Today I'm thrilled to share a spotlight post about The Adventures of Phatty and Payaso: Central Park by Marie Unanue. There will also be an international giveaway for a copy of the book below, sent by the publisher to me, hosted and sent by me. When the lovely Jackie at JKS Communications contacted me about this book, I could not resist the chance to be able to read it. And I am so glad I did so. Huge thank you to Jackie for sending me this book, and for sending an extra copy for me to give away to one of you. I have already read this book, and you can see my three star review of it
here. It was pretty adorable. For my spotlight post today, I'm sharing a publisher interview with the author :D Which is awesome. Giving away a finished copy of the book too. Hope you will all enter, and that you will all read this book too :)
Publisher Interview with Marie Unanue.
1. How did you become passionate about bullying?
As a child I was bullied, I can remember what it felt like to
not fit in at times. I wasn’t a jock, I wasn’t the cheerleader, and I
wasn’t in with the “cool” crowd. I kind of just floated along and
befriended anyone that wanted to be friends. When I saw how my
overweight cat ran from the birds on the terrace I imagined how hard it
is to be an overweight child in school, or the child that isn’t cool or
doesn’t fit in. I wanted to write a book that spoke to children about
that feeling.
We know that bullying is an age-old problem, and it has only been
amplified now that social media has allowed the bullies a platform after
the children leave the classroom. I am hoping that children will learn
how to handle bullies from this story and more importantly, I am hoping
that the bullies see how horrible it is to be bullied and make better
choices when dealing with kids they don’t like, or that don’t fit in. My
characters all have strengths and weaknesses and they are all working
on how to use their strengths to help them to overcome their weaknesses;
they are also learning how to be vulnerable and take risks.
Children will also get a bird’s eye view of a character with special
needs, Max, the main boy in my story. He is on the spectrum and suffers
badly when other children don’t include him, or chastise him. This story
allows kids to see all different perspectives on bullying.
2. What inspired you to write this book?
While writing from my home office for various publications reporting on
the latest and greatest in honeymoons and weddings, I found another muse
for my writing, my animals. After months of working from my home, I
couldn’t help but turn my attention to my crazy furry family. Daily I
found myself laughing at something crazy and off the wall my cats or dog
would do. While, watching my animals, and as crazy as it sounds, my
neighbor’s Cat, interact with each other, I found a story inside of my
heart I needed to share.
From that moment on, I turned my writing from weddings and honeymoons
in an entirely new direction, a four-legged furry and funny direction. I
focused on my overweight cat and his unique friend from the apartment
next door, Payaso, in time, I dreamt up a ‘tail’ about a bunch of
friends overcoming obstacles and their own fears and insecurities while
going on an adventure in Central Park. I wanted the story to focus on
kindness and the importance of strong character traits, like grit, zest,
social intelligence and so forth. I wanted the animals to teach lessons
by examples on how to treat each other with unconditional love,
acceptance and empathy. I wanted to reach children in a way that would
make them pause and reconsider how they were going to treat each other
going forward after reading the book. I loved that I was able to mix in
personalities, ethnicity and ability and offer children characters that
had difference strengths and weaknesses that they would relate with.
3. What is special about the setting of “The Adventures of Phatty & Payaso?”
Most of the story takes place in a New York city apartment overlooking
Central Park. When Phatty the cat realizes a large hawk has plans to rob
his home, he takes it upon himself to venture out into Central Park and
try and find the Central Park Zoo Keeper to help him capture the hawk.
Shortly after his leaving the safety of his apartment his friends head
out into Central Park to find him. This adventure story lets children
experience life in Central Park… in the greatest city in the world!
4. How does your book handle its special needs character?
The book addresses how today’s children familiarize and connect with
children that have special needs and/or suffer from the ability to adapt
or fit in with social groups. I want to offer children a different
perspective on the challenge some children face on a daily basis to fit
in, feel comfortable or feel/be included. On several occasions
throughout the book, children are given examples of how small acts of
kindness, behavior modifications, or considerate actions towards someone
struggling to fit in makes a large impact on that person’s life[a].
5. You set out to write this book in part to help develop positive character traits. Which are the ones most described in the book?
We know through research from the non-profit organization Character Lab
(Characterlab.org) that there are several character skills missing in
many of today’s children. They have discovered that character strengths
are malleable, and surprisingly little is known about how they can be
intentionally cultivated. Character Lab is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization founded in 2013 by one scientist and two educators: Angela
Duckworth, author of “
Grit,” and the Christopher H. Browne
Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania;
Dave Levin, co- founder of the KIPP public charter schools; and Dominic
Randolph, Head of Riverdale Country School.
“
The Adventures of Phatty & Payaso” focuses on six skills that are lacking in today’s children. They are:
* Curiosity: Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake;
finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering.
* Gratitude: Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen; taking time to express thanks.
* Grit: Finishing what one starts; persisting in a course of action in spite of obstacles.
* Self-control: Regulating what one feels and does in the service of
goals and standards; being disciplined; controlling one’s emotions .
* Social Intelligence: Being aware of the motives and feelings of other
people and oneself; knowing what to do to fit into different social
situations; knowing what makes other people tick.
* Zest: Approaching life with excitement and energy; not doing things
halfway or half heartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling alive
and activated.
The book demonstrates these important and necessary character skills
through the actions and behaviors of the books characters. I studied
these traits and then developed which character would have which skills
as a strength or area for improvement. Together, the characters all
possess these traits and throughout the story they teach each other,
through actions and by example, how to grow and develop these skills.
Throughout the story, each character learns something about themselves
they didn’t know, while realizing that friendship is more than just
someone to play with. Friendship is about kindness, helping and caring
about others, and doing the “right thing,” even when the “right thing”
is difficult.
Phatty the cat loves
nothing more than spending his days balanced atop his favorite chair
gazing out his windows at Central Park below. Everything is simply
fan-tabby-lous until one day when the meanest hawk in the park lands on
his terrace and makes a terrifying announcement that he is coming for
Phatty and his furry little friends.
When Phatty decides he is tired of
being a scaredy-cat, he jumps into a laundry bag and escapes to Central
Park to stop Crawler the bully hawk once and for all. But his unplanned
operation goes horribly wrong when he finds himself alone and lost in
the park. When his best friend, Payaso, realizes his partner in crime is
missing, he teams up with several animals to find Phatty. As the band
of furry pals set out on a hilarious journey, they quickly realize that
if they put aside their differences and work together, it might just be
enough to save a lovable undercat—and each other. In this animal
adventure novel, a cat on a mission to stop a bully hawk must face his
fears all alone in a scary park while a group of unlikely friends
attempts to rescue him.
Marie Unanue is the new author of the children’s book series, “The Adventures of Phatty & Payaso.” Marie has always been an avid reader and an activist for children who are bullied. As a kindness advocate, she hopes to inspire children across the world to remember to always treat each other with kindness and compassion. The former anchor of “Travels with Marie,” a weekly travel review program, Marie Unanue is also the former vice president of sales and marketing of Honeymoons.com and former owner of Beyond Compare Events, an event planning, marketing and public relations firm. Marie is involved in many charitable endeavors including sitting on the board of the C&J Unanue Foundation, and the New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade Foundation. Marie resides with her husband Andy and their animals in NYC and Mantoloking, NJ. Visit her at
www.letsallbekind.com.
Where to find Marie Unanue:
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