Book Giveaway: THE REAL FARMER IN THE DELL

Author Sandra Sutter has a new picture book titled, THE REAL FARMER IN THE DELL. illustrated by Chantelle and Bergen Thorne. It is availabe in bookstores now. Clearfork 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 THE REAL FARMER IN THE DELL!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Everyone thinks they know the story of the Farmer in the Dell. But do they really? One little mouse knows the truth and he’s ready to spill the beans. Take a seat in the saddle and hold on to your hat when you open the book and read all about it here. This real-life story will make you question what else might not be true, depending on who’s doing the telling.

BOOK JOURNEY:

From the author, Sandra Sutter:

The story was inspired by a simple question from my son, who was four at the time, about the farmer taking a wife. When I explained that was the way the song went, I decided . . . well, that could all be different. The part of me that likes to challenge assumptions took over, and the next thing I knew, the farmer wasn’t a farmer and the farmer wasn’t a man.

Much of the basic format of the story was in the first draft, but it also had one major flaw; it lacked a good narrator. I played around with different ways to tell the story until my little mouse appeared one day, and from then on it was his story to tell. I was delightfully surprised when Chantelle and Burgen shared their first sketches and brought the mouse to life in a way I never thought possible. I knew immediately that they were the perfect fit for this book. Not to mention, they are incredibly talented and I couldn’t be more happy to work with them. (And guess what? We will be working together again on another “scary fun” project this year!)

From the illustrators, Chantelle and Burgen Thorne:

What’s real? What a great question! Is anything really ever true, or is the truth a matter of perspective?

We just fell in love with Sandra Sutter’s story of The REAL Farmer in the Dell and we were super-excited to work on it with dream Art Director/acquiring editor of Spork Mira Reisberg (founder of Children’s Book Academy).

Here’s our visual cue: we illustrated the mouse slightly differently to the people – he’s furry, soft and natural-looking with big eyes – the people are more stylised and simplified. Will the reader ask why? We hope so!!

When we presented the first sketches of the pages, we’d included a faded cream to show colour areas. Mira picked up on this immediately and encouraged us to go for a washed-out palette of sun-bleached tones that create the perfect feeling of the dusty West where our story is set. We’re so happy with how this limited colour palette worked out!

As we both come from a graphic design background, we liked the idea of including hand-written text as part of the story – especially since Mouse is editing and presenting his own version! As we went along, Mira suggested we use more of Mouse’s sketchy handwriting – every time he said his emphatic ‘LIKE THIS!’

We’ve had a great time creating the illustrations for The Real Farmer in the Dell and we’re so excited to see how everyone likes the book! Please comment on our posts on FaceBook, Instagram or Twitter and let us know your thoughts…

SANDRA SUTTER BIO:

Sandra Sutter has worn many hats, including counselor, attorney and now children’s book author. She is also a wife, mother, and master finder of silver linings. Originally from the beautiful Front Range of Colorado, Sandra now lives in the heart of horse country outside of Lexington, Kentucky. An active imagination and two young children give her pleanty of inspiration to write stories, research fun facts, and chase new dreams. Find out more about her at www.sdsutter.com

CHANTELLE and BERGEN THORNE BIO:

Chantelle and Burgen live in blissful country idyll with their motley furry (and feathered) family of ducks, chickens, horses, goats, dogs, cats, pigs and geriatric bunnies. In the last few years they decided to (literally) put their heads together and collborate on their illustrations and the result is their best work so far! On meeting new people, they take turns at answering the question ‘what do you do for a living?’ because they each get such a kick out of saying ‘we illustrate for kids!’

PS There are some cool colouring in pages to download off Clear Fork’s website!! You can also order copies directly here: 

https://www.clearforkpublishing.com/store/p136/TheREALFarmerintheDell.html

 https://www.facebook.com/chantelleandburgenthorne/

Instagram at: @chantelle_burgen

  https://twitter.com/chantelleburgen

website:
https://chantelleandburgen.wixsite.com/chantelleandburgen

Thank you Sandra, Chantelle, and Burgen for sharing your book and process with us. It looks like so much fun. Please note winner must live in the US due to mailing costs.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy