• Age: 4 to 7
• Grade: k to 2
• Reading age: 4 to 7

Snap! Scritch! Whoosh! There goes another crayon!

What could be more perfect than a brand new set of crayons? Evan can’t wait to use them, until Snap!, the brown one breaks in two. Then one by one, the others break, get crushed, are blown away, or simply disappear. How can he possibly draw when there’s no green, purple, or even black?

Evan feels like throwing things, but instead, he scribbles using all the bits and pieces that are left. But what’s this? Where yellow and blue cross, there’s green, and when blue and red get all mixed up, it creates just the right purple to draw monsters. Soon, all he’s left with are tiny stubs of red, yellow, and blue, but Evan discovers that even with just a few crayons, he can create new and exciting art¬—his imagination is the only tool he needs.

The winning combination of Hazel Hutchins’s lively text and Dušan Petričić’s ingenious illustrations make this a wonderful addition to every young child’s library.

 

Hazel Hutckins est l'auteure de plus de 30 livres pour enfants, y compris l'album illustré primé Mattland, une œuvre qui est aussi illustrée par Duan Petricic. Hazel vit à Canmore, en Alberta.

 

After many years of juggling writing, raising her children, and making a home with her now deceased husband, Hazel spends her days writing full time. Winner of Writer's Guild of Alberta Award for Children's Literature, she has written children's short fiction for Chirp, Chickadee, and Cricket.
When answering where the inspiration for A Second is a Hiccup came from, Hazel comments, "I decided to see if I could find other ways to describe time. When the writing began to flow in poetic form - and when I came up with the engaging title line A Second is a Hiccup - I knew I had begun a labor of love. The book went through many incarnations....in one version I actually brought in centuries and eons! Good grief! But it finally returned to exactly what it should be...immediate, simple and close-to-home. It is my sincere hope that children of all types will enjoy finding and celebrating, among the pages, the many ways they spend their time."

Hazel Hutchins' profile page

Duan Petricic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, but loved to pretend that he grew up in Zemun, an old city located just across the river (and now a part of Belgrade). As a boy he did all the forbidden things that children do, but what Duan loved most was to draw. He started drawing at age four and, encouraged by his parents, he never stopped. He found inspiration in everything, and drawing became a way to communicate with the people around him. Two books that were very important to his childhood were an old encyclopedia with lots of pictures and The Boys from Pavel’s Street by Ferenc Molnár. Early on, he was moved by the drawings found within the encyclopedia. As he grew older, he adored many artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer, and Picasso. Duan has been illustrating children’s books for many years. He has received numerous honors and awards for his work, in North America and internationally, including an IBBY Certificate of Honour and an Alberta Book Award for On Tumbledown Hill (Red Deer Press). The Longitude Prize (FSG) was selected as a Robert F. Siebert Honor Book for a Distinguished Informative Book for Children in the US. His beautiful, evocative illustrations for Mattland (2009) by Hazel Hutchins and Gail Herbert garnered Duan the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award from the Canadian Library Association as well as the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. His illustrations for Better Together (2011) by Sheryl and Simon Shapiro were described as “sublime” by Kirkus Reviews. When it came time to reissue Robert Munsch’s Mud Puddle (2012), Duan was Annick’s first choice to reillustrate the classic. The results are a fresh and energetic look that will delight a whole new generation of young Munsch fans. Duan’s latest book, The Man with the Violin (2013), was greeted with rave reviews, including starred reviews in Kirkus and uill & uire. Written by Kathy Stinson, this beautifully evocative picture book tells the true story of world-renowned violinist, Joshua Bell, who conducted an experiment by anonymously playing his priceless violin in the Washington D.C. subway station. Luckily for Duan, his profession is his favorite hobby and he is happy when at work. To young artists he would give this advice: “Think, think, think, think, draw!” Duan lives in Toronto where he is a regular contributor as an editorial cartoonist in the Toronto Star.

Dusan Petricic's profile page

• Joint winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, *starred selection, Canadian Children’s Book Centre
• Commended, Eric Hoffer Award, Honorable Mention
• Joint winner, Best Bets List, Top Ten, Ontario Library Association
• Nominated, Blue Spruce Award, Ontario Library Association

“A fun story about creativity, frustration, and the ways in which hardships . . . ensure the use of imagination in problem solving.”

Sense and Sensibility and Stories, /07/12/15

“The illustrations are just perfect for the story. The details and expressions are ingenious enriching the text so well.”

Storywraps, 07/14/15

“Will become a favourite of all families and will make a great addition to any library or home.”

Resource Links, 02/16

“This gently affirming book . . . offers an important message.”

Booklist, 11/01/15

“A beautifully humorous ode to both pragmatism and imagination.”

Kirkus Reviews, *starred review, 07/15/15

“Lively and charming.”

Sal’s Fiction Addiction, 09/19/15

“A sweet story to pair with other artistic titles in storytime.”

School Library Journal, 11/15

“A delightful book.”

Quill & Quire, 10/15

“The illustrations in this story are mesmerizing.”

Ventura County Star, 07/30/15

“Uses repetition, onomatopoeia to great effect, creating a sense of rhythm and momentum.”

The Deakin Review of Children’s Literature, Winter/16