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Growing Bookworms – Meet prolific children’s book author and poet, Victoria Zigler, and two reviews #bookreviews #GrowingBookworms #childrensfiction

Posted: August 9, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized |61 Comments
Growing Bookworms series banner featuring three dogs made from fondant

I am delighted to introduce prolific children’s book author and poet, Victoria Zigler, as my August Growing Bookworms featured children’s book author.

You write picture books for younger children and books for older children too. How do you ensure that your language and writing style are suitable for the target age group?

I suppose, in a way, I don’t.

The thing is, I’m a pantser to the extreme.  I write the stories, and only then assess – based on the way they turn out, the language style I ended up using, etc – which age group they’d be most suitable for.  So, to be honest, I often don’t know who my intended audience is until I’m done writing the story.

The only exception would be if I’m writing another book for a series, in which case I’ll obviously want to make sure the whole series is suitable for the same general age group.  In that case, I would make sure I stick to the same kind of writing style and language as was used in the earlier book, or books.

Many of your children’s books involve animals. Do you have a specific motivation for writing about animals for a child audience?

For one thing, I’m a big fan of animals.  I love animals of almost any kind, grew up in an area surrounded by fields full of cows and mountains covered in sheep, and have owned a variety of pets: birds, cats, chinchillas, degus, dogs, fish, gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, rats, and a tortoise.  It’s no secret that I prefer the animals’ company to that of humans as a general rule, so I’ve had plenty of opportunity to observe their behaviour.

For another thing, many of the stories I enjoyed in childhood featured animals, from the mischievous Peter Rabbit and all the other creatures in Beatrix Potters tales, to the troublesome toad and faithful mole in Kenneth Graham’s Wind In The Willows, and we can’t forget Aslan the lion from C S Lewis’ Chronicles Of Narnia, or all those classic fairy tales like Aesope’s Fables and The Three Little Pigs, just to name a few.  So, given how many happy hours I spent in those animal-filled worlds, I want to pass that joy on to a new generation.

Do you include characteristics of real people and pets/animals in your stories?

Yes, I do.  Sometimes intentionally, and sometimes I’m sure I do it unconsciously too.

I do it with pets especially, since several of my books – most notably my Kero’s World and Degu Days Duo books – feature my own pets, since each is a semi-fictionalized story of a time in our lives (sometimes combining more than one experience in one story to make it more eventful) as told from the point of view of the pet in question.

But I have done it from the point of view of people too.  For example, in my Toby’s Tales series, which are a series of books based on some of the challenges I faced myself when adjusting to losing the last of my sight.  Toby himself is based on a combination of my brother, Carl, who is also blind, and myself.  Toby’s older brother, Jake, is based on our older brother, Wayne.  And their little sister, Emma, is based on a combination of myself and my honorary niece of the same name who happened to be around the same age I wanted to make the fictional Emma at the time of writing the series.

How do you get your ideas for your stories?

The short answer is: which ones?

The thing is, it varies.  Some are based on real life experiences, like how my book How To Trust Your Human is based on my attempts at regaining the trust of one of our degus, Joshua (refered to as Buddy in the story) when he became nervous and suspicious of us after we lost all three of his brothers, and Snowlilie’s Brother is based on observing our Westie, Lilie, as she adjusted to having a new little brother in the form of our Cavapoo, Logan.

What do you like best about writing for children?

Mostly it’s just fun: I love being able to play with my own imagination and creativity while potentially encouraging theirs.  Plus, I do like the fact my books may potentially help to encourage a new generation of readers.

Books for children are harder to market than books for adults. How do you go about marketing your books and what works best for you?

I’m the wrong person to ask about marketing. 

I tried seeking marketing opportunities at first, but I ultimately felt like it just took time away from the parts I enjoyed, so now I take interview opportunities when they come up, whether on blogs or podcasts, I’ll accept invitations to do guest posts, and if the opportunity to drop hints about me writing and publishing books happens to come up I’ll usually give it a mention.  But that’s all I do; I don’t really put the effort I probably should in to marketing, because I don’t like doing it, and – though I’d obviously love my books to reach as many people as possible – have no desire to be rich and famous.

I write because I have poems and stories inside of me that need to get out.  I publish them because I feel art in all its forms should be shared.  And as long as anyone who does actually stumble across my books enjoys them, that’s good enough for me.

My review of Jelena by Victoria Zigler

Cover of Jelena featuring a tree dryad in a green outfit

Jelena is a delightful and poignant story about a tree dryad whose bond to her Frazer Fir tree is broken when a family of humans select it for their Christmas tree. The author’s beautiful writing shows Jelena’s pain and loss when she is left without her tree which she knows is dying as it’s been cut.

