Many years ago, I had an idea for a character that would help me entertain and educate (I call this Edutainment) children around the world, about the wonderful world we live in. The character had to be a bird with the freedom to fly from country to country, telling his/her (my) story. The name of my main character is Alook, which comes from the name of our publishing company, Koolamundo. Koolamundo (thumbs-up), was one of my favorite expressions as a child. You may have already figured it out, but “Koola” is “Alook” spelled backwards! This is Alook in his debut book. Having had the pleasure and privilege of living in nine countries and traveling to more than 60 others, I thought about how I could share all of the wonderful things I experienced in my travels with others, especially children. Having dreamt about this concept for many years, I am happy to be able to bring this dream to an amazing reality. Little did I know that I would be working with a brilliant pair of women from two different continents on my first two projects. Allow me to personally introduce you to them. Apoorva, is from the east coast of India, she is a gifted young illustrator who is also an animator. This is how we work together. I create the vision and illustration ideas for every page of the book. Then Apoorva works her magic by first sketching and then coloring the sketches to create bright, colorful and engaging illustrations, like you see in our Klara The Cow books. This is a brief example of how the illustration process works. Author instruction to illustrator: Klara is making a final bow to the readers of the book. (Two page illustration. Left page 28, right page 29.) Author Feedback: We need a strong ending for our special cow. Can you put a crown on her head and make her a celebrity? The other talented woman I work with is Carol. She was born in California and currently lives in Canada. Carol has worked on Broadway as an actor, singer and dancer. She is a Mum, a talented artist and composer. Once I have written the song lyrics, we then collaborate on various ideas for the sound track. Once we have an initial plan agreed, Carol goes to work and produces and composes the song. The Klara The Cow Sing-along song can be heard here. Our very NEW Koolamundo theme song is the second project we completed. Have a listen here.
I am so honoured to be working with these remarkable ladies. Klara The Cow Who Knows How To Bow was a collaboration of three artists from three different continents and cultures, and all three of us have the same passion for working with, educating and entertaining children around the world. I look forward to releasing our next book, Alook's Dance in France, this September 2015.
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We would like to thank everyone who has helped make "Klara De Koe Weet Hoe Je Moet Loeien" an Amazon #1 Best Seller. A special thanks goes to Paul Martin Raspe, a dear friend of ours who was kind enough to do the Dutch translation.
This is the first in a series of books (The Friendship Series) that Koolamundo will be publishing this year and beyond. The age range for the Friendship Series is 2-8 years old and with every book Koolamundo publishes, we will strive to offer some fun free downloads like Sing-along eBooks, Soundtracks, Audio Books and more. Join our Free Newsletter to stay current on all the excitement and new stuff from Koolamundo. Stay kool! So there I was, sitting on my couch in farmer Rale’s field and who do you think came to pay me a visit? Yes, my special friend Klara the cow. If her hoofs were a little cleaner, I would have let her cuddle with me on the couch.
This journey started many years ago in my mind, but on July 7th, 2015, Koolamundo will deliver to the world what we are calling the “Whole Package”. Klara the Cow Who Knows How To Bow is much more than a book. When the book is purchased (digital or printed versions), the buyer will be able to download the rest of the package for FREE which includes: · Sing-along eBook · Sing-along Soundtrack · Instrumental Only Soundtrack · Audio Book · Read-along Video Koolamundo is an Edutainment company, not just a publisher of children’s books. Reading a book with a child is a lot of fun, but we want to enhance the learning and educational aspects by sprinkling in a little fun! In addition to all the FREE stuff, we have resources for teachers that can be used in classrooms, nursery schools, libraries and even home schooling. If you want to learn a new language, we can also help. Klara the Cow Who Knows How to Bow will be printed in these 8 languages English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Hindi, and Simplified Chinese. The Kindle version will include English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, but due to the special characters, Kindle does not accept Hindi and Simplified Chinese. All FREE downloads are in English only at this point. In the coming 6-12 months we will be releasing additional books as part of the “Friendship Series”. What we are really excited about is that some of our characters will be coming to life through animation, so I may just be bowing with Klara one day soon. Please check the Koolamundo website often for new and fun stuff. In fact, if you go to our home page and click on the “Free Newsletter” button, we will make sure we keep you up to date with all the happenings at Koolamundo. Drum roll please ………for July 7th. This is a re-post for my Amazon's author page) Hurrah, the fourth of July is here again. Time to bring out all things that are red, white and blue and get ready for the traditional Independence Day cookout. But did you know that congress declared the 4th July as an official holiday in 1870 and fireworks were introduced on the fourth of July in 1777 in Philadelphia. A year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So we have a lot of people to thank for this amazing day. Have a brilliant time with family and friends, catch a parade and enjoy a piece of yummy apple pie. Then take in a glorious firework display and celebrate with a bang. Happy 4th of July America.
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AuthorKimberley grew-up as a third culture kid; born in the UK, and then living in Africa, America, New Zealand, several European countries and currently residing in Hong Kong. She is on a journey to educate and entertain our children and youth about the Kool world we live in through her books, audio books, sing-a-long books, videos and fun puppets. Please join her on this edutainment adventure! Archives
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