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*SIGNED COPY* Sydney by Hunter Hawkins and Matthew Hawkins

*SIGNED COPY* Sydney by Hunter Hawkins and Matthew Hawkins

Regular price $20.00 USD
Regular price Sale price $20.00 USD
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Sydney the duck is well known among all birds for her helpful attitude, her friendly spirit, and her willingness to lend a hand. Oh yes, and the very large bump on her beam. When a gaggle of mean-spirited goslings makes Sydney feel ashamed about the way she looks, her confidence is shattered.

After a journey including a vain swan, a helpful older duck, and all kinds of other feathered and furred critters, Sydney learns that being just like all the other ducks isn’t all that important, and that the best thing to be is a good friend.

This charming, affirming story in rhyme takes the age-old take of “The Ugly Ducking” and flips it on its head to provide a new message: what you look like will never matter more than WHO you are.

About the Author and the Illustrator

Hunter Hawkins has been a lifelong reader and particularly enjoys teen and young adult fiction for its ability to reach young people where they are, when they quite likely are most in need of a reassuring voice in their corner. Although this book is intended for younger readers, that same sentiment is present here. An intentional embrace of readers that may need a little encouragement. By following a self-publishing route Hunter Hawkins has also demonstrated acute awareness of how readers receive books and what makes people pick them up to read again and again. For example, as you set Sydney down and randomly allow the book to fall open, the center image opens out to a double page of a beautiful swan. As an author, Hawkins chose words that will resonate with children but will also require adult assistance because he intended for this book to be read to and with a child, reinforcing the idea that you’re never alone and someone is right there with you. This is Hunter Hawkins’ first book and it is unlikely to be his last.

Matthew Hawkins is an artist and puppeteer whose work is carried nationwide. His humorous, inventive, and sometimes snarky images are available as prints, greeting cards, magnets, and an array of other giftable formats. His illustration style is perfectly suited for this book, penned by his nephew. The lettering choice is both legible, prominent, and consistently easy for readers of every age including those of us they prefer large font titles. This makes Sydney an easy and colorful read.

Both Hunter Hawkins and Matthew Hawkins are local Johnson County and Shawnee, KS, natives, which makes us particularly proud to carry this book in store and online.

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