Book Description for The Three Little Horses and the Big Bully Donkey (Book 1):

A tale (based on the “Three Little Pigs”) about three little horse brothers who suddenly lose their house that is destroyed by a fire. The young horses are totally alone and thrust into the reality of having to depend on themselves and each other against a bully donkey, who wanders the forest wrecking homes and bullying the other animals. This warm-hearted tale promotes strong values and has a fun premise. Written and humorously illustrated in vivid color throughout by Liana-Melissa Allen, the story is a proven winner for reading aloud to children.
The Three Little Horses and the Big Bully Donkey by Liana-Melissa Allen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the first book in this series, and children will connect with it instantly as I did. It is essentially an updated version of “The Three Little Pigs,” but it is so well-done that the true meaning of the story is emphasized in every way. The illustrations are ideal (I love that she writes and illustrates her books), and I highly recommend this author! One of the best children’s authors I have seen in awhile.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.

View all my reviews

Book Description for Donkey’s Kite (Book 2):

The three horses Jack, Max, Lax and their friend Donkey are back!

In Horse Valley, it’s a perfect day to go kite flying. Jack, Max, Lax, and Donkey decide to get creative by putting together their own homemade kites. However, Donkey’s kite doesn’t work. No matter how hard he tries to get it to fly, it just keeps tumbling to the ground. How will poor Donkey get his kite to fly? A friendly goose named Gusty is delighted to help him out.

In this Horse Valley Adventure, Donkey learns not to give up when all seems hopeless. The friends all learn a lesson about helping others and true friendship.
Donkey’s Kite by Liana-Melissa Allen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was completely impressed with the writing style of this book, and the author’s illustrations completely made the story come to life. I had already met the characters in the first book, but this book deals with very real issues–friendship, bullying, and more–in a way children can understand them. These are some of the best children’s books I have read in awhile, and I highly recommend them. Exceptional in every way!

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.

View all my reviews

Author’s Bio:

Liana-Melissa Allen is a young author and illustrator of children’s books and books for youth. She has written, illustrated and published six books. Her most recent one is the colorfully illustrated children’s book “Donkey’s Kite”, the second book of “A Horse Valley Adventure” series. The first was “The Three Little Horses and the Big Bully Donkey”. The lovable cartoon characters, Max, Lax, Jack and Donkey makes them a favorite of first and second grade students. She is now working on her third book of “A Horse Valley Adventure”.

The magical world of fantasy has inspired Liana’s imagination since as long as she can remember. Part of this was fueled by her dad reading aloud to her every day when she was younger. As a result, reading is her primary passion along with music. These two passions feed her imagination into stories and drawings, which she joyously sketches out into storyboards for a potential book.

Liana-Melissa is also a dedicated classical/jazz pianist, and mostly enjoys older music, especially from the big band era and the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. While playing the piano, her imagination often leads to a great amount of improvising. Frequently, Liana will improvise a theme for one of the stories she is writing. Capturing this improvised music became a priority, which ultimately resulted in theme music for “A Horse Valley Adventure”. The “Horse Valley” theme will be used for a short animated video featuring her Horse Valley characters.

Liana-Melissa loves to hear from her young readers. Please visit her website at www.lmabooks.com for more information, and to contact her by email. Visit her on Facebook too.

Where to buy the books:
On Author’s Website
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

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Guest Post by the author:

One of the unique things about being a writer is that you have a head filled with various little characters that are all squabbling for your attention. Of course, while this may be overwhelming and make you question your sanity, one thing’s for sure, you can’t live without them.
While writing can be a very solitary profession, it does not feel like a lonely one. My Horse Valley characters have been around for as long as I can remember, and I think of them almost as family. I recall drawing and writing to a very “creatively” titled story, Max and Jack go to Hawiwii! (note the embarrassing misspelling of Hawaii). It started with Max and Jack both exclaiming “We’re in Hawiwii!”, with the little bluebird (whose name is Birdie by the way) hovering above their heads. I did this on a trip to Hawaii, and when reading it now it brings back memories of the trip. It was like writing a diary but using my characters in replace of me and adding comical twists and elaborations.
As I got older, my world of characters evolved and grew, and I started to create human characters as well. I longed to venture into these magical worlds, imagining that a portal might open up in the air and that I could leap into this other realm where I felt I belonged in more so than in the real world. Eventually, I came to realize that only I could make my worlds real, and that the way I could enter these worlds was by writing or drawing about them.
These characters are so much a part of my life that I consider them like close friends. And no matter what happens, they are always there, waiting for me to pick up the pen or start typing, and join them in their own special world that I created for them.

Win one of ten sets of A Horse Valley Adventure books! One winner will also get a $30 Amazon gift card. Open internationally.
Ends April 17.

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