My Little Angel Coloring Book Wins Gold in the Book Excellence Awards

“Dear Sherrill,

It is with great pleasure to announce that you have been selected as a Book Excellence Award Winner for the following book and category:

Book Title: My Little Angel Coloring Book

Category: Coloring Book

There were thousands of entries from around the world and your book was selected for its high-quality writing, design and market appeal…”

This is the 5th Award for this coloring book, which is a coloring book version of the popular My Little Angel children’s book, encouraging young readers to illustrate their own version of the book in which a young girl has her guardian angel sitting on her shoulder and keeping her safe, guiding her through her various daily activities.  It has previously won 1st place in Children’s interactive in both the Royal Dragonfly and Purple Dragonfly Awards, as well as a winner of a Maincrest Media Award and a Finalist in Feathered Quill Children’s Poetry.

Another Award!!

Top 13 Children’s Books include Manner-Man and Gimme-Jimmy! Thank you eTeachersHub

5 AWARDS

Manner-Man 10 Awards

So thrilled to discover that both Gimme-Jimmy and Manner-Man have made the eTeachersHub list of the Top 13 Children’s Books!  Included is a really cute video of a young reader reading part of Manner-Man…

Top 13 Children’s Books for Young Readers – eTeachershub!

Video:  https://youtu.be/ww00vKg9Rps

Great Review for Peter and the Whimper-Whineys! Remember, Easter is coming soon – and Peter is a Rabbit!

Thank you to Naila Moon for this awesome review!!!

Whine-Stopper! Happy Easter!!

Summary:
“In a house in the forest all covered with vines, Lived a very small rabbit who did nothing but whine.” Thus begins the rhymed story of Peter and the Whimper-Whineys. Peter’s mother warns him that if he cannot stop whining and crying, he’ll have to go live with the Whimper-Whineys. His adventure continues as he later hops into the woods and finds lots of frightening Whimper-Whineymen! He discovers that the Whimper-Whineys are very ill-mannered and rude, and that everything is sour in Whimper-Whineland. He decides his mother was right…If only he can get back home…!

My review:
I think if there was one book to read to children about being whiney, this is it! I loved the re-hashed family story that the author put her own spin to. Apparently, this story had been told by her own mother many times over, the author simply put it to rhyme. She did that very well, I might add.

This story is meant to be a “moral” story making note of consequences for ones actions. I was totally immersed! Even being adult, I got it and kids would too.

The illustrations were top notch which is quite interesting since they were all in dark and muted colors for most of the book. This may seem odd for a children’s book but actually it is quite purposeful in this case and worked well.

Every kid, everywhere, needs to read this book. 5 stars without a doubt!

My New iPhone Case from Shutterfly…

Makes Me Smile!

Love my iPhone 6+ – Great cover!

It was lots of fun to design my own cover for my iPhone 6+ on Shutterfly, and using 3 of the covers of my children’s books makes me smile every time I look at it!

Great way to share my books with others as well!

A Walking Advertisement for Manner-Man!

Manner-Man Badge

I received the cutest note from a Mom.  As mentioned in the back of my Manner-Man book, a child can request a Manner-Man badge.  I love this comment!

“Thank you so much for the sticker — my son has placed it on the very front of his construction helmet that he wears at all times. He is now a walking advertisement for Manner-Man! It gets quite the reaction from moms at the park.”

Thanks for sharing!!

Another Lovely Review for My Fingerpaint Masterpiece as part of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day

My Fingerpaint Masterpiece

My Fingerpaint Masterpiece received a lovely review, as part of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Please click here for full review: Adventures of Adam Review

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2015

“We are excited to be taking part in Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2015. We were asked to review a multicultural book and create an accompanied activity to help get families engaged in reading. We were extremely fortunate to be given a copy of My Fingerpaint Masterpiece by Sherrill S. Cannon.

My Fingerpaint Masterpiece is told from the point of view of the main character who is never portrayed. You get glimpses of their hand and a shadow of a face. It is left up to the reader whether the child is a girl or a boy and what nationality they are. This is a deliberate and ties into the books main theme of perception and perspective. Sherrill wanted her illustrations to appeal to all children and they have been illustrated from a multi-cultural perspective.

The story is a creative rhyming tale about how a child’s unfinished art project becomes an award winning painting on display. The book raises issues about abstract art and how beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

We loved the cleverness of the illustrations. You see the book in a new light when you hold the book upside down. There are also many hidden objects that can be seen when the book is the wrong way round.

To accompany the book we decided to create our own fingerprint masterpiece. We made homemade edible finger paint following the recipe on Imagination Tree. Our Wilton Food Colouring made beautifully colour finger paint.

Adam enjoyed mixing the food colouring into the cornflour, however, he did not want to touch the paint. Cornflour was obviously a step too far and too messy for him. So instead he used a teaspoon to spoon the paint onto the paper.

