Author: Laurel Decher

LAUREL DECHER lives on the outskirts of a mid-sized city in Germany, between a medieval chapel on St. James' Way and a boundary marker tree complete with scary face. It's a little surprising, since she expected to live in Vermont for the rest of her life. You just never know when adventure will call! She writes stories about all things whimsical, vegetable, or musical. When she's not lost, she can be found on Twitter and on her blog, This Is An Overseas Post. TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS (Oct 2018) is her first book for young readers (ages 9-12) and the first Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tale. Photo: © Jan Decher.

Happy Day-Before-St. Nicholas-Day!

Small bread baked in the shape of gingerbread men in a bakery window
These “Bread Guys” are in a Luxembourg bakery. ©Laurel Decher, 2019.

Would your family like to celebrate St. Nicholas’s Day this year? At our house, it’s always been a nice start to a busy month.

Making Stutenkerle or “Bread Guys” is a fun, easy, and reasonably healthy after-school activity on December 5th.

Afterwards, the kids can do what German kids are doing: clean their boots and put them out for St. Nicholas.

On December 6th, our kids’ boots were full of things to get their own presents organized.

  • Gift bows or
  • tags,
  • ribbon,
  • a roll of wrapping paper.
  • And a chocolate St. Nicholas.

And the Bread Guys!

Bread Guys make breakfast the next morning VERY cheerful.

In the Rhineland where I live, you can buy Weckmänner in the bakeries.The word sounds like “Men who wake you up.” I’m still waiting for someone to explain that to me. . .  🙂

What, no German bakeries?

The easy way to do this:

  • refrigerator biscuit dough from the grocery store* and
  • raisins,
  • sprinkles,
  • almonds,
  • red hots,
  • or whatever you have for decoration.

*Fun fact: “Knack und Back” is the German name for those refrigerator rolls that you smack (“Knack”) on the counter and they pop open. “Back” means to bake.

Stuck for ideas for those shiny clean boots? How about a copy of. . . . [you saw that one coming, didn’t you? 🙂]

Boy holding leeks in a hot air balloon with dragon and fairy godfather overhead, sleigh chained to the hot air balloon basket

LOST WITH LEEKS

A Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tale, Book 2

Argh! Crown Prince Nero is lost again. That’s what he gets for trying to fly a hot air balloon. Thanks to his fairy godfather’s gift, every map and compass goes kerflooey as soon as Nero touches it.

Even worse, his royal mom has just kidnapped St. Nicholas.

If Nero can’t find his true North in a hurry, he’ll never rescue him before St. Nicholas’s Day!

Ebook available at:

Kobo

Kindle

Tolino

Barnes & Noble

Apple Books

More stores coming soon!

Paperback and Hardcovers available at online stores and wherever books are sold (or borrowed!)

IndieBound

Amazon

Book Depository

Lucy Goosey

Wordery

Happy St. Nicholas’s Day!!!

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If you’d like to stay in touch, sign up for my Reader’s List. Once a month, I share a new book recommendation for readers ages 9 to 12, story-related freebies, and/or related blog posts. If it’s not your thing, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shopping for Kids’ Books (ages 9 to 12)?

Here’s my latest menu of books for hungry readers. I’ve read all of these (and many others) this year and you can see my reviews on Goodreads by clicking on the titles or covers of the books.

Feel free to share and to comment about favorite books you’ve read this year for 9 to 12 year olds!

Books for everyone!!! 🙂

2019-book-menu-for-voracious-readersDownload
Click on the “download” up above to get the one with links to my book reviews on GoodReads.

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If you’d like to stay in touch, sign up for my Reader’s List. Once a month, I share a new book recommendation for readers ages 9 to 12, story-related freebies, and/or related blog posts. If it’s not your thing, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Prince Nero goes to Luxembourg?!?

Prince Nero made it to Luxembourg with the help of his friends at SCBWI (Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). © Laurel Decher, 2019.

We book people know that books are a doorway to adventure so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I got to visit a whole new country because of the Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tales.

Unlike Prince Nero, I didn’t get lost. Because I had help from my friends at the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. *waves* That’s the purple SCBWI banner in the photo above.

The Prime Minister of Luxembourg strolled by our booth, evidently a book person too. Lots of families speaking lots of languages strolled by too. 🙂 I recognized English, French, Luxembourgisch, Italian, and German.

Luxembourg is full of orange and yellow trees at this time of year and nestles down into deep valleys in true storybook style.

As usual, I ran across bits and pieces of new stories:

the flame at the veteran’s memorial,

the glass roof over the historic train station where Jewish people were deported to concentration camps in World War II,

a mysterious stone building with a tower tucked into a deep valley,

and the French versions of “Bread Guys” that show up everywhere in honor of St. Nicholas’s Day. The stained glass window showing Luxembourg City is above the train arrivals and departures. Elegant, no?

If you live in or near Luxembourg and are looking for English language children’s books, check out the selection at Lucy Goosey. Lots of happy book buyers were browsing at their warm and friendly booth.

Find the Lucy Goosey bookstore here. Or if you’re not into Facebook, this helpful blog post might interest you.

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If you’d like to stay in touch, sign up for my Reader’s List. Once a month, I share a new book recommendation for readers ages 9 to 12, story-related freebies, and/or related blog posts. If it’s not your thing, you can unsubscribe at any time.

There’s more to explore!

The second book in the Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tale series is all about exploring–with a prince who has no sense of direction!

A map of the Seven Kingdoms from the Proclamation. The kingdoms in the Rhine and Mosel River valleys are: Cochem, Marigold, Indigo, Magenta, Saffron, Rose, and, of course, Blackfly! ©Laurel Decher, 2019

Just for fun, here are the real castles that inspired the Blackfly and the Saffron Kingdoms. LOST WITH LEEKS stars the Blackfly Prince Nero and the Saffron royal twins: Prince Magellan and Princess Saffy!

  • The Blackfly Kingdom is a glorified tollbooth on a rock in the middle of the Rhine. Pfalzgrafenstein castle on the Rhine. © Laurel Decher, 2019.
  • Stone castle walls with skinny steep wooden staircase (half-covered with wooden roof)
    Burg Rheinfels (Fortress Rhine Boulder) is the inspiration for the Saffron Kingdom. ©Laurel Decher, 2019.
  • The view from Magenta Kingdom showing the Rhine and Mosel Rivers merging. See the line where the water joins? Koblenz, Germany.
    ©Laurel Decher, 2019
Open a book and invite yourself to the feast!
Nero’s a trouble-magnet–for compasses, maps and magical creatures. Worse, his royal mom has kidnapped St. Nicholas. Nero’s got to map out a rescue right away!

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If you’d like to stay in touch, sign up for my Reader’s List. Once a month, I share a new book recommendation for readers ages 9 to 12, story-related freebies, and/or related blog posts. If it’s not your thing, you can unsubscribe at any time.

LOST WITH LEEKS

This will be short and SWEET! 🙂

The second Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tale is almost ready!

Argh! Twelve-year-old Crown Prince Nero is lost again. That’s what he gets for trying to fly a hot air balloon. Thanks to his fairy godfather’s “gift,” every compass and map goes kerflooey as soon as Nero touches it.

Even worse, his royal mom has just kidnapped St. Nicholas. If Nero can’t find his true North in a hurry, he’ll never rescue him before St. Nicholas’s Day!


Why read Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tales?

Everyone knows the leaders of tomorrow will need lots of skills. Whether it’s speaking up at a feast, or reading a map in a strange kingdom, these Tales are all about finding more magic in your life.

For ages 9 to 12. Click HERE for more about the book, including where to order. Thank you!

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If you’d like to stay in touch, sign up for my Reader’s List. Once a month, I share a new book recommendation for readers ages 9 to 12, story-related freebies, and/or related blog posts. If it’s not your thing, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Thanks for the review copy! How do I redeem a promo code on Apple iBooks?

If you met me at a conference and got a CODE for a free review Apple iBooks copy of TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, this post is for you. 🙂

(If you got a link instead of a promo code, you don’t need this post. Just type the link into your browser. Happy reading!)

Quick Version: How to use a promo code to get your review copy on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or iPod touch:

Click on the ebook image below to go to the iBooks Store:
ad for Kobo Canada sale showing Trouble with Parsnips on an ereader and the High Water Tower at Cochem that inspired the Palace Agricultural Library

If you need more detail:
1. find the “Redeem” menu in the iBooks Store: Scroll down below the “More Books Like This” section and look under “Manage”. Click on “Redeem”.

Scroll down below the "More Books Like This" section to find "Redeem". It's under the "Manage" list.

2. When you click “Redeem”, this window pops up. Ignore the part about “Use Camera”. Type your promo code in the box. Then click “Redeem”.

3. Hopefully, this success window pops up:Screenshot of "successfully redeemed your code"4. A smaller pop-up will tell you when the download is complete. Click OK and then the “DONE” button in the lower right-hand corner.

5. When The iBooks store loads, click on the “LIBRARY” button in the top Left-Hand corner to see the your new book in the library. Happy Reading!

If you enjoy it, your review will help other readers find it in your corner of the world. The people of the Seven Kingdoms thank you!!!!

 

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If you’d like to stay in touch, sign up for my Reader’s List. Once a month, I share a new book recommendation for readers ages 9 to 12, story-related freebies, and/or related blog posts. If it’s not your thing, you can unsubscribe at any time.

The Book Echoes podcast interviewed me about TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS

Something quite surprising happened!

Connie B. Dowell of the Book Echoes podcast interviewed me about TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS:

Book Echoes is a podcast about young adult and middle grade authors. You can see all of the interviews here. Enjoy!

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If you’d like to stay in touch, sign up for my Reader’s List. Once a month, I share a new book recommendation for readers ages 9 to 12, story-related freebies, and/or related blog posts. If it’s not your thing, you can unsubscribe at any time.