Kirkus Review - Roto & Roy

The first book in my next picture book series has a GREAT review from Kirkus! 🎉🎉🎉 (If you know Kirkus, they can be pretty harsh. 🙄) My friend Don Tate is KILLING IT! I can’t wait for you all to meet Roto and Roy!!! (in February! Preorder NOW!)

Kirkus: No wildfire stands a chance when Roy Thunder and his helicopter, Roto, take to the skies. Firefighting pilot Roy, whose race is ambiguous, is a superhero in every way. One morning, after a lightning strike sparks a wildfire in a canyon, Roy and Roto—who is anthropomorphic with green eyes—set off together to fight the blaze. Their strenuous mission involves using a hose to draw up water from a lake and flying for hours “through the high winds, smoke, and heat.” Although it takes filling Roto’s tank with water 10 times to put out the conflagration, the heroes prevail. However, just when all seems safe, they spot a petrified puppy precariously close to a cliff’s edge. In a daring air rescue, Roto hovers and Roy rappels to the ground to reach the forlorn animal. Job complete, the pair head back to Hangar One, where they receive a true hero's welcome. This engaging, rhyming picture book looks and feels like a large comic book. The cartoonlike illustrations are action-packed and divided into panels on several spreads. Like classic superhero comics, there is plenty of onomatopoeia, inviting audience participation. During the air rescue scene, the layout changes to horizontal orientation twice, a move that will surprise and delight readers. When read aloud, the book does feel a bit long. A fun friendship story for young readers fond of brave exploits, helicopters, comics, or any combination thereof.

So very grateful....

Feeling very grateful tonight for the devoted fans (young and not so young!) of the Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site series. CONSTRUCTION SITE ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT has now been on the NYT Best Seller list for 27 weeks, sold more than half a million copies, and moved up to the #2 spot on the NYT, alongside these fabulous titles. (Please don't miss BORN ON THE WATER; it's gorgeous.) We're so thrilled. Thank you, as always, to the READERS, and to all of the wonderful folks at Chronicle, who put their all into these books. Sending all of you happiest holiday wishes!

Any events commemorating silver pieces?

Does anyone know of any traditions of commemorating events with silver pieces?

I’ve been going through a pile of mismatched silver pieces, given to me by various relatives.

These spoons are all engraved on the fronts with “Entre Nous” (between us). Then, most of the spoons have a date engraved on the backs — 1924, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34 (all different dates/months). Two are undated.

(The pattern is Gorham Etruscan Key.)

Oops!

When you’ve thrown on boots over your pajamas to take your kid to school… and three hours later you realize you’re still dressed like that. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Thanks Westin Public Library!

From the children’s book section at the Westin Public Library: Thank you, @bellaonbooks for this adorable post! 🐶 (I’m a huge dog lover; this kills me!)
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What are YOU reading this weekend? We have some ongoing house projects, so reading about construction sites seemed a perfect fit! Grab your construction hat and join in.

Featured in PW

Featured in PW Bookshelf, WITH PHOTO! 🎉 I’m BEYOND EXCITED about this project with my friend, Don Tate. 🚁👨🏾‍🚀Preorder, please! 🙏🏻 Available in February.

Roto and Roy

A sneak peek at my next picture book series, illustrated by the incredibly talented Don Tate. Our FIRST REVIEW is in — and it’s lovely!!!

Publishers Weekly — ROTO AND ROY: HELICOPTER HEROES (Little Brown, Feb. 2022). “Rinker’s (Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site) brisk, bouncy rhymes and Tate’s (William Still and His Freedom Stories) crisp, curvilinear digital cartoons vividly chronicle the duo’s firefighting heroics. . . . It’s the ideal story for any reader who yearns for straight-up selfless heroism from people and vehicles alike."