Hooray, Book Birthday, Today! “Don’t Ask a Dinosaur” is officially EVERYWHERE – with a Giveaway!

The wait is over!

The day has finally come: Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books) is now available online and in bookstores across the land!

My co-author, Deborah Bruss, and I kicked off the The Dinosaur Tour book tour at Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough, NH and Toadstool Bookshop, Keene, NH this past Saturday. (That’s right: two signings in one day, and the book hadn’t even been officially released yet!)

The folks at Toadstool were celebrating Children’s Author Day, and we were joined by local illustrator Ryan O’Rourke, who was celebrating the release of Alphabet Boats (Charlesbridge) by Samantha Vamos – which is also officially out today. And as you can see in the first pic below, I also shared the new poetry anthology School People (Wordsong), of which I am one of 14 contributors, and Flashlight Night (Boyds Mills Press, 2017).

 

 

The Dinosaur Tour blog tour is rolling full-steam ahead! As part of our book’s kickoff, several kidlit bloggers are sharing DAAD reviews, interviews, and contests. I want to thank Momma’s Bacon for reviewing our book today – and for a list of all the bloggers participating, you can check out this list:

April 6:       Michelle H. Barnes (Interview w/month-long writing prompt)
April 8:       Kate Narita (Book trailer & activity sheet spotlight)
April 11:     Deborah Kalb (Interview w/Matt & Deb)
April 13:     Yours Truly! (Interview w/illustrator Louie Chin)
April 16:     KidLit Exchange (Blog post re: process of illustration)
April 17:     Jama’s Alphabet Soup (Even though she’s not an “official” part of the blog tour, I wanted to thank her for giving DAAD some Book Birthday love on her blog today!)
April 17:     Momma’s Bacon (DAAD review)
April 17:     Yours Truly!
April 18:     Bonnie Ferrante (DAAD review)
April 19:     KidLit Exchange (DAAD review)
April 19:     Brenda Davis Harsham (DAAD micro review)
April 25:     Bonnie Ferrante (Interview w/Matt & Deb)
May 2:        Unleashing Readers (DAAD review)
May 30:      Bookseedstudio (DAAD review/interview) 

Both images from “Don’t Ask a Dinosaur,” © 2018 Pow! Kids Books, used with permission, all rights reserved (click to enlarge)

Tonight, Deb and I will be celebrating the National Book Launch for DAAD just outside of Boston, at Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA. It’s a Dual National Launch Party, as we’ll be there with author/poet Holly Thompson, who will be reading and discussing her new picture book, One Wave at a Time (Albert Whitman & Co.), a thoughtful, touching story about loss and healing.

If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join us at 7pm for lots of fun, plenty of books, and…

…cake!

That’s my homemade vegan chocolate cake – the best chocolate cake you’ve ever tasted – baked in Deb Bruss’ dinosaur pan and hand-decorated by my step-daughter, Jessica. Imagine the overwhelming sense of melancholy that will befall you, knowing what you missed out on, should you decide not to attend.

(HEY MATT, DON’T FORGET TO MENTION THE GIVEAWAY.)

Oh, that’s right – the GIVEAWAY! In addition to my Poetry Cubed contest and Michelle H. Barnes’ month-long “TLD” writing prompt, I have yet another way for you to win a signed copy of Don’t Ask a Dinosaur:

Share the news!

It’s simple, really – you can do any one of the following:

1. Comment on this post, below
2. Share this post via Facebook or Twitter
3. Share my interview with illustrator Louie Chin from last Friday
4. Share the book trailer and activity sheets featured at Kate Narita’s blog
5. Do all four!

Each one of these counts as an entry, which means you could have as many as four entries…and if you add in the other 2 contests, that’s SIX different opportunities to win THREE copies! Just be sure to tag me when you share these links, so I can count you. I’ll draw ONE NAME at the end of the month. Good luck, and thank you!

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“DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR”
is now available everywhere!

The Dinosaur Tour book tour is underway! Here’s the most up-to-date schedule:

• TONIGHT 7pm:  Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur Dual National Launch Party!! (with Holly Thompson, One Wave at a Time reading/signing/discussion)
• Thur., April 26, 10:30am:  Pillsbury Free Library, Warner, NH, Dinosaur Storytime with Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People!
• Sat., April 28, 10:30am: Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People reading/signing
• Sat., April 28, 2pm: Barnes & Noble, Framingham, MA, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur reading/signing (with Sara Levine, Fossil by Fossil: Comparing Dinosaur Bones reading/signing)
• Sun., April 29, 2pm:  MainStreet BookEnds, Warner, NH, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People reading/signing and discussion
• Sat., May 5, 10am: Barnes & Noble, Burlington, MA, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People reading/signing
• Sat., May 5, 1pm:  Barnes & Noble, Nashua, NH, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and Flashlight Night reading/signing
• Sat., May 12, 11am:  Gibson’s Bookstore, Concord, NH, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People reading/signing
• Wed., May 16, 12pm: Concord Hospital Gift Shop, Concord, NH, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People signing
• Sat., May 19, 11:30am-3pm: Barnes & Noble, Salem, NH, National Storytime at 11am, followed by Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People reading/signing
• Sat., June 2, 1-3pm: Books-A-Million, Concord, NH, Don’t Ask a Dinosaur and School People reading/signing

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Thank you so much to all the librarians, bloggers, and parents who are still discovering “Flashlight Night!” 

• NY Public Library’s “100 Best Book for Kids 2017” AND “Staff Pick!”
• KIRKUS Starred review!
• Amazon “Best Books of the Month,” Sept. 2017!
• “Best Reads of 2017,” Unleashing Readers

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Purchasing personalized signed copies ONLINE? Yes, it’s true!

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new way to purchase personalized signed copies of not only Flashlight Night, but ANY of my books or anthologies I’ve been part of!

I’ve teamed up with the good folks MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH to present an option for people who would love to have a signed copy of one of my books but don’t live anywhere near me. MainStreet BookEnds has ALL but one of my books available for ordering…and the best part is, you can get them personalized!

Just log onto my website and click the cover of whichever book you want, and they will get it to me to sign and send it off to you. Try doing that with those big online booksellers! (Plus, you’ll be helping to support local book-selling – and wouldn’t that make you feel good?)

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