Martha Seif Simpson

 

Happy December!      

 

Welcome to issue #45 of The Simpsonian Muse. I am your scribe, Martha Seif Simpson, Author and Children's Librarian. As the header says, this monthly newsletter will feature:

• News – Mine as well as other interesting tidbits
• Views – A few photos from my world travels
• Stuff to Amuse – A mish-mash of activities, crafts, recipes, videos or whatever I am excited about sharing

If you missed the previous newsletters, you can click the button on the left sidebar on my website to catch up or click here. *NOTE: If you are a subscriber to my newsletter and some of the photos don't show up, please go to my website to read it. The server is sometimes finicky.

Thanks for joining me on this adventure. I hope you will find something to inform and entertain you.

 

~ NEWS ~

 

I have great news about my new book! A Ring for a King: A Tale of King Solomon will be published on April 1, 2025. You can pre-order it on Bookshop.org for $18.55, a discount from the $19.95 list price from Amazon.

Here is the cover. Isn't it beautiful?

 

I'm looking forward to the publication of A Ring for a King and promoting it. If you or someone you know wants to invite me to do an interview or book event, please let me know.

 

But wait, there's more!

 

On November 2, I joined 60 other local authors who displayed their books at the Norwalk Public Library 8th Annual Book and Author Festival. I met lots of people and sold some books, too! Thanks to the folks at Connecticut Book Festivals for inviting me.

I signed up to be a sponsor for Read Your World (formerly called Multicultural Children's Book Day) again. To help publicize the event, I will be interviewed live on Instagram on December 12 by Leanna Guillén Mora. You'll be able to find it here: @readyourworldmcbd.

 

BOOK SHARE

 

With Hanukkah just a few days away, Leanna will be interviewing me about my book, The Dreidel That Wouldn't Spin. Here are some other books about dreidels.

 

New this year:

 

Gingerbread Dreidels by Jane Breskin Zalben

A blended family celebrates both Chanukah and Christmas in this festive book.

 

Little Dreidel Learns to Spin by Rebecca Gardyn Levington

In this cute rhyming story, a little dreidel finds it takes practice to learn how to spin.

 

My Dreidel by Ann Koffsky

A puppy tries to spin a dreidel in this charming board book.

 

Favorites from past years:

 

The Mexican Dreidel by Linda Elovitz Marshall

Danielito doesn't have a Mexican trompo to spin with the boys in Bobe's neighborhood, so he spins a dreidel instead.

 

Tizzy the Dizzy Dreidel by Allison and Wayne Marks

A dreidel named Tizzy gets dizzy when she tries to spin in this joyful rhyming story.

 

The Extraordinary Dreidel by Devorah Omer

Uncle Haim made a special wooden dreidel that has a hidden compartment. What should Gil and Nurit put inside it?

 

Also, I'm passing on some news from Heidi Rabinowitz, who hosted Erica Perl, Henry Herz, and Joanne Levy on The Book of Life Podcast. They spoke about "A Very December 25th Hanukkah." You can hear the interview here. 

 

And since we're in the midst of Jewish Book Month, Heidi is posting daily Jewish kidlit reading recommendations on the theme of Activism. You can see them on her Facebook and Instagram sites. At the end of Jewish Book Month (December 24) she will post the full list at Bookoflifepodcast.com

 

CALENDAR TRIVIA

 

This year, I'm featuring the birth dates of authors and illustrators who create(d) books for kids and teens. Here are some people and a sample of their books.

 

This year, I'm featuring the birth dates of authors and illustrators who create(d) books for kids and teens. Here are some people and a sample of their books.

• December 1 -  Jan Brett (The Mitten)
• December 2 -  David Macaulay (Black and White)   
• December 4 -  Munro Leaf (The Story of Ferdinand)
• December 5 – Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
• December 8 -  Mary Azarian (Snowflake Bentley)  
• December 9  - Jean de Brunhoff (The Story of Babar)
• December 10 – Mary Norton (The Borrowers)
• December 11 – William Joyce (The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore)
• December 13 - Tamora Pierce (The Song of the Lioness)
• December 19 – Eve Bunting (Smoky Night) 
• December 22 – Jerry Pinkney (The Lion and the Mouse)  
• December 23 – Avi (Poppy)  
• December 24 – Johnny Gruelle (Raggedy Ann)
• December 26 - Jean Van Leeuwen (Tales of Oliver Pig)
• December 28 - Carol Ryrie Brink (Caddie Woodlawn)  
• December 29 – Richard Atwater (Mr. Popper's Penguins)  
• December 29 – Molly Bang (The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher)
• December 30 – Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Story)
• December 30 – Mercer Meyer (Little Critter books)
• December 31 - Gerald McDermott (Arrow to the Sun)