Painting with cornflour

After 20 minutes of exploring colour mixing and how to create small blobs and big blobs of paint onto the paper Adam actually did a small amount of fingerpainting.

Fingerpainting!

Adam’s masterpiece may not be featuring in any art gallery soon but he thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating his fingerpaint masterpiece.

More information about the author:
Sherrill S. Cannon is a former teacher, mother of four and a grandmother of ten, who is also an Award-Winning Best-Selling Author. In less than five years, her books My Fingerpaint Masterpiece, Manner-Man, Gimme-Jimmy, The Magic Word, Peter and the Whimper-Whineys, and Santa’s Birthday Gift have received twenty-eight 2011-14 National and International awards. Most of her books try to teach something, like good manners and consideration for others. All of her books are also part of a fundraiser for both imbullyfree.org and CureJM Foundation. Sherrill is also the author of seven published and internationally performed plays for elementary school children. She is a resident of New Hope, PA and travels with her husband of 54 years throughout North America in their RV, sharing her books along the way.

Why not take a look at Sherrill’s other work on her website and blog. You can also follow Sherrill on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

More information about Multi Cultural Children’s Book Day:

Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries.

Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day, Mia and Valarie are on a mission to change all of that. Their mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these types of books into classrooms and libraries. Another goal of this exciting event is create a compilation of books and favorite reads that will provide not only a new reading list for the winter, but also a way to expose brilliant books to families, teachers, and libraries.”

Thank you, Adam (and Emma!)

My Fingerpaint Masterpiece included in Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Multicultural Children’s Book Day

I am so proud that My Fingerpaint Masterpiece is included in the 2015 Multicultural Book Day, and I am happy to be one of the Author Sponsors!

Please click here:  Multicultural Children’s Bookday – Author Sponsors

There are many awesome books included in this celebration of children everywhere… so please take a look!!!

My Fingerpaint Masterpiece is all about perception and perspective, and is told and illustrated from the point of view of the child. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”…

All children should be able to identify with children’s books, and diversity is important… Please let me know whether you think the child is a girl or a boy… the current voting percentage is 50/50!!

My Fingerpaint Masterpiece

Thank you Andy Mulberry for the nice Interview and Giveaway

5 Awards

Thanks to Andy Mulberry, author of middle-grade fiction, for this wonderful interview!  One print copy and one eBook of My Fingerpaint Masterpiece will be part of her Giveaway.

Please click here for complete Interview and Giveaway:

Andy Mulberry Interview and Giveaway

I asked: Please recommend a children’s book for me to read.
Sherrill answered: Other than my own books, which I’d love to share with you, please pick any Dr. Seuss book – although I have to say that Horton Hatches the Egg is my favorite… I love his ability to rhyme with meter, and the underlying validation of loyalty and commitment. (Nature vs. nurture?)

I asked: What is your favorite dessert?
Sherrill answered: A single piece of Dove Dark Chocolate with Almonds…every night!

I asked: If you were an animal, what would you be?
I’m very happy with being myself, but I can see myself as a dog… I tend to like people, and love to give…and especially enjoy hugging.

I asked: Do you have any strange writing habits?
Sherrill answered: Many people ask me if I always write in rhyme, and that happens to be what I consider a “strange writing habit” since I often think in rhyme as well. Of course only my children’s stories are in rhyme – but it’s definitely a different process. One has to have something to say, and some point to make, but it all has to be conveyed not only by using rhyming words, but also by putting them into a specific meter. This involves having the accents of the words fit into a pattern – which I usually refer to as the “music of the words”. It’s not enough to have words rhyme at the end of a line – and this is where many authors of children’s books have problems.

I asked: What writing advice do you have for other aspiring authors?
Sherrill answered: The most important investment any author should make is to have your book edited! Nothing turns a reader off more quickly than repeated typos, grammatical errors or lack of proper punctuation. Since my experience is in rhyming children’s books, I’d like to offer some additional advice about this. Please be very diligent about staying within a specific meter (or cadence) and always read your books out loud before sending them anywhere official. Editing is imperative, but often editors don’t really understand the need for meter. Sometimes editors forget that “said”, “answered” and “responded” are not interchangeable in lyrical poetry!!! Consequently, you should read your book aloud again after editing, before accepting any changes! I could go on and on, but If anyone has any further questions, please write to me. My email is sherrillcannon@aol.com

I asked: What are you working on now? What is your next project?
Sherrill answered: I have just gone into illustration for my seventh children’s book, to be released in April 2015 (hopefully.) The title is Teacher’s Warning. It differs a little from my previous books, although it still attempts to teach values to children disguised as a fun story. This one emphasizes the need to be a good listener! It is fun to be working with my illustrator, Kalpart, again. Since this talented artistic team has illustrated all my books, I am able to request repeat cameo appearances from previous characters, as well as covers from my other books, within the pages (which my fans seem to love to find!) It also includes the names of those who have contributed through the fundraisers…so if you hurry, you might get your name included in Teacher’s Warning also!

