#LizzysDragon #BooksOnTour #BlogTour #Day6
Just Write For Kids is happy to welcome back Melissa Gijsbers to provide us with some final insights into her exciting junior fantasy fiction, Lizzy’s Dragon! Hope you’ve all enjoyed the blog tour! 🙂
Title: Lizzy’s Dragon
Author: Melissa Gijsbers
Illustrator: Kylie Leane
Publisher: Stone Table Books
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: 8-12 years old
Please tell us a bit of what your book is about.
Lizzy really wants a pet lizard, but her parents won’t let her have one. One day, she finds an odd-looking egg behind her house and she hopes it will hatch to be a lizard. Instead she ends up with the strangest lizard she has ever seen! She has to hide her new pet from her parents and an annoying younger brother.
What kinds of themes / issues are raised in this story?
I am the oldest of four children, and I often felt like my youngest brother would get away with things that I never would. They were also involved in activities that I wasn’t interested in and I wanted something for myself to stand out. Lizzy also wants something for herself. In this story, it’s lizards and reptiles, instead she gets something much better.
How are these important to you in raising awareness to your readers?
I think kids need to know that their passions are important, no matter how quirky and outside the box they are.
Who or what inspired you to write this story?
My editor asked me if I wrote fantasy and I said I’d give it a try. My 13-year-old son was the inspiration for Lizzy as he loves lizards.
What is your favourite part of the book?
IÂ have a couple of favourite parts. The first is when Bubbles hatches from his egg. It was so much fun trying to work out what my dragon would look like. The second is when Lizzy realises Bubbles is a dragon and not a lizard and she dances in the spray of water Bubbles has blown into the air.
How would you describe the publishing process? Were they supportive?Â
The publishing process was amazing. The team at Stone Table Books were wonderful to work with. I wrote the first draft last November and worked on it in the following months, knocking it into shape. They were very supportive with my story. The book was available in July this year and launched officially launched in September.
What was the collaboration like between author and illustrator? Juicy gossip, please!
I was blown away by the images Kylie Leane created of my dragon. The first image had Lizzy wearing a dress, and I asked her to change her to wearing jeans as that is what I had described in the book. I love the illustrations, especially the one when Bubbles hatches.
What has the feedback / audience response been like so far?
So far, the response has been wonderful. So many kids (and adults) have told me they read it in a single sitting and really enjoyed the story.
What teaching and learning ideas would you suggest to complement this book?
One activity I ran during the last school holidays was get students to create their own dragon.
Any details on your book launch you’d like to tell us about?
The book launch was held back in September at Readings Kids bookshop in Carlton. It was a double launch with Hidden by Sif Dal (http://stonetablebooks.com/product/hidden/). It was an amazing evening. We even broke my 15 year old out of hospital for the night!
See Melissa’s recap of her wonderful book launch here.
Please let us know where we can find more on you and your book.
You can find out more about me on my website www.melissagijsbers.com or my blog www.melissawrites.com.au
You can find out more about the book at http://stonetablebooks.com/product/lizzys-dragon/
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Melissa! 🐉 😀
Melissa Gijsbers lives in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne with her two teenage sons and their pet blue tongue lizard. She is an avid reader and writer and runs a group for young writers at her local library. She has written two other children’s books, ‘Swallow Me, NOW’Â and ‘3… 2… 1… Done!’
#InterviewByBook #LizzysDragonÂ
#BooksOnTour #fantasy #adventure #juniorreader
Lizzy’s Dragon Blog Tour Schedule
Everyday at www.justkidslit.com/blog
PLUS!
Wednesday October 25 – Brook Tayla
www.telltalestome.wordpress.com
Thursday October 26 – Megan Higginson
Friday October 27 – Vanessa Ryan
Tuesday October 31 – Julie Anne Grasso
www.whenigrowupiwannawriteakidsbook.blogspot.com.au
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