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11/24/10

Little Shepherd by Cheryl C. Malandrinos Book Tour and Review



Little Shepherd
Author: Cheryl C. Malandrinos
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing
ISBN: 9781616330859


Little Shepherd is the story of 5 year old Obed, a little shepherd boy in the hills outside Bethlehem.  The story connects with children because it is the story of a little boy who participates in a Very Important Event.  Obed is in the hills watching his sheep with his father and the other shepherds when Angels appear and tell them that a Savior was born.  Obed is concerned about leaving his flock to go see this baby but his father says it's alright and Obed obediently follows him.

My Interview with Cheryl:
 Family Literacy and You.  She tells how she came to write the story of Obed, the Little Shepherd and more about her favorite books and bible passage.  

You can read my full interview with Cheryl on




1. Where did you get the idea to write a book about a little shepherd boy's experience meeting Baby Jesus?
Thanks for having me here today, Tina. God planted the idea for Little Shepherd on my heart many years ago. I would sing “The Little Drummer Boy” to my daughter and I kept thinking of writing a story about a young shepherd who visits the newborn King on the night of His birth. What is so inspiring about “The Little Drummer Boy” is that you get a chance to hear what a child thinks of what happened on that first Christmas. This is what I tried to capture with Little Shepherd — a child’s perspective of a miraculous night.


2. How long did it take you to write the book and did you do any research to write it?

Four years ago, when I first decided to tackle the idea of a young shepherd meeting the newborn King, it wasn’t a children’s story. It was a story of an adult Obed who leaves home after the Resurrection of Jesus to find the apostles and learn if this Jesus was the Savior he met as a boy.

This was my NaNoWriMo project that year and I struggled with it; mostly because I didn’t have enough research done into the daily life of people during that time period to make it authentic.

When talking with my pastor about the book, he asked if it was geared toward children. That’s what made me consider changing genres. After that, Obed’s story took a month or so to complete until I was ready to show it to my critique groups. It would take numerous rewrites until I submitted it to a publisher.

3. Have you published any other books? If so, what are they? Or is this your first book?

Little Shepherd is my first book, but I am halfway through a middle grade historical that is getting great feedback from my critique groups.

4. What would you suggest kids or families do if they want to write a book and maybe publish it?

Read—a lot. Read the genres you’re interested in writing. See what works for you as a reader and where the books fall short. If there is a certain publisher whose books you enjoy, make a point to read books by them to see what they like to publish. Don’t send your manuscript off to a publisher without making sure it’s ready. As they say, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.”

5. Do you have a favorite book?

I’ve read over 140 titles this year and I’ve been an avid reader my entire life. Picking one favorite is impossible. (Me: Alright Cheryl, you sound as bad as I am! LOL.  Although I don't think I've read anywhere near that many) Here are a few:

The Stand by Stephen King   
The Left Behind series by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye 
The House on
Tradd Street
by Karen White 
Beyond Me: Living a You–First Life in a Me-First World by Kathi Macias 

For books geared toward young people:  
The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder 
The Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

6. What is your favorite verse or passage in the bible? What does it mean to you? 

Another tough question. I’ve always been partial to Psalm 23:4:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

In a modern world where fear and anxiety can run rampant, this verse reminds us that God is greater than any fear we have.

Little Shepherd, is now available from Guardian Angel Publishing.You can purchase the book from the publisher's  websiteAmazonBarnesandnoble.com, and Indiebound.org.

*** Giveaway Alert! ***
Cheryl is offering 2 awesome giveaways on her blog. Her gift baskets are really wonderful & I'd love to see one of you win!  All comments must be posted by Dec 17.   


PhotobucketGiveaway #1 (for people who comment during the book tour) Value: about $65
* An autographed copy of Little Shepherd
* Angel figurine printed with the Serenity Prayer
* A Little Shepherd sticky note pad
* Little Drummer Boy 2010 Hallmark Keepsake Ornament
* Gift of Peace 2003 Hallmark Keepsake Ornament

Giveaway #2 (for those who purchase a copy of Little Shepherd between 8/21/10 & 12/17/10  (value is about $97)
* Sparkling Angel scented jar candle from Yankee Candle
* An angel gold and silver lid topper for the candle.
* An angel tea light holder from Yankee Candle
* A Jim Shore Nativity Star hanging ornament
* A Jim Shore Holy Family hanging ornament
* A $25 Amazon.com gift card

To enter the giveaway all you need to do is make a comment below - pls share a holiday tradition that you have or a favorite holiday book your family has. Would you like more entries into the drawings?  You can also check out the tour page at: http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2010/09/08/little-shepherd-virtual-book-tour-october-november-and-december-10/ to see where Cheryl has been and where she's going next. Be sure to leave one comment at each blog stop, which will give you more chances in the drawing.

You can also visit Cheryl online at http://ccmalandrinos.com or at the following blogs:

This contest will run until 12/17 @ 10 pm and then the winner will be drawn by Random.org on Cheryl's blog.  Once the winner is drawn and notified they will have 48 hours to contact Cheryl with their contact information.  Winner must provide a street address (no PO Boxes & must be in the US). Be sure to send your friends a link about this awesome giveaway!  

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of Little Shepherd for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

32 comments:

  1. Thanks for lovely review and a chance to let your readers know a tiny bit more about me and my work.

    Readers can visit YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA2KStzoCPo to watch a video trailer for the book.

