I am so excited that my partner-in-crime, Valarie Budayr of Jump into a Book, for Multicultural Children’s Book Day is also an author and owner of publishing company, Audrey Press. She has a new book out, A Year in The Secret Garden, that celebrates an iconic classic with activities to do with kids all year!
A Year in The Secret Garden by Valarie Budayr and Marilyn Scott-Waters
I’m not surprised. Her blog, Jump into a Book, has a tagline: Making Books Come Alive. And her wonderful blog posts always include an activity based on the featured book.
Today, I’m interviewing her partner-in-crime, Marilyn Scott-Waters, the wonderful illustrator for A Year in The Secret Garden.
1) How did the Year in the Secret Gar

2) It must be daunting to illustrate a book based on an iconic classic. How did you approach that?
3) What kind of research did you do to prepare?
4) What was the most challenging aspect of this book for you?
5) What’s next?
Right now we are focusing all our energy into telling folks about A Year In The Secret Garden and getting it into the hands of people who will enjoy it. Valarie and I are already talking about other children’s classics that would be fun to explore. Adventure awaits!
Giveaway!
About the Book
Title: A Year in the Life of the Secret Garden | Author: Valarie Budayr | Illustrator: Marilyn Scott-Waters | Publication Date: November, 2014 | Publisher: Audrey Press | Pages: 144 | Recommended Ages: 5 to 99
Book Description: Award-winning authors Valarie Budayr and Marilyn Scott-Waters have co-created A Year in the Secret Garden to introduce the beloved children’s classic, The Secret Garden to a new generation of families. This guide uses over two hundred full color illustrations and photos to bring the magical story to life, with fascinating historical information, monthly gardening activities, easy-to-make recipes, and step-by-step crafts, designed to enchant readers of all ages. Each month your family will unlock the mysteries of a Secret Garden character, as well as have fun together creating the original crafts and activities based on the book.Over 140 pages, with 200 original color illustrations and 48 activities for your family and friends to enjoy, learn, discover and play with together. A Year In the Secret Garden is our opportunity to introduce new generations of families to the magic of this classic tale in a modern and innovative way that creates special learning and play times outside in nature. This book encourages families to step away from technology and into the kitchen, garden, reading nook and craft room.
Amazon * Audrey Press * Goodreads
* INSERT REVIEW/GUEST POST/INTERVIEW/EXCERPT HERE *
About the Author: Valarie Budayr
Valarie Budayr loves reading and bringing books alive. Her popular website, www.jumpintoabook.com, inspires children and adults alike to experience their books through play, discovery, and adventure.
She is the founder of Audrey Press, an independent publishing house, as well as an Amazon and iTunes best-selling author. She has written The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to our Garden and The Ultimate Guide to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Valarie is passionate about making kid’s books come alive and encouraging families and schools to pull books off the shelves and stories off the pages.
Book Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
Pinterest | Google+ | Goodreads
About the Illustrator: Marilyn Scott-Waters
Marilyn Scott-Waters loves making things out of paper. Her popular website, www.thetoymaker.com, receives 2,000 to 7,000 visitors each day, who have downloaded more than six million of her easy-to-make paper toys. Her goal is to help parents and children spend time together making things.
She is the creator of a paper toy craft book series The Toymaker’s Christmas: Paper Toys You Can Make Yourself (Sterling), and The Toymaker’s Workshop: Paper Toys You Can Make Yourself (Sterling). She is also the co-creator with J. H. Everett of the middle grade nonfiction series, Haunted Histories, (Christy Ottaviano Books / Henry Holt Books for Young Readers). Ms. Scott-Waters illustrated The Search For Vile Things (Scholastic), and created paper engineering for Pop & Sniff Fruit (Piggy Toes Press).
