Author Storytime with Anna Staniszewski

We are so, so lucky because a children’s bookstore recently opened in our hometown! I am still kind of in shock about it. It’s in a beautiful old house and has lots of little rooms and nooks to discover! It’s called Enchanted Passage and if you ever are in the area and have a chance to check it out, you really should. Children’s bookstores are a dying breed. Of course, I highly recommend checking your local library before going to buy books….but if you are purchasing gifts or a special book for yourself, books from any local/indie bookstore are the way to go! Enchanted Passage also has pretty much every Melissa & Doug toy known to man!

A few weeks ago my mom, daughter, and I visited the bookstore for a special author storytime with Anna Staniszewski and we had a great time! Anna read us her first picturebook, Power Down, Little Robot, published by Henry Holt. It’s a very cute story about a little robot who is doing everything he can to NOT go to bed and his “Mom Unit” who is very patiently trying to get him to into “recharge” mode. Sound familiar? It’s a classic story line but throw in some robots and you’ve got a really fun book for both kids and adults! The illustrations by Tim Zeltner are wonderful. When I think of robots, I think of cold, hard, metal, angles, points. His illustrations created a softness to the characters and kept the story warm and cozy, perfect for bedtime.

Power Down Robot final cover

Anna read her book and then gave us a sneak peek of her new picturebook, Dogosaurus Rex, (also Henry Holt) due out in August! It’s illustrated by Kevin Hawkes – who is one of my FAVORITE illustrators. It’s super cute! I can’t wait to have a copy. I already have it on order for my library! Anna also read a great popup book called If You’re a Robot and You Know It, which I have never heard of but am totally purchasing for my storytime collection. We all did a really fun/awkward version of “If you are happy and you know it!” We have a really cute video of it but as there were other people in it, I can’t post it. It was a great way to end the storytime and my daughter LOVED it. And I’m so excited because Anna will be visiting my library in April! YAY! I was lucky enough to have Anna as a writing professor for my MFA degree through Simmons, so we go way back and are totally besties…..Image result for winky face emoji

Dogosaurus Rex

Thanks to my mom for taking pictures! (With the exception of our silly storytime selfie!) Can you believe my two-year-old sat for storytime?! That’s how good it was!

Anna is also the author of several series for tweens & teens, including the UnFairy Tale Life series, The Dirt Diary series, and the Switched at First Kiss series. All of which can be found on her website: http://www.annastan.com

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