Welcome to #TheQuickSixInterview with Cori Brooke!
It is a great pleasure to have author Cori Brooke on the blog discussing her new picture book, Twelve Days of Kindness. A timely and important tale to remind us all of the value of friendship, family, togetherness, and of course, kindness. Thanks, Cori! 🙂
About the Author
Cori Brooke is a CBCA shortlisted picture book author (All I Want for Christmas is Rain, 2017 CBCA shortlist), which is something she never thought she would be able to say. Cori spreads herself thin doing too much and multi-tasking to the extreme. At a school visit a little boy pointed at her and said ‘you’re crazy’. Cori found it hard to disagree. But then again, sanity is very subjective.
Cori is originally from Canada and lives in Brisbane with her husband, son, dog and cat. Cori loves reading, cooking, camping and of course writing. Cori works full time as a proud Australian Public Servant.
Contact links:
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
WHO
Who wrote, illustrated and published this book?
I wrote the book. Fiona Burrows illustrated it and it was published by New Frontier.
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WHAT
What is it called and what is it about?
The book is called ‘Twelve Days of Kindness’ and it is about a new girl at school named Nabila who doesn’t have any friends and is getting bullied. Another girl named Holly befriends her and they devise 12 days of kindness, which are the twelve ‘traits’ of kindness in the book. The 12 days of kindness and soccer bring the girls in the school together.
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WHEN
When is its release / launch date?
‘Twelve Days of Kindness’ was released in October 2019.
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WHERE
Where did the inspiration for this book come from?
I was inspired to write a book about kindness because the world seemed to be having some kindness issues and this made me sad. This was particularly evident after Donald Trump became President of the United States. I had heard a story about ethnic kids being bullied in American schools after he was elected. It seemed like for some sectors of American society, his behaviour and character and attitudes had made that kind of behaviour acceptable (eg, ‘if the President acts like that and says those things, then I can too’). The stories really upset me. This was my very small protest against everything that Donald Trump stands for.
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WHY
Why is this book meaningful to you and why would its message resonate with readers?
I hope that we can all practice kindness and try to be more kind to our fellow humans. We are all stressed and busy; it can be hard to stay calm and kind. I hope that this book and its message can give people something to think about. I’m also finding that the 12 traits of kindness often align with school values, which is great (I love school visits and can be booked with either Booked Out or Speakers Ink). The last page of the book has all of the 12 traits of kindness on one page, and I would be happy for schools, daycares and families to copy it and display it and refer to/use it.
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HOW
How have you promoted this book and how can we find it?
The book is available at all good book stores and in various online stores. I promote my books as much as I can – I do work full time and have a very busy and active life with my son who does a lot of extracurricular activities, so I do my best to promote my books but it can be hard. I have an author Facebook page and an Instagram page too and you can follow me there.
With thanks to New Frontier Publishing for their collaboration.
Image:Â www.fionaburrows.com/
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