Guest Post: So Many Girls. . .So Many Bows by Sybrina Durant

Guest Post

So Many Girls. . .So Many Bows

In 2020, the “Cleo Can Tie A Bow” book, written by Sybrina Durant and Illustrated by Pumudi Gardiyawasam introduced readers to Cleo and her striking “hair bow”. 

Cleo loves bows. She wears them as jewelry and to decorate her clothing. She even wears her pretty, long hair tied in a bow on top of her head. She also has a unique way of remembering how to tie a bow and she is helping others learn to tie one, too, through her book.

When Cleo’s book was published, she joined a star-studded panoply of famous girls with ribbon embellished hair-dos. Over the years, many different comics, books, movies and television programs have featured endearing characters who wore bows in their hair. The other ladies might not have been quite as bow-crazy as Cleo but people still remember them for their hair bows.

Let’s take a little walk down memory lane or maybe even be introduced for the first time to some of them. 

1: BETTY BOOP – 1930’s – Everyone loved Betty Boop. She was a star of Talkertoons. Her first film was Dizzy Dishes, where she actually looked more like a dog than a human.  You might not remember that I bet you remember her in Boop-Oop-a-Doop where she was a lion tamer and a tightrope walker. Betty Boop is still a cartoon favorite today.  

2: Blossom-PowerPuff Girl – 1998 – Blossom was the “everything nice” girl of her super power gang. She was also the most level-headed of all the Powerpuff Girls. She could literally freeze objects with her breath; so to keep her happy and you “freeze free” it might be best to give her a candy bar when she starts to get cranky.  Sugar is known to calm her way down.

3: Betty Rubble-Flinstones – 1960 – Betty was the best friend of Wilma Flinstone and she was the adoptive mother of Bamm-Bamm. Remember that little tyke; along with Fred and Wilma’s daughter, Pebbles? These cave people may have lived in the prehistoric town of Bedrock but they had some amazing alternatives to our modern conveniences like telephones, automobiles and washing machines.

4: Judy Jetson-The Jetsons – 1962 – This was my very favorite cartoon, growing up.  I really thought we’d be living their futuristic lifestyle by now. At least, I thought I’d have a flying car. Judy was George and Jane Jetson’s sixteen year old daughter. Anyone remember her floating robotic diary, named, “DiDi”?

5: Nancy (and Sluggo)- 1938 – Nancy was an 8 year old child who lived with her Aunt Fritzi Ritz in Three Rocks, Tennessee. Her best friend was an orphan named Sluggo Smith, who she was always trying to improve. The Nancy comic strip was so popular that it inspired a game called 5-card Nancy. Have you ever played that game? 

6: Helga G. Pataki – Hey Arnold – 1996 –  Poor Helga…she loved Arnold so much that she literally made multiple shrines dedicated to him. Too bad she didn’t know that bullying someone was not conducive to getting them to love you back. An angry, rude girl is kind of a strange main character for a kid’s show but it worked for this one. It thrived on the airwaves from October 7, 1996, to June 8, 2004.

7: Little Audrey – 1947 – Little Audrey was a variation of another cartoon character known as Little Lulu.  Little Audrey was drawn in a blue colored theme while Little Lulu’s color palette was red. Sadly, Little Audrey was the butt of a lot of mean jokes but nothing could get her down.  No matter what catastrophe occurred, “Li’l Audrey just laughed and laughed”. Her first film appearance was in Noveltoon’s Santa’s Surprise.

8: Susie Carmichael-Rugrats – 1993 – Susie is one of the toddlers (thus the term “rugrats”) in a series of imaginative adventures that mainly revolved around Angelica and Tommy Pickles. The kind and fun-loving Susie was introduced to the show as a foil to the mean-spirited Angelica. Susie was easy to love, while Angelica – not so much.

9: Abby Hatcher – 2019 – Abby Hatcher is a Canadian animated cartoon series about a 7 year old child of American and Chinese descent with professional detective skills and tools to rival those of Inspector Gadget. She and her best friend, Bozzly, an aquamarine rabbit-like Fuzzly go on wild adventures together. 

