As promised, I’m releasing another children’s story from the DREAMERS OF RAINBOW TERRACE collection. Rainbow Terrace is a fictional town where strange and magical things happen. This is the collection I wrote for my kids many years ago, and it’s inspired by Carl Sandburg’s ROOTABAGA STORIES. The stories in DREAMERS OF RAINBOW TERRACE are designed to be read by adults to children, though older children can also read them on their own. FYI, the online Hemingway Editor says “The Poodle Library” is suitable for 3rd grade readers and “The Day of the Floating Fathers” is suitable for 9th grade readers. I tried to make the language fun for all ages.

“The Poodle Library” takes places at the town’s Poodle Library, where poodles of all kinds can be checked out by kids and adults. Mrs. Bowers, unlike most librarians, prefers her library to be loud with barking and playing. When two girls named Marci show up hoping to check out a rare, bouncing Shaboozle, they struggle to locate it in the stacks, and Mrs. Bowers joins the search. It turns out that the Shaboozle is on the loose, bouncing around the library, knocking over shelves and denting the ceiling as it bounces. Mayhem ensues as they all try to chase down the Shaboozle. But that’s okay, because mayhem is just another day at the Poodle Library.

“The Poodle Library” is the one story from DREAMERS OF RAINBOW TERRACE I attempted to publish by the traditional route. I signed on with a children’s book agent, took author photos, including some with stuffed pink poodles. Do I dare reveal them?

Okay, okay, here’s a couple:

Maybe you can tell that my daughter was obsessed with pink poodles for a while.

Before the agent actually started sending “The Poodle Library” out to publishers, he quit being an agent. That happens a lot in the publishing industry, unfortunately. So “The Poodle Library” never found a publisher and sat idly in my computer files until today. I’m glad to finally get it out into the world.

Here’s a link if you’d like to purchase the story on Amazon Kindle for 99 cents:

For more on the first release from DREAMERS OF RAINBOW TERRACE, “The Day of the Floating Fathers,” see my previous blog post.

Did you know that there’s an annual Poodle Day in Carmel, California, that includes a Poodle Parade and Poodle Playtime at the Beach? You can read about it here.

Happy Poodling to All!

The post “The Poodle Library” appeared first on JJ Fleming.