The moment I have been waiting for has finally arrived! I am so excited and very overjoyed to announce that I will have a middle grade novel published by Chicken Scratch Books on November 4, 2025.
Here is the cover art created by a talented artist named Timothy James Hantula. I Absolutely love how he depicted the main character!
It is a lower middle grade fantasy adventure story based in a Mesoamerican-like imaginative world of my own creation that builds hope and courage rising from destruction. I can’t wait to share more about his upcoming release in the weeks ahead.
Here is the back cover blurb:
Soledad is a victim of the Phoenix’s evil plagues, just like the rest of her former village. But she’s also different. She’s hiding with her mother’s flute, which the Phoenix is determined to find.
After a friend’s betrayal, she flees along a new path, high into the mountains, where she discovers the truth about what has really happened to her people. She realizes her knowledge, together with the power of the water and the magic of the flute, can help them all.
But this realization brings a whole new danger. Before she can unite her people and face the Phoenix, Soledad will have to find the strength to forgive and learn again how to trust.
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Look for the book at this site. I think you can even pre-order it!
Will you celebrate with me today? I’m definitely counting down the days until its launch. If you would like to help me on my launch team, don’t hesitate to contact me!
Directions: Let your imagination take over and create a crown, necklace, ring, or bracelet. String beads, glue feathers, find some sticky foamies and have fun! We used a glue gun for the feathers. This is a great craft to practice patterns!
Here is a fun photo of my daughter and a few friends who helped me create my samples. Notice that mermaids come in all sizes!
Check out this Mermaid Pinterest Board for more mermaid craft ideas and mermaid snack ideas.
And now for some mermaid books! Drumroll please….
Part-time Mermaid by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Cambria Evans celebrates the imagination and imaginative play! Pretending to be mermaids was always a very popular playtime event for my daughters when they were young. The book is told in first person and the reader experiences the adventure of a little girl who becomes a mermaid at night. She pets the otters, explores a sunken pirate ship, and even encounters a sea witch while attending the Midsummer Sea Festival.
How to Meet a Mermaid by Sue Fliess and illustrated by Simona Sanfilippo is a charming book that invites playtime fun. The author takes you through a progression of ideas of how you might meet a mermaid. One of the suggestions is to have a crown she can wear. In the back of the book there are directions for making a mermaid crown (I based my crown and jewelry craft off of this idea). There are also directions for going on a field trip to the beach, and even the suggestion of cleaning up the beach by throwing away any litter you may encounter.
The Ocean Calls– This is a beautiful book by Tinal Cho and illustrated by Jess X Snow. It is the beautiful story of a girl who has a grandmother that shows her how to be a “haenyeo” which is like a treasure-hunting mermaid. The back matter explains and gives quotes from authentic present-day Korean haenyeo divers. The beauty of the artwork drew me in and the story captured my heart. Love this book!
The Little Mermaid-by Jerry Pinkney. Melody wants to explore and find out what is above the surface of the water, and she really wants to be friends with a little girl she spies on the shore. She trades her voice for legs. Don’t you love variations of familiar stories? The stunning artwork will keep you mesmerized for a long time.
This Round-up features main characters that are African American. You will love these books! If you would like a sneak peek inside to view more pages, go to my Instagram and find the corresponding tile.
Snow Globe Wishes–By Erin Dealey and illustrated by Claire Shorrock What a delightful rhyming winter book! I love the line about “grabbing hands with neighbors, strangers, sisters, brothers.” My heart resonated with the final page spread–Peace on Earth!
The Little Mermaid–by Jerry Pinkney. Do you love different variations of familiar stories? In this version the little mermaid makes friends with another girl instead of falling in love. I found the artwork to be very mesmerizing…so much beauty to take in on every page.
Cannonball–by Sacha Cotter and illustrated by Josh Morgan. I love how this book can say so much with so few words. May we all overcome our fears and find our courage to “cannonball” like the sweet main character in this simple but profound story.
Early Sunday Morning— by Denene Miller and illustrated by Vanessa Brantly Newton. I loved this sweet story about overcoming the fear of singing in front of others. The vibrant illustrations make the pages come alive. Spoiler alert: I loved it when her dad did end up coming to hear her sing at the end of the book.
