Hooray, hooray!! What a big day! Today, August 8th, 2017, is the day Chibi Samurai Wants a Pet is officially released into the world!!! The excitement of publishing a book never wanes, though I STILL feel sheepish about promoting them. I wonder if that will ever go away?
I did something new and made a stop motion video/book trailer with my trusty friend Rachel and also received an extra heaping of help from the lovely Haley and always awesome K. Keep in mind that this is my very first attempt at stop motion video-making so it’s not totally smooth, but hey, I think that’s part of the charm. It was SO MUCH FUN. I printed out a bunch of images from the book and created some video specific images as well, and it felt like we were at camp in the best possible way. Rachel wielded her magic to make things fly and grow and look cohesive. I used Photoshop to edit the images and Smoovie to create the video. I was nervous about the negative reviews I read for Smoovie, and I tried a number of free software that confused the heck out of me at first. Then I downloaded the trial version of Smoovie just to see, and it was such a breeze I decided to get the full version. It’s totally idiot proof and very intuitive, though it doesn’t come with anything fancy like onion-skinning or fading or zooming. Suits me just fine. Now I want to make all sorts of stop motion videos!
I’m preparing for the launch party this weekend, and if you’re in town and especially if you have little kids, I hope you’ll stop on by! Where: Queen Anne Book Company. When: Sunday, August 13th at noon to 2pm-ish.
And what would a blog post from me be without a giveaway, right? I would love to offer up a signed copy of Chibi (as we affectionately call this book and Chibi Samurai) to 2 winners. Any comment will do, but I often get asked what my favorite books were when I was little, so feel free to share if you’d like! The giveaway will be open until next Friday, August 18th! I feel like I don’t need to include this anymore, but international entries are always welcome. Good luck!
Okay, now back to planning a party and working on book #4!
I’m so happy with your and for you! Congratulations! I am looking forward to reading the whole story but this little video was already such a treat! Enjoy your party and know I am with you in spirit ♡
Lovely animation! Just watched it with my small grandson who is a bit of a ninja too.
I only wish I could remember more about my favourite childhood books. Toby Twirl and Sam the Pig come to mind. Bit of a porcine fascination perhaps?
Good luck with the book. And best wishes from London
Congratulations!! I hope you enjoy the buzz of delight amidst all the craziness! When I was a kid, living in darkest Africa where books were prized treasures sent in big steamer crates by American relatives, I loved Harriet the Spy. Loved it. Read it so repeatedly that certain scenes are permanently etched into my memory, even decades later. Then there was Tom Sawyer, and The Wind in the Willows, and even now I find myself with a large stack of library books to be returned soon, and a small collection of books that I’ve bought because I’ve read them all dozens of times, and fully expect to read them dozens more.
Congratulations! I am looking forward to getting my book. I think I am supposed to get it today! I would like a signed copy too, so please pick me! My favourite book as a kid was Harriet the Spy. However, I read a lot, so it depends upon what age I was when you asked me. As a 9 year old, Harriet the spy was a favourite and I wrote her name everywhere and considered naming my daughter Harriet.
Very cool video!
Laura Ingalls and the Little House On The Prairie series.
Thanks for the giveaway and congrats on launching your new book.
When I was really little I loved Gyo Fujikawa books then when I was older it was all Roald Dahl all the time.
Congrats on the new book! And don’t feel sheepish about promoting! You worked too hard for no one to hear about it!
congrats! The illustrations are lovely!
Congratulations on your beautiful book and adorable video!
We refer to one of my bunnies as ‘the panda bunny’ because of his markings – he is black and white and very fluffy with black all around his eyes. His fluffy face often keeps him from seeing what’s going on around him, so his actions are not very stealthy or ninja-like. I think he feels that he can’t be seen if he can’t see you. I love your ninja bunny character!
Exciting!! Hope you have lots of fun 🙂
I love children’s books, and I always have! I don’t remember one favourite book from my childhood, but I know I really enjoyed most of Janosch’s books.
I asked for (and got) Little Kunoichi for my birthday back when it was released. Would be fun to get Chibi Samurai for my collection as well!
Congratulations on your new book! I loved the Little Kunoichi so much, I bought a copy for my friend’s little girl. I have a feeling that she’ll get to read the story of Chibi pretty soon. 😉
Congratulations!