Thank you so much, Sherrill, for being a guest on my blog today and generously offering to give away your book! I very much enjoyed reading it and had fun trying to figure out if the artist is a boy or girl! Reader tip: read the “Special Note from Sherrill” at the end of the book, for some advice at looking at the “masterpiece”!

Thank you Leyla Atke for the nice Interview!

Sherrill S. Cannon

Come and meet awesome award-winning author of children’s books Sherrill S. Cannon on Leyla Atke’s website!
Interview with Sherrill Cannon by Leyla Atke

INTERVIEW WITH AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR SHERRILL S. CANNON. #BOOKS

December 18, 2014
I am so honored to interview an award-winning author of multiple children’s books, Sherrill S. Cannon for my official author website. A former teacher, Sherrill S. Cannon of New Hope, Pennsylvania, is now retired and travels the country with her husband in an RV, going from coast to coast to visit their children and grandchildren, sharing her books along the way.

Author Sherrill S. Cannon’s children’s books have won her twenty-eight prestigious awards in 2011-14. In the past five years, this award-winning former teacher has had six books and seven children’s plays published. Her seventh will be released in 2015!

Thank you, Leyla, for this great opportunity! I am so pleased to be here.

Sherrill, could you please tell about yourself? Where you grew up, the places you lived, your family and your current place of living?

I was born in West Palm Beach, FL but only stayed there until I was 9 months old! My hotel-manager Canadian father took us to the Royal Muskoka Hotel (Ontario, Canada) for several years before he became the Manager of the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. when I was 6. We lived there for 10 years – which made me sort of an “original Eloise”! My husband and I married when we were 20 and 22 respectively, and lived in Northern Virginia for 19 years, ten of which I was a teacher, and later a newspaper sports photographer and columnist while raising our 4 children. Multiple years and moves (and jobs, including running a Dinner Theatre, and being an Office Manager) later, we are now in New Hope, PA, a suburb of Philly, where we are retired (if you don’t count my husband’s consulting business and my children’s books…) and traveling in our RV. We celebrated our 54th Anniversary in June!

2. What kind of person are you?

I like to think that I am a giving person… I truly love to give, and make others happy. My greatest achievement in life are my children who are all contributing nicely to society… well, that and the success of my books for children!

3. You are an author of many children’s books. Could you please tell from where comes your inspiration for writing?

The first children’s book I wrote was Peter and the Whimper-Whineys, which was a story my mother told to me as a child, and later to her grandchildren, which I wanted to get into written form so that it would not be lost. Because I have always loved poetry – and the rhyme and meter of words – it seemed wonderful to combine both story-telling and poetry…so that children could hear the music of the words. My first published children’s book was Santa’s Birthday Gift, which was inspired by my granddaughter who, after listening to me read the story of the Nativity to her, looked at me and asked, “But where’s Santa?” That story actually came to me in a dream that night – and it’s not about what Santa gets, but what Santa gives…a promise to baby Jesus to bring gifts at Christmas to celebrate His birthday.

What are your books about? Why do you write?

All of my books try to teach values to children – I guess once a teacher, always a teacher – but they are all disguised as fun stories! “The Golden Rule” is the subliminal message…if everyone could treat others as they wish to be treated themselves, think of what a wonderful world we could have!!!

My books also have strong social messages – about thinking of others, manners, how to cope with bullying, self-esteem…and also are all part of two ongoing fundraisers: http://sbpra.com/CureJM and http://sbpra.com/Imbullyfree – where 50% of the cost of the books goes to each charity.

5. What you are currently working on? Any future plans?

My seventh book, Teacher’s Warning, has just gone into Illustration with my wonderful illustrator, Kalpart, and will be released in April 2015 (hopefully!) Please stay tuned for another rhyming story, with some familiar characters, but a very different storyline!

6. What are your hobbies?

Other than keeping up with all the social media, I love to read – and spend time in the RV, exploring the beauty of the U.S. as we travel to Florida and California and back each year to spend time with our family (and, I admit, to stay warm!)

You can find out more about author and her books at her website: http://sbpra.com/sherrillscannon/

Leyla is the author of Charm, an Amazing Story of a Little Black Cat available at amazon! 

Charm – on amazon

Nice Article by Jean Brenner in the Bucks County Herald…

Book Event at the Learning Express in Richboro, PA (with Jared and Brynn!!)

Thanks to Jean Brenner for this nice article in the Bucks County Herald…

The link to the paper is www.buckscountyherald.com  The article is on page 41.