What We’re Reading – Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.

Football Facts Even a Bookworm Can Appreciate

Peachtree Publishers — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 14:01:00 +0000

Well, folks, it’s officially summer. You know what that means, right? Football season is right around the corner!

We’re actually pretty big fans at Peachtree, and not just because we’re southern. Fred Bowen, coach and Washington Post sports columnist, is coming out with a brand new football title this August!

Double Reverse is an action-packed middle grade chapter book chronicling one team’s inspiring journey in conquering expectations and seeing themselves, not for how they look, but for what they can achieve.

Now, we know that the stereotypical bibliophile isn’t a huge football fan, but until reading becomes America’s favorite pastime, we thought we’d put together some fun facts about the sport to help you at those inevitable football watch parties.

Professional football was first played on November 12, 1892 between Allegheny Athletic Association and Pittsburgh Athletic Club ending in a 6-6 tie! Look! We even found the “birth certificate” of pro-football!

The payment of player W. Heffelfinger made it official!
Football came about from a combination of soccer and rugby.
The first college game was played on November 6, 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, but the sport didn’t become popular until the 1880s.
Before college games, competitions between Athletic Clubs were fierce and exciting!
The oldest man to ever play the game professionally was George Blanda, aged 48, who played for the Oakland Raiders in 1927. He is also the person who has played the most seasons (26).
Here’s a link to a very extensive time-line of the game including when touchdowns were altered from five points to six (1912) and the first televised game (1939). Pretty Nifty!
The longest field goal was 64 yards made from Matt Prater of the Denver Broncos on December 8, 2013! (You’ll meet an unexpected kicker in Double Reverse!)
There’s an awesome online exhibit called Football and America which details stories of professional football players who served in various wars and the sacrifices they made. Perfect fodder for Fourth of July picnicking conversation!
The title of “The Greatest Game Ever Played” is attributed to the 1958 Championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants. This game led to football becoming America’s favorite sport to watch in the 1960s! Read the full story here.
The highest scoring game is between the Redskins and New York Giants with the final score of 72-41 with the Redskins taking the win! It was on November 27, 1966.
Fran Tarkenton was inducted into the Hall of Fame on August 2, 1986. This player is a huge inspiration for this Bowen novel, so take a look at his impressive history! He retired as the all-time leader in attempts (6,467), completions (3,686), passing yardage (47,003), and touchdown passes (342). Read more here!

If you’re itching for more awesome facts about America’s favorite past-time, these all came from Pro Football Hall of Fame’s official site.

Visit Fred Bowen at fredbowen.com and sportsstoryseries.com. And look for Double Reverse in your local library or bookstore!

Happy Halloween!

Peachtree Publishers — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 19:12:00 +0000

Whether you’re tricking or treating this Halloween, you’ll love these ghoulishly good books featuring all your favorite (and some new) Peachtree monsters!

In When Edgar Met Cecil, a young robot moves to a new town and everything is strange and scary. The kids are so weird, and the biggest, scariest one of all keeps looking at him!

Learn all about the Day of the Dead in Clatter Bash! Graveyard skeletons shake, rattle and roll as they dance and tell stories to celebrate the holiday.

A young boy’s dread of things that go bump in the night fills his head with monstrous thoughts in Trick or Treat on Monster Street. When he gets lost on Halloween and has to fend for himself on Monster Street, he fears the worst!

In The Monster Who Did My Math and The Monster Who Ate My Peas, a young boy gets more than he bargained for after making deals with monsters! Sometimes it’s worth eating your vegetables and doing your own homework if it means avoiding these frightful creatures!

Professor LeGrand warns readers of all the terrible monsters they could encounter in 13 Monsters Who Should Be Avoided. Be careful not to run into a Scarce Sissyfoos — they dine on wet sneakers!

Happy Halloween and Happy Reading!

Now in Paperback!

Peachtree Publishers — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 17:49:00 +0000

We have a ton of awesome paperbacks to share with you! Look for these and all your Peachtree favorites at your local bookstore!

August 2013:

September 2013:

Football titles for Fall!

Peachtree Publishers — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 16:18:00 +0000

Do you have a reluctant reader who loves football? How about an enthusiastic reader who loves football (Or a somewhat reluctant reader who likes sports in general)?