When I was little, I LOVE Barbapapa. It’s unfortunate that this book is not printing in the U.S. Lucky me that my mom was able to get the Japanese version for my son. 🙂
Congratulations! I loved your video, it was cute and sweet. My favorite childhood books were the Laura Ingalls, Little House on the Prairie series.
I loved The Phantom Tollbooth as a kid. I can’t wait to read Chibi!
Me too Sue! I’ve just finished reading it to my kids. Fiftieth anniversary edition – I feel so old 🙂
Just beautiful. It’s so inspiring to see others creating and I applaud your success! My children love the little movie and would also love your story book. Thank you!
My parents barely read to me as a child so I remember clearly the books my mom did read to me and they were the Strawberry Shortcake books. I think I had two different ones and I loved them! I had a few books that came with records that would read the story and I loved those too…. I think my mom still has them,too!
Congratulations Sanae, like giving birth all over again hey?!
I love reading chapter books to the kids, and a few other sewists online and I have recently started a group email discussion about our favourites.
But, my all time favourite picture book is Polly’s Oats by Belgian writer/illustrator Marc Simont. When downtrodden carthorse Polly is given her first ever scoop of oats the look on her face is priceless!
Good luck in the world Chibi!
My niece, who will be 4 soon, truly enjoys her copy of Little Kunoichi. I have fun reading it to her, and look forward to adding this new book to her collection. Thank you!
COngratulations! Since I can’t be there to celebrate with you I invited some of my relatives to come to your party since they are local to you- I hope you have a great turn out and a lot of fun!!! My favorite books growing up were George and Martha books. And they are still at the top of my favorites list. So funny and simple and wise all at the same time!
I love your film it’s beautiful.
My favourite childhood books were The Hungry Caterpillar and The Faraway Tree series. All of which I have shared with my children. They are both showing signs of being book lovers and I’d love to share your book with them too.
Oh Congratulations! My favorite book was Miss Suzy.
The stop motion video was amazing! Another creative activity for you to enjoy. Your opportunities remind me of that lotus flower candle commercial(maybe you haven’t seen that). I liked so many books as a child and then I also
taught Kindergarten for several years. Some of my favorites were “Goodnight Moon'” “Peter Rabbit'”. I loved reading “Tikki, Tikki Tembo” aloud. Also, “Drummer Hoff” was fun to read aloud.
The video is adorable! Great first showing.
Wonderful video! I showed it to my daughter and she loved it as well!!
Love the video, congratulations on the new book!, My little boy would love to win a copy of this, we still really love reading the first one 🙂 My favourite books when I was around 9 or 10 were Anastasia Krupnik books by Lois Lowry, it was always so exciting when a new book came out and I would devour them in one sitting!
Yay!! Huge congratulation! And so excited to hear about book #4!! How fantastic.
I’d love to win this book for my boys! They loved the last one so much. Your illustrations are just precious and I love that you’re sharing your talents with the world. My favourite book when I was little was The Jolly Postman (with letters you could take out of little envelopes) and The Hungry Caterpiller (Because you could stick your fingers in the holes).
My favourite books as a child was all of Dr. Seuss’ books.
So exciting to launch new books!! My children love Little Kunoichi, they saw it in our local library (in Wellington, New Zealand!) and curled up in the armchair together to read it, and then bought it home. It made me weirdly happy and proud that they loved it because having read your blog for a long time I felt some kind of connection to the book.
What a wonderful way to celebrate your new book. All the best as it goes out into the world. The theme of wanting a pet is so universal that I am sure it will be a favorite for years to come.
Congratulations Sanae. This is huge, and I hope you are celebrating everyday of the publication. We still read Kunoichi often (with my nine year old), and our three year old loves to look at the pictures. And we have lent it out to friends too . I am sure the second (no, I should say third!!) book is no different in terms of your style and warmth that comes across in your writing so frequently.
And now to answer your question: My favourite book as a child were books by Enid Blyton, especially “The Faraway Tree.” At present my daughter’s is reading the same, and that is exciting. I am sure my daughter would love Chibi chan as much as she loves Kunoichi. Thank you for the giveaway.