Dear Reader, Love Author: Dear Reader, Love Sybrina Durant

Dear Reader…

If you are reading this book, that suggests to me that you or someone you know is just now learning how to tie a bow. You might be wondering why in the world someone would even think to write a book about learning to tie with a rabbit and a fox. Well, around 1985, I experienced an amusing incident in a menswear store. I was looking for a necktie for someone who had never worn one before. When a salesman approached, I laughingly informed him that I didn’t know how to tie a tie and I didn’t think the recipient knew how, either.

Before I could blink, the dapper salesman whisked the tie from my hands and draped it around his on neck. This was a pretty funny sight as he was already wearing a suit and tie. He said, “Here’s an easy way to remember.” With each step in the tie tying process, he quoted a line of a very short story about a fox chasing a rabbit. Basically, the chase went around a tree – twice. Then, they ran under a bush and over a log. Finally, the rabbit jumped into a hole, where the fox couldn’t follow because he was too big. The little rabbit was safe. That story delighted me. The salesman said it was an old folk tale. I was so enamored with it that I wanted to find the book. But there was no book so I decided to write it myself. My first book “learn to tie” book wasn’t published until nearly 30 years after I first learned how to tie a tie.

The first picture book in the series is titled “Learn To Tie A Tie With The Rabbit and The Fox.” I was so excited about its possibilities that I had it translated into Spanish and Tagalog. Why Tagalog, you might ask? The simple answer is that the artist, Anna Marie Navarro, is Filipino and Tagalog is her native language. Basically, I did it to honor her. She also provided the artwork for another version of that book for girls titled “Learn To Tie A Neck Scarf With The Rabbit And The Fox.”

“Learn To Tie A Tie With The Rabbit and The Fox” is a very, very simple story. It was so simple in fact, that I started thinking I needed something with little more back story so, I wrote “Nellie Knows How To Knot A Neck Scarf”. It’s about a little girl who loves dressing up in big dresses, fancy shoes, interesting hats and of course, neck scarves. I had a little vision of Fancy Nancy in mind as I wrote that one but the artwork is much simpler. After that one, I wrote “Ned Knows How To Knot A Neck Tie.” That book is about a young boy who is captivated with knots of all kinds. . .and neck ties. Both of those books were excellently illustrated by Enrique Vignolo.

The whole while, I couldn’t stop wishing that I could come up with a “how to tie a bow” book. But that story just would not come to me. My brain was locked into the idea of a fox chasing a rabbit to create the steps of tying a ribbon. It just would not work, no matter what I tried. Finally, this year, I broke the mold, so to speak, and came up with a story about a fox who helps a rabbit keep her extra-long ears from dragging in the dirt. Cleo Can Tie A Bow was born and the amazing artwork by Pumudi Gardaysam is the cherry on top of the final book in my “Learn To Tie” series. This book was written with a little girl as the main character but boys will enjoy it, too. Bows aren’t just for hair, you know. They have a lot of uses, including for tying shoelaces, too!

About the Book

Cleo can tie a bow. She learned what she knows from a rabbit and a fox. They can teach your child how to tie a bow, too. This fun picture book is intended to be a family bonding parent-child activity. It’s a great way to learn to tie shoe laces.

ORDER YOUR COPY

Amazon → https://amzn.to/3emYL9V

Barnes & Noble → https://bit.ly/37ZVhsM

About the Author

Sybrina Durant is the author of The Rabbit and The Fox Learn To Tie Series of Books which include Learn To Tie A Neck Tie With The Rabbit and the Fox in English, Spanish and Tagalog; Ned Can Knot A Neck Tie; Nellie Can Knot A Neck Scarf and the newest addition, Cleo Can Tie A Bow. She also the author of The Blue Unicorn Series of books and has an online book store which features, unicorns, rabbits, foxes, and how to tie books plus gift items related to those things plus lots of bow-themed gifts.