I am a Shark Blog Tour, Author Interview and Giveaway

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I Am the Shark

Written by Joan Holub

Illustrated by Laurie Keller

Ages 4-8 | 48 Pages

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers

ISBN-13: 978-0525645283

Publisher’s Synopsis: Hi! I am Great White Shark, and if you get this book, you’ll read all about ME–the greatest shark in the sea! Not so fast! Greenland Shark here, and as the oldest shark in this book, that makes the greatest. Did someone say fast? I’m Mako Shark, and I’m the fastest shark in this book! Eat my bubbles! Wow, I’m Hammerhead Shark. You don’t need my special eyes to see that there are lots of great sharks in this book. Sink your teeth into it now! New York Times bestselling author Joan Holub makes a splash with bestselling illustrator Laurie Keller to deliver an entertaining undersea story that encourages self-acceptance and self-esteem, and is filled with humor and the greatest shark facts in the ocean!

Available for purchase here or here. 

To visit more stops on the tour, click here. 

Author Interview

Life is What It's Called - What inspired you to write a picture book on sharks?

Joan Holub - I wondered: What if my name was Great White Shark? (Or Great Joan Holub? Actually, that has a ring to it. LOL) GWS is a great name to be sure, but one that might be hard to live up to. In I Am the Shark, GWS keeps trying to figure out what makes him so great compared to other sharks. He eventually decides, “all the other sharks are better than me. Maybe I should change my name to Just-Okay White Shark or Not-So-Great White Shark.” A little friend helps him realize that everyone’s different, and it’s great to be who you are!

Life Is What It's Called - What do you think kids will like most about this book?

Joan Holub - The humor, occasional shark puns, the many shark facts. And when they realize that someone even as jawsome as the Great White Shark has moments of self-doubt, I hope they’ll enjoy and absorb Lantern Shark’s message of self-acceptance (“Just be happy being you”).

Life Is What It's Called - How can this book be used in classrooms, homeschools, or library programs? 

Joan Holub - I Am the Shark fits into themes such as the ocean, earth, environment, animals, and self-esteem. Since it’s a blend of fiction and non-fiction like my books often are Little Red Writing, Zero the Hero, there’s both laughter and learning. The fictional story component is always most important, but there are plenty of facts woven into I Am the Shark. For instance, did you know that the Tiger Shark is nicknamed the garbage can of the ocean? It eats things like car tires and clocks (which unfortunately sometimes wind up in our oceans)! Did you know sharks don’t have bones? Or that they were around before dinosaurs? Sharks are important to the health of our oceans and therefore to our overall environment. As predators, they help keep the earth’s ecosystem in balance. Which benefits us all!

Life Is What It's Called - What's your favorite shark?

Joan Holub - Ooh. Tough question. There are over 500 species of sharks, so this won’t be easy. My vote goes to…drumroll…Hammerhead. His distinctive hammer-shaped head, big brain, and near-360-degree vision makes him really interesting!

Life Is What It's Called - Will there be a spin-off from this book for other sea creatures?

Joan Holub - There’s a teaser in I Am the Shark that reveals the star of our second book. Hints: It’s not a sea creature. It’s big. It’s hairy. It’s growly. It has small round ears and curved claws. Can you guess what it is? Fill in the book title: I Am the _ _ _ _.

Life Is What It's Called - How has your background helped you to create this book?

Joan Holub - I began working in children’s books as a graphic designer/illustrator, and those design/drawing skills help me create picture books now. I start with a storyboard. I divide up the words and draw stick figures to start figuring out the story’s flow within 40 little boxes. Next, I work a little bigger, and layer tracing paper as I keep refining. I create a finished dummy--a fake almost-full-size book with words and simple B&W drawings—that I send to my editor. The art tells much of the story in any picture book. So by drawing pictures in a dummy, I discover which words I can leave out. Illustrators often look to my dummies for inspiration and help with breaking the story into pages. But then they create art that’s far more amazing than my doodles. It’s thrilling to see that happen.

Life Is What It's Called - What was the best part about seeing your book come to life?

Joan Holub - Laurie Keller! I’ve loved her work since her picture books, Scrambled States of America and Arnie the Doughnut. It’s a little-known fact that authors and illustrators working on a book together usually don’t meet or even interact. (That’s probably usually a good idea to make sure we don’t go spinning off track without our editor being aware.) However, Laurie and I met at ALA and wound up chatting during the design and illustration stages of I Am the Shark, so I got to know her. Not only is her illustration amazing, she’s funny, generous, and super interesting! We’re doing some virtual appearances together soon. Readers can pre-order I Am the Shark to get a bookplate autographed by us both, including a little shark sketch by Laurie! 

Life Is What It's Called - Are there any supplemental materials for this book available on your website, i.e., coloring pages, educational materials?

Joan Holub - I’ve collected some great shark crafts for kids on my “shark” Pinterest page: https://www.pinterest.com/joanholub/sharks/.

Giveaway

Enter for a chance to win an I Am the Shark prize pack!

One (1) grand prize winner receives:

• A hardcover copy of  I Am the Shark, autographed by Joan Holub
• A child-size shark print art/cooking apron
• A $50 Target gift card

Two (2) winners receive:

• A hardcover copy of I am the Shark, autographed by Joan Holub

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

The giveaway begins March 26, 2021, at 12:01 A.M. MT and ends April 26, 2021, at 11:59 P.M. MT.

Disclosure: This post is in partnership of The Children's Book Review.