Hoop Queen

Description

Kylie Jean is usually good at everything she tries. So how come learning to play basketball is so hard?

Marci Bales Peschke was born in Indiana, grew up in Florida, and now lives in Texas, where she is a librarian. She has lived in three haunted houses, but now lives with her husband, two children, and a feisty black and white cat named Phoebe. She loves reading and watching movies. When Tuesday Mourning was a little girl, she knew she wanted to be an artist when she grew up. Now, she is an illustrator who lives in Utah. She especially loves illustrating books for kids and teenagers. When she isn't illustrating, Tuesday loves spending time with her husband, who is an actor, and their children.

A delightful new series of chapter books features Kylie Jean Carter from Jacksonville, Texas, who very much wants to be a beauty queen. The first four books by Texas author Marci Peschke were released in January by Picture Window Books. They are Kylie Jean Rodeo Queen, Kylie Jean Blueberry Queen, Kylie Jean Drama Queen, and Kylie Jean Hoop Queen. The books, available in paperback for $4.95 each, are wonderfully illustrated by artist Tuesday Mourning. The stories are aimed at girls ages 6 to 9. Kylie Jean is 8 years old, loves pink, has a brother named T.J. and a bulldog named Ugly Brother. She practices her beauty queen wave all the time because everybody knows beauty queens need to have a perfect wave. It's side to side, nice and slow, with a dazzling smile, she explains. The stories are upbeat and emphasize strong family values, with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins pitching in to make Kylie Jean a special little girl. Her mother has taught her that it is important to be pretty on the inside as well as on the outside, and Kylie Jean is -- well, most of the time. The character is based on the author's niece, who is in fact named Kylie Jean. The author, an elementary school librarian, has more Kylie Jean books in the works, including Kylie Jean Spelling Bee Queen and Kylie Jean Football Queen. Four more Kylie Jean books are scheduled to be published in January. Read more on the author's website, marcipeschke.com. http: //www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/apr/07/kylie-jean-plans-to-bequeen-of-everything/-- "San Angelo Standard Times" But I'm pretty on the outside and on the inside. - Kylie Jean Carter Boys and girls dream of what they want to do or be when they grow up. For Kylie Jean Carter there is only one thing - to be a beauty queen. Kylie Jean is an eponymously named new chapter book series written by Marci Peschke with illustrations by Tuesday Mourning. It is about a spunky and charming little Texan girl, her family, friends and the other people in her life including Ugly Brother, the faithful pet bulldog. Rodeo Queen * It is spring time and all's right with the world. the rodeo is coming to the small town of Jacksonville, Texas and Kylie Jean wants to be Rodeo Queen. If she expects to get the title, she must learn some rodeo lessons like barrel-racing. Blueberry Queen * Summer arrives and the blueberries are ripe for picking. Everyone is looking forward to the Blueberry Festival especially Kylie Jean because every year one girl is chosen Blueberry Queen and she would just love to have that tiara on her head. Drama Queen * Summer comes to an end and Kylie Jean heads back to school. She is now in second grade. her whole class gets ready for a production of Alice in Wonderland and she hopes to play the Queen of Hearts but the new girl Paula Dupree might just steal it from her. Hoop Queen * During fall, Kylie Jean catches basketball fever. She has to gather pledges and make lots of baskets at the Free Throw Tournament in order to be the year's Hoop Queen. But first she must learn how to play the game. I surprised myself when I realized that I could still enjoy books aimed at readers aged 6 to 9. Perhaps because it was also around that time that I began my love affair with the written word. I loved reading the series and the books do not have to be read in any particular order. Each can stand alone. I would definitely recommend them for their universal appeal. Family-oriented values, obedience, friendship, resourcefulness, cooperation, generosity, humor and insight are just some of the themes found in the books. there are also recipes and fun stuff to do at the end of each one. Together, parents and their children will certainly have a lot to look forward to when the series debuts in January 2011. My personal rating is: 4 shamrocks - great http: //aobibliosphere.blogspot.com/2010/12/review-kylie-jean-series.html-- "aobibliosphere" Have you seen the Picture Window Books series featuring Kylie Jean? We currently own Kylie Jean Drama Queen, Kylie Jean Rodeo Queen, Kylie Jean Blueberry Queen, and Kylie Jean Hoop Queen. They aren't processed and checked out through