Interview With A Dragon

Q&A with Snarls (Star of) from Sir Princess Petra’s Mission

Re-blog from: https://kid-lit-reviews.com/2016/04/16/qa-with-snarls-star-of-from-sir-princess-petras-mission/

Kid Lit reviews is pleased to welcome Snarls, the Dragon from Sir Princess Petra’s Mission, Book 3 of The Pen Pieyu Adventures. The Kingdom of Pen Pieyu is located in a magical kingdom located in author, Diane Mae Robinson’s Garden Kingdom, located in Alberta Canada.

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Princess Petra wants to become a knight. Her parents are against it, so King Longstride writes new rules in the Kingdom’s Royal Ryle book designed to trip Princess Petra up, causing her to fail. She doesn’t. Soon, Princess Petra is known far and wide as Sir Princess Petra, the only knight in the Kingdom of Pen Pieyu. Her one test involved taming the ferocious and widely feared, dragon. Petra tamed the loud dragon, making him her steed. That dragon was Snarls.

KID LIT REVIEWS: Hello Snarls. I hope you are fine this good day.

PETRA: “Hey, why are you asking Snarls . . .”

PUSH, SHOVE, “OUCH” SLAM

KLT: Yes, Hello Petra. It’s good to see you, too. The questions are for Snarls this time . If you recall, you were interviewed here a couple years ago and just recently at the Insatiable Reader. You are welcome to sit in, but please, let Snarls answer the questions.

KLT: So, Snarls, you are a real, live, fire-breathing dragon, not a horse, yet Sir Princess Petra rides you as if you were a horse. She calls you her “steed.” What is it like for a dragon to be a steed?

Book 3 Illustration 5SNARLS: “Uhhhumm. Yeah, about that. First things first. I have something to clear up about this steed business. My author girl would have you believe, by her writings in book two, that my pink tassel saddle was all Petra’s idea. NOT SO! I picked out the saddle myself. It’s my way of saying I am a modern dragon. Sort of like the “man purse” thing in your world.

“Secondly, Petra would have you believe I had no choice in the matter of becoming a steed. NOT SO! It was totally my idea from the beginning.”

KLT: What is it like being a dragon-steed? Snarls?

 

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

KLT: Petra, please. Tickling Snarls tail is distracting.

Snarls, do you like being a dragon-steed?

SNARLS: “Oh, what was the question? Oh, never mind that . . . Since it was totally my idea to become the one, and only, and first ever, dragon steed . . . YES!I love my job. It was all my idea. I mentioned that, right?”

KLT: Readers know you are a fantastic cook. When not working as Petra’s steed, or as the chef-extraordinaire of the Kingdom of Pen Pieyu, what do you do to relax?

SNARLS: “I really like being near food, so I’m always happy to do more cooking and barbequing—I am the royal chef at the castle too. On my days off from cooking and steeding, I really enjoy rolling around in the mud. Mud is goopy and silky smooth. And it does wonders for scaly scales. But I have to be careful to clean off all the mud between my toes so Petra doesn’t find any. Petra either doesn’t like muddy toes or she thinks I like her picking mud out of my toes. And just for the record, I am fine with MANLY muddy toes.”

PETRA: Hello!!!!!”      Book 3 Illustration 1

KLT: Petra? Did you want to say something?

PETRA: “I’m sitting right here, Snarls.”

KLT: Yes, you are. Now, Snarls, Onions. King Longstride demands all knight-wannabes empty the onion room—by eating the onions—before deemed fit for knighthood. What is so darn important about onions?

SNARLS: “Well, as you all know, King Longstride is a little bit of a scatter brain and his rules in the royal rule book don’t always make sense. He did, although, make up that rule just weeks before Petra decided she wanted to become a knight.

KLR: “Hmmmm. Pet—

PETRA: Hello!!!!! I’m right here!

KLT: “Hi, Petra. Didn’t see ya.

SNARLS: “I was saying Petra hates onions. Strange, don’t you think?”

KLT: Strange, indeed. I don’t know why anyone would HATE a harmless vegetable, such as an onion. Onions are pretty good in most dishes. Dishes. How many plates did Petra hide onions under when she supposedly ate all those onions?

SNARLS: “No pl-ate-s. What are pl-ates?”

KLT: Never mind. I’m sure your “writer girl” took some literary license with that scene.

SNAELS: “No literary licenses, but she has the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award in Literary Arts (2112) for Sir Princess Petra.”

KLT: Speaking of Petra, on her latest Mission, (Sir Princess Petra’s Mission), Sir Bograt becomes MFA (Missing from Action) while at Hooble-Wooble Creek.

SNARLS: “Hobble-Wobble Creek.”

KLT: Right, right. I heard tell a rogue wave swept Sir Bograt down the river—

SNARLS: “Creek.”

KLT: –off on a wild CREEK-wave. Snarls, you were there. What happened? What caused this freaky wave?

SNARLS: “Ewwwww. Hobble Wobble Creek is a scary place. Rumor has it that sheep have lost ears, cow have lost tails, and the odd peasant has lost a toe or two there—you know, the kind of place a bog witch could go missing in.

“Umm, errrr. Hey, what did you hear?”

KLT: Oh, just that someone or something plopped in the riv, er creek, causing a huge cannonball-like wave, taking Sir Bograt riding a giant wave down the course of Hooble-Wooble River.

SNARLS: “Hobble-Wobble Creek.”

KLT: That’s what I said. So . . .

SNARLS: “Are you blaming me for something?”                           Book 3 illustration 8

KLT: Possibly.

SNARLS: “I know nothing.”

KLT: Are you sure?

SNARLS: “Nope.”

Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp. SLAM!

KLT: What was that? [Oh, really? Okay.] It seems Petra has decided to wait for you outside.

SNARLS:  “It’s raining. I should take her an umbrella.”

KLT: Snarls?

SNARLS: “What? Oh, the interview. My interview. Continue.”

KLT: On this last mission, Sir Petra, Sir (now missing) Bograt, and you are to capture a notoriously feared and possibly nonexistent car-panther, bringing it back to King Longstride. We know when not a steed, you can be found in the castle kitchen, just off the royal court, where the king and queen do whatever kings and queens do when sitting on a throne. Voices carry.

SNARLS: “I did overhear something, but it didn’t make sense.”

KLT: Did you hear what the King wants with a fear inducing car-panther?

SNARLS: “I heard the king and queen whispering about the usefulness of car-panthers and how the kingdom should acquire one to CLEAN UP the castle before the next shingding. Then Bograt blabbed about the notorious dragon-eating car-panthers. Well! You can see where I’m coming from when I thought the whole thing was to get rid of me.

“You can see that, right?”

KLT: Maybe Bograt is just upset about Wobble-Cobble Creek.

SNARLS: “Hobble-Wobble Creek.”

KLT: Let’s finish with 5 quick questions.

  1. Favorite person (other than Petra), at Kingdom Pen Pieyu.
    “My favorite person, next to Petra of course, would have to be Duce Craplips. He wears pink armour and he crochets—he’s such a modern-day type prince. I don’t really care for blabber-mouth Bograt, or smarty-pants Norton Nastybun.”

KLT: The same missing Bograt from Hobble-Wobble Creek?

2. Quick question two? Hurry, this is supposed to be quick! Most feared Land or Kingdom.
“The swamp lands we went through in book three were pretty nasty. As you know, I had a misfortunate event there.”

Book 3 Illustration 4

KLT: Yes, I know. At the Creek Hobbled Wobble.

SNARLS: “Geez. Hobble-Wobble Creek. And NO!

“It all had to do with Norton Smarty-Pants Nastybun! He had his puny army stick me with arrows, in my butt! Totally humiliating!!!!! It was just a totally uncalled for scene.”

3. What frightens dragon-steeds?
“Falling rocks, being chased, indigestion. You know, the usual stuff.”

 

4. Favorite Food.
“Onion anything.”

5. Finally, what is Today’s Chef-Extraordinaire Special?
“Crimson-crust-onion-strawberry pie

Bouillabaisse served with leek-onion soufflé

Onion Omelette Ta-Da (my specialty)”

KLT: Sounds, uh, yummy?

Snarls, thank you for stopping by. It is always a pleasure. If she’s out there, say goodbye to Petra for me.

Illustration by Samantha Kickingbird

Pick up your own copy of Sir Princess Petra’s Mission
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Follow Diane Mae Robinson and All Her Magical Characters
Website   http://dragonsbook.com/ 
Blog   http://www.dianemaerobinson.com/
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Book 3 illustration 12
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Copyright © 2016 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

Interview With Children’s Author, Diane Mae Robinson.

