Why did you write this book?

Nana’s Silly Goats began as a letter to my 85 year old mother, telling her about the adventures of bringing home four little goats to our small ranch in Colorado. My husband read the letter and told me that it needed to become a children’s book. I accepted the challenge!

I wrote Bully Goat to the Rescue to both entertain children and to give them insight into one of the reasons other children act like bullies. As a teacher and principal, I certainly had many experiences with bullying. Overall, I wanted to write a book that both teaches and entertains. I would have eagerly used a book like Bully Goat to the Rescue as a guided reading book in my intermediate classrooms.

Why is this topic important now?

Media accounts tend to focus on the victims of bullying, but too rarely explore the behaviors underlying the bullying itself. Especially at a young age, I want children to understand that they have choices to make about their behaviors. In the story, Bully Goat needs a better way to feel important about him self rather than by intimidating the other goats. When he becomes a successful rescue goat, he also becomes a more self-confident goat and a better friend.

The March 12, 2012, edition of Time Magazine includes an article called “The Myths of Bullying”.

Very little about bullying conforms to popular belief. Not all that long ago, it was dismissed as an unfortunate rite of childhood. But because of high-profile cases… bullying has become cemented in public opinion as a growing epidemic.

The article sites information lsuch: 48 states now have anti-bullying laws; most students are both bullies and are bullied; punishing bullies and counseling victims has resulted in more violence; and the statistics about bullying are being inflated.

It is critical that children (and teachers and parents) have realistic discussions about bullying … what causes it, how to report or respond to bullying, and how not to set yourself up to be a victim. Bully Goat to the Rescue is a gentle prompt to opening discussions about bullying with children ages 8-12. (My web site has lesson plans that relate the story to health education standards about bullying.)

Living in Colorado, I also wanted children to learn safe hiking techniques and to understand more about mountain rescue situations. Many of our children participate in camping and hiking experiences, including outdoor education.

The students who helped with the revisions were very interested in goats, 4-H, President Roosevelt. We decided that other students might also be interested, and handled this material as appendices.

What niche does it fill?

Both books market well to grandparents and parents, as well as elementary school teachers and librarians. I have lesson plans and other resources available on my web site, www.indiangappress.com available at no cost to educators.

The “niche market” is goat lovers. Goats have become very popular as pets as well as livestock. Goats are now found in suburban and urban settings as well as on farms and ranches. In Colorado, you are likely to see goats running beside participants in a 10K race as well as grazing in public land areas. Laws have been passed in Colorado, Washington, Oregon … and probably more states … to allow goats in urban areas. A legal battle in North Carolina confirmed that goats could be pets just as much as dogs. There are also now many rent-a-goat businesses where contractors take herds of goats to a given site to eat off weeds. Articles about goats appear in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and many major as well as local newspapers. The internet, of course, has many items about goats … the most recent being surfing goats in CA! As livestock, Texas has the most goats of any state. Goats are used for meat and dairy products. The hair of some breeds is used for making warm and beautiful clothing. Goats are also used as pack animals.

Bully Goat to the Rescue is an excellent way to prompt a discussion of bullying. Standards based lesson plans are available at www.indiangappress.com for teachers who need to address both language arts and health (bullying) standards. Teachers today have a great deal of curricula to address. They have to be able to address multiple standards during the course of one lesson or unit.

Nana’s Silly Goats is a wonderful read-aloud for children interested in rural life and animals. It has been described as “a teacher’s and parent’s dream” and a “book that will charm readers for a long time.”

Why did you approach this topic with a book aimed at the audience you chose?

As an experienced teacher, I know what children enjoy and what children need to learn at specific age and grade levels.

The humor of Nana’s Silly Goats is directed at preschool and primary age children who think that goats driving tractors or eating peanut butter is hilarious. Children also learn what is required to be responsible and caring. The illustrations are realistic yet whimsical, and bring the story to life. The book design is very durable and intended to stand up to young readers’ handling as well as classroom teachers holding the book for multiple readers to view.

The ideas presented in Bully Goat to the Rescue are targeted at intermediate grade children. In addition to examining issues related to bullying and friendship, students at this age enjoy learning about a variety of topics. They learn about uses of goats for cheese and yogurt, and clothing products. They learn that goats can be trained for pack and rescue animals. They are fascinated about 4-H of America, and the role of President Theodore Roosevelt in creating national parks. They learn about safe hiking and mountain rescue techniques. Students who have read Bully Goat to the Rescue describe it as fun, educational, interesting and engaging. They enjoy the details, new and interesting words, ideas and events, conflicts and the way to solve them. The price of the book is low, only $5.99, allowing children as well as adults to be able to purchase it.

Who is the book written for? Who would enjoy it or find it useful?

Nana’s Silly Goats is appropriate as a read-aloud for children ages 3-8. Readability level is grade 3. Both parents and teachers will find this to be a fun and useful book about character education and rural life. For teachers, a readers-theater script in available at www.indiangappress.com so that children can dramatize the story to enhance their comprehension. Standards-based Language Arts lesson plans are also available.

Bully Goat to the Rescue is written for children ages 8-12, although younger children also enjoy the story as a read-aloud. Readability is grade 4, but classroom teachers would have third and fifth grade readers for whom it would be both interesting and appropriate. Language arts and mental health standards-based lesson plans are available at www.indiangappress.com.

To make my books more accessible to schools, I offer a special educator’s discount package of 10 copies of Bully Goat to the Rescue plus one copy of Nana’s Silly Goats for $49.26. Librarians or PTOs can purchase the book package for teachers to check-out a classroom guided reading set.

What is the writing process like for you?

My writing process is unique because I write books for children with children. I write the first draft of a story, but the revision and design process fully involves students who are the same age as my intended audience. Using the framework of the 6 Traits + 1 writing curriculum, students and their teachers respond to the draft in terms of ideas, organization, sentence fluency, voice, and word choice. Their feedback in each of these areas becomes the basis for revisions of the text. Students also describe the visual images they have for illustrations after reading or listening to the text. This information is conveyed to my illustrator, and she incorporates their ideas into her illustrations. Book design is also highly directed by students. They determine color vs. black and white illustrations, the number of sentences on a page, the number of pages in a chapter. Together we decide what material is more appropriate for an appendix. In Bully Goat to the Rescue, for example, students asked to include fiction and non-fiction resources about goats, appendices about 4-H and Theodore Roosevelt. They helped create chapter titles, the list of characters, and the glossary. For Nana’s Silly Goats, students asked to create a chapter book because reading a first chapter book is a significant step for young readers. They also requested adding factual information about goats at the beginning of the book.

I believe that the end result of my method of writing is the production of better children’s books because children rather than adults have revised and designed them. And in the process, students become involved in the real writing process, understanding the necessity of multiple revisions of both the text and illustrations. Students learn that writing is a fun, but hard process. Writing takes imagination, skill, time and persistence, the willingness to take feedback and to write the same story again and again and again.

Have you written other books? Do you have plans for more?

I have self-published two books thus far. Nana’s Silly Goats was published in 2011 and won First Place in Children’s Literacy from the Colorado Independent Publisher’s Associations for 2012. Bully Goat to the Rescue was published in 2012.

“Waiting in the wings” is a Christmas poem about goats that I hope to publish as a board book for preschoolers. Kindergarten children have helped revise and design this story.

I am also contemplating a book about animal species that requires critical thinking and discussion by grade 6-8 students.

What made you become a writer?

By age 6, I was “teaching” my stuffed animals to “read” and dreaming of writing books as good as the ones my mom and sisters read to me. But in the 1950’s, elementary students were not encouraged to write stories beyond the occasional thank you note, a social studies report in perfect cursive, and weekly spelling sentences. In junior high school writing continued to be limited to non-fiction reports. Finally, in high school, one creative English teacher challenged me to write descriptively about a paper clip, to persuade both for and against the Viet Nam War, to think on paper about books like Catcher in the Rye. I started to write … really write, and loved it. Then it was off to college where critical literature professors shrunk me back to size, and where the demands of becoming a speech and language pathologist left little time for creative story writing. Graduate school? Don’t even think of writing any thing other than scholarly papers and a life-numbing dissertation.

So many years drifted by …happy and fulfilling ones to be sure during which I became a teacher, a principal, a special education administrator, a wife, a surrogate mother… but not a writer. I appeased that inner need to write with weekly letters to my parents and funny e-mails to my sister and friends. I taught kids to write while wondering what the heck I knew about really writing. I continued to absorb books like life blood. And then one day, retired and raising dogs in the foothills near Lyons, I read aloud to my husband a letter to my mom about the four little goats we had just brought home to our mini-ranch.

