Betsy Bird's Blog, page 123
February 17, 2021
Long Road to the Circus (by Betsy Bird) 7-Day Cover Reveal: Day Four!
When last we left our heroes . . .
This is day four in my weeklong run-up to the reveal of the cover of Long Road to the Circus (my debut middle grade novel, out October 5th). Illustrator David Small knew that in taking on this book he would have to draw ostriches. But another piece of the puzzle was a woman by the name of Madame Marantette. And when it comes to drawing her, David excels.
You must understand that Madame Marantette was a real person and to this day holds the high jump reco...
February 16, 2021
Butterflies Are Pretty . . . Gross: A Q&A with Rosemary Mosco
In my line of work it is a blessing to have the sense of humor of a 9-year-old child. That way, when you read somewhere that on April 6th a book with the title Butterflies Are Pretty . . . Gross will be hitting bookstore shelves everywhere, you feel called to respond. I took one look at that title and it was instant love. Butterflies. Grossness. What could be better? So I gave the folks at Tundra a ring, asked if I could speak to author Rosemary Mosco and lo and behold they complied.
And...
Long Road to the Circus (by Betsy Bird) 7-Day Cover Reveal: Day Three!
Once more I reveal a piece of interior spot art in conjunction with my seven day run-up to revealing the cover of my debut middle grade novel Long Road to the Circus (out October 5th!). This book is illustrated to the nines by the my hugely talented, multi-award winning, and downright good friend, David Small.
Now yesterday I introduced you to a historical ostrich. A true villain of a bird by the name of Gaucho. There’s a story that says that Gaucho once escaped from the farm where he was ke...
February 15, 2021
Cover Reveal: Einstein by Torben Kuhlmann
Outside my home it is snowing with such gusto that the public schools’ in-person learning that was scheduled to begin today has been cancelled. We’ve received more snow this year than I’ve seen since moving to the Midwest from NYC six years ago. It can make a person petulant and yearn for warmer days. You need something comforting to read in lieu of the heartless cold outside your door.
And then, like a little beam of sunlight on a dreary day, you discover that a new Torben Kuhlmann book will...
Long Road to the Circus (by Betsy Bird) 7-Day Cover Reveal: Day Two!
We continue our series of revealing one piece of interior art for the upcoming Long Road to the Circus by Betsy Bird (that would be me), on shelves everywhere October 5th. For one whole week I will be revealing a piece of spot art by David Small, culminating in a reveal of the book’s cover on Monday.
Today, I’d like you to meet one of the heroes of my book. Many of the characters in it are based on real people. And, in one case, a real bird. An ostrich, to be precise, so ornery that he made d...
February 14, 2021
Long Road to the Circus (by Betsy Bird) 7-Day Cover Reveal: Day One!
Folks, when you’ve your very first middle grade debut coming out, you want to make a big deal out of it. You want to crow and hoot and shoot off a couple sparkling fireworks into the February sky. But as I cannot really do any of that (except the hooting, which I kind of do normally anyway), I figure a cover reveal is the next best thing. Heck, I’m always revealing other people’s middle grade book covers. Why not my own?
But the more I thought about it, the more I figured that a single cover...
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Marzipan Pig by Russell Hoban, ill. Quentin Blake
If one were to attempt a Valentine’s Day podcast episode (or, in this case, a day-after-Valentine’s-Day-post) involving romance, what picture book would you choose? Or, to be a little more precise, what classic picture book best embodies the spirit of Valentine’s Day? We’re pretty sure it wouldn’t be this book, but that’s just because sentient candy oinkers aren’t really an American thing. We’ve done two Russell Hoban books on this podcast already (Bread and Jam for Frances and Emmet Otter’s...
February 11, 2021
Across the Desert: Dusti Bowling Cover Reveal and Q&A
Apparently I just can’t get enough of that Dusti Bowling author-type-person. And, more to the point, apparently SHE can’t get enough of writing novels. In deserts. It’s a thing.
Yes, turns out that 2021 is granting us a special boon. Special boon = Another Dusti Bowling middle grade novel . It’s called Across the Desert and you’ve just gotta hear this plot encapsulation:
12-year-old Jolene spends every day she can at the library watching her favorite online streaming show: The Desert Avi...
February 10, 2021
Review of the Day: 13 Ways to Eat a Fly by Sue Heavenrich, ill. David Clark
13 Ways to Eat a Fly
By Sue Heavenrich
Illustrated by David Clark
Charlesbridge
$16.99
ISBN: 978-1-58089-890-4
On shelves February 16th
See, now I’m starting to get mad. As someone who reads a lot of children’s books, I’m used to saying that we currently live in a golden age of informational children’s books. Nonfiction topics tackled in books for children today are presented in packaging so inventive, beautiful, and downright good that there is simply no comparison to books written for kids in t...
February 9, 2021
Cover Reveal and Interview Extravaganza! See The Dog: Three Stories About a Cat with David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka
It’s like I always say. A book goes and wins a Geisel Award and next thing you know it’s flouting about the town, dropping sequels like candy at a parade, living the high life. That’s a mighty roundabout way of saying that I have in my possession today the cover of the SEQUEL to the Geisel Award-winning title See the Cat. Yep yep yep. I most certainly do. AND on top of that, I also have an interview with creators David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka. Considering how big a fan I was of their award...