    Good luck to all who enter the giveaways.

    Cheryl

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  2. What a lovely giveaway. One of our Christmas traditions has always been pizza on Christmas eve, holiday movies on tv and opening one gift from a friend or relative. Although my daughter is 30 and has her own family. They have carried on this tradition at their home with our five grandchildren. and my husband and I still continue it together.
    Thank you for offering such a lovely giveaway. I'm going to youtube now to see Chery;s video. Hugs!

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  3. I'm on this tour as well, and it's awesome to get to see a bit of how the book was inspired!

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  4. Every year my girls make gingerbread houses with my older sister (who is now an empty nester). It's a great time for her, for them, and my husband and I get to go out to dinner!

    blondemomblog @gmail.com

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  5. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your comments. It is greatly appreciated.

    Wishing you a blessed Christmas season.

    Cheryl

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  6. Hi, I am following you from Thirsty Thursday! I wish you a Merry Christmas this season. Have a wonderful day!

    http://caseysgoodlife.com

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  7. We've always read The Night Before Christmas on Christmas eve! It started with my grandfather & has continued since!
    Thanks for a chance to win this great giveaway!
    Best wishes for a Merry Christmas,
    Chanticlear1atgmaildotcom

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  8. On Christmas Eve we sit down as a family and watch "It's a Wonderful Life". Another tradition that may sound morbid, but has become a beautiful thing is that on Dec 1st 1993, my husband's younger sister took her own life. She didn't pass away until the next day. That night we came home and stared at the lights sparkling on our Christmas tree. We put our tree up on December 1st every year as a way to remember Alaina.

    ke7yca at gmail dot com
    http://lisaisabookworm.blogspot.com

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  9. This sounds like a lovely book for the holiday season! Thanks for taking part in Radiant Reviews :)

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  10. Sounds like a wonderful book. One tradition we have is to have Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve. Our menu stays pretty much the same year to year..I look foward to this time immensely!

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  11. I love Christmas BOoks and aour favorite here is the Candy Candy Book
    kathypersons@yahoo.com

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  12. On Christmas Eve day, I host not only Christmas dinner (with carols, games, and gift exchanges afterward), I run an all-day Christmas movie marathon, too! Family and friends know that they can come over, watch Christmas movies and snack at their leisure! People come and go and come back again all day long!

    knittingandsundries(at)gmail(dot)com

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  13. My husband and I wrap one present each year in a fun shape (train, sailboat, lizard, tank, etc.) It's a lot of fun.

    kristen_yeh at yahoo dot com

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  14. We always have a fun time when we decorate the tree. We play Christmas music and drink cider. Afterwards, we watch Christmas movies. It's a fun start to the season.

    miryfaye at yahoo.com

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  15. My favorite holiday tradition is to drive around and look at Christmas lights with my Family while we blare Christmas music <3

    laprochaine at gmail dot com

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  16. love this book and wish that I had funds to purchase it sounds wonderful Each year we partake in the advent season at church
    shopannies@Yahoo.com

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  17. Our favorite tradition is to go as a family and look at all the lights and displays other people have put up to celebrate the season

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  18. One of our fave traditions is to open one gift on Christmas eve. Everyone comes over for snacks and we just gather as a family.

    tclarkusa at gmail dot com

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  19. we always put in a movie and get hot chocolate and decorate!
    twinmomx5@gmail.com

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  20. Love curling up on the sofa with the mail and watching white christmas and holiday inn. Both Christmas must movies

    Versatilevivian@gmail.com

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  21. Newest follower!

    Snackbarreviews.blogspot.com

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  22. Every Christmas Eve, we read to our kids The Night before christmas right before they go to bed. They love it and look forward to it every year.

    jessicap067(at)gmail(dot)com

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  23. 1800Baskets.com Deluxe Balsam Gift Basket sounds very good to me. Thanks for the wonderful giveaway.

    dianad8008 AT gmail DOT com

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  24. We read the Christmas Story from the family Bible every Christmas Eve as a family!
    hollymsc123@aol.com

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  25. thank you for the chance to win! looks like a beautiful story and illustrations. One of our favorite family Christmas stories is The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
    june_spirit2628 at hotmail dot com

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  26. I would love to win! We always read "J is for Jesus" the candy cane story

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  27. My favorite part of Christmas is the candle light singing on Christmas Eve in church. And of course being with family.

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  28. Great giveaway. What a wonderful book this sounds like. One of our traditions as a family has been to always attend Christmas mass together and then of course everyone eats at my place and we eat all day long and watch Christmas movies and later on listen to Christmas music during dessert time. :)
    Carol L
    Lucky4750@aol.com

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  29. We always read the Christmas Story before we open our gifts. joycemlinek@yahoo.com

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  30. We read the Christmas Story every Christmas Eve before bedtime and on Christmas Day we bake a Birthday Cake for Jesus.

    dinellh(@)comcast(.)net

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  31. My favorite holiday tradition is saving baby Jesus and not putting him in the nativity scene - we wrap Him up - He's the first present we open (and the most important) on Christmas morning! Great giveaway!
    arizonarachel at hotmail dot com

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  32. My Favorite Holiday tradition is our Christmas Eve game night
    and we end the night but reading The night before Christmas and
    The true story of christmas from the BIBLE.

    ReplyDelete

 
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