The Next Big Thing: A Global Blog Tour!

The Next Big Thing! is a global blog tour (which started in Australia!) to bring awareness to authors & illustrators and their current work. Thank you to the wonderful Maggie Smith for tagging me!

I will answer some questions about my newest book, then pass the Q & A on to three fantastic book artists.

1. What is your next big thing?

This is one of my many projects but I am selecting it because it has such an interesting story.

The title in english is Room for Rent.  The book is printed in German and in Russian.

 

YouTube  German revision of the book "Apartment for Rent"

2. Where did your idea for the book come from?

I am the illustrator of this book and the story was written by a well known Israeli author named Lea Goldberg.

The rights to the story were purchased by Myriam Halberstam, the owner and Publisher of Ariella Verlag, Berlin Germany.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

This sophisticated picture book conveys a powerful message of tolerance and acceptance and living together in harmony. 

  

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Instead of answering the question as it is posed, I will take the opportunity to talk about the cast of characters which represent the arts.

They include a visual artist, a dancer, an intellectual, and a musician.

The antagonists include a pig, an ant a rabbit and a mockingbird.

5. What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When an apartment becomes available in the little brick building, the prospective tenants each turn down the opportunity to live there because they each have a personal prejudice for the current tenants.  

6. Who is publishing your book?

This book was published by Ariella Verlag, Berlin, Germany.  

Reuters article  

Historic German Jewish children's book goes on sale

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Since I wasn't the author of this book I can't answer that question directly, but I do know that the original story was published long ago and has since been translated into many languages.  It may eventually be translated into english if the book does well in Europe.  

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Perhaps "In the Night Kitchen," by Maurice Sendak.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

This story has been around for many years but it continues to inspire it's readers to challenge the way they think about tolerance and living peacefully together.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest? 

This is the third book that I've had the opportunity to illustrate for this new publisher from Germany.

Ariella Verlag is the first Jewish children's book publisher to open since the Holocaust.  I am proud to be involved with promoting the material published by this new company and feel honored to have been selected to illustrate some of their books.

Thank you so much for stopping by -  I hope you enjoyed hearing about my new book.
The Next Big Thing Blog Tour continues  with the following book artists - you won't want to miss them!

Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Ellen Bari