Book Giveaway: EDMUND THE ELEPHANT WHO FORGOT by Kate Dalgleish

Kate Dalgleish has written a new picture book, EDMUND THE ELEPHANT WHO FORGOT illustrated by Isobel Lundie and published by Scribblers an imprint of Sterling Childrens Books  It is available in bookstores now. Sterling has agreed to share a copy with one lucky winner living in the United States.

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 Kate  and Isobel.

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:

An elephant never forgets . . . except Edmund! Join this silly elephant on the funniest shopping spree ever.

“Elephants always remember. Elephants don’t get it wrong.
Elephants always remember. As long as they sing this song!”

Edmund isn’t like other elephants: he forgets. A lot. Then, one day, his mother sends him to the store to pick up some things for his little brother’s birthday party. To help him remember what they need, mama gives him a fun little song to sing . . . and a shopping list. But Edmund even forgets the list! Soon his purchases get sillier and sillier—like seven sassy dancing cats instead of 20 pointy party hats. Kids will laugh out loud at this delightful story and its humorous, dynamic art.

BOOK JOURNEY:

First of all, I would like to Thank Kathy for this fantastic opportunity to share my debut picture book, Edmund the Elephant Who Forgot. It has all been a bit of a whirlwind, and somewhat surreal journey but to get to this point is truly a dream come true!

I am such a horder of new notebooks; whenever I’m asked for gift ideas I always reply the same; A nice new notebook! I need them! I plead as my husband rolls his eyes jokingly. And need them, I do! Every now and then, a funny word, catchy phrase, intriguing name will pop in to my head and I must write it down immediately, even if I don’t plan to use it right away, I store it away for a story that hasn’t even unfolded yet.

That is exactly what happened with Edmund. His little memory song popped in my head one day when I was explaining to my girls that elephants never forget. I scribbled it down, and the story unfolded from there.

I sat on it for some time, working on some other ideas, until October 2018 when I came across the Stratford – Salariya Children’s Book Prize. I worked hard to polish up a number of manuscripts I had been working on and decided, after some deliberation, to submit Edmund.

When Annie from the Stratford Literary Festival contacted me in March 2019 to announce that Edmund had been shortlisted for the prize, I was absolutely dumbstruck! It was beyond what I could have imagined!

The overall winner ‘Look, Daddy, Look!’ by Manlu Tu was extremely well-deserved; the story and illustrations were beautiful and I was just thrilled to have even been considered.

Imagine my absolute elation when, in September of the same year, Nick from Salariya Book Company contacted me to say that they loved the text and would like to publish it!

Before long, I had arranged to meet with Isobel to discuss the illustrations. It seems like a lifetime ago now that we met in a cosy coffee shop in London and went over everything; new ideas to develop the story further, characters we might like to include, possible layout. She was so enthusiastic about the story and as invested as I was in bringing Edmund to life, I couldn’t wait to see what she came up with.

I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

On receiving various drafts, I could see that Isobel had captured Edmund and all of the other zany characters we had discussed perfectly. I was then informed that Sterling Publishing were also interested in publishing Edmund in the US. Once again, I was so humbled that an idea by little old me was going overseas!

Despite publishing dates being delayed and changed through Covid, the months have flown by and in March 2021, I finally received my own copies of Edmund the Elephant Who Forgot. To finally hold it in my hands, to read it to my girls at bedtime and take it in to school to read to my class was quite literally a dream come true.

I would like to take this opportunity, if I may, to thank Isobel for the amazing illustrations, the team at Salariya and Sterling and everyone involved in promoting the book for all of their hard work and support. And can I say to anyone out there, wondering ‘can I…?’ The answer is: yes. You can.

KATE’S BIO:

Kate Dalgleish studied at the University of Sunderland, North East England where she qualified with a BA Hons in Primary Education in 2006. She then went on to work full time as a Primary School Teacher in Teesside.

She knew she wanted to write from a very early age and would often regale her friends and family with tales she had imagined. This developed in to a true passion and with every amazing story she read to others, she yearned to write books of her own. Her ever-growing collection of notebooks is full of ideas, including that of her debut picture book – Edmund the Elephant Who Forgot which was shortlisted for the Stratford-Salariya Children’s Book Prize.

Kate continues to teach and to write. She now lives in the North East of England with her husband, two children and their boxer dog, Smudge. She enjoys spending time with her family, exploring the outdoors and having cosy movie nights together. In her spare time, when she isn’t scribbling in notebooks, she loves to read and listen to her collection of vinyl records.

ISOBEL’S BIO:

Isobel Lundie a children’s book  illustrator living in Worthing. She graduated from Kingston university in 2015 where she studied Illustration and Animation. She has always been interested in how to make books interactive so children can lose themselves in the narrative. Having worked as an illustrator, she is particularly interested in how exciting, colourful and distinctive artwork can transform stories for children and absolutely loves what she does and especially loves the beginning of projects where she can let her imagination go and create the characters and the worlds they live in.

Isobel has been a busy bee illustrating 45 books in the last three and a half years. Here are some of her childrens book titles:

• Wherever you go, I Want you to Know
• Edmund the Elephant who Forgot
• My Favourite Things
• Scribblers Book Of
• All the Way Down
• My First Atlas
• Women in Science

She has two main styles that she works in:

Her collage style is using recycled papers, stuck down, scanned then worked into digitally and her pencil style line work that is then scanned in and worked into digitally for the colour.

You can visit her at: www.isobellundie.com

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​Thank you Kate for sharing your book and journey with us. This book is so much fun. Kids love silly and I’m sure this will provide big belly laughs, guaranteeing that parents will be reading it over and over again to their children, until the kids are able to read it on their own. Isabel’s illustrations add more fun to every scene. Good luck with the book!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy