Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Meet Rebekha and Joy Delgado










What a treat we have for you today! Publisher, illustrator Joy Delgado joins us accompanied with loads of information about the book Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa is written by author Rebekha Delgado and illustrated by Joy Delgado. Welcome Joy and Rebekha!






Check out the trailer





Purchase Info:
Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa by Rebekha Delgado
Picture book ISBN: 978-0-9755454-1-6 $11.95
Activity Book ISBN: 978-0-9755454-2-3 $ 4.95
Teacher’s guide ISBN: 978-0-9755454-3-0 $ 8.95


What are others saying about Zooprise Party?

When Sally the zookeeper wishes Mori the okapi a Happy Birthday, Lito, the nosiest of all
the gerenuks, is listening at the fence between the two exhibits. Follow along as he gets Elvis
the king vulture to help him plan and pull off a surprise party for Mori. Will Mori be surprised?
How will all the animals in the zoo get to the party?

This book is the joint effort of author Rebekha Delgado and illustrator Joy Delgado. What started out as a family project, this entertaining picture book has taken flight! A fully bilingual,
English/Spanish, story that has an activity book and a teacher's guide to go with it, this trio truly goes beyond reading.
Intended as a read-aloud for small children or for older children to read it for themselves, it can be purchased at Amazon.com, Target,com and the publisher's website.3 To learn more about Zooprise Party/Fiesta Zoorpresa and gets lots of free activities, visit http://www.laughing-zebra-children-books.com/.

This is a very different book! I've seen some other bilingual books before, but none quite like Zooprise Fiesta. On each page of this fun story, you will find the English version on the lefthand side and the Spanish version of the same tale on the righthand side. It's a sweet little story and one that your kids will enjoy hearing over and over again. If you have bilingual children or are working on teaching either English OR Spanish as a second language, this book would certainly fit right in.
As a homeschooling parent, I was especially excited to see the accompanying books. The workbook is full of fun pages for children to fill in and do - all accompanying the story and making it "come to life". My eight year old daughter enjoyed reading the book, but she's spending much more time working through the sheets in the workbook. There are fill-in-the-blanks, coloring pages, matching, word search, crossword puzzles and more. She is having to refer back to the book to find answers to some of the questions, making this a very educational (yet fun) adventure. The Teacher's Guide contains great lead-in questions, lots of extra information about the zoo characters in the book, and both art and game ideas - enough to turn this book into a mini-unit-study.
Heidi Strawser – Reviews by Heidi

*******
A delightful and entertaining bilingual story of friendship is waiting to be discovered in
Zooprise Party by Rebekha Delgado. Mori the okapi is celebrating a birthday, but no one seems to care--not even his nosy neighbor, Lito the gerenuk. What do Lito and Elvis the king vulture know that Mori doesn't?
This is a wonderful book that will be enjoyed by young people (ages 3 - 8) in many parts of the world. Told in English and Spanish, your child will learn about friendship and a variety of interesting animals. The author's love and knowledge of animals is obvious throughout the book as she assigns human traits to these zoo creatures whom your children will love and adore.
Illustrator Joy Delgado did an excellent job of bringing these characters to life. Her attention to detail and the fun and lighthearted appearance of Mori and friends will be a big hit with young readers. And through most of the pages there is a wild rabbit hopping around. Though not mentioned in the book, I wondered if he/she has a story of his/her own to tell.
The text is large and clear so that children who are reading on their own will have no problem understanding the words. My girls (ages 7 and 5) picked up on the fact that each main character has his own colored text in the story, so that the words "Mori" and "okapi" always appear in purple, "Lito" and "gerenuk" in green, and "Elvis" and "king vulture" in red. This allowed them to relate which animal went with which name easily.
Also available is the Zooprise Party Activity Book, filled with crossword puzzles, color by number pages, search-a-words, and connect the dots, and mazes. There are also coloring pages that ask questions about the book and the back page has bookmarks for your child to cut out and share with friends.
There is also a Teacher's Guide that will help educators introduce children in Grades K - 3 to a variety of topics that coincide with the book. From Language Arts to Math and Science, this guide will provide educators with many ideas to help children learn about themselves, others, and animals. You'll find more activities, crafts, recipes, and animal facts at http://www.laughing-zebra-children-books.com/index.htmlZooprise Party by Rebekha Delgado is a book that should be on every young reader's bookshelf, though I doubt it will stay there long because they'll be too busy reading it.Cheryl Malandrinos – Reviewer

******





About the Author

Rebekha always knew she wanted to spend her life working with animals. She never lost sight of that dream. She started her ‘career’ working with animals in elementary school by writing about them. One of her poems, ‘Wish’, was published in a national poetry contest. It is about wishing that she was a wolf, for only a day or two. In high school, she continued to write about animals and even entered her writing in local contests.

After high school she went to the University of Florida where she received her B.A. in Anthropology. She then attended the Santa Fe Community College Teaching Zoo and earned her A.S. in Zoo Animal Technology. While she was there, she wrote Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa, and several other stories not published yet.
Upon graduation, Rebekha began working at an AZA accredited zoo in Orlando where she still works today.
NEXT STOP ON THE TOUR: Chatel Village!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

BREAKING NEWS!!

Author Mayra Calvani announced early this morning that the Spanish version of her book, CRASH! is now available. To learn more, visit her book's page at Guardian Angel Publishing.
Congrats Mayra. We wish you much success!

Want to learn more about Mayra Calvani? Her next stop is the Daily News in Chatel Village!

Monday, June 1, 2009

A CRASH! Course on Author Mayra Calvani

The first day of the Bounding for Books Blog Tour is here. Author Mayra Calvani stopped by and shared all on her latest book CRASH!

Be sure to stop by her blog
www.crashthepuppy.blogspot.com
and leave a comment. At the end of the tour one lucky winner will receive an autographed copy of the print version of CRASH.

Multi-genre author, reviewer, dog lover and animal advocate Mayra Calvani hails from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She's a regular contributor to Blogcritics Magazine and Suite101. When she is not writing, she enjoys reading, playing the violin, interviewing other authors for her blogs and newsletters and watching too many reruns of Gilmore Girls and I Dream of Jeannie. She’s the author of the picture book, The Magic Violin, also published by Guardian Angel Publishing. She's also the Latino Books Examiner for Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/x-6309-Latino-Books-Examiner


Mayra Calvani's book, CRASH! is a must-read for dog fans. We follow along as Marcelo tries to pick out the "perfect" name for his new, furry friend. The colorful, realistic illustrations done by Anna PylypchuK completes the book. Many reviewers enjoyed the CRASH! as well.

Since I will be hosting such successful authors as Mayra Calvani on this tour, I'm asking each one of them some questions. Check out what Ms. Calvani had to say:

Jennifer Gladen (JG): Tell us more about CRASH!

Mayra Calvani (MC): Crash is a humorous and heart-warming story about a little boy and his
first puppy. The boy learns the responsibilities that comes with owning a dog, and finds out that choosing the perfect name for a puppy
can be a very hard job! Readers can find all about it at
www.crashthepuppy.blogspot.com. The book will be available in Spanish
soon. I’m also donating 50% of my royalties to a golden retriever
rescue and sanctuary.


JG: Where did you get your idea for the story? Did something inspire you?

MC: Yes. Several years ago we had to give away our first golden retriever
puppy because my daughter was allergic and got very sick. His name was
Crash. Writing the book was a healing experience and helped me come to
terms with his leaving. A book is a very powerful thing.


JG: Yes, it's sad to lose a pet. I'm glad writing the book helped heal you.
What is the best trait about your main character? What is the worst?

MC: The best? I’m loyal. The worst? I’m not as hardworking as I’d like.

JG: Describe the world through your character’s eyes. What do you see,
hear, feel and think?

MC: As Marcelo, the little boy in the story, the only thing I see, hear
and think about is CRASH!

JG: Do you have any upcoming books or projects you are working on?

MC: I have three other children’s picture books coming soon from Guardian
Angel Publishing. I’m also working on various works in progress in the
adult, young adult and children’s categories. In addition, I have
several finished manuscripts doing the publisher roundup. I keep
myself pretty busy!

JG: I’ve started offering tips on my blog to other authors. What is one
can’t-live-without-tip you have for beginning authors.

MC: ‘Leap, and the net will appear.’ You have to believe in yourself and
your dreams; you have to keep trying; you have to ‘just do it’. Don’t
talk about writing the novel or story. Just sit and write it. The only
person who can start the wheel moving is YOU.

JG: Excellent advice, Mayra. Thank you for visiting us! Good luck with all your projects!

Think you might want to buy CRASH? I have great news for you. Mayra Calvani is donating 50% of her author royalties to Almost Heaven Golden Retriever Rescue and Sanctuary

Purchase info:

Crash!
by Mayra Calvani
Illustrated by Anna Pylypchuk
Guardian Angel Publishing
Tel: 314 276 8482
ISBN: 1-933090-54-5
April 2008
Paperback, 32 pages, $10.95
Picture Book, Ages 2-6

The Spanish Version is coming out this summer. Watch for it!

