Have you read about the Carnival Fun?

In 1996, celebrating '50 Years of Crawley', the Playbus proudly took part once again in the last ever local carnival parade. The group won the cup that year and it was a great success. We always loved taking part in the parade and as a highlight of our social calender it has now inspired the fictional tale.

This year the bus and its stories have been on a different type of parade, a blog tour parade!

A blog tour is a good way of reaching out to readers with fantastic bloggers, who are prepared to read and review your book, it is a good way to increase visibility.

When reading my books in schools the children have always loved hearing, not only the stories but, the background to the writing and the real Playbus. It is always great hearing their feedback comments but they are not the ones who buy the books or indeed write the reviews. Author days offer an Indie author the chance to read a book and to sell signed copies but many schools have little time to organise events.

Yet a visit from an author can offer enrichment and a chance to listen and to ask questions, not only about the given book but also the process of becoming an author.

The July blog tour was once again organised by Rachel Gilbey of Rareresources. As before we set a date and then Rachel organised and asked for bloggers to join the weeks tour.

I was glad to see some familiar names from bloggers who had previously joined a tour, which at least meant they liked the book.

As the comments came in, I was pleased to hear that many bloggers had read the book with their children and had added their comments. So now the children have a voice too, it is after all the children who I write for, it is good to have their comments written in a review too.

‘The illustrations are vibrant and inspire conversation, and the adventures the kids enjoy on Jay-Jay the bus are simply lovely’, Books Of All Kinds

‘What a delightful and wholesome story for little ones. Engaging with its own mini twist and happy endings.’ Booksand - The Twist and Turn book blogemma

‘This is another engaging short story for younger children to enjoy.’ Against the Flow Press.

‘This book is interesting for young readers and full of lovely illustrations. I would recomment this book to all young children.’ Reviews by Prisha

‘My 3 year old spotted me going through the e.book of this book and immediately sat next to me to see what I was looking at’, The Cozy Pages

‘Jay-Jay melts my heart and no matter what age you are you will enjoy his adventures.’ Dash Fan Book Reviews

‘My 4 year old granddaughter absolutely adored this book,’ Cal Turner Reviews

‘the boys and girls I read this too loved it and at the end of the story were asking if we could ask Jay-Jay to come to our nursery.’ Writing with Wolves

‘The theme of the carnival is just right for the summer holiday and as before, the layout is clearly defined with text and direct speech woven into the story.’ Cat and Mouse Reading

‘L loves to chat about the pictures and what’s going on in each one. It makes reading more special.’ Rachel Bustin.

‘Without giving anything away this is yet another great adventure for Jay-Jay, which Amelia, my wife and I all thoroughly enjoyed.’ Black books blog

‘I’ve enjoyed sharing every book in this series that I’ve had the pleasure to read and this is no exception.’ Spalshes into Books

‘I absolutely loved sharing this story with my son who is a massive bus fan and it’s a book that will certainly be read regularly with us.’ Frasers Fun House.

‘Jay-Jay and the Carnival shows children good simple examples of overcoming adversity, kindness and having a team spirit.’ Nesie's Place.

‘this is certainly a really lovely book for young children and we particularly enjoyed the fairground/carnival happy feel to it.’ Short Book and Scribes

‘the boys said they really liked the book and that it reminded them of being in the carnival parade that they had been involved in last year.’ Cup of Toast

‘Beginning readers will find it engaging and straight forward, and parents will like the fact that the book is entertaining and will keep their childrens attention.’ Jazzy Book Reviews

‘the images in this book are a pure delight and I really enjoy sitting down with my daughter to read the stories and share in the joy of her imagination.’ Donnasbookblog

‘Jay-Jay brings a smile to the youngsters faces and opens up their minds for lots of questions.’ Wrong side of forty

‘there’s a traditional feel about them, simple bus with beautiful moral to discuss with children afterwards.’ Herding Cats.

My daughter just loves reading these stories! The bright picture and the colours and the adventure. A Story About a Girl.

Once again thank you to Rachel Gilbey for organising the tour. It was good to hear from some lovley readers.