Guest Post with Jenna Greene - Winston the Well-Dressed Wombat

Photo Content from Chelsea Sedoti

Jenna Greene is a teacher and author, whose hobbies include dancing, dragonboating, and napping. Her novel, Reborn, won the 2019 Moonbeam Children’s Book award.

      

  

Give us the background on your journey to publish! Tell us where and when you started. What trials you may have gone through, what the best parts were. How did your family and friends react to the news of your publication; how did they help you or inspire you?)
Having taught middle school for 14 years, I was well-emersed in the realm of YA literature and found the flow to the writing YA fantasy a moderately easy road. (Disclaimer: No writing is truly easy). However, with the arrival of my daughter, my switch to teaching primary grades, and falling in love with picture books, my writing desires changed and my flow of ideas shifted to younger audiences. Of course, I’ve seen picture books. I’ve read many. But the creation of a picture book … the manner eluded me. I could write a story, but how would it be formatted? Who would draw the pictures and how could they be matched to the character in my head? Luckily, I have the pleasure for working for and with a publishing team who are also writers. They understand the publishing ‘biz’ from both the author side and the formatting/ printing/ marketing part. I was allowed to pick my own illustrator and communicate with her to bring my vision to life.

Once my book was published, I was able to share my story with my five year old daughter. While she understands that ‘mommy writes books’, it’s always been a struggle for her to comprehend and relate to stories without pictures. I was proud and excited to present a tale to her that was at her level. I showed her the book, read her the story, and waited for her reaction. While I suspected she might tell me her thoughts about the story, or even give me a congratulatory hug, neither case was true. Instead, she wanted to know “Why I looked so pretty in my picture?” on the back cover, instead of how I normally look. I was probed on my hairstyle, clothing choices, and whether I wore makeup.

I guess you can never truly anticipate the focus of a young child, or what will pop out of their mouth. Perhaps this will be the topic for my next picture book.

Children's bookWinston the Wombat loves to share what he knows, how to clothe all his friends wherever he goes.
Take a fun little journey with Winston to see, all the dressing suggestions he gives out for free.

You can purchase Winston the Well-Dressed Wombat at the following link below:

1 Winner will receive a $15 Amazon Gift Card.

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