Book Giveaway: THE QUEEN AND THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE by Nancy Churnin

Nancy Churnin ia giving away her picture book, THE QUEEN AND THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE, illustrated by Luisa Uribe and publish by Albert Whitman & Company. Nancy has agreed to send a copy to the 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 Nancy and Luisa.

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:

Queen Charlotte brought her family’s festive holiday yule bough from Germany to England. While planning a Christmas Day party in 1800 at Windsor Castle for over 100 children, she realized a single bough isn’t enough. So she brought in the whole tree instead, making it the first known Christmas Tree in England. This story tells a little known fact about a favorite holiday tradition.

BOOK JOURNEY:

When you write a picture book biography, usually you start by studying a person’s life and looking for a theme that that captures the person’s essence. But not always. Sometimes, I start with an object or something that fascinates me – and search for the person that brought it to be.

That is the curious case of The Queen and the First Christmas Tree, Queen Charlotte’s Gift to England (illustrated by Luisa Uribe, published by Albert Whitman & Company).

I never set out to write about the wife of King George III, the British king during the American Revolution, who has become infinitely more famous after his featured role in Hamilton. Honestly, I didn’t even know King George was married, much less that he and his wife had 15 children together.  But I was curious about the origin of the Christmas tree. How and when did that become a tradition?

Research led me to the story of this kind queen who dragged an entire tree into Windsor Castle and decorated it with lit candles, fruits, nuts and colored papers to delight a party of 100 children on Christmas in 1800, creating what would be an annual tradition that continues to this day.

Why did she do this? Working backwards from that event, I learned how she had grown up in Germany as a princess who cared about plants and children rather than fancy balls and jewels. When she married King George, the fancy ladies of the court made fun of her accent and her humble clothes that were not as fancy as theirs. She let her mother-in-law take charge of entertaining royal guests.

Instead, Queen Charlotte cared for children at court, patronized a hospital for mothers giving birth, expanded Kew Gardens, encouraged the arts – including young Mozart who named a composition for her, took a stand against slavery by boycotting sugar that grown by slaves on plantations, and became the first royal, along with her husband, to make charitable giving part of royal duties.

The only reason Queen Charlotte was not more famous for the Christmas tree is that it was not until there was a picture of her granddaughter, Queen Victoria, carrying on her grandmother’s tradition of the tree in a British and later American magazine, that her idea became more widely known. After that and ever since, Christmas trees have been lighting up the world.

They say books don’t grow on trees. But this one actually did.

Nancy

NANCY’s BIO:

Nancy Churnin is the author of eight picture book biographies, including The William Hoy Story, on several state reading lists; Irving Berlin, The Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing, a Sydney Taylor Notable; Manjhi Moves a Mountain, a 2018 South Asia Book Award and Anne Izard Storytellers Choice winner, plus two Social Studies Notables, two Silver Eureka Award winners, a Mighty Girl listing and more.

Nancy is a former Children’s Book Academy student and student mentor for some of the e-courses at the Children’s Book Academy.  

 The former theater critic for the Dallas Morning News, she’s a full time writer and peace negotiator between her dog and cats. A member of the Nonfiction Ninjas and the Book Meshuggenahs, she lives in North Texas. Visit Nancy at the following links:

Website: nancychurnin.com

A Kind Holiday: https://www.nancychurnin.com/a-kind-holiday

Facebook: Nancy Churnin Children’s Books

Facebook: Nancy Churnin

On Twitter: @nchurnin

On Instagram: @nchurnin

https://www.nonfiction-ninjas.com/blog/let-curiosity-guide-you-by-nancy-churnin

LUISA’S BIO:

Meet Luisa, a freelance illustrator from Bogotá, Colombia. Luisa graduated as a graphic designer from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, when illustration courses were scarce, but was always convinced that’s what she wanted to do. Luisa also has a MA in Art and Design from the University of Loughborough and has been working as a freelance illustrator for 12 years.

She enjoys working on children’s books and from time to time she works on advertising, editorial illustration and animation. The most recent projects she has been a part of have been nominated for the Lápiz de Acero award, the most important design award in Colombia, and last year her work was selected to be part of the Iberoamerica Ilustra illustration catalog, a prestigious selection of Spanish-speaking illustrators working in children’s literature. Currently she lives in Bogota, Colombia with her boyfriend and her cat Nina.

Nancy thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. It is always nice to read a new children’s book about Christmas. Looking forward to reading it. Good luck with the book.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy