Book Giveaway – ZEBRA ON THE GO by Jill Nogales

Noticed that Author Jill Nogales has a new picture book titled, ZEBRA ON THE GO. It is available in bookstores now. Jill has agreed to share a book with one lucky winner. All you have to do to get in the running is to leave a comment. Reblog, tweet, or talk about it on Facebook with a link and you will get additional chances to win. Just let me know the other things you do to share the good news, so I can put in the right amount of tickets in my basket for you.

Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, reblogging really helps spread the word for a new book. Thanks for helping Jill!

Book’s Description:

The greatest show on earth has come to town. Zebra looks fabulous. He dashes into the ring ready to dazzle the crowd. But oops – he accidentally steps on Lion’s toe. Lion roars. His temper soars. And a wild chase begins. Zebra races out of the circus tent, through the city streets, to an ocean-side park. Lion is in hot pursuit, followed by circus clowns, prancing ponies, dancing bear cubs, monkeys and much more. Told in rhyming text with search-and-find illustrations, ZEBRA ON THE GO is a story of forgiveness and friendship, just right for anyone who has ever had the misfortune of provoking a tough guy.

Book’s Journey:

The idea for ZEBRA ON THE GO came from an article I read in the “Odds and Ends” section of the local newspaper. The article mentioned how a circus had come to town somewhere back east and one of the show animals had escaped during a performance causing a big ruckus in that town. I was curious to know more, but the brief article didn’t include any details or photos. I started imagining possible scenarios, most of them silly, and soon realized that this had potential to be a fun picture book story.

An early version of the manuscript ended with Zebra hiding from Lion by pretending to be one of the horses on the carousel. I took that version to a SCBWI conference and signed up for a workshop in which attendees could submit picture book manuscripts that would be read aloud and then publicly critiqued by an editor and an agent—which is pretty scary. But they were kind and encouraging, and when I met with them afterwards, they said that my story had not yet reached its end. (A fierce lion surely wouldn’t give up the chase so easily, right?) Full of new ideas, I went home and wrote the second half of the story.

When it came time to submit it, I decided to send this story to an agent. She replied that she “loved” the story and wanted to see two more of my manuscripts, which was wonderful news, except that I didn’t have two other manuscripts to send to her. So then I decided to send the story to a few publishing houses that accepted unsolicited manuscripts. I was absolutely thrilled when Peachtree Publishers contacted me a few weeks later to see if ZEBRA ON THE GO was still available.

Lorraine Rocha was chosen to be the illustrator and I loved seeing the ruckus of a runaway circus finally come to life in her fun and delightfully detailed illustrations.

Jill’s Bio:

Ever since Jill Nogales was a little girl, all she ever wanted to do was play house and write stories. So now that she’s all grown up, that’s what she does. Her stories have been published in a variety of children’s magazines, including Highlights for Children, as well as in religious and educational publications. She lives in Idaho with her husband, three children, and one quirky Brittany spaniel who has no idea that he is actually a dog. You are welcome to visit her at www.jillnogales.com.

 

Thank you Jill for sharing your book and journey with us. It looks like a fun picture book. Good Luck!

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy