Mr. Pig LIVE… with LITTLE BLUE BUS!

Greetings, race fans! Today on MR. PIG LIVE! we have a very special guest. Put your giant foam hands together for...

LITTE BLUE BUS!

<<Whistles>> <<Applause>>

She's the star of the all-new high octane Halloween picture book, MONSTER TRUCKS, from Anika Denise and Nate Wragg!


Before we begin, let's play the trailer. . .


-
MP: Wow! I'm on the edge of my seat!  
LBB: Yup. That's how I roll.

MP: Let's get right to it. What is your full name? 
LBB: Little. Blue. Bus.

MP: What one word best describes you?
LBB: I've been told I'm quite perky.

MP: Do you have a belly button?
LBB: No, but I have a round hood ornament, does that count? It's an audi. *snort*

MP: What is the best thing about being you?
LBB: 0 to 60 in 7.1 seconds

MP: What is the worst thing about being you?
LBB: My turning radius leaves a little to be desired.

MP: If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you bring?
LBB: Four spare tires and a trunk full of gas cans.

MP: What is your idea of the perfect day?
LBB: Can I say my perfect night? (I'm a bit of a night-bus.) Alone… on the speedway… with the wind at my taillights.

MP: If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
LBB: Hmm, I was going to pick invisibility, but then no one would see me cross the finish line. So I'll go with flying. I'd be unstoppable with some wings and a jet engine!

MP: What are you reading right now?
LBB: Winning by Jack Welch.

MP: What's your favorite sound?
LBB: Crowds cheering!

MP: What's your least favorite sound?
LBB: Werewolf Truck's howl. *shiver*

MP: Share one thing that most of our readers don’t know about you.
LBB: Well, I do have this one big secret… but if I told you, it would be a spoiler.

MP: Fair enough. If you could dine with three characters from other books, who would they be?
LBB: That Little Blue Truck seems nice. I've heard the garbage truck from I Stink is a barrel of laughs. And I bet I'd have loads in common with the race car in Race Car Dreams.

MP: If you have a pocket, what's in it right now? 
LBB: No pockets, but there are some mints in my glovebox. Help yourself.

MP: Don't mind if I do. What is your most embarrassing moment?
LBB: The time I tooted in line for gasoline.

MP: Do you have a pet peeve?
LBB: Peeve? Is he here? That's Ghost Truck's third cousin. He's always hanging around.

MP: What was it like working with Anika Denise?
LBB: She's a little like a mad scientist. But I mean that in the best possible way.

MP: Well, that's a wrap, as they say. Read more about MONSTER TRUCKS and its mad scientist creators below. Then join us for a scrumptious MONSTER TRUCKS Literary Lunch, made by Nina from Mamabelly! 

****************************

MONSTER TRUCKS
by Anika Denise
illustrated by Nate Wragg
(Harper, 2016) 

★ “Full-throttle Halloween fun.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“In the energetic rhyming text…the action never stops." —The Horn Book

“Sure to get cheering children on the edges of their seats...monster-truck fans won’t want to miss this Halloween showdown.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Bright, bold illustrations bring characters like Zombie Truck, Frankentruck, and Werewolf Truck to life....with lots of movement in the text and on the pages, this is a quick seasonal storytime selection that is sure to be popular around Halloween. Monstrous fun!” —School Library Journal

Anika Denise is the author of several critically acclaimed books for young readers including her latest, MONSTER TRUCKS, which Publisher’s Weekly pronounced, “a mash up made in heaven (or maybe hell)” in a recent starred review. When not writing tales of vroom and doom, Anika can be found zipping around her hometown of Barrington, Rhode Island in her monster minivan, or reading not-so-scary stories with her husband and three kids. Visit her online at www.anikadenise.com or on Twitter @AnikaDenise.

Nate Wragg is the illustrator of TOO MANY COOKS by Margaret McNamara, GOLDI ROCKS AND THE THREE BEARS by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Beth Coulton, and AT THE OLD HAUNTED HOUSE by Helen Ketteman, among other titles. He’s an art director, an illustrator, and now a monster truck expert. Nate lives in Southern California with his beautiful wife and their wonderful daughter. To learn more about Nate's work visit http://n8wragg.blogspot.com.

****************************

A MONSTER TRUCKS LITERARY LUNCH

prepared by Mamabelly Lunches with Love!

Meet Little Blue Bus from MONSTER TRUCKS, written by Anika Denise and illustrated by Nate Wragg. Little Blue Bus is "perky and cute" so what is she doing in the Monster Truck Race? Find out in this delightful kids' book with a surprising twist!

Nina from Mamabelly made a frightful lunch to match:

• MONSTER TRUCKS vanilla yogurt with chocolate decoration
• frightful mac'n'cheese puff creatures of the night
• a Little Blue Bus sandwich with jelly, (s)cream cheese and chocolate

-
Want more fun literary lunch ideas? Follow Mamabelly here:

* web: www.mamabelly.com

* facebook: www.facebook.com/MamabellysLunchesWithLove

* twitter: @LunchesWithLove