Win A $50.00 Amazon Card & Signed Copies of The Pen Pieyu Adventures

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About the Books

Book 1:

Title: Sir Princess Petra (The Pen Pieyu Adventures Book #1) | Author: Diane Mae Robinson | Year published: 2012 | Publisher: Tate Publishing |Number of pages: 68 | Recommended age: 5+

Summary: Princess Petra’s unusual birthday request sends the royal court into a frenzy, but when she agrees to undertake a knight’s quest they can’t stop her. Armed with a cake knife and outfitted in the best royal pots and pans, Petra sets off to face a dragon and win her real armor before encountering a bog witch, and an army of the kingdom’s worst enemies. Will Petra’s kindness and acceptance prove to be more valuable than weapons and armor?

Awards for book one, Sir Princess Petra:

2012 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award (Literary Arts).
2012 First Runner Up in the Purple Dragonfly Book Award in the Children’s Chapter Book category
2013 Honorable Mention in the Reader’s Favorite International Book Awards
2013 Finalist in the “50 Great Writers You Should be Reading” Award

Purchase:

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Tate Publishing *Goodreads

Book 2:

Title: Sir Princess Petra’s Talent (The Pen Pieyu Adventures Book 2) | Author: Diane Mae Robinson |Publication Date: September 24, 2013 | Publisher:Tate Publishing | Number of pages: 92 |Recommended age: Read-aloud ~ 5+

Summary: Sir Princess Petra has already proven she is a kind and noble knight. This, however, does not please the king and queen—they want her to behave like a princess and forget this silly knight nonsense of hers! But when the king writes a new rule in the royal rule book that requires her to attend Talent School and acquire a princess talent certificate or suffer the spell of the royal magician, Petra, reluctantly, agrees to go. But who could have guessed what Sir Princess Petra’s Talent would be?

Awards for book two, Sir Princess Petra’s Talent:

2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards, finalist in three categories:

Children’s Fantasy SciFi
Children’s Grade K – 3rd
Children’s Grade 4- 6th

Purchase:

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Tate Publishing* Goodreads

The Buzz About the Books

Book 1: “I really feel that this little book is a gem. It is a relatively short book (70-ish pages) that can easily be read aloud to children in one sitting. My kids and I were completely captivated by this fun, adventure-filled tale about a very charming and unorthodox princess. I highly recommend this book to families with children under the age of 10 and as young as 5 who love a good tale filled with fairy-tale characters such as dragons, witches, princesses, and knights.” ~ Renee @ Mother Daughter Book Reviews

Book 1: “I liked this book because it has a great story line and a great message about believing in yourself. Petra proves that she and all girls can be daring, adventurous and brave. I think Petra was a great character and I liked Snarls (the dragon) even better because he had good sense and dragons are just cool. The book is a beginning chapter book so there isn’t a lot of details in it but it tells a complete story. The black and white illustrations in the book are really great too. The book is part of “The Pen Pieyu Adventures.” I hope that means there will be more books about Petra coming out! This book is an awesome beginning chapter book and a great read aloud.” ~ Erik @ This Kid Reviews Books

Book 1: “Sir Princess Petra is one of those stories that will appeal to most everyone. It is charmingly funny. Petra sets out to prove she has what it takes to be a royal knight and proves she can do nearly anything. Snarls, the howling dragon, is endearing and lovable. If stuffed, sitting on a toy store shelf, every kid would want him. The story is short enough to be read in one sitting, say at bedtime. There are many opportunities for humorous, wacky, high-pitched voices, making Sir Princess Petra fun to read aloud. The author’s imagination is appropriately childlike. Petra is a child every parent will love. I know a child would have sweet, funny dreams after hearing mom or dad read this at bedtime.”~ Sue M. @ Kid Lit Reviews

Book 2: “Sir Princess Petra’s Talent is precisely everything an early middle grade book should be with a multi-dimensional main character who is a great role model for young girls; a great supporting cast of unique and quirky characters; a plot largely driven through clever dialogue amongst the characters and involving much adventure and folly; and unexpected turns and twists that willleave parents and their children laughing out loud. ” ~ Renee @ Mother Daughter Book Reviews

Book 2: “This is an adventurous story, which gets going from the very first page and doesn’t stop. The characters are all enjoyable, and the situations, although sometimes challenging for Princess Petra, are very appropriate for the age group.” ~ Tonja @ Bookworm for Kids

