Book Giveaway: HELLO, MEADOW! by Terry Pierce

Terry Pierce has written a new board book, HELLO, MEADOW illustrated by Nadja Sarell and published by Yosemite Conservancy. It is available in bookstores on May 18th. Terry 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 Terry and Nadja.

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:

“We can help our meadows, too!”

Grassy, flower-filled meadows are really pretty! It’s oh-so tempting to hike and skip right through them. But meadows are actually fragile, and human footsteps and picnics can cause them harm—and then they cannot do their important work of providing habitat for creatures and plants, filtering water, and even storing carbon. The bouncy text and vibrant illustrations in this sturdy board book show little nature lovers how to easily protect meadows while enjoying one of Earth’s loveliest features.

BOOK JOURNEY:

Hello, Meadow! began as “every writer’s dream” because my editor approached me about writing the book. I recall my early days of writing when I would hear a speaker at a conference share that their editor had asked them to write their book. I always thought, “Wow, what a dream situation! How great to be asked to write a book, rather than put in all the work and hope someone will buy it.” I really do feel fortunate!

Before you think it’s too “left to chance,” let me share some backstory…my first board book with Yosemite Conservancy Publishing, Eat Up, Bear!, came out in Spring 2021 and was selling well. I had pitched another board book manuscript to my fabulous editor, Nicole Geiger, which we were discussing. I hoped this would be the next project I might work on with them, but one day in early 2022, Nicole reached out to me about writing a different book, one about meadow conservation. It seems, understandably, that many folks don’t understand that meadows are very fragile ecosystems, but are attracted by their beauty, so they’re tempted to walk out onto them. But this is detrimental to a meadow’s health, so the good people at Yosemite Conservancy thought that because our Bear book was doing well in spreading the word about Bear safety and conservation, that perhaps a book about meadows could help in the same way.

Of course, I happily agreed to write the book and immediately began researching, furthering my understanding that meadows are crucial water filters, wildlife habitats, and absorb carbon from the air. It’s a little funny how I read studies and articles about meadows, but I obviously couldn’t include them in the book. As nonfiction children’s writers know, you research for your own understanding and knowledge base, but end up including only a fraction of you’ve learned into your work.

Excited about my newfound knowledge, I wrote a rough draft and sent it to Nicole (letting her know it was rough, but wanting to know if I was on the right track). We talked further about the project, and decided to have it follow a similar structure to Eat Up, Bear! This gave me a roadmap for how to proceed. First, I created a page of thumbnail sketches so I could visualize what each double-page spread would show.  I’ve always done this with picture books, try to visualize the art  first; then write the text.

I then honed in on developing the rhyme pattern and specific words I wanted to include, along with a refrain that would grab a toddler’s attention. After a few more exchanges of various drafts and some wonderful collaboration with Nicole, we landed on a manuscript that the publishers liked. By then, they had already reached out to Nadja Sarell, the illustrator of Eat Up, Bear!, and she agreed to illustrate it (which I would have done cartwheels over, if I were able to still do cartwheels!).

With the text ready, it was Nadja’s turn to work her magic, but not before Nicole and I had one last phone call, where we determined specific flora and fauna species to include. We had over an hour-long conversation, each of us with our copy of The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by John Muir Laws, pouring through the pages looking for plants and animals that inhabit high elevation meadows. The reason for doing this was because we wanted the book to be scientifically accurate. Not only was Hello, Meadow! a collaboration between myself, Nicole, Nadja, and the publishers, but a National Park Service biologist was also asked to review the text and artwork. And most importantly, we wanted to give our readers the best, most accurate book we could.

Nadja worked incredibly fast to complete the illustrations. Her vibrant, colorful artistic style is perfect for board book readers. The mouse on the cover is SO adorable! I don’t see how a young child could resist it! We loved it so much, we included it on every page spread. Not only does it add a consistent visual thread throughout the book, it also gives very young readers something to “find” on each spread, making the book even more engaging for little ones.

I believe the positive message, the rhyming, playful text, Nadja’s vibrant, colorful illustrations, and the diversity of humans in the book will make it a crowd pleaser. But most importantly, we believe that both Hello, Meadow! and its predecessor, Eat Up, Bear!, give power to small children to enact real environmental change. They don’t know it is change, of course, but in the bigger picture of environmental education for all, it truly is.

With Hello, Meadow!, if a toddler or preschooler tells mom to keep on the path as they’re hiking near a meadow, that’s a win!

Hello, Meadow! began as “every writer’s dream” because my editor approached me about writing the book. I recall my early days of writing when I would hear a speaker at a conference share that their editor had asked them to write their book. I always thought, “Wow, what a dream situation! How great to be asked to write a book, rather than put in all the work and hope someone will buy it.” I felt very fortunate!

Before you think it was too serendipitous, let me share some backstory… my first board book with Yosemite Conservancy Publishing, Eat Up, Bear!, came out in Spring 2021 and was selling well. I had pitched another board book manuscript to my fabulous editor, Nicole Geiger, which we were discussing. I had hoped this would be the next project I might work on with them, but one day in early 2022, Nicole reached out to me about writing a different book, one about meadow conservation. It seems, understandably, that many folks don’t know that meadows are very fragile ecosystems, but its beauty attracts them and they’re tempted to walk out onto a meadow. But this is detrimental to the meadow’s health, so the good people at Yosemite Conservancy thought that because our Bear book was doing well in spreading the word about Bear safety and conservation, that perhaps a book about meadows could help in the same way.

