Oct 9

Oct 9 Episode #33: The Tenets of Happiness! Tenet Four, Social Happiness

The book friends forever are back to share their thoughts on the 4th Tenet of Happiness…Social Happiness. Before diving into all that, they share a bit about what’s been going on in their lives at the moment.

Grace had a Moon Festival party in her backyard and spent it with her family and friends. It was a successful celebration and the moon was perfectly bright and beautiful for everyone to see.

Alvina had just returned from the Sales Conference for work and talked about the joy of seeing Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi discuss their latest book, “Stamped”, a remix of the National Book Award-winning “Stamped From the Beginning”. Alvina also just ran the Newport Liberty half- Marathon! There are stunning views of the Manhattan skyline and the statue of liberty. She had a great race!

Alvina, James, Garrick, and Jackson at the Newport Liberty Half-marathon!

The 4th tenet of Happiness….

How do you define social happiness? Alvina believes it is framed around family and friends. Her father once said that you should buy family experiences together instead of gifts. That is why Alvina and her family are going on a 7-day Mexican cruise this year! Grace finds this fourth tenet to be the one she has the least grasp on. She finds it really hard to make good friends as you get older in life. Mostly because of the time she can’t find but also that more effort is required.

With all of her family on the west coast, Alvina finds that making new friends and keeping the old ones just becomes a natural priority for her. They both agree that social media helps keep the friendships at bay but it can also cause some negativity like comparing, fear of missing out, etc…

Friends reuniting at the 2019 Carle Honors

As usual, the book friends end each episode mentioning what they are grateful for today. Grace is so thankful that her daughter understands and can appreciate traditions. At the Moon Festival party, her daughter Hazel really wanted to keep the tradition of writing down your wishes when Grace was going to leave those out this year:

Alvina is grateful for her friendships with James, Garrick, and Jackson. She is also thankful for her health and being able to successfully run a great half-marathon (being the oldest of the bunch and finishing before them all!).

2-minute Book Reviews with Alison Morris!

This week’s book review is on “Redwood and Ponytail” by K.A. Holt

Alison Morris is a nationally recognized children's book buyer with an infectious enthusiasm for reading and 20 years' experience matching books to readers. As the Senior Director of Title Selection for nonprofit First Book, she oversees the curation of children’s and young adult books on the First Book Marketplace, hand-selecting a diverse range of titles that speak to and address the needs of kids in underserved communities, with a keen eye to inclusion, authenticity, and kid-appeal. She previously served as Senior Editor at Scholastic Book Clubs, Children's Book Buyer for Wellesley Booksmith and The Dartmouth Bookstore, and was the founding blogger of the ShelfTalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly. She'll be joining us from her home near Washington, DC where she spends LOTS of time discussing books with her husband, illustrator and graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.