Book Giveaway: LOVE YOU SERIES by Helen James

Sleeping Bear Press sent me a copy of DADDY LOVES YOU by Helen Foster James, illustrated by Petra Brown. Then I noticed that Helen had another book, MOMMY LOVES YOU. Of course with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day coming up, I contacted Helen about featuring both of her books, then she pointed out the other books in the series. Sleeping Bear Press agreed to share a copy of the latest book DADDY LOVES YOU and Helen has agreed to send a copy the other four books to four additional winners. Yes that’s right, you have a chance to win a copy of Daddy Loves You, Mommy Love You, Grandmom Loves You, Grandpa Loves You, or Auntie Loves You for a total of five winners.  

All you have to do to get in the running is 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 Helen and Petra, especially at this stressful time when authors and illustrators need to promote their books completely online.

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:

From the author-illustrator team that created Grandma Loves You! comes a touching story just for Daddy and his newest little bunny. Told in charming verse with signature bunny characters, this book celebrates the unique relationship a father has with his child and the deep love they share, this pair’s adventures and tender moments will warm the heart.

BOOK JOURNEY:

The question authors get asked most frequently is, where did you get the idea? Sometimes there is a long circuitous route to a book, but the idea that prompted my book Grandma Loves You! was quite straight forward.

A friend of mine became a grandma for the first and only time and I watched her gush about her little grandson. A group of us gave her a grandmother baby shower and each of us were to bring books to give to the new grandma for her and her grandson’s home libraries.

I wanted a book that when my friend Jean, the new grandma, read to her little grandson, EJ, it would sound as if the words were coming directly from Jean’s heart and mouth.

I’m a former elementary teacher, school district coordinator of library media services, and professor of children’s literature so I knew there were a lot of grandma books, but they weren’t exactly what I wanted. I went to a local children’s bookstore and looked at the shelves of baby books. Again, they weren’t precisely what I was looking for.

Not finding what I wanted became my seed of an idea . . . write the book I wanted to buy for my friend, but couldn’t find.

I called my grandma friend, young adult author Jean Ferris, and told her I wanted to write a book for grandmothers. I asked her if she would meet me for brunch and talk to me about being a grandmother. She loved the idea of talking about her beloved grandson and being a new grandmother.

Over plates of papas loco at one of her favorite restaurants, she gushed about how wonderful it was to be a grandmother. At one point in the conversation she said, “Helen, you look at this baby and think, this is my baby’s baby!” Her heart was full of love for her grandchild, and I knew I wanted to capture her emotion in a book.

I had walked to the restaurant and on my 40-minute walk home my mind whirled with ideas. My steps on the sidewalk seemed to hammer out a beat for me. I knew I had to write Grandma Loves You!

After many drafts, I sent my manuscript to Amy Lennox, my editor at Sleeping Bear Press. Fortunately, she loved it and so did the Sleeping Bear Press acquisitions team. Grandma Loves You! was published in 2013.

I met grandmas at bookstores and conferences and they embraced the book and told me it was a book they had wanted and hadn’t found. They also said, “Where’s the Grandpa Loves You! book? I want to buy one for my husband. You’ve got to write one!” Grandpa Loves You! came out next, by popular demand from grandmothers who wanted to buy their husband a book.

Those books were popular and people asked for Mommy Loves You! and Daddy Loves You! so I went to work to write a book for mommies and then, later, daddies. The books, just like Grandma Loves You!, tell the story in a way that when daddy (or mommy) is reading the book it sounds like daddy (or mommy) is saying the words straight from his (or her) heart in his (or her) voice. The book creates an intimate conversation from the adult to the child.

Auntie Loves You! was published in 2018 and aunties are telling me how much they love giving the book to their nieces and nephews. They keep saying, “When will you write Uncle Loves You!?” So, as you might guess, that’s what I’m working on now.

This family of books started with my simple task: find and buy a book for my friend, Jean Ferris, who had just become a grandma. It has blossomed into a family of books for grandmas, grandpas, mommies, aunties, and daddies.

Reading the book gives family members the loving and sweet words to tell the little one in their life, “I Love You!”

HELEN’S BIO:

I’m the author of Grandma Loves You!, Grandpa Loves You!, Mommy Loves You!, and Auntie Loves You! That’s a whole lot of love. Daddy Loves You! will be published in 2020 and Welcome to the World will arrive in the world in the fall of 2020. I’m currently working on a nana book.

One of my newest books is With Love, Grandma. It’s a picture book told in letters from grandma to her little grandchild. The grandma is a hedgehog and has an adorable van to travel the countryside.

I love holidays and have published two Christmas books: Santa’s Christmas Train and Grandma’s Christmas Wish.

My book, Daddy’s Girl, showcases a girly, girl throws a tea party for her daddy.

I’m the author of S is for S’Mores: A Camping Alphabet. I started researching the book when I was four years old–when I went on her first camping trip! Since that time, I have been on more than one hundred camping trips including backpacking down (and up!) the Grand Canyon, hiking to the top of Sierra Mountain passes, and canoeing down the Colorado River. I even met my husband on a camping trip to Catalina Island.

I am also the author of E is for Enchantment: A New Mexico Alphabet (published by Sleeping Bear Press) illustrated by Neecy Twinem. I received a WILLA Literary Finalist award for the book from Women Writing the West. The book was named to the Land of Enchantment Booklist for 2006-2007 and selected by the New Mexico Library Association as their “Legislative Gift Book” for 2007.

I’m a former educator serving as an elementary teacher, coordinator of library media services, elementary teacher, media specialist, and as a professor of children’s literature. I received my doctorate in Educational Administration from Northern Arizona University. I recently received an award from the California Reading Association for my contribution to literacy.

I’m a native San Diegan. My home is in Pacific Beach and I have a cabin in the San Diego mountains where I can hear coyotes serenade the moon. I enjoy watching raccoons, woodpeckers, wild turkey, deer, fox, and other wildlife outside my cabin’s windows.

When I’m not camping, hiking, and hanging out on Sail Bay in San Diego, you can find me reading, writing, watching movies, and planning my next travel adventure. Please visit my website at www.helenfosterjames.com.

PETRA BROWN’S BIO:

Petra Brown has been a children’s book illustrator since 2006 when her first picture book If Big Can…I Can, written by Beth Shoshan and published by Meadowside, was shortlisted for the Booktrust Early Years Awards for Best Emerging Illustrator. was shortlisted for the Booktrust Early Years Awards for Best Emerging Illustrator. Since then she has been illustrating for a range of publishers in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Petra comments, “I love drawing animals with human expressions. I find it such fun creating, for example, a thoughtful fox, a happy hippo, a shy sheep, or a caring bear! The other thing I like is creating landscapes, places where my characters can run about and have adventures. Living in a magnificent place like Snowdonia helps a great deal.” Petra lives with her partner in Wales. She is also the author and illustrator of the children’s book When the Wind Blew.

Helen thank you for sharing your books in your Love You series and your journey with them. I can see why they have been so successful. The books are so heartwarming and the illustrations are beautiful. I am sure you are going to make five people very happy when they win a copy. 

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy