Julianne Moore, author of Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully

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 Redhead with Freckles:

On Being a Redhead with Freckles

On the name Freckleface Strawberry:

About the Name Freckleface Strawberry

And on balancing Family and Career:

On Balancing Family and Career

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.

It is my absolute pleasure to feature Julianne on my blog today. Please stop by tomorrow for more with Julianne on my group author blog, Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem at http://moonlightlacemayhem.blogspot.com/