Trick or Treat with Casey Lyall!

Hi, readers and writers, and frog fanatics, too! What happens when you're a witch with a popular cooking show whose main course just ... doesn't quite want to cooperate? We're so excited to have the spook-tacular Casey Lyall with us today who is sharing a book that captures just that. In A Spoonful of Frogs, a witch attempts to make her favorite treat - frog soup - in her popular cooking show until the frogs decide they don't want to be cooked. What's a witch to do when she can't have her favorite treat? Want to know more about the wickedly wonderful Casey Lyall, her enchanting book, A Spoonful of Frogs, PLUS want to know what tricks or treats are in store? Read on if you dare...

Q: Hi, Casey! Thanks so much for Trick-or-Treating with #SeasonsOfKidLit! We’re thrilled to have you with us and hear about your hilarious and wonderfully wicked book, A Spoonful of Frogs - one of my favorite books!

Can you share a little bit about yourself and the inspiration behind your book?

A: Hi! Thanks for the invite! Happy to be here! So, a little about me - I’m a children’s book author and a branch assistant at my local library. I write middle grade novels and picture books, and I also have a graphic novel coming out next year that I’m very excited about. (The League of Littles from Greenwillow Books.) Mostly I love writing any story that makes me laugh.

That’s really how the idea for A Spoonful of Frogs came about. I was reading an article online about tree frogs and there was a photo in it of a frog on a spoon - to show how small they were, I think - and I was sitting there wondering how they managed to get the frog to stay on the spoon long enough to get the picture taken. I kept thinking about someone trying to put the frog on a spoon and it jumping off again and again.

All of a sudden that thought morphed into the idea of a witch with a cooking show, trying to make frog soup and the frog jumping off the spoon over and over and it made me laugh so I wrote it! Next thing I knew, I had a first draft for A Spoonful of Frogs!

Q: A Spoonful of Frogs has an eccentric setting, one we don’t see every day in #kidlit books! It takes place on a witch’s TV cooking show! This is so original and fun and even incorporates an extra layer of humor for adult audiences, which is hard to pull off. What tips would you give to writers who are looking to incorporate themes that both children and adults would enjoy? 

A: I think at the heart of it, humour is pretty universal. Everyone loves to laugh. That being said, you’re never going to write something that appeals to everyone out there, so I think my best tip is to always write what makes you laugh. The right audience will find it - kids and adults alike.

Excellent advice! Thanks for sharing.

Q:  The witch’s plan to make frog soup goes awry when she finds frogs are extra hard to cook due to their jumpy characteristics. I won’t give away the ending for those who haven’t read it (PS, readers, you need to check out this book!), but it’s well executed and shows a bit of compromise on the witch’s end. 

What do you hope readers, young and old, will take away from your book? And what makes this a great read for any season?  

A: A good takeaway is probably that if you take a problem that you’re having and look at it from a different perspective, you might find a surprising solution!

And A Spoonful of Frogs is a great read at any time because shenanigans are always in season.   

Q:  What other spooky books of yours can we read ASAP and/or be on the lookout for? 

A: My latest new middle grade novel came out this past May. It’s called Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities (Greenwillow Books) and it offers some spooky fun.

Plus, next summer, I have a new picture book on the way called Vampire Jam Sandwich (Tundra) so keep an eye out for that one too!

Spooky Fun? Vampire Jam Sandwich? We can't WAIT to check them out!

Q: What’s one question you wish we would have asked you?

A: I would love to talk about the importance of picture book illustrators! Especially with this particular book. So much of the humour depended on the witch’s reactions and the movements of the frogs. (And their hilarious little faces.) Vera took what was a fairly simple idea and made it - sorry, not sorry, for the pun - LEAP off the page. 

As a writer, it was so cool to see how she interpreted the story and the extra layers that she brought to it. Her work makes me smile every time I see it. 

Bonus question:  What was your favorite costume as a kid? 

A: I dressed up as a witch one year and it was absolutely one of my most favourite costumes. I felt very spooky!

Thanks again for joining us today. It was SO COOL having you here with us.

Readers, want to know what we thought of A Spoonful of Frogs? Take a look at our Peek A Boo Review.

You can also find our reviews are also on Amazon and Goodreads.

Q: Would you like to leave a Trick or a Treat for our readers?

A: A Treat!  I'd love to offer a signed copy of A Spoonful of Frogs along with a set of stickers.

Wow, thanks for such a eerie-sistible treat!

Giveaway Details: Readers, to enter to win this sweet treat 1) share this post on social media and 2) leave a comment below to thank Casey for stopping by. Amphibian-themed GIFs are toad-lly appreciated.

Winners for the Trick-or-Treat event will be drawn on or about 10/22!

*Books will be shipped in the US only.*

Note: Those who leave a comment on all posts will be eligible to win one (1) of ten (5) Rate Your Story Speed Passes, perfect for quick MS feedback, provided by Agent Mentee Lynne Marie & Author Heather Macht.

About Casey Lyall:

Casey Lyall lives in Southwestern Ontario where she also works at her local library (and waits for Management to discover they’re actually paying her to have fun.) When she’s not writing, Casey loves to bake, doodle, and learn extremely groan-worthy jokes to tell her friends.

Casey is the author of humorous books for kids such as the HOWARD WALLACE, P.I. series, GNOME IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS, and A SPOONFUL OF FROGS

(illustrated by Vera Brosgol.)

Her upcoming titles include WAKING THE DEAD AND OTHER FUN ACTIVITIES (Greenwillow Books, 2024) and VAMPIRE JAM SANDWICH (Tundra Books, 2024 - illustrated by Nici Gregory.)

For more about Casey, check out the below links:

Website: https://www.caseylyall.com/

Haper Collins Author Page: https://www.harpercollins.ca/author/cr-199161/casey-lyall/

To purchase Casey's books on Amazon, or to leave a review for them, click here.

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A special thanks to David Rodriguez Lorenzo for the amazing custom-signatures!