I Am Every Good Thing I loved the positive messages, strong metaphors, and stunning artwork in this picture book by Derrick D. Barnes and illustrated by Gordon James. These are a few of the phrases that resonated with me. “I am every good thing that makes the world go round–you know like gravity.” “I am one eye open, one eye closed, peeking through a telescope.” “I am a cool breeze.” “I am a roaring flame of creativity.” “I am two bounces and a front flip off the diving board.” I am that smile forming on your face right now.” I am a highlight reel of magnificence.” “I am tight hugs.” “I am a force of nature. A miracle. A blessing.” Powerful writing!! I highly recommend!
Superhero Grandma–by Timothy Knapman and illustrated by Joe Berger This picture book has charming and playful images will make you smile and want to celebrate your own grandma. I loved the illustrations and how they showed this grandma really involved in her grandchildren’s lives. She was playful and fun, just the way I want to be as a grandma some day!
I’ve been posting a lot of new content on Instagram–you can find me @mindybakerbooks, but I wanted to have a way to share it on the blog, too!
Here is my second ROUND-UP!
Remember, for a sneak peek inside all of these books…check out the individual posts on my Instagram page @mindybakerbooks. I usually share a few photo spreads from the books I review.
Here are 6 more books that I have reviewed in the past few months! Enjoy!
How to Build an Orchestra –Want to pass on your love of music to your children? This is a book you should try! Written by Mary Auld and illustrated by Elisa Paganeli, each page spread is full of fascinating details and treasures to discover. It comes wth a QR code to unlock so that your child can listen to the sounds of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Rare and Blue–Finding Nature’s Treasures Blue just happens to be one of my FAVORITE colors…so it was really fun to find this uniquely structured “spring” picture book highlighting different hues of blue. Written by Constance VanHoven and illustrated by Alan Marks, each page spread gives facts that highlight a specific creature in nature. Turquoise, cerulean, iridescent…what’s your favorite shade?
A Gift From Abuela–Abuela is saving her pesos to buy Nina a gift, but circumstances make that impossible. Written by author/illustrator Cecilia Ruiz, this is a book that reminds us that time together is the most precious gift of all.
Can I Be Your Dog by Troy Cummings is a picture book treasure. The text is all in letters from a puppy who writes to different people in the neighborhood trying to find his owner “match.” One by one they all reject him until at last the mail carrier adopts him.
C.R. Mudgeon –Every once in a while you find a sweet story that you just LOVE 100%. For me, this picture book by Leslie Muir, illustrated by Julian Hector, is just that. I loved this sweet-and-stuck-in-his-ways hedgehog from the first time I read his name and saw his cuteness on the front cover. The clever details of characterization make this book stand out above the others. The story is how a neighbor named Paprika moves next door and challenges C.R. to “spice” up his life. It is a wonderful friendship story with lots of embedded lessons. One important one is that even when someone is different than us, we should give him/her a chance.
Silent Music–by James Rumford. I think kids will connect with Ali, the main character of this book. He loves soccer, music, and the art of writing calligraphy. He compares writing the Arabic words to a soccer player running down the field. His hero is Yakut, a famous calligrapher from Baghdad, who wrote in ancient times of war. Ali writes calligraphy in modern times and longs for peace. Like Ali, I also long for peace. I loved the culture-filled images in this beautiful picture book featuring the Arabic language and the city of Baghdad.
Which of these books have your read? Which of these books would you like to read?
In case you didn’t know…summer is a great time to read!
***If you haven’t heard, I’ve teamed up with some author friends (Laura Sassi, Tina Cho, and Rebecca Gomez) to create a new website! We are hosting summer reading challenges and you are officially invited to join us! The website is called www.readdiscussdo.com. Stop on by and see the latest news! (So far eating ice cream and playing in dirt have been involved!…Aren’t you glad I didn’t say playing in ice-cream and eating dirt??? Ha ha!)
You are in for a treat today! I am excited to welcome Danielle Santana from StorybookTree to my blog. I recently came across her Instagram account, and I absolutely love the products that she creates for families. I want to share with as many people as possible about her wonderful business.
