TWO FRIENDSHIP PICTURE BOOKS BOOKS + TWO GIVEAWAYS + ONE AUTHOR INTERVIEW

 It's time for another double review and giveaway courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press!

LUNA'S Green Pet

This is a delightful debut picture book by Kirsten Pendreigh and illustrated by Carmen Mok about a girl who feels left out because no pets are allowed in her apartment.

Her friends make suggestions but none of them felt right. Until one day Luna finds something very unusual.

She names her plant, reads to it, and even takes it for walks--which usually works out well.

Her pet was perfect, even if her friends disagreed. 

But,  one day, strange clumps of bumps appeared. Luna worried.

During the night, the bumps burst open! A powerful perfume woke Luna...Stephanie's sweet scent wafted through the building.

Luna was thrilled. And when the pet parade walked down her street, Luna was proud to display Stephanie.

Stephanie offered one more surprise. She grew a pod!

I love the sweet ending that shows seeds floating away on the night wind with Luna saying. "Someone out there is waiting to love their own Stephanie."

The back matter includes why houseplants make great pets, recommendations for which houseplants to try, and information about Stephanotis Floribunda.

Mr. Thatcher's House

Kristin Wauson wrote and illustrated this clever and funny debut book. Make sure you read her author interview below to see how she came up with her ideas.  

In the beginning, the reader finds Mr. Thatcher building the perfect house. (Aha! The character and his goal in one simple sentence!)

But no matter how hard he tried, something always seemed missing. So, he kept on working and the house grew and grew--but it still wasn't perfect. (Aha #2! We get the character's internal drive and obstacles!)

One morning, his work was interrupted by one of his neighbors.

Of course, Mr. Thatcher doesn't want her to stay in his imperfect house, but the witch makes herself at home baking goodies.

There's another knock on the door.

Mr. Thatcher is suddenly surrounded by the sound of music provided by the three pigs.

Who should also need a house? None other than,

Mr. Thatcher went back to work, but there were MANY interruptions. And the next time he heard knocking, he panicked.

Mr. Thatcher had enough. He moved out. 

But then he stopped and looked inside his house and saw that cakes were baking and a stew was bubbling. There was music and laughter and the comforting crackle of logs in the fireplace. For the first time, his house felt like home.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH KRISTEN WAUSON

 CAROL: I would like to know how you came up with this fun idea! I love how you integrated the fairy tale characters into the story. Can you tell my readers a little bit about how you developed that idea? What was your inspiration? 

 

KRISTEN: In 2018 I wrote down the idea that became Mr. Thatcher’s House. I was participating in Tara Lazar’s Storystorm, which is something I always like to do. My husband and my father-in-law build Craftsman-style homes and I was inspired by my father-in-law, who has been remodeling his own house, in his spare time, for the past 30 years. It’s going to be perfect one day—if he can ever finish.

 

I started thinking about all the classic stories I remembered from childhood and realized that many of those stories involved a house problem. In the most obvious one, a trio of pigs had their houses reduced to rubble by a pesky wolf. But, I started having a lot of fun thinking of all the reasons different fairytale characters might need new homes. The bears had suffered a home invasion by Goldilocks, and Hansel and Gretel keep eating a poor elderly woman’s house.

 

And what did all these characters need? They needed a master carpenter – someone to build them the perfect house!

 

CAROL: Is this your debut book as an author-illustrator? 

 

KRISTEN: Yes. This is my first published book!

 

CAROL: Can you tell us about your path to publication?

KRISTEN: I always liked to draw, and I worked as a graphic designer before coming to children’s books. I left my job in 2015 after my youngest son was born. In 2016, I joined SCBWI and attended my first conference. I knew very little about children’s books, so was extremely lucky to be awarded a mentorship with a published illustrator at that conference.

 

In 2018 I put together the dummy for Mr. Thatcher’s House, which helped me connect with my agent, Adria Goetz during a #PBPitch event. After I signed with her, we polished the dummy and she sent it out for submission in late 2019. Then 2020 happened and everything slowed down considerably, but we accepted an offer in February of 2021, the book was announced in May and it came out in the fall of 2022.

