Tales from Cloud Canyon by Dr. Rachel Kowert PhD - Book Tour - Book Trailer - Guest Post - Kickstarter Campaign - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hi, lovelies!!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Dr. Rachel Kowert PhD and her new book series, “Tales from Cloud Canyon,” featuring THREE topical short stories including, “Here, There, & Everywhere,” “The Secret to Success,” and “Invisible Friends,” here on FAB!!  For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $75 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card OR a Print Copy of the THREE featured stories from the Cloud Canyon Universe!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Dr. Rachel Kowert PhD and to increase your chances of winning!!

Thanks for stopping by!!  Wishing you all lots of good luck in this fabulous giveaway!!

Please note, that the Cloud Canyon Universe Book Prize is ONLY available to US residents and the prize will not be sent until the books are released in November 2022.  Sorry INTL – while you are ineligible for the book prize, the gift card prize is still available for INTL residents.

Tales from Cloud Canyon

by Dr. Rachel Kowert PhD

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GENRE:  Children's

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BLURB:

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.

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BOOK SERIES TRAILER:

Check out this exciting new teaser trailer for “Tales from Cloud Canyon,” below!!!

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EXCERPT TWO:

Invisible Friends tells the story of Winnie and Yuna. On a playdate, Winnie finds Yuna is talking to strangers online and sharing personal information. which I know is an ever-present discussion in many homes. This story discusses the how’s and why’s of navigating online stranger danger.

After a while, Yuna softly said to her friend,

“I'm sorry about earlier, down in the den

I just thought it would be fun to meet someone new.

I didn't want to do something to upset you.”

Winnie smiled, “I know, it's just I've seen the headlines,

We stay safe by not talking to strangers online.

You can’t see them, you don’t know who they really are,

and they don't know you, it is all a bit bizarre.”

“It’s like when I venture off to play outside,

When I am online, all of the same rules apply.

I wouldn't walk into a stranger's house to chat,

Or invite the mailman inside to pet my cat.

If I don't really know someone, I stay aware,

Of all the risks - I was upset because I care.”

“I like to make new friends, too, really I promise,

But you can't tell if strangers are truly honest.

Online everyone's invisible, it's scary,

Because of that, it is best to remain wary.

With ‘invisible friends’ the risks are much greater.”

Winnie said she was a great de-escalator.

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GUEST POST:

Strong Female Leads: Tales From Cloud Canyon

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.

The initial ideas behind Tales from Cloud Canyon came to me in 2019 when my daughter was 4 years old. I was lucky enough to pick up about a hundred different paperback books at a garage sale of a former teacher and had started reading her a new book every night before bed. After a few weeks of this, I started to notice a theme: there were very few books with female protagonists and when there were, they were pigeonholed into a damsel in distress or only successfully navigated their challenges with the use of superpowers. While there is nothing wrong with a female superhero or a knight in shining armor, I wanted something different.

After a bit of digging I realized there was a dramatic lack of representation in children’s literature. The Nielson 2018 book scan report found that of the top 100 best selling children’s books, 1 in 5 did not feature a single female character, only 2 out of the top 100 featured a black, asian, or minority ethnic character in a central role ( with 70% of the black, asian, or ethnic characters were in non-speaking roles) and only 1 out of the top 100 featured a disabled child but they did not speak or have a key role.

Fueled with discontent, I called my friend who runs a small micropress and told her she needed to write or commission some books with strong female characters at the heart of them. She told me I should write them. At the time, this made me audibly laugh! However, after sitting with her words and fueled by her encouragement, I decided to open up my notes section in my phone and give it a try. In less than two weeks I had written what ended up becoming the first collection in the Tales from Cloud Canyon Universe: the 26 stories of Pragmatic Princess. In 2019, I successfully kickstarted these stories as the collection Pragmatic Princess: 26 Superb Stories of Self-Sufficiency and raised more than $25,000 in 30 days and earned an INDIES award for educational children’s picture books.  So I guess I can write children’s 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 KickstarterJune 4 for a BRAND NEW collection of three topical short stories: Here, There, & Everywhere, Invisible Friends, and The Secret to Success. These stories are the ones that I felt were still missing from my children’s library. And while these new stories do feature some new male characters, strong female leads are still at the center.

I also want every child to be able to see themselves as the hero of their own story. And disproportionately, this is a rare occurrence for female characters, particularly females characters from traditionally marginalized backgrounds. 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.

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Dr. Rachel Kowert is a research psychologist, award-winning author, and mom of three (and #CavillInfluencer). In 2019, she launched her first Kickstarter project from the Cloud Canyon universe - a collection of female centered stories entitled Pragmatic Princess: 26 stories of self sufficiency and raised more than $25,000 in 30 days and won an INDIES award for educational children’s picture book. Dr. Kowert has been featured in various media outlets, including NPR, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, and Wired.

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AUTHOR BIO – DR. RACHEL KOWERT PHD:

Dr. Rachel Kowert is a research psychologist, award-winning author and mom of three. In 2019, she launched her first Kickstarter project from the Cloud Canyon universe was a collection of female centered stories entitled Pragmatic Princess: 26 stories of self sufficiency and raised more than $25,000 in 30 days and won an INDIES award for educational children's picture book.

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CONNECT WITH DR. RACHEL KOWERT PHD:

Website:

https://www.rkowert.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/drrachelkowert

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/drkowert

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/drrachelkowert

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/Psychgeist

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkowert

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8419212.Rachel_Kowert

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/3NymJ2C

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ILLUSTRATOR BIO – RANDALL HAMPTON:

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.

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KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN:

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.

Check out this Kickstarter Campaign below!!!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pragmaticprincess/tales-from-cloud-canyon

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Dr. Rachel Kowert PhD will be awarding a $75 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card OR 1 copy each of the 3 Cloud Canyon Books (available in November) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those fabulous community outreach projects and awesome giveaways on here**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.