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The Longest Breakaway & The Ballad of the Lucky Loonie


sparkychewbarky

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Hi guys...

I've been working on another kids' hockey book.   "The Longest Breakaway".

I've got it developed to the final "rough" stage, so most of the illustrations would need to be re-done.

Right now, they're pretty heavily photoshopped, and there's a lot of "cut 'n paste" duplication...but it will give you an idea as to how it would look.

 

This one's about a coast-to-coast breakaway after an incredible ice storm turns the country into one gigantic skating rink.

It's a fun little story with some interesting characters, and a "groaner" ending.

It's also a bit of a Canadian geography lesson. Every place mentioned in this book is an actual place.

 

Hope you enjoy "The Longest Breakaway".

 

Here it is on issuu...

 

The Longest Breakaway...LB01.jpg

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I loved it, and i loved the ending, which I'd joke about but don't want to spoil it for anybody. 

It was simple, yet had a bit of tongue-twister on every page, and those place names certainly weren't easy, but I didn't think them to be that bad either (and maybe they're obvious to Canadians). 

It felt in the same vein as one of my favorite books from my childhood, and though I haven't seen it in 20-some years and couldn't remember the title, I could recite sections of it without trying, The Train to Timbuctoo. And if you're creating alliteration and fun passages as good as that one, then you're obviously doing well.

GoldenBook-TheTraintoTimbuctoo2.JPG

Bravo!

 

The jerseys being either reminiscent of local jerseys (the Leafs, Jets, and Habs jerseys were not lost on me, nor the Rocket Richard reference), there's all sorts of jumping off points for parents to talk about hockey with their kids, and little easter eggs for the adults reading it aloud to enjoy.

 

It was fun, it was well done, and I'd read it again. Well done!

I'll respect any opinion that you can defend.

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19 hours ago, eRay said:

Amazing. Loved it. Not a canadian, but it's amazing anyway. Great work.

 

 

16 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

Great story and illustrations! I keep thinking of ideas for a kid's book. This is pretty good.

 

11 hours ago, MrWonka said:

So good Sparky. So jealous.

 

Thank you guys. Glad you enjoyed it...Fun project.

 

18 hours ago, JMtexan09 said:

Just a question --- Le Rocket is something related to Maurice Richards? If so, he is my favorite past player. But hey i liked this one!

 

Hi JM...Yeah, "Le Rocket" is a reference to the one & only Maurice Richard.

There's a lot of little hockey tie-ins throughout the book.

 

16 hours ago, Dolphins Dynasty said:

Wonderful story; very creative.

 

My only nitpick is the title, as it's a little difficult to read (not to me anyway, but it may be to others).

 

Thanks Dolphins. I may simplify that title font...it's good to get that feedback while this is still at the concept stage.

 

16 hours ago, hockey week said:

I loved it, and i loved the ending, which I'd joke about but don't want to spoil it for anybody. 

It was simple, yet had a bit of tongue-twister on every page, and those place names certainly weren't easy, but I didn't think them to be that bad either (and maybe they're obvious to Canadians). 

It felt in the same vein as one of my favorite books from my childhood, and though I haven't seen it in 20-some years and couldn't remember the title, I could recite sections of it without trying, The Train to Timbuctoo. And if you're creating alliteration and fun passages as good as that one, then you're obviously doing well.

GoldenBook-TheTraintoTimbuctoo2.JPG

Bravo!

 

The jerseys being either reminiscent of local jerseys (the Leafs, Jets, and Habs jerseys were not lost on me, nor the Rocket Richard reference), there's all sorts of jumping off points for parents to talk about hockey with their kids, and little easter eggs for the adults reading it aloud to enjoy.

 

It was fun, it was well done, and I'd read it again. Well done!

 

Thank you hockey week. That was a well done review.

 

I guess my fave kids' books would be anything done by Dr. Suess.

 

I'm glad you got the hockey references.

You may notice new ones each time you read it.

Back in the 3rd spread (now knowing the ending) you'll see Captain Jack crossing the blue line ahead of the puck, and in the background...

There's Ref Cole making the un-noticed call.

At the end, Goalie Mack "gives each post the goalie whack".

I always remember Patrick Roy tapping the posts, maybe to reaffirm his positioning.

Anyway, thanks for the review.

 

 

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This is amazing... Please spend time perfecting the illustrations because if you do I would be willing to be this can get published. Well done yet again!

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On March 24, 2016 at 3:51 AM, Eric Westhaver said:

Sparky... this may be your best work yet. And that's incredibly high praise.

 

I need to post this everywhere I can. People need to see this.

 

On March 24, 2016 at 7:01 AM, Crabcake47 said:

This is amazing... Please spend time perfecting the illustrations because if you do I would be willing to be this can get published. Well done yet again!

 

Thanks so much, Eric and Crabcake.

 

I'm like a kid with a new toy with this "issuu" website.

I've had a whack of half-completed book concepts kickin' around in my sock drawer for years.

This site allows me to get them out there with its page-flippin' format.

Here's another idea that I had about 10 years ago.

It was to be a book of 3 hockey songs, (which is why the rhyme scheme may not make sense unless you hear the chorus and verse tunes).

I wrote "The Ballad..." and "Hockey Night", and then hoped to also include Stompin' Tom's "The Hockey Song"...

(of course I would have to get permission)...

Enjoy....
 

"The Ballad of the Lucky Loonie"...(click here for the link)

 

LL01.jpg

 

(ha-ha...you can tell that my old mac doesn't have a lot of different fonts in it :D)

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