Each time I lose hope in my children following in my footsteps, one little sprog surprises me. All that kicking and fussing that I do to make them read books, enjoy literature, watch educational programmes that put them to sleep in under five minutes – well, it feels pointless when they point their glum faces at me. That is, until today. Continue reading “It’s in the family”
Tag: school
Scat the Black Cat returns!
After a wobbly start to Scat’s re-launch, thanks to C19, Scat has finally found firm footing for his return. Ready to face his readers with a new cover and a revised version of his book, this wily feline feels confident that more children will enjoy his fabulous tale.
Bullying affects everyone. It’s not easy to overcome the sense of helplessness you feel when you are bullied by someone. Nor is it easy to understand that some bullies have their own terrible tales to tell. Scat follows the path of vengeance against his bully but soon learns that there are consequences to every action.
Watch Scat’s story here and share it with your family and friends.
What would you do if you were Scat?
Order your copy of Scat the Black Cat here.
Space Dust
The Bracknell Forest Library Service are loading new videos of books read by their authors for your enjoyment during lockdown. I was lucky enough to be included in their line up with my book, Space Dust. If you recall, this little adventure was written for the Library Service during last year’s Summer Reading Challenge.
Writing a book is one thing; recording it without my comical faces or extreme hand gestures was near to impossible! Add to that the intermittent sounds of Millie, our dog, joining in the recording and you have a video of Space Dust.
If you’d listen to watch the story, click on the pic below:
If you’d like to buy your own copy, paperback or ebook, click on the pic below:
What’s new in 2020?
I tell myself every year that I will not make any resolutions so as to avoid the disappointment of not keeping them.
2020 is going to be different.
I have put into place measures that will hopefully achieve some of what I would like to see change in my life, for the future. With this is mind, I need to share them with you…
My dream is to run various writing workshops for children. So far, I have written to all the schools in my local area with the offer of enhancing their literacy programmes by establishing writers’ clubs, author enrichments or any other service they may require. To that end, I wait in hope for them to get back to me so that we can discuss exactly what sort of group or workshop would benefit their school. I know a few parents run home school groups. If you would like a group session on a specific aspect of literacy, contact me.
The second part of my dream is to continue mentoring novice writers. So far, I have three ladies receiving my support through their virgin journeys into writing their first books. In the new year, I would like to offer my services to more individuals looking to take the plunge into writing but aren’t sure exactly what they want to do. My rates are competitive and I make sure you always have a helpful hand waiting to catch you when you hit those stumbling blocks along the way. If you feel like taking the plunge with me, send me an email and we can chat about achieving your writing goals and making your dreams come true.
The third part of my dream to is find a publisher willing to take me on. I hate marketing; I have no inclination to try fathoming the wonderful world of KDP and insights into book selling market trends. Instead, I want someone willing to fight through the white noise and publish my books, organise the marketing required for the book to sell and just tell me where to go to help sell them. New stories have been created especially for this venture. Once edited and polished, they will be ready to meet prospective publishers. So, if you are a publisher looking for a children’s author who also loves to writes crime fiction and poetry, please contact me. Make my dream come true!
I’m just a girl,
standing in front of the world,
asking it not to crush me.
Join me on my journey
into 2020.
Blast Off with Space Dust
Welcome back to Space Dust’s journey across different blogospheres. A big thank you to Cecily for hosting us yesterday.
Today, we have stopped off at my blog so that I could share a bit more about the book with you and, maybe give you a snippet of the next book! Continue reading “Blast Off with Space Dust”
Book Review of Space Dust
I’m thrilled to receive a review for my latest children’s book, Space Dust. After receiving a fantastic response from the families that attended the Summer Reading Challenge at the Bracknell Forest Libraries, it is a pleasure to share more of my readers’ points of view of the book.
Here is what Lance Mitchell had to say about Space Dust:
Lance Mitchell
15 September 2019
This is a delightful little story with massive appeal to the 4-11 year-old age group. You will enjoy reading the adventures of Big Ox and Little One to your youngsters. As they learn to read, I am sure that they will enjoy reading the story back to you.The beginning of the story is rather sad. Little One’s mummy has left the house without any explanation or “Goodbye.” Understandably, Little One is upset but Big Ox soon comes up with a scheme to pick them both up. He invites Little One to travel into space in his special canoe which he paddles with is “absolute favourite spoon.”They visit Venus, calling out to Little One’s mummy along the way. Maybe they’ll find her. Maybe they won’t. But they’ll see lots along the way and much silliness is guaranteed.The book is beautifully illustrated by the author. I liked the rhythm and the rhyme and the flow. You’ll almost be able to sing your way through the story with your children or grandchildren and I am sure that you will all be as happy as Little One when it’s time for bed.Having enjoyed Space Dust, I am left excited at the prospect that the story leaves me anticipating the pair’s next adventure. There is much promise of a lot more to come. I can’t wait!
With Space Dust on its way to a blog tour this October, more information will be released about the sequel, the characters and how they were created and so much more! Be sure to keep checking my Facebook page for diary updates on events.
Do send in your pictures and reviews of Space Dust. You never know what prizes may be in store for the best one!
Order your copy of Space Dust here.
Space Dust Storytime
Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting families taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge. Not only did we travel through space with Big Ox and Little One, some of us got the chance to colour in sea horses, draw our own Little One portraits in astronaut’s helmets and capture fire bears in plastic bottles. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Summer Reading Challenge and look forward to promoting other events through the library service in the future.
My favourite part of the events was meeting future young writers who were so excited to tell me all about their stories. I will re-iterate what I told the parents I spoke to: there are good writing support sites for young writers, including the Young Writers website and Young NaNoWriMo, which I’ve linked. We have a range of young writers growing and developing and I can’t wait to see what they have to offer in the near future. If you need any help supporting their writing, let me know.
Without your valued support, author events would be a total flop, so thank you to all the families that turned up to my Story Time at the Summer Reading Challenge. Please don’t forget to leave your review of Space Dust (if you’ve bought a copy), on my selling page. It is always nice for other families to find out whether a book is worth it or not.
Keep reading.
E.
Story Time at The Book Corner
I have been remiss in sharing some exciting local events with you where I will be reading my latest book, Space Dust.
So, without wasting words, here are my diary events for the next few weeks. Do come along if you can and join in the fun, creative activities at these events.
6th August- Story time at Ascot Heath Library
https://www.facebook.com/events/672897573148794/?ti=ia
7th August – Story time at Great Hollands Library
https://www.facebook.com/events/400143547520040/?ti=ia
13th August – Story time at Crowthorne Library
https://www.facebook.com/events/2280168355366297/?ti=ia
14th August – Story time at Whitegrove Library
https://www.facebook.com/events/479546879480809/?ti=ia
15th August – Story time at Sandhurst Library
https://www.facebook.com/events/2366487080285742/?ti=ia
19th August – Story time at Harmanswater Library
https://www.facebook.com/events/328304371394020/?ti=ia
22nd August – Story time at Binfield Library
https://www.facebook.com/events/326840254874154/?ti=ia
Please click on the links to check start times.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
E.
Who’s Joining the Spoilt Miranda series?
It has been the long awaited sequel to Cecil the Bully and Spoilt Miranda. At last, their friends will be getting a chance to tell their own tale of meeting the infamous Ms Crow and her deadly stare.
Without further ado, I present:
Snotty Norman and Spotty Sally Find Fame
Now that the year 6 children of Arden White Primary School have enjoyed their summer holidays and forged new friendships outside the confines of the school grounds, we meet them again as they start their first day at Evelyn Winsborough Academy – a school with a reputation for aggressive behaviour and truancy.
Little do they know that the school has had a major overhaul over the last year. With sparkling new classrooms and hi-tech gear to keep the children occupied (and monitored), Mr Dank, the Head Teacher, expects a high standard of behaviour from the newbies. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t know what’s coming his way as the notorious Arden White crew start their new year causing chaos down the clean halls and run riot over brittle-backed teachers.
Join the young ruffians as they encounter Ms Crow again in a comical calamity that leaves the teachers huffing and the children puffing to get out of her way!
Cecil and Miranda’s Young Reviewers
Working as a junior school librarian has given me the opportunity to see first-hand, how my books affect their readers. Young readers don’t get an opportunity to write book reviews for titles they’ve enjoyed unless it is in-house, that is, in their classroom or school library. I like to encourage my students to share their views with each other by offering up a suggestion box in our library which is filled with book titles chosen by my young readers. I’m happy to add Spoilt Miranda and Cecil the Bully have made the cut!
When discussing books, I get a lot of feedback from my younger readers that Spoilt Miranda is strange and takes the younger reviewer on a confusing journey of dreams before she resolves her situation. My older customers get it though and enjoy the ride. Sometimes scary, sometimes thrilling, the idea of Spoilt Miranda is controversial and encourages discussion on how her silly behaviour could have been dealt with in a better manner. I like this because it makes the reader think further than just the story.
Cecil, on the other hand, encourages my readers of any age to think of what steps they would take to sort out a bully. From standing up to him or joining his ranks, there are always amusing points of view. The slapstick comedy goes down a treat and adds to the entertainment factor of the book, according to the young reviewers. This is something to consider when I write the next sequel to the Arden White Primary School students.
Give or take the marmite reflections on my books by the young students at my school, I’m pleased to share the news that they are mostly enjoyed and well read. It gives me great pleasure to see this and I do hope more children are enjoying my books around the world.
Check out my other titles available from these links:
http://amazon.com/author/eloisedesousa
http://lulu.com/spotlight/eloisedesousa
Or give me a shout out on Twitter:
@mello_elo
Thanks for reading and good luck!
E. De Sousa 