Any kind of reader will LOVE Fred Bowen‘s action-packed sports stories and parents and teachers love the real-life character education and history lesson weaved in, too!

This fall, be sure to check out Quarterback Season and Touchdown Trouble for the pigskin fanatic in your family!

Happy Reading everyone!

Pencils and markers and books, oh my!

Peachtree Publishers — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:48:00 +0000

It happened: summer is over and school is back in session (for most of us)!

When I was younger, I always looked at the store displays with a combination of sadness and excitement. I was sad that games of nighttime hide-and-seek were over but excited to meet a new teacher, new classmates, and to get that new binder with the kitten design on the cover.

Another plus of going back to school? The school library, and the new books I’d convince my mom that I needed for class.

Do the kids in your life need a new book or two for the new school year? Check out our school-themed titles!

New this fall to bookshelves near you:

The irrepressible heroine of I Can Do It Myself! is back and ready for school.

A little courage yields unexpected surprises when Justin visits the dreaded lost and found.

In this sequel to The Library Dragon, Miss Lotty is finally checking herself out of the Sunrise Elementary School Library, but not before Lotta Scales makes one final, fiery stand

If that’s not enough for the reader in your family (is there ever “enough”?), here are a few more to add to your collection!

Sunrise Elementary School has a BIG problem. Their new librarian, Miss Lotta Scales, is a real dragon.

No share time! Only one recess! Writing is hard! The stories don’t end right! FIRST GRADE STINKS!

Follow the rollicking, surreal adventures of a young boy as he races to get to school on time.

When the president of the United States has a frustrating day, he decides to go back to the place where he learned the most important lessons of all.

What will Jake do when he forgets to bring the special collection he’s going to share at the celebration of the 100th day of school?

This humorous tale of a curious young boy and his single-minded quest for knowledge is a heartfelt and affectionate tribute to librarians everywhere.

Fellow bloggers — if you’d like any review copies of these for your own blog, let us know!

Fellow readers — you can find any of these titles at your local library, independent bookstore or on our website!

And finally (you didn’t think we’d forget, did you?), teachers! While you’re gearing up for another great year, make sure to check out our teacher guides — we’ve got lots of great tips on how to incorporate Peachtree titles into the new Common Core curriculum standards!

Happy Reading everyone! Have a great school year!

Paperback Writer…

Peachtree Publishers — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 15:56:00 +0000

We all have them: those well-loved and well-worn paperbacks that we re-read every year, overlooking a torn page here and a broken spine there, dog-ears in every size, the cover perhaps a bit faded but no less loved. It’s hard to imagine a time without this staple of the summer reading list (and TBR piles everywhere), but it was on this day in 1935, just 77 years ago, that paperbacks were first introduced!

In celebration of the beloved paperback, we’re highlighting our newest paperback editions here on the blog today! For more information, check out our main website or, better yet, head out to your local bookstore to find them on the shelf!

Leave a comment below with your email address for your chance to win these great books! Tell us what paperbacks you love to re-read!

When a teenage boy on a high-tech treasure hunt inadvertently stumbles into the middle of a crime, he finds himself in a dangerous situation that could turn deadly.

The author of The Monster Who Ate My Peas offers a fresh angle on math anxiety in this hilarious tale.

Two grieving brothers learn the power of family and the power of white water.

A note from the editor, VH:

“When a book comes out in paperback fairly soon after the hardcover, we usually don’t have to worry about updating the text. We do,however, take advantage of the opportunity to do another careful proof and correct any typos that might be lurking there. But when several years go by between the hardcover and the paperback editions, we try to bring the text up to date. For instance, in Rough Waters, a book that first came out in the late 90s, we changed Walkman to iPod, Game Boy to DS Player, and earphones to earbuds. Who knows what changes we’ll need to make in another few years!”

This satisfying story explores the powerful impact of our actions on the world around us.

Happy Reading! Leave your comment below for your chance to win! I’ll pick a winner at random on Friday, August 3, so keep an eye on your inbox!

*Contest ends Friday, 8/3/12 at 11:59 a.m.

**U.S. residents only, please

World Read Aloud Day with the Peaches!

