Check outÌýDeliciousPleasureÌý's post on Rearview Mirror Mittens. If you are not yet a member of Ravelry, today is a good day to join.

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The Next Big Thing: A Global Blog Tour has finally arrived here.Ìý Thank you Anna Levine and Anne Ylvisaker for tagging me.

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Now it’s my turn to share my book and tag others.

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1) What is the title of your book?

ÌýRoom for the Baby

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2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

That’s a great question.

I have always loved making things. Through the years, I have made pot holders, lanyards, crepe paper flowers, and hand looms. Once I even made an angel from an old paperback book. The craft that stuck was knitting. But that's another story.

The idea for Room for the Baby comes from a lifetime of making and remaking. The mother in the book is like many crafters I know, saving the bits and pieces of what others give them.

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3) What genre does your book fall under?

Room for the Baby is a picture book.

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4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Don’t you think Julia Roberts would be great as the mother. Plus she’s a knitter.Ìý How about George Clooney for the dad? I do like handsome fathers. Any ideas for the narrator? I'm stumped.

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5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

“A little boy frets that the sewing room where his baby sister or brother will sleep will never be emptied of things his mother has collected from neighbors for years, but she uses those things to sew and knit everything from diapers to Hanukkah gifts.�

Aren’t editors brilliant at condensing a picture book story into one sentence?

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6) Who is publishing your book?

ÌýRandom House

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7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Would you believe I wrote the first draft of Room For the Baby more than 25 years ago? It took me maybe a week to write it and a quarter of a century to revise it. Back then it was called Yetta the Scrap Saver.

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8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Sims Tabac's telling of the classic tale of repurposing a coat -- Joseph had a Little Overcoat.Ìý

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9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The original inspiration for this story came from many places: the Coney Island neighborhood where my grandmother Yetta Skale lived, my childhood memories of celebrating the Jewish holidays, and my love of making and remaking.

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10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Jana Christy's illustrations. I hope readers will visit Ìý and check out her latest work.

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Thank you for stopping by.

Let Next Big Thing Blog Tour continue!

Tagging ...

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Wild About Bears,Ìýwritten and illustrated by Jeannie Brett

Take a bear-by-bear journey to learn about the world’s eight bear species in this nonfiction picture book.

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ÌýAND

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When therapy dog, Buddy, attends the fourth grade sleep over in the school's library, he solves the mystery of the school ghost.

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AND

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The Honeybee Man illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker.

A story inspired by a real Brooklyn apiarist and his delicious honey.Ìý

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AND

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If It's Snowy and You Know Clap Your Hands written by Kim Norm.

A fun filled romp through winter -- to the tune of If You're Happy and You know It. Sterling, Fall 2013

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AND

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Button DownÌý

Ned, of the comically unlucky Button family, hasn't caught a thing in his life until he faces bully Burton Ward in a challenge to catch their town hero's football.

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and

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Tomorrow I'll be an official stop on The Next Big Thing Global Blog Tour. Drop by then to read my post and see who I have tagged.

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Pa Lia, Howie, Calliope, Mrs. Fennessey, and all the kids in Room 201 at Jackson Magnet join the nation in extending their deepest sympathies to families of Sandy Hook Elementary and Newtown, Connecticut.

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First Review!

Summer is a great season to knit. Elizabeth Zimmerman, the matriarch of American knitting, suggests shawls are a perfect July project. Others would vote for stitching a satisfying simple cotton wash cloth.Ìý . Instead of wool, you might cast on a lace-weight cotton, or bamboo.

Summer vacations and relaxing allows us to catch up on our knitterly reading. To help you enjoy this hot weather opportunity, I’m happy to announce that through July 1oth, Open Road Media is offering the ebook version of my book,Ìý and other popular STC titles for a mere 4.99. In celebration of summer knitting, for knitting projects, playlists to enjoy while knitting, and even to sip while you knit and read.

Summertime knitting. Are you ready?

Selected Open Road Media Blog Posts

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In the classic movieÌýt, Macy's Santa Claus sends a customer to the store's competitor. Macy's didn't stock the toy she wanted, but Gimbels did.

"Go to Gimbels," he tells her. "They have it."

This week, instead of my usual post, I offer one of my favorite Youtubes. I also encourage you to visit other blogs and websites.

Here are a few you might enjoy.

-- this is not pornography

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“First put the whole pod in your mouth, holding the end of it between your fingertips,� Auntie instructed. “Then gently close your lips and pull the pod straight out, sucking all the salty juice.�

Ginnie Lo, Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic

The first time I read the Lo sisters'Ìý Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic, I was so taken by Ginnie Lo’s storytelling, I didn’t even notice that her sister Beth’s full page illustrations were ceramic plates. I missed obvious clues; the oval shaped images against a light grey background and the plate’s shadow creating a darker grey beneath it. I did catch her subtle and unusual color choices and the vintage feel of her images. There’s a heart beat in every picture, including the spot illustrations that appear on the text pages.

Ginnie Lo’s careful and compassionate tale of her family, immediate and extended, reveals their efforts to stay together in a new and foreign country. Her parents and her aunt and uncle had left China to study in America, but the “political upheaval in China� prevented their return.� Because we understand their loneliness, we triumph with them as they create community. We also learn the significance of soybeans to the Chinese. And so when the family takes a ride in the countryside and happens upon what seems to them a cultural impossibility, soybeans in America, it is a joy appreciated by the reader.

You want more details, right? Of course, you do. So hurry out and get yourself a copy of Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic. Don’t forget to pick some soybeans on the way home. Make sure they are shelled so you can eat them the Aunt Yang way. Even the frozen type will do. You’ll crave them when you are done reading. Ìý

Highly Recommended. Starred reviews in Kirkus, Booklist and School Library Journal.

Immigration, community, and finding home in a new country,

Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic, written by Ginnie Lo and illustrated by Beth Lo