Do you know…

• Which author wrote the text for a Caldecott Medal winner?
• Which author has won several Emmys and an Academy Award?
• Which 2 authors won the Newbery Medal? Who won a Newbery Honor?
• Which 2 Caldecott Medal winners also illustrated multiple Caldecott Honor books?
• Who are the 4 Caldecott Medal winners?

 

  ~ VIEWS ~

 

If you have read my past newsletters, you'll know that I've been reminiscing about the wonderful cruise down the Danube River that John and I took in the fall of 2023. Having gone through Prague,

Pilsen, Regensberg, Passau, Melk, and Dürnstein, we arrived in Vienna, Austria on November 9. We had just one day in this magnificent city, so we went on three excursions in an attempt to pack in as much as we could.

 

The port where our boat docked wasn't near the center of Vienna, so we had to take a bus which brought us over a bridge

that was guarded by these lion statues

and past this picturesque tower which, believe it or not, is the recycling plant.

The Habsburg monarchs built Schönbrunn Palace, our first destination, in the 17th century to use as their summer residence and for leisure and entertainment.

We entered the grounds by this fountain

and walked past the manicured lawn to this enormous building.

Unfortunately, we saw just a fraction of the palace, and my photos didn't do it justice, so please click here to take a terrific virtual tour of the palace interior.

 

Our afternoon excursion took us to the Hofburg Imperial Palace, which was originally built in the center of Vienna during the 13th century for use as a fortress. Consisting of several buildings, it served as the royal palace and winter residence of the Habsburg dynasty. In 1946, it became the official residence and office of the president of Austria.

We passed several gardens on our way toward the palace.

Here are the same buildings as we got a bit closer. Keep an eye on the building with the round green roof that has a point at the top, toward the right of the photo.

Now it's in the center of this photo, after we passed the white building.

Find it to the left, past this fountain.

Now you can see that there are actually two green domes, on either side of the horse statue, and some of the palace is in view.  

We walked past the horse and entered the palace grounds through the columned archways.

This statue is in the courtyard. You can see one of the green domes on the left

and the other on the right in this photo.

We walked through the archway guarded by two white statues

and found ourselves inside one of the green domes.

After looking around, we moved through an arch to get to the area where the Spanish stallions are kept.

 

One of the horses posed for us.

I would have loved to see more of the palace and a performance by the stallions, but our travel guide had other plans for us. (I know - all this build-up, and then we didn't even get to see inside the palace it all. What a disappointment!)

 

So we left the building, turned a corner, and found ourselves smack in the middle of the shopping district

where older buildings were mixed in with ultra-modern structures.

The shops were already decked out for Christmas

Of course, we had to stop to sample some of the local pastries.

And that was all we had time to do, because the tour ended and we had to return to the boat for dinner. Not exactly the palace tour we had expected!

 

Our evening outing brought us to a beautiful concert hall, where we saw a performance by the Vienna Residence Orchestra. We listened to a selection of classical music performed on four string instruments. There's nothing like watching a live performance of The Blue Danube in Vienna while taking a trip along that famous river. It's too bad that we weren't allowed to take photos during the concert, but here's a view of the auditorium.

Our one day in Vienna didn't allow us nearly enough time to enjoy this wonderful city. I hope we can return some time to spend several days here and really explore the palaces, gardens, and culture of Vienna.

 

~ STUFF TO AMUSE ~

 

You can take a Virtual Tour of Schönbrunn Palace by clicking on this link for Austrian Leading Sites. Here, you can choose to view the palace gardens, many rooms and chambers inside the palace, and learn about its history and cultural significance.

 

The Viena Tourist Information site has photos and info about the Vienna Imperial Palace and the Spanish Riding School, along with links to several other tours of popular places in Viena.

 

Learn more about the Vienna Residence Orchestra at their official website.

Thank you for reading my newsletter in 2024, and I hope you will join me again in 2025.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic new year.

Until next time, remember to enthuse your muse!

 

~ Martha