“Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa” goes on the road!

Good morning, Zebee here. I had a great day. . .hey! what’s this!

This Just In! “Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa” is now available at the Mayagüez Zoo and coming soon to a school near you! (If you live in Puerto Rico, that is.)

Yes, you read right, the book and activity book are for sale at the zoo.

My boss Joy and her husband Julio have been taking the books on a tour of the island. They have visited a number of schools, and spreading the word that there’s a new book in town ready to add to your 1-3 grade classroom. Schools like what they see and are buying them for next year.

Last week, Joy and Julio sat in on a school convention that involved around 100 schools. In the coming weeks they are participating the a home-schooling annual gathering as well as visits to more schools.

One of the teachers came over to Joy and told her that her students had been at the Caguas Library the day she was there presenting the book with Maria Chuzema. She said they came back talking about how much fun they had and how much they liked the book. Joy was very happy to hear this and came right over to the 'V Zoo' and told all of us.

One more thing, go to our web site and check out the new memory game, puppets and teaching tools.

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Wow! Sounds like my boss Joy and her husband Julio have been busy getting the word out about “Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa”

I guess that announcement used up all my space for today.

Come back on Thursday, I get to share a really cool book with all of you about spiders. See you then.

Book Launch and TV interview all in the same day!

Hi everyone, Zebee here. Boy did my boss Joy have a big day yesterday. In the morning she had her book launch party at the library and then in the afternoon the show she taped was on TV. I’ll let her tell you as we listen in while she tells Rebekha all about it.

So, mom, how did the launch party go?

Fantastic! Let’s see, we had about 35 to 40 kids there and about equal amount of adults.

That’s really good. Did any of the press show up?

Not during the event, but one photographer showed up after it was over and took pictures of the books. I think I’m going to write and submit an article with pictures to the other newspapers and see if any of them pick it up.

So, did the kids have fun? Tell me how the whole thing went.

Okay. When they first arrived we gave them coloring pages and a small box of crayons. That kept them busy until the show started. When María Chuzema arrived, she was carrying her bird umbrella and the kids all knew who she was. She immediately went into a story about how the zebra got his stripes. That got the kids settled down. She then introduced the book and we took turns reading, her in Spanish and me in English.

Sounds like she really helped out. Did she do anything else?

Yes. After we finished reading the story and everyone applauded, she put on some music and sang and danced with everyone. We even did the chicken dance!

What did she do next?

This was really funny. She went into a monologue skit with lots of tongue twisters and made up words from her show on TV. The kids got all involved and then she started pulling the parents into it and had them act out the other characters in her one woman skit. It was very funny.

Did you sell any books?

I waited until her show was over and then she had me come to the front of the room where I announced the snacks of juice and animal crackers for the children and showed the parents where they could come and buy the books. I sold 23 sets of the book and activity book as well as 5 of the teacher guides.

Wow! That’s great mom! I really wish I could have been there.

Me too honey, but you can watch this slide show and feel like you were right there.

So, tell me, did the TV interview air today like it was supposed to?

Yes, and much to my surprise, they used all the footage they shot with me. The craft she made that was supposed to be part of the show, didn’t make it in at all.

Do you have a copy of it?

Not yet, but María gave me the name and phone number of the person to call as ask for a copy. When I get it I’ll make a copy and send it off to you.

Thanks mom. It sounds like you had a great day. With all this and the reviews we’re getting we should do well.

I agree. Now, let’s go over to the bongo exhibit. I was thinking. . .

Sounds like it was a big success! I can’t wait to tell Mori, Lito, Elvis and the rest of the gang here at the ‘V Zoo’. I’ll fill you all in next week. See you Sunday with more zoo news. Lots of Halloween activities to share as well as other things. Bye for now.

Book Launch tomorrow! Another great book review!

Hello everyone, Zebee here. Well, tomorrow is the big day, we launch the book to the media and then on Friday the book is available for sale! My boss Joy is running around in circles trying to get everything done. For tomorrow, here’s what she’s got planned:

At the Caguas Public Library, La Biblioteca Pública Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos at 10 AM the program starts. TV children show personality, María Chuzema will be reading the book in Spanish and Joy will be reading it in English. There are at least 75 people who are going to be there at last count. We have juice, animals crackers, coloring pages, crayons and goodie bags for all the children. The books will be on sale at a very nice discount. The local TV and newspapers have all been invited, and we are hoping for at least one of each, two would be nice.