C.L. Murphy, Interview with award-winning children’s book author, Diane Mae Robinson 

Award-winning children's book author, Diane Mae Robinson

Award-winning children’s book author, Diane Mae Robinson

 

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! By order of the King, I declare DIANE MAE ROBINSON a most splendid author and she shall be dubbed LADY DI from this day forward.

lovable lobo interview

Lovable Lobo at Lobo’s Follies:
http://lovablelobo.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/q-a-with-author-diane-mae-robinson/

For more information on Diane’s fantasy kids books and dragon books for children series: http://www.dragonsbook.com

 

 

Teacher’s Lesson Plan, Grade 4, L.A.

Award winning author Diane Mae Robinson has announced that a teachers lesson plan (elementary language arts) is now available for ‘Sir Princess Petra’. The lesson plan is available at no charge as a download from her website

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Teachers Lesson Plan (Elementary Language Arts) Now Available From Award Winning Children’s Book Author Diane Mae Robinson

Robinson’s multi-award winning work, ‘Sir Princess Petra’, teaches children valuable life lessons through engaging fiction. A no-cost teacher’s lesson plan, developed by an elementary school teacher, about the book is now available. The general outcome of the lesson plan: students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to explore thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences

[January 23, 2013, St. Paul, Alberta, Canada] Award winning Canadian author Diane Robinson has announced that a no-cost lesson plan is now available to teachers for her highly praised, multi-award winning children’s book, ‘Sir Princess Petra’.

‘Sir Princess Petra’, the first in the Pen Pieyu series, features surprising plot twists and turns, brilliant flashes of humor, zany characters and is rooted in timeless values that shine through the charismatic main character. It is written in the tradition of C. S. Lewis and is reminiscent of ‘Shrek’. Reviewers have labeled the award winning book a ‘fantasy adventure that is sure to become a timeless classic.’

‘Sir Princess Petra’ took an Honorable Mention award in the 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Awards for Children Grade K – 3rd. This adds to the long list of awards for ‘Sir Princess Petra’.  Robinson was honored with two major awards for the book. She was awarded the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artists Award for Children’s Book Author and took 2nd place in the Purple Dragonfly Book awards for Children’s Chapter Book.

“In writing children’s literature,” Robinson stated, “I strive to engage the young reader in a fun and interesting way through the adventures of my characters. It is also important to me that the moral lessons about kindness, acceptance, understanding, and believing in oneself, are brought out through my character’s actions.”

The second book, ‘Sir Princess Petra’s Talent’ has already received a number of very favorable reviews. A recent review on Goodreads stated, ‘This is a book that should be in lots of classrooms. I think it is a good book to help children understand that everything is not as it first seems.’ Another reviewer stated, ‘Cloaked in a fantasy work of knights, kings, and dragons that will engulf children into the story, the moral lessons imparted are refreshingly neither preachy nor boring. Petra’s breath of fresh air personality makes her an exceptional role model for children to admire and to imitate in the real situations of fear, new people, challenges, and goals in their own lives.”

While dragon books are one of the most popular segments of fantasy fiction and children’s books in today’s marketplace, in these fantasy fiction books, Robinson uses the dragon books concept as the background to teaching young people traditional values. Ms. Robinson’s highly praised work demonstrates that dragon books can be something much more than dragon books.

The no-charge lesson plan is available at Robinson’s website. Diane Mae Robinson is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at robinsond@mscnet.ca. More information, including reviews, information for teachers and librarians and a special children’s section is available at her website. Both books are currently available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

About Diane Mae Robinson:

Diane Mae Robinson has a journalism diploma from the Schools of Montreal, and an advanced diploma from the Institute of Children’s Literature in Connecticut.  She is also an artist, writing tutor and teaches acrylic and watercolor art to children. She lives with her husband, Allen, in a small hilltop castle near St. Paul, Alberta.  They have four dogs and three horses, along with a forest inhabited by gnomes, fairies, a princess, and a dragon. This magical forest is where Diane creates her characters and gets the inspiration for her stories.

Contact:

Diane Mae Robinson
http://www.dragonsbook.com
robinsond@mcsnet.ca

Teachers/Librarians page link:  http://www.dragonsbook.com/teachers-librarians.html
Lesson plan link: http://www.dragonsbook.com/Sir_Princess_Petra’s_Lesson_Plan.pdf

– See more at: http://www.freepublicitygroup.com/release_diane_robinson_jan114.html#sthash.VXOj3hAR.dpuf