This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Dr. Rachel Kowert PhD will be awarding a $75 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC or 1 copy each of the 3 Cloud Canyon books (available in November) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Tales From Cloud Canyon
Dr. Rachel Kowert
Cloud Canyon is a place where the
everyday child is celebrated for doing everyday things, with their everyday
abilities. It is a world where mistakes are learned from, diversity is
celebrated, and every child gets to be the hero of their own story.
Tales from Cloud Canyon is a
storybook collection that features a series of male and female centered stories
as well as topical short stories. The first book in the collection, Pragmatic Princess: 26 Superb Stories of Self-Sufficiency was successfully kickstarted in 2019. This project raised more than $25,000 in 30 days and
earned an INDIES award for educational children’s picture books. Over the last
few years, I have continued to write and expand the Cloud Canyon universe and
am excited to announce that I am launching a second Kickstarter June 4 for a BRAND NEW collection of three
topical short stories: Here, There, & Everywhere,
Invisible Friends, and The Secret to Success.
Here,
There, & Everywhere is a story about death, dying and
grief told in a child appropriate way from a faith-agnostic perspective.
Meaning, it would be just as appropriate in a religious home as it would be in
a non religious home.
Invisible
Friends is a story about the how’s and why’s
of navigating online stranger danger.
The
Secret to Success highlights the importance of
persisting through frustration and failure and the power of friendly
encouragement (and is very much based on my own personal challenges with
learning to ski)!
What makes Tales from Cloud Canyon
unique is that they are entertaining, educational, and inclusive. The symbolic
models are some of our earliest teachers.
The role of models is particularly influential in childhood as it can
have a long lasting impact on intellectual, social, emotional and moral
development. Knowing this, it was important to create stories that provided an
educational opportunity as well as one to show children that they can be the
heroes of their own stories… and didn’t need superpowers to do it!
I also wanted to make sure every
child could see themselves as the hero of their own story. When children grow
up not seeing themselves reflected in the media they consume, they grow up
feeling like they don’t matter. So within the Cloud Canyon universe more than
half of the characters are female, more than half come from a minority
background, and 1 in 10 have visible disabilities. It was equally important that these details were not
the central theme of the stories themselves as our shape, level of ability, and
what our family unit looks like are just some of the many parts of who we are
and not necessarily the defining feature of our stories.
My goal with Tales from Cloud Canyon is to change the status quo around children’s literature and let children know that they are the heroes of their own story, no matter their gender, ability or background. I want all children to have the opportunity to celebrate the power of the everyday through the magic of storytelling… and maybe learn a thing or two along the way.
THE STORIES
Tales from Cloud Canyon is a series of character driven, topical short stories celebrating the everyday child, doing everyday things, with their everyday abilities designed for children aged 3+. Developed by a research psychologist and mom of 3, these stories were developed to be entertaining, educational, and celebrate the power of the everyday within our the beautiful, diverse world.
This Kickstarter collection features three topical short stories from the Cloud Canyon Universe: Here, There, & Everywhere, The Secret to Success, and Invisible Friends. Each of these titles are fully illustrated from artist Randall Hampton and are about 25 pages long.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE WRITING
The fictional characters in childhood stories are some of our earliest teachers. We learn a range of things through the observation of these symbolic models, such as what is right and wrong, a desirable and undesirable behavior, gender roles, norms, stereotypes, and more. The role of models is particularly influential in childhood as it can have a long lasting impact on development.
Each story in this collection was developed to not only be entertaining but educational as well, with the stories' characters modeling a range of age-appropriate skills spanning four areas of human development: intellectual, social, emotional, and moral. The skills that are modeled within any particular story are displayed on the back cover of each book and explained in more detail on the last page of the book.
DIVERSITY, REPRESENTATION & INCLUSION Tales from Cloud Canyon changes the narrative by reflecting and celebrating the beautiful and diverse reality of our world. The characters within the Cloud Canyon Universe were developed to represent a range of shapes, sizes, abilities and disabilities, and traditional and non-traditional families.
In the Cloud Canyon universe:
-More than half the characters are female
-More than half the characters come from an ethnic-minority background
-1 in 10 characters have a visible disability
-Characters come from traditional and non-traditional families
-Different body shapes are represented
-she/her, he/him, and they/them pronouns are represented
It was also equally important that these details were not the central theme of the stories themselves as our shape, level of ability, and what our family unit looks like are just some of the many parts of who we are and not necessarily the defining feature of our stories.
PRODUCTION AND RELEASE
All of the stories have been written and are currently being brought to life through the illustrative magic of Randall Hampton. The physical production of the books is expected to start in June 2022. Time from production to shipping is about 6 - 8 weeks (+/- 2-4 additional weeks due to COVID delays). Once Rachel receives the books, they will be shipped to backers. There is an expected arrival date of the books no later than November 2022.
Read an Excerpt
The Secret to Success tells the story of Quinn and Yanni. Quinn is a quick study. but learns on a school ski trip that everything may not come as easily. This story highlights the importance of persisting through frustration and failure and the power of friendly encouragement.
Excerpt:
For the rest of the day, Quinn kept trying,
And found each attempt more gratifying.
Through determination and her sheer will,
Quinn finally mastered the bunny hill.
Yanni’s feet still weren’t fully complying,
Staying upright, but they kept on trying.
And with each try, they did in fact progress,
And by the end, they started falling less.
Quinn never made it up the big hill with her friends,
But realized that it didn’t matter in the end.
Instead, she focused on doing her best that day,
Letting her preset expectations fade away.
While her classmates all talked about the big ski lift,
Quinn focused on Yanni’s words and her new mind shift:
The true secret to success is power of will,
Which is often much stronger than actual skill.
About the Author:
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Randall Hampton is an author, illustrator, husband and father of 3. He is the Creator of "The Little Game Master" series of books and considers himself a story teller above all else. When he is not spending time with family and friends, Randall enjoys reading, video games, music, and table top games of all sorts.
https://www.amazon.com/Rachel-Kowert/e/B00QU7NZUE
Kickstart Campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pragmaticprincess/tales-from-cloud-canyon
Book video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCTQ0ZgA14Q Website: https://www.rkowert.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drkowert
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drrachelkowert
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drrachelkowert/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Psychgeist
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkowert
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