Book Giveaway: THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC by Lindsay Bonilla

Lindsay Bonilla has written a new picture book, THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC, illustrated by Mark Hoffman and published by Page Street Kids. The book will hit book shelves on March 14th. Page Street Kids has agreed to share a copy of the book to 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 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 Lindsay and Mark!

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:

Half Note doesn’t feel whole. With two beats, she isn’t as big and beautiful as Whole Note, or as quick and upbeat as Quarter Note. She worries she’ll never measure up! So when the other members of the musical staff are at rest, she picks up like a fast tempo and leaves.

But Composer and the staff can’t play anything noteworthy without Half Note. Their only hope is to convince Half Note to change her tune and come back.

This hilarious, offbeat tale of sheet music in treble will strike a chord with anyone who’s felt out of sync, ringing with reassurance that everyone has a part to play when working as a team. At the coda, readers can develop their ear with a glossary of musical terms included.

BOOK JOURNEY:

The idea for THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC came to me out of the blue in March of 2016. I just heard the phrase, “Half Note didn’t feel whole,” in my head. This lead to me imagining a little half note who wished she were bigger or more important like a whole note. I didn’t know exactly what to do with the story, so I just jotted down that line to start.

To be honest, I don’t consider myself that musical. I tried playing the keyboard and cello when I was a kid and the bass as an adult, but didn’t last too long with any of them. I love singing but am not someone who can read music. In fact, I’m not sure I could have correctly identified a half note before I started working on this book! So it was definitely a learning (or re-learning!) experience.

Luckily, I also have some wonderful musical friends (a violinist in the Akron Symphony and an elementary music teacher) who checked the manuscript for accuracy and also helped me find the perfect song that would end up leading to the resolution where Half Note realizes just how important she really is.

In addition to learning about notes and musical symbols, I had a wonderful time playing with language in the writing of this book. It’s jam-packed with musical puns and word play that add to the fun and humor.

In mid-2018, my agent, Christa Heschke, began submitting NOTE to publishers. Over the next 2 years, it got lots of great feedback. Editors loved the playful puns and imaginative nature of the story, but many didn’t think children would be able to understand the musical concepts. Others felt it would be too hard to illustrate musical notes. I didn’t agree, but I was starting to lose hope that Half Note would find a home.

Finally, in January of 2021 when I’d nearly forgotten about little half note as I worked on other projects, I received an offer of publication from Kayla Tostevin at Page Street Kids. As a lover of music and puns, she was jazzed about the book and the possibility of introducing children to the world of music in a fun way. The amazing Mark Hoffman was brought on board to illustrate. He is a master at bringing inanimate objects to life, from fruit to pennies (you should definitely check out his other books like Fruit Bowl and A Penny’s Worth!), and he cast aside all doubt that notes couldn’t be illustrated by bringing them to life so vibrantly.

And now, almost 7 years to the day of me jotting down that little idea, THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC will be coming into the world! I hope Half Note.

LINDSAY’S BIO:

Lindsay Bonilla is a professional storyteller and children’s book author from North Canton, Ohio. She lives with her husband, two wild and creative kids (who believe themselves to be a Komodo dragon and red panda, respectively), and her dog, Blitzen. While earning her Bachelor’s degree in theatre and religion at Northwestern University, she fell in love with folktales and world travel. Lindsay has performed interactive theatre, shared stories and taught workshops all over the world. These experiences have made her passionate about building understanding and relationships across cultures while inspiring the imagination. When she’s not writing or performing, she can be found building Legos with her kids as they brainstorm her next book idea.

Lindsay’s first picture book was Polar Bear Island in 2021, followed by I Love You With All My Hearts in 2022 and now The Note Who Faced The Music in 2023. Next year Lindsay has two picture books coming out. The Storyteller in the spring  and The Hole in the fall both with Nancy Paulsen/Penguin. Lindsay is represented by Christa Heschke of McIntosh & Otis.

MARK’S BIO:

Mark Hoffman is an award winning children’s book author/illustrator, editorial illustrator, fine artist, author, and a professor at Montserrat College of Art in the illustration department. He earned a BFA at the Rhode Island School of Design RISD and an MFA from UMass- Dartmouth.

After growing up in Minnesota, he moved to the east coast for college and has remained there ever since. Mark currently lives in southern New Hampshire with his lovely wife, funny and goofy son, two crazy kitties and a lazy dog.

Lindsay, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. This book is a great way to introduce to musical notes. I love how this fun story has combined wonderful musical vocabulary with learning to feel love and needed just the way you are. What a great message for children. As usual, Mark’s illustration add to the fun of the book. They are sure to make kids laugh.

Gook Luck with the book.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy