Erin Dealey

Guess who this Birthday girl is?

It’s Show & Tell time again, where your fan favorites and #kidlit authors & illustrators share their kindergarten pictures and a memory each #tbt.  

This week’s Kinder grew up to be author Sue Fliess, whose latest picture book,

RACE!

(Little Bee Books, illus Edwardian Taylor) released on July 4th:

Race cars!
Line up!
Who will take the Winner’s Cup?

One car, so small,
squeezes in between them all.

“Wacky racers zoom through an unconventional course. Who will win?…Clues along the way should help children figure out the surprise twist, and readers will love flipping back and forth to see the play between Maxwell’s imagination and real life. Fliess’ crunchy, rhyming text will have readers barreling along.”  —KIRKUS

(By the way, Fliess is pronounced “fleece.”)

Among Fliess’ other books are:

HOW TO TRAP A LEPRECHAUN

(Sky Pony Press/ illus. Emma Randall)

SLJ Review: “Vibrant illustrations match the catchy verse, which begs to be part of a St. Patrick’s Day… The book concludes with instructions for parents and educators on building a leprechaun trap at home or at school, and a quick primer of leprechaun folklore. VERDICT A fun offering for March that will work well read aloud or independently.”

and

FROM HERE TO THERE

(Albert Whitman/ illus. Christiane Engel)

“Quirky and original… With vivid and varied illustrations, this pun-filled story encourages letter knowledge and print and phonological awareness.” SLJ

Sue’s kinder memory is about her love of art and her “competitive, perfectionist nature”:

My favorite thing to do when I was young was draw. I thought I would grow up to be an artist (even majored in art in college for a time!). I have many fond memories of drawing and painting in kindergarten (which is what we all should be doing in kindergarten, right?). That said, I think my competitive, perfectionist nature began to reveal itself at this early age.

We had to color a sun and a rainbow with a poofy cloud, and this art was going to be displayed on the wall for the parents to see during parent night. I was so proud of mine! I remember thinking it was one of the best ones in the class. But when my parents came to the classroom, I was horrified to see that the teacher had paired random suns with random rainbow/clouds. I found my sun attached to a rainbow and cloud I clearly felt was mediocre artwork. I asked the teacher to move them, and pair my sun with my rainbow and my cloud. I hope I was polite. I’m sure my parents were thrilled.

Parents: Does this memory resonate with you or your child as much as it does with me?

I love that Sue’s Kindergarten career goal was to be an artist–and she grew up to WRITE picture books, not illustrate them. (I’m sure this helps in her creative process.) I LOVE that Sue reminds us of the importance of drawing and painting in Kindergarten–for every child. And I love knowing that even wonderful grown-ups like Sue (and she is, by the way) had a slightly competitive, perfectionist nature at age 6.

Fun facts: Sue’s Kinder picture was taken with her Snow White birthday cake just before friends arrived for her 6th birthday. And yes, Sue says, “Some friends still call me Susie.”

Thank you, Sue, for sharing your Kindergarten Show and Tell.

To learn more about Sue Fliess, go to suefliess.com .

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And speaking of kindergarten…

Click here to enter the BOOK GIVEAWAY on Goodreads (Ends July 22nd.***)

for a chance to receive a SIGNED COPY of

K IS FOR KINDERGARTEN

Official Release Date: August 15th.

(32 days and counting!!!!)

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And check back next time to meet the Kinder who grew up to be Lori Mortensen, the #kidlit author of over 70  books, including CHICKEN LILY, two COWPOKE CLYDE titles, and the upcoming IF WENDELL HAD A WALRUS.