Happy Book Birthday: THE STARING CONTEST Plus Critique and Bookmark Giveaway

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Happy Book Birthday to you! Happy Book Birthday to you!

Happy Book Birthday to THE STARING CONTEST

Happy Birthday to you!

THE STARING CONTEST

Written and illustrated by Nicolas Solis

Published by Peter Pauper Press (2020)

A bit about the book from Amazon:

Here is one of the most universally loved children’s games in a book — the staring contest!

  • These self-proclaimed ”staring-master eyes” dare readers to enter into a staring contest with them.
  • And you’d better watch out . . . because they can stare ALL DAY LONG.
  • Go ahead — try it!
  • This fun book will encourage kids to jump right into the pages of an irresistible challenge!

Don’t you love to find out the story behind the story? Author/illustrator Nick Solis stopped by to share some insights about how the book came to be.

ME: Hi Nick! Thanks for making the time to stop by on this busy launch day!

 NICK: Glad to be here, Vivian. I have always been a huge fan of The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak. The idea of interacting with a book in such a fun way was always so intriguing to me. I started trying to think of book ideas where the reader could engage with the book as if it was another person. Then the old school game we used to play as kids wormed its way into my brain. So during a writing session at The Writing Barn in Austin, TX, I wrote ‘v was the beginning of The Staring Contest. It was short and sloppy, but I thought it was fun! Little did I know it would be my debut book! And also, I would never have thought that I would be the illustrator! I drew up a dummy so editors would get a better idea of what I was thinking, but Mara Conlon at Peter Pauper Press liked my drawings and we were off! 

ME: That’s so awesome! I guess the take-away is that you never know where an idea for a story will come from…and follow your muse and believe in yourself! It’s a really sweet story…and I know you have something else sweet to share with us.

NICK: I created some special cookies to celebrate the launch of THE STARING CONTEST. You can find all the details of how to make them here:
https://lilluna.com/sugar-cookies/ 

Oh my gosh…how adorable! Thanks so much, Nick! And thank you for providing these awesome bookmarks for the kiddos.

And don’t forget, everyone, Nick is also generously offering a PICTURE BOOK CRITIQUE as a giveaway…so please make sure you leave a comment – maybe share your favorite childhood game. Also, share the post and Nick’s book on social media and you’ll earn extra chances to win…and follow Nick on Twitter @teachsolis and get TWO extra tickets in the giveaway hat just for doing that!

Remember that the best way we can let authors know that we love their books is to buy them if we can, review them, tell friends about them, and ask our local library to purchase copies for their collection.

More kidlit goodness coming this week…Perfect Picture Book Friday with THE WEED THAT WOKE CHRISTMAS by Alayne Kay Christian…and a Will Write for Cookies Q&A with Joana Pastro, author of Lillybelle: A Damsel NOT in Distress.

22 thoughts on “Happy Book Birthday: THE STARING CONTEST Plus Critique and Bookmark Giveaway”

  6. Oh, my! I just had to try to win against the cover. Nope. Great idea! Kids will love it! Congrats! One of my favorite childhood games was Chinese jump rope. We spent HOURS at recess playing. I have no idea how we got through all of those levels. I imagine kids will spend just as much time trying to win in the staring contest. 🙂

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