Which children’s book author grew up with a pet raccoon? Which one enjoyed reading cereal boxes as a kid? And which one participated in a mass vomit incident with his family? (Ick.) The answers are in our latest podcast, all about author memoirs and autobiographies:

  (12:51)
Download the MP3 (6.2 MB)
• “You little rascal!” — aka our mystery book revealed
• Chicken pot pie with Roald Dahl and candy with R.L. Stine —
• plus an author dream date from one of you!
• Our author memoir picks (Knots in My Yo-yo String by Jerry Spinelli and Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka
• An author memoir red from one of YOU (Marshfield Dreams by Ralph Fletcher)

Also, don’t forget: our new theme is books about royalty, as suggested by one of our kid followers! So send us a review of your favorite book about royalty and check out these books about royalty, fit for a king.

And for this special kid-requested topic, we’re extending the theme to three weeks and offering up:

• May 4th: a new Mystery Book Theater starring royalty, and funnily enough, an animal once again (I guess we love animals?)
• May 11th: a royal KidsmomoMo video
• May 19th: a regal podcast, if it may please the court

So stay tuned!

— Nancy and Karen

Submitted by Hahaha me, Age 11 from Maine

Rating:

Zzz. Another boring read aloud. Zzz. Another non-fiction. Zzz. That’s what I thought when I first heard of Marshfield Dreams. Who cares about Ralph Fletcher as a kid? I had never even heard of him! But Marshfield Dreams ended up being interesting and funny.

Featured in "Author! Author!"

It’s a book about the memories that Ralph Fletcher had as a kid — writing his first story, playing Statues. Meeting Michele, and making the perfect friend he only spent one day with. Marshfield Dreams is short, funny and interesting. But don’t blame me if this review doesn’t catch you; I read it in September!