In honor of my birthday today and the fact that have always and will always have a little monster in me I am doing a review today of a fabulous children’s book that I came across a few weeks ago. The name of the book is Trockle and it was written by Holly Jahangiri and Illustrated by Jordan Vinyard.
Trockle is a lovable little monster who lives underneath Stephen’s bed. Stephen is scared of Trockle and Trockle is scared of Stephen. This story takes us through the preparations these two characters must go through in order to be able to sleep soundly with the knowledge that the other is so close to them. Stephen’s mother is so sweet in her explanations of how harmless Trockle is.
In the same vein Trockle’s mommy tries to help him get settled in with the knowledge that a very large, very scary human boy sleeps just above him every night. Trockle’s mother has to explain to him just what is living over his bed.
In the end Trockle and Stephen both realize that they have a lot of things in common for all of their differences. They can both get a better nights sleep knowing they are safe from the other.
I love the concept of this book. I think that there are so many wonderful places that the author can take Trockle and Stephen. It is a terrific way to teach children that they have nothing to fear in their own home. Kids are able to look at these beautifully drawn illustrations and see what an adorable and harmless monster Trockle is. For me, Trockle is the little monster in me that always did the things I shouldn’t be doing. Imagine future books where Trockle and Stephen are friends and Trockle gets Stephen in to mischief or keeps him out of it.
This book and these characters are so lovable any child would love to read about them. You can get your own copy of Trockle for your children. As an added bonus if you purchase the book now you can also enter a contest being held by the author and publisher. Here are the important details for ordering the book and entering the contest.
PRIZE INFORMATION
Grand Prize: A customized Halloween short story featuring your child (or grandchild, niece, nephew, or friend) with Trockle – written by Holly Jahangiri and illustrated by Jordan Vinyard.
Second Prize: A $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com.
To enter, complete the following steps:
(1) Purchase a copy of Trockle directly from 4RV Publishing between 12:00 AM October 5 and 11:59 PM October 13, and
(2) Send an email to president@4rvpublishingllc.com with your answer to the question posted at http://jahangiri.us/trockle-promo.html.
You may enter as often as you like, but all completed entries must be received before midnight on October 13!
Winners will be announced at http://blog.jahangiri.us and at http://www.4rvpublishingllc.com.
The winners will be chosen randomly from all correctly completed entries (see "To enter" above) and winners will be notified by email. IMPORTANT NOTE: The Grand Prize winner will need to work directly with the author and illustrator to create a memorable gift for that special child. To include the child’s likeness in the illustration, you will need to provide a digital photo upon notification that you have won. Every effort will be made to deliver the prize prior to Halloween, but circumstances beyond our control may prevent that and we do not guarantee that it will arrive by October 31.
Enjoy Trockle and Good Luck in the contest. Make sure to let me know if you end up a winner and what you think about this terrific new children’s book!
16 responses so far ↓
1 Trockle // Oct 7, 2008 at 7:53 am
“Happy birthday, Ms. Janet!!” Trockle jumps up and down, trying to reach your doorbell. “Ms. Janet! Happy birthday! Oh, there you are!”
Trockle reaches into his Trick-or-Treat bag and hands you some Brussels sprouts, his favoritest treat of all. “Trick-or-treat, happy birthday, and I get to be a guest on YOUR blog?! Yippeeeee!! Thank you, Ms. Janet.”
2 Trockle's Mom // Oct 7, 2008 at 7:55 am
Trockle’s mother hands you a lovely, hand-knitted sweat sock and a piece of cake. The cake does not look like it was pulled from under Stephen’s bed. That woman–er, monstress–is a marvel. “Happy birthday, dear. Thank you for being so kind to my little Trockle Pie.”
3 Holly Jahangiri // Oct 7, 2008 at 8:48 am
Good morning and happy birthday, Janet! If I’d have known, I’d have baked a ca–oh, I see Trockle’s mother beat me to it!! (I have no idea how she manages to bake a cake without Stephen’s mother catching her at it, or someone in the house waking up to that lovely smell of baking cake! She really is amazing.) Thank you for hosting my little monster on your blog, today, and thank you for all the kind words!
4 Lynne // Oct 7, 2008 at 9:39 am
Hi Janet! Happy Birthday! Don’t let Trockle have too much cake–he has to come to my blog on Saturday!–Lynne Thompson
5 Jordan // Oct 7, 2008 at 9:41 am
Happy Birthday Janet! How nice of you to host on your birthday. I am glad that Trockle and Stephen get to celebrate it with you!
Thank you so much for all the nice things that you said!
6 Elysabeth // Oct 7, 2008 at 9:44 am
Happy birthday, Ms. Janet. The review is delightful. I’ve been trying to follow Trockle around to see what kind of tricks or treats he’s leaving around cyberspace but apparently the blogosphere tricked him earlier this week. Maybe that was a gremlin friend of Trockle’s who escaped and got into the cyber system and messed things up.
I always look forward to each stop on the tour because every person’s take on Trockle is so different. I can’t wait to host Trockle again Friday when I have an interesting challenge going on. So come on over folks, and post your comments to the challenge.
Don’t forget the contest on each of the stops too- who wouldn’t want a story of their very own for their child or someone in their life, tailored just for them to be in a story with Trockle; and a Halloween one at that.
Mama to Trockle, the cake was delicious. Thank you for making one for Ms. Janet. We won’t ask how many candles were put on it but we will enjoy it. Let’s party, ya’ll!!! – E
7 Ron Berry // Oct 7, 2008 at 10:02 am
Happy Birthday Janet!
Trockle is getting around! He visits http://unwriter1.wordpress.com on Sat, Oct 11th. Come and read all the interesting questions I was able to ask Holly, the biographer of Trockle.
I agree there are a lot of places these two, Trockle and Stephen can go. Let’s hope Holly makes this a series. Holly?
8 janet // Oct 7, 2008 at 10:03 am
Trockle thank you so much for the brussel sprouts they were DELICIOUS and much better for me than cake. Tell you mom I loved the cake too and I am so excited you guys are spending my birthday with me! I bet you are so excited to have Halloween coming. All those kids dressed up to look like monsters. You must fit right in and enjoy it so much!
9 Trockle // Oct 7, 2008 at 11:00 am
I’m thinking of dressing up as a little boy! What do you think? Mom says if I dress up as a little boy, people will just think I’m a spoilsport who forgot to wear his costume, and they won’t give me any treats. I think it would be funny, though. Should I wear a mask?
Do you have any other costume suggestions for me?
10 Joyce A. Anthony // Oct 7, 2008 at 11:32 am
Happy Birthday, Miss Janet!!! Trockle and his Mom are wonderful, arent’t they? I want to thank you for giving them such a wonderful review!!!
11 Sammie Mowery // Oct 7, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Happy Birthday Janet! Hope it’s a grand day.
12 April Skomsky // Oct 7, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Too cute! I think he’s adorable.
Hope you have a wonderful birthday Janet!
13 Vivian // Oct 7, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Happy birthday, Janet. And you gave us a gift today, how nice. The review is delightful.
Too bad you didn’t have a picture of Trockle with his festively green-painted nails.
14 janet // Oct 7, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Actually I do have a picture of Trockle and even discuss his pretty green nails in a post right after this one. Check out the rest of my blog to see that cute little monster. I didn’t want to give them everything in one post. I like visitors and I love Trockle so I was hoping to keep both around longer than one post. Thank you for your advice though.
15 Kimberly @ AllAboutKimberly // Oct 7, 2008 at 7:24 pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANET!!!!!!!!
16 Beverly // Oct 7, 2008 at 8:36 pm
A very nice review. And a happy birthday too. I have too many grandchildren to enter the contest. Which one would I choose? But they will be receiving a copy of Trockle for Christmas. They’ll love the story.
Leave a Comment