HAPPY NATIONAL DONUT DAY!

lets do donutsWe couldn’t let this holiday pass without mention! Donuts are the life blood in our office (as is espresso, cupcakes, and whatever chocolate Katie brings back from her travels to Europe). So we would like to wish you a very happy National Donut Day, readers!

If you’re interested in story time projects related to donuts, we recommend the donut shop we designed for The Donut Chef by Bob Staake (Golden Books, 2008). The shop doubles as a matching game, as you pair customer’s coupons with your shop’s stock!

donut couponsIf you’re looking for something a little simpler, we highly recommend Marissa’s felted donut project for the book Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony (Scholastic, 2014).

donuts 2

Even simpler? A cup, a pom-pom, and some paper put together to create an adorable donut display case for this delightful diner.

purple diner kitchen OF COURSE we had to conclude this post by traipsing down to House of Cupcakes (winner of Cupcake Wars!) to enjoy a couple of their fresh, house-made donuts.

And if today’s sugary adventures leave you in need of a good dentist, you’ll find one here!

Red Letter Day

red letter day

Hosting a community event table and need something creative, literary, and simple? We highly recommend this wooden letter key chain project, which clips oh-so-conveniently to your bag or backpack!

The project just requires wooden letters, markers, rubber bands, and carabiners. We bought our carabiners from Oriental Trading Company – a bag of 50 costs $12. Our 2″ wooden letters are from Amazon. A set of 120 pieces (which also included symbols # & @ $) cost $22. And they come in this handy-dandy tray too!

letter keychain table layoutAt the event, we simply laid everything out and invited kids to decorate! I think we made around 350 keychains that day. Also, since we were representing Princeton University, Katie and I wore tiger onesies (like we needed an excuse, right?).

dr dana and katie tigersThe project was quick, easy to explain, inspired a lot of creativity, involved alphabet letters, and kids of various ages (plus a few college students!) really enjoyed it. You can’t get much better then that!

The BiblioFiles Presents: Tony DiTerlizzi

Tony DiTerlizzi - Photo credit "Jim Gipe photo / Pivot Media"Just posted! A webcast and podcast with multiple award winning, and New York Times bestselling, author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.

For 20 years, DiTerlizzi has infused the children’s book world with his brilliant imagination, endless creativity, and considerable artistic talent. His first series, The Spiderwick Chronicles (created in collaboration with Holly Black), details the adventures of the three Grace children and their discoveries on the other-worldly estate inherited from their relative, Arthur Spiderwick. Their much-loved adventures resulted in a spin-off series, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, several companion books, and a feature film.

DiTerlizzi’s second series, the Wondla trilogy, is an epic science fiction fantasy. It centers around human girl Eva Nine as she emerges into a world distantly removed from planet Earth – a world on the brink of an alien civil war and global reawakening. The books are illuminated with DiTerlizzi’ s gorgeous illustrations of air ships, alien species, battle scenes, and beautiful moments. It’s simply amazing.

In addition to his chapter books, DiTerlizzi has produced a number of picture books, including The Spider and the Fly, which won a Caldecott honor in 2003, The Story of Diva and Flea with Mo Willems, and The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, with Lucasfilm. In 2018, the Norman Rockwell Museum hosted a 20 year retrospective on DiTerlizzi’s work titled “Never Abandon Imagination.” He has been featured in Time magazine, USA Today, and a guest on CNN, PBS, NPR, BBC, and The Today Show.

Follow this link to the BiblioFiles interview


Tony DiTerlizzi photo by Jim Gipe Photo / Pivot Media