BOOK GIVEAWAY: CAVEKID BIRTHDAY by Cathy Breisacher

Author Cathy Breisacher has a new picture book titled, CAVEKID BIRTHDAY. It is is hitting bookstores on March 5th. Cathy 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 Cathy!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

“The message will resonate with generations of readers—the simplicity of a box combined with imagination crosses time and gender…Book Sweet.” Kirkus Reviews

Caveboy and Cvegirl are best friends and do all kinds of cavekid activities together. They also share the same birthday! They each want to find the perfect gift, but Cavekids have no money! They do, however, have something valuable that they can take to Caveman’s Collectibles to trade, but when it’s time to exchange gifts, they are in for a mammoth surprise. Not to worry! These Cavekids are resourceful, and they use their imaginations and creativity to come up with a way to have a satisfying and very happy birthday.

BOOK JOURNEY:

I’ve been writing for many years, but I really devoted myself to writing and trying to get published about six years ago when I made a career change to become a school librarian. This job affords me the luxury of immersing myself in the kidlit world. I love reading fun and silly picture books, and I enjoy coming up with new story ideas that I think will make kids smile and laugh.

The idea for Cavekid Birthday came to me in 2014. One day, during Tara Lazar’s PiBoId Mo challenge (now called STORYSTORM), I saw a clipart image of a caveboy and a cavegirl. A week before I had been thinking of a way to mash two story ideas together. I tried to think of a storyline for cavekids, and eventually thought about Christmas time. But, like all of my stories, it went through many rounds of revision. I really liked the idea of a Cavekid Christmas, but based on input from some of my writer friends, I changed Cavekid Christmas to Cavekid Birthday, thinking that selling a Christmas book right out of the gate may be more difficult to do.

I tried writing the story all in dialogue between Caveboy and Cavegirl, but the story was definitely missing something. Once I settled on a narrative with a birthday theme, it still went through a couple of dozen revisions before I started shopping it around. I submitted the story on and off for about 6 or 8 months before landing an agent, which came about after attending an SCBWI conference. With feedback from my agent, the story went through a few more tweaks before sending it out on submission. Then, less than a year later, it sold to Julie Bliven, my brilliant and wonderful editor at Charlesbridge.

With Julie’s expert editorial eye, we fine-tuned the story and then it was time to search for an illustrator. Much to my surprise and delight, they asked me to weigh in on the decision. Roland Garrigue was chosen and he is such a pro. I love the detail and color in his art. It was thrilling to see the first sketches and just as thrilling to see the final art. Working on this book could not have been a more wonderful experience. The entire process was fascinating to me, and I was included in every stage of it. It was eye-opening to see how much thought goes into every detail of a book, such as the page layout, the color of the text, and the placement of the text. It’s been a long journey but an incredibly exciting one. The story sold in 2016 and it launches this March, 2019. I enjoyed the collaboration between everyone involved, and watching the story turn into a book was absolutely magical. I hope every writer out there gets to experience the wonder of seeing your manuscript turn into a book that will be in kids’ hands someday.

CATHY’S BIO:

Cathy Breisacher spends her days surrounded by books working as an elementary school librarian. She first earned her Master’s Degree in Counselor Education and worked as a high school guidance counselor before earning her Master of Library Science Degree and making a career change.
Her passion is to write fun, silly, humorous picture books that will put a smile on kids’ faces. Her first two trade picture books are forthcoming: Cavekid Birthday (March, 2019 by Charlesbridge) and Chip and Curly, the Great Potato Race (May, 2019 by Sleeping Bear Press).

Cathy lives in Central PA with her husband, Chuck. When she is not working or writing, she enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her husband, family, and friends. She also likes learning about new technology or makerspace activities that she can incorporate into her libraries. She loves all kinds of parks – national parks, theme parks, and Central Park – and is happy when she gets a chance to visit any of these.
You can read more about her at https://www.cathybreisacher.com/.

Thank you Cathy for sharing your book and journey with us. The story and the illustrations are so much fun and I love the book trailer. Good Luck.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy