Wishes of a Super 2015 to everyone

We wish you all a super 2015.

May you fly to new places and fill your heart with love, your face with a huge lasting smile from smile-land, and your book shelves with new adventures!

Happy 2015

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all,

and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas

Kiki and the Baby Unicorn

"Kiki and the baby unicorn", out now at amazon.com:

This is a story of a Little Girl that wants to find a new friend for her cuddly toys. She goes to the zoo in search for a baby unicorn. The search becomes a beautiful adventure where she meets and talks to a lot of animals.

This book is designed to create a shared experience between parent and child, as the parent reads the book to the child, the child can follow the story through the drawings. This is a book from the series "We didn't fly to that cloud yet" that tells the larger than life story about a father and a daughter in smile land. It is a series dedicated to better parenting through storytelling. One of the activities that helps us communicate with our children is reading for them, this book intends to give you this shared experience with your child.

Available at all amazon sites:

US	UK	Germany

The Big Pirate Ship

Why do we have pirates in our imaginary? Do you tell pirate stories to your kids? How do your kids feel about pirates? Do they want to be a pirate? Do they understand what a pirate is? Is a pirate simply a symbol for bad people? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The Little Girl got lost in the library. This library is big. Papi liked to bring the Little Girl to the library, Papi said all stories lived in this big building full of books. And each book could whisper a beautiful story.
The Little Girl was afraid, many stories have bad people or big monsters. The Little Girl did not want to find a bad man or a big monster before she could find Papi.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!", heard the Little Girl from behind the bookshelf, was it Santa Claus or was it a big bad pirate. The Little Girl crouched behind the bookshelf and waited to listen a bit more.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!, Where are all the kids?", must be Santa Claus, he wants to give presents to kids. The Little Girl stood up to go and meet Santa, and continued to listen to the man with the loud voice talking.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!, Where are all the kids? Those nasty little rascals need to be punished for waking me up".
"On no!", though the Little Girl, "that is not Santa, that is an angry man."
And the big angry man appeared from behind the bookshelf, "Ah! Ah! Ah!, Here is a Little Girl, catch her", said the Pirate Captain to all the ugly pirates.

The Little Girl climbed the bookshelf as fast as she could, and the books helped the Little Girl. one by one, the books stretched out of the bookshelf and made a staircase in front of the Little Girl.
the Little Girl ran up the staircase and climbed above the tallest bookshelves. She could now see the clouds under her.

The Little Girl continued to run over the clouds looking for an exit. Suddenly the clouds finished and the little Girl could see down a volcano island with a pirate ship docked in the bay. The Little Girl flew down towards the ship.

As the Little Girl was flying, she looked back and saw the pirates falling from the edges of the clouds into the sea. Suddenly she could listen to a repetitive sound: "tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc". She looked down to where the pirates were falling and saw a pair of eyes ticking with the sound. It was the big crocodile. The pirates ran above the water strait to the pirate ship.
The Little Girl was feeling tired of flying and needed to rest, but the only place she could see near enough was the pirate ship. The Little Girl flew slowly to the pirate ship not making any noise.

The story continues at Row Row Row Your Boat...

The Little Mermaid

How do you teach your kids to swim? Are they naturals? Do they like water? Do they need convincing to enter a swimming pool? Do they complain with the floaters? WHat was it like the first time they attempted swimming? And what was it like the first time they were successful in their attempt at swimming? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The Little Girl was excited, she knew Papi today was taking her to the  swimming pool. Poor Papi, he forgot the swimming floaters, the Little Girl Girl add to remind Papi. But Papi smiled, "Today you don't need the floaters".
"Why?", asked the Little Girl.
"You will see Little Girl!", answered Papi.
They arrived at the swimming pool, it was a different swimming pool, not the usual they came to.
"Papi, this is different!"
"Yes it is", answered the smiling Papi.
The Little girl saw a big swimming pool with many kids playing around. No kids were using floaters. They all had their little heads above water for a little bit to just dive the next minute.
The Little Girl entered with Papi into the swimming pool.
Papi held her hand, the water was different, it was harder. The Little Girl was floating.
"Papi, I am floating without the floaters!", shouted excitedly the Little Girl.
Soon the Little Girl started copying the other Kids. She dove into the water...

"Papi, I am a mermaid".
And the Little Mermaid swam in the pool. She was like a wild animal being freed into the wilderness. She felt as if she belonged in that small swimming pool her entire life.
Papi shed a salty tear, her Little Girl was now a lovely Little Mermaid.
The other parents shared tears of joy.
It was the tears of the parents that filled this magic swimming pool where all of them came to teach their children how to become mermaids.

The Little Butterfly

What would you want if you could change your body ? Probably being thinner, or taller, or stronger...
Have you asked that question to a child? Probably you get the answer to have wings, or be a mermaid, or have elastic arms...
Kids imagination is so fantastic, what happens that makes us loose such a wishes?
Tell me your story, here is mine...

Little Girl was looking at the red flower. A butterfly flew over and caught the Little Girls eyes.
- "Hello Butterfly, you have beautiful wings", said the Little Girl.
The butterfly flew around the Little Girl. As it flew the Little Girl looked and followed the beautiful butterfly spinning and the dress became a balloon.
- "You can fly, you have a beautiful balloon.", said the butterfly.
The Little Girl floated in the air and with a lot of energy used the arms to push her in the butterfly's direction. As the Little Girl used all her energy, the dress transformed into beautiful wings, and suddenly the Little Girl herself could fly with the butterfly.
- "I can see the lake, the garden, the flowers, the tree tops...", shouted excitedly the Little Girl.
As the Little Girl saw a beautiful garden picture of a flower, made of many flowers, she flew to the edge of the large flower, just like a butterfly looking for the flowers nectar.
Papi came to the garden at that very moment and saw the Little Girl flapping her dress at the garden edge.
- "Hello Little Girl, come, we are going to the garden.", said Papi.
-" I already saw the garden and tasted every flower.", said giggling the Little Girl.

