Wednesday, March 21, 2018

BLOG TOUR including REVIEW & AUTHOR INTERVIEW with Joy Heyer for "Duck, Duck, Moose"





Duck’s best friend Goose is gone for winter and Duck is lonely. The animals try to cheer Duck, but Duck, Duck, Pig is too messy, and Duck, Duck, Moose is too scary. 

Will Duck be alone until Goose gets back? Or can Duck come up with a game they all can play?




Joy Heyer lives in Virginia with her loving husband and three of her four crazy children. Her oldest child now has a child of her own, making Joy a grandma. 

Her family recently convinced her to get a dog. What was she thinking? The dog now follows Joy everywhere, waits loyally at the front window every time she leaves the house, and goes berserk when she comes back, even if she was only gone for 10 seconds to get the mail. 

In her spare time…. wait, what spare time? Whenever her children and dog permit, she loves to read, write, paint, and dream up home improvement projects.



*****(5) out of 5 Stars!

This was a delightful children's tale with a powerful message of friendship!  

The illustrations are rather understated, fairly basic representations in somewhat muted colors.  Yet they present a darling, easy to follow narrative, without a bunch of visual distraction. 

The words on each page are sparse, but get the message across; and they pretty much all rhyme, which always makes things fun to read.  

The story itself is adoreable.  Duck so misses his friend Goose that he is just moping around everywhere.  Various friends try to cheer him up, mostly by offering to play with him a variation of his favorite game that he usually plays with Goose.  Things don't exactly go as planned, however, and Duck ends up even more depressed, at least which he gets grumpy and rude.  

Luckily, after several false starts, Duck has the brilliant idea to try a different game, together with all of his friends.  This goes so well that everyone has fun, and it apparently makes time fly, because before you know it -- Goose is back!

I received a free eCopy of this title from Loving the Book, 
and have willingly provided an honest review.


~AUTHOR INTERVIEW with Joy Heyer~

1) What gave you the inspiration for the storyline? 

It started with the idea of “duck, duck, moose” instead of “goose.” That started me thinking what it would be like for a duck if he were playing with a moose. Where was goose and how did duck come to be playing with a moose? Everything fell into place as I began to answer those questions.

2) Are there any hidden themes in the book that you hope readers will discover?

I hope that kids who are lonely will see that they have a say in how the react to that loneliness. Just because others are different from you or your friends, doesn’t mean they can’t become a friend.

3) Are any of the characters based on real people you know?

After writing the story, I realized I am a lot like duck. Like duck, it takes me awhile to make new friends.  Like duck, I have friends who are different from me, and I love their diverse perspectives.

4) Who has influenced you most as a writer?

My friend, Lezlie Evans, a talented children’s book author, has really guided me along this process. I would not have known where to begin without her showing me the way. 

5) If you could have any three literary characters over to your place for game night, who would you invite, what would you play, what would you serve, and why? 

I would invite Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, and Miss Marple to play Clue. I love solving mysteries! And I would serve hot fudge brownie sundaes because they are my favorite.

6) Do you feel that you can ever have too many books? 

I think you can have too many books, but I don’t think you can read too many books. That is why I love libraries (and e-readers…though paper is preferred)!


To view the blog schedule and follow along with this tour, 
visit the Official Event page.


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