Book Giveaway: The Christmas Tree Who Loved Trains by Annie Silvestro

Author Annie Silvestro has a new picture book titled THE CHRISTMAS TREE WHO LOVED TRAINS came out on September 18th. She has agreed to share a book with one lucky winner. All you have to do to get in the running is to leave a comment. Reblog, tweet, or talk about it on Facebook with a link and you will get additional chances to win. Just let me know the other things you do to share the good news, so I can put in the right amount of tickets in my basket for you.

Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, reblogging really helps spread the word for a new book. Thanks for helping Annie!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A poignant Christmas tale about a tree who loved trains, and a little boy who loved them, too.

A pine tree grew in the farthest corner of the tree farm on a small patch of land that bordered the train track. The tree loved trains. She loved to watch them ZOOM by on the tracks beside the tree farm. Her branches would ripple in the wind as the trains roared past.

But one morning, when a little boy picks her to be his Christmas tree, she is uprooted and brought to a home far from the ZOOMING trains she loves…

Beautiful art from Paola Zakimi brings to life this lovely Christmastime tale from Annie Silvestro, perfect for readers who love The Giving Tree and The Velveteen Rabbit.

BOOK’S JOURNEY:

Christmas is my very favorite time of year. I love everything about it – the anticipation, the decorating, the wrapping, the baking – everything. Once it’s all over, a bit of melancholy sets in.

One year, while boxing up the ornaments and decorations, a thought came to mind. A tiny seedling of a story that ultimately became THE CHRISTMAS TREE WHO LOVED TRAINS.  What if, I thought, part of Christmas could hang on a little longer?

I wrote a draft of the story, but it sat in a drawer, unfinished, for many years. Until one day, something click-clacked in my brain. My son had developed a passion for trains and we began the tradition of putting a train around our tree. It occurred to me then that my Christmas tree and train story should actually be a friendship story. And it turned out to be exactly that friendship, between a tree and a boy, that gave the story its heart.

I pulled up the original manuscript and after my initial shock and horror (So. Many. Words!) I was actually excited to apply all I had learned in the years the manuscript had sat unread. The waiting had been beneficial on two levels – with time, both the idea and my craft had improved.

Thankfully, my agent, Liza Voges saw promise in the story and found it the perfect home with Tamar Mays at HarperCollins Children’s books. I am thrilled at how Paola Zakimi brought the story to life and so grateful to those who ushered the book into the world every step of the way.

ANNIE’S BIO:

Annie Silvestro is a lover of books who reads and writes as much as possible and can often be found shuffling piles of them around so she has a place to sit or someplace to put her teacup. Her picture books include BUNNY’S BOOK CLUB, illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss (Doubleday Books for Young Readers), MICE SKATING, illustrated by Teagan White (Sterling, October 3rd 2017), and THE CHRISTMAS TREE WHO LOVED TRAINS, illustrated by Paola Zakimi (HarperCollins, Fall 2018).

Annie lives by the beach in NJ with her husband and two boys who like to read, and a cat who does not. Visit Annie online at: www.anniesilvestro.com and on Twitter and Instagram: @anniesilvestro

Thank you Annie for sharing your book and journey with us. I love the illustrations and can’t wait to read it. Looks like another big seller. Good luck!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy