About
the Book: Night Buddies and the Pineapple
Cheesecake Scare is the first in a series featuring John, a young city kid who
isn't ready for bed yet, and Crosley, a bright-red crocodile who shows up in
his room to rescue him and take him on an adventure.
Night Buddies is an astonishing and inventive
adventure with unforgettable cast of characters that will make you laugh and
win over your heart. The book has lots of thoughtful, multi-layered twists,
giggles, and perils -- things kids can relate to and enjoy.
Publisher:
Dune Buggy Press; One edition (June 1, 2012)
ISBN-10:
0984741712
ISBN-13:
978-0984741717
Overall
Thoughts:
Sands Hetherington’s book is called an after
lights-out adventure story. Why? Because not all the fun and excitement begins
until John’s parents turn the lights out and tell him to go to bed. However,
like many kids, John isn’t ready for bed so when Crosley the unusually red crocodile
shows up from under his bed, John is more than ready to embark on a nighttime
adventure.
The unforgettable characters, language and astonishing
imaginative details make this nighttime adventure one any child at heart will
enjoy; Crosley even as an inventive collection of magical whatchamacallits that
does something to help them on their “Official Night Buddies Program.”
I am sure there will be some random set of parents
who might not like how John and Crosley sneak out of John’s house using the
“I-ain’t-here-doodad,” which makes them invisible to anyone looking as this
might encourage children to get out of bed at night. Not to worry, the story is
full of chasing down enemies and cleaning up one mess after another as they
solve the pineapple cheesecake mystery, and what kid wants to clean a mess up
after sneaking out of bed? So if you’re a parent worried about your kids
getting ideas, just remind them about all the work they’ll be doing if they
sneak out instead of a fun exciting adventure. I’m sure that will keep them
tucked in safe and sound.
I also want to point out there are a lot of hidden
morals and message for readers throughout the book from proper grammar to being
aware of allergies. Sands Hetherington does a wonderful job sharing these
points in a fun, wacky way. For example, Crosley is allergic to water and needs
to be careful not to get wet or he’ll end up doing the Black Bottom dance for
hours. Crosley also has medication (black pills) he has to take to help with
his allergy, however, there is a side effect to the pills, but Crosley explains
it is better than doing the Black Bottom if he gets wet.
Another interesting feature to the book is the fonts.
They change with emotion and circumstance, giving every page a little interest
to keep the child’s eye involved in the book. And just to make sure the youngsters
reading this book have the inside information for a mystery, a glossary of
‘Night Buddies Uncommon Words’ is supplied – explaining ‘Jeeks’, ‘Wuff’,
‘Snerk!’ etc — all of which are in the different fonts to let the reader know
it is a Night Buddies Uncommon Word.
Get a sneak peek of the book at http://tinyurl.com/7xxl8qw
About the Author: Sands Hetherington credits
his son John for being his principal motivator. Sands raised his son as a
single parent from the time John was six. He read to him every night during
those formative years. He and young John developed the Crosley crocodile
character in the series during months of bedtime story give-and-take. Sands
majored in history at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and has an
M.F.A. in creative writing and an M.A. in English from UNC-Greensboro. He lives
in Greensboro.
About the Illustrator: Jessica Love grew up in
California, with two artist parents. She studied printmaking and drawing at UC
Santa Cruz, then went on to study acting at The Juilliard School in NYC.
Jessica currently resides in Brooklyn, New York,
toggling back and forth between her work as an actor and her work as an artist.
The World of Ink Network will be touring author
Sands Hetherington’s nighttime adventure for kids, Night Buddies and the
Pineapple Cheesecake Scare published by Dune Buggy Press all through July and
August 2012. You can find out more about Sands Hetherington’s
World of Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/6vgevbh
To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit http://worldofinknetwork.com
Next few stops on Sands Hetherington's WOI Tour:
July 3rd
Sweeping
the USA—Spotlight
July 4th
Pete Abela Interview
July 5th
The Writing Mama – Spotlight
July 6th
Home School Blogger - Book Review
July 8th
Utah Children's Writer Blog – Spotlight
July 9th
BTR’s World of Ink Network: Stories for Children Show
Live Radio Interview at 2pm EST at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork
You can also listen on demand after the show airs!
Thank you for hosting Sands on your blog. I'm looking forward to learning more about him and his characters in Night Buddies.
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