When the first of the final versions of Julie and Wooly was ready (and there must have been four or five of them), I decided not to tuck it away in a drawer and hide it. Instead, I read it to my children and sent it to my family and closest friends who have children. I wanted to see if they would like the story at all, if it was coherent, and confirm there were no silly mistakes in it.
The Difficult Job of a Small Reviewer
What a difficult task it was for the little reviewers! Reading a book without illustrations and, on top of that, understanding the interactive aspects(yes, this book is interactive!)was a great challenge for the children’s patience and imagination. Despite these difficulties, my little testers managed to get through the whole storyline and give their opinions. And they were suchgood reviews that I quickly had to start writing a second book.
As it turned out, it was great fun and insightful at the same time. Those first reviews made me believe that what I had written and was going to do made sense. I stopped being afraid and went on. That helped me to make further decisions on how to publish Lulu’s Missing Case and to hand the text over to an editor, proofreader, and illustrator with a calm mind.
I’ve had really great testersfrom three to ten years old. Everyone pointed out different things and liked different bits of the story. I was delighted that my first reviewers paid attention to such a variety of things. What also surprised me was how appealing it was for them to work as the editors and be able to read a book that didn’t actually exist yet.
Big Thanks To…
Big Zuzie, Magda and Grześ, Maja and Pawełek, Frank and little Zuzie, Ada and Krzysiek and of course Jack who help me with trnslation. I would like to thank you and your parents for your time and work on my book.
Of course, this story would not have been possible if it wasn’t for my children, who also enthusiastically tested the content of the book. And especially to my daughter, who is, as you can probably guess, the inspiration for creating the character of Julie. The impatient, sensory reader is the ideal critic to test the briskness of the plot. Thanks to her, I knew where the dullness kicked in and what needed to be discarded without qualms.
Once again, many thanks to my little and big editors!
Your Kid Can Be a Reviewer Too!
I hope your child or children would also be happy to give their opinion after reading the book. I would appreciate your and your kid’s honest feedback. The uniqueness of Julie and Wooly is that you can contact the author whenever you like, and you can influence the future fate of the characters! I would love to hear your suggestions.
Send your feedback and opinions to contact@julieandwooly.com
If you want to get to know the backstory of Julie and Wooly, read the posts below:
