GIVEAWAY: "I Love Ewe" and "Hug a Bull" by Aaron Zenz

Note:  Be sure to read all the way to the bottom of today's post -- there is a big Giveaway with fabulous prizes! 

Dad:  Today we’re celebrating two new books:  “I Love Ewe” and “Hug a Bull”!

Elijah (age 7):  I want to tell everyone something.  These books are written by my dad.

Dad:  Does that seem strange?

Gracie (age 12):  It seems normal to me.

Elijah:  Lots of dads make books.

Dad:  They do?

Gracie:  These books would be good for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

Dad:  Thanks, “Marketing Department!”

Gracie:  You’re welcome.

Isaac (age 14):  These are also “learning books.”

Elijah:  They are about Daddy and Mommy animals.  The books tell you their names.

Dad:  So, animal moms and dads have names.

Elijah:  Of course they have names!

Dad:  Names like “Mac” and “Thorin” and “Darleen”?
Elijah:  No those are just the names of my fish.  My fish that died. 

Dad:  You’ve had a lot of fish that have died.

Elijah:  Yeah.  Also my fish Bob.  And Bob 2.  And Bob 3.  And Burp.

Dad:  So what kind of names are in these books then?

Lily (age 10):  I know!  I know!  Boy and girl names.  They teach you lots of animal names you never knew before.  And some of them are fun to say – like “Gobbler.”  And “Peahen.”

Dad:  Let’s all say “Peahen” together.

Elijah:  And a mommy octopus is called a “Hen.”

Gracie:  The little baby octopus on this page is the cutest little thing ever!  He’s adorable.  And I’m falling in love with that little crab.  I love all the little underwater babies!

Lily:  I know another name!  Guess what a mommy cow is called?  A Rhino!  Wait – I mean a mommy rhino is called a Cow.

Dad:  Yeah – it doesn’t work in reverse.

Lily:  Hee hee hee!  A mommy cow is just called a Cow.

Dad:  Simple and confusing at the same time.

Isaac:  Is a girl goat called a “Hootin’ Nanny” or just a “Nanny”?

Dad:  Nanny. 

Isaac:  Because “Hootin’ Nanny” sounds awesome!

Dad:  Well, a hootenanny is like a southern… music… party… thing.  See, I made it into a pun for the book.  There's lots of puns and wordplay.

Gracie:  I hate puns.

Dad:  Oh!  A glowing endorsement for these books!

Gracie:  I do like the puns in these.  I only hate annoying puns.  Like when they are on Valentines cards.

Lily:  I just made up a rhyme: “The Mayor of Horse / is the Mare of course.”

Gracie:  Dad, you had to draw a horse for this book.  You hate drawing horses.  Which do you hate more?  Drawing horses or cows?

Dad:  Cows.

Gracie:  And you had to draw cows twice.  For the Ewe book and the Bull book.

Dad:  I had to do both of them twice.  A cow and a horse for each book.

Gracie:  Actually even more!  Parent cows and baby cows for both books.

Dad:  Four of each.  Wait – and then there are cows on the cover too.  And in the charts in back.  And on the title page.  Even more!

Gracie:  Poor Daddy.

Dad:  Six horses and nine cows all together.

Gracie:  Nine cows!!!

Lily:  I like drawing horses and cows.

Dad:  Well, I’ll have you do it next time!  I paid my horsie due.

Gracie:  Horsie doo?  That sounds disgusting.

Elijah:  I never noticed that it’s called “Hug a Bull” and there’s a Bull on the cover!

Lily:  You just thought it was because cows are huggable?

Elijah:  They hug and snuggle.

Dad:  How do you think cows hug each other?

Gracie:  They just rub together awkwardly.

Dad:  I had wanted to put an elephant Bull on the cover because it could hug with its trunk.  I think cows might just stab each other with their hoofs if they tried.

Lily:  Ouch.

Dad:  I almost put a turkey on the cover and called the book “Wobbly Gobbler.”  That’s what I originally wanted to do first.

Gracie:  That would not have been as good as “Hug a Bull.”

Dad:  But it’s so fun to say!  Imagine… “Here’s my book, “Wobbly Gobbler.”

Gracie:  It does match the title of your “Chuckling Ducklings” book better. 
Lily:  (flipping through the pages)  Kangaroos!  Boinggie – boinggie!  They are so cute!

Gracie:  Oh my word!  I love the little possums.  Every time I see your tiny animals, my heart melts into little possum puddles. 
Lily:  And this page has a baby mole!  We actually saw a little tiny mole once.  He was so cute!  Even though he was dead.  Remember when you ran over one with the car in the driveway?

Gracie:  The little donkey baby is adorable.

Lily:  He’s got Elijah-hair!

Gracie:  He does!  He does!  You made the donkeys look like Elijah!  The little donkeys have his hair and the same expression he gets all the time.

Elijah:  “Ee-honk!  Ee-honk!”

Gracie:  That is NOT a donkey noise!  I don’t know what that was.

Lily:  It’s more like a squeaky rocking chair.

Dad:  So now I’ve done a book about Baby animals, one about Moms, one about Dads…

Elijah:  Next you have to do Grandmas!

Dad:  I’m sure there’s a big list of grandma animal names out there.

Kids:  Ha ha ha!

Dad:  Well, thanks for the review, guys!

Lily:  (Starts rapping) 

  Pssh -- pssh -- pssh…

  This is a book

  Which is about

  Lots of fuzzy animals

  And they love to shout!

  It tells all the names

  In poems and rhymes

  And I love to read them

  All of the time!

Dad:  Word.

Lily:  It’s about Dads and Moms and such

  And barely any of them…. are… Dutch!

Kids:  Hah ha ha hah…

Dad:  How about:  Cows can’t hug

  But their heads can touch!

Gracie:  Yeah!

"Ee-honk!" by Elijah

 

 bull and calf, by Isaac

 

vixen, kit, and tod; by Gracie

vote Mare for Mayor, by Lily

Author/Illustrator:  Aaron Zenz
Published, 2013: Walker Books
Like them?  Here they are!



This week, some wonderful blogs are highlighting "I Love Ewe" and "Hug a Bull" just in time for Mother's Day.  I'm so very thankful!  I invite you to stop by and leave these folks some thoughtful comments:

Mon May 6:  Bookie Woogie
Tue May 7:  Reading to Know
Wed May 8:  Playing by the Book
Thu May 9:  Sharpread 
Fri May 10: City Book: Hug and Ewe
Sat May 11:  From the Mixed-up Files


And now time for a Giveaway!  Thanks for your support over the years!  Just leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered to win one of three prizes:

Prize Pack #1:  signed copies of "Hug a Bull" & "I Love Ewe" + three other books I've authored/illustrated: The Chimpanseeze, The Hiccupotamus (new in boardbook!), and Chuckling Ducklings (new in boardbook!)




Prize Pack #2:  signed copies of "Hug a Bull" & "I Love Ewe" + three other books I've illustrated:  Nugget on the Flight Deck, Skeleton Meets the Mummy, and Five Little Puppies Jumping on the Bed




Prize Pack #3:  signed copies of "Hug a Bull" & "I Love Ewe" + an original piece of artwork - crafted specially for you - depicting the animal of your choosing!  for example:




To be entered, just leave a comment here!  Bonus entry points if you leave comments on the blog tour sites linked above too :)  
The Giveaway will run through the end of the month, May 31, when we'll randomly select three winners.  Best of luck!

Review #122: Giant Dance Party

 

Isaac (age 14):  “Giant Dance Party.”
Lily (age 10):  (singing) Hey, hey, hey, it’s a good book!

Gracie (age 12):  When a book is good, you are just drawn to it for the sake of its awesomeness.

Lily:  It’s by Betsy Bird, and Brandon Dorman is illustrating it.

Elijah (age 7):  I’ve never heard of a book illustrated by a Doormat.

Gracie:  DorMAN.

Lily:  The book is about this girl, and she loved to dance all the day.

Gracie:  Lexy.

Lily:  But every time she had a recital, she froze up on stage like an ice pop. 

Isaac:  She forgot to breathe… THAT’S not a good thing.

Lily:  You should NOT forget how to breathe.

Isaac:  Dangerous.  Breathing is very important.

Lily:  She thought instead of dancing she could teach dance lessons.  But no one came.

Evangeline (age 5):  Then giants showed up.

Elijah:  Big blue furry ones in overalls.

Lily:  I think we should name them.  The… Farggy Hizzard Giants.

Dad:  Ooo… catchy.