GIVEAWAY

Please leave me your name and email address (if you are new to my blog) and which book you'd prefer to win--I try to honor requests. This giveaway ends on April 21. American addresses only. Subscribe to my blog and/or share this on social media and I'll enter your name twice. 

MOON TREE: The Story of One Extraordinary Tree-- A Review, Book Journey, and Giveaway

Sometimes authors stumble upon their stories. And even though that story takes time to write, that initial connection remains strong when the book is brought into the world. 

As you'll read in the book journey below, that was the case for Carolyn Fraiser's debut STEM picture book, MOON TREE: The Story of One Extraordinary Tree (Reycraft Books, 2022) illustrated by Simona Mulazzani. 

REVIEW

Carolyn Fraiser, my SCBWI-Carolinas friend, makes writing a picture book look easy. The text is sparse yet lyrical.  But actually, the process of uncovering the "of course!" structure came only after many revisions. 

The story seems to begin with an ordinary sycamore in an ordinary forest. But actually, here is the true beginning many years before that tree was alive:

One ordinary boy

who dashes among the trees

At home, he watches

war planes soar

in the Oklahoma sky

and dreams that one day 

he will fly. 

        

He grew up to be...

He became a pilot who races through the skies. He watches others touch space.  Maybe one day, he'll fly even higher.

He does! And becomes,

the one NASA astronaut who packs his bag with seeds to honor the men who rescue trees.

But, back on earth, the container holding the seeds breaks and the seeds scatter. 

Along comes one forest researcher who watches them sprout and,

decides to send the "Moon Trees" to camps, schools, and state forests to celebrate the bicentennial. 

Everyone forgets about the trees until one third-grade girl finds a sycamore at her camp that is "named after the moon." She is curious and encourages her class to find out why it is called a moon tree.

In the end, the girl and the class discover the story of the Moon Tree--the book that your students, kids, or grandkids, will enjoy reading over and over again.  As you can see from the images I've included in this review, Simona Mulazzani's illustrations are out-of-this-world imaginative, and beautiful!

CAROLYN'S BOOK JOURNEY

I spent 20 years writing for adults before I decided to pursue writing for children, and it still took me 10 years to get a book published! Since I had written a lot for adult magazines, I started with children's magazines and had several pieces published. But book publishing was harder. I wrote and submitted many stories before I even started working on Moon Tree. 

I wanted to write Moon Tree from the day I stumbled across our local moon tree at the Cradle of Forestry in Pisgah Forest. I had never heard of the moon trees and the story fascinated me. I spent 6 months diving deep into research. I wasn't sure how to approach the story so I looked at it from every angle I could -- from Stuart Roosa's biography to the history of the Apollo program. I interviewed people with NASA and the US Forest Service, listened to interviews, read tons of newspaper articles, and watched every documentary I could find on the Apollo program. When I came across the story of the 3rd-grade class project, I had the opportunity to interview the teacher, and I knew I wanted to include that angle in my story. But my initial drafts were far from what ended up being published. 

My first draft was close to 1500 words with lengthy sidebars on every page. Then I wrote a fictionalized version from the perspective of the tree. I tried some other angles, but none of them really stuck. Then an agent challenged me to try a lyrical approach, which was more in my wheelhouse than anything else I had been trying. I let the idea simmer for several months before trying again. 

I  began to think about each element and person of the story and how if any of those pieces were missing, the story might not have happened or may have been lost to history. That's what gave me the idea of starting with the concept of "one" because each one made a difference -- right down to the third-grade girl. I didn't know if it would work, but it did!   

I literally put all my research away and focused on the essence of the story. What came out was the final version that ended up in print

Rejections? Oh, there were A LOT! I think I had about 50 rejections from this manuscript alone, but most were from early versions of the story. Once I had the final version, I saw interest pick up almost immediately. 

I had been familiar with Reycraft from my research with various publishers and friends who had published through them. I had been selected for a mentorship with Vivian Kirkfield who convinced me that the version I had was ready to go out. I think I put the pitch out there for a few Twitter pitch contests. A friend saw it and thought it would be a good fit for Reycraft. She suggested that I submit it to them, so once I got the green light from Vivian, I did. 

