I am so honored to be a part of this tour. Julianne Moore is one of our finest talents of our time and a personal favorite of mine, so please forgive my while I gush. I have long admired Ms. Moore for her versatile acting skills and for her humanitarian work, so this is a thrill for me. If you missed the first part of her tour, please go to my other blog at http://margayleahjustice.com/?p=263 and watch the videos where Julianne talks about what it's like to be a redhead with freckles, about the name Freckleface Strawberry, and how she balances career with family.
Freckleface Strawberry and the Dogeball Bully
A Review
Best known for her roles in many block buster movies, such as The Hours and Forgotten, Julianne Moore is fast proving herself to be a multi-talented woman. I have long admired her for her acting abilities, for her humanitarian works, but now I have a new reason to admire her. For her writing. With a sweet sensitivity and imagination, she writes about a subject that everyone, despite their age, can relate to: The school bully. Everyone knows him, the boy who likes to terrorize those he perceives as weaker than himself. On the dodgeball court, he is king. What can be more frightening than a bully armed with a ball?
As a girl, I was not the athletic type (I blame all the years of dancing - I was an artist, not an athlete), so I dreaded going to gym class. More than anything else, I dreaded dodgeball. I knew, without a doubt, that if there was a ball thrown in that gym, it didn’t matter where I stood - it would find me. Add to that my own personal bully and school was not a pleasant experience for me. So it was that even I, as an adult, was able to connect with the character of Freckleface Strawberry. In just a few short words, I was transported back to my old gym and the fears of dodgeball and bullies. I only wish that I had come up with as creative a way to handle my fear as Freckleface Strawberry did. This is a wonderful book. If you have young children or grandchildren, do them - and yourselves - a favor and read this book to me. Hopefully, it will inspire them to face what life throws at them with the same courage as one spunky little redhead.
Here’s Julianne speaking about Being a Writer:
On Reading:
And on Writing Children's Books:
For more great videos, including interviews on Ellen and The View, you can go here.
Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully by Julianne Moore
Now Available on Amazon.com - To Order Your Copy Today - http://www.amazon.com/Freckleface-Strawberry-Dodgeball-Bully-Story/dp/1599903164
For complete tour information and the complete schedule, visit her tour home page at: http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2009/04/freckleface-strawberry-by-julianne.html
THE FOUR-TIME ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE AND HER SPUNKY, PICTURE BOOK STAR DODGE A BULLY
Acclaimed actress, and now beloved picture book author JULIANNE MOORE and bestselling illustrator LeUyen Pham join talents again for FRECKLEFACE STRAWBERRY AND THE DODGEBALL BULLY. This time, their perky, loveable seven-year-old encounters a bully on the playground—Windy Pants Patrick—during a game of dodgeball. As the brute prepares to hurl his might at Freckleface and her friends, she must figure out how to summon the courage to stand up to him. Ms. Moore tackles this all-to- prevalent problem with both humor and grace.
It is Ms. Moore’s infusion of hilarity and heart that has won her praise from booksellers, educators, reviewers—and most importantly young readers!—for her debut picture book Freckleface Strawberry, a charming tale inspired by a childhood experience.
Nicknamed Freckleface Strawberry when she a young girl, Ms. Moore disliked the title as much as she disliked her red hair and freckles. “As a child, my hatred of my freckles was only matched by my love of reading,” said the author, who eventually grew to tolerate her red hair and freckles and find amusement in telling her own kids about her childhood nickname. Dodgeball isn’t based on personal experience, but creating a feisty character who makes the best of a bad situation—and does so with style and wit—is essential to Ms. Moore.
JULIANNE MOORE is U. S. Ambassador for Save the Children working with children and families in rural areas, focusing on literacy and early childhood education. She successfully launched the Save the Children Valentine program in 2008 whereby children’s book illustrators donated art work for cards, with the proceeds benefiting poverty in the United States. She is also a member of Reach Out and Read, a children’s literacy organization dedicated to educating parents on the importance of reading to their children, as well as an acclaimed actress who has appeared in such movies as The Hours, Far from Heaven, The End of the Affair, and Boogie Nights. Ms Moore was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from Boston University’s School of the Performing Arts. She now lives with her husband and children in New York City.
Thank you so much for joining Julianne and I today to celebrate the launch of this wonderful book, and to Nikiki Leigh of Promo 101 Virtual Blog Tours for giving me the honor of taking part in this tour. I am deeply honored. ~ Margay Leah Justice
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8 Moonbeams (comments):
Margay, I'm so glad you featured Julianne on your blog today. As an adult, I'm told a lot that I look like her, and as a child, I was that freckle-faced, artistic-minded red-head as well. To this day, the thought of playing dodgeball scares the poo out of me! LOL! I know what torture kids go through, and as a soon-to-be first time mother, this book, and the ones that follow, will be on my child's bookshelf!
Hi Margay
Thank you so much for sharing this info with your readers. We're going to have a bunch of great info to share throughout the month and look forward to hearing from readers. Thank you for your comment Jerrica :)
Nikki Leigh
This is a beautiful post! I am a big fan of Julianne Moore, too, especially Far from Heaven. ;-)
Lovely post, and I had no idea that Julianne Moore was a writer! I was spared dodgeball, being English, but I hated gym class just the same. I was the one "used" as a example to prove all exercises were possible, so I would get dragged over the equipment, with no control over what I did or where I went. When I grew up, my kids taught me to roll and balance - all the things I failed at in gym.
Wonderful post and great videos. I have admired Julianne as an superb actress for years and now have a whole new avenue to admire.
School bullying is an important topic and devastating to those who are picked on! It seems though, when they grow up, it's the bullies who take a back seat to those they bullied ;)
Great books to get for my grandchildren. Thanks, Julianne and Margay for the significant work you do!!
Dodgeball was a horror in school! I hated it. This book is great for kids because it's something they can relate to. That's the most important part of any book, is making it relatable. I think she has done an excellent job with that.
You know, I may have been short but thankfully I was a pretty fast runner and could hold my own with the boys, so dodge ball was never really a problem, although I really don't like the game much.
Give me disc golf any day! I just discovered that game and wish they had that as one of our gym class activities!
However, I do know what it was like to be bullied, and it didn't stop until I started fighting back and using my brains. When I found that one of the weaknesses of a local bully was dogs, I got mine to chase him, repeatedly. All I had to do is "go get 'em" and the dog would start running after them. Of course they didn't believe me when I said she wouldn't hurt them. By the time I turned 10, the only real bully I had to worry about was my sister and the other ones in my family. I sure learned how to deal with it all eventually.
The people who bully tend to forget what they did to you the day before, yet why is it, when you're the one bullied, it can scar you for life and you'll remember instances that happened years ago as if they happened yesterday?
Carrie
Thank you, ladies, for all of the wonderful comments. I find Julianne inspiring on so many levels and having a redhead for a daughter myself, I'm kind of partial. And Jerrica, congratulations! You are in for the ride of your life, but it is the most wonderful ride you will ever embark upon.
Margay
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