Given that we’re about halfway through the year, it’s a good time to introduce THE HALF BIRTHDAY BOOK by Erin Dealey, illustrated by Germán Blanco.

As author Erin Dealey tells it, “In the first few drafts of THE HALF BIRTHDAY BOOK (Genius Cat Books), the Half-Birthday Buddies were gnomes! My editor at Genius Cat Books pointed out (wisely so…) that people either really love gnomes or they hate them. She asked me to rethink who these characters might be.”

OK, so now I know why my own gnome manuscript went nowhere!

“It was just before Christmas time and the weather was crazy, so I was getting my exercise “jogging” around the house. I happened to pass a star ornament—with a Santa face and hat—on one of our windows, and suddenly I pictured the Half Birthday Buddies with star bodies of different colors! The whole team agreed that this change made the whole book a celebration!

“I love how Germán Blanco brought the Half-Birthday Buddies to life! And when he added “Easter eggs” (½ objects in every spread for readers to find), the book became a fun STEM way to introduce fractions and the math concept of half & whole.”

Erin, we’re always talking ideas here…where did the idea for this story originate?

The Vice Principal at the school where my daughter was teaching  2nd grade had been searching for a book about half birthdays and couldn’t find one. Teachers celebrate 1/2 Birthdays of students with summer birthdays, and those on the big holidays. Usually my answer to “You should write a book about…” is: “What if you write that one?” but something made me check for comp titles, and the most recent books I could find on half birthdays were the Berenstain Bears, and a Max & Ruby (Rosemary Wells) leveled reader! So I got to work.

Thanks for stopping by halfway through the summer, Erin! Best wishes with THE HALF BIRTHDAY BOOK!