Friday, January 6, 2023

Heaps of Heart and Hope for 2023 + OUR BOOK GIVEAWAY!

 What better way to launch the New Year than with a Book 

Giveaway!

And not of just any book.

 IMHO: Children’s books gift Readers with Heart and Hope.

Katherine Paterson described story as “one heart in hiding 

reaching out to another.”

"A good book,” venerable Atheneum editor Jean Karl shared, 

"…respects a child’s capacity to become.”

But when a children’s book offers us the true and remarkable 

stories behind the stories we’ve come to love – as does Danielle 

Higley’s THE stories BEHIND THE stories (Bushel & Peck 

Books, 2021), how could we not reap EXTRA heaps of Heart 

and Hope?

Think: twenty-nine writers’ hopeful hearts waiting to be

discovered.

 

I guarantee our Giveaway Book will fortify you fully so you 

can keep keepin’ on in 2023.

And Good News! It will also inspire one lucky Young Reader 

because the publisher honors its Book-for-Book Promise: for 

every book sold, Bushel & Peck donates one book to a child in 

need. 

Be sure to enter our Book Giveaway! Instructions follow this post.

To nominate a school or organization to receive free books from 

Bushel & Peck, click here.


In her Author’s Note, Danielle Higley shared an important insight 

she gleaned while researching the how and why her chosen 

children’s book creators told their stories. Yes, creativity and 

imagination played a role.

 ·       J.R.R. Tolkien, while editing a student’s blank paper, penned, 

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” – and then promptly 

built a bigger world.

·       A young librarian patron queried Beverly Munn Cleary, 

“Where are the books about kids like us?” and her answer, 

fortunately, was Henry Huggins.

·       Dr. Seuss believed, “Nonsense wakes up the brain cells… If you 

can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in 

whack.”

But most treasured children’s books were born from extraordinary 

persistence and grit.

·       Beatrix Potter self-published The Tale of Peter Rabbit when 

multiple publishers rejected the manuscript.

·       Librarians offered a storm of protest, though to no avail, 

because the children in Gertrude Chandler’s original Boxcar 

Children series “were having too good a time without any 

parental control.”

·       Every day for thirteen years, Christopher Paul Curtis worked 

on a General Motors assembly line, taking turns with his partner 

to hang thirty doors in a row to earn a thirty-minute break to write 

his stories.

 

From Mother Goose rhymes and Clement Clarke Moore’s The 

Night Before Christmas to Rick  Riordan’s Percy Jackson and 

the Olympians and Jeff McKinney’s Wimpy Kid series, each of 

the true tales behind the featured books magnifies the treasure 

these beloved stories hold.

David Miles’ beautiful illustrations, many collage-like boasting 

photographs and original art, the many meaningful author and 

illustrator quotes throughout and the shared research resources 

on the last pages enrich the book’s enjoyment.


Thanks to Bushel & Peck Books for generously gifting one of 

our lucky TeachingAuthors readers with a copy of THE stories 

BEHIND THE stories.

Thanks, too, to Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core for hosting 

today’s Poetry Friday.

May Heart and Hope accompany you through the New Year!

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.

I need to shout HURRAH! for my writer Amy Neeren and her 

recently-released debut chapter book Nellie in Knots published by 

Bushel & Peck Books! The story behind her story offers bushels 

of Heart and Hope.

. . . . . .

To enter the giveaway drawing for The stories BEHIND THE storiesuse the Rafflecopter widget below. (Note: if the widget doesn't appear, click on the link at the end of this post that says "a Rafflecopter giveaway" to enter.)

You may enter via up to 4 options. The more options you choose, the better your odds! 

If you choose option 3, you MUST leave a comment on TODAY’S blog post or on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. If you haven’t already “liked” our Facebook page, please do so today!

If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.

Note: if you submit your comments via email or Facebook, YOU MUST 
STILL ENTER THE DRAWING VIA RAFFLECOPTER BELOW.  The giveaway ends January 20, 2023 and is open to U.S. Residents only.

If you’ve never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here’s info on how to enter 
a Rafflecopter giveaway.  And a second article explains the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

13 comments:

Unknown said...

It was so fortuitous that this blog post got sent to me (THANK YOU, Esther). I was just finishing up a lecture for grad school that had me thinking about projects for my upcoming semester and this book with be invaluable. So excited to check it out!

Lois said...

This looks like an absolutely fabulous book. It would be wonderful to use with my students to encourage them to see how ideas are generated and then turned into a story.

Caroline McAlister said...

I am really excited about reading this book to inspire me in the new year. It looks fabulous.

Linda Mitchell said...

oooooooooh! This book is THIS school librarian/writer's dream come true. Thanks for the review. I'll also ask my public library to order a copy. Thank you so much!

Margaret Simon said...

What a wonderful book and offer! I love reading about authors and the ones you mentioned are certainly among my heroes.

Danielle H. said...

This book will provide endless inspiration. Thank you for the chance!

April Halprin Wayland said...

Esther, your celebration of this book cartwheels off the page! It's infectious (in a good way!)

Rosi Hollinbeck said...

What a wonderful, inspirational book. Thanks for the opportunity.

Kathleen Mazurowski said...

Sounds like a wonderful way to jumpstart 2023

Esther Hershenhorn said...

Oh, how terrific Danielle Higley's book struck a responsive chord in so many of our TeachingAuthors readers!
I had a hunch it would. :)
Here's how Danielle ends her Author's Note:
"Considering Benjamin Franklin's quote, that a person should either write something great or do something great, it's clear to me that the authors we admire most have done both. And perhaps it's the secret ingredient that's made their writing so genuine, so engaging, and so enduring."
Keep keepin' on!

Unknown said...

I would love to win this book! What a treasure.

Carol A. said...

Wondering if this book would inspire me to try writing a children's book. Thanks for the giveaway!

Susan Ekins said...

I took a creativity test that was mentioned in Carmela Martino's Creativity newsletter and found out I'm a Dreamer. I'd love to read this book for inspiration to be more of a doer as well. Thank you for the opportunity.