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Blog Book Tour Schedule

June 4: Author Q&A and Book Giveaway
http://www.mybookaddictionandmore.com

June 5: Author Q&A and Book Giveaway
http://kid-lit-reviews.com/

June 6: Author Guest Post and Book Giveaway
http://susanheim.blogspot.com/

June 9: Book Review
http://dianemaerobinson.blogspot.com/

June 10: Author Guest Post, Book Excerpt and Giveaway
http://bookloversparadise.blogspot.com/
http://kidsnbooksdonna.blogspot.com/

June 11: Book Review
http://www.themusingsofabookaddict.com/

June 12: Author Interview and Book Giveaway
http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/

June 13: Author Interview and Book Giveaway
http://thiskidreviewsbooks.com/

June 14: Book Review and Author Guest Post
http://thephantomphotographer.blogspot.com

June 15: Author Interview
http://tributebooksreviews.blogspot.com/

June 18: Author Interview
http://coffeecanine.blogspot.com/

June 19: Book Review
http://www.wakelarunen.com/

June 21: Author Guest Post and Book Giveaway
http://www.tetheredmommy.com/

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Meet Author Sands Hetherington

Sands Hetherington, creator of the Night Buddies series of chapter books, credits his son John for being his principal motivator. Sands and young John developed the Crosley crocodile character in the series during months of bedtime story give-and-take. They collaborated many nights on escapades starring John and Crosley, until eventually it occurred to Sands why it was that Crosley was bright red. That was when the first book came together.

Sands raised his son as a single parent from the time John was six. He read to him every night during those formative years: all of the classic children’s stories from Aesop through the Grimms, Lewis Carroll, Frank Baum, Tolkien and Dahl, with a lot of Dickens and Hugo thrown in. When school was out they got in the car and toured Alaska, Canada and most of the contiguous states. John still gets around. So far he has lived in Germany, Scotland, Russia, England and Spain.

Dogs have always been a part of the author’s life, beginning with Whiskers, a cocker spaniel. When his wonderful boxer Hube died, he despaired of finding a boxer who could match him, and instead got a Saint Bernard. He ended up breeding Saints for a number of years and at this point has had twelve as house pets. Sands says dogs can do you a power of good, and if you lose one, go out and get another the next day and you will be surprised at how fast your grief goes away.

Sands is also a Civil War buff. He would like to spend a month of evenings with common soldiers from both sides to see how they felt about the business. And eccentric generals like Jackson, Sherman and Forrest, and most of all Lincoln. Because Lincoln never gets to smile in his pictures.

The author was born in New York City but was transplanted a year later to Greensboro, North Carolina, where his maternal grandmother lived. He never really left the area and has a lot of the South in him. His grandmother was a prominent educator and became a great friend and mentor.

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 now, and hangs out with his longtime friend Ann and their Saint Bernards Dudley and Maggie. He likes visiting ancient Mediterranean sites in Turkey and Italy, and most of all Greece.

> Download Sands Hetherington’s Bio

Talking Points: Interesting Facts about Crocodiles

One of the main characters in the Night Buddies series is Crosley, the crocodile. What do we really know about crocodiles? What does it mean to cry crocodile tears, for example?

1. To weep crocodile tears is to put on an insincere show of sorrow.
2. The first crocodiles appeared 240 million years ago, at the same time with the dinosaurs.
3. Crocodiles are much more closely related to birds and dinosaurs than the other reptiles.
4. Crocs can live up to eighty years!
5. Crocodiles sweat through their mouth, so when they lie on the riverbanks with their mouths wide open, that’s not an aggressive posture, but a way to cool off.
6. Crocodiles have very sharp teeth. However, they cannot open their mouth if it is held closed, even with the help of an adhesive tape.
7. Each crocodile jaw has 24 sharp teeth, used for grasping and crushing, but not chewing. The teeth of a crocodile get replaced continuously, throughout its life.
8. The eggs of a crocodile are almost the same size as that of a goose.
9. The crocodiles have a four-chambered heart, which behaves like a three-chambered reptilian one, when underwater.
10. The eyes of a crocodile reflect light, making them appear red, and make night vision possible.
11. Crocodiles do not shed their skin, rather they grow into it.

> Download Talking Points

Questions for the Media

1. What inspired you to write the Night Buddies series?
2. Many parents have nighttime reading rituals with their kids. What was yours?
3. Where are the stories set? Apparently, it’s New York City, but you don’t specify it in the books. Why not?
4. Tell us a little bit about the characters in your first book. How did they come about? How did you come up with the character of Big Mae, for instance?
5. Why did you make Crosley the Crocodile red?
6. How come John, a protagonist and the narrator of your stories, doesn’t have a middle name?
7. When Crosley gets wet, he does the Black Bottom dance. Where does this dance come from?
8. What was the hardest part of writing your first book?
9. What were the challenges in bringing the stories to life?
10. What would you like young readers to take away from reading your books?

> Download Questions for the Media