10: Maggie Simpson-The Simpsons – 1989 – The Simpsons is one of the longest running cartoons in history.  There have been 690 episodes and counting. Most everyone knows who innocent baby Maggie is. In all these years, she has never learned to talk or walk very well but she is still adorable, just the same. Did you know that the word “simp” is short for “simpleton” and that is where the family name is derived?

If you enjoyed this article about some of our favorite bow wearing girls, you might want to browse the Girls Love Bows Gift Shop, where you can find the “Cleo Can Tie A Bow” Book book as well as hundreds of bow-themed gifts for your favorite bow-crazy girl.  https://sybrinapublishing.wordpress.com/girls-love-bows-gift-shop-glbgs-1/ 

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Review

Cleo loves bows. She has bows everywhere. This isn’t really a story about Cleo though. This is the story of the rabbit and the fox. The story of how to tie a bow. As a mother of a child who grew up with dispraxia, I am thrilled to find such an easy-to-follow system for teaching young ones to tie a bow. The story masks the fact that they are learning. The book is filled with pages of art that will keep kids entranced. The colors, though at first overwhelmingly pink, are actually quite subtle drawing little eyes to exquisite details and drawing them into rabbit’s story.

I imagine this book is a shoo-in for girls, but there are boys who will enjoy it as well. While it is written towards preschool-age kids, older kids who find themselves still struggling with bow tying, will not find the story too young.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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Cleo Can Tie A Bow: A Rabbit and Fox Story by Sybrina Durant
Publisher: Sybrina Publishing (Sept. 7, 2020)
Category: Children’s Fiction, Parent/Child Activity Books, Picture
Books Tour dates: Feb, 2021
ISBN: 979-8685994844
Available in Print and ebook, 39 pages 

Description Cleo Can Tie A Bow by Sybrina Durant

Cleo loves bows. She wears her hair in a bow and decorates her room with bows. Cleo is bow crazy. Learning to tie a bow is very difficult for some people but Cleo remembers how to do it from a cute story she once heard. It is about a little rabbit with very long ears and a very helpful fox who shows her what to do to keep them clean. This is the story of how Cleo learns to tie a “bunny ear” bow. “Teach a child a useful skill. Build confidence and self-esteem that lasts a lifetime.” 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.

Praise Cleo Can Tie A Bow by Sybrina Durant

“exceptionally fine illustrations by Pumudi Gardiyawasam that enhance.. Using the principles of that story, page by page the instructions for tying a bow are shared as a teaching lesson for children.. This is a clever idea for interactive learning and hopefully the author and illustrator will take on other tasks the entire family can enjoy.”-Grady Harp, Amazon Hall of Fame, Top 50 Reviewer

“This is a cute story that any child would love. It’s an engaging story that will be read over and over again in our home, and passed on through generations. The illustrations are, it’s my daughter’s current favorite bed time story. I’d recommend as a gift to any child or as a part of an educator’s book shelf.”-Marie, Amazon 

“This is a great resource to introduce young children to the bow-tying activity, one of Montessori’s practical life lessons to develop finger control and dexterity. The use of a story and a song to teach children to tie a bow is quite clever. The illustrations are colorful and draws you into the story. This book will be useful for kids who are ready and eager to learn to tie bows.”-Belle Brown, Goodreads

About Sybrina Durant

Award winning 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. ‘Learn To Tie With The Rabbit and The Fox’ won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award and the Indie Bragg Award. Website: https://sybrinapublishing.wordpress.com/cleo-can-tie-a-bow-book/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NedandNellieKnowKnots 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sybrina_spt 
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sybrinad/bows-bows-girls-love-bows/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sybrinapublishing/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLybqF-7D4W3EQfLRqnDC1AQBM7cQadooN

Buy Cleo Can Tie A Bow by Sybrina Durant

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Giveaway Cleo Can Tie A Bow by Sybrina Durant

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This is for one print copy and one bow shaped necklace for 3 winners. It is open to the U.S. only and ends on February 27, 2021 at midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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