A BOOK WITH KID APPEAL

As you know, I love giving books to my grandkids. MOON TREE is one that I'm sure will be read over and over again. The boys loved counting all the trees! And of course, my granddaughter insisted on reading it herself. 

GIVEAWAY

Reycraft is donating a copy of MOON TREE. I'm giving it away through the spring issue of the Talking Story newsletter. Leave a comment with your email address if you are new to my blog and I'll add your name to the giveaway list. A winner will be chosen on April 17th. U.S. addresses only. If you are an educator, decide to follow my blog, or also leave a comment through the newsletter, I'll enter your name twice.

Life as a Published Author: A Guest Post by Jean Hall

For over ten years Jean Matthew Hall and I have encouraged each other as writers. I was delighted when she received her first publishing contract for Bountiful Blessings Series with Little Lamb Books. I hope you take a minute to read my review of her first book in the series, The Blessings of Fall. Jean's words are lyrical and the illustrations by Olya Badulina's are beautiful. 

In this post, Jean shares what it's felt like to enter into the world of being a published author. 

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BRING IT ON, JEAN!

Becoming an official author is an emotional roller-coaster!

My family thinks I’m up there with James Patterson and is celebrating my “fame!” I love them and their enthusiasm for this time in my life.

I feel excited to be in the spotlight right now – no matter how small that spotlight is!

Gratitude to God swells up in me each time I read the book, God’s Blessings of Fall on real paper with real ink. God does give us dreams in our lives, and He helps us make them a reality sometimes. This experience is a dream come true for sure.

Writing friends are high-fiving me on social media, at conferences, via email. It’s fun to have a tribe ya-hooing with me. 

Current friends are excited to think they know a REAL author! My Sunday School class have no small children, but they are rushing to Amazon and Barnes & Noble to order copies of the book.

I especially enjoy my visits to kindergarteners, first and second graders in Christian schools. The kids are excited. The teachers are excited. I’m excited. So much enthusiasm for what the Lord has done.

And for a few moments I feel like a celebrity.

The school visits are tiring for this old lady, but I love them. Such wonderful memories rush back as I stand or sit in front of dozens of adorable kids glued to the pages of the book. Many thanks to Olya Badulina and Little Lamb Books for creating gorgeous artwork to bring the text to life. 

I might sing a childhood hymn with the little ones as they keep rhythm (“All Things Bright and Beautiful” or “This Is My Father’s World”). Or we might make paper plate owls together. I help kindergarteners cut large paper leaves and string them up. Teachers get the fun of figuring out how to suspend them from the ceiling.

It’s all fun! And that is what reading is supposed to be. I am glad for every class, every school, every opportunity to share with children:

• The beauty of God’s creation
• The language of art
• The beauty of words
• The joy of reading
• The fun of sharing
• 
  

If you write books for young children find some schools that will let you in!

There’s a lot of work and preparation for each visit, but it is so worth it. If you write for older kids, you can share the fun and hard work of writing and creating with students. Most of them are hungry to learn. And they are fascinating by the writing and publishing process.

Teachers are, too.

So, dive in! Hunt down the schools in your area. Make a spreadsheet of contact info. Spend a few hours on your phone and email. You can do it. 

Then you, too, can feel like a celebrity.

And share God’s blessings with the next generation of readers and writers. 

GIVEAWAY

Jean is giving away a copy of God's Blessings of Fall to one fortunate blog reader. Leave me a comment (make sure you leave your email address!) and I'll enter your name. For an additional chance to win, post this on social media and let me know what you did. Giveaway ends November 7. Continental United States only. 

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Jean Matthew Hall has spent most of her life singing songs, reading books, playing games, cutting, coloring and gluing with children of all ages. And, she loves it! Creating encouraging board books and picture books is her idea of fun, but her favorite times are spent with her eight grandchildren. 

Contact Jean or learn more about her here:

Website/Blog               www.jeanmatthewhall.com

Facebook                     Jean Matthew Hall Author

Twitter                         Jean_Hall

Pinterest                      JeanMatthew_Hall

A is for Astronaut: A Picture Book Review and Author Interview

To celebrate the International Day of Human Space Flight, I am pleased to give you a peak into a new book by retired astronaut, Clayton Anderson (Sleeping Bear Press, May 2018). 

