One of My Best Preschool Rhyming Books is "The Worm Who Has a Perm"

We are really cooking with steam now, as my 12th rhyming book for children is officially published. When I created the idea for Willis the worm in "The Worm Who Has a Perm", my intentions were very simple. I just wanted to create a fun little children's book that basically told the story about how kids that are unique are special in their own way. I really had no point of reference with Willis other than he was a cool little guy who seemed to march to the beat to his own drummer. I have seen in my years too many kids get bullied for being different, so this little worm with a perm was going to do his best to make kids smile.

Now unlike those little cute animals in my kids books "The Chick Who Could Not Kick" and "The Whale That Broke the Scale", Willis the worm really didn't see anything wrong with the way he wore his hair. In fact, Willis the worm would encourage others to talk about his hair because he saw how it made people smile. See this little guy was not concerned about anything buy making others happy, and if it came at the expense of him being made fun of, he didn't really let any of that bother him. My intention with this children's picture book was to let kids see that their differences make them unique in a good way, not a bad way. If a child would embrace their skin color, their curly hair, or their unique height, then no amount of ridicule could ever affect them.

With this classic kids book, I knew that grade school kids would relate to bullying, and toddlers would simply think Willis was cool with his colorful perm and his fun-loving attitude. This worm had his share of being bullied in school because the way he looked, but Willis never let it bother him for one second. In fact, when the bully's did not get the reaction they wanted, they thought something was wrong with this little worm. The moral of this story is that when a child is made fun of for the way they look, not letting bully's affect them will cause the bully to go find someone else to pick on. If a child can relate to how Willis ignored ridicule from others in this kid's book, they may be able to express their own individuality more easily!

Cute Preschool Rhyming Book called "The Duck Who Has Bad Luck"

Hard to believe it, but Mr Tim Zak has officially written, illustrated, and now published 11 children's picture books. Looking back only a few months, I still can not believe many of these cute animals that have been jumping around in my head are being read by kids all over the world. I still pinch myself when I see kids books sales coming in from France, China, Germany, and Australia. The reaction around the world is the same, first the parents tell me how much their little ones love these illustrated baby animals, then they tell me that they are bout to snuggle up and read it for the 100th time this month. Who knows, maybe someday one of these characters in my children's books will make it to the big screen. Disney, are you listening?

The subject for my latest classic kids book is Drake the duck who has bad luck! I got the inspiration for little Drake when I remembered an incident that happened to me in grade school. There was this one little kid who had the worst possible luck. He would get hurt playing basketball, he would fall off the school bus, he even got hit with a stick during his birthday party as kids were trying to smash open a pinata. I still remember it like yesterday, he was convinced he had bad luck, so, he had bad luck. He reinforced that belief into his subconscious, and it didn't help that everyone within ear shot would remind him that he was bad luck to be around. I remember feeling that he must not like having that bad luck, but he always seems to muscle through it and just wear it like a badge of honor. So the idea for my next rhyming kids book was born, with a little twist for creativity.

So with all my children's books online, I try to give those little ones a positive life lesson. I try to teach them that we are all different, and even if you are not like the rest of your group, that is still fine. With Drake, this little duck simply had the worst luck. His friends knew it, his parents knew it, and Drake knew it. However, when I am writing children's books, I always look for that twist that will spark a little fire inside all of the kids around the world. With Drake, his bad luck actually put him in a very unique situation where he would save the day. Like many popular nursery rhymes, the stories are not scary, they are not judgemental, they are designed to just entertain and maybe bring a cute little smile to those future generations.

My Latest Kids Bedtime Story is "The Spider Who Became a Writer"

When I finally released my 10th preschool rhyming book, "The Spider Who Became a Writer", the rhyming story of Sally the Spider who became a writer, I have to admit I drew inspiration from within. Actually, the inspiration was pulled from my experience about being a writer who knew that some day my real talents would be recognized. Despite being told by my high school teacher that I had an incredible talent to tell stories, I needed to learn the hard way. My goal here with this latest children's picture book is to give little kids the inspiration to follow their dreams when they have a talent, no matter how challenging that road may seem at the onset. The story of Sally shows children that when you do have a special talent, keep at it because some day the world will recognize what you knew all along.

The theme for this nursery rhyme for children is similar to that in my story of Chuck the chick who could not kick, when you have a talent, you need to let it shine. Many times I get asked by parents would I go back to my high school days and start writing at age 17 instead of starting at 47? My answer is always the same! I never regret talking the path I chose and I would never want to do it all over again and start when I was a teenager. The reason is two-fold, and I think it has resulted in me writing better kids books online. First, all the experiences I have had in my years has inspired me to come up with some very unique story-lines for my kids books. Secondly, and more importantly, it was the birth of my daughter Amber that really inspired me to push forward because I wanted to leave something behind when I am gone for her to remember me by, and I get so much of my creative ideas from her. Amber helps with the illustrations, she helps with the animal names, and she helps me with how the story plays out. That bond me and her share with my stories is something I wish every father could experience with their daughters, and I would never want it any other way.

That brings us to the story of Sally the spider, and how she always knew from a young age she was destined to be a writer. Sally was told by the farmer many times that she has to stop daydreaming and she needs to start carrying her weight like all the other animals on the farm. The job of a spider is to catch the bugs that are making life difficult for horses, cows, and other animals in the barn. Sally knew she had a job, but that desire to write, was burning inside her and it literally created her eventual destiny. Grab your little one close and read them this fun, cute, rhyming bedtime story about the spider who became a writer!

Fun Rhyming Picture Book for Children called "The Pig Who Loved to Dig"

So when I came up with the idea for my 9th children's picture book, "The Pig Who Loved to Dig", I drew my inspiration from a guy I used to work with who would march to the beat of his own drum. He would always do things his way, and we all thought he would never last with the company. It was his persistence and his determination to do things his way that revealed a special set of skills that eventually made him a real asset to the company. So I decided that when I came up with Pete the pig, he was going to be a fun-loving cute baby animal that believed in himself no matter what was going on around him. When it comes to rhyming picture books, I realized the kids need to connect with the main character on a personal level, rooting for them to succeed, and possibly sparking something inside them that brings out a hidden talent they have too.

I realize when I write these children's books that little kids instantly connect with the illustrations, and want that happy ending every time. When it comes to writing children's books in my office, I don't know if the children will connect with the drawings, the story, or just want a happy-ending, so it is my responsibility to exceed even their little expectations and give them something they can feel good about. Think about it for a second, isn't it all about just feeling good inside anyway? When you choose children's books online, you want the story to excite your child, make them laugh, and leave them feeling happier than when you started the book. I have received so many positive messages in recent weeks about how those little ones are drawing pictures of these main characters, and some are making mommy and daddy ready them the book over and over again, like 400 times. Sorry about that to all those moms and dads out there who have little ones who keep asking each night to read my books to them over and over again.!

That brings me to the story of Pete the pig who just loves to dig. Now with this classic kids book I took a different route. Pete has a special skill that actually was not something that was getting him in good favor with the farmer. In fact, he was almost kicked off the farm because his particular set of skills was making life difficult for those around him. It wasn't until something happened on the farm that the farmer recognized that Pete had an exceptional skill and things changed for the better for Pete. It seems like my preschool rhyming books have really taken on a life of their own, as I get messages about perhaps continuing the journey with certain baby animals. For now, I have enough ideas on my desk to continue writing children's books for another couple years.