StoryMakers: Wendy Mass
Welcome to another episode of StoryMakers. Today Rocco Staino interviews the versatile children’s literature author Wendy Mass. Wendy is the author of several books that encourage teamwork and exploration. Kids will love digging into Wendy’s books at home, in school, or the library.
Is your middle grade reader craving a mouthwatering mystery? If the answer is yes, then The Candymakers series is a yummy read. The latest book in the series, The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase, is Wendy Mass’ follow up to The Candymakers. This time around Logan, Daisy, Miles, and Philip are off on another adventure that calls for teamwork, and solving a few mysteries on their own too. Wendy introduces adventurous readers to geocaching, an activity where people use a Global Positioning System receiver — this includes smartphones — to find objects hidden all over the world.
It’s hard to get a taxi in New York, but imagine trying to get one in space? When kids read Wendy Mass and Michael Brawer’s Space Taxi series they can go on an intergalactic ride with co-pilot Archie Morningstar and his dad whenever they want! Together the father and son duo — accompanied by a very strange cat — help to keep the universe safe. The best part of this series is the combination of fiction with science fact!
Stay tuned to find out:
- How Wendy did some delicious research for The Candymakers series.
- Which characters from some of Wendy Mass’ other books show up in The Candymakers series.
- Which science facts readers can learn from the Space Taxi series.
- What hidden talent Wendy has that shocked us all!
This post was sponsored by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
We’re giving away a bundle of books by Wendy Mass. Win copies of The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase, Space Taxi: Archie’s Alien Disguise, Space Taxi: Water Planet Rescue, and Space Taxi: Archie Takes Flight. The giveaway ends at 11:59 PM on August 17, 2016. ENTER NOW!
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ABOUT THE BOOKS
The Candymakers
Written by Wendy Mass
Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Four children have been chosen to compete in a national competition to find the tastiest confection in the country. Who will invent a candy more delicious than the Oozing Crunchorama or the Neon Lightning Chew? Logan, the Candymaker’s son, who can detect the color of chocolate by touch alone? Miles, the boy who is allergic to merry-go-rounds and the color pink? Daisy, the cheerful girl who can lift a fifty-pound lump of taffy like it’s a feather? Or Philip, the suit-and-tie wearing boy who’s always scribbling in a secret notebook?
Space Taxi: Archie’s Alien Disguise
Written by Wendy Mass and Michael Brawer, illustrated by Elise Gravel
Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Archie Morningstar’s dad drives a taxi through outer space and with the help of a talking cat named Pockets, Archie and his dad help fight crime across the universe. Archie, his dad, and Pockets visit a planet that resembles medieval Earth in every way but its inhabitants, who have rainbow colored hair and extra eyes. To beat the evil organization B.U.R.P., the trio must disguise themselves as aliens and rescue a princess. When Archie must act on his own, can he find the courage to save the day?
Space Taxi: Water Planet Rescue
Written by Wendy Mass and Michael Brawer, illustrated by Elise Gravel
Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Archie Morningstar’s dad drives a taxi through outer space and with the help of a talking cat named Pockets, Archie and his dad help fight crime across the universe. Archie, his dad, and Pockets fly to a planet because someone is stealing the water from this underwater world. Can Archie and Pockets save the day?
Space Taxi: Archie Takes Flight
Written by Wendy Mass and Michael Brawer, illustrated by Elise Gravel
Published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Archie Morningstar learns a big family secret and helps save the universe. It’s not every day a regular kid like Archie gets to wake up at midnight ,but today is Take Your Kid to Work Day, and Archie is finally allowed to ride along in his dad’s taxi cab. He has been waiting eight years, eight months, and eight days for this moment to arrive.But he’s about to discover his dad is no ordinary cab driver, in fact, he drives an intergalactic “space taxi ” All night long, he shuttles aliens from one corner of the universe to another. And being a space taxi copilot is no easy task: Archie must steer them into wormholes, keep them from crashing into planets, deal with a very unusual cat, and save the universe from an evil mastermind
ABOUT WENDY MASS
Wendy Mass is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels for young people (which have been translated into 20 languages and nominated for 76 state book awards), including A Mango-Shaped Space (which was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award by the American Library Association), Leap Day, the Twice Upon a Time fairy tale series, Every Soul a Star, 11 Birthdays, Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, and Finally, The Candymakers , and 13 Gifts. Her latest books are The Last Present, Pi in the Sky, and a new early reader series called Space Taxi. Wendy wrote the storyline for an episode of the television show Monk, entitled “Mr. Monk Goes to the Theatre,” which aired during the show’s second season. She tells people her hobbies are hiking and photography, but really they’re collecting candy bar wrappers and searching for buried treasure with her metal detector. She lives with her family in New Jersey.
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I love Wendy’s books! Excited to read the new Candymakers and to check out the Space Taxi series! Thanks for the great post!
Yes! Windy’s books are fantastic. They’re so much fun! Thanks for stopping by to let us know you like the post! Did you get a chance to enter the giveaway?
You can never have too many books or sweets! Would love to win the bundle of books.
Hmm … I have to agree. I must say I do crave a bit of chocolate — and space travel — each time I think about this post.
Good luck with the giveaway! Thanks for entering!!
Eager to read Wendy’s space travel books. I don’t have a favorite space travel character YET!
Wendy’s Space Taxi series is so much fun and just the right length. I think you’ll like Archie Morningstar a lot!
My students @sunsetlibrary love Wendy Mass! Can’t wait to read her latest.
Isn’t she fantastic? She makes STEM learning so much fun. Wendy’s great because she appeals to kids of many ages.
I’m old school and love the sci fi of L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. I love introducing my kids to new books!
can’t wait to catch up on more adventures with her characters!
I would LOVE to win these books for our library and read them with our kids. I’m not sure who my favorite space traveler is…maybe Captain Picard from Star Trek? :)
We loved Candymakers!
And favorite space traveler is Bugs Bunny & Marvin Martian!
I’m a middle school librarian that craves chocolate! What a great giveaway. Love reading your work and sharing it with my students.
Summer reading is well under way here and these stories would be perfect