Book Giveaway: SING SOME MORE! by Deborah Diesen

Deborah Diesen has written a new picture book, SING SOME MORE!, illustrated by Howard Gray. It’s published by Sleeping Bear Press and hit the bookstores on August 15. Sleeping Bear Press has agreed to share a copy with one lucky winner.

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 other things you do to share the good news, so I can put the right amount of tickets in my basket for you.

Sharing on Facebook, Twitter or reblogging really helps spread the word for a new book. So, thanks for helping Deborah and Howard.

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:

Before the sun even rises and through the end of the day, four spirited birds combine their vocal talents in a day-long concert for their neighborhood.

We perform our songs for others
And we hope they’ll sing along.
We have tunes for all occasions,
And our harmonies are strong.

They perform solos and acapella and arpeggios. And they sing and sing–and sing some more! Until the day comes to an end and they decide…they’re actually pretty exhausted. But come morning, they have big plans to SING SOME MORE!!!

Written in rhyme, this exuberant musical celebration is perfect for anyone who has awakened to the sound of birdsong, welcome or otherwise! Bright, colorful and humorous illustrations add a parallel storyline about a family trying to enjoy their day. In additional to the musical fun, Sing Some More! is perfect for bedtime reading.

BOOK JOURNEY:

I’ve always loved birds.  I enjoy watching the birds that visit the trees, feeders, and bird baths in my yard, and I also enjoy stalking birds with my camera when I take walks at the local park.  I’m strictly an amateur birdwatcher (my bird identification skills are quite limited) but I derive a great deal of enjoyment from my casual pastime.

The aspect of bird identification that I am least skilled with is identifying birds by their songs.  Though there are a few songs I can match up with their birds, for the most part if I can’t clearly see the bird that’s singing, I have no idea what kind of bird it is.  One day I was reflecting on this and I indulged in a bit of whimsy.  I thought to myself, “I wish the birds that make the music up in the trees would introduce themselves to me!”

A thought like that in the mind of a writer inevitably leads to a story.  And so began Sing Some More.

The first line was easy:  “We’re the birds that make the music that you hear up in the trees!”  Once I had that on paper, my feathered friends flew me forward.  Stanza by stanza they enthused about their vocal talents, in an increasingly over the top manner.  It was delightfully fun to write!

But as I got further into the text, I began to think, how the heck am I going to end this thing?  I hadn’t planned ahead when I set out on my writing, and I was starting to get a little weary of all the unrelenting birdsong.  I thought to myself, “Won’t these birds ever pipe down????”

And that was a thought that led to the end of the story.  Because even the most enthusiastic of vocalists does eventually need to call it a day.  🙂

95% bird silliness and 5% bedtime story, Sing Some More was a thoroughly enjoyable writing journey!

DEBORAH’S BIO:

Deborah Diesen is the author of many children’s picture books, including the NYT-bestselling The Pout-Pout Fish.  She loves playing with words and rhymes and rhythms.  She has worked as a bookseller, a bookkeeper, and a reference librarian.

Deborah’s book The Pout-Pout Fish was chosen by Time Magazine as a Top 10 Children’s Book of 2008. It was also selected for the Michigan Reads! literacy program. Diesen lives in Grand Ledge with her family live in Michigan.

HOWARD GRAY’S BIO:

Howard got a BSc in Zoology to study animals! During that time he kept doing art, by doing various pieces of wildlife artwork and displaying them at a couple of exhibitions. After he graduated he decided he wanted to make a career by illustrating children’s books and studied long-distance at the London Art College and then decided to pursue a PhD in Arabian bottlenose dolphin genetics. This research took him to Oman where he worked with a team studying the amazing diversity of marine life in the Arabian region, such as humpback whales, sperm whales, dolphins (of various shapes and sizes) and of course sea turtles! It took him six years to complete this research on a part-time basis, doing bits of environmental consultancy work as well as the occasional graphic design and illustration project to keep baked beans in the cupboard, all the while keeping one eye on the children’s book industry.

After he finished his PhD, he illustrated his first picture book Danny and the Dream Dog by Fiona Barker in 2018. Now this year he illustrated Sing Some More for Sleeping Bear Press. Howard was featured on Illustrator Saturday. Click here to view.

Deborah, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. I love how this book introduces musical vocabulary to children in a fun way including words like vocalize, arpeggios, harmonies, a cappella, ballads, and anthems with the back matter and provides definitions for these musical terms. Howard did a great job making the whole book sign with his colorful illustrations. Good luck with the book!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy