It’s a delight to be a part of the WOW!
Women on Writing Blog Tour for author Anna Levine’s ALL EYES ON ALEXANDRA.
This charming book would be a wonderful
Christmas (or any day) gift. As part of the tour, Anna is joining us to talk
about “Straight from the horse’s mouth and other anthropomorphic animals.”
In All
Eyes on Alexandra, young Alexandra Crane is terrible at following
her family in their flying Vee. She can’t help it that the world is so full of
interesting distracting sights! When it's time for the Cranes to migrate to
Israel's Hula Valley for the winter, Alexandra is excited, but her family is
worried.
Will
Alexandra stay with the group, and what happens if a dangerous situation should
arise? Might Alexandra—and the rest of the flock—discover that a bad follower
can sometimes make a great leader?
Based on the true story of Israel’s annual crane migration.
Print
Length: 32 Pages
Genre:
Children's Picture Book
Publisher:
Kar-Ben Pub
ISBN-10: 1512444391
ISBN-13: 978-1512444391
All Eyes on Alexandra is
available to purchase on Amazon, Barnes
and Noble, Target and Thrift
Books.
Now please
join me in giving Anna a warm welcome to Thoughts in Progress. Welcome, Anna.
“Some people talk to animals. Not many
listen though. That’s the problem.” A.A. Milne
Though many publishers are reluctant to
accept anthropomorphic stories and insist on, “no talking animals,” the fact is
that most of our favorite classics and modern picture books have animals with
human traits.
One advantage of anthropomorphism is
that it allows the reader to feel and explore emotional issues without feeling
threatened. Though my picture book is about bird migration, it’s also about
family relationships.
Animals erase gender, race, and age
giving the writer the freedom to write about complex ideological and ethical
issues. I wanted Alexandra to be female. When it comes to leading the flock,
birds are equal opportunists. And as for this author, living in a country where
borders are the cause of a lot of tension, Alexandra and the flocks of birds are,
for me, ‘birds without borders,’ a glimmer of hope, perhaps, that if they can all
find common ground, so can we.
Topics like immigration, bullying,
sharing, loss and acceptance are some of the many subjects an author can tackle
through the voices of animal characters.
Anna, thanks for joining us today and sharing this insight into your story.
About the
Author, Anna Levine
 |
| Author Anna Levine |
You can find Anna Levine online at --
Author website: http://www.annalevine.org/
Twitter: @LevineAnna
Instagram: @booksfromanna
About
the Illustrator, Chiara Pasqualotto,
 |
| Artist Chiara Pasqualotto |
Since 2008 she's been living in Rome and working with illustration professionally: her first picture book, Mine, All Mine! was published in 2009 by Boxer Books (UK), since then she published with Oxford University Press, Giunti, Terranuova and some American publishers (Paraclete Press, Tyndale, LearningAZ, Kar-Ben Publisher).
You can
find Chiara Pasqualotto online at -
Artist
website - https://romeartweek.com/en/artists/?id=1495&ida=1004
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clairepaspage/
If you’d like to find out more about this fascinating book, check out Anna’s Blog Tour Dates:
December 3rd @ The Muffin
What goes better in the morning than a
muffin? Make sure you visit WOW's blog today and read an interview with the
author and enter for a chance to win a copy of the book All Eyes on
Alexandra.
December 5th @ Cassandra's Writing World
Visit Cassandra's blog where she
shares her thoughts about Anna Levine's picture book All Eyes on
Alexandra.
December 6th @ Break Even Books
Visit Erik's blog where you can read
Anna Levine's guest post about how to jog your inspiration.
December 7th @ Coffee with Lacey
Grab some coffee and visit Lacey's
blog where you can read her review of Anna Levine's picture book All
Eyes on Alexandra.
December 8th @ Author Anthony Avina's Blog
Visit Anthony Avina's blog today where
he joins in the fun of celebrating and shares information about Anna Levine's
book All Eyes on Alexandra.
December 8th @ Christy's Cozy Corners
Visit Christy's blog and cozy up while
you read her review of Anna Levine's picture book All Eyes on
Alexandra.
December 9th @ Coffee with Lacey
Visit Lacey's blog again where you can
read Anna Levine's guest post about designing your ideal writing spot.
