Sharing another illustration from my new children's book...Take a SNEAK PEAK and tell me what you think!

Sharing another SNEAK PEEK of my new children's chapter book, TT of MB, before this week ends! What can you predict of this story from this B&W story illustration? Just a few more sneak peaks until 2014! :o)

Here it is...the second TT of MB chapter book for children SNEAK PEEK of this week!

I'm here to share with you another SNEAK PEEK of my upcoming children's chapter book, TT of MB!  Take a look and a guess of what this pool party might have to do with the magical adventure that will soon be unfolding in 2014!

Monday (12/09) brings you another SNEAK PEEK into My New BOOK, TT of MB...

Happy Monday & new week, everyone! I've another SNEAK PEEK into my upcoming, new book to share with you! What could this B&W story illustration be telling you? How does this musical adventure add to the magical fun of this children's chapter book? Stay tuned!!!

SNEAK PEEK on 12-06-13...Check this fun illustration out!

SNEAK PEEK on 12-06-13: This is a companion illustration to the last one shared a couple days ago from my new book project! What do you think is happening in this picture? Another fun contribution to the magical adventure found in TT of MB, my upcoming children's chapter book to be published in 2014! Stay tuned! :oD

SNEAK PEEK of TT of MB on 12-04-13...What's happening here?

SNEAK PEEK on 12-04-14:  What do you think this B&W story illustration is all about?  How does this event contribute to this magical adventure that is to be revealed in 2014?  Stay tuned for more sneak peeks of TTof MB...the initials of the title from this delightful chapter book for young readers!

Rah, rah...HURRAH for another SNEAK PEEK on DEC 2, 2013...Publication 2014, here we come!!!

Rah, rah, hurrah to the swim team! My initial line illustration has now become a B & W story illustration for my upcoming chapter book story for young readers! What does a swim team have to do with this magical adventure series? Stay tuned to the 2014 publication of book one! :o)

Another FUN SNEAK PEEK for you....

Another fun SNEAK PEAK for you! What happened to shock and surprise the swim captain so in this B&W story illustration of my new adventure story? Stay tuned!!! :oD

Another fun SNEAK PEEK...

As 2013 comes to a close, I have a few more SNEAK PEEKS to share into the fun, magical adventure of my new children's chapter book (pending early 2014 publication)! Here is the B&W Illustration of "Desert Song-nata"...what do you think is happening in this picture? :oD

SNEAK PEEK on 11-23-13...Another story illustration to see and enjoy!

What do you think is happening in these children's chapter book illustration? Just finished all the black & white story illustrations that are now copyrighted...even the one for the title page! Now to do the color illustration for the book cover! Oh, boy...oh, boy! Can't hardly wait to share!!!

Check it out at:  

A NEW Christmas classic for your family and/or classroom...

 LITTLE CHICKEN'S BIG CHRISTMAS!

I've already read this charming new book and find it fun and ever so charming! Ideal for toddlers, preschoolers and the emergent readers of kindergarten and first grade. As an experienced K-3 teacher, it is a fun book I would love to share with my students during circle time or in reading groups. The simple, adorable illustrations and text speak volumes! As a mother of 6 and now a grandmother of 4...this is a type of book I'd gather my lil' darlings onto my lap and alongside me on the sofa to enjoy together! Happy reading...and happy anticipation of the Christmas holiday! :o)

Check it out on:   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GPPSTRK

A NEW SNEAK PEEK...Take a Look!!!

Here we are...another sneak peek into the copyrighted illustrations of my new magical adventure chapter book for young readers! What do you think is happening in this fun illustration? It is all a part of the secret and mystery of this story!

Another Look at Two More Black & White Children's Book Illustrations...

Enjoy the sneak peek of two more black & white story illustrations for my new children's chapter book pending publication in 2014!  What do you think is happening in each picture?  Can you begin to figure out the mystery of the magical, adventurous story in this new book?  Stay tuned!  :o)

A New Sneak Peak into My Upcoming Children's Chapter Book's Final Illustrations...

CREATIVE UPDATE: Here is one of the black & white story illustrations I worked on yesterday of my upcoming children's chapter book! I had fun with this copyrighted illustration, but am still tweaking it. Check it out at the below link and tell me what do you think about it, please? :o)

 

 

BOOK PROJECT UPDATE: Painting of the book project's story illustrations has begun!!!

I did several story illustration paintings in color...and rendered several story illustrations in black and white shadows as well!  This is sooooo therapeutic!  Wish I could share the illustrations painted today...but I cannot let out my book's fun secret just yet!  :o)

All Final Line illustrations are done...another sneak peek into my upcoming children's chapter book!

Scanned all final line illustrations for my upcoming children's chapter book. I had fun compiling these into a a fun companion coloring book to be published as well! Now to begin painting some of these story illustrations for the chapter book! Hoping to begin this week...Woo Hoo!

Here's another sneak peak into this fun, adventurous story making its debut in early 2014! 

A Fun Book Review on THE SHADOW OF ATLANTIS...

Title: The Shadow of Atlantis (Shadows From the Past, Book 1)

Author: Wendy Leighton-Porter

Year Published: 2012

Publisher: Mauve Square Publishing

Pages: 196

Recommended Age: 8+ 

GRANDMOTHER – GRANDSON BOOK REVIEW:

  

GRANDSON’S (Blade - 7 ¾ years old) BOOK REVIEW:

What is the book about:  This book is about a cat and how its owners disappear in a mist or cloud to the ancient city of Atlantis, before it got lost.  The children discover how the mist comes back and they go into it with their cat, Max.  The Cat in the story ends up saving the children and he also helps them save many good people of Atlantis by warning them before it sinks into the ocean from earthquakes!

What do you think of the cover and/or pictures in this book?  I thought the cover was interesting with the sunken city and the big cat in front.  I think this chapter book needed more sketches (line illustrations) of what was going on in the story like the Magic Treehouse series has.

What is your favorite part of the book?  My favorite part is when the two cats work together to outsmart the high priest in getting the cell key to free the children the priests had locked up.  My second favorite part was the temple sacrifice to Poseidon because I like gory stories.

What is your least favorite part of the book?  My least favorite part is when the children first come through the mist and meet and play with Varna of Atlantis and the other Atlantean children.

Is there anything in the book that doesn’t make sense?  Why were they sacrificing to Poseidon?  I thought his son was Percy Jackson.

What did you learn from this book?  I learned that Atlantis is a very legendary and interesting place and I would like to go find Atlantis!  I would like to read the next book in this series.

Who do you think would like this book?  I think some kids my age in second grade and older would like this book. 

Grandson’s Rating: ★★★★★ 

  

GRANDMA’S (CILLYart) BOOK REVIEW:

BOOK SUMMARY:  The Shadow of Atlantis by Wendy Leighton-Porter is an engaging chapter book for young readers (ages 7 -12) about 10 year old twins, Joe and Jemima Lancelot, their Tonkenese cat, Max, and their neighborhood friend, Charlie.  The story begins at the mysterious disappearance of the twins’ parents and the only clues to be found were an old wooden chest, an ancient book, a key charm on a gold chain, and two sets of footprints on dusty floor of their attic.  Their uncle, an archeology professor, becomes their legal guardian and takes them into their home to raise them until their parents are found.  As the shock of their parent’s disappearance wanes, the children meet and become friends with the neighbor boy, Charlie.  With their uncle’s permission, the children are able to look at the old chest and book, soon realizing that the charm on the chain that belonged to their mother was a key to opening the mystical magic of the ancient book.  Max, the cat is close at hand as they figure out how to open the book and begin reading the first part, witness the strange mist that forms in the middle of the room, and find additional charms hidden in part of the wooden chest’s worn velvet lining.  Curiosity overcomes the children and they go inside the mist and find themselves transported to the ancient city of Atlantis.  They meet and become friends with an ancient Atlantean family whose daughter, Varna, is about their age.  Knowing that the ancient city of Atlantis was to succumb to some disaster, the three children try to convince Varna and her family of the city’s pending doom.  Eventually, their strange fair looks, clothing and warnings are noticed by the priests of the temple of the god, Poseidon.  They remembered the strange man and woman that came months before that warned of some catastrophe to strike Atlantis that the priests and an angry mob had driven out before.  To conserve the control the priests had over the people of Atlantis, they plot the capture of the strange children and their odd cat.  When the cat and the children disappear, Varna’s family and neighbors are alarmed and become more certain that the children’s warnings are truthful, especially when Atlantis begins to experience earth tremors.  Max the cat is able to escape and with the help of magic from the charm attached to his collar, he leads Varna to the other children and they are able to help free Joe, Jemima and Charlie.  When the temple priests realize their captives have escaped, they go after them, but Varna’s family and their friends run them off, angry at how they treated their guests.  Meanwhile, the earth tremors are increasing in number and intensity and the Atlanteans that know Joe, Jemima and Charlie heed their warnings just in time.

MY THOUGHTS:  I really enjoyed this simple story of mystery, magic, and myth and thought that the author did an excellent job in engaging her readers, especially younger readers from second to sixth grade.  The ten year old characters in the story seem true to the age of a ten year old boy and girl, and also her portrayal of the policeman investigating the disappearance of the Lancelot parents, the archeology professor, a matronly housekeeper, and an ancient Greek family and people of in Atlantis.  The plot was simple enough to be followed by young readers, yet tantalizing enough to keep them reading to find out how the modern children and the good Atlantean people they came to know were saved from the impending doom of this fabled city.  However, I thought the way the author used apostrophe-like marks at the beginning and ending of sentences instead of quotation marks was very odd.  Also, I noticed that this author also uses a few old clichés in her writing, which I’ve heard is undesirable for descriptive writing.  Cliches, such as “Does that ‘ring any bells?’ ” (for ‘ring a bell,’ meaning does it ‘sound familiar?’), are not usually understood by young readers.

OVERALL:  I think this is a delightful story that will intrigue young readers, their families and teachers for individual reading, story time and reading groups!  The fact that the children realize that their parents were the previous strangers that gave the initial warning of impending doom to the inhabitants of Atlantis, they had new hope that their parents were still alive and just lost in the ancient world.  With their magical charms, they also have great hope of returning to the ancient world to find them, hence the Shadow of…Series is born.  When I read this and shared it with my grandson, we both felt a great desire to read the next book to find out what happens and hope to read it very soon!

Grandma’s rating:  ★★★★½

CILLYart and Granchildren/Grankiddles:

Cindy (aka CILLYart) is the author-illustrator of two children’s chapter books for young readers, a certified, experienced, elementary school teacher and a blogs about her book projects and other related things on cillyart4u.blogspot.com, on her CILLYart4u facebook page and her CILLYart4U website.  She has recently written her third book and is currently doing the illustrations for this fun, new story.  Cindy has 6 children and now 4 grandchildren and 9 great-nieces and nephews that she calls her “grankiddles.”  They all love story time and reading children’s books!  Most of the grandchildren/grankiddles live far away from Cindy, so she tries to keep in touch by phone, email, facebook and occasional trips to see family!  A favorite of several of the 13 grankiddles is the Magic Treehouse book series for its fun magic and mystery components.  The oldest of all of these grankiddles is writing her very first book!

To see more about this book series, author and enter a rafflecopter contest, click on... 

SHADOW OF ATLANTIS!