I have a very special post to share with you all! Today marks my very first blog tour post, and I couldn't ask for a better book or author to share this milestone with!
Today, I will be talking about....The Peddler's Road by Matthew Cody!
It is said that in the thirteenth century, in a village called Hamelin, a piper lured all of the children away with his magical flute, and none of them were ever seen again.
Today tough, pink-haired Max and her little brother, Carter, are stuck in modern-day Hamelin with their father . . . until they are also led away by the Piper to a place called the Summer Isle. There they meet the original stolen children, who haven’t aged a day and who have formed their own village, vigilantly guarded from the many nightmarish beings that roam the land.
No one knows why the Piper stole them, but Max and Carter’s appearance may be the key to returning the lost children of Hamelin—and to going home themselves. But to discover the secrets of the Piper, Max and Carter will have to set out on a mysterious quest down the dangerous Peddler’s Road.
Today tough, pink-haired Max and her little brother, Carter, are stuck in modern-day Hamelin with their father . . . until they are also led away by the Piper to a place called the Summer Isle. There they meet the original stolen children, who haven’t aged a day and who have formed their own village, vigilantly guarded from the many nightmarish beings that roam the land.
No one knows why the Piper stole them, but Max and Carter’s appearance may be the key to returning the lost children of Hamelin—and to going home themselves. But to discover the secrets of the Piper, Max and Carter will have to set out on a mysterious quest down the dangerous Peddler’s Road.
Order your copy of The Peddler's Road Here! Goodreads | Amazon | Ba
About Matthew Cody:
Originally from the Midwest, Matthew Cody now lives in New York City with his wife and son. When not writing books or goofing off with his family, he teaches creative writing to kids of all ages.
Photo taken by David Furr
Are you interested yet?!
If you couldn't tell by the summary of this book, it is a book that I will love! When Hannah asked me to be a part of this blog tour, I could not say no! I love retelling of folk lore, and I have never heard of a retelling that involves the Pied Piper, so I am very interested to read this!
In order to help you learn a little more about The Peddler's Road and Matthew, I am very happy to have a guest post from none other than Matthew Cody himself! It is such an honor to have you on the blog! (Plus, he is from the Midwest! Yay for semi-local authors!)
For his guest post, I asked Matthew to write about the importance of believing in "fairy" tales and folklore, along with the significance of these stories to Matthew himself! I figured that this topic would fit along perfectly with The Peddler's Road, and I can't wait to share what Matthew wrote!
**************************************************************************************
"There’s
a quote from Book Two of The Secrets of the Pied Piper series that I’d like to
share with you. I know, I’m supposed to be here talking about Book One, The Peddler’s Road, but bear with me
because I think it’s relevant (and besides, who doesn’t love sneak peeks?). In
it, the characters are surprised to find themselves in danger when one of them
turns to the others and says:
“You
humans. Don’t you listen to your own stories? There’s always a witch in the
woods.”
It’s
so true. Life is filled with opportunity. Adventures wait around every corner,
but so do dangers great and small. Such a winding road can be hard to navigate,
but luckily human beings have spent centuries writing guidebooks. Most people
call them fairy tales, but I prefer the term “folklore.” The term “fairy tale”
implies something silly, and hardly relevant to everyday life, but folklore
implies knowledge, even wisdom, passed down from, er, folk.
Kids
get this on a gut level. They lie quietly in bed and listen to the story about
the little girl who strayed from the forest path and they look out the window
and they just know that there are
wolves waiting there. So what if the view out the window is the neon sign from
the nearby gas station, or the backyard swimming pool. It’s all a dark wood
when the sun goes down.
And
safely tucked into their beds, children can experience the vicarious thrill of
chopping down the beanstalk without a real giant crashing down upon their
heads. It’s all great fun, but when the storybook’s over, maybe they will think
twice about abusing the kindness of strangers.
Most
of these tales, at least in this country, have been given a coat of whitewash.
The stories are still compelling, and the lessons are still there for the
taking, yet they are often served up with a happier ending. But there’s at
least one fairy tale—excuse me, folktale—that
has steadfastly avoided happily ever
after. The Pied Piper of Hamelin rid the village of rats, but when the
townsfolk refused to “pay the piper,” he came back with a vengeance (hmm, maybe
those folk weren’t so wise after
all?).
The
Pied Piper stole the children of Hamelin away. One hundred and thirty of them,
to be exact. And they were never seen again.
Read
the original tale to children, and they get it. Their eyes go wide as they
realize that you left out the most important part: What happened to the children? Where did they go?
If
a child asks you this, or maybe you’re just wondering yourself, I hope you’ll
pick up a copy of The Peddler’s Road
because the answer, mine anyway, is in there.
Who
knows? After all these years, maybe it’s finally time for the children of
Hamelin to get their own happily ever
after? But then again, maybe not.
After
all, there’s always a witch in the woods . . . "
********************************************************************************
After a guest post, I don't normally like to comment on what the author or the blogger has written, just because I like to let them have the final word. But I just want to say thank you to Matthew for "correcting" me on my use of the word "fairy" tales, even if it comes down to personal preference. Fairy tales does involve some sort of negative connotation to it, that whatever the story is will not hold relevance to daily life. But the thing is, stories like this always hold meaning. Children understand the morals behind the story, and they all pass down wisdom, even if it is not obvious at first. I wanted to take a minute to thank Matthew for explaining that and helping me to open my eyes.
Thank you SO much to Hannah from Irish Banana Blog Tours for organizing this amazing tour. Thank you SO much to Matthew Cody, for stopping by on the blog today! Pick up your copy of The Peddler's Road today, and look for my review of the book coming soon!
xoxo
Sheridan
