The Next Big Thing: A Global Blog Tour has finally arrived here. Thank you Anna Levine and Anne Ylvisaker for tagging me.
Now it’s my turn to share my book and tag others.
1) What is the title of your book?
Room for the Baby
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
That’s a great question.
I have always loved making things. Through the years, I have made pot holders, lanyards, crepe paper flowers, and hand looms. Once I even made an angel from an old paperback book. The craft that stuck was knitting. But that's another story.
The idea for Room for the Baby comes from a lifetime of making and remaking. The mother in the book is like many crafters I know, saving the bits and pieces of what others give them.
3) What genre does your book fall under?
Room for the Baby is a picture book.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Don’t you think Julia Roberts would be great as the mother. Plus she’s a knitter. How about George Clooney for the dad? I do like handsome fathers. Any ideas for the narrator? I'm stumped.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
“A little boy frets that the sewing room where his baby sister or brother will sleep will never be emptied of things his mother has collected from neighbors for years, but she uses those things to sew and knit everything from diapers to Hanukkah gifts.”
Aren’t editors brilliant at condensing a picture book story into one sentence?
6) Who is publishing your book?
Random House
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Would you believe I wrote the first draft of Room For the Baby more than 25 years ago? It took me maybe a week to write it and a quarter of a century to revise it. Back then it was called Yetta the Scrap Saver.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Sims Tabac's telling of the classic tale of repurposing a coat -- Joseph had a Little Overcoat.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The original inspiration for this story came from many places: the Coney Island neighborhood where my grandmother Yetta Skale lived, my childhood memories of celebrating the Jewish holidays, and my love of making and remaking.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
Jana Christy's illustrations. I hope readers will visit her website and check out her latest work.
Thank you for stopping by.
Let Next Big Thing Blog Tour continue!
Tagging ...
Wild About Bears, written and illustrated by Jeannie Brett
Take a bear-by-bear journey to learn about the world’s eight bear species in this nonfiction picture book.
AND
When therapy dog, Buddy, attends the fourth grade sleep over in the school's library, he solves the mystery of the school ghost.
AND
The Honeybee Man illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker.
A story inspired by a real Brooklyn apiarist and his delicious honey.
AND
If It's Snowy and You Know Clap Your Hands written by Kim Norm.
A fun filled romp through winter -- to the tune of If You're Happy and You know It. Sterling, Fall 2013
AND
Button Down
Ned, of the comically unlucky Button family, hasn't caught a thing in his life until he faces bully Burton Ward in a challenge to catch their town hero's football.