Lily:  She taught them to dance, and she got over her fear when the giants got froze-y up too.

Elijah:  Froze-y!  Froze-y.

Lily:  Dancie-dance-dance.

Isaac:  I honestly would not have thought of drawing giants that looked like that.  But it would not have been as awesome if they just looked like giants the way everyone imagines giants.

Gracie:  Most giants just look like normal people but magnified.  With crooked teeth and bad clothes.  But these ones are like cute monsters.  They are adorable!

Lily:  They look like really big bugs.

Gracie:  They’re kind of like furry cucumbers.

Lily:  They look like fuzzy blue pigs.

Gracie:  They do!

Lily:  With antennas.

Evangeline:  I like the girl ones.  They are cute ones.  How many girl giants are there?

Elijah:  My favorite is the giant with bushy eyebrows.  MacDuff.  I especially like when he wears his wig.

Isaac:  What is Scottish Highland Dancing?  I want to learn it.  Because it sounds awesome.

Dad:  I think it’s kind of jiggy.

Gracie:  Jig it up!

Isaac:  Is it like River Dancing?  Because that’s cool.

Dad:  Elijah has awesome dance moves, don’t you.  Do you remember that one time you drank olive juice and went crazy all over like a dancing fool?

Elijah:  In my underwear.

Dad:  You do remember!

Isaac:  We’ve got it on taa-aaape.

Dad:  Gracie used to take dance lessons when she was a little dude.

Gracie:  When I was 4!

Dad:  Do you remember that at all?

Gracie:  Yeah.  I had a special spot where I liked to sit on the floor – the whole floor was flat except for this one notch that bumped up and it looked like someone pooped there.

Dad:  Ha ha ha hah… Wow.  I’m glad you have some fond memories of your dancing days.

Isaac:  I have a question.  Why is there a cupcake on the cover of this book?  It has nothing to do with the book at ALL.  It’s a random cupcake!

Gracie:  Yeah, why on earth?  There’s not one cupcake in the entire book!

Dad:  I think it’s just a bonus cupcake.  For your viewing pleasure.

Gracie:  Why the heck is it there?

Lily:  It’s got to be a really big cupcake.  Giant sized.

Isaac:  It’s as big as the girl’s head!

Elijah:  He’s going to splat it on her.

Gracie:  We are so obsessed with this cupcake.

Dad:  Any final thoughts you’d like to share?

Isaac:  I have a theory about why no one came to Lexy’s dance lessons.  She didn’t have her address on the fliers she put out.  That could definitely be the reason.

Dad:  How did the giants find her then?

Isaac:  That’s why it took them all week long.  They found the fliers the first day, and they were looking for her all week.  They had been going door to door.  See, I have reasons for everything.

Gracie:  Then what’s the reason for the cupcake?

Isaac:  I have no reason for that.

a Farggy Hizzard Giant, by Lily

Lexy, by Evangeline

MacDuff, by Elijah

 Lexy's dance lessons for giants, aliens, & unicorns, by Gracie

giant dance moves, by Isaac

Author: Betsy Bird

Illustrator: Brandon Dorman

Published, 2013: Greenwillow Books

Like it?  Here it is

Review #121: The Prairie Thief

Dad:  We just finished a big family reading of "The Prairie Thief" by Melissa Wiley.
Gracie (age 12):  I've got such a good blurb for this book. 
Dad:  Oh yeah?
Gracie:  It's better than any blurb Isaac will think of.  I'm going to whoop Isaac at the blurbage.  
Dad:  Okay, tell us your blurb.
Gracie:  I don't want to right now!
Dad:  You want to save it for the end?
Gracie:  Yes, because it still needs a little tweaking here and there.
Dad:  Alright... we're on pins and needles.  So let's talk about "The Prairie Thief."  Let's start with each of the words in the title.
Isaac (age 14):  I'll tell you about the word "The."
Dad:  How about "Prairie"?
Lily (age 9):  The characters live on a prairie.  A prairie is a nice field of long flow-y grass that blows in the wind.
Isaac:  This book takes place in the same timeframe as Little House on the Prairie days.
Gracie:  Yeah, when I think of prairies, I think of Laura.
Lily:  Little girls with braids in their hair, running through the fields.  It's the Old Days.
Elijah (age 7):  They're probably all dead by now.
Dad:  Tell me about the "Thief" part of the title...
Lily:  The girl's dad was accused of theft-ing.
Gracie:  You're not even saying it right.  It's "thievering."
Dad:  Uh, thievering?
Gracie:  Louisa is the main character.  A whole bunch of stolen property is found on their land, and her father is falsely accused.  He has to go to jail, and Louisa has to clear her father's name before they hang him, because her Pa is like an awesome honorable man.
Lily:  Louisa has to go stay with the people who accused her Pa because they are the only ones who live nearby.
Gracie:  It's miserable!  They are called The Smirches.  Which sounds like a totally evil name.
Lily: (growling)  Smmmirchhhhhh....
Gracie:  Doesn't that name just sound like an evil name?
Lily:  Smirch.
Gracie:  Like, listen to this.  Which one sounds like the evil character:  Mrs. Brody...  Mrs. Mack...  or Mrs. Smirch.
Lily:  Smirch.
Dad:  We talked a bit about how this book has a historical setting.
Gracie:  But it was also magical.
Dad:  The author did a good job describing what life on the prairie was like.
Gracie:  Yeah.  And then she did a good job describing what life was like with a Leprechaun for a neighbor.
Elijah:  It's a Brownie!  Louisa finds a Brownie.
Dad:  Brownies!  That sounds delicious!
Elijah:  No.  A Brownie is a little short man with a beard!
Dad:  Like you?
Kids: Ha ha ha hah!
Dad:  Elijah is a little short man.
Gracie:  But he doesn't have a beard.  You do.  It's a mix between you and Elijah.
Lily:  There are two kinds of Brownies.  The "little man" brownie and the "eating" brownie.  And you can't get them mixed up.  That would be pretty bad.
Dad:  Back to the story...
Gracie:  The author shows how difficult life really was back then on the Prairie Days.  She expresses that really well throughout the book.  But then she mixes in magical creatures.
Isaac:  It's a good mix... showing life a long time ago, but also with some fantasy.  It doesn't overdo it either way.  It's a good mix.
Lily:  Louisa crawls into a little hole that she thinks is a badger hole.
Elijah:  But she found a Brownie!
Gracie:  He's got a pointy little hat.
Lily:  And he can talk to animals.
Gracie:  She meets lots of fun little friends along her journey.  Like a pronghorn.  And wolves.
Elijah:  And a Brownie!
Dad:  Isaac, I have a question for you...
Isaac: (hesitantly)  Yeeeees?
Dad:  I've read a bit of debate online recently.  Some people claim that boys don't like books with girls as main characters.  What's your opinion?
Isaac:  Uhhh...  It depends on the book.
Dad:  They say that girls will read books with boys as main characters, but boys won't read books with girls as main characters.
Isaac:  That's not true.  It just has to be the right book.  I mean, boys aren't going to want "Barbie Princess."  It just depends on what the story is.
Dad:  Any examples of books you like that have girls as main characters?
Isaac: (Isaac starts rattling off books, no hesitation...)  The "Amulet" books have a girl in it -- those are graphic novels though.  "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" would be another good book.  "A Series of Unfortunate Events" has two girls and one boy.  "A Wrinkle in Time" is not really a boy book or a girl book.  It's just a really good book I would suggest for people to read...
Dad:  So what about "The Prairie Thief"?  Is it a book that boys would read?
Isaac:  I don't know about all boys.  But in my opinion I thought it was good.  *I* liked "The Prairie Thief."
Lily:  Sleeping overnight with wolves. Riding on pronghorns. Climbing into mysterious holes.  That all sounds like stuff boys would like.
Elijah:  Yeah, it has to do with wolves and coyotes!  And Brownies!
Isaac:  It's a really good story.
Dad:  Great - thanks guys!  So, are you ready for your blurb now, Gracie?
Gracie:  Okay, I think I've got it.
Dad:  Let's have it.
Gracie:  "'The Prairie Thief' is a mystical mystery not to be missed."
Dad:  Hey, good blurb!
Gracie:  I'm the blurb master now.

Louisa crawls into the hole, by Lily

 

Louisa meets a wolf, by Isaac 

Louisa rides a pronghorn, by Gracie

Brownie riding a wolf, by Elijah

Author: Melissa Wiley
Illustrator: Erwin Madrid
Published, 2012: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Like it?  Here it is