Book Giveaway: BUG ON THE RUG by Sophia Gholz

Sophia Gholz has written a new picture book, BUG ON THE RUG, Illustrated by Susan Batori and published by Sleeping Bear Press. They have agreed to share a copy with one lucky winner living in the United States. The book hits book stores on April 15th, but is available now.

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 Sophia and Suzan.

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:

Pug is snug on his rug. But what happens when along comes BUG?! With a claim to the rug?! The two engage in a hysterical, rhyming battle of wits and strength until Slug asks the necessary questions and helps them find common ground. Rhyming is an important developmental reading skill. It teaches phonics (decodable text) and helps young readers infer content. This is a fun story to build those skills–and is an epic read aloud!

BOOK JOURNEY:

Hi, Kathy! Thank you so much for hosting me. I adore your blog and am happy to be here once more. This time, I’m so excited to share my fiction debut, BUG ON THE RUG. It’s amazing how different an origin story for a fiction book versus a nonfiction book can be. With my nonfiction books like JACK HORNER, DINOSAUR HUNTER! and THE BOY WHO GREW A FOREST, the stories came from a connection to external sources of inspiration. Whereas BUG ON THE RUG came more from within.

I wrote the first draft of this book in early 2018. I was still trying to process after unexpectedly losing my father in late 2017. It was a period when I doubted everything and thought I’d likely never write again. That was…a dark time. Then one evening I was talking on the phone with my younger brother, who I call Bug. My brother also happens to be one of my best friends. Though we typically talk daily about all sorts of things, that particular conversation drifted to politics, and I hung up the phone feeling so needy. I needed light and positivity. I needed to shout into the world that everything would be so much better if we could just get along; that even those with extreme differences on the outside usually just want the same basic things on the inside. I can so clearly recall sitting down that night and typing out the first words of this story.

But I felt so rusty as I began to write. As I mentioned, this was really the first story I wrote after having taken a long break. So, to help me along, I thought of an SCBWI workshop I’d once taken with author extraordinaire, Ame Dyckman. In that workshop, Ame shared how she liked to challenge herself to write picture books with as few words as possible. It wasn’t that she just wanted to stay under a certain word count, but it was more of a challenge to even cut what some might consider essential words. I decided to channel this a bit and try to write a draft using as few different words or word combinations as possible. Could I write a story by swapping out the same 20, 30, 40 words? I began with the bare bones and slowly layered in more and more as the story grew and grew. Before I knew it, I’d written a draft and then another and another. Suddenly, I wasn’t just writing again, but I was writing something light and fun and full of giggles, which I believe we all need large doses of now and then. I’d forgotten how much I love humor and needed my own large dose in that moment, especially.

Over time, BUG ON THE RUG took form. This book started out of a need to write something fun and silly, but this story (as stories so often do) morphed into so much more. While BUG ON THE RUG is an action-filled humorous rhyming story, at its heart this book is about friends, forgiveness, and empathy. This story is about making mistakes and being okay with that—we all make them! It’s the recognition and forgiveness of those mistakes (of our own and of others) that really matters.

I am so happy with how this book has turned out. Susan Batori’s artistic eye is brilliant. She got the humor and heart of these characters right away. Susan added even more depth and layers through her hilarious and sweet illustrations.

In the end, I hope readers have a blast with Pug, Bug, and their friends. I hope the rhyme and phonics help emergent readers build their skills. But most of all, I hope BUG ON THE RUG leaves everyone with a smile on their face, warmth in their heart, and the reminder that friends can be found in the most unexpected places.

SOPHIA’S BIO:

Sophia Gholz is an award-winning children’s book author, music lover, magic seeker and avid reader. Sophia enjoys writing fiction with humor and heart. When writing nonfiction, she pulls on her love of science and her strong family background in ecology. Since 2017, Sophia has helped oversee the Henry L. Gholz SEEDS National Field Trip Endowment for The Ecological Society of America, funding ecological field experiences for students from diverse backgrounds.

Previously, Sophia worked as an advertising copywriter and made a career working with visual artists in New York City. Sophia is the author of The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng, a NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book and Florida State Book Award gold medalist. Jack Horner, Dinosaur Hunter!, This is Your World: The Story of Bob Ross, Bug on the Rug and the forthcoming A History of Toilet Paper (And Other Potty Tools).

When she’s not writing from her home base in Florida, you can find Sophia reading, visiting schools or exploring the great outdoors with her family. For more, visit Sophia at: www.sophiagholz.com

Sophia, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. This looks like a fun story that really will help children learn to read. I love the rhyme and the Susan’s illustrations add to all the fun. Good luck with the book.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy