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Book Review and Author Interviews

Huge week ahead: Celebrating the release of GRANDMA SNUGGLES with author/illustrator interviews, video sneak peek, and a GIVE-AWAY!

It’s going to be a fabulous week here at Mindy Baker Books! I am hosting a BOOK GIVE-AWAY of Grandma Snuggles. Not only that, but BOTH the author and illustrator of Grandma Snuggles will be joining me on the blog to answer questions. Here is a peek at the line-up: (I can hardly wait!)

Grandma Snuggles

Monday: Interview with award-winning and best-selling author Glenys Nellist.

Tuesday: Interview with the incredibly talented illustrator of Grandma Snuggles, Gail Yerrill.

Wednesday: Videoclip of Glenys and Gail’s workspaces…a peek at where the magic happens!

Thursday: Special post about Glenys and Gail’s favorite illustrations from the book.

All week long you can enter to win the give-away!!!

Friday: I will post the WINNER OF THE GIVE-AWAY.

Here are the guidelines for the give-away!

  1. Follow @GlenysNellist, @Gail99art, and @mindybakerbooks) on Instagram. (Must follow all three) Links available at the end of this post..scroll down.
  2. Leave a comment on this blog post (or any post this week). Or leave a comment on any Instagram post this week.
  3. **NOTE: This giveaway is sponsored by Zonderkidz (Thank you, Zonderkidz!) and only open to residents of the USA who have a physical street address (no PO boxes.)

For an extra entry, become a follower of this blog.

For even more entries, tag a friend on any Mindy Baker Books INSTAGRAM post this week through Thursday! (Tag as many friends as you like for multiple entries.)

I hope that all of you enter to win! Good luck!

And now for today’s big event…the interview with Glenys Nellist!

Glenys, it is such an honor to have you visit my blog this week. Thank you very much for being here. I know everyone is excited to talk with you so let’s jump right into the questions...

What inspired you to write Grandma Snuggles?

Ever since I wrote the board books, God Made Mommy Special and God Made Daddy Special, I’ve been asked the same question, over and over… when are you going to write God Made Grandma Special? So here it is, except that it’s called Grandma Snuggles because my publisher, Zonderkidz, thought that this was a more appealing title. 

It is such an appealing title. The relationship between grandparent and child is so special!! And snuggly. 🙂 What is your favorite illustration from the book and why?

It is SO hard to choose, because every spread by Gail Yerrill is wonderful! If I had to pick one animal spread, it would have to be Grandma Cat, but my favorite illustration is actually this last one, where the human grandma is featured. I love it because it reminds me of baking with my four young grandchildren, which they all love to do.


Make sure to come back on Thursday to see the post that reveals the Grandma Cat and the human grandma! They are very adorable!

Glenys, I also wanted to talk about your newsletter. I really enjoy receiving that each week, and I wanted to make sure that everyone knows about it. What inspired you to write your weekly newsletter Links to Lovely Things and how do you curate the content for that?

I used to write a quarterly newsletter where I featured only news about my own books. But about six months ago I decided to begin a weekly newsletter that might appeal to a wider audience. I think we’re all in need of some loveliness in our world right now! I search for five or six lovely things to share each week, such as good news stories I come across, new children’s book releases, lovely photographs, poems, crafts for kids or heart-warming articles. We live in such a busy world, and so my tagline is: Follow the links you like, leave the ones you don’t. If you’d like to check it out, here’s my most recent one:

Latest Link to Lovely Things

Wonderful! I hope that you all sign up for it if you haven’t already! Finally, do you have any ‘news’ that you’d like to share with us about upcoming projects?

Well I’d really love to be able to say that Grandpa Snuggles is in the works, but so far, it’s only written in my head! I’m hoping that I’ll be able to release that title one day, but I think it will depend on the sales of Grandma Snuggles. In the meantime, October will see the return of Little Mole in a story of kindness and generosity called Little Mole’s Christmas Gift, and in the spring of 2021, I’m looking forward to the second book in the Twas series, called Twas The Morning of Easter. Later next year, I also have a Storybook Bible coming out, which is a first for me, so I’m very excited about that.God is good, and I’m so very blessed to be able to write for children. 

Your books are wonderful, Glenys. I wish you all the best… with Grandma Snuggles, the new releases coming up that you mentioned, and the many more titles you are sure to publish! Thank you very much for joining this week here at Mindy Baker Books. It was a treat to talk with you!

P.S. One more fabulous thing! You will want to check out this lovely book trailer video! You will definitely want to order the book after viewing!

Link to buy the book

Link to author website

Link to illustrator website

Instagram Glenys Nellist

Instagram Gail Yerrill

Instagram Mindy Baker Books

Thanks for joining me today! See you tomorrow for the interview with Gail Yerrill!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter to win!

Fun for kids, Kid Ministry, Mouse's Christmas Gift

Christmas in July with Mouse…because kindness isn’t seasonal!

Show kindness today!

Mouse wanted me to do a quick post reminding everyone that kindness isn’t seasonal! Can you think of a way that you can make a difference/spread kindness to someone else today?

Here are a few ideas:

  1. Bake cookies (Make them in Christmas shapes for fun) and give them to a friend or neighbor…it’s okay to eat some yourself 🙂
  2. Make a card to send to a grandparent or a friend that lives far-away.
  3. Facetime a someone who you think could use some Christmas in July cheer.
  4. Pay for the ice cream of the person behind you in the drive thru line.
  5. Offer a cup of lemonade to someone who is mowing his lawn on a hot day.
  6. Wrap a surprise in Christmas paper and deliver it to someone’s doorstep.

I bet you can think of many, many more ideas! What are your ideas? I would love to hear about what you did! Leave me a comment or send a message through this blog!

After you do your act of kindness, celebrate with a cup of hot cocoa and read about a little mouse who made a BIG difference in his Christmas village.

If you take a picture and don’t mind me posting it on social media, send that too. I would love to share your experience with my readers. It can be such an encouragement to SEE kindness in action!

Buy Mouse’s Christmas Gift

Mindy Baker Books Facebook

Mindy Baker Books Instagram

Want to help Mouse? Leave a review of Mouse’s Christmas Gift on Amazon or ask your local library to purchase Mouse’s Christmas Gift for its readers.

Kid Ministry, My Faith

Thursday Thoughts –When Life is Puzzling, Walk by Faith!

Hi kids! I’m back again with another Thursday Thought! Has life ever felt puzzling to you? This video talks about a man named Ananias, and how he had the faith to obey God even when it felt puzzling.

And here is a fun activity to try!! PUZZLE RACES…I’d love to hear how it goes if you try it. What puzzle did you use? Who was the winner? How fast were they?

Fun for kids, Kid Ministry, My Faith

Thursday Thoughts — Unstuck!

I’m back again with another Thursday Thought followed by a fun family activity/game! Our church uses Orange Curriculum and the theme this month is “Unstuck!” Hope this video content blesses you!

Devotional Thought — Unstuck!
Minute to Win It – Unstuck

I would love to hear from you–especially if you try the game!

Author life, Fun for kids, Kid Ministry, My Faith

Retro Thursday Thoughts (Easter)…video content for families

I teach Children’s Church on a weekly basis at Hamilton Hills Church in Fishers, Indiana. During the COVID19 outbreak, we have not been able to meet. So…our leaders began creating fun video content for families. I thought I would share the content I created here on my blog. I hope it blesses you!

Empty Tomb Devotional Thought
Snack Idea: The Empty Tomb