1. What inspired you to write this book? I wanted to write a
story for children to introduce them to the idea of pollination while they are
young and spending lots of time in the garden, still full of wonder at nature,
and of course the wonderous work of bees. Teaching pollination in school inspired
me as I realized that the subject could be understood by much younger children
if set in a story context. 

2. What exactly is it about and
who is it written for? Humble
Bee is a conversation between a Honey Bee and a Bumble Bee; the honey bee is
watching the fascinating work completed by the Bumble Bee, and tries to guess
what type of bee it is. Honey Bee then brings to attention the work that the
Bumble Bee has been doing without even recognizing it’s impact. 

3. What do you hope
readers will get out of reading your book? Using rhyme and a repeating rhythm, I hope young readers will
enjoy the sound and feel of the words as they listen and read, increasing their
vocabulary and experience of language. Also, I hope young readers are
encouraged to plant in their gardens, a selection of plants that help entice
bees to visit, and to watch closely what happens as bees work… all helping to
increase the bee population!  

4. How did you decide on your
book’s title and cover design? Humble
Bee as a title came easily as it’s the main event at the end of the story, and
it hopefully gives young readers a bit of fun and anticipation knowing that
Honey Bee is guessing the wrong name all through the book … but the right
guess is coming! The illustration is simple but bright and colourful, again to
reflect the content of the story and catch one’s eye. 

5. What advice or words of
wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Simply to have a go and see what happens! To
write what you want to write without thinking about how it will be received, so
write for the joy of writing. And, to keep all your notes and jottings, you may
come back to them another time, or in another piece of work. 

6. What trends in the book
world do you see — and where do you think the book publishing industry is
heading? It’s an interesting
time as there are many routes now to getting published and people of all ages
access books in different ways. Despite many books being accessed digitally, I
believe there will always be a place and a love for a paper published book.    

7. Were there experiences in
your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this
book?  As a teacher for many
years, I most likely thought about the way children respond to language, and
how a book can sound when read aloud which influenced the way I put the story
together.   

8. How would you describe your
writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? This is my first book and it is very specific
in it’s audience so I don’t think I have developed ‘ my style yet’, I’m working
on a few others so will see how they develop! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading
Julia Donaldson, Katherine Rundell, Robin Stevens, Enid Blyton, Helen Nicoll
& Jan Pienkowski … and so many more children’s authors, with my children.
Reading together with my own children has been one of the absolute joys of my
life. I think Julia Donaldson’s ‘Tiddler’ is a genius piece of story telling,
so clever!  

9. What challenges did you
overcome in the writing of this book? It’s short so was enjoyable to write, the challenges were in
understanding the publishing process. Not working physically with the
publishing team was definitely a challenge for me as I felt removed from the
process and less able to communicate well.  

10. If people can buy or read
one book this week or month, why should it be yours? It’s so fulfilling to share a special few
minutes reading with youngsters, joining together to read anticipated words and
guessing what happens next. Humble Bee is a brilliant starting point for so
much other work or activity in the garden, in nature, classroom science …
There is a guide at the back of the book of plants to encourage bees into your
garden, and foods we eat that are pollinated by bees, and there are even a couple
of blank pages for children to write their own notes or draw! Enjoy reading
Humble Bee!  

About the Author: Lindsay Choudhry has taught children in schools
in the UK and US for over 20 years. She has worked with school leaders in
developing approaches to literacy, advising on provision for pupils with
learning challenges and with UNICEF.  She also teaches chess club in
school and manages a girls’ cricket team. Lindsay lives in Surrey, England, in
a house with Lego, books, her husband, two beautiful children and two
mischievous bunnies! For more info, please see: https://youtu.be/1W9avG8xueo, www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-choudhry-a2188164, and https://lindsaychoudhry.ampbk.com/

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About Brian
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Brian Feinblum should be
followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is
copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now
resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue
dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The
Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by
www.WinningWriters.com as a “best resource.” For the past three decades,
including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book
publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses,
Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres,
right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark
Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay,
Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan
RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He
hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and
has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah
Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association,
Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and
Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have
been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY
Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington
Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, &
Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured
in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.