Sunday, March 4, 2012

Water Sings Blue and the Shetland Islands

Okay, so I just have to tell you: my poetry collection, Water Sings Blue, has gotten two starred reviews so far, from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly! (And they gave two starred reviews to Hans My Hedgehog a month or so ago).

If you go to Water Sings Blue illustrator Meilo So's new website, it currently features our book with the starred reviews. You can also explore more of her amazing artwork.

Alas, my envy of Meilo has reached epic proportions. She lives in the Shetland Islands. Where they have puffins! And pink flowers! And little white cottages! While, sadly, living across the Atlantic makes Meilo ineligible for the Caldecott (Betsy Bird and I both think she'd be up for it, though I'm slightly more biased), it's still an incredibly pretty place to live. So I will give you a glimpse of what the rest of us non-Shetlanders are missing out on, even if we're not ponies. Um, you know what I mean.

See? SEE? I think I should go on a book tour to the Shetland Islands. I'm pretty sure the fishermen (fisherpeople) would love to hear me read poems from the book. The puffins might enjoy it, too. (Which reminds me, you really should read Eleanor Farjeon's The Silver Curlew, a classic fairy tale retelling with puffins in it.) In the meantime, I'll just have to dream. And try to control my envy, which is as green as the Shetland Islands.

Update: Meilo and I interviewed each other for the Chronicle blog. Check out Meilo's photos and stories about her island home.

7 comments:

bookkm said...

So pretty! The landscape is a poem, itself.

Linda B said...

Congratulations on your review. Since I have Hans, guess Water Sings Blue will go next on the list! If it is close to the incredible photos, it's got to be wonderful. Yes, a book tour there is just the thing!

KateCoombs said...

Bookkm--Yes! Good analogy.

Linda--Thank you. Wait till you see the blue whale and the coral! Now if I can just convince my publisher to fund my puffin visit. :)

Svenja said...

I'm a bit late to the party - but I wanted you to know how much I like your book from the preview and those reviews. Even though I can't make up my mind if it really is a good idea to read it to a German kid (language confusion, teaching the poor girl my still awkward accent etc.) it went straight to my list.

Greetings from a fellow sea-lover!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, me again. In the excitement of actually leaving a comment I forgot:
The link to Meilo So's website is broken, it should be
http://www.meiloso.com/wordpress/
instead.

=)
Svenja

KateCoombs said...

Thanks, Svenja! So nice to hear from a fellow sea-lover. And kids are pretty adaptable, I've found. Go for it! ;)

KateCoombs said...

P.S. Svenja, thank you for the heads-up; I've corrected the link!