our circulation system yet because I cannot pry them out of the hands of these sixth grade girls long enough to slap a barcode on the books. This is a re-creation of a typical conversation. Fortunately some of the boys were playing with my flip camera and recorded part of it, but NO, I'm NOT going to show the video since it was totally a bad hair day and I have deleted the video. Girl 1: Here, Ms Chen! Here's that book Kylie Jean Blueberry Queen I borrowed from you to review. I'm sorry I kept it so long, but my sister wanted to read it too, and then my friend in science class saw it and she needed to read it last weekend. Could you hold it here because Eliana is grabbing her overdue book so she can read it, too, and I told her she'd better hurry because Mariam said she was going to get it first, but Mariam already read Kylie Jean Drama Queen so she should have to wait. Ms Chen: Wait a minute! I lent you the book so you'd write a review for me and I could share it with blog readers. I still need to hold on to it so I can catalog it after tutoring today and read it myself so I can write about it. Girl 1: Well, I know you need a review so how about you just tell your readers that girls in fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, and seventh grade will love to read this, but that the eighth graders might want some more romance stuff instead. Umm, and tell them that I really like the cover of the book because it's pretty and Kylie Jean could be any of us girls with brown hair, and that everyone wants to read it, and that it's funny, and that it's quick to read, oh, and tell them that we convinced the computer teacher to let us go to the website during class and we found an event kit there and our reading teacher Ms H says if you want, she will help us have a Kylie Jean party and she has a beauty queen tiara, oh, yes, and tell your readers that my Nana let me make the recipe in the back and it even tasted good, and oh, yeah, I think every library should have every one of these books, and I really need the Kylie Jean Rodeo Queen next and I saw that Lillian had it and she said I could read it (if you say it's okay) and she put me on her list cause she knows you want lots of people's opinions about it so she's got a list and people are borrowing it from her and she knows you won't mind. Maybe I can have Tiajah come tell you about the one she's reading - the Hoop Queen one - cause she said she liked it and she won't let anyone else read it til she reads it a second time. Ms Chen: Okay, I think I can almost remember what you told me but you should really try to breathe more when you are talking. Maybe I should just give you the stickers to put on the books and somebody can drop by to let me know where they are. You know I like to track how many people are reading these new books I review so I can have accurate numbers. Girl 1: Ms Chen, you are so silly. You just need to add up all the girls in Ms H and Ms M and Mr W's class cause we all read this one and then you can just pretend it was checked out and then you'll know its popular for your numbers. Girl 2: Hey, Ms Chen, she better be giving you that book back because I got here first and I need to read it. She only let me read it to chapter four on the bus. Is that author Marci Peschke going to write some more books about Kylie Jean because I have some ideas to share with her and maybe then she can share some profit with me, too? My mom said I should just write my own book but I told her all about plagiarism and that I would have to invent my own person or go to jail and my mom said I should ask you how to write to the author to ask her. Do you think Wednesday Morning would make the pictures for me? Ms Chen: The illustrator is called Tuesday Mourning-- "Practically Paradise Blog" In Hoop Queen, Kylie Jean joins a basketball team and struggles with learning to dribble and shoot free throws. Her grandfather, the coach of the team is patient and encouraging. Kylie Jean is determined to win a free throw contest and the title Little Dribbler Queen. In order to win she needs to not only have a lot of free throws go in the basket but she also needs to get donation pledeges. She goes after pledges and practices shot after shot. http: //goldenlibrarylady.blogspot.com/2010/12/kylie-jean-hoop-queen-by-marci-peschke.html-- "Mrs. Katz's Book Blurbs Blog" Kylie Jean is a little girl from Texas who dreams of being a beauty queen. When she finds out that Little Dribblers, a kids basketball league, has Little Dribbler Queen she will do what she can to earn that crown and be a Queen. Looking at the cover and reading the description you may think it's a short picture book, but that's not quite true. At 112 pages it is a good book for girls who are reading on their own comfortably. I read this to my 4 year old daughter in sections since she was so eager to hear it when she saw the cover. Reading in sections was new for her, but she still loved the book and remembered where we stopped after breaks. It kept her attention until I got tired of reading out loud and needed a break. Even though it is not a full picture book, it did have illustrations on most pages that were cute and fun. My daughter loved it. My son sat in for a few sessions and he enjoyed it as well. Looks like I'll be reading out loud a lot more than usual as we read the other books in the Kylie Jean Series. This would be a great choice for a girly young reader. http: //thisblondereads.wordpress.com/201-- "This Blonde Reads Blog" Kylie Jean is a series of chapter books for girls. If your child loves reading Judy Moody or Ramona Quimby then these books will keep your child's attention. Kylie Jean loves taking part in any competition going on in her school or in the community. The books also shows how close Kylie Jean is with her family especially her Ugly Brother the dog...and don't go telling him he's a dog...lol! I love that Marci Peschke tackled bullying in the Drama Queen book and showing Kylie Jean's kind and thoughtful side. Kylie Jean makes kids believe that no matter the task if you keep practicing you will be better at it. If you are looking for a good chapter book to start your child reading then I recommend Kylie Jean series. Check out the study guide and cooking recipes at the end of the book. http: //mymcbooks.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/book-review-giveaway-kylie-jean-ends-25-july/-- "MyMcBook's blog" Kylie Jean is an eponymously named new chapter book series written by Marci Peschke with illustrations by Tuesday Mourning. it is about a spunky and charming little Texan girl, her family, friends and the other people in her life including Ugly Brother, the faithful pet bulldog. Hoop Queen * during fall, Kylie Jean catches basketball fever. she has to gather pledges and make lots of baskets at the Free Throw Tournament in order to be the year's Hoop Queen. but first she must learn how to play the game. i surprised myself when i realized that i could still enjoy books aimed at readers aged 6 to 9. perhaps because it was also around that time that i began my love affair with the written word. i loved reading the series and the books do not have to be read in any particular order. each can stand alone. i would definitely recommend them for their universal appeal. family-oriented values, obedience, friendship, resourcefulness, cooperation, generosity, humor and insight are just some of the themes found in the books. there are also recipes and fun stuff to do at the end of each one. together, parents and their children will certainly have a lot to look forward to these.-- "NetGalley" Kylie Jean is good at so many things...why is basketball so hard? She's going to have to work really hard in order to win the free throw competition and become the Little Dribbler Queen. It's a good thing that Kylie Jean isn't afraid of a little hard work! Kylie Jean won me over in the first book I read (Blueberry Queen), and I enjoyed reading all four of the books I've read so far. Hoop Queen, even with the princess/queen/tiara angle, is also a sports story, and might attract readers who are more interested in that than in the queen-ness. http: //crowdingthebooktruck.blogspot.com/2011/05/hoop-queen-by-marci-peschke.html-- "Crowding the Book Truck blog" This another of Kylie Jean's adventures on her way to becoming a Beauty Queen. This time basketball is her passion and she must learn what hard work and practice can do for you, but sometimes even then you lose. From getting pledges to finding uniforms for her team, Kylie is always on the go and learning something new around every corner. I really like these little chapter books especially made for girls. This one is another cute chapter in the life of this little eight year old. The illustrations seem to jump off the page and you can't help but smile. I really liked the fact that it was simple enough for the 6-9 year old reader, but still had a little challenge to them. My daughter who is actually 10 but is a struggling reader has had so much fun with these books. Finally a chapter book that isn't way over her head with the amount of pages that gets her overwhelmed, but enough pages that it doesn't seem like a 'baby' book. Wonderfully written and excellently illustrated the launch on 1/1/2011 is going to be a good day with four books of this series coming out! Marci Peschke is an elementary school librarian in Texas. She is married and has a cat at home named Phoebe. Two kids have graduated from her house and now live on their own. She sounds like a fun librarian with contests and reading events, she really wants children to learn to love to read! According to her profile, she is already looking for more adventures for Kylie Jean. Another 7 out of 7!-- "Good Family Reads Blog"