December 9th @ Christy's Cozy Corner
Visit Christy's blog where you can
read Anna Levine's blog post about how she decided to use crane's in her story.
December 11th @ Read. Write. Sparkle. Coffee.
Make sure you visit Jeanie's blog
today and read her thoughts about Anna Levine's book All Eyes on Alexandra.
December 12th @ Author Anthony Avina Blog
Visit Anthony Avina's blog where he
interviews Anna Levine, author of All Eyes on Alexandra.
December 13th @ Read. Write.
Sparkle. Coffee.
Make sure you visit Jeanie's blog
today and read Anna Levine's guest post about building a theme day around a
picture book.
December 13th @ Oh for the Hook of a
Book
Visit Erin's blog where she shares her
thoughts on Anna Levine's book All Eyes on Alexandra.
December 14th @ Growing with Science Blog
Be sure to visit Roberta's blog and read
her review of Anna Levine's book All Eyes on Alexandra as well
as read Anna's guest post about five fun bird-themed activities.
December 14th @ Wrapped in Foil
Visit Roberta's blog today where Anna
Levine's book All Eyes on Alexandra gets featured on the
weekly STEM Friday post (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math books!).
December 15th @ A Storybook World
Visit Deirdra's blog where she
features Anna Levine's book All Eyes on Alexandra in a
spotlight post.
December 17th @ World of My
Imagination
Stop by Nicole's blog today where you
can read her review of Anna Levine's book All Eyes on Alexandra.
December 18th @ Oh, for the Hook of a
Book
Visit Erin's blog again where you can
read Anna Levine's blog post featuring activities for young children to explore
their world.
December 19th @ Cassandra's Writing
World
Visit Cassandra's blog again where you
can read Anna Levine's blog post about naming your characters.
December 19th @ Linda's Blog
Make sure you visit Linda's blog today
where you can read her thoughts about Anna Levine's book All Eyes on
Alexandra.
December 20th @ Word Magic: All About
Books
Visit Fiona's blog where you can read
her review of Anna Levine's book All Eyes on Alexandra.
December 21st @ Bring on Lemons
Make sure you grab some lemonade and
stop by Crystal's blog today where she reviews Anna Levine's book All
Eyes on Alexandra.
December 27th @ Linda's Blog
Visit Linda's blog again where you can
read her interview with author Anna Levine.
December 28th @ Beverley A. Baird's Blog
Visit Beverley's blog today you can
read her review of Anna Levine's book All Eyes on Alexandra.
December 31st @ Strength 4 Spouses
Visit Wendi's blog and read Anna
Levine's guest post on learning about families and different cultures.
January 2nd @ Author Anthony Avina's Blog
Visit author Anthony Avina's blog
where he shares his thoughts about Anna Levine's picture book All Eyes
on Alexandra.
January 3rd @ Beverley A. Baird's Blog
Visit Beverley's blog again where you
can read Anna Levine's blog post about getting into the head of your
middle-grade characters.
January 4th @ Author Anthony Avina's
Blog
Visit author Anthony Avina's blog
again where you can read Anna Levine's blog post about using fiction to write
non-fiction.
January 7th @ Strength 4 Spouses Blog
Visit Wendi's blog again where you can
read her thoughts about the book All Eyes on Alexandra by Anna Levine.
Thanks for stopping by today. Doesn’t
this book look like it would be a fun gift to give?
It sounds absolutely fascinating. Never mind giving it away (though it would be a fun gift) it would be lovely to receive as well.
ReplyDeleteUsing animals instead of people gives an author some of the same freedoms of fantasy and science fiction - it removes the threat of reality from the story.
ReplyDeleteDone well (as clearly Anna Levine has done it), those types of stories are so satisfying. Pooh is still one of my favorites. I guess publishers get too many of the unsuccessful attempts!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea for a book. And it's such an interesting perspective, too. Oh, and that's a really effective cover! Thanks for sharing, both.
ReplyDelete"Birds without borders" - love it!! Looks beautiful!
ReplyDeleteyes, that is amazing. we should learn from them :)
DeleteSounds fun.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea cranes migrate in Israel. Interesting. Cover looks great! Congratulations on the book!
ReplyDelete