“Nancy,” said my husband. “That story would make a terrific children’s book. Go write it!”

And so, at nearly 60, I did!

The story flowed out of me. Scribbling away in a notebook on my lap, the words began to create the sights and sounds and images of these four very funny little goats. With that first draft in hand, I gleefully read it to my husband.

“It’s good!” he exclaimed.

I don’t think I knew that I had been holding my breath. But now what? I was clueless about what the next step was … and the next and the next. So for a couple months, the story sat there. Over lunch with friends I’d mention that I was starting to write children’s stories. Droning my way through the daily e-mails, I discovered a thinking-of-you note from a teacher friend telling me about a class at CU for writing: The Children’s Book: A Day-Long Intensive with Kerry Lee MacLean (author of Pigs over Boulder and Pigs over Colorado). Surely a dream was worth one Saturday and 100 bucks!

Of course it was cold and snowing; of course there were no parking spots. But I trudged into the basement classroom and settled in with another 30 aspiring writers. Only two of us came with anything “written” in hand. The step-by-step lessons began … what to do and how to do it. Self-publishing … something of which I knew NOTHING … began to seem feasible. Feedback on my story was encouraging rather than crushing. I could do this … most likely floundering around like a carp in shallow water …. But I COULD DO THIS! I COULD BECOME A CHILDREN’S AUTHOR!!

Thoughts for someone who wants to become an author?

I was quite simply naïve. I probably would have quit had I known all it would take to become a published author.

I needed to read books about writing and publishing, join writing organizations, and consult with other authors. I had to find an experienced, talented illustrator who was the right “fit” for both my book and my budget. I had to start my own business, develop timelines and budgets, and file for a seemingly endless list of numbers (EIN, SAN, and ISBN). I needed to find a printer, importer and shipper. I needed to approve illustrations, text and layout. I had to help design front and back covers. I had to write acknowledgement sections and summaries. I needed to arrange for book deliveries and find a place to store 3000-6000 books. And then there was marketing, a step I have yet to master or learn to love!

But in the end, when my first published book arrived and I held it in my hand, every step and every dollar was worth it. I smiled, I cried, I hugged my husband and called my mom. And she smiled and cried and bragged … and was oh so proud.

And yet another day came when a child stopped me in the post office and said, “Are you the lady that wrote Nana’s Silly Goats?” And I answered …

“Yes, yes … that’s ME. That’s ME … The Author!”

Tell me a little about yourself; your career, hobbies, etc.

As a young child, I spent my childhood outdoors in the woods and fields of our family’s fruit farm in upstate New York. All kinds of animals were an important part of my life – chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, pigs, cows, sheep and even one little black goat. My family participated in 4-H activities and I continue to support this opportunity for youngsters to learn about animals and rural life. An avid reader, I announced at age 6 that I would become a teacher.

Life on a small farm was a wonderful way to spend my childhood, but a tough way to make a living. I became the first member of my family to attend college. (My father only received an 8^th grade education.) I graduated from SUNY at Geneseo summa cum laude with a B.S. degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology. From there I followed the scholarship money to Boulder, CO, where I attended the University of Colorado earning my M.S. in Speech Pathology with an emphasis in language and learning disabilities. While working as a special education teacher, I completed my doctoral degree in Education at the University of Denver.

My education career spanned over 30 years, and included classroom and special education teaching, principal and central administration roles. It was a wonderful career and I have never lost my love of teaching. I had many opportunities to deal with bullies and their victims.

I have lived in Colorado since 1973, but about 10 years ago I moved into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains to live with my husband on our small ranch near Lyons. For a few years we raised golden retrievers, and still have 5 as members of our family. Then in 2009, we began to use Boer goats to maintain our pastures and reduce fire hazards from grasses and low bushes. We had no idea what entertaining as well as helpful animals that the goats would prove to be. Children love visiting our ranch, meeting the animals “up close and personal”, and seeing the real setting for my stories.

You did not inquire about the illustrator, but as Nana’s Silly Goats is a picture book, the illustrations are critical to the success and enjoyment of the books. Lori Kiplinger Pandy is an internationally published illustrator of children’s books who lives in Ft. Collins where she also sculpts. More information is available at www.KiplingerPandy.com. Lori also illustrated Bully Goat to the Rescue.

Awards: Nana’s Silly Goats received the first place 2012 EVVY award for Children’s literature by the Colorado Independent Publisher’s Association.