The frog that kissed the princess

The frog was by the pond. The pond is covered by beautiful waterlilies over the quite water under the shadow of the tall trees.
A dragonfly flew by. The dragonfly was doing a dance over the waterlilies. As the dragonfly flew from one waterlily to the next, the dragonfly made ripples on the pond's quite water.
And the ripples spread through the surface making beautiful circular patterns.
The frog kissed the dragonfly, and a cloud of purple smoke rose from the waterlilies covering the dragonfly.

When the smoke disappeared a beautiful princess appeared.
"Thank You Little Frog!", said the princess.
And tip toeing on the waterlilies, the princess danced. As the princess touched each waterlily, the waterlily blossomed into another layer of color.
The dance was the most beautiful ballet the frog had ever seen.
In a swirl the princess danced away.
The frog jumped into the water and swam under the waterlilies.
As the frog made bubbles under water, the bubbles float to the surface. Each bubble surrounded a waterlily. The sunshine rays came through the tall trees to the water bubbles and opened into a rainbow.
The pond was full of color, and the frog sang "Let's be together!"

What is the password ?

Do you live in fear your kid can follow some stranger? What measures did you take to protect your child? Are the teachers prepared? Is your family ready for the challenge? Does your child know how to protect himself?

The bad man come to the Little Girl, "Come I have here some candy, come with me and I take you to your mommy, she is waiting."
"What is the Secret Code?", asks the Little Girl.
The bad man does not know the secret code.
"Tell me the Secret Code or I shout and call the teacher, call the police, call the firemen!", threatened the Little Girl.
The bad man said "Candy is the Secret Code!"
"WRONG!", shouted the Little Girl, "HELP! BAD MAN, BAD MAN!"

Monster spray

Are your kids afraid of night monsters and ghosts? Do they use it as an excuse to not go to bed? Or do you feel they are really afraid to go to bed? What are they afraid of? Of nightmares? Of monsters hidden in the closet or under the bed? Are they afraid of ghosts? What do you tell your kids about monsters and ghosts? Do your kids believe you? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The doctor was talking to the Little Girl.
"Are you afraid of monsters in your room?", asked the doctor.
The Little Girl nodded her head.
"Where do the monsters hide?", asked the doctor.
"Behind the toy stand!", answered the Little Girl.
"Have you seen the monsters?", asked the doctor.
The Little Girl nodded her head once more.
"What do you do when you see them?"
The Little Girl placed her hands over her eyes and closed them.

"I know what you need, I am going to write here a recipe, and your dad will pick it up at the store!", said the doctor, "It is a special spray that has a smell that only monsters can smell, it smells horrible for them and they go away!"
The Little Girl, at night, before going to bed sprayed the corners of the room with the spray.
That night she slept very well, no monsters appeared. The monsters told at monster school that they should not go to the Little Girls room, it had a horrible smell that no monster could smell.
From that day onwards, the monsters never again appeared at the Little Girls room.

Books final proof approved

What a great day!

What a great day today, the first two books final proof has been approved today. Both titles will be available on Amazon worldwide in 7 days in paper-cover format. The kindle versions are already available. I am really excited and need to say a huge thank you to everybody that as helped me in this quest. Some more actively, other not so, but nevertheless a simple like on my facebook page has been enough to keep me motivated into continuing the work.

I have referenced the first 100 facebook fans in the books dedication. I really appreciate your support, many of you I know personally, others not, but the simple fact that you have given me your support really means a lot to me. You believed and motivated me when the book was just a simple idea.
Now we have two books that have stories to live on their own, that my daughter enjoys each time I tell them to her while she looks at the pictures. I hope you can have this shared experience between yourselves and your children as you read the book to them. It is really something special I feel each time we read a book for the second or third, or nth time, as they know the story and listen to it over and over again, they seem to enjoy it even more, and even tell pieces of the story as we read it.

I have one more thing to ask you, it is really, really important. If you do buy the book, be it the paper-cover or the kindle version, please, please, do write a review on it at amazon's site. My belief is that the true experience of reading the book for your child comes from the paper-cover version, therefore I have asked to price the kindle version at minimum price, it's just for people to read it and get the feeling for what the book is. Maybe they enjoy it and get the paper-cover version to experience the reading to their children or grandchildren.

Have many, many ours of shared love with your children, and do share with me your stories. It is great to have a pool of experiences to make some fantastic stories come to life.


Alex.

Salad Icecream

Do your kids like ice-cream? How often do you allow them to eat it? Do they ask frequently for ice-cream? What are their favorite flavors? Do you give them ice-cream as a reward? Do you make eating ice-cream like a special event? What do they learn when eating ice-cream? Sharing? Giving? Tell me your story, here is mine...

"Papi, I want Ice-cream!", asked the Little Girl.
"Why do you want Ice-cream?"
"I have cleaned my room every day this week", said proudly the Little Girl.
"Ah! That is nice, let's check your reward board", said Papi.
Effectively the reward board as 7 stars in the room cleaning target. One star for each day the Little Girl cleaned the room. And in the end of the row was a picture of an ice-cream.
"Let's go and get you your ice-cream!", said Papi.

At the ice-cream shop...
"I want orange ice-cream, orange is healthy!", said the Little Girl.
"I don't want chocolate, chocolate is not healthy."
"And I want banana, banana is a fruit it is healthy."
"Do you have tomato ice-cream? I want a salad ice-cream."

Dunking Oreos

Do your kids dunk Oreos in milk? Did you teach them to do it? Where did they learn? How do they come up with this idea? Is it from TV commercials? Or from other kids in kindergarten? If from other kids, where did they get it from? Tell me your story, here is mine...

"Papi, look at those cookies, they are milk cookies!", said the Little Girl pointing at some Oreos box.
"Milk cookies ?", asked Papi.
"Yes, they have milk in the middle, and they have chocolate, they are my favorite cookies!", answered the Little Girl.
"You never eaten those cookies Little Girl! Why do you say it's your favorite?", asked Papi.
"Look Papi, look at the boy, chocolate with milk in the middle!", explained the Little Girl.
"That is not chocolate, and in the middle it's not milk!", said Papi.
"Yes, it is, yes it is, I want my favorite cookies!", cried the Little Girl.

"OK, I'll take a box for you, but you are going to taste as soon as I pay for the box!", said Papi.
"Yeepeee!", said the Little Girl.
After paying for the cookies, Papi opened the box, and another small pack inside. He took a cookie and handed over to the girl, "Here, try it, see if it is chocolate with milk!"
The Little Girl took a bite, "Baaahh, it's not chocolate, and inside is not milk! You are right Papi."
The Little Girl continued eating the cookie, "Papi, if I open the cookie, the inside is good, the cookie I don't like!", and suddenly the Little Girl was opening the Oreos and licking the filling.
At home the experiences continued...
"Papi, if you put the cookie in milk it is good!", explained the Little Girl, "You open the cookie, lick the white, and then dunk the cookie in milk and you eat it."
"Oh! No! Another sugar source she found", thought Papi.

Two pixie fairies

Do you read to your kids? Do they retell the stories you read them? Do you read them the stories the same way or add each time a bit of fantasy? Are they faithful to the story? Do they add other characters? Do they make themselves part of the story? Have you read Peter Pan for them? Do they take place of any character in the story? Do they tell the stories to other kids? Do they know the story from the pictures? Tell me your story, here is mine...

Peter Pan was going to the city to fetch Wendy. Tinkerbell went with Peter Pan. The Little Girl saw Peter Pan fly away. She wanted to follow Peter Pan, but Peter Pan said no, this was Wendy's story, not the story of the Little Girl.
The Little Girl went to Pixie land to look for a pixie to come in her story. The Little Girl went to talk with the Pixie Queen and asked her for a pixie fairy to come with her.
"What is the adventure you want to have?", asked the Pixie Queen.
"I want to fetch Mami and Papi to go and fight the Pirates!", answered the Little Girl.
"But in Neverland no grown-ups are allowed.", said the Pixie Queen.
"But my Papi is a special grown-up, he knows how to play, and he sees the things like me!", answered the Little Girl.
"Very well, and Mami?", asked the Pixie Queen.
"I love my Mami!", answered the Little Girl.
"Very well Little Girl, you can go with Loudbell and Loverbelle, they will help you in your adventures!", offered the Pixie Queen.
"Wow, two pixie fairies... that is so cool!", said the Little Girl.
"You need for the grown-ups, they are big and need a lot of pixie dust to fly!", said the Pixie Queen.
The Little Girl flew from the island and to the city. the Little Girl went with the two pixie fairies, Loudbell and Loverbelle. It was so fun to fly over the city, to see all the roofs. This is the way home, we will fetch Papi and Mami.
"Mami, Papi, we have to save the Indian princess, we must fly to the pirate island, come...", said the Little Girl.
Loudbell and Loverbelle sprinkled Papi and Mami with pixie dust. And now they were flying to Neverland.

More proofing, more spelling, more format, more layout, more drawings

Received on the email the first proof for my second book.
This one as the advantage of learning from the first one. I reused the templates for editing, so much faster to get this one almost ready.
Nevertheless I used the same template for the other book which from the proofing identified that the editing and layout are not to my liking. So now reapplying the new template. Tweaked a bit the sentences as well.
Now the book is back into review for publishing.
But feels great. this second book will come out just one week after the first. This will tell the readers that I am keen on writing some more books.
You all have great fun, if you want to help me proof read the book, you can get the kindle book. It's already available at amazon. I've priced it at the minimum price, after all my belief is that the book is best experienced on the printed version while reading it to our children. the format of the printed version is to maximize that experience.

You can get the kindle version here.
As with the previous book, all the images on the same side so that the child can follow the story with the drawings. All the text on the other side so that the parent can read it. Big letters, small paragraphs, that can be read fast, so that the little ones don't get bored. The kindle version does not have this layout problem, everything is simply a stream with text and image. the placement of the images is different to allow a more fluid reading and following of the drawings.
For those thinking about buying the book for kindle while it's still under this proof-reading, do not worry, after all you will always be able to refresh the book at no extra cost. And your help is extremely appreciated.
The greatest help you can give to this new author is to write a review of the book if you liked it. It might not seem a big deal, but for new authors it is the best you can do, be it for me or any other author. In this new world of self publishing where the authors can break the barriers of the publishing companies, writing reviews allow for authors that would otherwise be completely unknown to get some visibility.
A great help, and please provide me your feedback. This is a fantastic journey, I am glad I have you helping and motivating me.

Flower time is back, it is Spring

Does your child understand the seasons? Is it something that just comes each day? Today I wake up and it's winter, today is summer, today is spring? Does your child understand the cycle of the seasons? Did you manage to explain the season cycle it to your child? Is your child still trying to understand what a week is? Did you manage to explain him what a week is? What is the message you give your children for spring? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The sun has been very sleepy for the last three months. That is the winter. The sun comes out only for a few hours, and then goes back to bed. He needs to recover its energy. He is not to long up in the sky, so there is no time to make the air warm and melt away the snow.
But he has energy now, he wants to have breakfast. And the sun is going to have breakfast for 3 months. Everything the sun does takes it 3 months to do. So he slept 3 months, and now he is having breakfast for 3 months.

"What does the sun eat for breakfast?", asked the Little Girl.
The sun likes to smell the flowers, so he smells the earth and the flowers grow in the suns direction. And because the flowers needs sun to grow, he gives the flowers its warmth and light. The flowers grow and offer the sun their smell, which gives more energy to the sun. And as the sun gets more energy, the snow is melting away into water. the flowers also need the water to grow.
And to make the breakfast better, the little birds come and sing. They fly above in the sky looking for beautiful flowers and the empty nests to lay their eggs. The bears, the rabbits, the squirrels come out of their winter houses and play in the grass smelling the beautiful flowers.
The sun's breakfast is called Spring, and it lasts for 3 months.
"Wow, so cool!", said the Little Girl, "and what happens when the sun finishes breakfast?"
After having breakfast the sun is full of energy. So the sun goes up in the sky and send warmth everywhere. The water becomes warmer, and we can go to the beach or lake. The sun likes to see children play. That's when it's hot outside and we can go out and play football, swim in the lakes, have picnics. And for how long is the sun going to be up in the sky?
"For 3 months!", answered the Little Girl.
Right, for 3 months, all the sun does takes 3 months, and this time when the sun is up in the sky and makes everything warm is called Summer. It is the time the days are longer. It is the time for playing outside.
"And after Summer?", asked the Little Girl.
Then for the next 3 months we have Autumn, the sun is tired of having been up in the sky all the time. So he is getting tired but doesn't want to go to bed. Just like the Little Girl. So he opens the eyes, and closes the eyes, always sleepy not wanting to sleep. And so the sun does not give so much warmth and energy. The leaves in the trees become gold, yellow, orange and red. The air becomes a little bit colder. The sun wants to stay awake but can't and sometimes cries, we have lot of rain.
"Oh, that is not good!", says the Little Girl.
It is good, it is time to recover energy. So after being 3 months not wanting to go to bed, the sun finally goes to rest. Than winter comes again for 3 months. The air is cold, we have snow, Santa Claus comes again, we drink hot chocolate and wait for spring to come.
And now it'S spring, so let's go out and smell the flowers, listen to the birds and watch the rabbits.
"Yeah, let's go fetch flowers for mommy", said the Little Girl.
We have to let the flowers grow, we can't stop the flowers from growing, we want the flowers to grow and become very beaituful, so let's go outside and just look at them, and smell them.

The safe tent

Do your kids search time for themselves? When do they need time? Are you always around them when they want to be alone? Do you get worried that something might happen during those moments? Where to do they escape? What do they do when they are alone? Do they lock their room? Do you respect your child's privacy? What happens when you have guests? Do you select your guests so that your kids feel comfortable? Do you ask your kids to respect your moments too? Tell me your story, here is mine...

Papi's friends are coming to our house today. I don't like them. I don't want them in our house. Our house is only for Papi, Mami, and me. The pink girl can also come, and the blue boy. The fast red boy can also come and the little yellow girl. Auntie and Granny can also come. Also the violet girl can come. But not Papi's friends. I don't like Papi's friends.
Papi's friends talk, and talk, and talk. Papi's friends are boring, they don't know how to play. Papi's friend think I am a baby. Some Papi's friends think I am an adult. Papi's friends are very strange people.
The doorbell is ringing. Oh! No! I don't want them.

Let me get my toys. I don't want Papi's friends playing with my toys. I'll take the chuchu train, and woody cowboy, and cactus jack, and the cow, the elephant and the skyrocket. I am going with my toys to my tent. I like my tent, it is so nice to be playing and nobody looking at me.
Oh, not, the voices of Papi's friends. They talk so loud. I am going to fetch the small tablet to see my movies. When I listen at the movies I don't have to listen to Papi's friends.
"Hello Little Girl, can we come in your tent?", said one of Papi's friend.
"NO! You are too big!", I answered.
Papi's friends are also dumb, they can't see they don't fit into my tent.
"Hello Little Girl, I have a beautiful book for you about a bear that rides a bicycle!", said another of Papi's friend.
"Oh! can I see it?", I asked.
"Yes, of course, it is for you", said the nice Papi friend.
"Can you read the book for me?"
"OK! Let's read the story..." said the nice Papi friend. The other Papi's friends joined to listen to the story.
"Once upon a time, there was a small brown bear..." the nice friend was reading the book.
Papi's friends are the best friends in the world.

Proofing, spelling, format, layout, drawings

Just received on the mail the new proof of the first book.

I was so excited to give the final approval so that the printing could start.
Unfortunately I am not happy with the layout, need to work a bit. Perhaps also change the fonts...
This means the date for the publishing gets delayed. But the readers deserve the effort, it's not good to just put the book out there if it doesn't fall to the author's standards.

So will do a complete review, check the format and layout, and check the English once more.
not being a native speaker makes me a bit nervous. But I've read the book so many times, and had some friends as well doing it, that I believe it's pretty good.
Nevertheless, it's a chance to review once more. Want to change the layout, so might as well proof read the English once more.
But feels good nevertheless, I know I am getting close to the moment I really become an author. The moment I get the first book published, "Santa's new little helper". It's been a great trip so far. By the weekend will receive the proof for the second book, "The butterfly's wedding", at least it's going to be a fast succession once I get to publish them. And am already working on my third book.
You all have great fun, if you want to help me proof read the book, you can get the kindle book. It's already available at amazon. I've priced it at the minimum price, after all my belief is that the book is best experienced on the printed version while reading it to our children. the format of the printed version is to maximize that experience.
You can get the kindle version here.
All the images on the same side so that the child can follow the story with the drawings. All the text on the other side so that the parent can read it. Big letters, small paragraphs, so that the little ones don't get bored with each picture. The kindle version does not have this layout problem, everything is simply a stream with text and image. the placement of the images is different to allow a nor fluid reading and following of the drawings.
For those thinking about buying the book for kindle while it's still under this proof-reading, do not worry, after all you will always be able to refresh the book at no extra cost. And your help is extremely appreciated.
The greatest help you can give to this new author is to write a review of the book if you liked it. It might not seem a big deal, but for new authors it is the best you can do, be it for me or any other author. In this new world of self publishing where the authors can break the barriers of the publishing companies, writing reviews allow for authors that would otherwise be completely unknown to get some visibility.
A great help, and please provide me your feedback. This is a fantastic journey, I am glad I have you helping and motivating me.

Alex.

Fruits at breakfast

Do your kids eat well in the morning? Do you give them fruit? Or they rather have the chocolate? What do they like most at breakfast? Is what they eat what they want or what you want? Do they get all vitamins? Do you need to convince them each day to have vitamins? Do they understand the importance of a healthy diet? Tell me your story, here is mine...

"Have an apple!", said Papi to the Little Girl.
"Why Papi?", asked the Little Girl.
"The Apple will make you have good white teeth, you like white teeth?", asked Papi.

"The downstairs neighbor has brown teeth Papi, he does not eat apples?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, that is right, he does not eat apples!", answered Papi.
"And the lady we pay things at the supermarket as yellow teeth, she does not eat apples?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, that is right, she does not eat apples!", answered Papi.
"I don't want to have yellow or brown teeth Papi", said the Little Girl.
"Then Papi will get you an apple everyday for breakfast!", said Papi.
"Yeepee!", shouted the Little Girl.
"What do we eat for a cold and running nose Papi?", asked the Little Girl.
"For that we need to have an orange or orange juice!", said Papi.
"I want orange juice Papi!", said the Little Girl.
"Why, have you a cold?", asked Papi.
"No, but Pink Girl and Blue Boy have a cold, they don't drink orange juice?", asked the Little Girl.
"Probably not everyday, let's get you an orange juice!", said Papi, "Do you want a banana Little Girl?"
"Why do I need a banana Papi?", asked the Little Girl.
"The banana gives you a lot of energy, you can play a long time in the playground if you have a banana!", said Papi.
"Yes! I want a banana, I want to play forever in the playground!"

Polar bear cub

Do you like taking your kids to the Zoo? Do you need to convince them? Are they excited when you tell them that you are going to the zoo? What do your kids like about the zoo? What do you like about the zoo? Do your kids have a favorite animal to visit? Do they show surprise with any animal they see? Where do they like to spend most time? Tell me your story, here is mine...

"Papi, the polar bear has baby now, can we visit the baby polar bear?", asked the Little Girl.
"Where did you learn that?", asked Papi.
"On the TV News.", answered the Little Girl.
"You watch the new now?", asked the intrigued Papi.
"Yes, they give the news between cartoons on the TV!", answered the Little Girl.
"Ah! you mean the advertisements!"
"No, that is for us to buy things. I said news, they say things that happen now!", explained the Little Girl.
"OK, let's go to the zoo then, and find the baby polar bear!"

At the zoo...
"Hello baby giraffe, did you see the baby polar bear?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, we play at animal daycare, he plays with the baby monkey!", answered the baby giraffe.
At the monkeys...
"Hello baby monkey, did you see the baby polar bear?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, we play at animal daycare, he plays with the baby elephant!", answered the baby monkey.
At the elephants...
"Hello baby elephant, did you see the baby polar bear?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, we play at animal daycare, he plays with the baby goat!", answered the baby elephant.
At the goats...
"Hello baby goat, did you see the baby polar bear?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, we play at animal daycare, he plays with the baby lion!", answered the baby goat.
At the lions...
"Hello baby lion, did you see the baby polar bear?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, we play at animal daycare, he swims with the baby penguin!", answered the baby lion.
At the penguins...
"Hello baby penguin, did you see the baby polar bear?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, he his eating all our fish, can you take him away?", answered the baby penguin.
"Papi, can we take the baby polar bear home with us?", asked the Little Girl
"What? We can't have wild animals at our house!", answered Papi.
"Please Papi, Please!", begged the Little Girl.
"No we can't, why do you want to take the baby polar bear home?", asked Papi.
"Because he his eating all the penguin's fish, and the penguin asked me to take him home!", answered the Little Girl.
"You speak with animals?", asked Papi.
"Yes, but only with the small animals, the adults never answer me!", answered the Little Girl.

Bedtime story

Do you read a bedtime story to your kid? Is this a ritual you share every night? Who selects the book to read? Does your child know how the story ends or always falls asleep? Do you select books with plenty of illustrations? Does your kid tell the story himself? Does he tell the story because he memorized it or he imagines a story based on the illustrations? Tell me your story, here is mine...

"Papi, I want this book!", said the Little Girl.
"Snow White and the seven dwarfs.", said Papi.
"Yes Papi", said the Little Girl, "but I don't want the part of the witch, I want when Snow White finds the seven dwarfs."

"OK Little Girl.", said Papi, "Snow White found a small house in the woods, she entered the house through the small door."
"Why is the door small?", asked the Little Girl.
"Because the house is for dwarfs, they are little people the size of children.", answered Papi.
"Is one of them my size?", asked the Little Girl.
"I suppose so, which dwarf you think is your size?", asked Papi.
"The dancing dwarf, the dancing dwarf is my size!", answered the Little Girl.
"And why is that Little Girl?"
"The dancing dwarf is friend of Tinkerbell, so he can fly like me!", said the Little Girl.
"But Tinkerbell is not in this story.", said Papi.
"Yes she is, look here.", said the Little Girl point to the drawing of a small bush by the house of the dwarfs.
"but that is only a bush.", said Papi.
"No, Tinkerbell is hiding there for the grownups not to see her, she is a fairy, the grownup cannot see her.", said the Little Girl.

St Patrick's Day

How do you explain holidays to your child? Do they understand the meaning? Is the holidays for your children just another non-school day? Do you make activities with them regarding the meaning of the day? What about St. Patrick day? Is for the kids just about the color green? Tell me your story, here is mine...

Papi and the Little Girl were walking on the street. Everybody is dressed in green today. The neighbor is dressed in green, the kids playing football are dressed in green, the cat and the dog are dressed in green.
"Papi, everybody is in green, but we are not!", said the Little Girl.
"We need to follow the rainbow to find the color green", answered Papi.

"Follow the rainbow?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, it is going to rain, after the rain there will be a rainbow!", explained Papi.
Soon after it started raining.
"Yeepee Papi, it is raining", said the Little Girl.
And when the raining stopped the big rainbow came out. It was beautiful with all seven colors.
Papi and the Little Girl started chasing the rainbow.
"Wait Little Girl, we need a ticked to climb the rainbow.", said Papi.
"A ticket?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, we need to find a shamrock in the grass. It is a small plant with three leaves.", said Papi.
They both searched the grass and found 2 shamrocks. One for the Little Girl and another for Papi.
"Leprechaun, we have the tickets, pick us up for the rainbow", shouted Papi, "Little girl, we have to call the Leprechaun three times".
"Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Leprechaun.", shouted the Little Girl.
And the Leprechaun all dressed in green appeared out of thin air.
"Are you an adult?", asked the Little Girl.
"No, I am a Leprechaun!", answered the Leprechaun.
"Hi! Hi! Hi! You are small like a small kid", said the Little Girl.
Papi and the Little Girl climbed the rainbow and started running on it to get to the other side. On the other side there was a big pot of green color. The Little Girl did not notice, but the rainbow was going down steeper and steeper as they approached the other side. Papi and the Little Girl fell into the pot of green color.
Now they were also dressed in green.
"Papi, we are now dressed like everybody, we are dressed in green!", said the Little Girl.

Valuable Time

Do you spend time with your children ? Do you spend the time you want with your children ? Do you spend the time your children want with them ? This is not my story, I do not know who's story it is, but it is beautiful, and if you love your children then read it. This time the story is for you, mommy and/or daddy, hope it makes you think a bit on the importance of time and the value of your time.

"Papi, may I ask you a question?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes Little Girl, what is it?", answered Papi.
"Papi, how much money do you make an hour?", asked the Little Girl.
"That is complicated. Why do you want to know?", answered Papi.
"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much money do you make an hour?", insisted the Little Girl.
"If you must know, I make 100 an hour.", answered Papi.
"Oh!", replied the Little Girl with her head down, "Papi, can I borrow 50?"

"If you asked me just to borrow money to buy a silly toy, chocolate or other candy, then you must go straight to your room. I work hard everyday for the money, you can't just think in toys or candy."
The Little Girl went to her room and shut the door.
Papi sat down and started to get even angrier about the little girl's questions. How dare she ask such questions only to get some money?
After a while Papi calmed down and started to think:
Maybe there was something the Little Girl really needed to buy with the 50. The Little Girl didn't ask for money, she asked for things. Papi went to the door of the Little Girl's room and opened the door, "Are you asleep Little Girl?"
"No Papi, I am awake", said the Little Girl.
"Sorry for being angry Little Girl, I was tired and was bad to you. Here is the 50 you wanted."
The Little Girl was happy and smiling, "Thank you Papi!"
Then the Little Girl went to her piggy bank and opened it. The Little Girl took out some money. Papi saw that the Little Girl already had money and started to get angry again. The Little Girl slowly counted her money, and then looked up at Papi.
"Why do you want more money if you already have some?", asked Papi.
"Because I needed more, and now I have it.", answered the Little Girl.
"Papi, I have 100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
Papi was crushed. He put his arms around his little daughter, and he begged for her forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that 100 worth of your time with someone you love? If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.

Some things are more important.

Bike ride

How frequent do you ride with your kids ? Do you like to make long walks ? Can you benefit from wild life near your house ? Do you go to a spot by car first ? What sort of wildlife do you see ? Is it frequent to see rabbits or birds flying by ? Do your children like to see the scenery ? Do your children get into competition mode riding the bike ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The birds were flying around the lake. From time to time they would dive to the grass and fly back above the lake. They were looking for bread crumbs. Many families did picnics around the lake and left something for them to eat.

A Little Girl approached in her bicycle. The birds could see her from far away. The Little Girl had a pink flag on her bicycle. When the birds saw the Little Girl they would fly by the Little Girl showing her the way to go. The Little Girl in her pink bicycle would follow the flying birds. The Little Girl's daddy followed her in turn.
The birds stopped and flew over a nice picnic spot. The Little Girl stopped the bicycle and Papi did the same. The Little Girl ran to where the birds beaked the grass in search for breadcrumbs. And Papi followed her with the picnic basket.
"The birds selected the best spot Papi!", said the Little Girl.
"Yes they did, they are your friends, they want the best spot for the Little Girl.", said Papi. From the picnic spot they could see the lake almost in it's entirety. The tree lines to left and back composed the picture. The Little Girl and Papi were having a picnic in a beautiful landscape painting.
Papi laid down the blanket and they sat eating their sandwich. The Little Girl threw some small pieces of the bread and the birds caught them in mid air.
"Look Papi, they catch the bread flying", said the Little Girl.
Soon after they could see some rabbits approaching. The Little Girl ran to the rabbits and they ran away from her. She was chasing the rabbits, but they were too fast for her. When she got tired of chasing the rabbits the Little Girl went back to the blanket and rank some fresh water.
The rabbits approached curiously. The Little Girl did not move, she did not want to frighten the rabbits. And so the rabbits approached the Little Girl. One of the rabbits came and ate a bit of lettuce of the Little Girls sandwich right from her hand. And the Little Girl did not move holding her breath.
The girl could not hold any longer and took a deep breath. The rabbits ran away, and he Little Girl laughed.
"The rabbits are beautiful Papi!", said the Little Girl.
They packed the picnic basket and the blanket. Papi took them to the bicycle. The Little Girl picked up the paper bag with the empty plastic wrappings, bottles, used paper plates and cups. Papi smiled at the Little Girl, "Very well Little Girl, let's take the garbage back home, we don't want the lake dirty, the rabbits and birds do not know what to do with the garbage".
They rode back home, this time the rabbits showed the Little Girl the way out. When Papi and the Little Girl left the lake park, the Little Girl looked back. the Little Girl saw the rabbits waving goodbye, and the birds flying in circles above them.

Bigger bicycle

Time for a bigger bicycle! How often you need to change your kids bicycles ? Do the bicycles move from oldest to youngest ? Can they choose their own bicycle ? What about from boy to girl or girl to boy ? What is the color the youngest has ? Do they like decoration with a pink shopping basket ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The pink bicycle stood shiny among the other bicycles. But this was the only pink bicycle, no other like it stood near. The pink bicycle sow a Little Girl with her daddy coming into the store. The Little Girl was looking at all the bicycles.
The Little Girl's eyes saw the pink bicycle and at that moment she ran to the bicycle.

"Papi, this is the bicycle I want!", said the Little Girl.
"Are you sure ? Look at that red bicycle there, it is very nice...", said Papi.
"NO! I want this pink bicycle!", said the Little Girl.
The pink bicycle was happy, it was love at first sight. The Little Girl liked the pink bicycle, the pink bicycle liked the Little Girl. The Little Girl was already sitting on the bicycle when Papi asked to try it. The Little Girl started riding the bicycle in the store, the pink bicycle started moving the Little Girl around.
The bicycle started slowly down the aisle, then turned right into a corridor, the bicycle started moving faster, and the Little Girl shouting "wheeee!". The bicycle made a turn right again to the big bicycles aisle.
All the big bicycles were admiring the pink bicycle with it's Little Girl. The pink bicycle was happy to have such a nice owner. The Little Girl asked the bicycle to stop, she wanted a pink flag so that everybody could see them from far away.
The pink bicycle was going to be the happiest bicycle in the block with the happiest owner.
The Little Girl was happy, she rode the bicycle out of the store with Papi following her.

The Pink Frog

Would you rather want your kids jumping up and down in the house or outside in the garden ? Are there lot of things to crash into in the house ? Is the garden outside safe for kids to jump widely ? Do you make sure the surrounding is without things to bring them harm ? Do you warn them about the dangerous things ? Do they pay attention to what you tell them ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

One little girl jumps up in the air.
Two little girls jump up in the air.
Three little girl jump up in the air.
A green frog jumps over them all.
The three little girls look at the frog and chase the frog.
The frog jumps higher and higher, and the three little girls jump after the frog.
The frog jumps up a tree, and one little girl jumps and hits the head against a branch.

One little girl jumps up in the air.
Two little girls jump up in the air.

A green frog jumps over them all.
The two little girls look at the frog and chase the frog.

The frog jumps higher and higher, and the three little girls jump after the frog.

The frog jumps over a pond, and one little girl jumps and splashes her feet feet in the pond.

One little girl jumps up in the air.
A green frog jumps over her.

The little girl looks at the frog and chases the frog.

The frog jumps higher and higher, and the little girl jumps after the frog.

The frog jumps over a rock, and one little girl jumps and falls from the rock.

No little girls jump up in the air.
A green frog jumps up in the air.

The green frog was laughing at the little girls that have fallen.

The green frog did not look in front of him and fell into a bucket of pink paint.

A pink frog jumps up in the air.

And pink is the color of frogs afraid of little girls.

Kindergarten

Does your child tell you what happened in kindergarten ? How do you ask your child how his days was ? What are your child's strengths ? What is your child's learning style ? What goals you like for your child ? How are his social skills ? What do you tell to his teacher ? What you do at home to support the kindergarten ? Tell me your story, here is mine ...

"Today is Papi day to pickup Little Girl!", says Papi to the Little Girl.
"Where is Mami?", asks the Little Girl.
"She is at work, but today you have Papi."
"Can we go to play at the playground  ?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes! You want to do the same games you did today at school ?", asks Papi.

"No Papi, I don't want to do the circle, I want to go to the slide, can I ?"
"Yes, let's go to the merry-go-round first!", suggested Papi.
"OK! I sit here", said the Little Girl.
"Look, it's just like the Circle, who was in front of you in the school circle ?", asked Papi.
"The Blue Boy was in front, and the Red Girl next to me, and also the Big Pink Girl", said the Little Girl.
"And what did you do in the circle, you were singing ?", asked Papi.
"Yes, we sang the cloud song!", said the Little Girl.
"Can you sing the cloud song for me ?", asked Papi.
"Yes, the teacher sang it for us first."
"Who was the teacher ?"
"Was Miss Laura!", said the Little Girl.
"Did Miss Laura send you to the bad girls chair today ?", asked Papi.
"No! but the Big Boy did go".
"So you had a good day today in kindergarten ?"
"Yes Papi!"

Backpack

What do you pack for a walk with your kids ? Do you pack with them ? Do you pack with them only their backpack ? Or do you pack yours as well with them ? Do you make what's in their backpack a surprise? Who carries the backpack ? How do you explain them the walk to be done ? How do you tell them how long ? Do they want to pack all their toys into the backpack ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

"Little Girl, come help Papi!", Papi called the Little Girl, "We are going to the lake".
"Wow Papi, that is cool, I like going to the lake", said the Little Girl.
"Good, what do you want to put in your backpack ?", asked Papi.
"I don't want to take the backpack!", said the Little Girl.

"Papi as prepared my backpack with the things I want to have in the lake!", said Papi, "You do not want to have anything when you are at the lake?"
"I want to take rubber ducky!", said the Little Girl.
"So, maybe you want to put rubber ducky in the backpack", said Papi.
"Oh! Yes, OK! Let me take the backpack, I will put rubber ducky in it!"
"Anything else ? You want to swim ? Shall we take your swimming suit ?", asked Papi.
"Yes! I want the swimming suit!", said the Little Girl, "and also the sand pail and the sand shovel!".
"That is good, maybe we should take some water also ?", asked Papi.
"Yes, and a sandwich, I want to eat!", said the Little Girl, "and a whistle, if I want to call Papi I blow the whistle!".
"Good Little Girl, so now we know what we will need at the Lake, we can go safe and we have everything we want", said Papi.
"No Papi, we need a towel for when we come out of the lake!"

The princess coach ride

Ever wanted to visit a historic place with you kids ? Beautiful castles and museums but not kids entertainment ? Do your kids get bored ? Do you tell them some story to get on the tour ? What excites them and makes them want to come ? Do you tell about the princesses in the palace ? Do they ask where the king and queen are ? Do they want to search for the dragon ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

It was still a long way to the Palace. The Palace was on top of the hill. It was going to be a long walk. But the Little Girl was visiting the princess. The Little Girl has special treatment. The princesses coach was waiting for the Little Girl, Papi and Mami. The princess coach would take them up the hill to the Palace.

The coach was waiting for them, it was beautiful black castle pulled by two beautiful white horses. The horses nayed has the Little Girl approached has if they new the Little Girl was coming.
"Hello horses!", said the Little Girl, "You are very beautiful, you will be taking us to the princess?".
The Little Girl caressed the horses.
The coach driver helped the Little Girl up the coach. Papi and Mami joined. And up the hill towards the palace they went.
They passed beautiful trees as they heard the chirping of the birds. The birds were welcoming them. Some squirrels curiously looked at them from the trees. A small Bambi and a rabbit also seemed to look curiously at the coach going up the hill.
They passed many fountains with fantastic waterspouts. Finally they arrived at the palace.
The Little Girl jumped down the coach in haste and shouted:, "Let's look for the princess, and then I want to see the dragon!"

