Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Night Buddies By Sands Hetherington GIVEAWAY!

For young John Degraffenreidt, a sleepless night is no reason to fret when tossing and turning in bed brings a bright red crocodile named Crosley out from under his bed. Night Buddies like Crosley promise an evening of adventure to any not-tired-yet kid and tonight is no different! Out of bed, and into the city, John embarks on a one-of-a-kind program with his crocodile pal. It seems like Cros is a one-of-a-kind individual that is, until red crocs start popping up all over the city, creating confusion, committing crimes, and causing Crosley to go bananas at the sight of them.

The impostors must be stopped, and Night Buddies John and Crosley are just the guys to stop them! Racing blimp stakeouts high in the sky, impostor traps organized with the help of friend, and a never ending supply of pineapple cheesecake frozen yogurt make for one totally super sleepless night.
 
Sands Hetherington, creator of the Night Buddies series of chapter books, credits his son John for being his principal motivator. Sands and young John developed the Crosley crocodile character in the series during months of bedtime story give-and-take. They collaborated many nights on escapades starring John and Crosley, until eventually it occurred to Sands why it was that Crosley was bright red. That was when the first book came together.

Sands raised his son as a single parent from the time John was six. He read to him every night during those formative years: all of the classic children's stories from Aesop through the Grimms, Lewis Carroll, Frank Baum, Tolkien and Dahl, with a lot of Dickens and Hugo thrown in. When school was out they got in the car and toured Alaska, Canada and most of the contiguous states. John still gets around. So far he has lived in Germany, Scotland, Russia, England and Spain.

Dogs have always been a part of the author's life, beginning with Whiskers, a cocker spaniel. When his wonderful boxer Hube died, he despaired of finding a boxer who could match him, and instead got a Saint Bernard. He ended up breeding Saints for a number of years and at this point has had twelve as house pets. Sands says dogs can do you a power of good, and if you lose one, go out and get another the next day and you will be surprised at how fast your grief goes away.

Sands is also a Civil War buff. He would like to spend a month of evenings with common soldiers from both sides to see how they felt about the business. And eccentric generals like Jackson, Sherman and Forrest, and most of all Lincoln. Because Lincoln never gets to smile in his pictures.

The author was born in New York City but was transplanted a year later to Greensboro, North Carolina, where his maternal grandmother lived. He never really left the area and has a lot of the South in him. His grandmother was a prominent educator and became a great friend and mentor.

Sands majored in history at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and has an M.F.A. in creative writing and an M.A. in English from UNC-Greensboro. He lives in Greensboro now, and hangs out with his longtime friend Ann and their Saint Bernards Dudley and Maggie. He likes visiting ancient Mediterranean sites in Turkey and Italy, and most of all Greece.
This is a cute childrens book. It would make a wonderful Christmas gift for little ones.

12 comments:

  1. This would be a great Christmas book for my Grandson.
    Thanks,
    Carolyn
    carolynj63@att.net

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    1. Carolyn, you are the WINNER! E-mail me your mailing address themaryreader@yahoo.com

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    2. Congrats Carolyn!

      Blessings!
      Your Sis

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  2. This looks like one I would love to win for my grand kids it would make a great Christmas gift.

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  3. I would love to win this for my grandchildren. They love to read! joeym11@frontier.com

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  4. This sounds like a really cute book. May I love that you review so many different genres. My grandsons are too old for this book, sure wishi had this to read them when they were you.

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  5. This looks like a very good book for a givaway it would make a very nice christmas present.

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  6. Mary what a great sounding book this is Id love to win a copy for a christmas gift for a friend of mine.

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  7. My granddaughter would love it!
    likesmusic2@consolidated.net

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  8. This sounds like a good book for the little ones that like adventures.

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  9. This sounds like an interesting book. Thanks for your thoughts and the review. Hope you have a wonderful holiday week! :O)

    Diane
    www.dianeestrella.com

    P.S.-I have 4 giveaways going on at my site this week if you're interested in stopping over.

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