Book 2: “The[se books] are early chapter books, fun and suitable for children ages six and up. They move very quickly and are quite short, so I think they’d be particularly suitable for reluctant readers. I also think boys would enjoy these books as Sir Princess Petra thinks and behaves in the way I imagine most boys wish girls would think and behave – kind, down-to-earth, adventurous, and never squeamish or manipulative.” ~ Tina @ Mommynificent

About the Author: Diane Mae Robinson

Diane lives in a small hilltop castle nestled amongst a very old and magical forest. In this mystical forest, all the fantasy creatures one can imagine live and audition for parts in the author’s next book. Diane has a journalism diploma from the Schools of Montreal and an advanced diploma from the Institute of Children’s Literature. The author also teaches acrylic and watercolor art to children, and is a writing instructor at the Creative Writing Institute.

The author’s first book in this series, Sir Princess Petra, has won three prestigious awards, and was a finalist for another award. The author recently acquired an agent with Gotham Artists Agency in New York.

Website * Blog * Twitter * Facebook *Goodreads * LinkedIn * Google+

 Enter to win a $50.00 Amazon gift card and book one and book two autographed hardcover books in The Pen Pieyu Adventure series. Enter here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e6447e6d209/

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artists Awards

                  
After nearly 200 applications and two levels of adjudication coordinated by The Banff Centre, eight outstanding artists emerged as  2014 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award recipients. 

His Honour, Col. (Ret’d) the Honourable Donald S. Ethell,

Government House, Edmonton, Alberta

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta presented the medals, certificates and $10,000 awards at a private ceremony June 11, 2014 at Government House in Edmonton. Meet this years recipients here:
http://www.artsawards.ca/index.php/emerging-artists/ea-past-recipients/

The Lieutenant Governor Emerging Artist Award is given to eight outstanding artist (in all disciplines) every two years. I was one of the eight recipients of this honourable award in 2012:
http://www.artsawards.ca/index.php/emerging-artists/ea-past-recipients/  

The Honourable Donald S. Ethell, Lieutenant Governor
of Alberta presenting award to Diane Mae Robinson
2012

June 11, 2014, Government House, Edmonton, Alberta

I was invited to this years award ceremonies at Government House where I watched the new recipients receive their awards, drank champaign, snacked on hors de oeurves, and chatted with very insightful and creative people.

I was also given an opportunity to present the Honorable Donald S. Ethell, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, with my 2nd book in my children's fantasy/adventure series, Sir Princess Petra's Talent. In 2012, when I won this award, I presented the Lieutenant Governor with book one, Sir Princess Petra.

2012 Emerging Artist Award Recipients, and members of the board.

June 11, 2014, Diane at Government House

For more information on my fantasy kids books: http://www.dragonsbook.com

Snarls,The Celebrity Dragon

Dragons are just cool!

I have always loved dragons in books, movies, or where ever I happen to come across them. Hence, I write adventure/fantasy books for kids that has a dragon in the stories.

Snarls is the dragon. He is a secondary character in my series, The Pen Pieyu Adventure.

Snarls, being good.

When the reader is first introduced to Snarls, the howling dragon in the Forest of Doom, in book one, he is portrayed as many of his kinfolk: a howling, mean, fire-breathing, eye- brow singing menace.

But, alas, he is not really that way. He just got a bad rap due to the reputations of some other bad dragons in some other people’s books.

Once the reader gets to know Snarls and gives him a chance, just as Petra the main character of the series did, I’m pretty sure they will quite like him.

In fact, Petra and Snarls are the best of friends now. Which goes to show, if you treat a dragon right, good things can come of it.

Petra and Snarls go through the series having the best adventures. They do get into some zany, and somewhat scary, situations though. But  they make a great team and together they can get through anything. And Snarls, with his witty comments, makes the adventure stories that much more fun.

Here are some little known facts about Snarls:

1. He loves to cook.

2. His birthday is Oct 23rd.

3.He carries a resume.

4.Snarls lives in the Forest of Doom near Dragon Mountain. It sound scary at first, but you must know all the facts .His last name is Doom. So the Forest of Doom isn’t quite as scary once you know that the forest belongs to the Doom family and is not a forest full of doom.

5. He loves shiny, sliver things. Petra gave him her makeshift pots and pans armour in book one, and he polishes it daily.

6. His fire breathing doesn’t always work properly—when he get’s nervous, he lets out uncontrollable surges of fire, and when he is trying to be scary, he just huffs out wads of something that looks like shredded parchment.

7. He is somewhat of a scaredy-cat of a dragon, but if he feels he must protect Petra (Petra, the Princess Knight, usually never needs protecting), he summons up courage and shows his brave side.

Snarls has become quite the charismatic character in this series, and he has started to receive fan mail. Yes, fan mail to a dragon. I will post his first fan mail letter next week. Very, very interesting, indeed.

If you would like to know more about Snarls and the other characters in this adventure series, go here: http://www.dragonsbook.com/for-kids.html  There is a free coloring book to download also.

The Pen Pieyu Adventures is a four book adventure/fantasy series with zany characters and lots of humor. Book one, Sir Princess Petra was released January, 2012. Book 2, Sir Princess Petra’s Talent is forthcoming January, 2013. I am presently working on book three.

To read the reviews for Sir Princess Petra, go here: http://www.dragonsbook.com/reviews.html

My Favorite Children's Books

This week I am paying tribute to some of my favorite children fiction books and the writers who captivated me with their words.

I have been an avid reader ever since I learned to read by myself at the age of seven. The magic of the story in those first books I read will stay with me forever. And I know that same magic is what compels me to write books for children.

Here are my three favorite childhood books:
                                                                     Black Beauty

Black Beauty, The Autobiography Of A Horse, Anna Sewell, 1877

Black Beauty opens with its main character describing his first memory as that of a "pleasant meadow."  He narrates about his life as a colt, his mother's advice on how to behave as a well-bred horse, and his master's kind care. When Black Beauty is two, he witnesses the brutality of a rabbit hunt and the tragedy of one of the riders being killed in a fall from his horse. At age four, Black Beauty is broken in to the use of the saddle, bridle, and carriage harness. The book is a masterful work of Black Beauty's life, written through the eyes of the wonderful horse that he is.

Sewell's intention in writing the book was to promote the humane treatment of horses.While teaching animal welfare, it also teaches to treat people with respect and kindness. It was written in the last years of her life. She lived several months after its publication to witness the success of her novel.

Black Beauty was the only book that Sewell wrote, and she sold the manuscript for only twenty pounds.
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-black-beauty/

In my opinion, Black Beauty is the greatest story ever told. I cried and laughed and cried again.

                                                               The Gnome-Mobile

The Gnome-Mobile, retold by Mary Carey, 1967 (originally entitled  The Gnomobile,  writtenby Upton Sinclair, 1936)

The Gnome-Mobile is a delightful story about two children and their uncle who stumble upon a pair of gnomes in the forest. They befriend the "little people" and  protect them from a freak show entrepreneur and a group of unscrupulous land developers that want to destroy the forest. This task becomes even more difficult when the uncle is thrown into a mental institution because he is seeing the gnomes!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gnome-Mobile 

This is one of the great fantasy kids books. A story with humor, friendship and adventure.

Nikki Nikki Tembo

"Nikki Nikki Tembo No So Rembo Oo Ma Moochi Gamma Gamma Goochi" is the name of a little Chinese boy in a story called "Long Name No Can Say" narrated by Paul Wing. It was available as a recording in the mid-1940's. There have been many variations of the same story subsequent to that time period, which is perhaps the origin of the "Tikki Tikki " variety written by Arlene Mosel, 1968.

The story presumes to function as an aetiological myth about why Chinese names are so short today.
For more information of Nikki Nikki Tembo, and to download the recording go to: http://www.visi.com/~tmarx/index.htm

I do not know who originally wrote this story. It is a story that has many different names. I knew the story as Nikki Nikki Tembo. As a child, my family told this story so many times, we have memorized the Chinese boy's name and can say it very fast. His full name is: Nikki Nikki Tembo No So Rembo Oo Ma Moochi Gamma Gamma Goochi. This is one of the best children's books ever.

I have been taken on many adventures, into many fascinating worlds, through the magic of books. Some are funny, some are sad. Others are good and still other are great. Whatever the adventure, whatever the story, it was created out of pure imagination by the author. And for that, I give honor to all writers.. 

What was your favorite book as a child?

Please visit my new web site: http://www.dragonsbook.com