Interesting parallels are drawn between the pleasure of the human family who are delighted with their choice of tree and Jelena’s loss as the fir’s tree dryad. The humans are not bad, they are just ignorant of the implications of their actions.

The story is engaging and has a happy ending. Reading it to or with children will provide plenty of opportunities to discuss the impact of human activities on the natural world and ways of minimizing negative repercussions.

urchase Jelena by Victoria Zigler: https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Jelena/dp/B0BVDR7GL5

My review of Thistle The Fairy Trickster by Victoria Zigler

Cover of Thistle The Fairy Trickster featuring a fairy sitting in a tree

Thistle The Fairy Trickster is a delightful retelling of the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Thistle is a fairy tasked with watching an area of the river where local children come to swim and play. Thistle’s job is to ensure that any children playing in her area are safe and to intervene and provide assistance if something goes wrong. Most of the time, Thistle’s job is boring and she has no-one to talk to or play with. Thistle decides to play some tricks on her fairy friends and that gets her into trouble.

This story is fun way of teaching small children about inappropriate and misleading tricks.

Purchase Thistle The Fairy Trickster here: https://www.amazon.com/Thistle-Fairy-Trickster-Victoria-Zigler-ebook/dp/B07L3FP5Q8

About Victoria Zigler

Author picture of Victoria Zigler who has dark hair with a fringe and a lovely smile

Victoria Zigler is a blind vegan poet and children’s author.  Born and raised in the shadow of the Black Mountains of Wales, UK, she moved away from Wales three times: once to spend six months living in Alberta, Canada, the other times to spend a few years living near Hastings on the South-East coast of England, UK, each time returning to Wales.  Now she lives in Wales again, along with a West Highland White Terrier named Lilie, a Cavapoo named Logan, a Hermann’s Tortoise named Artemis, and her Canadian husband, Kelly.

Despite spending far too much time in hospital, and eventually losing her sight to Congenital Glaucoma, Victoria – or Tori, if you prefer – has been writing since she knew how, with no plans to stop any time soon.  She has a long list of publications to her name, including several poetry collections, a whole load of children’s stories, a story in the sci-fi and fantasy anthology Wyrd Worlds II, three poems in the Poetry Treasures anthology, and a poem in the Stand Together charity anthology.  Plus, Tori’s Hermann’s Tortoise, Artemis, was featured in both the Magnificent Pets Coloring Book For Children and the Magnificent Pets Mandala Coloring Book For Adults.

Vegan due to both a love for animals and dairy allergy, as well as an Eclectic Pagan, Tori describes herself as a combination of Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter books: Hermione’s thirst for knowledge and love of books, combined with Luna’s wandering mind and alternative way of looking at the world.  She has a wide variety of interests, designed to exercise both the creative and logical sides of her brain, which she dabbles in at random depending on what she feels like doing at any given time, and is most likely to be found playing with her petkids, involved in calls with the ACB Community, curled up somewhere with a cup of tea and a book, working on some kind of craft project, or trying to keep one step ahead of those pesky typo fairies while writing her own books.

Links

Website: http://www.zigler.co.uk

Blog: https://ziglernews.blogspot.co.uk

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/toriz

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-Zigler/424999294215717

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/victoriazigler

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCakYxH7BNyc2Lxr1g1nbP9w

Find Tori’s books on…

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/toriz

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Victoria-Zigler/e/B00BHS9DQ6/

…Along with a variety of other retailers, such as Audible, iTunes, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble.

About Robbie Cheadle

Photo of Robbie Cheadle standing in front of trees.

Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published thirteen children’s book and three poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

The ten Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews. https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

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61 Comments on “Growing Bookworms – Meet prolific children’s book author and poet, Victoria Zigler, and two reviews #bookreviews #GrowingBookworms #childrensfiction”

  1. thomasstigwikman's avatar thomasstigwikman says:
    August 9, 2023 at 1:11 am

    That was a very interesting interview of Victoria Zigler as well as the review. Thank you Robbie for an interesting read again, and congratulations to Victoria.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  2. Harmony Kent's avatar harmonykentonline says:
    August 9, 2023 at 2:26 am

    Lovely interview, Tori and Robbie. Congratulations on your books and reviews, Tori. Thanks for sharing, Robbie. Hugs 🤗💕🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  3. Victoria Zigler's avatar Victoria Zigler says:
    August 9, 2023 at 7:46 am

    Thanks for asking me to come be your guest, Robbie, and for the lovely reviews.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  4. Growing Bookworms – Meet prolific children’s book author and poet, Victoria Zigler, and two reviews – Robbie's inspiration says:
    August 9, 2023 at 11:17 am

    […] Growing Bookworms – Meet prolific children’s book author and poet, Victoria Zigler, and … […]

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  5. Jacqui Murray's avatar Jacqui Murray says:
    August 9, 2023 at 11:37 am

    Interesting interview. I was intrigued that you didn’t always know the age group the story would fit until the story was completed. Another tidbit of Robbie I didn’t know.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  6. Liz Gauffreau's avatar Liz Gauffreau says:
    August 9, 2023 at 2:59 pm

    Thank you for this engaging interview with Tori. I enjoyed learning a little bit more about her.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  7. Norah's avatar Norah says:
    August 10, 2023 at 5:14 am

    I enjoyed your interview with Victoria, Robbie. I was interested to hear that Victoria just writes what suits her story without thinking about audience. Often ‘we’ are told to have an audience in mind. Goes to show there is more than one way to tackle writing. I was also interested to hear that Victoria is blind and wonder what effect that may have on her writing. e.g. Does it make the use of the other senses stronger?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  8. D.L. Finn, Author's avatar D.L. Finn, Author says:
    August 10, 2023 at 10:05 am

    Great interview! I’m with you, Victoria about marketing. It does take the time away from doing what we love.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  9. Lauren Scott, Author's avatar Baydreamer - Lauren Scott says:
    August 10, 2023 at 5:35 pm

    What a lovely interview, Tori and Robbie! I enjoyed reading about Tori’s process and loved her attitude about marketing. It is not the fun part of publishing a book. Congrats to Tori for two wonderful reviews. Thanks for sharing, Robbie!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  10. Toni Pike's avatar Toni Pike says:
    August 11, 2023 at 11:40 pm

    So lovely to learn more about Victoria in this wonderful interview, Robbie. Congratulations to her on the fantastic review. I fully agree with everything she said about marketing. Toni x

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  11. olganm's avatar olganm says:
    August 12, 2023 at 2:15 am

    It was lovely to read more about Victoria and where her stories come from. I feel the same about marketing, and I am sure her books will enchant readers of all ages. Thanks, Robbie, for another great interview and all the best to Tori.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  12. Resa's avatar Resa says:
    August 12, 2023 at 2:14 pm

    Victoria’s books sound charming. Robbie, you and Victoria did a wonderful interview.
    I too love animals, and am a veggie, pretty much vegan. Hooray for Victoria’s love of animals and sharing that love with young generations.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  13. dgkaye's avatar dgkaye says:
    August 12, 2023 at 7:03 pm

    Lovely interview Robbie and Tori. I enjoyed learning about Tori’s writing process. Hugs ❤

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  14. Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life.'s avatar Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life. says:
    August 13, 2023 at 5:09 am

    Lovely to see Tori here Robbie with her lovely books and thanks Kaye Lynne for hosting..

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  15. Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Blogger Spotlight – 17th August 2023 – #RetroInventions Beetley Pete, #TerracottaWarriors Darlene Foster, #ChildrensReviews Robbie Cheadle, #Spiritual Stevie Turner, #Inspiration Harmony Kent, #8bookseries Jan says:
    August 17, 2023 at 8:01 am

    […] Head over to enjoy Robbie’s review for these two books: Growing Book Worms books by Victoria Zigler […]

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  16. Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Blogger Spotlight – 17th August 2023 – #RetroInventions Beetley Pete, #TerracottaWarriors Darlene Foster, #ChildrensReviews Robbie Cheadle, #Spiritual Stevie Turner, #Inspiration Harmony Kent, #8bookseries Jan says:
    August 17, 2023 at 8:22 am

    […] Head over to enjoy Robbie’s review for these two books: Growing Book Worms books by Victoria Zigler […]

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  17. Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Blogger Spotlight – 17th August 2023 – #RetroInventions Beetley Pete, #TerracottaWarriors Darlene Foster, #ChildrensReviews Robbie Cheadle, #Spiritual Stevie Turner, #Inspiration Harmony Kent, #8bookseries Jan says:
    August 17, 2023 at 9:43 am

    […] Head over to enjoy Robbie’s review for these two books: Growing Book Worms books by Victoria Zigler […]

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  18. Teri Polen's avatar Teri Polen says:
    August 17, 2023 at 2:38 pm

    I’m so excited to see Tori featured here! She has an extensive backlist – so much to choose from. Congrats to her on the reviews!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  19. OIKOS™- Art, Books & more's avatar OIKOS™- Art, Books & more says:
    August 19, 2023 at 12:27 pm

    Thanks for introducing Victora Zigler and her very interesting books, Robbie! I have a lack in reading aloud to children, but think Victoria’s stories best made for this. Best wishes, Michael

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

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