Author Showcase
Article provided by Werner Stejskal
The Children’s Book Review | November 23, 2015
The electronic media has opened the door to more self-published books than ever before. Author, Werner Stejskal, introduced his series “Oliver and Jumpy” to show that a single person is able to create a high quality series. His short stories are simple and fun, with educational value and the illustrations are of superb quality.
Born in Vienna, Austria, Werner is now living in the paradise of Perth, Australia with his wife, two married children and three grandchildren. He worked in the printing industry for many years and later for the United Nations in Vienna. Now retired, after a full and eventful life, he began to write children’s stories. He had them illustrated through Odesk, narrated them himself for YouTube and finally took the next step by publishing ebooks.
There are lots of fairy tales and bedtime stories around and many of them are quite violent and unsuitable for young children. This made Werner decide to write something different. On a flight from Europe to Australia he watched the movie ‘Magic on Belle Island’ with Morgan Freeman, where Freeman teaches a little girl to have imagination and write her first story. This inspired Werner as well and the first stories with his two characters Oliver, the elegant tomcat, and Jumpy, his kangaroo lady friend, made their appearance.
“Oliver and Jumpy”, are best of friends and experience many adventures together. Oliver is a black-and-white tomcat, who is very self-assured. As a matter of fact he says: “I love myself!” quite often. But his best friend Jumpy is aware that he is only putting up a front! Oliver has a soft heart and will always want to help others. The great thing is Jumpy’s pouch, which Oliver loves to ride in! He calls her his kangaroo taxi!
The author has a great sense of how children perceive their world. He visualises their feelings and expectations to create stories that will win the little reader’s attention. Each self-contained story shows Werner’s astonishing sensitivity to children’s reactions and ability to capture the adult interest as well. This is very important, since mothers often choose books for their children. While this series keeps the stories fairly simple and short to cater for the attention span of small children, Oliver and Jumpy has great educational values as well. The outstanding illustrations have been created by several artists. Werner has tried to keep the same style throughout the series to ensure continuity.
Currently there are thirteen existing books and another eight in progress. “Oliver and Jumpy” is available on most electronic platforms as an ebook only. Amazon has pop-up text, Kobo and Ibooks have audio buttons. Print-on-demand will follow eventually. There are plans to create a TV series. Up until now the author has fully financed his creations and is looking forward to develop his series with the help of Publishers or children’s TV series producers.
For more information and to gain access to YouTube clips and all eplatforms for 13 books, visit: www.bedtimestory4you.com
The Author Showcase is a place for authors and illustrators to gain visibility for their works. This article was provided by the author of “Oliver and Jumpy,” Werner Stejskal. Learn more about marketing books and finding an Author Showcase book marketing plan that is right for you …
