The Adventures of Molly & Ollie Moving Day Book Review Tour

Post in partnership with iReadBookTours and Sally Beale. All opinions are my own.

Photo by Adrienne Reich Photography

Sally Beale’s THE ADVENTURES OF MOLLY AND OLLIE: MOVING DAY Book Tour Giveaway

Guest Post: Writing A Children’s Book

On a Saturday morning, I woke up early. The freshly brewed coffee was waiting for me; it was so comforting. I cannot remember a time that I did not drink coffee in the mornings…even as a child on “wash day” I would have a cup with my mom (it was mostly milk!). I took my second cup of coffee upstairs to my office and sat at my desk. My children’s book, The Adventures of Molly & Ollie: Moving Day, was almost ready to send to the publisher.

I reached for my worn notebook and took it with my coffee to the futon in my office. That was where I pondered all kinds of ideas and challenges. Nostalgia set in as I flipped through the pages. It contained all my thoughts for a story about a little girl having to move—a subject I am familiar with. I find the planning pyramid, with its jagged lines going up the page and down for the plot arc. I looked over the notes to see how close the book came to the plan.

When I came across the research notes for Molly’s animals, it made me smile. I looked over at the shelf full of toy animals that continually gave me inspiration and encouragement (and still do!). The research on animals was so important. Each one of Molly’s animals needed to be special in their own way and not picked at random.

Towards the back of the notebook, I found the character notes for both Molly & Ollie. I had not read those notes for a while. Re-reading them now, made me realize how important it was to know who they were for the action and voice of the story.

I took a few moments to reflect over this process of writing a children’s book. I looked up and smiled at my large white board that my husband made. The 28 pages for the book was marked off as a grid. It worked perfectly for establishing the flow of the story. Different colors for different elements and crude drawings for possible illustrations.

I went back to my desk and opened my computer. I read the manuscript one last time…then clicked send.

My Review

The Adventures of Molly & Ollie Moving Day is going to be loved by many children. Moving away can be so traumatic for children as they leave their friends and everything they’ve grown to know and love. In this adorable book, Molly is a little girl who is saying goodbye to everything. She looks around at the boxes in her room and sees a box marked Molly’s Books, Molly’s Clothes, Molly’s Animals, and one box marked, “Open Me First.”

Molly is very sad because everything will be different. Just then the doorbell rings and her friend comes over and brings a yummy plate of chocolate chip cookies. As she later waves goodbye to her friend she says everything will be different.

When she arrives in her new town, the car pulls up to her new home. It does look different. But, when she goes upstairs it’s nice to see that someone marked her door, “Molly’s Room” in bright purple letters. She goes in and there are the boxes of her Animals, Clothes, and Books. There is also the box marked Open Me First.

Molly is startled to hear a “Who” sound. She turns around to see an owl in the window. She answers the owl when he says, Who are you? She asked the owl who he is, too. He said his name is Oliver Winston Howell III, but Molly calls him Ollie, for short. She is sad and tells Ollie how everything is different. Your children will want to read this book and find out how Molly and Ollie become good friends. It will be fun for them to learn how although things are different, they are also the same.