Win an Autographed Book From Little Brown Books for Young Readers!
Posted by Karen on 10 Oct 2012 | Posted in: Contests, Freebies, Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Fairy tales just aren’t what they used to be—they’re better! Books like The Mostly True Story of Jack, the first book by Kelly Barnhill, turn traditional fairy tales upside down, banishing bland princesses and predictable princes in favor of memorable characters on a mission. The Mostly True Story of Jack received four starred reviews and quickly became a favorite read in classrooms across the country.
Kelly Barnhill’s new book, Iron Hearted Violet, has just come out. Read the Q&A with Kelly below and submit a comment to our blog to let us know why your students will enjoy this book, which is for grades 3-7. One lucky teacher will be randomly chosen to win an autographed copy of this soon-to-be-classic tale. Submit your comment by midnight EDT on Wednesday, October 17, 2012, to be entered into our drawing. Good luck! Update: Congratulations to Ilah, who is our winner. We’ll be posting another giveaway in the next few days, so watch our blog!
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In this story, Princess Violet is plain, reckless, and quite possibly too clever for her own good. One day she and her best friend, Demetrius, stumble upon a hidden room and find a peculiar book—a forbidden book. It tells a story of an evil being—called the Nybbas—imprisoned in its world. The story cannot be true—not really. But then the whispers start. Violet and Demetrius, along with an ancient, scarred dragon, may hold the key to the Nybbas’s triumph…or its demise. Iron Hearted Violet is about the power of stories and how one enchanted tale changed the course of an entire kingdom. Click here to read the first few chapters and to learn more about the book!
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Princess Violet is such a distinctive, well-defined character. Did she just pop into your head one day fully formed or was she hard to pin down?
Violet sprang, fully formed, one night when I was lying in bed under a pile of my various children, telling a story. I told them about Violet and Demetrius causing havoc during an academic conference in the castle—instigating fist fights among the philosophers, tricking the theologians into embracing heresy, and so on. Alas, this scene was cut from the book, but I had a heck of a time telling the story. And Violet has been Violet ever since.
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You have such a great feel for inventing words. Tell us about “Nybbas.”
The Dictionaire Infernal describes demons and spirits of various ranks—most originally gods stolen from the Babylonian pantheon and changed into something wicked. One man’s god is another man’s demon, right? The Nybbas there is a lower spirit that controls dreams and imagination, largely derided as a buffoon. In my twisted imagination, the Nybbas became both—a selfish and insidious god who preyed on storytellers and used stories to rule the world. Because stories are that powerful.
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Iron Hearted Violet is not a retelling of any folk or fairy tale, but you clearly love traditional stories. Did you have any in mind when you wrote Violet?
Traditional stories dominated my childhood brain, and still do. Terry Pratchett once wrote, “People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it’s the other way around. Stories exist independently of their players.” I absolutely think this is true. I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about how we interact with stories, and how stories build the frame for how we see the world. It’s a bit of an obsession. Stories, after all, are tricky.
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One of the most affecting scenes in the book is the meeting between Violet and the dragon. What was the most important thing you wanted to communicate there?
Here we come to the redemptive power of the broken heart. The first time Violet meets the dragon, she is poisoned and wounded by grief—it has made a blister on her heart. The dragon, on the other hand, is poisoned by fear—it is his biggest handicap. But sometimes it is our broken-ness that binds us to other people. We break; we connect; we transcend; we become more than ourselves. And then we are whole.
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What’s next for you?
Many things! I’m working on some new books, and I’ve got several school-based writing residencies scheduled for the coming academic year, which is always a good time (can you believe they pay me to write stories with a bunch of super-awesome kids? Amazing!), and lots of fall and winter camping with my own dear children. I never get a lot of downtime, but it’s worth it!
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Don’t forget, you can WIN an autographed copy of Iron Hearted Violet when you submit a comment to our blog. Good luck!
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| Karen |
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50 Responses to “Win an Autographed Book From Little Brown Books for Young Readers!”
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More Comments Pages: [-1] 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 … 1 » Show All Comments
I am teaching how to know when you reach the expository position in text and my kids love picture books. This would be a great book to read aloud to them and then anchor chart character traits and sequence main ideas to help them better understand for longer chapter books.
Sounds like a wonderful book! My students love fairy tales, so they would love it! Maybe it could be a good read-aloud? Thanks for the opportunity!
This book would be great for my students that are reading above level (i teach 3rd grade)! This may also help those kids that haven’t found THE book to finally find it! I’m really excited!!!