Kurt Cyrus has written a new picture book, SAGUARO'S GIFTS illustrated by Andy Atkins and published by Sleeping Bear Press. It is available in bookstores now. SBP has agreed to share a copy with one lucky winner living in the United States..

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 for a new book. So, thanks for helping Kurt and Andy.

If you have signed up to follow my blog and it is delivered to you everyday, please let me know when you leave a comment and I will give you an extra ticket. Thanks!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Celebrating a birthday is always a happy occasion but never more so in this desert community then when it's a centenary for a grand Saguaro cactus! For one hundred years, the majestic cactus has anchored this vibrant neighborhood, providing food, shelter, and shade to the local wildlife inhabitants. In beautiful rhyming text, the creatures that depend on Saguaro's gifts come to pay homage, including the tiny bat that sips nectar from the plant's flower, the finches looking for a place to build their nest, and the grateful tortoise that enjoys its fruit. Magnificent artwork brings the desert landscape and creatures to life, showing the interdependence between plants and animals. Readers young and old will appreciate this timely message of how essential even an old cactus is to our environment and the world we all share. Back matter includes information on the interdependence of the desert community.

BOOK JOURNEY:

Saguaro's Gifts is the product of a friendship spanning four decades. And that's appropriate, because the book is all about symbiotic relationships, and so is my friendship with the illustrator Andy Atkins.

Andy and I met as illustration students at Art Center College of Design. We hit it off immediately, sitting around and brainstorming ideas that had me laughing so hard my face hurt. Then I dropped out of college and we lost contact for twenty years. When we finally reconnected, I was a writer and illustrator of kids' books, and Andy had a career in motion graphics. We picked up right where we'd left off, brainstorming ideas.

Collaborations between an author and an illustrator are often collaborations in name only. The text gets finished and polished, and then handed off to an illustrator who's been selected by the publisher. Author and artist usually have little or no direct contact. But in our case, it really is a symbiotic relationship. Andy contributes ideas for the story and I offer ideas for his pictures.

Saguaro's Gifts was entirely Andy's idea. He loves the desert. I'm more of a tree lover. But, with Andy's guidance, I wrote the text for Saguaro's Gifts and then turned it over to him while I worked on my own book, Trillions of Trees. When I eventually saw Andy's artwork I was blown away. Thanks to him, I have a new appreciation for the desert world.

The best thing about collaboration is that it pulls a writer or illustrator into subjects he would never have considered on his own. I'm proud to have my name on a book that is, in my mind anyway, Andy's.

KURT'S BIO:

Kurt Cyrus is the creator of many books for young readers, including The Voyage of Turtle Rex, Tadpole Rex, and Big Rig Bugs. He is also the illustrator of 20 Big Trucks by Mark Lee and M.T. Anderson's Pals in Peril series. He currently lives in Oregon with his partner and their dog.

Kurt Cyrus has been a respiratory therapist, fork lift driver, picture framer, burial vault maker, and many other things before finally landing in children's books. Sometimes he does the writing, sometimes the illustrating, and sometimes both. Billions of Bricks and Tadpole Rex are two of his best known. Kurt has been an Oregonian his entire life.

ANDY'S BIO:

Andy Atkins is a lifelong artist, avid photographer, and traveler. He began his professional career in the entertainment Industry but recently returns to his first love; illustration.

His adventures in tropical rain forests proved to be a valuable resource for the artwork in his children's books Invisible Lizard, Invisible Lizard in Love, and now Saguaro's Gifts.

Andy lives in Ventura, California, with his family. His portfolio can be seen online at www.andyatkins.com.

 

Kurt, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. I really love this happy tale of all the desert animals coming together to thank the grand saguaro cactus for a hundred years of shelter, shade, and food. It's both touching and very informative. Andy's vivid  illustrations brings the desert alive. Good luck with the book!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy