Night Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare
Written
by Sands Hetherington
Illustrations
by Jessica Love
Children’s
Chapter Book (ages 8 to 12)
ISBN-10:
0984741712
ISBN-13:
978-0984741717
List
$7.99 Paperback 128 pages
Also
available in Kindle and Nook
Publisher:
Dune Buggy Press
Available
wherever books are sold and online.
Reviewed
by World of Ink Reviewer Ann Stallard
Rating
5 stars
Overall
Thoughts and About the Book:
The
Night Buddies series is an after lights-out adventure story that delights young
readers and middle graders who relish roller coaster fantasy and fun, filled
with unforgettable characters and an astonishing and inventive collection of
magical whatchamacallits.
The
first book in the series “Night Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare”
introduces young readers to a bright-red crocodile with the goofy name Crosley.
Add in the fact Crosley wears a yellow jumpsuit and is a member of Night Buddies
Amalgamated whose job is to rescue kids from lying in bed awake and take them
out on adventures. Now throw in a young John who isn’t ready to go to sleep yet
and you have the beginning of the story.
John
learns Crosley is more than just a red crocodile, which is unique enough.
Crosley is also allergic to water and breaks out doing the Black Bottom dance
for hours. Now through in the fact Crosley and John are both totally goofy about
pineapple cheesecakes. It’s no wonder why Night Buddies Amalgamated made them a
team and sends them on a mission to find out why there is worldwide shortage of
pineapple cheesecakes. They’re all vanishing at the world’s only pineapple
cheesecake factory across town and Crosley sees this as huge emergency. This
new Night Buddies’ assignment for tonight--to investigate the problem and set
things right. Of course, Night Buddies call it a “Program” and it won’t be easy.
It definitely won’t be dull!
The
story is filled with well-drawn fascinating characters embellished with some
excellent illustrations by Jessica Love. The fonts change with emotion and
circumstances, a fact that makes every page a little artwork that keep the
child’s eye involved in the book. And just to make sure the youngsters reading
this book have the inside information for a mystery, a glossary of ‘Night
Buddies Uncommon Words’ is supplied – explaining ‘Jeeks’, ‘Wuff’, ‘Snerk!’ etc.
About
the Author:
Sands
Hetherington credits his son John for being his principal motivator. Sands
raised his son as a single parent from the time John was six. He read to him
every night during those formative years. He and young John developed the
Crosley crocodile character in the series during months of bedtime story
give-and-take. 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.
About
the Illustrator:
Jessica
Love grew up in California, with two artist parents. She studied printmaking and
drawing at UC Santa Cruz, then went on to study acting at The Juilliard School
in NYC.
Jessica
currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, toggling back and forth between her
work as an actor and her work as an artist.
What
Other People Are Saying:
“This
little book is a winner!” —Grady Harp, Hall of Fame Amazon Reviewer
“Hetherington
seems to have the right ingredients for a classic children’s whodunit—talking
animals, an unsolved mystery and a brave hero willing to face unforeseen foes…”
—Kirkus
“Stating
that Night Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare is a creative, imaginative
and delightful tale is simply giving it its just desserts. Yerk! Yerk! Yerk!” —
Drew Aquilina, International award-winning cartoonist and author, Green Pieces:
Green From the Pond Up
“Night
Buddies is a terrific story my second and third-graders would love to have read
to them, complete with its colorful dialect. Thanks for the sneak peek!” — Lorie
Thompson, Principal, Haskell Elementary School, Los Angeles Unified School
District
“Two
unlikely friends-one human and one crocodilian-embark on an adventure to solve a
mystery: where did all the pineapple cheesecakes go? Have fun reading this
lively story.” — Diane Witt, Retired Public Elementary School Teacher (30
years), Boulder, Colorado
~Book tour by VS Grenier, award-winning
author and editor and founder and partner of World of Ink Network,
Office: 435-625-1743
Like us on Facebook Member of League of Utah
Writers/HWG chapter president and SCBWI
-----
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