Journey To Osm - The Blue Unicorn's Tale Reader Review by Teresa

  Journey To Osm - The Blue Unicorn's Tale

 Reader Review by Teresa

Ever since he was born Blue was looked down upon by the other Metal Unicorn’s. Instead of being the hope for them he was a no metal no magic unicorn. In spite of believing the oracle’s prophecy, only two of the tribe believed in him, the unicorn who revealed the prophecy and Ghel the one unicorn who loved Blue. Blue distanced himself form the tribe, but he was determined to learn to fight and become the strongest unicorn he could be. Now as prophecy’s go things are never quite what they seem leading Blue on a journey of discovery that could lead him to on an adventure of a life time.

Blue’s feelings of worthlessness and isolation can be understood by many people. His desire to make something of himself gives others hope that things can get better. Just believe in yourself and anything is possible. This is a wonderful story that combines fantasy and magic into a unique story that can be enjoyed by all ages.



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Lone Star Book Blog Tours - Yazzy's Amazing Yarn by Cathey Graham Nickell

YAZZY'S AMAZING YARN

by

CATHEY GRAHAM NICKELL
Illustrated by Emily Calimlim

  Genre: Children's Picture Book, Ages 4-8 

Publisher: Twenty-Eight Creative

Date of Publication: August 1, 2019

Number of Pages: 32

Scroll down for giveaway!

Yazzy is a creative girl, always sketching out her next adventure. She loves yarn, and she loves to knit! Her neighborhood park is dull and rusty, but Yazzy has a grand plan. 

With a little help from her friends, Yazzy’s knitted wonders transform Penny Park into a fuzzy rainbow of warmth and color. What yarn-tastic idea will Yazzy think of next? 

The book includes a “History of Yarn Bombing” page for readers who are not familiar with this creative and whimsical type of art.

“As a teacher, it's refreshing to find a book that exposes children to an alternative art form. I'm inspired by Yazzy's story, and I know my students will be, too.” -- Deborah Horwitz, Art Teacher, The Emery/Weiner School, Houston, Texas.

Top 10 Weird-But-True Details in

Yazzy’s Amazing Yarn

by Cathey Graham Nickell

As a writer, I think it's fun to hide Easter eggs in my books here and there. Sometimes they are little nudges in my mind, other times they show up in the illustrations. For example, in my first book—Arthur Zarr's Amazing Art Car—my illustrator drew a cute little black dog into several of the scenes. That dog did not make it to the pages by accident; she is actually my sweet little Cricket who passed away in 2017, and I asked Bill Megenhardt to put her in the book. When I do school visits, students love finding out that Cricket was my actual pet! In that same first book, I created the name Arthur Zarr because I wanted his initials to be A.Z. He adds objects to the car in alphabetical order, so it seems fitting that there be an A to Z theme. Bill even drew Arthur's key chain on the last page with an AZ monogram on it! Not to be outdone, Yazzy's Amazing Yarn carries a few fun facts within its pages as well. Here are some of my top ten favorite weird-but-true details from my most recent children's book. 

1.  The main character's last name is Bobbin. Yazzy Bobbin. But it's never mentioned in the book. I'm the only person who really knows this ... but now you do too! I wanted her initials to be Y.B.—in honor of Yarn Bombing! I also thought it was a cute name because bobbins are used in sewing. I decided to leave her last name out of the book, but she does have one! 

2.  Yazzy's best friends are Kayla and Isabel. I made up Yazzy's name from my imagination; but Kayla and Isabella are actually two very special girls I know in real life. I shortened the real Isabella's name to Isabel for the sake of the book so that it would be easier to read. Kayla and Isabella are the precious daughters of a woman who works for me in various capacities, Tatiana. The illustrations don't look like the real girls, but the characters were definitely named after them. 

3.  Yazzy's favorite color is yellow. That's why she uses yellow yarn when she knits the cover for her phone! Later, she hands a green phone cover to Mr. Green... because, of course his should be green. Right? 

4.  Kayla's favorite color is pink. Isabel's favorite color is purple. Readers discover this while the girls are at the sleepover at Yazzy's house. 

5.  Yazzy's mother grew up in the very same neighborhood where she is now raising her daughter. When Yazzy and her mother walk by Penny Park, Mrs. Bobbin says, "I used to play here when I was a child." That's a hint to readers. 

6.  Wondering why I named it Penny Park? Since my last name is Nickell (spelled with a double-L at the end), I thought it was a cute play on words. Get it? Penny. Nickel? Maybe I should have named the groundskeeper Mr. Quarter instead of Mr. Green! 

7.  Speaking of Mr. Green, he cuts the grass and trims the lovely trees at Penny Park. So "green" seems like the right name for such an outdoorsy guy.

8.  There is a fountain at Penny Park. I mention this in the text, but I never say that it's a turtle fountain. I simply write, "Visitors tossed more coins than ever into the now-fuzzy fountain." My illustrator, Emily Calimlim, is the one who thought it should be a turtle. I'm so glad because that's the cutest yarn-covered turtle I've ever seen! This is what's fun about a picture book: the author writes, and the illustrator visually brings the story to life! 

9.  Hopefully readers will notice how multicultural the characters are throughout the book. That was carefully planned so that children can see themselves in the illustrations. Emily did a wonderful job in creating such a beautiful melting pot. 

10.  Occasionally people ask me if the bird on the front cover of the book is Yazzy. Nope. Just a pigeon having fun at Penny Park. Yazzy is a girl who loves to knit! She also likes birds very much, and so do I. When I was in the sixth grade, my best friend (Nenie) and I tried to save a sick pigeon; we named him Rainbow. That same year, my family also had a pet duck named Sugarfoot. Maybe that's why I've always liked birds! 

 

CLICK TO PURCHASE

Cathey Nickell is a busy author and elementary school speaker, having presented at more than seventy schools to date. Yazzy’s Amazing Yarn is her second children’s book about creativity and outside-the-box artistic endeavors. She is also the author of Arthur Zarr’s Amazing Art Car, which was awarded first place by the Texas Association of Authors in the category of Children’s Picture Books-All Ages. Cathey lives with her husband, Kevin, in Houston, where they raised their four children.

WEBSITE  ✦  FACEBOOK  ✦  TWITTER
INSTAGRAM  ✦  GOODREADS   
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

Emily Calimlim, while not a knitting whiz herself, loves creating art with humorous and lively watercolor pictures for children. She lives in Houston with her fiancé, George, and silly studio bird, Simon. Emily spends her days capturing her ideas and imagination with paint and pencil.

WEBSITE  ✦  FACEBOOK 

TWITTER ✦  INSTAGRAM 

-----------------------------------------

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THREE AUTOGRAPHED COPIES OF YAZZY'S AMAZING YARN

August 27-September 6, 2019

(US ONLY)

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CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:

8/27/19	Top Ten List	Sybrina's Book Blog
8/27/19	BONUS Post	Hall Ways Blog
8/28/19	Review	That's What She's Reading
8/29/19	Review	Sydney Young, Stories
8/30/19	Sneak Peek	The Page Unbound
8/31/19	Deleted Scene	Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
9/1/19	Review	Chapter Break Book Blog
9/2/19	Excerpt	Books and Broomsticks
9/3/19	Sneak Peek	Rainy Days with Amanda
9/4/19	Review	All the Ups and Downs
9/5/19	Review	Missus Gonzo

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Unicorny Stuff From Zazzle Journey To Osm Collection - Ghel Tee

Unicorny Stuff 

From Sybrina's Unicorn Book Store

on Zazzle

Ghel The Gold-Horned Unicorn Tee-Shirt T-Shirt

by sybrinad

This tee shirt contains the image of Ghel The Gold Horn Unicorn from the Blue Unicorn's Journey To Osm Illustrated Chapter Book. Ghel is the Gold-Horned Unicorn from the tribe of metal horn unicorns in "The Blue Unicorn's Journey To Osm Illustrated Book". If you love unicorn stories with lots of pictures of unicorns, this is the book for you. It is available in soft and hard back print, .mobi and .epub ebook formats and as an audio book at all online book stores.

Want to read reviews about the book?  Read them here.  Want the book?  Just click on the appropriate book icon in the left sidebar of this blog.

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Unicorn Book Feature - Unicorn's Unease By Crystal Dawn

Sybrina's Unicorn Book Pick

Unicorns!  How we love them. . .Luckily for all of us unicorn lovers there are hundreds of unicorn books available for all age groups.  I have gathered information about as many as I can find and have placed them here for you in one convenient spot on my blog.  Today's Unicorn Book Feature is

Unicorn's Unease

Zodiac Shifters

 By Crystal Dawn

Julio didn’t know much about love, but his mate was challenging everything he wanted in life. That couldn’t be right, could it? Maybe he was wrong about her being his mate, but he felt bad now that he’d gone back to the plains leaving her behind. No matter what he did it seemed to be wrong.
Janel had thought she’d found her one and only, but he’d left without a backwards look. She tried to date, but he was the only one on her mind. For now she would pour everything into her job and eventually things would settle.

Two stubborn Pisces who each think they are right. Will they give in or face a life alone?

Get it at Sybrina's Blue Unicorn Book Store.

 Check out Journey To Osm - The Blue Unicorn's Tale while you're there, too.

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Sybrina's Blue Unicorn Book Store - Unicorn Rainbow Skirt

Unicorn Rainbow Skirt

Sybrina's Blue Unicorn Book Store

Where you'll find unicorns, more unicorns and nothing but unicorns! Visit now.

  Brought to you by Journey To Osm

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Journey To Osm - The Blue Unicorn's Tale Reader Review by Amy

  Journey To Osm - The Blue Unicorn's Tale

 Reader Review by Amy

Journey To Osm: The Blue Unicorn’s Tale by Sybrina Durant is the story of a unicorn named Blue in the land of MarByrn, born without a metal horn on his head like the others. Living as an outcast because of his metal-less horn and no real magic, Blue learns to sneak away from the tribe to train and learn how to fight in the night. Knowing he would never possess the magic the Oracle had envisioned he would, Blue hopes to at least be able to help defend the tribe against the Magh, a cruel evil sorcerer that keeps the unicorns from roaming too far from their home... until Blue ventures to the Muzika Woods, a place no other unicorns had visited in a very long time. Blue is informed that his coming to the Muzika Woods had been a prophecy given to the inhabitants by the Moon-Star Spirit and that the prophecy was about to be fulfilled. Will this knowledge give Blue the courage to face the problems that are soon to come? Will the prophecy finally free the tribe of the fear instilled by the dreaded Magh? Could this unicorn with no metal on his horn truly be the savior the tribe has been told would be born to them?

Journey To Osm: The Blue Unicorn’s Tale is a very well thought out story with a plot full of excitement as Blue learns to fight and attempts to live up to a prophecy handed down long before his birth. The characters are fun, interesting and very entertaining with their magical ways and their courageous pride as the story unfolds in an age-old battle. I loved Journey To Osm because it also sends a message to the reader to never give up, even if the odds are stacked against you. The cover art and illustrations by Dasguptarts are beautifully designed and suit the story well. I look forward to more stories like Journey to Osm by Sybrina Durant and recommend this five star story to anyone that loves a trip into the mystical world as much as I do. 



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Unicorny Stuff From Zazzle Journey To Osm Collection - Blue No Metal No Magic Mug

Unicorny Stuff 

From the "Journey To Osm" Collection

on Zazzle

No Metal No Magic - Blue Mug

by sybrinad

No Metal No Magic - Blue Mug

This mug contains the image of Cornum the Brass Horned Unicorn from The Blue Unicorn's Journey To Osm Illustrated Chapter Book. No Metal Means No Magic. Cornum is a member of the Music Maker Herd of the Metal Horn Unicorn Tribe. His horn looks like a trumpet and sounds like one, too. Get the book at your favorite online book store.

 If you love unicorn stories with lots of pictures of unicorns, this is the book for you. It is available in soft and hard back print, .mobi and .epub ebook formats and as an audio book at all online book stores.

Want to read reviews about the book?  Read them here.  Want the book?  Just click on the appropriate book icon in the left sidebar of this blog.

If you like this post and others on this blog, click the FOLLOW button to receive more from Sybrina's Book Blog.