Book Giveaway: T IS FOR TRAILS by Judy Young

Judy Young has a new picture book, T IS FOR TRAILS, illustrated by Sharisse Steber and published by Sleeping Bear Press on April 15th. Sleeping Bear Press has agreed to send a copy to one lucky winner in the US.

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 Judy and Sharisse.

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:

In the United States alone there are close to 60 million hikers. And it’s the most popular outdoor activity in Canada. While hiking is a lot of fun, there are many health benefits, including physical exercise and stress relief from being out in nature. Using poetry and expository text, T is for Trails: A Hiking Alphabet gives young readers an A-to-Z guide on how to prepare and make the most of their outdoor adventures. Topics include information on gear and clothing, trail etiquette and safety rules, along with recommended trails to travel. And when you don’t have time to get out of town, there are suggestions on how to make the most of hiking near your home. T is for Trails is the perfect roadmap for hiking adventures. Front and back matter includes information on trail symbols and instructions on how to read a compass.

BOOK JOURNEY:

Thank you, Kathy, for inviting me to return to share my newest book, T is for Trails, A Hiking Alphabet! I have previously been honored to talk about Bobby Babinski’s Bathtub, as well as A Book for Black-Eyed Susan on Writing and Illustrating.

My journey for T is for Trails, A Hiking Alphabet, my 30th children’s book, actually began when I was ten years old and in fifth grade. My grandparents took me out of school on a three-week vacation from Missouri, where I lived, to the East coast. Highlights of my memory-filled trip included eating a historically authentic Thanksgiving dinner in Williamsburg, visiting the White House and other sites in D.C., climbing up into the Statue of Liberty, going to the top of the Empire State Building, and attending a performance of Swan Lake in NYC, and going to several Civil War battlefields, including Gettysburg. But, the one thing that made the biggest impression on me happened at a least expected place. We had stopped at a visitor center along the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park and I read about the Appalachian Trail, which spans some 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine. Although I was not from a hiking family, I instantly was captivated! The trail ran along behind the visitor center and I begged my grandmother to let me hike on it. She let me go to where the trail bent out of sight—probably less than a quarter of a mile. Then, coming back, I was allowed to walk as far as she could see me the other direction. The whole time, I imagined myself walking the entire length of the trail. And, with those first footsteps on my first trail, an ambulatory wanderlust took hold of me, and I vowed I would someday hike the AT.

Fast forward to 2022, after fifty-six years of hiking and backpacking, not only the AT, but trails in 42 states and 5 Canadian provinces/territories. When Barb McNally, my editor at Sleeping Bear Press, asked me if I had an idea about an alphabet book, I instantly knew: one about hiking. I had written three other alphabet books for Sleeping Bear Press—S is for Show Me, A Missouri Alphabet, R is for Rhyme, A Poetry Alphabet, and H is for Hook, A Fishing Alphabet—so I knew the format. There would be a short poem for each of twenty-six hiking topics plus nonfiction sidebar information. It didn’t take long to come up with each letter’s topic and start writing. But I had a real problem! Whenever I worked on the book, whether it was writing the poems, or researching and writing the nonfiction, I wanted to go hiking! It took a lot of will power to stay in my seat in front of my computer!

When writing the nonfiction sidebar, I thought it would be fun to suggest a specific, family friendly trail. “A Trail to Travel,” as I named this last paragraph, would include a one-sentence trail description, plus its location, mileage and level of difficulty. I researched trails located all over North America, wanting either the trail name or the National Park it is set in, to start with the page’s topic letter. I had a blast reading about hundreds of trails—but it sure didn’t help my wanderlust problem! Some of the trails I included are ones I have actually hiked, but I now have a bunch more on my “need to hike” list!

Sleeping Bear Press selected Sharisse Steber to do the illustrations. Her use of brilliant colors, lots of details to capture a kid’s attention, and her focus not only on each letter’s topic but also the inclusion of the landscape that the “Trail to Travel” is set in, brought T is for Trails, A Hiking Alphabet to life.

JUDY’S BIO:

Judy Young is the author of 30 children’s picture books and middle grade novels, including Promise, as well as The Wild World of Buck Bray adventure novel series. Her books have received numerous awards, honors and recognition including being a Willa Literary Award finalist for A Book for Black-Eyed Susan, and having A Pet for Miss Wright read by LeVar Burton for Reading Rainbow Storytime Video to celebrate National Reading Month. Another cherished honor was watching as R is for Rhyme, A Poetry Alphabet was performed by the Tanner Creative Dance Program and Children’s Dance Theatre of the University of Utah for their 58th annual performance.

Judy resides in the Bear River Mountain Range near Preston, Idaho, with her husband, Ross, a professional artist who illustrated two of Judy’s books. When not writing or conducting virtual author visits, you can find Judy doing something outdoors! She’s often hiking, camping, fishing, snowshoeing, skiing, or wandering around Raven’s Roost, the Youngs’ wildlife preserve, where she has spotted moose, elk, deer, bobcats, and mountain lions!

For information about Judy’s virtual author visits to schools, contact Judy at http://www.judyyoungbooks.com

SHARISSE’S BIO:

Sharisse Steber is a designer and Illustrator. She has collected more than 30 respected industry awards, including eleven Addys, three honors from the Washington DC Art Directors Club and numerous honors from the Washington DC Illustrator’s Club – including Best of Category. Her creations have hung in the Art Institute of Washington and been featured in the Washington Post and Publish magazine. Her work has appeared in numerous publications that include Print Magazine’s Design Annual, Step by Step, Graphis Design Annual, and HOW Magazine’s Self-Promotion Annual, and in several commercial art books, including Innovative Low Budget Design, DesignWise, Print’s Best Logos, Fresh Ideas in Brochure Design, American Corporate Identity and Logo Lounge. She has been a featured guest speaker at the Washington DC Illustrator’s club to discuss her unusual techniques and creative approach to illustration.

Sharisse was honored to design the packaging for two significant musical releases: the Grammy-winning, John Work, III CD as well as the recent Mississippi John Hurt Discovery recordings.

Sharisse studied design, history and creative writing in London, Glasgow, and Florence and received her degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She lives in Nashville with her son (when she’s not hiking and climbing mountains).

Judy, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. When I opened this book, it was so gorgeous that I was surprised when I started reading and saw how much information was on every page. I learned there are 63 US national parks, each filled with trails. In addition, there are also trails at national monuments, national recreation areas, national historical parks, and trails in national forests and grasslands, as well as state parks. In Canada, hikers can wander along trails in 48 national parks, and T for Trails points out that with thousands of trails to choose from, there is a perfect trail for you.

In these pages, parents and children will see adults hiking with their families including small children and infants, in telling the idea that hiking is a fun thing to do with their family. Parents will love reading this book to their children. It is sure to get everyone excited about leaving the house to enjoy nature along a trail available in a nearby park. It is loaded with hiking information would-be hikers will need to know before they venture into the great outdoors. 

Kids and adults will love looking for the wildlife in the illustrations. Parents who have never hiked will appreciate the list of what you should carry in your backpack and how much a small child can carry in theirs. Plus the disabled will discover that parks now have wheelchair-accessible trails marked for easy use. These parks have maps you can use that point you in the right direction. So if you are a newbie, it will tell you which trails are easy, moderate, or difficult. The illustrations show different trails with their difficulty ratings. It will tell you the length of the trail, too.

Ideas for games to play while hiking are talked about. It also gives you ideas for starting a hiking journal and what to include. This is a good way to keep children interested along the trail and also help them to be observant.

There’s so much to know before hitting the trail, like trail etiquette, understanding the informational signs, and how to read the maps. What to do if you want to bring a dog on your hike. The map will let you know what trails allow dogs and which don’t. For the trails that allow dogs, you must use a leash on your dog, bag your dog’s waste, and take it with you when you leave.

Sharisse did a fabulous job creating all those gorgeous pages. I loved looking for the animals hidden along the trails. I even love the title page with mud on the hiking boots. I closed the book wondering who I could get to hike with me at one of these parks. We are so lucky to have so many beautiful places to explore. I thank, Sleeping Bear Press for allowing Judy and Sharisse to create this wonderful book, so everyone can be inspired to explore our parks and trails. Readers will feel like they are right there hiking the trails. Gook luck with the book.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy