National Geographic Kids presents... FOOTSTEPS ON THE MAP by Barbara Kerley, Illustrated by Oksana Drachkovska - GUEST POST!

Footsteps on the Map

by

Barbara Kerley

Illustrations by

Oksana Drachkovska

About the Book...

In this enchanting picture book, two children set out on separate adventures to blaze their very own trail, mapping it as they go.

Set out, pen in hand. Yours are the first footsteps on the map! You never know where the path to adventure might lead! This imaginative picture book combines brief, lyrical text with a stunning combination of photographs and artist’s illustrations as it spins a charming story that introduces the art of mapmaking from a child’s perspective.

Perfect for preschoolers and early elementary kids just learning about maps, the book also includes basic information needed to read maps, such as symbols and a map key. Filled with beautifully illustrated, child-centered maps, Footsteps on the Map will inspire budding cartographers to map their own world and tell their own stories.

AMAZON

~~~   GUEST POST #2   ~~~

In FOOTSTEPS ON THE MAP, two kids go on an adventure, and we get to go with them.

The kids start in different places and each map their journey along the way. In a banner that runs along the bottom of the page, we see both maps being drawn in real time as the kids slowly come to meet in the middle.

I don’t usually dummy out my text when I submit to my editor, but I did for this book because I wanted to show what each spread might look like, with illustrations on top and the banner along the bottom.

My dummy was supremely simple: pencil on white paper, the two kids just stick figures. Since I imagined that each kid brought their dog with them, the dogs in my dummy were just stick figures, too.

Luckily, Oksana Drachkovska, the book’s illustrator, is a much, much better artist than I am. In her beautiful illustrations, the girl walks through sunny meadows with her happy, energetic, black-and-white dog. And the boy walks through mossy forests with his curious, playful orange cat!

Oksana’s illustrations capture the wonder of each journey, map in hand, and a dog—or cat!—beside you.

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About the author...

BARBARA KERLEY is the award-winning author of numerous nonfiction picture books, including The Extraordinary Mark Twain, Those Rebels, John and Tom, and A Home for Mr. Emerson. Her titles for National Geographic include The World Is Waiting For You; You and Me Together; A Little Peace; Brave Like Me; One World, One Day; With a Friend by Your Side; and A Cool Drink of Water.

About the illustrator...

OKSANA DRACHKOVSKA is an illustrator from Ukraine. A finalist in the Bologna Book Fair illustration competition in 2021 and 2022, Oksana finds inspiration in nature, landscapes, and travels. She likes to experiment with different ways of creating books, stories, and her own invented worlds.

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Special thanks to Tracey at Media Masters Publicity for the chance to bring this tour to you and to the author/publisher for the special guest post. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. 

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!