Review by Katherine Boyer: Midwest Book Review

Review

 of

 The Giving Meadow

 The Midwest Book Review

Review by Katherine Boyer:
The Giving Meadow
Stephanie Burkhart
4RV Publishing LLC
PO Box 6482, Edmond OK
73083 9780982588697
$17.99

The life cycle of any aspect of nature written for children can be and usually is a great learning experience for them. Stephanie Burkhart's book, The Giving Meadow is no exception.

When an egg lands in a meadow, the creature that emerges goes through the life cycle of a caterpillar until he wraps himself in a cocoon.

When he was a growing caterpillar, he met and was helped by several very diverse residents of the meadow, a frog, a ladybug, a bee, and a snake.

The lessons depicted in this lovely, brightly illustrated book include, but are not limited to, sharing, friendship, acceptance, understanding and generosity. The friends that the caterpillar makes on his journey to adulthood generously share their bounty with him that he accepts graciously because he knows they understand that he needs their help as he travels on his journey to complete his life cycle.

"The snake told the bee.
The bee told the ladybug.
The ladybug told the frog.
All the caterpillar's friends waited."
The wait was not in vain.
 The sight that greeted them was a beautiful creature. You must read this book to learn about this amazing metamorphosis.

Children from 4-8, and even some a little younger and a little older, will want to read this book over and over. Younger non-readers will soon begin to anticipate the story and help tell it. You will enjoy reading it to them and watch in excitement as they discover something new in the story or in the illustrations. Older readers will want to re-read and pour over the pictures as they discover more exciting things.

Stephanie Burkhart, originally from New Hampshire, now lives in California with her husband, Brent and her two sons, Andrew and Joseph. She began writing homemade comic books at five years old and hasn't looked back, as she now writes short stories and novels. This is her first children's book.

Katherine Boyer Reviewer          

The Giving Meadow is now on sale for the holidays at the 4RV Bookstore.

You can find "The Giving Meadow" and other titles I have illustrated at 4RV publishing Bookstore at 10% off the cover price till December 5th   

The 12th Annual SCBWI International Winter Conference

Well I am excited tomorrow starts SCBWI 12th International Winter Conference "two days chock-full of agents, editors, publishers, workshops and networking designed to rocket your writing and illustration to the next level."
I have never been to a conference before so I looking forward to see if the quote above is correct. = )

 Today I drop off  my artwork submission for the Art Showcase it is part of the conference you are allowed one piece (1) art matted and or framed and with a few other rules/ guidelines about size etc...

It was not easy to pick one piece of artwork over others, but there guidelines helped me chose.
One of my first choices was from "The Marshmallow Man" written by Rena Jones the illustration is a two page spread of the fox carrying the Marshmallow dude across the river, the second was also a two page spread from "The Giving Meadow" written by Stephanie Burkhart  it was of all the characters sleeping together (click here to see artwork). But do to size guidelines I thought that both would have lost some of there charm because they would have to be shrunk down to fit.
So I went with an older piece that fit the size requirements better and I felt it is what most Publishers and Editors look for when it comes to artwork submission.    
The title of the piece is called "Hide & Seek" originally published in Stories for Children Magazine March 2009 issue. I would like to thank Susan York Meyers who wrote the poem, allowing me to use her poem as it was originally seen with the artwork back in 2009

Preditors & Editors Readers Poll nominations

Well it is that time of year 

 Preditors & Editors Poll nominations are out  

and

"The Giving Meadow"

 has been selected

in 

 "Children's Book published in 2010"

(click link above to vote)

Like always there site is confusing and not easy to navigate 

there seems to be only one category for children's book this year,

last year I think there was two one for the writers and the other for illustrators,

anyway your vote would be appreciated! 

Please vote only once ("1")

unlike last year when some good hearted people tried to help me out and voted for there whole family and friends which got me into first place then I found out because of stuffing that I was dropped into forth place behind a lot of  ****

Thanks

The Giving Meadow on Tour with Stephanie Burkhart

"The Giving Meadow"

was a joy to illustrate, there is such a flow to the words that the images really just came to me very easily; putting it down on paper was another matter.  But all the hard work was worth it.

A few things helped me make this book the best it could be. 

1) Stephanie wrote a simple tale with a lot of heart and it did not require a lot of text to make it work, which gave me more room to create the illustrations without worrying so much about where the text will fit.

2) In June of this year I did a little post called "Maurice Sendak & The Giving Meadow" it was about how seeing the Maurice Sendak artwork on exhibit inspired me to take my own artwork to the next step. If you ever get a chance to be that close to someone who inspires you Do It!

3) Also, on a personal note, the reference material I used for the snake in the story came from my cousin Joey who owned the snake. He past away in a car accident only a day or two after I finished some of the first pages of the book when the snake comes into the story.  I never got a chance to share it with him. But I will be able to share it with his son.     

I just want to thank Stephen for having me today on my blog tour for my children's book, "The Giving Meadow."

Just a little about me: I was born in Manchester, NH but live in Castaic, California with my husband, Brent, and two sons, Andrew and Joseph. I have fond memories of Manchester, but have made California my home. I earned a BS in political science from California Baptist University in 1995.



I have been writing since I was 5, first making homemade comic books. Now, I work on creating short stories and novels. I spent 11 years in the US Army and over 7 years in Germany. Writing is a passion that still challenges me. The Giving Meadow is my first children's book and my first book with 4RV Publishing.


THE BLURB:
The Giving Meadow is about a caterpillar who hatches from his egg in the middle of a meadow. As he travels through the meadow, he meets new friends who learn the value of sharing.


THE INSPIRATION:

I go to Blessed Kateri Catholic Church (in Santa Clarita, CA) and I'm involved in our Sunday Preschool program. We call it Little Church. The program works with 3, 4, and 5-year-olds. I help to teach the 3's along with 3 other talented ladies, Shirley Chang, Maureen Dunahoo, and Mary Tesselaar. Every year I help to write the Easter play for the children. In 2009, "The Giving Meadow" was our Easter play.


After I wrote it, I showed Vivian at 4RV. She's also a moderator at Writing.com and I wanted her feedback on the story. She offered it a contract! I was tickled pink. It was a nice, unexpected surprise. I can't thank Vivian (Gilbert Zabel, publisher, 4RV Publishing) for believing in the story and wanting to bring it to life.


GOODIE TIME: Leave a post here on the blog. I'll pick two lucky winners to receive an autographed postcard of the cover. Winners will be drawn out of a hat, and I'll return on AUG 13th to announce them.

Next STOP  Crystalee Calderwood on August 13th

Were else you can find Stephanie Burkhart on the Web:
Blog site ,Website, Facebook, & Twitter 

To Purchase a copy of "The Giving Meadow" please follow one or all the links below:

4RV PUBLISHING:,  BARNES & NOBLE:, and Amazon