Book Giveaway: YOUR BODY, SICK AND WELL: How Do You Know? by Dr. Steven Cunningham

Dr. Steven Clark Cunningham has written a new picture book titled, YOUR BODY, SICK AND WELL: How Do You Know?, Illustrated by Susan Detwiler. 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 Dr. Steven and Susan!

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:

This playful second book by Dr. Steven Clark Cunningham serves up a fun and healthy collection of bite-sized treats that both educate and entertain. Following in the Jurassic footsteps of his award-winning book Dinosaur Name Poems, the current poems share the motif of using the names of things (nomenclature) to introduce topics that otherwise may be unfamiliar (as in the poem “Sphygmomanometer”) or even a little scary (like in “Cancer” or “Anesthesia”). The lyrical nature of the poems and the vibrant warmth of the illustrations give each topic the traction needed to get kids reading right into the poems and on through the “Learn More!” sections that follow each poem. Author proceeds from the sale of Your Body Sick and Well: How Do You Know? go to charities supporting children’s physical and mental health!

BOOK JOURNEY:

STEVEN: Although I am a surgeon, my first book of poetry for children was about dinosaurs (Dinosaur Name Poems, Three Conditions Press 2009), a topic that flowed naturally at the time, given my son’s infatuation with these creatures.  However, what came even more naturally, of course, was my last book, Your Body Sick and Well: How Do You Know? which is also a book of poems and prose, also with a glossary, but this time about the human body.  Since this is a topic that can be both fascinating and daunting to young people, I really wanted just the right illustrator for this book.

I met Susan in 2015 at a local event sponsored by the SCBWI.  As I reviewed her work, I was immediately attracted to her style, which managed to both have a quality of calm, strength, and reassurance, but also to be whimsical, playful, and fun.  The result is, I think, a book we are both quite proud of: poems in each of three sections – anatomy/organs, pathology/diseases, and instruments/tools – that, with a lyrical nature accompanied by the vibrant warmth of the illustrations, give each topic the traction needed to get kids reading right into the poems and on through the “Learn More!” sections that follow each poem.

SUSAN: I met Steven and gave him one of my cards. Soon after that he hired me to illustrate his book of poems for children, all with a medical theme. The poems are whimsical and clever, using wordplay and humor to enlighten kids about the organs of the body, common illnesses (some very serious) and medical instruments a child is likely to encounter. I was immediately attracted to these poems and saw an opportunity to expand my artistic repertoire with a whimsical style. Additionally, Steven includes for each poem a “Learn More!” section in prose at the bottom, with pertinent facts and explanations; I also produced illustrations for these sections, using the same pencil and watercolor style, but with a bit more seriousness.

DR. STEVEN CUNNINGHAM’S BIO:

Dr. Steven Cunningham, the Director of Pancreatic and Hepatobiliary Surgery at Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, has served as a contributing editor of Maryland Poetry Review.  His poems have appeared in that journal and his work won the literary arts contest sponsored by the magazine The New Physician.

 

His poems have also appeared in Chimeras, WordHouse, and in the anthologies Function at the Junction #2, Pasta

Poetics, and Poems for Chromosomes. Dinosaur Name Poems, his first full-length book of children’s poetry, won the 2009 Moonbeam Award. His new book, Your Body Sick and Well: How Do You Know? continues to make science fun for kids.  He is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators.

SUSAN’S BIO:

Susan Detwiler has illustrated several award-winning books for children, including her seventh title for Arbordale publishing, Bat Count: A Citizen Science Story. She is the author/illustrator of Fine Life for a Country Mouse, a picture book published by Penguin Random House in 2014. Her illustrations have appeared in the children’s magazines, Highlights for Children and Ladybug and her artwork has been used for puzzles, games, and greeting cards. Susan was educated at the Maryland Institute College of Art and she and her artist husband live in Baltimore. She is a member of the MD/DE/WV chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators.

Thank you Dr. Steven and Susan for sharing your book and its’ journey with us. It looks like it makes learning about your body and how to keep healthy, fun. Good luck with the book.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy