Book Description:
A colorful tale of friendship and fun between a little girl and her best friend – her pet elephant! I Love My Pet Elephant is a delightful medley of reality and fantasy, with shenanigans and adventures brought to life through vibrant illustration and simple rhyming text.
Meet the author:
Lauren Micchelli is a newly published author, having penned her first book in 2014. She has since continued the Snootzytime Adventures of Maddie and Murphy series, and went on to publish A Day Of What Ifs and I Love My Pet Elephant.
Impressively, she was the recipient of New Book Award 2015 for I Love My Pet Elephant.
Lauren Micchelli grew up in West Caldwell, New Jersey and currently resides in northern New Jersey.
Author Interview:
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by the world around me, cliché as that may sound. I’m inspired by the people that I’ve had the good fortune of meeting, the places that I’ve been, the memories that I’ve made- it all drives my energy and fuels my imagination.
Where and when do you write?
I write when I feel inspired, whenever and wherever that may be! I keep a small notebook with me wherever I go to capture a burst of creativity. In fact, I was inspired to write I Love My Pet Elephant while I was on a train coming back from Manhattan. The concept came to me seemingly out of nowhere, so I grabbed my notebook and had the entire story on paper before the train ride was over!
Do you have another profession besides writing?
Writing is one of my many hobbies and an outlet for creativity. By day I work full time in business and have been continuing my education in holistic nutrition studies, which has made for a hefty schedule! Down the road I aspire to write about health and wellness in addition to children’s stories. Who knows, perhaps my next adventure could be writing about health as pertains to children!
What’s your fondest memory from your writing adventures thus far?
My first book, The Snootzytime Adventures, was released early December 2014. Shortly thereafter I received an email from a friend which included a picture of his four year old daughter snuggled in an oversized chair, engrossed in my book. He said his daughter loved my book so much she wanted to read it every day. That candid picture, and love of a story that I worked so hard to bring to life, was incredibly surreal and heartwarming.
Name someone – past or present – that you would like to meet if given the opportunity.
That’s a great question, and while there are many people I’d love the opportunity to meet one person that’s top of mind is Ellen DeGeneres. Not only does Ellen crack me up but she always appears to be having fun, and people seem to have a great time with her! I’d love to see what kind of humor she would bring to my book, if given the opportunity to chat with her about it!
What are you most proud of?
I’m extremely proud of myself for swinging pendulum from apprehension to excitement and pursuing my dreams. I didn’t anticipate it would be easy to publish and market a book, but I didn’t let that stop me! I’m proud of how much I’ve accomplished in such as short amount of time. In addition to publishing four books in six months, I was a recipient of New Book Award 2015 for I Love My Pet Elephant! While I still have a long way to go I’m happy of how far I’ve come in the last year!
What advice would you give budding writers?
Follow your dreams and don’t take no for an answer! Be aware that the road ahead may be filled with twists and turns, and don’t be afraid to ask questions to help you along. It may not be easy, but if it’s something you want to pursue then find a way to make it happen!
My Thoughts:
When my oldest was just a few months old we started a bedtime routine that involved a bath, snuggling, nursing and reading three stories. We removed the nursing component at some point, but we’ve continued the rest of the ritual every night since. At just over four years old he knows the routine by heart and happily selects three books off his bookshelf before climbing into bed each evening.
Now that his baby brother has joined our crew we switch between more complex books he enjoys and colorful stories that will capture the interest of our littlest guy. When I received I Love My Pet Elephant in the mail I knew it would be the perfect story for both of them. On every other page there is a brightly colored illustration of a little girl and her pet elephant. The opposing page includes a short rhyming verse detailing the adventures they experience together.
The story is told from the perspective of the little girl who loves to go on adventures with her favorite pet. There are every day experiences a child might share with a pet dog like washing him and feeding him and of course more mystical adventures like sledding, playing hide and seek and even flying.
This book has a good rhythm to its rhymes. It reads rather easily and the words roll off the tongue quite nicely. The pictures of the girl and her pet elephant are colorful without being too bright. I especially love the expressiveness of the little girls eyes as they light up with each adventure. Best of all both children really seem to enjoy this story!