Book Giveaway: PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET by Nadine Poper

Nadine Poper has written a new picture book titled, PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET, illustrated by Alicia Young and published by Blue Wale Press. They have agreed to share a copy 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 Nadine and Alicia!

If you have signed up to follow my blog and it is delivered to you everyday, please let me know when you leave a comment and I will give you an extra ticket. Thanks!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Porcupette loves to spend days alone in the quiet forest reading. But when Moppet, a bumbling predator, comes along with his silly antics and non-stop rambling, Porcupette’s sanctuary is turned topsy-turvy. When Moppet finally makes his move, they both get a big surprise that suggests Moppet should read more, and Porcupette should listen more carefully. Alicia Young’s delightful art brings even more life and humor to Nadine Poper’s fun and educational story about a porcupine, a fisher, and their natural relationship in the wild.

“Though the tension of predator versus prey is present throughout this ode to reading, Moppet is so charming in his dialogue and in Young’s (Mason the Bull and the Magical Christmas Tree, 2018, etc.) pitch-perfect, anthropomorphic cartoon illustrations that readers won’t feel too frightened for Porcupette.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Parents who choose ‘Porcupette and Moppet’ for its read-aloud pleasure will find this a thoroughly engaging, refreshingly original story, while youngsters with rudimentary reading skills receive a fine lesson in differences, predators and prey, and the value of information.” —D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Highly recommended for its leisure value and its pointed insights about different personalities and creatures, Porcupette and Moppet is a lovely picture book that promises lasting attraction and interest to parents and library collections alike.” —D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

BOOK JOURNEY:

I’m not sure what it is about porcupines that I am compelled to write about them. Besides PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET, I have another picture book draft that features a porcupine. But for some reason PORCUPETTE made its way into the world over this other prickly guy that still sits unfinished in a folder.

August 2016 The very first page of PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET was written. It originally started as a rhyming story and I personally loved it . . . bad rhyme and all. I didn’t know it wasn’t the best rhyme at the time, and I was quite proud of it. Until I kept getting the same feedback from my critique partners. The rhyme just wasn’t working for them. I insisted though that I had invented a new rhyming pattern called “internal rhyme” or “nontraditional rhyme.” Oh, how funny that was! I absolutely did not invent any such thing. Yes, go ahead and laugh.

Here are a few lines from the original incomplete rhyming manuscript:

. . . his momma shouted, “Be careful Porcupette! I am certain something must be lurkin’ that wants to eat you.” 

     “What would that be, Momma?” asked Porcupette.

      “A mammal called a fisher is mean. They have been seen in these woods where you play. “

      “I will be careful today,” promised Porcupette and off he went.

So I let the manuscript sit for many months, dabbling in it here and there. I never could get to a satisfying ending. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. I wasn’t quite ready to let the rhyming go. I also didn’t want to let go of a story about a porcupine and a natural predator, the fisher.

April-July 2017 I completely ditched the rhyme and revised it in prose. I kept all the facts that I gathered about both animals. I gave myself a BIC (Butt in Chair) day. The idea of Porcupette reading a book about the fisher that is preying upon him hit me like a ton of bricks that day. It was a huge “Aha!” moment. I took it to my critique partners, and I got feedback that was more positive. In fact, my one partner wrote, “Brilliant! Awesome! Yes! Love it!!”

August 2017 I submitted this story for a Roundtable critique at an SCBWI event with author Sarah Aronson. The best thing happened that day . . . she read it aloud to critique it and didn’t have really any suggestion for improvement. She said it was very good. I knew that it was time to start submitting it. I felt it. What a liberating feeling! Finally the time had come.

September 2017-March 2018 I sent PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET to eleven agents and publishers and received many rejections. I pitched it personally to Sean McCarthy at Fall Philly. He said that it sounded too similar to a book he just signed so he had to decline. But again, I had that reaffirming feeling that PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET was good, was ready, and was going to find a good home.

April 2018 Sent PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET to Blue Whale Press. The very next day, I was at a local zoo trying to get a glimpse of real porcupettes. And the day after that, Alayne Kay Christian had emailed me expressing interest in PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET. I also received an email almost simultaneously from a literary agent requesting more work after reading the manuscript. I felt quite confident after talking to Alayne that Blue Whale would be that home I was looking for. I gave the agent a few weeks to respond to my additional manuscripts and then wrote her back to say I had decided on Blue Whale Press.

May 2018 Alayne and Steve hit the road running with sending me links to illustrators’ online portfolios for my perusal. They had their favorites and I had mine. Without a doubt, we both agreed on Alicia Young. When I looked at her work, I fell in love with her gentle yet lively style I saw in her characters. I was thrilled when Alicia agreed to join Blue Whale Press.

June 2018 I received initial sketches already! What a joy that was! I also had a phone conversation with a Game Mammal Supervisor from the Pennsylvania Game Commission for fact checking of my earlier research.

From June 2018 until present, PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET is coming alive. The cover was completed back in the fall. I included back matter about porcupines and fishers. And it looks like PORCUPETTE AND MOPPET will be heading into the children’s literature world sometime in the late summer or early fall.

About the Author:

Nadine Poper is an elementary librarian for an urban Pennsylvania school district who loves how fortunate she is to be surrounded all day by books and children to share them with. As a mom to three boys and two dachshunds, Nadine became a huge wiener dog fan and self-published three children’s books about dachshunds. She is also a foster home for Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue and donates portions of her book sales to the rescue.

When not writing, Nadine loves to travel to dog and dachshund events with her husband to promote her books. She also enjoys gardening in her Blandon, Pennsylvania backyard, and of course reading and writing children’s literature. Learn more about Nadine at http://nadinepoper.weebly.com/

About the Illustrator:

Alicia Young was raised in a very artistic home and surrounded by constant creativity. When she was 10 years old, Alicia’s parents started an art school for kids in her childhood home: This was a creative girl’s dream come true! Alicia Young attended the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in beautiful Connecticut and received her BFA degree in Painting in 2009. Since then, Alicia has enjoyed illustrating children’s books, painting portraits, and experimenting with new forms of art whenever she has the chance.

Alicia and her husband, Blake, have moved several times, but are now living in lovely Central Texas, where the rolling hills and white tailed deer look like living paintings every day! Alicia strives to spread joy and bring glory to God, the Master Artist, through each piece she creates. You can read more about Alicia and see some of her artwork by going to https://aliciayoungart.com/.

Thank you Nadine for sharing your book and its’ journey with us. It l;ooks like a fun book that parents will love to read and share time with their children. Wishing you the best with the book.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy