Hello, Facebook friends! Because this has been my main platform of social media, I'm having my first picture book give away exclusively here! Anyone on Fb (in the US) who sees this post is eligible to win. All you have to do is read the post and follow the instructions.
It's all free, y'all, no strings attached, except maybe kite strings...
I wanted to begin my book blog and have my first freebie give away with my favorite picture book of all time. It's one I read and re-read, over and over, to my six kids because we just. couldn't. stop. (I did ALL the voices!). It's full of magic and music and mischief as well as squishy velvety grass in the midnight end of the garden, spaghetti with pineapple sauce, and chartreuse kites flying high above the trees, trees that are dancing the eucalyptus under the sky...the sky!
Oh, look at the sky!!!
It's going to be perfectly bimulous! (Bimulous: adj. a fictional word meaning purple-mottled and moon-splendid and cloud-speckled and electrically filled with joy!)
When the Sky Is Like Lace, by Elinor Lander Horwitz and Barbara Cooney, is one of those stories that stays with you. Read it to your littles (and DO all the voices!) and they will come to you decades hence and ask, "What was that magical book? The one with bimulous nights when the sky is like lace?!" You'll remember, too.
Because you'll all want to share it with the new littles in your lives. It's that kind of story. Classic and new-baby-brand-new all at once. I truly believe my kids and I brought it out of "out of print" and back into the world in 2017 when I hosted a bimulous-themed sip and see to meet Hope when they brought her home from Michigan. Before then, it was only available used (and NO, I would NOT give my copy to ANYONE! Sorry, this one I'm stingy with.)
And now it can be yours, too! This Saturday...
And on that day I will be doing two wonderful things: 1. speaking for an hour online about the spectacular Black-Eyed Susan Picture Book Award Finalists at the following address: https://www.facebook.com/events/3808415275874273 (Join us if you're interested! It's also free!), and 2. Giving away a copy of When the Sky Is Like Lace to one lucky friend!
Are YOU that lucky friend? You May be. Hehe. See what I did there...
Okay, right. Instructions.
So, to be eligible to win, just make a bimulous-themed comment on my website in the comments section. I'm sure you're wondering, "Professor YaYa, what IS a 'bimulous-themed comment'"? Well, it's anything that's "purple-mottled and moon-splendid and cloud-speckled and electrically filled with joy" (see definition above). Maybe you tell me about how the sunset electrically sparked joy, or when the moon-splendid night filled you with magical imagination. Honestly, if you just write your name and Fb handle, that'll do.
But it will seriously lack the imagination I KNOW you have, somewhere in there. So, be imaginative!! Surprise me. But, of course, keep it all family-friendly. Professor YaYa is a child in an adult job.
That's it! Make sure you include your handle so I can find you. I (and my minions) will read your posts and pick one. Then, I'll contact you (via Fb Messenger) and get your address and mail it to you.
Maybe someday we can compare tunes for the "Katydid" song. My kids sing it the way I did, and so I suspect my grands will, too. (sigh)
S & G! Sigh and Goodbye! (Anyone know the movie reference?!)
On the way to the seaside town I find the place where the ocean meets the sky. The moon dips its roundness on the water, kisses the wavering line and bounces back as we make a turn on the winding road.
Here I am commenting on my own post so I can see how it looks/works! My bimulous themed comment is: I once chased the Super Moon over hills and around trees and into the wild &
wide open so I could capture its magnificence and breathe in its light. I also wrote a picture book about that experience: Chasing the Super Moon.