Christmas came around and there were big celebrations in our house. I was even given a present; a rag doll which, as it happened, didn’t have very sturdy legs because they came off with only a couple of tugs. The Doggett, my dad, was given a big, red tin full of dog biscuits. The best thing though, was all this lovely food called leftovers. I particularly liked the duck, very nice. We had lots of roast potatoes with gravy and the little bits of burnt pumpkin were wonderful, great for the teeth I believe.

As soon as Christmas Day was over, the four-wheel drive was brought out and packed to the brim. We bounded onto the back seat along with the small person, and off we went. It took a long time but we slept most of the way and The Doggett and I had lots of energy when we arrived at the camping spot on the Murray River. We were met by our best friend Ozzie and had a rowdy greeting of chewing each other’s legs. Ozzie belongs to the relatives of our people, so we spend loads of time with him. His man person calls him a Big Sissy. I’m not sure what a Big Sissy is, but I wouldn’t mind being one because whenever his man person calls him one, it generates lots of pats for Ozzie from his lady person.

After everyone had settled down, we went over to explore the water. I had never seen water before, not like this anyway, it was huge and moved along very quickly but on the sides it just sloshed along gently so I played in there a lot. I started to suspect that The Doggett couldn’t swim because he just lazed around in the shallows and pretended to be fascinated with crickets and things.

Ozzie, on the other hand has turned swimming into an art form. He loves it. As he swims, he puts his face into the water and blows bubbles, then chases the bubbles, popping them with his front paws. I love hanging out with Ozzie. All the small people love him too. I was at his house one day and some small people knocked on the door and asked if he could go out and play. They throw sticks and balls for him to retrieve. They threw a ball to me once but I tried to eat it and everyone yelled at me. The Doggett doesn’t do balls or sticks, he just ignores them as they sail past. The Doggett is very cool.

One day, I overheard our people talking to Ozzie’s people about snakes. It turns out that while we, The Doggett, Ozzie and myself are around, the snakes won’t come near the campsite. I wasn’t sure what a snake was, but it felt good to know that it was scared of me already. I strutted around feeling pretty important, knowing I had a fierce reputation among the snakes. I searched through the long grass, hoping to find some sitting around that I could scare by sneaking up and barking. I even invented a game called ‘Snake Ninjas’, where I pretended that the Golden Ninja, me, would pounce on a group of snakes and they would all run off through the bush crying and terrified of the barking, Golden Ninja. It was a great game and I couldn’t wait to actually find some snakes.

A couple of days later, the Ranger came into our campsite to warn us of a snake that had been spotted in the nearby bush, (‘bush’ is Australian for lots of trees and bushes and grass and stuff). The Ranger actually had a photo of the snake, which he passed around. He told our people to be careful until he had caught it and removed it to a spot where there were no campers. I had my chest all puffed up and ready to run through the bush looking once more to scare the snake, until I glimpsed the photo. I froze!

My head swam and my little legs felt weak at the sight of this horrible long, scaly, slithering thing. It had horrible yellow eyes and teeth called fangs. Apparently, one bite from this snake thing would do us all in. I felt dizzy as I looked out into the Great Australian Bush, my reverie and the Golden Ninja gone in one simple flick of a photo. I felt sick. I dragged myself into one of the tents and lay on a blow up mattress and wondered if the snake knew how to unzip the tents in the night.

It wasn’t until we were on our way home that I mentioned the snake to The Doggett. He said that the snake wouldn’t bother us unless we stepped on it because they don’t like that. Eww! I had no intention of touching it! The Doggett also said that snakes could swim. He then put his head on his biscuit tin and went to sleep. I looked at the snoring Doggett and remembered how he only ever played around on the banks of the river and never went in for a swim. I love The Doggett; he’s very cool.

Love Wilson.

Hi, my name is Wilson and that’s me when I was a puppy.

I stayed with my mum and brother and sister until I was two months old, then I went to live with my dad, or ‘The Doggett’ as he is known. He is really big and has lots of muscles. I love him a lot. We have fun together; especially when we go for drives in the car. We both hang out the window and as we jet along I can feel my ears beating on top of my head in the wind.

One day we were in the car in our favorite spot; hanging out the window, when I noticed The Doggett’s usual relaxed mood changing. That daft look he gets on his face when his tongue and jowls flap in the slipstream, quietly dissolved. His neck muscles tightened, his mouth closed and he moved his head forward in an icy stare. I followed his line of vision to the car in front of us. Quite frankly, I couldn’t believe what I saw. In the car in front, sitting on that little deck under the back window was a cat.

While we drove along, the cat had no idea we were watching because it had its eyes closed and continued to lick its paws in a blissful, unconcerned, dream state. It wasn’t until we pulled up at the lights that the cat opened its eyes and saw us. Its eyes were big and round as it stared at us and likewise, but now drooling; we stared back at the cat. It’s ears flattened onto the back of its head and it opened its mouth mid-lick to expose the scariest set of teeth I have ever seen. It drew its mouth back in a wicked snarl and hissed and spat at us like a wounded cobra. I don’t mind admitting, I was scared! But The Doggett never flinched. He drew himself up to his full height, well as far as he could, given that he was leaning out of a half raised car window beside me, and gave all his attention to the cat. The Doggett had the meanest look I have ever seen. Although I did start to wonder what harm the cat could do us, after all, it was in a different car with all the windows up. Nevertheless, my dad The Doggett was wonderful. He eyeballed that cat and never blinked.

The cat raised its level of hissing and included a menacing growl. It almost choked in an attempt to sustain the growling and the now frenzied hissing. Then it stood, drew itself up onto its toes, arched its back, and went berserk. It was a blur as it flew around inside the car, growling and screeching and choking until it landed on the head of its driving person and from what I gather must have dug those claw things in pretty hard. The car in front swerved slightly and I could see the commotion as the driving person tried to unhook the claw things from her head. But the cat was relentless; it stuck to the driver like super glue.

Eventually the car in front pulled over and we drove on past. The Doggett was wonderful, he held his position and continued to glare unblinkingly in the direction of the cat until we finally turned into our street.

Later that night alone in my bed, I pondered my relationship with our own cat, Edward. He doesn’t have anything to do with us, The Doggett and me. When I really think about it, I’m happy to let him lick himself in that catty, dream state as much as he wants. I really don’t need to bother him at all. Come to think of it, The Doggett doesn’t bother him either.

Love Wilson.

‘Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes’ preview…

‘Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes’ (say ‘octo-dilly-ohs’), the second book in the Jackowhisp series, was supposed to be available for Christmas this year but we are behind schedule. Many of you have been asking and I can now tell you that the ‘Octodillioes’ will be available early in 2011. When I have a definite date for the release I will post a notice on my website so you will be the first to know. Thank you for your patience.

‘Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes’ is about Jimba going on a field trip to the beach with his teacher and the rest of the class. While the other Jack-o-Whispers are happy to collect shells for their class projects, Jimba wants to see octodillioes, but the octodillioes only come out of the water out at night.

Free download – full colour A4 poster from Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes

Jimba Jackobean at the beach and hoping to see some octodillioes

Click here to see a bigger image that you can download!

There is a lovely surprise for Jimba at the end of the book, but I won’t tell you what it is – you will need to read it to find out. Hmm… I wonder what an octodillio looks like.

‘Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes’ is beautifully illustrated by Omar Aranda, and delightful to read. I hope you enjoy reading about Jimba, he is a great character and I know he will be a favourite in classic children’s books for years to come.

The illustrations for ‘Jimba Jackobean and the Octodillioes’ are looking great. Omar has set them out a little differently this time and I think the effect is better still. Omar has drawn some wonderful birds too, so make sure you look for them as you read the book.

Also, you will meet some of Jimba’s friends. There is Melody Whisper, Jasper Whipjack, Mae Mae Jitter-Jump and of course, Mrs Jickelby, Jimba’s teacher.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about Jimba and how they can buy a book from my website www.alexistapp.com

When you order books in December, you also get some FREE gifts:

• a free Jackowhisp bookmark and
• a free Jackowhisp pen.

So tell your friends about this special offer.

Jimba and his friends wish you a lovely Christmas. Stay safe.

Alexis Tapp

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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