If she’d never written children’s books I may have never found one of my very best friends ever!
Karyn Tunks first wrote Jubilee! several years ago, and as a former Kindergarten teacher who values a good children’s book, I was intrigued and asked if I could interview her and write about her book on my blog. That first meeting with Karyn turned into one of those long coffee chats filled with, “Me too!” “I did the same thing!” “That sounds just like my kids too!” So not only did I find an excellent children’s book author, but I also found a great friend.
Karyn is at it again with her third children’s book, “Mardi Gras in Alabama.” Setting all the details of our region’s celebration to rhyme, children and adults will be delighted with this beautiful book.
I don’t need to remind you that American Mardi Gras as we know it was celebrated first in Mobile, Alabama . . . then, in New Orleans. Alabama is awesome in more ways than you can possibly know!
A professor of education at The University of South Alabama with a focus on childhood literature, Karyn REALLY, REALLY knows what makes a good book. An example: she had her wonderfully talented illustrator, Alexis Braud hide the character of “Folly” on each page to keep young readers searching and involved in the story. Cute!
Karyn and I were both in the same graduate program at Florida State University at the same time, but somehow missed each other and never met. Weird, right? We also both have grandparents who were married on Christmas day. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for strange coincidences. (but she loves cats and I love dogs. Sometimes we don’t speak for weeks because of it . . . hahahahaha!!!).
If you live in or love Alabama, you will want a copy of this beautiful book – whether you have children in your house or not. It looks smashing on the coffee table and is the best gift in town (next to my book, of course). This will fly off the shelves for Christmas, so hurry and get your copy now – and a few for friends! Autographed copies can be found at Page and Palette where Karyn will be this coming Saturday, November 10th at 10:30am. She’ll be glad to personalize a copy for you or your favorite Mardi Gras friend.
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Meet Karyn:
Saturday November 10th – 10:30am Page and Palette
Saturday December 1st Barnes and Noble 2:00 – 4:00 – Eastern Shore, Spanish Fort, Alabama
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Click HERE to read about Karyn’s book, “Hooray for the Mighty A” a book about the USS Alabama.
Click HERE to read about Karyn’s book, Jubilee!
And visit Karyn Tunks web site HERE.
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Congrats to Karyn, I can’t wait to get this for my littles! They have Jubilee and love it! Great Christmas gifts! Thanks for telling us about her new book Leslie Anne, I knew y’all were good friends, but wow, you do have a lot in common!
And . . . we were both Phi Mus at different colleges! Your grands will love the book, and so will you!