Book Giveaway: GRUMPY NEW YEAR, by Katrina Moore

Katrina Moore has a new picture book, GRUMPY NEW YEAR, illustrated by Xindi Yan and published by Litte Bee Books. Katrina is giving a copy of her 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 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 about a new book. So, thanks for helping Katerina and Xindi.

If you have signed up to follow my blog and it is delivered to you every day, please let me know when you leave a comment and I will give you an extra ticket. Thanks!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

This funny and heartwarming follow-up to Grandpa Grumps celebrates Lunar New Year and the love of a doting grandparent.

“A superb celebration of the Lunar New Year.” –School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

“Moore structures her story as a 10-day countdown, and Daisy’s big, conflicting feelings are entirely relatable. The holiday preparations and celebrations come to life in Yan’s illustrations, which integrate humor and cultural details. Appended recipes truly make this a treat.” —Booklist

“You should sleep on the long flight,” said Mama.
Daisy should have slept-
but she didn’t.
She was too excited to see Yeh-Yeh!

Daisy is traveling to China, and she’s excited to see her Yeh-Yeh again! She has big plans for all the fun they’ll have together in preparation for Lunar New Year, like flying kites and making jiao zi. But when she arrives, she has trouble sleeping and is less jolly than she hoped. Throughout the week, Yeh-Yeh tries all sorts of things to help her have a fun holiday and get her past her grumpiness. Will Daisy be able to get some rest and have one perfect day before she goes home?

BOOK JOURNEY:

GRUMPY NEW YEAR’s book journey began when I traveled on an airplane for the first time with my two young children. My son was in his terrific toddler stage—where he did not want to sit still for even one minute. It’ll be okay, I thought. It’s a short flight—less than two hours. We can make it! Well, after we boarded, our plane ended up being grounded for 3 hours. My son did everything he could to entertain himself: he built a fort under the seat in front of us, he ran repeatedly over our laps, and up and down the aisles, he threw his stuffy into each person’s seat on the plane—and quickly became famous. We finally got him buckled up, and sort of sitting still, before we planned to “take-off”.

Unluckily for us, that didn’t happen for another hour. If you have a toddler…you know that is the equivalent of three hundred bajillion million hours—and he wasn’t having it. He howled, and howled, and howled. My entire shirt was soaked with his tears, and no amount of carrying, cuddling, singing, or walking around could soothe him. I felt terrible for him, but also for everyone else on the flight. People were trying to nap, and failed. People were trying to quietly read, and failed. People were trying to rest before their trip, and failed. How could anyone sleep with all that racket going on?! I made a million apologies, and kept thinking—gosh, it’s going to be really hard for everyone to enjoy their trip when they’re so sleep deprived. READ: it’s going to be really hard for ME to enjoy our trip when I’m so sleep-deprived. Wait! That’s the start of a story. And sure enough, it was!

We didn’t initially have a sequel planned for GRANDPA GRUMPS, but we certainly left the possibility open with the last spread in the book. That book received so much love, and we heard from so many fans, wondering when Daisy and Yeh Yeh’s next adventure would happen, as promised at the end of GRANDPA GRUMPS. It was because of this book love that we were able to make a sequel. What happy news! We knew we wanted Daisy to celebrate Lunar New Year with Yeh Yeh in China. So I set out to write their next adventure, and I knew her cat had to come along. It was one of my favorite characters from the first book, and actually—was entirely created by Xindi. So this time, as I wrote, I found opportunities to specifically include the cat, and its appearances are just as funny, silly, and sweet as I hoped they’d be!

I wanted to keep the charm and structure of the first book, but also make this one feel fresh. Could Daisy be the grumpy one this time? What would make our ever-cheery main grumpy beyond resolve? What would make sense? Ooh…I had an idea! Of course, she’d be too excited to see Yeh Yeh to sleep. Of course, China has a twelve-hour time difference. Of course, disaster would ensue…and that’s how HAPPY GRUMPY NEW YEAR came to be.

The entire GRANDPA GRUMPS team, our editor, everyone at Little Bee, and especially illustrator extraordinaire, Xindi Yan, was so excited for GRUMPY NEW YEAR. I knew this book would be extra special, being set in China, for Xindi, since she grew up there. The text never mentions specifically where in China Yeh Yeh lives, which is on purpose. I wanted Xindi to have the freedom to bring her vision to their story as she brought it to life. So in the text, Yeh Yeh speaks Cantonese (as does my family), and also Mandarin (as does most of China—and Xindi, too). And I specifically left a lot of details vague. This openness allowed Xindi to bring the setting to life through her own visual brilliance and personal lens—and, oh, did she!

In her own words, “[I based] the backgrounds on the city I grew up in China! It’s called Wuhu (芜湖) in Anhui Province. The park, the Chinese tower, the arch bridge, and the bridge in the background of the fireworks page, are all landmarks of Wuhu! Yeh-Yeh’s apartment building is based on the building and neighborhood I grew up in.

We had a lot of swan-shaped boats on the lake. I loved them and always requested them over the regular boats. That arch bridge holds so many memories. When I was little, we had to go over the bridge to get to my weekend school piano lessons. My mom carried me on her scooter. When we got to the bottom of the bridge, she’d tell me to walk over on the steps by myself. She would ride the scooter over on the slopes in the middle and wait for me on the other side. It was such a wild adventure when you were like 3, or 4 years old. It was one of the only times I’d be walking outside by myself too. I was always slightly scared and worried going up the steps. And when I got to the top, it was such a relief every time to see my mom waiting at the bottom of the bridge as she said.”

Her memories of growing up in China are so sweet and powerful. I love the swan boat in GRUMPY NEW YEAR so much! When Charlie, our editor, and I were editing the text, he asked if I had a boat in mind, and I said, “Let’s leave that to Xindi because I bet she does.” When I saw the swan boat, it made me so happy. Before we made a big (the first of many) move from Maryland when my daughter was one and a half, and I was pregnant with my son, the last thing we did was go on a swan boat around the lake near our house. We were so worried our daughter would jump off the boat, or jerk suddenly and flip it—which made for a really fun and memorable time. I love that this actually happens in the book, and how humorously Xindi captured that.

GRUMPY NEW YEAR and the Grumps books are special because I brought so much of my personal relationship with my grandpa, my cultural upbringing and our celebrations, and my family dynamics into the story, and so does Xindi. This book is so personal to both of us, and we hear from readers that they can feel that, too. As the book journeys into more hands around the world, it’s lovely to hear how readers are connecting with different parts of the story, the Lunar New Year celebrations, and how Daisy and Yeh Yeh traveled their way into their hearts. Cheers to that!

KATRINA’s BIO:

Katrina Moore is an author and former elementary educator. She holds a M.A. in Teaching and taught for thirteen years in Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. She writes in Georgia, where her mission is to create books that children will hug for ages. She is the author of the picture books, HOPE IS A HOP, SOMETIMES LOVE, ONE HUG, GRANDPA GRUMPS, illustrated by Xindi Yan, and its companion, C companion, GRUMPY NEW YEAR  (Little Bee Books, Dec, 2022), and the forthcoming (Little Bee Books, Dec, 2022), and the forthcoming CHANG’E ON THE MOON, illustrated by Cornelia Li (HarperCollins/Tegen, Fall 2024), and THE STAR IN YOU (Macmillan/Roaring Brook, Fall 2024). She is also the author of the humorous TEENY HOUDINI chapter book series, illustrated by Zoe Si, starring the magic-loving, mayhem-making Bessie Lee in TEENY HOUDINI: THE DISAPPEARING ACT, TEENY HOUDINI: THE SUPER SECRET VALENTINE, and TEENY HOUDINI: THE GIANT PANDA PLAN.

​When she is not writing, she is cooking without a recipe, painting outside the lines, adventuring, or snuggling up with her two kids, husband, pups, and of course, a cozy book. Katrina enjoys traveling near and far to visit schools and students, as well as teachers, librarians, and aspiring writers. Connect with her on twitter @kmoorebooks or at www.katrinamoorebooks.com.For inquiries about speaking, presentations, workshops, panel participation, or school visits, please see the author visit page and contact her to schedule a visit!

XINDI’S BIO:

Xindi Yan left behind a small city in China to realize her dream of being a published artist. She has traveled thousands of miles to study, live and work in New York. Xindi received her BFA in Illustration from Pratt Institute in 2013 and has since worked as an illustrator for the gaming industry and children’s media. Having always wanted to illustrate children’s books, she buried herself in countless books and drawings, collecting them even today. Xindi is the illustrator of Sylvia Rose and the Cherry Tree by Sandy Shapiro Hurt, the Craftily Ever After series by Martha Maker and the Itty Bitty Witch by Trisha Speed Shaskan. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

Mission Statement

I love to observe the mundane in everyday life and translate insignificant moments into heartfelt illustrations. I believe all artwork, no matter what the medium or subject is, should aim to connect with the audience emotionally. My love towards Sherlock Holmes stories growing up heavily influenced my art. Sherlock would draw broad conclusions from minute observations. Like sherlock, I create narratives around similar small moments with careful attention to lighting, color palettes, and details, enriching the story with various layers of discovery. My aim is to incorporate diversity and positivity in all my work. I hope my artwork drives the audience’s attention away from everyday stress and provides a moment to appreciate the innocent beauty around us.

Katerina, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. This book is an explosion of colors and Chinese culture. Love Yeh-Yeh and how hard he tries to entertain his Grandaughter. But as all parents know children can get cranky when they get over-excited and tired and Daisy’s on overload and can’t sleep. I love Xindi’s illustrations. They make the reader feel like they are right there in the moment, seeing the open market, in the swan boat in the river, and sitting at the table smelling the dumplings. Love the helmet Yeh-Yeh gave her to ride on the back of his bike. So many wonderful details that make this book sing. Every reader will realize we may have different cultures, but we are all the same, enjoying family, food, and wanting to receive love from family. Throughout the book, you can see the love that Yeh-Yeh has for Daisy. I was nervous for her when she went to find Grandpa with a map she had never used before. But kids will be cheering for her courage – when the search is successful. Good luck with the book.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy