This has been a most exciting day for a certain Sea Monster I know…
I woke up this morning to find Publisher’s Weekly had reviewed SEA MONSTER’S FIRST DAY, which comes out from Chronicle Books next month. This was big news at our house because a) the reviewer liked it, and b) this is the first time PW has reviewed one of my books. Here’s an excerpt:
By heeding his mother’s advice to use his imagination and maintaining a positive attitude, Ernest rides out the ups and downs of his first day. With ample aquatic puns and boisterous, mixed-media artwork, it’s a splashy story about fitting in. Read the full review here.
I love that the reviewer used the word “splashy” because when I sign this book for kids, I always write “Make a SPLASH!” along with the dedication and my signature.
At around lunchtime, I realized that Kirkus had also posted its review of SEA MONSTER’S FIRST DAY:
The cartoon sea monster exudes positivity, and the other species of fish have personalities all their own.Presents kids with some great advice and solid solutions to the most common first-day what-ifs. You can read the rest of the review here.
Later on, I came home to find a letter from my Chronicle editor in the mailbox…letting me know that SEA MONSTER’S FIRST DAY is also going to be published in Korea!
This is only my second foreign sale for a book (OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW is being published in France), and it still seems so amazing and impossible that kids in another country will be cuddled up with someone looking at those same illustrations and reading my words in a language they know. Folks who have been writing longer than I have can let me know in comments if it’s true…but I suspect this is one of those things about writing that will feel like a little miracle no matter how many times it happens.
This looks great!
I’ve collected Loch Ness Monsters since I was a little girl.
Now that I have girls of my own, I’ll be looking for this book for them!
Oh, that’s so fun! Do you have a photo of your Loch Ness Monster collection? I’d love to see it, and I bet my blog readers would, too!