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Thursday, June 11, 2015

BLOG TOUR: Whose Tools? by Toni Buzzeo - Guest Post + GIVEAWAY!

Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're playing host to a blog tour from the folks over at Abrams starring a recent release from an author who makes her home in the Children's genre.  It's a Board Book title perfect for those kiddos curious about all those master craftsman running around out there, or perhaps more directly all the FUN tools they get to work with!  So are you ready to play a little matching game and pick up a thing or two along the way?   Please welcome, today's blog tour guest and book spotlight occupant....



by
Toni Buzzeo
Illustrated by
Jim Datz

About the book...
This nonfiction ode to building a house from the ground up features six kinds of craftsmen and the 24 tools they use, accurately labeled. The answer to each inquiring refrain is revealed under a gatefold, seven in all, engaging the reader in an informative guessing game. With lyrical (and factual!) text by New York Times bestselling author Toni Buzzeo, and the expertly stylized art of illustrator and designer Jim Datz, this sturdily constructed board book is perfect for curious and playful young readers.


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How adorable, right?
The perfect addition to the bookish world of the little builder in your life and if I dare say, a GREAT pick for Father's Day!  (You didn't forget now, did you?  It's coming up quick!)  With sturdy construction to withstand the handsy approach most little ones take to reading, it's not just about the presentation but the unexpected knowledge they'll pick up along the way.  That's right!  With every turn of the page, a group of tools are presented and the reader is asked to guess to whom they belong.  Turn the page again, and TADA!  The wielder of said tools is presented in living color with their title and what they are using the tools for.  Pretty nifty, huh?

Now, I've said my piece and my impressions, but it's time for an extra special treat.  When the tour came around, I opted not for a review post but a Guest Post!  Topic of choice...a little "Dad and Me" moment.  In this case, it's a "Grandpa and Me" moment that in lieu of prefacing with too much pomp and circumstance, I'll let stand on it's own merit.

Ladies and gents, please welcome author Toni Buzzeo!




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Guest Post:  Author Toni Buzzeo

As the calendar swings around to Father’s Day, I have the good fortune to be publishing a book perfect for Father’s Day celebrations, Whose Tools? brilliantly illustrated by Jim Datz! And while this book celebrates both women and men building professionals of all races, on a personal level it celebrates the skills and great generosity of my maternal grandfather, Donald Mackey. 





When I was a little girl, I spent most weekends with my grandparents, giving my young parents a chance to enjoy unencumbered free time and me a chance to enjoy the love my grandparents lavished on me, their first grandchild. While Grandma Mae was quite likely to guide me in cookie cutter use and decorative sugar application, Grandpa Don was more likely to have me posing amid soup cans for a photo contest he was entering.  Photography was his art, but he was also a man who could make anything with his hands.




Grandpa grew up in western Michigan in an impoverished farm family one of nine children. After his Finnish immigrant father left for Chicago, his mother struggled to keep her children fed and clothed. When Grandpa was old enough he joined the family enterprise of wood-cutting to heat the schoolhouse and earn a small income the family desperately needed. His childhood engendered in Grandpa a self-sufficiency that served him well throughout his life, an ability to build and do. In today’s parlance, my grandfather was a “maker,” a tool-and-die maker by trade and a handyman at home.




When I was seven years old, Grandpa packed his intelligence, his skills, and Grandma Mae off on a flight to Sao Paolo, Brazil. He joined a team establishing the first offshore engine assembly plant for Ford Motor Company. Initially, he signed up for a year, but nine years passed before he was ready to come home to Michigan for good. Oh, but I missed him! Still, I was proud of him. His adventurous spirit and his personal industry took him far away from me but served as a model for me as I grew, myself, to be a world traveler.




Many years later, when my husband Ken and I moved from Michigan to Maine and bought a cold and drafty colonial farmhouse, Grandpa Don came to our rescue. Unlike the professionals in Whose Tools? whose job it is to construct a house, we first needed Grandpa to help in some serious deconstruction. At seventy years old, he was still strong, willing, and so very able. For two subsequent autumns, Grandpa and Grandma moved in and Grandpa tore down our two chimneys, one brick at a time, from roofline to cellar floor, hauling bricks and mortar, and clearing the way for the air-tight chimneys he and Ken built to replace them. Oh but Grandpa loved that work. In fact, he was a man who loved having a job, particularly when it was a job FOR someone else.




My grandpa taught me the value of hard work. He modeled the virtue of generosity. And he could do anything, just like the professionals in Whose Tools?

Happy Father’s Day, Grandpa Don! 





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About the author...


Toni Buzzeo is the author of the 2013 Caldecott Honor Book and New York Times bestseller One Cool Friend, as well as many other books for children.  A former elementary school librarian and secondary-school teacher, she now lives with her husband in both Buxton, Maine, and Sarasota, Florida.


SITE   |   BLOG   |   TWITTER



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Special thanks to Emily at Abrams Books for Young Readers for the chance to bring this tour to you as well as making the connection with the author.  Speaking of the author, THANK YOU for sharing your memories and the wonderful photographs to go along with it!  For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above.  This title is available now via Abrams Appleseed, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.  In the mean time...how's about a chance to win?





That's right!
Thanks to the generosity of the folks at Abrams, YOU now have the chance to win a copy of this awesome title for the little ones in your life.  To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below.  Open to US residents only, no P.O. Boxes please.  Entries accepted through midnight June 18th, 2015.



Until next time...happy reading!


2 comments:

Unknown said...

SO very exciting to actually find someone who sees children for what they are not just as miniature adults. Children have their own needs and therefore this is divine to have. Kudos

traveler said...

Thanks for this captivating, beautiful and amazing post today. It brought back fond memories of when I was growing up and the value of hard work, principles, ethics and respect. What great photos which have captured the era and the hard work instilled in these devoted individuals. I grew up during the era when hard work, respect and values were treasured and cherished. This is so meaningful and it resonated with me. Thanks for this great feature. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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