“Pop”       “Clink”      Have you all got a glass to celebrate?

I can’t tell you how tickled pink and bubbling over with excitement I was, when I heard Joanna, one of my lovely Children’s Book Hubber buddies announced her first book, “Snow Games” was published.  I was falling over myself trying to get in touch (drat time zone differences) to congratulate her and invite her here on my blog.

I had known Joanna since January 2011 on Emma Walton Hamilton’s Children’s Book Hub and later met up with her, at the LA 2011 SCBWI Conference in August.  Even before our first meeting at the elevator of our hotel I felt this adventurous, free spirit.  A lover of travel to exotic and different places myself (having just come back from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam at the time), the overwhelming energy and people at the conference did not, sadly, allow us time to swap stories. A lover of all things nature, humanitarian and cultural, Joanna’s Blog Miss Marple’s Musings  reflects this and is always a delight to visit, and her adventurous spirit is evident in her writing.

Here is my Review of her book……             Snow Games

By:  Joanna Marple and

Illustrated by: Maja Sereda

Published by:  uTales

Opening Lines:  On a crisp, frosty mid-winter’s day,  the woodland youngsters ran out to play.

The first game that popped into squirrel’s head  was to slide down a hill on a homemade sled.   Bear charged forth and crashed down the slope,  on a sled from boughs tied together with rope.”

Synopsis:  Joanna’s gentle rhyming text sweeps across the snow covered pages of beautifully soft hue illustrations courtesy of Maja Sereda.  The animals make up their own forms of transport to race down the mountain and then decide on a snow fight, leaving poor mouse combating difficulties.  A sweet story of true friendship overriding competitiveness, as Bear with his blue and white scarf, Squirrel donning bright pink earmuffs and Owl in pink and white tights, while proving how powerful and clever they are, agree to a different kind of sport in which tiny mouse excels.  Wrap up warm and join Joanna and her cuddly friends on the slopes for some adventure and fun.

I love, love this story. Joanna’s ability to write in rhyme with great ease and energy is page turning quality alone and the adorable pictures makes this a beautiful gift anytime of the year.

Right now you can sign up for free for two weeks, and read the story in its entirety on uTales and vote for the book!  Here is the link…

http://utales.com/books/snow-games-3     Be a sport and vote!

Always game for the fun and quirky when it comes to interviewing, I thought I would turn the tables on her; here are some fun facts about Joanna..

Me:  Favourite colour?

JM:  Pink, blue

Me:  Breakfast:    Continental or full/cooked?

JM:  Bacon’n Eggs

Me:  Favourite time of the day?

JM:   Sunset

Me:  Favourite ice-cream?

JM: Pistachio

Me: Favourite drink?

JM:  Bordeaux

Me:  What does your workspace look like?

JM:   A coffee table piled with: manuscripts, writing craft books, picture books, novels, journals, iPod, camera, laptop, pens, coffee mugs, cats, baseball cap…   (Me: that sounds like my dining table, minus the cat….lol.)

Me:  If you had to spend the day as a book character who would that be and why?

JM:  Eloise so that I could spend a day in New York in style (and visit the Plaza)!  (Me:.. Cool!)

Me:  Do you have a favourite or most productive time of the day for your writing muse?

JM:  From dawn until midday is the best time for me! Definitely a lark and not an owl!

Me:  Will your two quirky cats ever appear in one of your books in the future?

JM:  I have written poems about them both on the blog, so I guess they may well appear one day in a story – they are really chalk and cheese!

Me: If I turned up at your place for a visit, what would you feed me? 

 JM:  Well, first I would ply you with wine (Me:.. chuckles), and then, I always keep some good steak in the freezer so as long as you came in the morning, I would have time to marinate the meat and cook you a tasty Daube, accompanied by fresh pasta from a delicatessen within walking distance of mine!  (Me:  mmm… yumm, I’ll just get my plane ticket organised, start marinating…lol)

Author Bio:   Joanna grew up surrounded by the architecture and awe of the University Of Cambridge, UK, and immersed in the books and the landscapes of the Bronte’s, Tolkien and Beatrix Potter. Her tall tales were not always appreciated as a young child, but her passion for storytelling remained unfettered and was fuelled by the marvellous people and animals she encountered during her humanitarian work across the continents. More recently her years as school librarian in Southern France relit her passion for children’s literature. Her stories focus on her love of the natural world and the richness of the cultures she has encountered in her travels. She lives presently in Nice with two quirky cats and a stream of visitors from all over the globe.

Thank you so much for the fun Q & A session Joanna, I am so grateful that you have shared not only your writing but some of your quirkiness with us through your Blog Tour, and I wish you all the luck in the world with whatever you set out to do, be it in writing or traveling.  Please remember to come down my way someday where accommodation, a bottle of the best, and a personal tour guide is at your disposal.

Here is the rest of Joanna’s Blog Tour including visits past that you may wish to catch up on….

Wednesday, May 16th, Darshana’s Blog, Flowering Minds – Interview

Wednesday, May 23rd – Krista Rausin’s blog, Parenting with a Dash of Inspiration – Multiple Characters in Picture Books

Tuesday, May 29th – Sharon Stanley’s blog, Sharon Stanley Writes – Interview

Tuesday June 5th – Clarike Bowman-Jahn, Clarbojahn’s Blog – The Story Behind the Story

Wednesday, June 6th – Diane Tulloch’s blog, The Patient Dreamer – Book Review and mini Interview

Wednesday,  June,13th – Julie Hedlund’s Blog, Why uTales?

Monday, June 18th – Susanna Leonard Hill’s Blog – The Process of Submitting a Story to uTales

Wednesday June 27th – Patricia Hilton’s blog, Children’s Books Heal, Anthropomorphism in picture books and Book Review

“hic..”   Enjoy!