Month: March 2015

New Book: Bigfoot Is Missing!

Bigfoot Is Missing! by J. Patrick Lewis and Kenn Nesbitt

Today is the birthday of my newest book, Bigfoot Is Missing!, co-authored with former Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis. Pat and I had a terrific time researching cryptids (creatures whose existence has not yet been proven) from around the world and writing the poems for this collection. And we were thrilled at the selection of Minalima Design to illustrate the book.

Minalima, the design team of Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, are perhaps most well-known for creating the graphic props — such as posters, newspapers, maps, etc. — for the Harry Potter films, making them a perfect choice for this “mischievous and slighly edgy” collection of poems about the creatures of shadowy myth and fearsome legend.

Bigfoot, the Mongolian Death Worm, and the Loch Ness Monster are among the many creatures you will find within the pages of this large picture book. Don’t be surprised if you have to look twice—the poems in this book are disguised as street signs, newspaper headlines, graffiti, milk cartons, and more!

Publisher’s Weekly gives Bigfoot Is Missing! a starred review, saying, “These brief, playful poems will whet readers’ appetites to learn more about bunyips, luscas, and Mongolian death worms. Luckily, endpages supply legends and details about these and other creatures, including where they can—or rather can’t—be found.”

Loch Ness Monster

Here are links to a few of the rave reviews for Bigfoot Is Missing!

Also, the publisher, Chronicle Books, has a Poetry Picture Book Teacher Guide here with Common Core connections for Bigfoot Is Missing! and several other poetry books.

TIME for Kids 2015 Poetry Contest Winnners

TIME for Kids 2015 Grand Prize Wiinner

Illustration by Kelly Kennedy

Congratulations to the winners of the 2015 TIME for Kids Poetry Contest! There were over 1700 entries this year! I had fun reading them all and selecting the winners, plus a few “honorable mentions.”

The grand-prize winning poem this year was “Once Upon a Milk Dud” by Braelyn Daily. Her prizes include a free autographed copy of my book The Biggest Burp Ever, and a free online author visit for her class.

In addition to Braelyn’s wonderfully funny poem, the finalists were “Upside Down” by Catherine Lee Haynie, “My Mother Bought a Robot” by Ceilidh Birkhahn, and “Silly Puppy” by Beatrix Kim.

You can read all of the winners, plus several honorable mentions on the TIME for Kids website, and in TIME for Kids Magazine.

A big congratulations to all of the winners and honorable mentions, and to all of the kids who took the time to write a poem and submit it. I loved reading all of your submissions, and you are all winners in my eyes.