A National Flashlight Day GIVEAWAY- and the I AM TODAY Blog Tour rolls on!

Believe it or not, National Flashlight Day is a real thing, celebrated annually on the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year, and therefore a good reason to celebrate flashlights).

And I’m sure you can understand why I love flashlights.

I’d also like to thank Kathy at Celebrate Picture Books for featuring my book Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) on her blog! She celebrates National Flashlight Day with a review of the book, and I’m extremely grateful for her support.

Tell you what…leave a comment below and/or share this blog post on Twitter (and be sure to tag me @MattForrestVW) and at 7pm on the night before Christmas Eve I’ll pick a winner of a FREE, PERSONALLY-SIGNED copy of Flashlight Night!

In other news…the I Am Today blog tour continues rolling along! Yesterday my good friend Maria Marshall posted an interview she did with both me and illustrator Patricia Pessoa at her blog, the Picture Book Buzz.

^{Illustrator Patricia Pessoa}

It was fun being able to be part of an interview with both of us, and learning a little about each other (we both want kids to feel like thyey have a voice, we both love raspberry jam, and we’re both cat people!)

Be sure to check out Maria’s blog post HERE – and many thanks to all the bloggers who are sharing interviews, reviews, and giveaways! Later today, Debbie at Future Bookworms on IG and the Momma Spot blog will be sharing her review, so I hope you’ll follow her and learn her thoughts on the book.

The complete list:

• Nov. 14: Unleashing Readers
• Nov. 29: You May Contribute a Verse
• Nov. 30: Picture Book Spotlight
• Dec. 2: Celebrate Picture Books
• Dec. 3: Beyond Literacy Link
• Dec. 4: Vivian Kirkfield’s “Will Write for Cookies”
• Dec. 7: Writer’s Rumpus
• Dec. 20: Maria C. Marshall’s “Picture Book Buzz”
• Dec. 21: Future Bookworms (Instagram) / The Momma Spot (blog)
• Dec. 24: Maria C. Marshall’s “Perfect Picture Book Friday”

I Am Today (POW! Kids Books) is available for pre-orders everywhere books are sold – but if you order from my local indie bookstore, I can personally-sign ANY of my books and have them in the mail usually within 12-24 hours!

More details in the video:

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I’m now a part of the BOOKROO family!

Create an account to add books to wishlists and be notified of special deals and dates…create custom collections…and discover and follow your favorite authors & illustrators!

Find out more about BOOKROO here!

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I’d love to visit with you or your child!
Learn more by clicking the graphic!

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I continue adding to my “Wit & Wordplay” videos ! These videos were created for parents and educators (along with their kids) to learn how to write poetry, appreciate it, and have fun with it. From alliteration and iambs to free verse and spine poetry, I’m pretty sure there’s something in these videos you’ll find surprising! You can view them all on my YouTube channel, and if you have young kids looking for something to keep busy with, I also have several downloadable activity sheets at my website.

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Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!

You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don’t Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I’ve been part of!

Click any of the covers below to order!

^{rriving Nov. 30, 2021! Pre-order now!}

Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They’ll contact me, I’ll stop by and sign it, and then they’ll ship it! (Plus, you’ll be supporting your local bookseller – and won’t that make you feel good?)

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Thank you to everyone for your support!

FLASHLIGHT NIGHT:

• NY Public Library’s “100 Best Book for Kids 2017” AND “Staff Pick!”
• KIRKUS Starred review!
• Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Books!
• “Best Reads of 2017,” Unleashing Readers
• Finalist, 2019 New Hampshire Literary Awards
• Positive reviews from Horn Book, School Library Connection, School Library Connection, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, and Shelf-Awareness!

DON’T ASK A DINOSAUR:

• “Rollicking rhyme!” – Booklist
  • “A wild romp!” – Parenting NH Magazine
  • “Cute…intriguing…4 out of 5 stars”     – Tulsa Book Review
  • “Rhythmic…funny and informative”     – Unleashing Readers

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Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won’t mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!

To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right!  (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won’t be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and SoundCloud!