Welcome to the exciting new world of 2017 and my 100th newsletter. As promised, I'll be giving away 100 things (okay more than 100) and hope you win something you and your students will enjoy (while supplies last)! Let's begin right away with five hardback copies of my newest book,
Flower Girl Dreams. Click
here and say "Please send me Flower Girl Dreams." Click
here to get a free teaching manual to go along with it. Click
here to see me in my wedding dress and the book trailer for Mermaid Tales #16. A second grade class in Maryville, TN sent me the Spark videos they'd made and I made this one about Flower Girl Dreams to send to them. Hope you'll share some of your
classroom Sparks with me as well. It's a fun way of doing a book report. If you need reassuring that your hard work with children is IMPORTANT, watch this
video. All the best, Debbie
Time for a new year and new resolutions! It seems I always have high hopes for the beginning of the year and it seems that writing them down helps me accomplish a lot more, so I'm making a list and checking it twice. At the top of my list is cleaning my garage. Here's a timely gift from Judy Newman at Scholastic and me to start the year off right! Click here to win the pictured classroom clock. And in case, you love Christmas as much as I do, here's a chance to win a framed autographed cover of Santa Claus Doesn't Mop Floors (and here to win a framed autographed Aliens Don't Wear Braces cover). Just click on the private link and say what you want to win (and your address). I have one of each to give away.
Thank you so much for subscribing to my newsletter and for caring so much about literacy. If I can help you with a free Skype or Facetime, click here. My next Free Skypes dates are January 20th and Feb. 9th.
I spoke recently at the Tennessee Reading Association about diversity in children's books. It is a topic that's been hot lately in publishing, but I've always felt it was important for kids to see someone like themselves in books. I also feel that kids should be able to experience the lives of people who aren't like them as well through reading. Fingers crossed that all classroom and school libraries reflect the diversity of our population. January 27th is
Multicultural Children's Book Day.
I hope your holidays were joyful. One of our traditions are making slightly strange sugar cookies (sometimes we are overrun by zombies and a deranged Easter bunny). My daughter's boyfriend was with us this year and that kept my kids a bit calmer (only a few zombies this year!) Hurrah to Brian for making a very cute, if not Politically Correct, smoking snowman. I'd love to hear your favorite holiday tradition. Happy New Year, Debbie
I hope your holidays were joyful. One of our traditions are making slightly strange sugar cookies (sometimes we are overrun by zombies and a deranged Easter bunny). My daughter's boyfriend was with us this year and that kept my kids a bit calmer (only a few zombies this year!) Hurrah to Brian for making a very cute, if not Politically Correct, smoking snowman. I'd love to hear your favorite 
