Book Giveaway: DANBI LEADS THE SCHOOL PARADE by Anna Kim

Author/illustrator Anna Kim’s debut picture book titled, DANBI LEADS THE SCHOOL PARADE, published by Viking Books came out this month. Anna 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 Anna!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Starting school for the first time can be a whirlwind of butterflies and elation. But imagine what it’s like for a young child who’s just moved here from another country. New faces. New customs. New language.

Inspired by events from my own background, I created “Danbi Leads the School Parade” to be a fun and positive story that celebrates diversity and the immigrant experience. The story follows Danbi on her first day of school in America, where her classroom is​​ a colorful melting pot of cultures. Faced with one frustrating challenge after another, Danbi takes on this strange, new world with a simple philosophy: it’s okay to mess up, as long as you try again. With a spark of imagination, she finally wins the day by inventing a new game that turns all her classmates into adoring new friends.

I hope that my story will inspire children of all colors and backgrounds to feel as confident as Danbi and to believe in the transforming force of friendship in bridging and embracing our many differences.

Imaginative, irreverent, improvisational fun in kindergarten: Danbi shares a burst of “sweet rain,” complete with a rainbow. (Picture book. 4-7) KirKus Review

BOOK JOURNEY:

The idea for writing Danbi’s story came to me one day when I was book shopping for my nieces and couldn’t find any that captured a thoroughly positive immigrant story. There were also very few character-based stories featuring Asian characters. What struck me beyond that was the absence of immigrant stories that showed, not just the perspective of the immigrant, but also that of those who already live here. And so, writing Danbi’s story was me determined to do something about it.

After I finished the dummy and two illustrations, I sent query letters to a couple of agents. One agent wanted to pitch it to editors right away, and another told me the book needed work, made important suggestions, and asked me to query him after revising. I was torn but realized that getting published is only the first step. Readers are those who ultimately decide on a book’s success and I decided to bite the bullet. I had no idea that the revisions would take me a whopping four years!

As I started revising, I realized that my story had to be rewritten entirely. So, I slashed pretty much everything, except the look of the Danbi and one scene, and rewrote the whole thing from scratch. I sent the revised story to Steve Malk at Writers House, who emailed me that same evening “You made my day!.” Steve ran an amazing auction and got ten offers from major publishers. We decided on Viking (Penguin Young Readers) because of their reach and their belief that books would appeal to both the institutional and trade market.

ANNA’S BIO:

Born in Seoul, Korea, raised in New York City, Anna grew up doodling around the edges of her notebooks and any loose scraps of paper she could find. A classically trained pianist with a B.A. in psychology from Wellesley College, she devoted herself to teaching music to young children. During those years of teaching, Anna discovered that drawing stories on yellow stickies worked wonders when kids needed a little push to regain concentration. That’s when she decided to expand her canvas from stickies to picture books and to pursue her newfound purpose:

“Through picture and word, I want to surprise, inspire, and delight children with fun and heartwarming stories. I want to plant seeds of love and kindness through living characters who jump off the page and touch the reader with genuine emotions. I want those characters to show kids of all sizes, shapes, and colors what it’s like to be courageous, resilient, and empathetic heroes. I want to show readers the magic of friendship in transforming our beliefs, our hearts, and our lives forever.”

Anna, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. I love the cover and Danbi your little Asian girl. I am so glad you are filling that void in the market. Good luck with the book!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy