11/24/12

Why Are Grandpa and the Truck Books Great Gifts? (6 Reasons)

 

Grandpa and the Truck Books Are “Made in America” (that’s important to us.)

It’s Small Business Saturday and since Grandpa and the Truck’s a small business, I can unabashedly sell my products across the airwaves, without appearing ‘tacky’ on this day following Black Friday.

Unlike Black Friday, I won’t be killing you with constant reminders, extensions, etc. There won’t be other forms of killing, either…no pushing and pulling of hair…no stray bullets flying (it happens every year at those store events.)

So, here it is:  My one-time, official Small Business Saturday business ad as to why folks should want to buy the Grandpa and the Truck books:

1.  They make great gifts for Christmas, Hannukkah, birthdays (keep a stash for that inevitable gift for a little one you need in future.)

2.  Our books are “For Boys and Girls.”  We made them that way.  They’re colorful, with beautiful illustrations.

3.  If you buy the series (we’ve got two books available now,) your little ones learn geography:  The truck goes through a different state in each story; and because of that, children learn regional differences of our great land.  Book 1’s set in northern California, on a fog-bound highway, and in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia; Book 2’s action takes place in Biloxi, Mississippi (where a Cat. 5 hurricane hits) and in little Rhode Island, birthplace of two phenomenal women truckers.

Book 3 (in creation stage, available after January) sees our trucker traveling through farmlands of central New York (not NYC, the place most children associate with “New York”) as he revisits the Woodstock Music Festival. In that same book, he’ll go on a hair-raising ride through coal-mining territory in West Virginia.

To this point, Books 1 and 2 are available (more info on each if you click “Books” on our top banner.)

For these reasons, we call Grandpa and the Truck “a Mobile Geography Lesson.”

4.  Along with geography, we teach a whole lot more, as each story comes with Lesson as focus, Question page, Trucker Terms page (fun!) Maps.

5.  We’re endorsed by OOIDA (major international trucking association) and Women in Trucking (WIT), so industry leaders know we’re true to the trade and speak “Trucker truths.”

6.  Finally, too…we’re “Made in America,” important to us because we highlight what truckers do.  We didn’t outsource to a country who could make our books even less expensive than our current $9.99 for two beautifully-illustrated stories, with all the other ‘stuff” mentioned above.. We’ll only ever use American products and American shippers…

So, when you buy Grandpa and the Truck books, you’re “Buying American.”  That’s important to us, as we lend our  efforts to rebuild our great country.

11/21/12

Super Endorsement: When Friends Order Several

Oh, I LOVE being a businesswoman.  Especially yesterday.  That’s when our primary care physician ordered 12 of our Grandpa and the Truck books….signed, sealed, and delivered. And we can’t think of anything we’d rather do more….

He’s had copies of the books in his office now, for about a month.

As of Christmas, little ones in his family will have their own special copies.

And it’s a BIG family. He either told me his parents have 40 grandchildren or 400, but I obviously misunderstood that part.

No matter–we’re getting out there.

Now, his purchase has given me a great new idea:  I’m going to bring my books to pediatrician’s offices and see if there’s interest…They’re educational (I made them that way); they cover geography–as the truck covers America; they teach important life lessons.  Good reading material for those lengthy wait times in a packed pediatric office.

I can hear the chatter now.

In marketing, it’s all about the big picture, and I thank my primary care doctor, Dr. Chad Lamendola, for helping me see this one. If you’re a self-publishing, indie writer (like me), you have to see all the avenues for sale. If you don’t, someone else will, and you’ll be left in the dust.

No self-respecting big rig driver wants that!

11/19/12

I Heard Him Say “Breaker…Breaker…1…9…Do you copy?”

 

(Here are 2 of the 3 often wrestling with who’s going to drive the big rig.)

Then he followed it up with “I got a “smokie” on my tail…”  I could barely contain myself and stifled back the giggles.  Little Finn said this to no one in particular as he pushed the model big rig across the carpet.

In that few seconds, he confirmed what I know:  Little ones will love the Grandpa and the Truck stories.

The “he”?  Our littlest grandson who’s 4 and a half years old. Oh, he doesn’t know that’s his age.  He’s got 7-year-old brothers, and for that reason, he always joins them in their play –or tries to.

But he loves the big rigs, and he’s listened to our stories—attentively. That’s why, when I overheard him, all alone, on this recent visit, he convinced me of that fact.

You see, the family came to stay with us, when New Jersey got socked with Sandy.  My daughter’s family were without electricity, heat, and the means to cook their food. So, at my direction, she bundled the kids into the car and they came to us, in Rhode Island (her place of work was flooded, but her husband still had to go to his job during that time.)

 They stayed for 5 days.

As soon, as the kids entered our home, they went for the model big rig (one we use for presentations.) I knew they would:  It’s a pretty cool facsimile of the real deal; its’ fire-engine red; its doors open; they could see the interior where a trucker sleeps on long runs (in the sleeper area behind the front seats.)

And every day they fought over who’d be driving it, across the carpet.

But because he’s the most difficult to entertain (usually), the little one won. So, over the next 5 days, he pushed the big rig across the entire floor of our home, all the while, chatting to himself.

I was thrilled. Why?  I knew he’d absorbed the stories we’ve read to them. 

You see, the Grandpa and the Truck stories pack a lot into the pages: We include Lesson as focus: “It’s not always wise to follow the leader;” “don’t go into unfamiliar territory alone;” “boys and girls can do anything as careers, based on interests and abilities;” respect nature for it is powerful, indeed.”

They learn trucker jargon like “truckers use CB radios;” diesel is fuel for trucks; a “smokie” is a policeman.

Question pages accompany each story and maps give kids the all-important geography lesson we promise.

Plus, the illustrations are beautiful, indeed, the work of a professional artist.

Yep, we’re packed with useful information in a vehicle kids love:  Stories of the big rig and its driver, Grandpa as younger trucker, when he traveled across America.

He went through every state but one (and kids learn which one he didn’t go through and why.)

So, we invite you all to climb aboard, and soon you, too, will hear:  “Breaker…breaker…1…9,” as your little one mimics the language of a trucker.

We’re not ‘just for boys,’ either:  Book 2’s “Girl Truckers,” highlights two Rhode Island women who cracked the glass ceiling of the trucking industry, making the men sit up and notice. That story is paired with “Grandpa Meets the Hurricane” about this trucker’s staring down a Category 5 hurricane, in Biloxi, Mississippi, a storm that blew the roof clear off his motel. 

Book 1 and Book 2 are clearly described on the site, with instructions as to how to purchase.

We hope you’ll join us on our journey across America.

(Here’s what they can’t get enough of…the model big rig.  The Grandpa and the Truck stories bring a trucker’s life “home” to them.)

11/15/12

Grandpa and the Truck Goes Before Rhode Island Tractor Trailer Training School (RITTTS)

 

I go into the classroom again, after a break of some years, but just like bike-riding, it all comes back.

Wow!  That was fun! Went to Rhode Island Tractor Trailer Training School Thursday and spoke before the class of new recruits, about 25 young men and two women. This retired, 30-year schoolteacher found it thrilling. Back in the saddle, so to speak.

Told them all about what drove husband and I to write the Grandpa and the Truck stories…how we wanted to share the stories with little ones everywhere..how a trucker’s experiences are too wonderful a treasure trove to ignore.

Told them they’ll be the future heroes and heroines on the road…the ones little kids will wave to and thrill at.  That fact brought forth smiles, as they doubltess remembered their own occasions of seeing their first big rigs and their drivers.

I left them with the idea they have big shoes to fill, those of the honorable men and women who drove the big rigs on the nation’s roads before them.  Let them know many of us recognize the most important job they do, bringing America’s products to market, against often-impossible odds.

When we were done, a young man (former Iraq vet) jumped up to help us carry our box of materials out. I gotta say:  I was moved by his help.  I’ll do a story on him (for this site), for he’s the kind of trucker I want to see on the road.  He’s had multiple life experiences (in National Guard as E-5); he’s trucked before; but now he’s getting his license in Rhode Island.

Yes, I found the day exhilarating….I know: I’m going to like my new gig as teller of the tales of truckers and their big rigs.

11/7/12

Grandpa and the Truck Gaining National Attention

OK, I’m asserting bragging rights…and why not?  There’s enough terrible stuff out there, on the airwaves and in theatres, to make anyone wonder if “Quality matters.” But apparently it does, for Grandpa and the Truck series of children’s books is getting serious attention.

Our books’ purpose is two-fold:  to shine a spotlight on the contribution truckers have made to the American Success Story and to teach kids amazing life lessons.

And Big News–We’ve just been selected by OOIDA’s Landline mag. soon to go to 200,000 truckers and their families, in their min-November “Cool Gifts” section.

Why are we so special?  Each book has two beautifully-illustrated stories, Question pages, Maps, Lesson as Focus, Glossary of Trucker Terms (“smokie,” “CB radio,”for instance).  And we’re REAL truckers’ experiences, told by a REAL trucker to his author wife.

We all know how much kids LOVE trucks and we are the first to put series of children’s books highlighting the trucking industry while we teach little ones amazing life lessons.

Our books are currently available on Amazon.com.

Get Book 1 and Book 2 now.

ORDER HERE!

 

Now, more BIG NEWS for Grandpa and the Truck….

“Author Brings National Attention to the Trucking Industry While Teaching Children Valuable Life Lessons” via the following (Click on the links).

National talk-radio host, Patricia Raskin, interviews Grandpa and the Truck for its Voice America Positive Living series… 

OOIDA and Women In Trucking endorse Grandpa and the Truck on our book’s back covers.

Women In Trucking pays this tribute in its publication.

USA CDL School, in Orlando, recently gave Grandpa and the Truck their “18 Wheels and a Dozen Red Roses Award for bringing positive attention to the trucking industry.

“Overdrive” magazine salutes Grandpa and the Truck.

These organizations support what we do, as we bring positive attention to the trucking industry, while teaching valuable life lessons to little ones—always a trucker’s best fan club.

We plan to just keep trucking, getting a positive word out on an industry that does so very much for America, plus we teach little ones amazing facts about their own country (we’re a mobile geography course, as the truck goes through each state,) showing regional differences, diversity, the goodness of the American spirit, from the perch of the big rig….

We invite you to join us on this journey…