Then, if that isn’t enough, that afternoon at 2:30 the TV program she taped with María Chuzema airs. Her plan is to be back home by then so she can watch it with her friends here at the marina where she lives.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day and filled with lots of fun and hopefully book sales.

Now, if all that isn’t enough, yesterday my boss Joy got another really great review. This one is from Ron Magill. He’s the communication and media director for the Miami Metrozoo. He also does regular appearances on the TV show ‘Sábado Gigante’ on Univision. He’s their resident animal expert. He also appears on several other TV shows regularly. Here’s what he had to say about Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa:

“Zooprise Party” is a wonderful children’s book that tells the story of an Okapi who believes that all of his animal friends at the zoo have forgotten his birthday. Author Rebekha Delgado and illustrator Joy Delgado use the story to subtly teach the reader some interesting facts about some unique animals. The best lesson of all for the children who will enjoy this book is that friends come in all shapes, colors, sizes, and backgrounds and that our friends represent some of the most important things in our lives.

Ron Magill
Communications & Media Director
Miami Metrozoo

Pretty nice I think. Well, I’d better get back to being a zebra. I’ll ‘see’ you all again on Thursday and let you know all about how everything went on Wednesday.

TV Interview with María Chuzema!

Hello all you out there in Bloggerville, Zebee here. Well, my boss Joy has been working hard to bring you a short video of her interview with María Chuzema, a local children’s TV personality who loves books. The interview was done in Spanish, so if you don’t understand Spanish I’ll give you a breakdown.

María and Joy discussed how the book came about, why Joy feels it’s important to have bilingual books, they read in both languages to show the children watching what a bilingual book is and talk about the activity book and teacher’s guide. If everything is used, my boss Joy will be on the show for a full half hour! Talk about great publicity!

The show will air on tuTV in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, October 22nd. That’s the same day the two of them are introducing the book to the press and a group of school children. So, here’s the video, I hope you like it.



See you Thursday with another great book review.

Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa update

Good morning all you out there in Bloggerville. Zebee here once again. Today I have some exciting news about our book, Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa. Look, there’s Lito and Elvis. Let’s go over and share it with them too. Come on!

Hi Lito, hi Elvis.

Lito: Hi Zebee. Anything new?

Yes, I was just about to tell all the people out there about some exciting news that our boss Joy is doing to promote the book.

Elvis: Really? What?

This coming Thursday she’s going to a TV station to tape a children’s show.

Lito: Wow! That IS exciting. Tell us more!

There’s a TV celebrity in Puerto Rico named Maria Chuzema who has a children’s show called ‘La Casa de Maria Chuzema’. Joy contacted her a while back and she’s very interested in the book.

Elvis: Excuse me Zebee, what does ‘La Casa de Maria Chuzema’ mean? What language is that?

It’s Spanish for ‘The house of Maria Chuzema’. The show is in Spanish. It’s a fun show and great for kids. One thing Maria likes to do is read stories out loud.

Elvis: I like it when Joy and her friends read to us. Is that what Maria does?

Yes. So, because she likes to support books, she’s having our boss Joy on the show to tell the whole island about the book!

Lito: That’s fantastic! Then all the little boys and girls will hear about us.

Yes. But there’s more.

Lito: What else?

On October 22, our boss Joy, Maria Chuzema and some other friends are going to share the book with school children and the Puerto Rican press.

Elvis: Where?

At the public library in Caguas, Puerto Rico at 10 am. Several schools have been invited as well as a large group of home schoolers.

Lito: What are they going to do there?

Joy has planned a birthday party for the event. There will be coloring pages, snacks and gifts for all the children that attend. Then Joy and Maria are going to read the book in English and Spanish out loud to all the children. They may even have puppets of Mori and the two of you.

Lito: Sounds like a really fun time. I wish I could go.

Elvis: Me too.

I’m sure our boss Joy will tell us all about it. Well, I’ve got to go. I want to see how things are going over in the penguin and polar bear exhibit. I heard that, oh, see you all on Thursday.