Links where you'll find Mayra:

*Pets and Their Authors: www.petsandauthors.blogspot.com

*Mayra Calvani is the Latino Books Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/x-6309-Latino-Books-Examiner

*Blog for Crash! www.crashthepuppy.blogspot.com


Crash! isn't the only place you'll see Mayra's love of animals. Check out these articles on dogs:


http://ezinearticles.com/?Finding-the-Perfect-Name-For-Your-Puppy&id=1252779

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Responsibilities-of-Owning-a-Dog&id=1252771

http://dogs.suite101.com/article.cfm/great_online_resource_for_dog_owners

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Bounding for Books Blog Tour


We have an exciting two weeks coming up! The Bounding for Books Blog Tour is underway June 1, 2009. Follow along the tour. You'll hear from authors Mayra Calvani, Donna Shepherd, Kim Chatel, Margot Finke, Shari Lyle-Soffe and Jennifer Gladen. Learn more about these authors and their books published by Guardian Angel Publishing.

We also have a special guest along with us. Joy Delgado,
publisher and illustrator of Zooprise Party/Fiesta Zoorpresa


The tour includes:


Donna Shepherd, author of Dotty’s Topsy Tale,
http://www.topsyturvyland.com/

Jennifer Gladen, author of A Star in the Night, http://www.jgladen.blogspot.com/

Joy Delgado,
http://goingbeyondreading.blogspot.com


Kim Chatel, author of A Talent for Quiet,
http://www.kimchatel.com/H1A_Daily_News/H1A_Daily_News.html

Margot Finke, author of Rattlesnake Jam, http://margotfinke.blogspot.com

Mayra Calvani, author of Crash!,
http://www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com/

Shari Lyle-Soffe, author of Nothing Stops Noah, http://sharilyle-soffe.com


What to expect:

Visit everyone's blog from June 1 through 14th! Every author will host another author three times a week during the tour, namely Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please be sure to check everyone's out. Some blogs are offerin
g prizes:


Donna Shepherd - A copy of Topsy Turvy Land (print copy in the U.S. ; PDF outside the U.S.)

Kim Chatel - A signed copy of A Talent for Quiet

Margot Finke:
At the end of each week Margot will give away 3 FREE AUDIO links. Each link has Margot reading one of her stories + illustrations. These will go to the 3 readers who add that week's most unique comments.

Shari Lyle-Soffe - A Signed copy of Nothing Stops Noah

Jen's Writing Tip #8: This, That and the Other Thing



Looking to cut words in your manuscript to meet the word count? After you review it for unnecessary sentences, do a search through your document. Search for the word "that." It's a word we use without realizing it. Many times, it just clutters up the work.

For example:

It made Tammi mad that Alice took that book.

Aside from having unnecessary words in the sentence, it's also hard to visualize what is going on. Now take a look at the same sentence without "that." (Plus a better adjective in there couldn't hurt.)

Tammi scowled at Alice for taking the book.

See how the second sentence flows better? You also have a better visual of what's going on. In this case the sentences have almost the same word count, but again, it's more clear as to what is going on.

Here's an example on how eliminating "that" can shorten your sentences. There are often times more unnecessary words to accompany "that."

For example:

I found that reading the story reminded me of my childhood.

Which words would you cut to make the sentence more appealing? Now take a look below:

Reading the story reminded me of my childhood.


Which sentence did you enjoy reading more? Which one sounded more natural?

For your next manuscript, make sure that that is left out ;)

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Jen's Writing Tip #7

Watch "ly" words


We've heard it before. Editors don't like words that end in "ly". Sometimes they are necessary and even make your paragraph better, but most of the time they get in your way of a clean cut manuscript. I once was guilty of this writing sin. I had about 4 "ly" words in one paragraph. A critique partner pointed out how it slowed down the flow of the story. As I thought about it, losing all those words helped with the word count goal I tried reach. So before you hand in those manuscripts to your critique group or a publisher, read through that work. As you come across each "ly" word, see if your sentence can go without it.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Jen's Writing Tip# 6 Top Ten Questions to Ask Your Character


When writing a story, it's important to know your character. It's been said you should know your character as well as you know yourself. One way to do that is to "interview" your character. You aren't going to use all the information you come up with, but you will have a rich background of information to choose from.


How do you interview a character? Put yourself in the frame of mind of your character. What would she say or do in response to the questions? Before you know it, your character might not be able to stop talking.


Here are my top ten questions I ask my character:


10. Where do you live?

9. Who is in your family?

8. Do you get along with your family?

7. Who is your best friend and why?

6. What do you think of school? Is it fun, boring, horrifying?

5. What is the best thing that ever happened to you? Worst?

4. What do you like to do when you aren't in school or with your friends?

3. What do you do when you get upset? Do you have a special place you go, or a routine you follow?

2. What do you think of boys/girls?

1. Tell me one interesting thing that your best friend doesn't even to know.


I'm sure you can come up with even more questions. Once you get an idea of who your character is, you might end up with pages of questions to ask them. That's okay. The more you know, the better your readers will enjoy your character.


Happy Writing!

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