The Toot Fairy and Cheesemaker Durdsden ~ by Mark Huffman

Blog Tour, Review,

Author Interview and Giveaway

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the tour for TWO super fun books!

THE TOOT FAIRY & CHEESEMAKER DURDSDEN by Mark Huffman,

hosted by Rockstar Book Tours.
Make sure to enter the giveaway!

ABOUT THE BOOKS

Title: THE TOOT FAIRY

Author: Mark Huffman, Dawn Davidson (Illustrator)

Pub. Date: February 9, 2021

Publisher:  Brown Books Kids

Pages: 32

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

When it’s time for Jessa the fairy to proclaim what kind of fairy she wants to
be, she accidentally says ”toot” instead of ”tooth!” Now she’ll be in
charge of finding all the toots from all the bottoms in the world. This is not
exactly what she had in mind..

Title: CHEESEMAKER DURDSDEN

Author: Mark Huffman, Dawn Davidson (Illustrator)

Pub. Date: May 4, 2021

Publisher:  Brown Books Pub Group

Pages: 32

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, TBD, Bookshop.org

 Cheesemaker Durdsden could hardly be called a cheesemaker, with how bland, rubbery, and flavorless his cheese tasted. And so, in order to better his skills and silence the critics, he went in search of any and every cheesemaking technique he could learn. That way, he could make cheese to be envied by every cheesemaker, and savored by every cheese enthusiast. Now he’s back with new skills, and some suspiciously delicious–deliciously suspicious–cheese to prove it. How could a man with such boring cheese before now make this tasty cheesy treat? You’ll
never guess what fabled creature holds the secret to Cheesemaker Durdsden’s sudden success!

My Thoughts Regarding Both Books

The Toot Fairy

In Fairyland fairies get to choose their vocation at the wishing well.  Some say garden so that they can live around gardens. Some say rainbow so that they can  show up after showers. For the longest time Jessa knew what she would say since she wanted to be a tooth fairy.

But when the time final comes the unthinkable happens. And it’s all because her front teeth are missing. She pronounces the “th” as “t” . . . “toot!” So now what’s to happen to the dear little fairy?

In all honesty I need to share something. I’m really not a fan of potty humor. Especially, just to catch kids’ attention and get a laugh. Now, with that said, this story told in rhyme plus the adorable illustrations made it impossible not to enjoy.

I can see most kids giggling all the way through the book. And I kept telling myself, it’s not meant to be naughty. It’s nothing more than a dear child who is missing front teeth and not able to pronounce a word clearly. Did that pep talk work? Well, I was smiling all the way through the story.

And I loved the fact that though this definitely wasn’t the profession our dear little fairy had longed for, she was determined to make the most of her mistake. What a great example.

Jessa said, “I like teeth,”

In a sad, quiet voice,

“But I’ll try very hard,

Though it’s not my first choice.”

Kids are sure to laugh out loud at this book, while adults will admire the illustrations and try to convince themselves that it’s only about missing two front teeth.

Cheesemaker Durdsden

The cheesemaker Durdsden starts out with a real problem. His cheese is horrible. Even the mice are disgusted with his cheese creations. Rather than moan and groan and feel sorry for himself, he decides to solve his problem. He is going to travel the world learning all he can. Then he will come come back with the winning cheese combinations.

Again the great author and illustrator duo, Mark Huffman and Dawn Davidson come up with a creative, silly book that children will love. Does the cheesemaker Durdsden discover a secret that will make his cheese famous? Yep, that he does. But you’ll have to discover it with a child nearby. You’ll  need to see eyes opening wide and listen for the  laughter or groans coming from your little one.

My Final Thoughts

Are both books a bit gross? You might say that. But these rhyming stories with wonderful illustrations will most likely even get the okey-dokey nod from most prim and proper adults. Okay, so I admit it. I liked them both. They were the perfect combination of silly and funny. But for me, the illustrations pulled them all together and made them winners.

My thanks to Rockstar Book Tours and the author for a copy of this story and the ability to post my opinion.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

About Mark:

Mark Huffman writes about our shared human experiences, which is a pretentious way to say that he writes about toots and bottoms and food. He prepared for writing children’s books by spending much of his early life as an actual child. Unlike other children’s authors he might name who have spuriously claimed the title, he is a real doctor. He lives with his family in Texas.

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Author Interview

What was your inspiration for writing your book?

A: The underlying motivation for writing all of my children’s poems is to amuse my children (and myself). The idea for The Toot Fairy, as best as I recall, was put into my head by something one of my kids said on our annual two-day drive from Texas to Florida (although it may have been an actual toot). The entire poem sprang from my mind to my note app on my phone while my wife took a turn driving from Louisiana to Mobile, almost like Athena springing fully-formed from the head of Zeus. In the car, my kids thought it was absolutely hilarious. In Florida, my in-laws and nephews agreed. After that, I suspected it might make a great picture book, and here we are!

The Toot Fairy must have opened up some sort of creative floodgate, because ideas kept popping into my brain, which insisted I write them down or dictate them into my phone. Cheesemaker Durdsden was probably my third or fourth one, written maybe a month after The Toot Fairy. I won’t spoil the gag on that one – it’s worth discovering for yourself (although “gag” is definitely an apt description).

Billan the Bard, coming this fall, drives me nuts and I don’t want to talk about it.

List your favorite books from when you were a child and talk about how you see them as an adult.

A: In no particular order: The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie dePaolo, Sir Toby Jingle’s Beastly Journey by Wallace Tripp, I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew by Dr. Seuss, Little Monster’s Bedtime Book by Mercer Mayer. I still love these books, and although the ones I read when I was little have been lost in my parent’s bookshelves or elsewhere, I’ve bought copies for myself over the years. I’ve never consciously considered them formative influences on my own children’s books (to be fair, I didn’t exactly mean to write children’s books at all), but I suppose they must be, since they’re all fantastical fairy tales and/or silly rhymes, and that’s what I do!

List your favorite books this year and why you like them.

A: Neil Gaiman’s Pirate Stew is a fun, lyrical poem that hits the same sort of silly, whimsical notes as I hope my books do. It’s a few years old now, but I just discovered Nobody Likes a Goblin by Ben Hatke, which is sort of a child’s first fantasy book, and it’s somewhat reminiscent of Sir Toby Jingle’s Beastly Journey, which is my favorite picture book of all time.

Talk about your favorite kind of character to write about.

A: I suppose I like writing about the plucky, clever underdog, since that’s who most of my protagonists are. I like stories about the Ash Lads and Luke Skywalkers of the world: scrappy heroes from modest, inauspicious beginnings who use their wits and relatively meager resources to scrape out victories nobody expected.

Talk about your least favorite kind of character to write about.

A: This doesn’t precisely answer the question, but I’ve found that I dislike writing stories where the hero comes this close to reaching his goal, barely misses, but learns an important lesson about friendship or whatever instead. I don’t want to see Indiana Jones lose the Holy Grail down a crevice. I want him to save it from the Nazis and have big parades with it in every major American city.

Describe your ideal writing space.

A: My ideal writing space is anywhere I can bring my laptop and minimize distractions: in bed, at a table, at a bookstore, at a coffee shop. For my children’s poems, sometimes that’s even in the car while I’m driving, dictating lines to my phone while it sits in the seat next to me. Between my day job and my family life, I tend to have to cram in the writing whenever I can find the time, so I can’t afford to be too precious about where that might be.

Describe your ideal home library.

A: My ideal home library: two stories, spiral staircases to the walkway around the second level, deep leather chairs with footrests of some kind, columns that are themselves bookshelves, a bookshelf with a secret trigger book that opens a passage to a smaller hidden library where I keep all the books I don’t want visitors touching, and a little corner with unlimited iced tea in cups with secure tops and straws. A fireplace sounds great, but books are flammable, and I’m not willing to risk my millions of books.

Giveaway Details:

2 winners will receive a finished copy of THE TOOT FAIRY & CHEESEMAKER
DURDSDEN, US Only.

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