Website | Facebook | Google+
A Year in the Secret Garden Blog Tour Schedule (2014)
EXPLORING SEPTEMBER
November 1
Mother Daughter Book Reviews (Launch)
Coffee Books & Art (Guest Post)
WS Momma Readers Nook (Book Review)
November 2
Cherry Mischievous (Excerpt)
Hope to Read (Excerpt)
November 3
Eloquent Articulation (Book Review)
Enter Here Canada (Excerpt)
EXPLORING OCTOBER
November 4
BeachBoundBooks (Excerpt)
Books, Babies and Bows (Book Review)
November 5
Monique’s Musings (Book Review)
November 6
SOS-Supply (Book Review)
EXPLORING NOVEMBER
November 7
Randomly Reading (Book Review)
November 8
Adalinc to Life (Book Review)
EXPLORING DECEMBER
November 9
100 Pages a Day (Book Review)
November 10
Edventures With Kids (Book Review)
EXPLORING JANUARY
November 11
Icefairy’s Treasure Chest (Book Review)
November 12
Girl of 1000 Wonders (Book Review)
EXPLORING FEBRUARY
November 13
Seraphina Reads (Guest Post)
November 14
Juggling Act Mama (Book Review)
EXPLORING MARCH
November 15
Pragmatic Mom (Author/Illustrator Interview)
Purple Monster Coupons (Excerpt)
November 16
Stacking Books (Book Review)
EXPLORING APRIL
November 17
Oh My Bookness (Book Review)
November 18
Crystal’s Tiny Treasures (Book Review)
EXPLORING MAY
November 19
The Blended Blog (Book Review)
November 20
All Done Monkey (Book Review)
November 21
Geo Librarian (Book Review)
Grandbooking (Author/Illustrator Interview)
EXPLORING JUNE
November 22
My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews (Book Review)
November 23
Christy’s Cozy Corners (Book Review)
My Life, Loves and Passions (Book Review)
November 24
Bookaholic Chick (Excerpt)
Hide-N-(Sensory)-Seeking (Book Review)
EXPLORING JULY
November 25
Ninja Librarian (Guest Post)
November 26
Jane Ritz (Book Review)
Rockin’ Book Reviews (Book Review)
November 27
I’d Rather Be Reading At The Beach (Book Review)
EXPLORING AUGUST
November 28
Deal Sharing Aunt (Book Review)
November 29
Mommynificent (Book Review)
November 30
This Kid Reviews Books (Book Review)
Java John Z’s (Author/Illustrator Interview)
* $100 Blog Tour Giveaway *
Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice)
Contest ends: December 7, 11:59 pm, 2014
Open: Internationally
How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the authors Valarie Budayr and Marilyn Scott-Waters and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.
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Thanks for hosting Marilyn on your blog for the tour, Mia! There are an incredible number of illustrations in the book and they are so gorgeous. I found it interesting what Marilyn said about how the issues of today are the same ones the people struggle with 100 years ago. Some themes are definitely universal and transcend time and geography. Great interview!
Hi Renee,
Thank YOU for the opportunity to interview Marilyn! It was my great pleasure in learning more about A Year in The Secret Garden! I set up book clubs for my kids and it’s a joy to have activities planned out for you around a book! That’s usually the hardest part of planning a book club for kids!
This sounds like a really neat book!
Hi MaryAnne,
Your family really enjoys “The Big Blue Room” and creative play. I think your kids would enjoy the activities a lot!
Sounds great! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Glad you like A Year in the Secret Garden Digital Clipart designer! Thanks for coming by!
The cover of the book is beautiful and it is such an original idea for a book. This would make a lovely Christmas present for Secret Garden lovers.
Hi Catherine,
Oh yes!! Such a nice gift for the entire family too! It’s a gift that keeps on giving as the activities make for great family bonding time!
Thanks so much for letting me know about this great book, Mia!
Hi Lisa,
It’s such a beautiful book full of activities to do as a family or for a kids book club! Valarie is a genius at making books come alive!!
I love beautifully illustrated books, but the thought of trying to create one gives me heart palpitations! I am so glad that gifts, talents, and abilities are distributed amount a wide variety of people! This “Year in the Secret Garden” sounds incredible.
Hi Bekki,
I know what you mean! Thank goodness for talented illustrators like Marilyn! Her watercolor illustation are gorgeous and I love how they truly reflect the original classic!
Thanks Mia for a wonderful interview with Marilyn Scott-Waters. It’s so fun to see her insights into our process.
Hi Valarie,
I can see why you chose to work with Marilyn. Her work is gorgeous and she’s a hoot! I’ll bet you guys had so much fun working on this project!!!
Wow, this book sounds so great, I can’t wait to check it out! Also too bad I missed the giveaway, lol!
Hi Ann,
I can’t wait to get my own hardcopy too!
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