Blackberry Banquet

Mmm-mm! Forest animals squeak, tweet, slurp, yip and chomp over the sweet, plump fruit of a wild blackberry bush. But what happens when a bear arrives to take part in the feast? Young children will enjoy following the story by making the animal sounds, and the chaos that strikes upon the bear's arrival will surely bring on the laughter. The cumulative, rhyming text makes for a great read-aloud.

Terry Pierce (Blackberry Banquet) is the author of sixteen children’s books, including picture books, easy readers, joke books, and non-fiction. Terry now writes full-time, teaches children’s writing workshops and is a visiting author at elementary schools. She also proudly serves on the Ventura/Santa Barbara regional board of the SCBWI. Terry was inspired to write Blackberry Banquet by her son (now grown) and their berry-picking family vacations in Oregon. Even though he hated bees (which frequented the blackberry bushes), he knew the lessons of The Little Red Hen and would help her to pick berries anyway. Terry lives in the high desert of California with her husband of thirty years, one goldfish, and a brown bobtailed cat.Lisa Downey is a freelance artist and graphic designer. A former art teacher, Lisa also attended FIT in New York, where she studied advertising and packaging design and later taught introductory packaging design classes. “Illustration has always been just under the surface in my career as a designer. I gained valuable skills working in packaging design firms; but the six year old inside was just itching to jump out and run all over the drawing board,” says Lisa. Her styles range from cartoonish to very representational. Her favorite medium is pastels. In addition to illustrating Blackberry Banquet, Lisa also illustrated Julie the Rockhound and Happy Birthday to Whooo? for Sylvan Dell. She lives in the SC Lowcountry, with her very supportive husband, Len, and their cats; Pom Pom and Ophelia.