Book Blog Tour: Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time Out Chair by Shelly Nicholson + CONTEST

Hello, hello and welcome back to another exciting day here on Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers!  I know you are not accustomed to seeing a full-fledged posting on a weekend (hey, we all need time away, or unplugged....unless you're Johnny Mneumonic and that's another movie/story altogether), but this one is extra special and could just not wait!

Today we are the hosts of author Shelly Nicholson's Virtual Book Tour for her first book entitled, Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time Out Chair!  (How's that for a title?)  Aside from the awesome name itself, this is really the story of young Jake (the Snake) and his quest to avoid one particular gift of Christmas that he is only to sure to receive due to his antics.  But wait!  Before I go into a review of the title at hand, the author was kind enough to stop by with a guest post just for you!  Take it away Shelly!

***Psst!  This is Jake the Snake!***

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First I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gina for hosting me on her blog! Thank you, Gina! I am so happy to be here.

My early chapter book Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time-Out Chair was released earlier this year, in March ‘09.  And my second book in this early chapter series, A Stinky Surprise for Jake the Snake is set to be released the first week of January ‘10!  If your child enjoys this series, I have a third book well underway! So keep looking for more adventures from Jake the Snake. J

My now 8-year-old son was inspiration for my “Jake the Snake” series.  I am the mother of 4 (3 sons and a daughter), but Jacob, my youngest son has always had a very colorful and energetic personality.  With all the mischief he’s gotten himself into, I’ve had lots of inspiration for these books. 

I’ve written my Jake the Snake books in the voice of a funny Kindergartener who tells it like he sees it. I would describe Jake the Snake’s character as Dennis the Menace meets Curious George.  Jake the Snake might even be best friends with Junie B. Jones.  I had so much fun writing these books and got to laugh right along with Jake’s antics while writing and revising.  In my writing, it is my intention to provide kids with a love for reading through relatable situations and laugh out loud humor. Telling the story in the voice of Jake the Snake himself made telling this story so much fun!  It puts me, the writer, into the mindset of a 5-year-old boy and makes me appreciate a child’s viewpoint.

My first book, Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time-Out Chair is 9 chapters and 64 pages long. It has a fun Christmas theme, because Jake the Snake is terrified he is going to get a “stupid lump of coal” for Christmas because he has been sent to the “stupid time-out chair” so many times for being naughty.  The book has lots of short sentences and funny kid friendly humor.  To read my favorite excerpts, you can visit my website www.booksbyshelly.com.  I hope you’ll visit and check out the printable coloring pages, and meet Jake the Snake and the other characters from my book!

Besides my Jake the Snake books, I have written lots of articles and stories for children’s magazines and e-zines, including Kid Zone, Fun for Kidz, and Jack and Jill, Stories For Children Magazine (www.storiesforchildrenmagazine.org), Stories that Lift, and Story Station.  As most children’s writers would probably agree, almost all of my stories come from the inspiration of my own children.

Have a great day! And Happy Reading! J Shelly Nicholson

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Thanks, Shelly!  That insight explains a lot!  As you just heard (okay, read...), this book is written in the voice of a five year old boy.  It definitely makes it an interesting read as you find yourself adopting the mannerisms of your five year old self while reading this tale. 

While I was reviewing it, I read a few chapters aloud and much to the delight of those listening, provided them with an instant pathway to memory lane.  As I do not have children of my own, this aspect of its appeal came purely out of nowhere...and I'm glad it did!  They had a great time listening to Jake's adventure and then proceeded to relate stories of their own children's misadventures.  (Apparantly as a child, I was inadvertantly a little bit like Jake.....***come on, really?***...yup, that's what I'm told.  Not so much the penchant for bad decisions...but more along the lines of creativity to avoid getting into trouble.)

In the end, this story shares the goal most children strive for....to avoid a big lump of coal on Christmas morning!  Jake tries his best in so many ways, but alas falls short of his intentions most of the time.  Let's see, there's the soap powder sandcastle, and the chocolate lizard....it gets rather interesting.  With the cast of supporting characters, the family will come alive as you strive to maintain your composure page by page.  I can't say too much more as it will spoil the fun, but rest assured, you are in for a treat.  Speaking of treats...we have one for you!  Trumpets please...

(Okay, so that's not exactly a trumpet....geesh good help is hard to find...anywho...)

We have a contest ladies and gentlemen!  Courtesy of author Shelly Nicholson, each of YOU have a chance to win a combo pack that is very cute, if I do say so myself (and I do...).

The prizes:

One winner will receive BOTH...

(1) Child size Jake the Snake - "Oh No, Lizard Guts!" T-shirt!

Winner can choose child's size Small (4-6), Medium (8), Large(10-12), or X Large (14-16).

AND

(1) copy of 'Jack the Snake and the Stupid Time Out Chair'

How to enter:

(PLEASE try to keep the majority of your entries in one comment...depending on how many times you wish to enter, it may not be possible, but try....just makes it easier to track)

Your main method of entry?  Comment of course!  You score 1 entry for commenting on this post and answering this 'comment creator'.  Be sure to include your email address (it can be "coded" like soandso(at)nowhere(dot)com....) so I can contact you if you are the winner!  (No comment/answer/email, no entry.)

COMMENT CREATOR

What's the funniest, silliest, craziest thing you remember doing as a child?

Did you try to avoid getting in trouble for it or did you simply come clean?

(Me...I was sent back to the house to get a cup of soda...a LARGE cup...a LARGE slippery-when-wet-with-condensation cup...from the house that had brand spanking new white carpeting.  Teehee...I'll let you use your imagination as to what may have happend next.)

Extra entries (and who doesn't love those!):

+1 for being a follower of my blog

(not required, but hey...it's an easy-peasy extra entry!)

+1 for being a follower on Twitter...please include your Twitter name!

(again not required but another means of entry)

+2 for tweeting about the contest

(Maximum 1 extra entry...and don't forget to provide the link)
+3 for blogging about contest and/or putting it on your blog sidebar
(either way works for me...but please provide the link...and for those of you with multiple blogs, it does count per blog)

The Rules...

THIS CONTEST IS OPEN TO US/CANADA RESIDENTS ONLY!

No P.O. Boxes please.
All entries must be received by midnight CST on Monday, November 30th, 2009.
The winner will be drawn no later than Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 and contacted via email.  Winner will be chosen using random.org.

On that note, please include your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win!  To avoid spammers, feel free to "code" it as shown in the example above.

Once contact with the winner has been made, you have 48 hours to respond back.  If a response is not received within this time frame, another name will be drawn. 

Mailing information will be forwarded to the author (Shelly Nicholson) for shipment ONLY and then discarded.
(WHEW!  Enough with the rules, back to the fun!)

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I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I!  Special thanks to author Shelly Nicholson for making us a stop along her Virtual Tour.  Book copy for review received courtesy of author.

Until next time....happy reading!