Peachtree Publishers — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Today is World Read Aloud Day! Started by the organization LitWorld, it is a day to celebrate and uphold the ever important tradition of reading to kids of all ages and promoting literacy. For ideas on how to get involved and raise awareness, check out their website and get reading!

Personally, I have so many wonderful memories of being read to as a child. I know for certain that I would be a very different person today had that love of reading not been instilled in me from a young age. I asked my fellow Peaches in the office about their favorite reading memories:

VH:

My grandmother read to me a lot when I was around four or five years old—quite often from chapter books rather than from short picture books. It was during those read-aloud sessions that I began to read on my own.

She read at least half a dozen of the Raggedy Ann and Andy books to me, books that she had read to my aunts and my dad when they were children. I can still conjure up scenes from those stories—who could forget the naughty Mr. Doodle and the Paper Dragon or the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees?

In turn, I read from those same tattered old books to my own children, and now my daughter is reading them aloud to the delight of my three-year-old granddaughter.

KK:

I was four or five years old and my parents had organized a playroom for my sister and me. In this room was red, kid sized blow-up furniture, toys, a record player, and a lot of books. Even though I had plenty of books from which to choose, I always selected There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon, by Jack Kent.

The book came with a little 45 record and that record taught me how to read that book. Every time I got to the section where the dragon grew big, I would laugh and laugh and point out the pictures. I must have read and listened to that story hundreds of times before we moved and the book/record set was misplaced for good. However, years later, when I became a teacher, one of the very first books I purchased was There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon, which I shared with all my students.

Even as an adult, when I got to the part where the dragon got big, I enjoyed listening to the students laugh and I was right there with them.

KK:

One of my all-time favorite children’s books is Agatha’s Feather Bed: Not Just Another Wild Goose Story by Carmen Agra Deedy. I remember reading this book for the first time during my senior year in college, when I was student teaching, and had to create a unit about endangered animals. The images around the story show where everyday items come from in there original state.

For example, honey comes from bees, bread come from wheat, etc. There is a lovely line in the story that is repeated throughout which says, “Everything comes from something, Nothing comes from nothing…”. I really love how the book perfectly ties in interesting natural resources, nonfiction, around a fictional storyline. Also, the story is beautifully written and enjoyable to read and hear again and again. It makes a great intro to teaching endangered animals too.

MAB:

Children who are read aloud to become adults who love to read. Both my parents read to me constantly while I was growing up, and I really believe that’s what fostered my great love of books (and why I’m working here today!).

Our read-aloud time wasn’t just at bedtime; my parents, my mother especially, read to us throughout the day. Even once I started school, my mother would read aloud to my sister and I as we waited for the school bus together. We read all of the Laura Ingles Wilder books that way.

I always felt special when my mother or father read to us–that they stopped what they were doing to spend time with us and focus on us–I enjoyed that just as much as the stories I heard.

MAB, reading with her dad and sister

CH:

I was helping to clean up the kitchen last Christmas when my 3 ½ year-old cousin, who I rarely get to see, grabbed my hand and silently dragged me to the living room. He then proceeded to bring me book after book to read for a good hour until it was time to open presents. There’s nothing quite like watching a little boy almost fall off the couch laughing because you’re reading There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly out loud to him. Plus he got me out of cleaning the kitchen. Thanks Colt!

My favorite Peachtree book to read aloud is Railroad John and the Red Rock Run written by Tony Crunk and illustrated by Michael Austin. I mean, the title alone is fun to say. The story is a rollicking adventure with great repetition and the quirky characters’ dialogue gives the reader a great excuse to break out their Old West Cowboy accents. What more could you want?

ER:

My fondest memory of being read to is probably one of the more irritating memories for my sisters (pictured below…they didn’t know what they were starting in that photo). I remember thinking how luxurious it was to be read to while taking a hot bubble bath. So, being the precocious (or demanding) 5-year-old that I was, I’d ask to have a bath drawn, hop in, close the curtain and make someone sit on the [closed] toilet and read to me until I was all wrinkly from the tub. I was an audio book lover at an early age!

One of my absolute favorite books, Max’s Chocolate Chicken, was read to me so often that I memorized it — page turns and all. My parents thought I was a genius, reading to myself, until they pointed to a word to quiz me. Busted. Now I know all the words (yes, every single word there is), and we continue to read to the kiddos in our family.

