The geese of the real Selva Negra
Many times someone has said to me, “You should write a book!” And I finally did. Our first book is a children’s book for early readers with lots of pictures and only a sentence or two per page. It is called The Geese of Selva Negra, based on our real-life visit to the Selva Negra eco-lodge near Matagalpa, Nicaragua.
Sample artwork from The Geese of Selva Negra
Art by Tad Sigman
We were fortunate in our travels to meet Tad, a recent college graduate from Fairbanks, Alaska. In a chance encounter at the Backpacker Hostel in Iquique, Chile, Tad informed us he had worked as an illustrator. “Wow,” we said, “we have been looking for an illustrator!” We explained our idea for a children’s book about a real place. We then exchanged email addresses and began following one another on Facebook.
I sent Tad my script and ideas for illustrations, and he followed up with drawings that simply blew us away. Tad and I talked about what we would do with any profit the book might generate. We agreed to donate any profit from the sale of the book to a worthy nonprofit organization that helps children. We decided on St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Sample artwork from The Geese of Selva Negra
Art by Tad Sigman
After several months of living and traveling procrastinating, Florence performed the steps necessary to get our book listed on Amazon as an eBook with a list price of 99 cents. This week the Spanish translation will also be ready for publication. We seek to promote our book to school libraries to provide copies to teachers because eBooks can easily be projected for groups or entire classrooms to view at one time. The educational content of the book comes at the end of the story with a map and a question asking readers if they can spot the geographical location of the real Selva Negra.
We both love books and we both love when children’s imaginations are stirred by fascinating stories. We now have ideas for a dozen more children’s books about the places we have traveled and the unique animals that live there. Perhaps one day we will have a series of children’s books in both English and Spanish about far-off places that actually exist. And when we do we will continue to support worthy nonprofit organizations that benefit children from the profits of book sales. For example, our next book project is set up to benefit Girls With Wings which encourages girls to learn to fly. We have set up a “Crowdfunding” drive to cover the cost of hiring an illustrator. Click here is you wish to learn more.
Applecore 
Wow, that’s great Mike! I looked up your book on Amazon and it looks really cute. It’s awesome that you’re donating the profits to a worthy charity. Are you planning on having a print version at some point? I’d like to get a print version (in Spanish) for my nieces who are learning to speak Spanish.
We would need a publisher to get a print version of our book. Maybe someday, but that’s a major step for any writer. However, anyone with a PC, laptop or tablet can download the Kindle app for free and have this book available to read at your fingertips and eBooks are much more affordable.
I have both the Kindle and the Nook apps on my laptop, and these are the apps I use when I read to my grandson via Skype.
Thank you for the kind comments. – Mike
I like people that write books. They are people book producers.
Nice – thanks!
Very cool, and congratulations!
Thank you. And I am happy to say we just added the book translated into Spanish.
wow thats amazing, congratulations!
Thank you. It broke the ice. Now that we know the process, we look forward to a series of books based on places we have visited, and offered in multiple languages. We just need some funding to hire an illustrator. Of course, getting picked up by a publisher would be a great opportunity.
Very cool! The artwork is very bright and easy to understand, can be relatable by children and adults alike! Don’t forget if you ever want a different artist, keep me in mind for future books! I have written and illustrated four books non published, so far! TGIF! Smile and enjoy your days!
Thank you, and I will be in touch with you about illustrating. – Mike
I think it will be wonderful to have it in Spanish, I loved the fact that it is a unique story and can be one to be told in school classrooms and hope to have it in their libraries. We have a definite second language of Spanish in a lot of our U.S. Thanks for letting us in on the ground floor, so to speak. Congratulations!
Thank you, and I am pleased to say the Spanish version of our children’s book went live on Amazon April 5th. Since publicizing this article on LinkedIn, I have had several people come forward offering to translate this and future children’s books into German and Italian in addition to Spanish. There are two more books being written and plans for a series to follow so we will just have to see what happens.
What a great idea!
Mike, you’re on fire! A few months ago, you only had a few likes, or views, and now 56 bloggers liked this!! I never do that well! Fantastic. And, you’ve published a children’s book- bravo! Seriously friend, you are on fire! You two will be able to keep six-monthing indefinitely at this rate. 😉 Congratulations!
Dawn, it is funny that you should say my blog is taking off because when I saw the screen shot you shared of the stats on one of your previous posts I was so envious – over 40k views! I felt like I was limping along, and I wanted nothing more than to grow up and be more like you! 🙂 Anyway, thank you so much for your enthusiastic support mi amiga! And I look forward to our paths crossing in the beautiful Pacific Northwest very soon! – Mike
Can’t wait! It will be so fun to sit down cara a cara and chat. 🙂
Very cool.. How can I purchase one?
There is a direct link to Amazon in the fourth paragraph. The font color is different, but it is not obvious unless you are looking for it.
Thank you for asking.
[…] meaningful to say, “I created that.” Perhaps it will be a book. We have published one children’s book, and we have a dozen more waiting in the wings. We would love to score a publishing deal so we […]