Life took one of its funny turns at that point and she ended up in finance and accounting for the duration of her career. When retirement finally released her from the corporate world, she was finally free to pursue her fierce love of writing and has now reinvented herself as an author. She lives on the southwestern tip of Canada.
Indie Spotlight from Our Marketplace
Leeta Simtar: A Life on Two Planets
By Annie Fox
Leeta Simtar isn't the only interspecies hybrid on the planet Fure, though she is, without a doubt, noticeably different from all the others. Not only is she impossibly tall and wildly unpredictable, she leads with her feelings, in contrast to everyone else's steady calm and logical demeanor. When Leeta's offended, she rages and attacks. When something touches her deeply, she gushes and weeps. No wonder she has always believed something's wrong with her, because clearly, she doesn't belong on Fure.
When Leeta suddenly finds out that what she's believed about herself is a lie, she is more than ready to discover the truth. Since no one on Fure is talking, her only hope is to go rogue and find her own answers. She travels forty light years in search of others like herself-assuming there are others.
With just eight days to unearth her origin story, Leeta follows clues that lead her across time and space hoping to find where she truly belongs. Readers of young adult science fiction, speculative/what-if fiction, and coming-of-age stories will connect to Leeta's intergalactic adventure. They'll be rooting for her to get what she needs, whether that means returning to Fure armed with the truth, staying in a far away place with her new found family, or finding home within her own heart.
Why you should check out this title
A coming-of-age story that explores the meaning of birth family and found family, Leeta Simtar shows readers how breaking out of the past can help us figure out where we're going next.
For fans of Alechia Dow and Pittacus Lore comes Leeta Simtar: A Life on Two Planets—the latest book from young adult author Annie Fox about an interspecies hybrid looking to find herself on a new planet.
Reviews
"In a universe governed by controlled narratives and cultural erasure, Fox delivers an empowering reminder to embrace individuality and dare to fight for change.” — BookLife by Publishers Weekly (Editor’s Pick)
"A rousing tale about a young woman coming to terms with an unresolved past." — Kirkus Reviews
