Come And Meet The Cluckets

All classic children’s books have great characters and in the land of Jackowhisp you will meet some cluckets. Cluckets lay eggs and have beautiful red and purple tail feathers. But one clucket has golden tail feathers. He is a prize-winning clucket and he belongs to Hilda Whitterkins.

Melody Whisper and the Golden Clucket is the third book in the Jackowhisp series and tells a story  about a naughty clucket, yes, you guessed it, the golden clucket. One day when Melody is minding the cluckets for Hilda Whitterkins, the golden clucket escapes. Melody and Jimba chase the silly clucket all around Jackowhisp and into Bangerring Mountain. I won’t tell you what happens because you can read it for yourself when the book is published next year. Don’t miss Melody Whisper and the Golden Clucket, it should be available after Christmas.

Jimba Jackobean and The Bouncer Bangerrings

Some of the characters you will meet in ‘Jimba Jackobean And The Bouncer Bangerrings’
by Alexis Tapp

Have you read Jimba Jackobean and The Bouncer Bangerrings yet? It’s a wonderful storybook for children 3 to 8 years old, with delightful illustrations by Omar Aranda. You can even listen to the story on CD as you read along if you get the book and CD together. What a wonderful Christmas or birthday gift for the children you cherish. You can get your copies of this new classic story book for children book here.

Here’s To Your Wonderful Adventures In The Land Of JackoWhisp,
Alexis Tapp

PS.

Remember to let me know how much you enjoyed reading or listening to my stories by leaving a comment in the comments box below.

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How many steps in making a story and picture book for kids?

My next book for children, Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes, will be coming out next year and I am really excited about it. Why does it take so long? After a story is written, it needs to go through a lot of stages before it can be called a book:

1. When the author first writes the story it is called a manuscript.
2. The manuscript then goes to an editor who looks at any spelling errors or incorrect punctuation.
3. The editor will also look at the story to decide if parts of it are not needed or something is missing in the story. This is normal and most writers listen to what the editor says because they usually know best. My editor’s name is Wendy and she lives in France.
4. After the writer and the editor are both happy with the story, it then goes to the illustrator.
5. The illustrator for the Jackowhisp series is Omar Aranda and he draws the pictures. I don’t tell Omar what to draw; I leave it up to him. Just as well, because if you look at the pictures in Jimba Jackobean and the Bouncer-Bangerrings you will agree that they are amazing!

6. When the pictures come back to me I then send them and the manuscript off to a story boarder whose job it is to put them all  together into a book on the computer. My storyboard lady is Monique and without her, the book wouldn’t look very good. She is responsible for the layout of the pages and makes them look nice with proper margins and a nice font that is easy to read.

7. Eventually the book is ready for the printer. When Jimba Jackobean and the Bouncer-Bangerrings was printed, I flew to the  printer’s in Adelaide to watch the printing process. You can see me in these images.

I won’t be flying to Adelaide this time for the print of Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes because I will be busy here in Melbourne. Make sure you get your copy in next year before they sell out.

Here’s To Your Wonderful Adventures In The Land Of JackoWhisp,
Alexis Tapp

PS

If you have any questions about making a picture book for children, just type them in the comments box below and I will do my best to answer them

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Welcome To Jindleberry Woodland – Home of The Quillarills | Alexis Tapp

The Quillarills are another of my favourite characters in the JackoWhisp series of story and picture books for children. The Quillarills live in Jindleberry Woodland inside the Billy-Bubble trees.

If you look closely, you will see Jindleberry Woodland at the top of the map, just above Bangerring Mountain.

If you look at the close up map below you will see the Billy-Bubble trees with the little windows and stairs. One even has a little canopy to keep you dry when it rains. It is always good to be able to put your key in the front door of your house and not get wet in the rain, don’t you think?

This book isn’t published yet, but it is about Jimba Jackobean’s sister, Jessica. She plays a musical instrument, and do you know I haven’t thought of a name for it yet. I think it looks something like a violin though.

If you think of a good name for the instrument you could tell me by leaving me a message in the comments box below this story.

Jessica makes friends with the Quillarills and they invite her into their homes in the Billy-Bubble trees.

This is a lovely story in which Jessica solves a huge problem for the Quillarills and makes lots of new friends.  It’s always nice to make new friends, don’t you think?

Look out for this book  when it’s published, won’t you? Like all of my story books for children, it’s just for fun.

Here’s To Your Wonderful Adventures In The Land Of JackoWhisp,
Alexis Tapp

PS

Have you downloaded your FREE colourful Jimba Jackobean poster yet?
Order Jackowhisp Books & CDs online.

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Meet The Mudsloppers | Alexis Tapp

In the JackoWhisp series of childrens story and picture books, some of my favourite characters are the Mudsloppers. They are similar to the Bouncer-Bangerrings in that they love to have fun, which is what I
like about them, but the Mudsloppers live in Jackomire Swamp.

If you look on the map you will see the swamp on the right, just past Bangerring Mountain.

Here’s a closer view of Jackomire Swamp.

Can you see the Mudsloppers’ houses too? Aren’t the houses in Jackomire Swamp wonderful?

The Mudsloppers are always covered in mud because they just love slopping around in their muddy swamp. They jump into the swamp and play there most of the day and long into the night.

I am not sure when the Mudslopper book will be published, but look out for it won’t you? Like all of my story books for children, it’s just for fun.

Here’s To Your Wonderful Adventures In The Land Of JackoWhisp,
Alexis Tapp

PS

Have you downloaded your FREE colourful Jimba Jackobean poster yet?
Order Jackowhisp Books & CDs online

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Meet Mrs Whitterkins, The Mayor’s Wife | Alexis Tapp

Here’s Mrs Whitterkins, all dressed up for an important meeting. You can meet Mrs Whitterkins for the first time in ‘Jimba Jackobean and the Bouncer Bangerrings’, the first of my childrens story books in the JackoWhisp series.

Mrs Whitterkins lives with her husband, the Mayor of JackoWhisp Village, at number 1 Whippoorwill Avenue in a very posh house with beautiful wrought iron gates. (Did you discover the answer to the question about wrought iron gates in my last post about the JackoWhisp Series?)

When you meet Hilda Whitterkins for the first time, she is outside in the middle of the night in her nightgown, asking her husband, “Is it an earthquake?”

Her husband, the mayor trembled as he answered, “Could be, but there’s never been an earthquake in JackoWhisp before.”

I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you what it really was, but I will tell you something else about Hilda Whitterkins… she keeps cluckets in a pen in her back yard, and you will meet the cluckets in the third book of the JackoWhisp series of kids story books, ‘Melody Whisper and the Golden Clucket’.

Some quick activities for you:

1. Use your imagination to guess what cluckets might be. Type your answer in the comments box below.
2. Where might Mrs Whitterkins be going all dressed up?
3. Draw Hilda Whitterkins outside at night in her nightgown.

Here’s To Your Wonderful Adventures In The Land Of JackoWhisp,
Alexis Tapp

Download FREE colourful Jimba Jackobean poster
Buy Jackowhisp Books & CDs

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