Celebrating the pre-birthday of Bug!

My new picture book, Bug, is now available for pre-sales! And it has already been getting some attention. Here’s what I can share so far:

Author and blogger Dawn Prochovnic invited me to tell Bug’s Birth Story for her blog. I’m so grateful that Dawn takes the time and energy to promote her fellow authors and illustrators. Here’s the link to Planting the Seeds for Publication.

Last week, I created a little one-minute book trailer for Bug. A book trailer for a 32 page story is always challenging but great fun to create. Just bonk here to check it out.

And finally, Bug had a very nice review in Kirkus that was published in February:

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A girl discovers that her passions can help her make sense of a difficult skill.

Bug is a girl who loves drawing bugs more than anything else, “especially math.” When her teacher, Mrs. Muskie, announces that they will go to the science museum, which has a cool bug room, if the class performs well on the upcoming math test, Bug takes the challenge seriously. She goes to a field to study but, frustratingly, finds herself continually distracted by new bugs to draw. After several failed attempts, she realizes that her doodles hold the visual key to understanding the math problems: adding spots on a butterfly’s wings and subtracting the number of ants that drop their seeds. Notably, Koontz acknowledges her young character’s agency by having Bug independently come to this revelation and later calmly assist Mrs. Muskie when Bug’s “lucky crickets” (stashed in her lunchbox to help with the test) get in her hair. The latter moment offers a spot of fun for Bug’s multiracial classmates. Pale-skinned Bug is precocious with her short, light-brown hair, rolled-up pants, and antenna headband; Mrs. Muskie has brown skin and a “cloud of curly hair.” Proud’s illustrations in pencil and acrylic take on the style of doodles themselves, with pronounced, colored outlines and circular eyes for characters and bugs alike. The crawling critters appear charming instead of off-putting.

A respectful boost of encouragement for young minds that may be struggling with school. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: April 2nd, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4549-2356-5
Page count: 40pp
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28th, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15th, 2019

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You can pre-order Bug directly from Sterling Publishing Co., Amazon, or wherever books are sold!

Happy almost birthday, Bug!