For Spacious Skies ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Sneak Peek & Giveaway!

FOR SPACIOUS SKIES

KATHARINE LEE BATES AND THE INSPIRATION FOR "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"

by

Nancy Churnin
illustrated by Olga Baumert

Picture Book Biography / Women's Suffrage / Woman Poet

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Date of Publication: April 1, 2020

Number of Pages: 32

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As a little girl growing up during the Civil War, Katharine Lee Bates grew up to become a poet, professor, and social activist. She not only wrote “America the Beautiful" but gave this anthem to America as a gift. A member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and a suffragist who stood up for a woman’s right to vote and lived to cast her ballot in presidential elections, Katharine believed in the power of words to make a difference. In "America the Beautiful," her vision of the nation as a great family, united from sea to shining sea, continues to uplift and inspire us all.

PRAISE for For Spacious Skies: 

“Churnin tells that story in a spare and lively text beautifully complemented by double-page spreads highlighting Baumert’s gorgeous panoramic illustrations . . . A handsome volume befitting its subject.”—Kirkus Reviews

"The story ends on a high note in 1920, with Bates casting her ballot after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted voting rights to women . . . The richly colored, nicely composed artwork will help children visualize the period setting while enjoying the portrayals of Bates and beautiful landscapes. A picture-book biography of a notable American.”—Booklist

“Nancy Churnin has written a delightful book that helps children understand the many dimensions of my great-aunt Katharine Lee Bates. This book does an excellent job conveying her ardent passion for equal rights and for her country. She was a poet, a professor, and a world traveler, but she was first and foremost a citizen who loved America, in all its beauty and diversity.”—Katharine Lee Holland

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“Katharine Lee Bates, who had been a little girl when the country was torn apart by the Civil War, wrote “America the Beautiful” to remind all Americans that we are all one family, sharing one beautiful, unbroken country.” – Author Nancy Churnin

Check out this gorgeous interior spread from For Spacious Skies! 
























CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

HALL WAYS MINI-REVIEW: I wasn't an official reviewer on this book blog tour, but I received a copy of the book when I attended the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association Spring Conference (the last in-person conference of 2020, I think, before COVID-19 shut down the world). I fell in love with For Beautiful Skies: Katharine Lee Bates and the Inspiration for "America the Beautiful" after only a few pages. Then, in getting to chat with author Nancy Churnin, and seeing and hearing her enthusiasm and passion for her book, my book-love went next level. 

I have read and re-read and gotten lost in this picture book biography several times now, and it's one of those books that makes me itch to be in the library again, sharing it with students. So much to glean and learn from Katharine Lee Bates's story, and those illustrations! Breathtaking.

Highly recommend this book for kids and adults alike to get a beautifully illustrated history lesson and reminder of how perseverance pays off.

Meeting Nancy Churnin at the MPIBA Spring Conference 2020

Nancy Churnin is the award-winning author of eight picture book biographies with a ninth due in 2021. 

Beautiful Shades of Brown, The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring is A Mighty Girl pick that will be featured at the 2020 Ruby Bridges Reading Festival at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee in May. The William Hoy Story, a Texas 2X2 pick, has been on multiple state reading lists. Manjhi Moves a Mountain is the winner of the 2018 South Asia Book Award and a Junior Library Guild selection. Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank is on the 2020 Notable Book for a Global Society list from the International Literacy Association. Irving Berlin, the Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing is a 2019 Sydney Taylor and National Council for the Social Studies Notable. 

Nancy graduated cum laude from Harvard, has a master's from Columbia, and lives in Plano, Texas, with her husband, Dallas Morning News arts writer Michael Granberry, their dog named Dog, and two cantankerous cats. 

Website ║  Blog ║ Facebook  ║ Twitter ║ Instagram

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GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

THREE WINNERS
ONE WINNER receives signed copies of both For Spacious Skies and Beautiful Shades of Brown 
TWO WINNERS each receive a signed copy of For Spacious Skies

April 16-26, 2020

(US only for signed copies; international winners via Book Depository)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

VISIT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:

4/16/20	Notable Quotable	Book Fidelity
4/16/20	Review	Carpe Diem Chronicles
4/17/20	Book Trailer	KayBee's Book Shelf
4/18/20	Review	Chapter Break Book Blog
4/18/20	Sneak Peek	Hall Ways Blog
4/19/20	Author Interview &  BONUS Review	StoreyBook Reviews
4/20/20	Review	Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
4/21/20	Playlist	Texas Book Lover
4/21/20	Review	That's What She's Reading
4/22/20	Author Interview	Tangled in Text
4/23/20	Guest Post	Max Knight
4/23/20	Review	All the Ups and Downs
4/24/20	Deleted Scene	Reading by Moonlight
4/25/20	Review	Forgotten Winds
4/26/20	Review	Jennifer Silverwood

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