Danielle Santana
Hi Danielle, I’m so glad you could join us today. I must say that I am a big fan of the products you offer. For those who are unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe your business/blog/Instagram site?
I like to think of StorybookTree as a place where nature and creativity meet the magic of story-time. Here at StorybookTree, I hope to ignite the spark of reading in early learners – just as I did in my preschool classroom and with my own three children – by sharing with families quality picture books paired with fun, nature-based activities. What I have found is that families really do want to adventure together through the pages of books, and nature provides the perfect opportunity for a book adventure to begin!
Very intriguing! So tell us, what is at the heart of what you are doing?
The natural world is ripe for learning. That seed was planted in me from a very young age and continuously nurtured by my mom as I grew. Nature connects us all. In vigorous outdoor play, children learn to take risks, face challenges and solve problems. And as a teacher, every subject I wanted to teach could be found in nature: science, math, language arts, geography, social studies – and more! I would invite my children to learn about these academic subjects but in a subtle and very applicable way. Plus it’s fun to get outside! And looking back, this is really where the heart of StorybookTree was born!
I love that! I definitely agree that the outdoors offers a unique learning space, and kids definitely benefit from both playing and learning outside. How did you get started with your business? What specific steps did you take?
I first realized the power of story-time and it’s connection to nature when I read my children the book, Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. My children were completely captivated by the rhythm of the story and could positively see the adventure unfolding before them. When they asked for it again and again, I knew I had found a key that unlocked a very special door. So I created an activity (what would eventually become one of my printable storycrafts) to extend the lesson in the book out into nature. On our scavenger hunt I would subtly interweave the academic subjects into the nature lesson, creating meaningful, real-world connections.
Sounds fascinating, what type of connections do you mean?
We would look for shades of color, count pine cones and sort materials into categories; we would weigh the items we collected and draw pictures of what we observed. Seeing their faces light up when the children made a connection to the story were some of my favorite moments teaching.
I can picture the fun!
So next, my family and I moved, and my job position changed, but I knew I wanted to share my printable storycrafts with a wider audience. So I created StorybookTree on Instagram (found at @storybooktree) as a way to connect with others who have school-age children and who share a love of nature-based learning, beautiful picture books and hands-on activities. I am so thrilled to now have over 25 items in my small shop: (www.storybooktree.bigcartel.com) , including a printable storycraft to go with your beautiful book, Mindy: “Mouses Christmas Gift.” And, I am adding more Christmas items each week!
Oooh, how lovely! I am in love with this printable for Mouse’s Christmas Gift! What a sweet and charming craft. I hope many people will purchase and use it as they read the book. I am so honored that you made this. And more Christmas items yet to come this month?? How fabulous!! I will follow along on Instagram and watch as you unveil all of your wonderfully creative items. So fun!
I am curious, as you have developed your business, what has been the biggest personal benefit or reward? Has anything surprised you along the way?
Instagram has been a fantastic vehicle to drive traffic to my small shop www.storybooktree.bigcartel.com by providing a platform for getting my printable storycrafts into the hands of a wider audience, but it has come with a few surprises along the way. I had to learn everything from scratch, like what is an algorithm? And how does it work? How do I install a pop-up? And . . . what’s a cookie? I did a lot of research just on terminology alone! But this is where that seed my mom planted in me long ago for having a lifelong love of learning comes in. I continue to learn something new everyday and absolutely love it!
You are so right that all of us need to have a willingness to grow and learn new things! I have found that to be true in my job as a teacher and as a writer. We can NEVER stop learning!
Danielle, this has been such an interestingand enjoyable chat, I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to talk with me. Are there any final thoughts you would want to leave us with?
I believe books are meant to be adventured through, and now more than ever, families are discovering the important role that books play in their lives. Stories provide an escape when we physically can’t go somewhere, they introduced us to characters that become friends we love, and they foster a bonding opportunity for children and their families at story-time. I am so grateful for my StorybookTree community – a place where we can adventure together through the pages of books!
I couldn’t agree more! I wish you all the best, Danielle, and applaud the wonderful products you are creating for families everywhere. I wish you all the best!
