Monday, July 22, 2013

Book Review: A Thief in Sunnyside by Kelly & Kerry Jesberger

***Complimentary product received in exchange for an honest review***


Ages 3-9 Trouble in Sunnyside! Two friends are playing ball in the park when they hear a cry for help. The gardener's flowers have been pulled up by the roots. As they travel deeper into the town, they find that other things have gone missing, too! Will Rocco and Mindy, with the help of a bumbling Private Eye, be able to crack the case?

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About the Authors




Kelly and Kerry Jesberger were born in Elk County, PA in 1988, the twin daughters of Gordon and Sherry (Bish) Jesberger.  Both showed a flair for the creative at a very early age.

Kelly began drawing around the age of six, and showed a remarkable ability to accurately redraw pictures that she saw in books.  She studied under Peter Winklbauer , the renowned water color artist, for a number of years in St. Marys, PA.  Under the tutelage of Mr. Winklbauer, Kelly began winning awards for her art in almost all of the shows that she entered.  She is proficient in all media, though she prefers colored pencil and acrylic paint.

Kerry discovered in elementary school that she loved to write and would spend hours on an old laptop writing stories. Later, she would discover that she also had a knack for using the computer to generate digital art.  When her mother purchased a copy of Paint Shop Pro around 2000, Kerry quickly figured out how to use the somewhat complicated program and made the most of it.  Her computer generated avatars and animated gifs were in high demand by friends and family!

Both girls knew by the time that they graduated from St. Marys Area High School in 2006, that they wanted to enter careers in the arts.  Both were accepted to the art program at Clarion University in Clarion, Pennsylvania. Kelly studied traditional art forms, while Kerry pursued her passion for digital art and continued writing.

It was during an illustration class during their freshman year at Clarion University that the idea for Sunnyside was born. Assigned as a class project, Kelly drew a comic strip called “Sunnyside Up” that featured the characters of Rocco, Mindy and Hallow.  Kerry, thinking the comic strip was quite funny, made the comment that it could easily be turned into a children’s book.

“A Thief in Sunnyside” was approximately two and a half years in the making.  Both girls collaborated on the story, and Kelly painstakingly drew by hand each of the illustrations in the book using colored pencil.  Some of the illustrations were revised, drawn and colored more than once.

After graduating from Clarion University with Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in May of 2010, the twins  reside in Clearfield County, PA.  Kerry works as a graphic designer at ExtremeWear in DuBois, PA. She also designs book covers for Streetlight Graphics, LLC.  Kelly works at TJ Maxx in DuBois, PA but does freelance artwork.  

They hope that you and your children enjoy the little town of Sunnyside as much as they enjoyed creating it.

For more information, please contact them at:

            P.O. Box 130
            Kylertown, PA 16847 
            sunnysidebooks@gmail.com




My Thoughts

A Thief is Sunnywide is a beautifully illustrated children's book, written by a team of twin sisters.  In this tale, the peaceful town of Sunnyside is turned upside down when a thief strikes, stealing flowers, paint brushes and cakes from the local townspeople. Only Sherman Hokes, Private Eye can catch the thief and save the day with a little help from Rocco and Mindy. Together they follow the clues and catch the culprit, but not without a lot of funny bumbling along the way.

My children loved the story of Sherman Hokes. They thought it was funny but still intriguing.  They especially enjoyed the bright colors and expressive illustrations of the kitty cat characters.  The adorable happy ending after they catch the elusive thief was the icing on the cake.


***Please note that I received no form of monetary compensation for this post. I did receive a sample of the product to try in order to write a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and were not influenced in any way. ***

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