#100 post milestone

Well, did it, 100 posts, I am proud.
It took quite a while, with motivation going up and down along this time, but made it to #100. It feels really good. 100 things to say, 100 things to communicate, 100 experiences to share, 100 seed for stories, 100 posts.

The story to get here was fun so far. Let's keep it in the same way, true to it's origins :)
We talked about production costs.
We talked about the new bookstore At blurb.
Just recently we commemorated the Post a Day achievement.
I started the multilingual dictionary for learning words.
We made a movie about the first 50 stories.
We commemorated the first 100 facebook fans.
I shared my 2014 resolution on publishing a children's book.

Now I just need 8 more stories to commemorate the real milestone of 100 stories.

Thank you to all the fans that have kept me motivated.

The monkey

What happens when your kids cross their favorite cartoons in real life ? Like walking in a shopping mall and suddenly crossing Mickey ? Or in a restaurant and finding bugs bunny ? Or in a theme park and finding the usual suspects ? Is your kids afraid of the characters ? Does he interact with them asking for autographs ? Simply trying to do some sort of conversation ? Or hiding behind your legs ? Tell me your story, here is mine...

The Little Girl was climbing the wall. Suddenly she saw a monkey. The monkey was coming in her direction. The Little Girl got afraid and fell of the wall. She ran away from the monkey. But the monkey could fly using the tree tops, soon he was near the Little Girl.

One moment of distraction, the Little Girl looked back to see if the monkey was still chasing her, and splof. The Little Girl tripped on a tree root and fell. The monkey approached the Little Girl. The monkey had a book in his hand, he wanted to give it to the Little Girl.
The Little Girl looked at monkey once more and ran away again. The monkey chased the Little Girl. The Little girl suddenly heard a loud shout and cry. She looked back and saw that the monkey had fallen and was crying.
The Little Girl approached the crying monkey. "Are you OK?", asked the Little Girl.
The monkey gave the book to the Little Girl. he stood up with his leg still hurting and went away.
The Little Girl ran to Papi, "Papi, the monkey gave me this book, can you read it for me ?".
"Off course Little Girl, let me see it!", said Papi grabbing the little book from the Little Girls hands.
"It is a book of how to save the jungle animals!", said Papi.
"Like how to help the animals if they fall ?", asked the Little Girl.
"Yes, you can say that little Girl".

Cutting down production costs on children books

Hello All,
Today I'm not writing a new story but rather an episode in the quest to cut production costs of the children book I am writing and now want to get published.
I would like to publish a book with low costs to make an affordable book at the bookstores. This seams to be a quest on it's own. When I setup this journey for writing a book I did not imagine to find so many little problems that an author most overcome, especially a new author.
This time it's about production costs, which in my belief, for children story books is really of a big impact. From what I have researched, the format of the book has high impact on the costs. It seams the printing industry is optimized for landscape books, which is fine for novels and the majority of the books, but I do not find fitting for children's books.
In my experience, more as a father than an author, the landscape book has a huge advantage for reading a story to little children. You open the book with your child beside you, at the sofa, at bedside getting them to sleep or a long trip in a plane or train. This makes it comfortable if the book is landscape, you can have a one page with the picture or drawing to capture their attention, while having the text on the other page in big letters for you to read.
So I have been betting quite a lot in landscape format for the book. While I was making the mock-ups I did not realize this format problem, basically the mock-up is so expensive that you do not note a difference between 4 euros in a 50 euro book due to format change. Well, for the final mass printing book you don't want to have costs of 50 euros, you should target 4 to 6 euros tops for the production of your book, to be able to have margin for warehousing, distribution and have some royalties left.

I made an attempt at producing a new set of mock-ups reusing the materials I have produced so far in one of the cheaper color production formats. The results can be seen in the picture.
Not counting the fact that I had to crop all the drawings so far to capture the essence of the paragraph, it is not a suited format for telling a story to a kid. It seams OK for a children's book targeting the age from 8 above where the child reads the book on it's own, but definitively not for the sharing experience between a parent reading the book to the child.
The book printers, the distributors and the bookstores  are prepared for several sizes, almost all of them for black and white portrait books. Well, I neither want black and white, it is not appealing for a young child, nor want a portrait book, not suited for the shared reading experience. Therefore I have to limit myself to what is available for mass printing int the color landscape books.
So for you new authors coming into this area I share with you the suitable formats I have found so far. If you want color landscape the only format I have found so far is 8.5x8.5 inches (21.59x21.59 cm), which is not landscape, but being a large square can be suitable for the shared reading experience. There is another format that book printers support which is 8.25x6 inches (20.955x15.24 cm), which is landscape but unfortunately not an industry standard, which limits you the availability of selling in some bookstores. If you can live with that limitation then that would be a good format.

In the mean time I did receive also the mock-ups for the new revised and simplified text with the change in the drawings to get more colorful and cheerful and am quite happy with the results. Nevertheless I believe the text can be further simplified, and the drawings need to be revised to accommodate for the square size. I do not want to have a crop to the image that loses something that we wanted to transmit in the drawing.
But another warning for the new authors, especially for the illustrators, you need to account for something called bleed. This is the margins where they cut the paper, so if you want the picture to be full size of the paper or to not get any borders there, you have to account for the bleed. This means that you have to account for an extra 0.125 inches (0.3175 cm) that will be cut off. If you want a full size page with a picture than you need to account for that extra top, bottom, left and right.
I do believe that if you are a renown author you will not have any of these limitations, but if you are a new author, or intending to be one like me, then you need to account for all this industry optimizations as to avoid incurring into a lot of the extra work I am having because I did not know these things from the early beginning. The curious fact is that this applies mostly to children books!
Well, now back to work, I have many drawing to remake, the good thing is probably they will come out better than the original, so not all is that bad :) And the story is a Christmas story, so we still have time for the correct selling opportunity.
Thanks for all the support all of you have given me, if anyone of you knows a thing or two about the problems I am having and would like to refer to their solutions, I am more than happy to receive your feedback.