We are delighted to join author Elizabeth Dale, illustrator Patrick Corrigan and Willow Tree Books on their Save the Day for Ada May! blog tour. Save the Day for Ada May! is a wonderfully interactive story which encourages children to move the book in various ways to help get Ada May out of some tricky situations.
The Story: Max takes his little sister, Ada May, out in her buggy. While feeding the ducks he turns his back and knocks it. Readers are invited to tip the book to save Ada May from falling into the river but then she is in danger of crashing into a small dog. The adventure continues and involves trees, rocks, sheep, a tractor and an angry bull.
Throughout the story readers are encouraged to tip, turn, shake, lift the book and even shout to help Ada May as her adventure continues. It’s a wonderfully interactive story with tension on every page but can we get Ada May back to Max and her buggy?
Ada May is a cute toddler who is accompanied on her amazing adventure by a cuddly rabbit and a blanket. She’s totally unfazed by the situations that she finds herself in, reacting to many of them with a smile or a giggle – a perfect heroine for preschoolers!
We’re always interested to hear where authors get inspiration for their books and are delighted that author Elizabeth Dale has joined us to tell us ‘How Save the Day for Ada May! was conceptualised’.
I feel there is hardly anything more important than introducing children to the wonderful world of books, which can stretch their imaginations and lead to a lifetime of enjoyment and learning and escape into other worlds. However, these days books have to compete against the attraction of games on tablets, which offer a fun interactive experience. So my ambition is to give children the same interactive fun with a book. There are already interactive books out in the market, which have fun stories and involve children in tapping, tipping and twisting books to move the story along, but I wanted to write a book that was more exciting, more action-packed, ensuring that the child reader would become very involved, having to act really quickly to help save another child. And if it could be funny too, bonus!
I met with Dan, the Publishing Director of Willow Tree Books, a few years ago, where we sat on the dusty floor of the London Book Fair and together explored the possibility of producing such a book. Dan loved the concept too; I just had to come up with the right story! We both wanted the reader to be really involved and become a hero – and I came away and wrote Save The Day for Ada May! In this story, poor Ada May is taken out in her buggy by her older, terribly unobservant brother, who accidentally allows her to head towards all kinds of predicaments. Only the reader can stop her rolling into the river, help her down from the tree, out of the speeding trailer, away from the angry bull, and more, by tipping, twisting and slapping the book, blowing hard, pulling funny faces and much more besides to save Ada May – and her cuddly bunny. Can she be saved? Can the readers truly be heroes?
This book has been beautifully illustrated by Patrick Corrigan, who has created such an endearing Ada May, and whose colourful illustrations really bring out the humour of the story.
Thank you so much for joining us Elizabeth. Save the Day for Ada May! is a really fun, interactive story and it’s fascinating to hear how you came up with the book’s concept.
About Elizabeth
Elizabeth Dale always dreamed of being a writer, but somehow got side-tracked into studying for a physics degree. When her children were born, she returned to her dream and found she loved writing children’s books more than anything. She loves traveling and seeking inspiration for her stories wherever she goes. Having seen what a wonderful life she leads, two of her daughters have grown up to be children’s authors, too.
Elizabeth lives in rural West Sussex, where she sits with her laptop keeping her knees warm and looks out at the garden, letting her imagination run riot, exploring the child within and trying never to grow old.
She has had over two thousand stories (teenage and adult) published all over the world and has had more than seventy children’s books published / commissioned.
Elizabeth’s website / Twitter / Facebook
Thank you to Willow Tree Books for sending us a copy of Save the Day for Ada May! and for inviting us to join the blog tour. You can read more about Elizabeth, Patrick and Ada May at the following blogs. Watch out for Ada May giveaways too!
- Tuesday 13th August: Library Girl and Book Boy
- Wednesday 14th August: SEN Resources Blog
- Thursday 15th August: BookBairn
- Friday 16th August: Mamma Filz
- Monday 19th August: Father Reading Every Day
- Tuesday 20th August: OBC Mini Reviewers
- Wednesday 21st August: Let Them Be Small
- Thursday 22nd August: The Ladybird’s Adventures
- Friday 23rd August: Imagine That Blog
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