Of course, I happily agreed to write the book and began researching, furthering my understanding that meadows are crucial water filters, wildlife habitats, and absorb carbon from the air. It’s a little funny how I read studies and articles about meadows, but couldn’t include them in the book. As nonfiction children’s writers know, you research for your own understanding and knowledge base, but end up including only a fraction of you’ve learned into your work.

Excited about my newfound knowledge, I wrote a rough draft and sent it to Nicole (letting her know it was rough, but wanting to know if I was on the right track). We talked further about the project, and had it follow a similar structure to Eat Up, Bear! This gave me a roadmap for how to proceed! First, I created a page of thumbnail sketches so I could visualize what each double-page spread would show. I’ve always done this with picture books. Try to visualize the art first; then write the text.

I then honed in on developing the rhyme pattern and specific words I wanted to include, along with a refrain that would grab a toddler’s attention. After a few more exchanges of various drafts and some wonderful collaboration with Nicole, we landed on a manuscript that the publishers liked. By then, they had already reached out to Nadja Sarell, the illustrator of Eat Up, Bear!, and she agreed to illustrate it (which I would have done cartwheels over, if I could still do cartwheels!).

With the text ready, it was Nadja’s turn to work her magic, but not before Nicole and I had one last phone call, where we determined specific flora and fauna species to include. We spoke for over an hour, each of us with our copy of The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by John Muir Laws, pouring through the pages looking for plants and animals that inhabit high elevation meadows. The reason for doing this was because we wanted the book to be scientifically accurate. Not only was Hello, Meadow! a collaboration between me, Nicole, Nadja, and the publishers, but a National Park Service biologist was also asked to review the text and artwork. And we wanted to give our readers the best, most accurate book we could.

Nadja worked incredibly fast to complete the illustrations. Her vibrant, colorful artistic style is perfect for board book readers. The mouse on the cover is SO adorable! I don’t see how a young child could resist it! We loved it so much; we included it on every page spread. Not only does it add a consistent visual thread throughout the book, it also gives very young readers something to “find” on each spread, making the book even more engaging for little ones.

I believe the positive message, the rhyming, playful text, Nadja’s vibrant, colorful illustrations, and the diversity of humans in the book will make it a crowd pleaser. But most importantly, we believe that both Hello, Meadow! and its predecessor, Eat Up, Bear!, give power to small children to enact real environmental change. They don’t know it is change, of course, but in the bigger picture of environmental education for all, it truly is. With Hello, Meadow!, if a toddler or preschooler tells mom to keep on the path as they’re hiking near a meadow, that’s a win!

TERRY’S BIO:

Terry holds a B.A. degree in Early Childhood Development and an International A.M.I. Montessori teaching diploma. She was a Montessori teacher for twenty-two years before deciding to follow her dream of writing for children. Terry, also holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, including the Picture Book Concentration certification. She now writes full-time and teaches Picture Book Writing for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. She lives  in the high Sierra town of Mammoth Lakes, CA, where nature inspires her writing. She is an outdoor enthusiast, enjoying backpacking, hiking, rock climbing, and, of course, bear sightings near her home.

TERRY PIERCE is the author of twenty-five children’s books, including:

LOVE CAN COME IN MANY WAYS

SOCCER TIME! (Random House Step-into-Reading)

MOTHER EARTH’S LULLABY (Tilbury House)

CUÁNTO MAMÁ TE QUIERE (Little Simon, MAMA LOVES  YOU SO, SPANISH EDITION)  ♥2018 Campoy-Ada Awards Honor Book!

JACK AND JILL AND T-BALL BILL (Random House Step-into-Reading)

MAMA LOVES YOU SO (Little Simon)

MY BUSY GREEN GARDEN (Tilbury House)

UPCOMING TITLES:

I’M A BABY! (Familius, 2024)

Please visit her at https://www.terrypiercebooks.com.

NADJA’S BIO:

​Nadja is a freelance illustrator from Helsinki, Finland.

I graduated in 2004 from North Wales School of Art and Design with BA (1st class Hons) in Illustration for Children’s Publishing. Before my illustration studies I graduated as a dancer with MA in Dance from Theatre Academy in Helsinki. She works mainly for the children’s book publishers in Finland and abroad. Her passion is to create illustrations for children’s picture books, and loves working on chapter books and non-fiction books. She also create surface patterns and card designs for licensing. Currently she works through my lovely agents at Astound for commissions outside Scandinavia.

Nadja Sarell – Photo by Linda Manner

Nadja loves to teach art, dance and narrative illustration to both children and adults. Nadja is the illustrator behind The One and Only Wolfgang, written by Instagram sensation Steve Greig aka @wolfgang2242 and author Mary Rand Hess, and the Frankie Sparks, Third Grade Inventor series.

Terry, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. You and Nadja have given us another wonderful book. I loved EAT UP. BEAR, and I love how your books entertain while educating young campers and their families on how to enjoy the wilderness and preserve it for future visitors to enjoy. Nadja’s illustrations really capture the beauty of the meadows, which adds to how visitors could easily be tempted to want to tramp off the path to get a closer look. Parents will appreciate reading HELLO, MEADOW about how fragile the meadows ecosystem are and if they forget their children are sure to remind them. Teachers will want to use this in the classroom, too. Gook Luck with the book.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy