Tag Archives: What If Butterflies Loved Snow?

Five Snowy Books With A Family Connection

Winter comes with more than it’s fair share of holiday and family traditions but here are five books that celebrate family connections on ordinary days.

 

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen illustrated by John Schoenherr

A girl and her father go out looking for owls in a book that brings magic to an ordinary snowy night.

Snow Sisters by Kerri Kokias illustrated by Teagan White

 

Two sisters with very different ideas about what makes the perfect snow day.

 

What if Butterflies Loved Snow? by Jessie Stevens and Madhawi Karaya

 

A girl and her mother snuggle in bed and wonder what it would be like if butterflies brightened up the winter.

Snow Comes to the Farm by Nathaniel Tripp illustrated by Kate Kiesler

 

Brothers spend the day together watching the woods fill up with snow.

The Mitten by Jan Brett 

 

Grandmother knits her grandson a pair of snowy mittens in this silly winter story.

 

What’s your favorite winter book? Does it also celebrate a family connection?

 

Author Questions

My first children’s book was published this spring.

(Shameless plug: Here it is on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/What-If-Butterflies-Loved-Snow/dp/194568190X/  – it’d make a great Christmas gift! )

A few months later I’ve, mostly, stopped looking for someone else in the room when people ask “the author” a question and I’m starting to see a pattern emerge in those questions asked.

Yes, I did really write the book. (PSA announcement: Don’t ask people that. Just don’t.)

Nope, I didn’t draw a single picture. (Occasionally I think drawing a butterfly in the book when I sign it is a good idea. And it is a good idea, in theory….)

Yes, I’d be happy to tell you the long crazy story of how it was published. How much time do you have? (Shameless plug #2: Sign up for our newsletter at whatifbutterflieslovedsnow.com to learn the story.)

And yes, unless you are a full blood relation, I will indeed avoid telling you exactly how much I earn per book. (PSA announcement #2: Do unto others as Ann Landers would do unto you.)

But for those of you who can’t contain your curiosity at just how much cash I may be raking in I have two facts for you:

  1. I’m very happy with the amount of books we’ve been selling. (You guys, people read my book to little kids! Ones I don’t know! That’s astounding!)
  2. It was 27°F when drove the kids to school with my drivers side window down because it’s broken and no longer goes up. (It’s second in line of cars to be fixed as that’s not a safety issue, just cold, inconvenient and noisy.)(Shameless plug #3: Authors like windows that roll up all the way when it snows. Reviews sell books- leave your book review here: https://www.amazon.com/What-If-Butterflies-Loved-Snow/dp/194568190X/#customerReviews )

 

Have any more author-y questions you’d like answered? Ask away!

 

A Learned Woman

I have a four year degree, in theory it was awarded for my studies in biology.

It’s actuality I think it’s a degree in procrastination and late night cramming.

It worked then and it’s a skill I haven’t forgotten.

 

The current state of my table. Piling everything in one place counts as organization and preparation right?

This weekend I’m doing my first library program and with just one more night of cramming I should be prepared.

All I need is a beer and a package of ramen and I’ll feel 22 again.

Out and About: Interview and Book Review on Wee Bit Wordy

Thanks for stopping by on this lovely spring day but we aren’t home today…

…we are out and about with Wee Bit Wordy!

 

Pop on over, check out his wonderful review of What If Butterflies Loved Snow? and find out which part of our next book we are already dreading working on.

Then stay awhile, check out some more reviews and see what Wee Bit Wordy is up to, there is good stuff going on in his corner of the internet!

What If Butterflies Loved Snow?

It’s official.  The book is out!

You can buy it on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk !

You can order it and hold it in your hands. (I highly recommend this – it’s so pretty and shiny!)

You can take selfies with it and accidentally stab yourself in the eye with it (but I wouldn’t recommend that at all).

You can take pictures of it being read by children and share them with us. (They melt our hearts those pictures.) 

You can take pictures of it being extra beautified with flowers. (Tooks’ artwork is spectacular so it’s already beautiful but more flowers is always a good thing.)

You can share those pictures on social media, tag us and we will send you this awesome signed bookplate. (For real, free bookplates to the first 50 people signed by both of us. Please remember Tooks and I live across an ocean from one another, these bookplates have traveled!) 

You can leave a review on Amazon. (Ensuring a warm fuzzy place in our hearts forever.)

And you can tell your friends, and the lady at the post office, and the man at the grocery store, and the woman at the gas station… (At least that’s what I did…)

Because – look – dream come true- it’s a real book!

“Ummm… what are you talking about Jessie? “

Sorry! I might be too excited to make sense! Find a bit of backstory here: Off to the Presses

You can hear even more backstory if you’d like to sign up for our newsletter here: Sign up now!

And of course there are the social medias: 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/what.if.butterflies.loved.snow/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/What-If-Butterflies-Loved-Snow-276810322743929/

Our Website: https://whatifbutterflieslovedsnow.com/

And even Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/whatifbutterflieslovedsnow/

The Little Story

Once upon a time there was a little story.

After all it’s words were written just right and all it’s pictures were drawn just so, it went away to get turned into a real book. The little story was so excited to be turned into a real book so that she could go out into the world and talk to children everywhere.

But then…

She got lost in a dark scary place.

The little story wandered around for many days in the dark before someone found her and gave her a nice little green flashlight. Then she took her little flashlight and took a big breath and searched and searched until she found her way out of the dark scary place. The little story looked at herself when she got back out into the bright world and saw that, though she had been in the dark scary place for a long time it had turned her into a real book!

Then that real book looked around until she found a group of children and she told her tale, the one with the words written just right and the pictures drawn just so, and everyone was happy.

The end.

In highly related news our book is not yet on Amazon… it should be… now… last week…any moment… just waiting… waiting on Amazon… and waiting… any moment… annnnyyy moment… 

Off to the Presses!

Perhaps you’ve noticed the little link off in the sidebar over on the right there or saw a few mysterious Facebook posts pop up. If you know me in real life I’ve probably accosted you with questions about winter apparel for butterflies and what sort of fonts you prefer. But, now that we have a product we are proud of, now that it looks like less of a dream and more of a reality I’m letting you know…

Guys! We made a book! 

I wrote down my first thoughts in May of 2014 and Tooks (Madhawi) and I started collaborating in June of 2016 and now we have … finally… sent the finished manuscript of our childrens’ book, What If Butterflies Loved Snow? off to the publisher!

I can’t even tell you how exciting and fun it’s been working with Tooks as she brought this story to life.

I mean I could tell you but I don’t want to. Because if I tried to explain the fun we have had, you would just laugh at our ridiculous conversations (snowflake vomit is totally a thing by the way). Then you would shake your heads about how cooperatively disorganized we are and how we did everything involving technology in the hardest way possible.  (And let me tell you, since we live with an ocean between us, there was a lot of technology to muddle through!) I think we prefer to continue to laugh at ourselves and you can just imagine the fun we are having without all the ridiculous details.

However… there are plenty of details we are willing to share.

So…

If you’d like to be in the know (Pssst these people will probably get to know fun things like how this all came about, stories about silly snowmen and release dates!) and get a fun coloring sheet……sign up in the form below.

 

Even if you don’t want us sending you occasional and delightful little e-mails, you can still find us popping up around the web.

On Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/what.if.butterflies.loved.snow/

And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/What-If-Butterflies-Loved-Snow-276810322743929/

Our Website: https://whatifbutterflieslovedsnow.com/

And even Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/whatifbutterflieslovedsnow/

In the meantime we are on to the next phase!

We have a whole new set of skills to learn as we watch the publishing process happen and dive into marketing.

What if Butterflies Loved Snow?  is working it’s way toward the printing press and we are beyond excited to have made it this far together!

You know why? Because…

We made a book!