CSLA Book Authors Exhibiting with Lisa Caprelli, Author of Unicorn Jazz and Skip a Step Series
The 2020 CSLA Conference on February 7th & 8th, 2020, takes place at the Pacific Palm Resort at the City of Industry, California. Nine children’s book authors with 14 books showcasing their books by Lisa Caprelli, a member of CSLA.
As a member of CSLA, it is an honor to network and meet state area educators and school librarians / decision makers.
The conference is in Southern California, where 60% of members (SCHOOL LIBRARIANS / EDUCATORS) live and work, making it a very successful conference! Over 90% of our attendees either recommend or have final approval on library expenditures, the very people you need to be speaking with, all in one place at one time.
Here are 14 children’s books presented by 9 different children’s book authors, presenting alongside Unicorn Jazz! Stay updated on our social media as well as we share what’s happening with CSLA and more!
Unicorn Jazz
Genre: Children’s Fantasy
Author: Lisa Caprelli
Illustrator: Davey Villalobos
Summary: Unicorn Jazz is a dazzling young unicorn with incandescent purple hair, a golden horn and shining hoofs to match and a musical note for a tail! Although quite timid in nature, her most stunning quality is her singing. In this whimsical unicorn fable, Unicorn Jazz moves to a new land filled with horses, geckos, giraffes, elephant, kangaroo – in search of animal friends. She meets Woof the Crow who inspires Jazz’s unique talent.
“I absolutely love the Unicorn Jazz picture books! They will instill a mindset of being the best you that you can possibly be and teach children the importance of friendship and appreciating the differences in others. As a mom, teacher, and author of educational curriculum I highly recommend this entire series!” –Jennifer Lee Quattrucci
Purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/Unicorn-Jazz-Lisa-Caprelli/dp/1728838851/
Bee-ing Happy with Unicorn Jazz and Friends
Genre: Children’s Fantasy
Author: Lisa Caprelli
Illustrator: Davey Villalobos
Summary: This book encourages happiness and appreciation for positive moments with hand-drawn, kid-like art. From making up silly words to writing a thoughtful letter, or walking on the beach or making someone laugh, children feel grateful for the simple things they can be happy doing!
“This book makes a great gift for children with creative happy ideas on what Bee-ing Happy could be. It makes you think of more ways we can all be happy, even with simple things such as belonging, making s’mores, and being present with family and friends.” – Jacquie Aguilar, School Counselor
Purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/Beeing-Happy-Unicorn-Jazz-Friends-ebook/dp/B07V5X847H/
EYE SEE YOU: Choosing Kindness
Genre: Children’s Fantasy
Author: Lisa Caprelli
Illustrator: Davey Villalobos
Summary: Woof the Crow comes back with another heart-to-heart conversation with Jazz … and it all began the moment he put on his first pair of eyeglasses. In addition to finding out more about Woof the Crow’s background and family, EYE SEE YOU comes packed with new animal friends like Dr. Nelly the Mole, Billy Bob the Butterfly, Bee Happy the Bumblebee, Asia the Flamingo, Trezekke Zebracorn and more! A great topic for parents, teachers and educators in this anti-bullying children’s book, with characters showing choices a child can make to be nice versus choosing hurtful words.
“We all need reminders about how to stay true to ourselves and respect others along the way. This story and series is so fun and inspiring and does exactly that! I highly recommend this book for kids and adults of all ages! Sit back, and enjoy this beautiful nudge to accept ourselves.” – Alexis Maron, MA, RDT/BCT, RADT
About Author: Lisa Caprelli is a children’s book author of the series Unicorn Jazz. She was born and raised in El Paso and has lived in Southern California for the past 20 years. She enjoys coming back to her hometown to reach “children’s imagination and creativity in the city she grew up in and to share in the joy of reading, writing and imagination. Caprelli feels that it is her duty as a children’s book author to not only write engaging stories for children, be it a bedtime story, a classical favorite or an entertaining book, but also to incorporate social emotional learning within her children’s stories on topics about being kind, being a good friend, choosing your words carefully and more!
Purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/Unicorn-Jazz-Eye-See-You-ebook/dp/B083VY7J4M/
Skip a Step: Imparting Wisdom for Young Entrepreneur Minds
Genre: Children’s Nonfiction
Author: Lisa Caprelli, Michael Ashley
Summary: You can go, do and be anything you want! This book contains true stories on what makes a meaningful, happy and purpose filled life, not just a successful one. Skip a Step: Imparting Wisdom for Young Entrepreneur Minds is for any innovative young mind, as early as 5th grade to teenagers, young and curious people who want to learn more! Each chapter contains a story by an entrepreneur or leader making a difference in the world and divulging the wisdom they received from slaying the dragons in their own lives to achieve success.
Purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/Skip-Step-Imparting-Wisdom-Entrepreneur-ebook/dp/B07KYYSH59/
Kai & Ty Go to Hawaii
Genre: Children’s Imagination & Play Fiction
Author: Adam T. Newman
Illustrator: Susan G. Young
Summary: My name is Tyler, but everyone calls me Ty. If you think crazy things never happen when I am with my cousin Kai…You’d be wrong. During a fun family vacation to Hawaii, Tyler and his cousin Kai meet the Island’s greatest magician who tells them about an ancient lava rock field. He forewarns them that although they may be tempted, under no circumstances may they remove a lava rock off the Island, for if they do, they would be cursed with bad luck FOREVER… or at least until the lava rock gets returned back to its home. The boys aren’t sure what to believe. They wouldn’t steal a lava rock off the Island after being told not to…would they?
Purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/Kai-Ty-Hawaii-Adam-Newman-ebook/dp/B07YVP74WG/ref=
HOW TO Fight A COLD
Genre: Children’s Imagination & Play Fiction
Author: Adam T. Newman
Illustrator: Susan G. Young
Summary: A young boy with a COLD stays home to rest and feel better when he suddenly gets sucked into a strange world where he is coached by a “freshly picked” trainer named Boogie, who then teaches him how to fight a tough COLD. Will Boogie’s training be enough for our hero to defeat the big and mighty COLD? With determination, good instruction and a spoonful of luck, our hero may just have a chance.
About Author: Adam T. Newman is an award winning, children’s book author whose childhood consisted of sports, reading comic books and playing with action figures. His love for film, writing and cartoons led him cross country to Los Angeles where he landed a job working for a children’s animation company. Adam has worked for numerous film studios as an art director and graphic designer. He is also the recipient of the prestigious “World’s Greatest Dad” award which was presented by his two wonderful kids in the form of a t-shirt.
Purchase at: http://www.miloinkbooks.com/ or
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0768F2RWF/ref=
SAYGAR THE MAGNIFICENT
Genre: Middle-Grade Fiction
Author: Elizabeth Jurado
Illustrator: Davey Villalobos
Summary: Joseph Mateo has a big problem! According to Ms. Kelly, he needs to stop being so shy. What does Joseph do to fix his problem? He captures an ant in a ginger ale bottle for a show-and-tell project only to discover he has a bigger problem. He is shocked by the sudden appearance of a weird looking kid in the classroom closet. This wasn’t any ordinary kid – it was his ant from his bottle now transformed into a human-sized ant. Joseph’s quiet life is turned into a hair-raising, topsy-turvy mess of trouble when he disguises Saygar the Ant as the new kid in Ms. Kelly’s classroom! Joseph has his hands full making sure no one finds out Saygar is really an ant– which is hard considering the two antennae wriggling from the top of his head. As Joseph helps Saygar through the pitfalls of the human world and his troublesome classmates, Saygar’s never-ending mischievous escapades threatens to reveal their secret. Together, Joseph and Saygar deal with a bossy know-it-all, the meanest bully in the world, and many other classroom dramas. You’ve never seen a duo like Joseph and Saygar!
“Elizabeth Jurado has written a fantastic book kids will love! Fiction, imagination, fun and a little bit of innocent mischief makes this book great!” – Green Gables Book Reviews
About Author: Elizabeth Jurado was born and raised in the city of El Paso, Texas, a US. – Mexico border city. With the Rio Grande River just down the street from her childhood home, she experienced life in a unique way. As a child, Elizabeth played on the banks of the river that separated two countries and watched children from Mexico playing on their side of the river. Throughout her life, the American and Mexican culture merged into one, leaving an impressionable impact in Elizabeth’s memories of the food, the language, and the Spanish folktales not heard anywhere else. As an adult, Elizabeth worked in the educational field as a substitute teacher and a first-grader teacher for several El Paso school districts until she stepped away from it to plunge into the challenging role of a stay-at-home Mom. For the last twenty-three years, she has been raising her three sons. During the last fourteen years of that time, Elizabeth wrote “Saygar the Magnificent” inspired by her teaching experiences in the classroom where she met many young students with unforgettable personalities, her own unique childhood, and her life as a Mom trying to keep one step ahead of her energetic sons who kept her on her toes with their high-spirited escapades!
Purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/Saygar-Magnificent-Elizabeth-Jurado/dp/1645705978/ref=
I HOPE IT’S A PUPPY
Genre: Family Picture Book
Author: Lindsay Achtman
Illustrator: Andra Morosan
About Author: Lindsay Achtman is a passionate teacher and loving mother who pours her personal experiences into her writing. Lindsay captures the perspective of a child perfectly in her stories, as she uses humor and poetry to teach lessons and ignite the imagination. She looks at life as an adventure waiting to be explored. When she is not writing or in the classroom, Lindsay enjoys spending time with her family and puppy, Lola, playing games, having picnics in the park, swimming in the lake, and cheering on her favorite Michigan sports teams. Lindsay Achtman is also the proud author of the story, The Day The Swing Stopped.
Purchase at: www.achtmanauthor.com
or
https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Puppy-Choice-Awards-Recipient/dp/1733525009/
A VERY IMPORTANT POWER: A Time Travel Mouse, Kindness at School, Anti-Bullying Book (VIPPI MOUSE TREASURE QUESTS 1)
Genre: Children’s Illustrated Fiction
Author: Wendy Jo Bradshaw
Illustrators: Tobias White & Wendy Jo Bradshaw
Summary: Have You Ever Felt Like You Didn’t Matter or Belong? Nine-year-old Wild West Wendy Jo is a feisty, red-headed, cowboy-boot-wearing tomboy. When she moves to a new school, she is considered a misfit by many of her classmates and becomes a target for bullying. Afraid to go to school, Wendy Jo writes a letter to VIPPI–the main character of her favorite TV program–The Vippi Mouse Show. When Vippi answers her, everything changes. Vippi leads Wendy Jo on an exciting treasure quest that could help her to solve her problems with the bullies forever. But will Wendy Jo be able to find the treasure? And what will happen if she does?
“I highly recommend Wendy Jo Bradshaw’s illustrated chapter book for kids 7 – 11 years old, and their teachers, school counselors, and librarians! It’s a beautifully illustrated work of fiction, whose main character is a tomboy who is bullied and excluded because she dresses like a boy. Bradshaw’s book is intentionally written as a subtle introduction to gender expression and stereotyping, that benefits not only LGBTQA+ children, but all kids, including those with conservative beliefs. It also promotes diversity, inclusion, tolerance, and social skills that empower kids to be their own best solution to bullying, by being Upstanders amongst their peers.” – Evelyn E Garlington University of Utah. Assoc. Dir. Space/Planning Mgn
About Author: Wendy Jo Bradshaw is an LGBTQ+ author, singer and songwriter who has just published a new children’s book about the powers of voice and choice in gender expression, diversity, and bullying. It is titled A VERY IMPORTANT POWER and is an illustrated chapter book for ages 7-11. With the rise in LGBTQ+ bullying and youth suicide, Wendy Jo has been compelled to teach kids the solutions to problems like bullying and dealing with peer pressure. Her dream is to help kids find the treasure of the power of their voice. She wants them to feel good about themselves no matter what others say or do. Wendy Jo’s motto is: Helping Kids See, They Are a Treasured VIP.
Wendy Jo has also written and recorded 4 empowering new songs to accompany the book.
Author Wendy Jo Bradshaw lives in Utah, very near to her two daughters and nine grandchildren, with her wife and two little Dachshunds named Annie Oakley and Jackpot. Wendy Jo has been a longtime member of the SLC LGBTQ+ community where, through her music and performances, she has helped to raise funds for the Aids Foundation, The Utah Pride Center, LIVE! for Life, and The Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire.
Purchase at: www.vippimouse.com
DESIGNED TO SHINE! Read Aloud Rhymes for Any Size Heart
Genre: Children’s Fantasy
Author: Joy Resor
Illustrator: Lauren Connell
Summary: Designed to SHINE! Read Aloud Rhymes for Any Size Heart is a three-time award-winning book that offers 26 wise, delightful, topical rhymes with beautiful illustrations that speak to children and to the adults reading with them. Topics covered include Balance, Grateful, Kindness, Love and Nature. All ages report feeling happier and lighter after reading rhymes in this sweet book. You will receive ideas to pay attention in new ways, reminders about kindness and much more in this illustrated, alphabetical treasure. This is a book a guide and a gentle teacher all at once.
‘Designed to Shine gratifies and teaches kids to love and accept themselves for who they are! It also shares other valuable life lessons. It brings pleasure, as well as instruction, to its readers… Joy Resor has done a wonderful job in writing these amazing poems that rhyme, are short, and have instructional value. These imaginative poems, illustrated by the brilliant Lauren Connell, will surely inspire… We highly recommend it to not just children, but people of all ages!” – Jedlie of Reading with Your Kids Podcast
About Author: Joy Resor shines in western North Carolina where she writes books that inspire readers, serves clients in spiritual direction, leads classes and lives moment by moment. She is very grateful that she lives beyond wounds that kept her hiding, Joy leans into new adventures that call to her soul.
Purchase at: www.joyonyourshoulders.com
or
Be Bold! Be Brave! 11 Latinas who made U.S. History
Genre: Nonfiction
Author: Naibe Reynoso
Illustrator: Jone Leal
Summary: Be Bold! Be Brave! 11 Latinas who made U.S. History, is an inspiring bilingual book (Spanish/English) that highlights 11 Latinas who excelled in medicine, science, sports, art, journalism and politics. By presenting the true biographical stories of these outstanding women in rhyming verses, young readers will easily follow their journey to success. Women featured include Antonia Novello (first female Surgeon General in the U.S.), Ellen Ochoa (first Latina to go to space), Sonia Sotomayor (first Latina Supreme Court Justice,) Rita Moreno, and Selena to name a few.
About Author: Naibe Reynoso is a Multiple-Emmy and AP Award-winning Journalist who started her career in television when she was a student at UCLA. She has since been working both in front of and behind the camera for more than 20 years. Her bilingual background includes investigative reporting, hosting, entertainment reporting, radio, and TV production. Reynoso has been a board member of the prestigious Peabody Awards since 2015.
Purchase at: http://www.contodopress.com
or
Beau Evergreen MISSION: RESCUE RUBY
Genre: Middle-Grade Fiction
Author: Sandy Murphy Richards
Illustrator: Sandy Murphy Richards
Summary: Beau Evergreen is a book series that teaches kids to BE Confident, Happy, Resilient, Positive, Hardworking, Respectful and Patient. Award-winning author, Sandy Murphy Richards, created Beau Evergreen to help her teach her kids things that she felt were important to really understand to lead a full, happy and successful life.
About Author: Sandy Murphy Richards is an award-winning author and illustrator from Cleveland, Ohio. She is most well known for her book “A Light in the Night” published by “The Elf on the Shelf”. Her most recent series “Beau Evergreen” is helping kids all over the world learn 7 very important things to BE: confident, happy, resilient, positive, hardworking, respectful and patient. Sandy loves spending time with her husband, Tim, and their 3 kids, Zoli, Tyler and Izzy. She also loves reading, drawing and playing in her garden.
Purchase at: http://www.beauevergreen.com
or
https://www.amazon.com/Beau-Evergreen-MISSION-Rescue-Ruby/dp/1519598637/
My Lil’ Ladybug Friend
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Author: Toby A. Williams
Illustrator: Corrina Holyoake
Summary: This sweet story unfolds with a young girl, Brooke Lynn, in search of a ladybug she befriended and let go the day before. She looks high and low on an almost-endless quest. Where will she find her newfound ladybug friend? Is she all alone? Patience, perseverance, being brave and staying positive pays off for this young adventurer…right in her own back yard! Snatch a copy – Great gift idea for any special occasions or holiday!
“In one little girl’s quest to find a ladybug who she and her mother let go the day before, her journey is filled with longing. My Lil’ Ladybug Friend is a must-read for children of all ages. One of the more tender Children’s stories I’ve read to date. Snatch a tissue!” – Susan Wingate, Amazon Bestseller and award-winning author.
Purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/author/tobywilliams
My Lil’ First School
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Author: Toby A. Williams
Illustrator: Corrina Holyoake
Summary: Being inclusive of others, kind, sharing and keeping a positive attitude throughout the school day, helps Brooke Lynn ease into her new environment. Along the way, she makes new friends, shares her lunch with a new pal and remembers to thank her teacher. Brooke Lynn’s adorable nature warms the hearts of all readers.
“TOBY WILLIAMS HITS IT OUT OF THE BALLPARK with My Lil’ First School. The author provided me a copy for an honest review. This is a sweet children’s book series that is educational and inspiring. As with her other two books, My Lil’ First School helps children learn how to not be afraid of that first day. A warm smile and kind words can be the thing that turns a child’s mood from anxious to excited. A must-read for children at the age they’re entering school”. – Author Susan Wingate
About Author: Toby A. Williams is an author of a children’s book series, The BROOKE LYNN Adventures, and currently lives in the San Diego area of Southern California with her husband of many years. She enjoys golf, helping out in her community and of course reading and writing. Inspired by her niece and great-niece to write stories for them, her journey to create and publish the stories was prompted by a close friend and mentor in early 2018. My Lil’ Ladybug Friend was published in December 2018 — a dream come true!
Purchase at: https://www.amazon.com/author/tobywilliams