Exclusive Cover Reveal of HAND-ME-DOWN MAGIC by Corey Ann Haydu and Luisa Uribe
It's our final week of school and I cannot stop thinking about books. I'll be in a new library next year with new students and a new-to-me collection of books. What new books will we add? What books will I discover are my new readers' favorites? What favorites do I think we're missing? And what wonderful stories will we discover and love together?
Just in time for all that wondering, I received this opportunity to host the cover reveal of Eventown author Corey Ann Haydu's chapter book debut! What Corey shares as she finishes my sentences below will, I think, twinkle back at you like magic. I cannot wait to travel with Alma and Del to the Curious Cousins Secondhand Shoppe and see what wonders await!
Read Corey's responses below, then scroll down to see the cover reveal of HAND-ME-DOWN MAGIC #1: STOOP SALE TREASURE.
COREY FINISHES MY SENTENCES:
The idea for the HAND-ME-DOWN MAGIC series came from... A few different places! After a trip to Iceland with my nieces, I knew I wanted to work on a chapter book series. At the time they were 4 and 6 and I loved the way they saw the world as filled with magic. I knew I wanted to write a chapter book series that captured that imagination and wonder. As the idea developed, I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, and I realized I wanted to write a character that would reflect her family back to her, so I wrote Alma, who has a mother from a small, white, New England-based family and a father from a big, Puerto Rican, city-based family, just like my daughter. I worked on the first book of the series throughout my pregnancy and my daughter's infancy, and so in that way I wrote it for her and for the culturally diverse family she's a part of.
In STOOP SALE TREASURE (the first book in the series)... Alma moves into a new home where her cousin Del, her Abuelita and her many aunts, uncles, and cousins already live. She learns all about the Curious Cousins Secondhand Shoppe-- the whimsical store her family owns and runs-- and tries to fit in to her new life. When she and Del attend a stoop sale together, they find a treasure that may or may not be magical, and it causes tension in their relationship.
One thing I love about Luisa Uribe's illustrations in the story... How she seemed to understand the world of this story so profoundly. I'm in love with her illustrations and the way they bring new texture to the story. I love how detailed and exuberant and fun they are. I also love them because Alma and Del look so much like me and my best friend, and also look exactly how I picture my daughter and her youngest cousin looking when they get a little older. It was such a magical thing, to see myself and my friends and family in her work. A happy accident that took my breath away when I first encountered Del and Alma on the cover.
Something we hope the readers will take away from the story is... How every family has its own kind of magic woven into it.
Magic is... Everywhere!
And now, dear readers, the COVER!
Okay... I want to know what you noticed first! Was it the glow emanating from the box that first caught your attention? Maybe the pink door is what drew your eye. Did it take you long to notice the gnome? Or the horse? Or that the title treatment looks as though the whole thing was embroidered?
I love the way this cover is working to entice and delight its soon-to-be readers. And I love even more that I cannot stop wondering what sorts of magic Corey has in store for Alma and Del!
Thanks for sharing, Corey! Thanks, Katherine Tegen Books!
HAND-ME-DOWN MAGIC #1: Stoop Sale Treasure will publish in January 2020 from Katherine Tegen Books.