To celebrate World Read Aloud Day in true Peachtree fashion, I’m hosting a giveaway! Post a photo of you (or someone you know, with their permission of course) reading aloud to ANYONE onto our Facebook page and “like” us (if you already have “liked” us, no worries — that counts)!

I’ll pick a winner on Monday 3/12!

What do you win, you ask? A selection of some of our newest read-aloud books including an audio CD of The Library Dragon!

*U.S. residents only, please
**contest ends Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 11:59 p.m.

Grab your books and a camera! (Or it can be an old picture, like ours!)

I’ll get you started!

Dad and me…with a box of Golden Grahams. But, more importantly, a book!

Picture Books: A Love Story

Peachtree Publishers — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:33:00 +0000

I thought I’d take this lovely Valentine’s Day to introduce myself, share a bit about how I got here and, most importantly, share with everyone what I love most about my job and children’s books!

One cold, rainy night on the mountain campus of Berry College, I had an epiphany. I had spent the past 30 minutes reading Shel Silverstein’s The Missing Piece Meets the Big O to some underprivileged individuals (a few friends of mine who had never read it!). The day before, they had asked me what the book was about. For shame! They were preparing to be elementary school teachers – they needed to know this book! I made it a priority to enlighten their literary minds. What followed was a hilarious debate about the true meaning behind the story and in the midst of our hoots and snorts of laughter, one friend asked, “Tell me again why you aren’t an early childhood education major? Or something to do with kids’ books?”

Oh. My. Goodness.

“You’re right,” I said. “You are absolutely right! All this time I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to do with my journalism degree since I can’t stand newspaper writing and the answer has been sitting on my bookshelf all semester!”

It was my junior year and somehow it had not dawned on me that perhaps there was a significant reason for the fact that one section of my college-issued bookshelf was always reserved for my favorite picture books. I packed and unpacked them every semester, always leaving room for the new treasures I’d find in the coming months.

Staples on that shelf were Corduroy, Madeline and the Bad Hat, the Velveteen Rabbit, Caps for Sale, and the Runaway Bunny. I also brought the Secret Garden, the BFG, and the Boxcar Children. I started collecting books by Mo Willems, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and any other new favorites I discovered. These books soon became such a part of me that my friends would call me from the store when they found one to add to my collection. They’d give me picture books for my birthday, including one that fast became a favorite: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. The dialogue especially cracked me up while I read it aloud in our local Panera, sneaking glances with the 5-year-old who was enjoying the reading tremendously from the next table. I felt ever so slightly like a complete nerd because that sweet, book-loving kiddo wasn’t the only one listening, but we had a good time and I still love reading that one to my friends.

The best part of this story is that it ends well. I found an internship with Peachtree Publishers that summer after junior year, absolutely fell in love with the publicity department and the company as a whole and a few years later I got the marvelous opportunity to return!

So here I am, once again surrounded by picture books and the creative teams who take them from conception to the shelf and I can’t believe my good fortune. In no other industry do you find talking birds, sarcastic elephants, piglets who only want to tidy their rooms and a donkey who says, “What a fantastic pebble!” Just the other day, I sat in on a meeting where for thirty minutes we discussed the personality of a penguin.

I think I love my job!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Read-A-Thon: Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 02:01:00 +0000

I love reading memoirs, so this book has been in my to-be-read pile for a while. Eleanor was living in America with her German parents. Her father is offered a good paying job in Germany, so they move back at the beginning of the war.

Eleanor’s Story has received numerous accolades including a starred review in Booklist, International Reading Association’s 2000 Children’s Book Award, and is an ALA (YALSA) 2000 Best Book for Young People. If you’re a teacher, be sure to check out the teacher’s guide for it here.

10:03 p.m. Time to start book 3! I guess it is book 4 if you count the picture book.

I completely fell asleep around 2 a.m., book in hand and light on. I’ll be napping and relaxing today though, and finishing this book, because I’m really enjoying it.

Read-A-Thon: The Post Where I Read to You

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:38:00 +0000

I thought it would be nice change of pace to read to you. I’m a little sleepy now, but enjoy all the same.