A is for Astronaut: Blasting Through the Alphabet, will appeal to readers of many ages. Like other books in Sleeping Bear's ABC list, each letter of the alphabet is anchored by a short poem for readers ages 5-8 and a longer exposition for 9-11 year-olds. 

Illustrated by the talented Scott Brundage, each picture amplifies the text as in, B is for Blastoff.

Amazing illustration!

Here is the poem for N which stands for...NASA. What else?

The world loves outer space; it's a grand destination,  

And NASA's the group representing our nation.  

The N stands for National, and it gives us such pride  

when a rocket is launched with our flag on its side! 

Don't you love the young astronomer's t-shirt?

I liked the R page because of the accessible description of Rendezvous. Here's the second paragraph:

Consider the much-simplifed example of a football game where the coach has called for a pass play. In order for the pass play to be successful, the quarterback must throw the football (spaceship one) to the pass receiver (spaceship two) who will catch the ball. The quarterback throws the ball to where the receiver is going to be--not where he is at the instant he makes the throw. When the ball finally arrives and the receiver makes the catch, the play is a success! This is similar to the way spaceships will dock, or meet, in space.

That's an explanation I will remember!

BEHIND THE SCENES

“Astro Clay”–Astronaut Clayton Anderson's story is one of perseverance. He applied 15 times before NASA selected him as an astronaut in 1998; and he spent 30 years working for NASA, 15 as an engineer and 15 as an astronaut. He is the first and ONLY Astronaut selected from the State of Nebraska. 

This STEAM book will be a great addition to any school or home library. Here's a brief interview about how this book came to life.

CAROL: What prompted you to write A Is For Astronaut?

CLAY: I was in Omaha, NE at the West Town Barnes and Noble, preparing for a book signing with my first book, The Ordinary Spaceman.  The store manager kept pulling me over to the nearby children’s section.  “You should write a children’s book,” she said.  

Hesitant, I shrugged my shoulders and replied, “Yeah… maybe one day.” 

She pointed out specific publishers, continually mentioning Sleeping Bear Press (SBP).  “They don’t have ‘A is for Astronaut’,” was her firm “suggestion.”  Shrugging my shoulders once again, and feigning only brief interest, I was overjoyed when the actual book signing began and turned my focus onto something I actually understood!  

A few months later, during some idle time at home, I did a Google search on SBP.  It was then that I finally woke up and saw their tremendous success with their alphabet book series.  Electronically investigating “A is for Airplane,” and a couple other titles on their highly populated series list, I thought to myself, "I can do this!”

Immediately I began to formulate the words I would use for each letter of the alphabet.  A was easy… astronaut.  B followed suit with Blastoff.  I was cruising until I got to letters like F and K and I.  Some more research via the internet gave me all 26 letters and a corresponding space term.  Then came the poems. I actually finished the entire book in about 1.5 weeks! 

CAROL: What was the most difficult part to write—the poems or the expository text? Why? 

CLAY: The expository text was the most difficult for me, although difficult is a relative term.  The poems simply “flew” from my brain (do you like that space reference?!)  Writing them was a tremendously fun process. With the text however, a different challenge was presented.  I was seeking to entertain, educate, and inform, while at the same time creating interesting reading material that was technically correct and had the ability to “stretch” the young reader’s vocabulary. 

Certain space concepts (e.g., rendezvous) forced me to dig a bit deeper as a writer.  Often speaking to young children in schools, I use visual demonstrations to communicate some of the more technical aspects of flying in space.  It became a simple matter of putting those demonstrations down on paper.  A second part of the challenge was technical accuracy.  I don’t claim to be an expert on “all things space.”  Heck, I’m just an astronaut.  Finding adequate reference material to ensure that what I wrote was valid and correct, required a bit more digging than I thought would be necessary.  In the end I think we succeeded masterfully, but I’m partial!

When speaking to kids and young adults around the nation, I constantly implore them to remember that “…they are just like me.”  They can be anything they chose to be.  It will take hard work, a lot of help, and a little bit of luck, but the future is theirs.  They must dare to make it extraordinary. 

VIDEO

Check out this fun video starring Clayton Anderson--as himself!