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Jenna Rideout | Illustrator, Book Reviewer, Author

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Author Guest Post with S. McMichael, Happenstance Farms

Posted on January 31, 2022 By Jenna Rideout No Comments on Author Guest Post with S. McMichael, Happenstance Farms

Change can be difficult, especially for Savanna. When she gets a new trainer at a new barn, she can’t help thinking about how much she’ll miss Colts & Company. More than that… she’s a little scared.

Welcome to the January 31st stop on the blog tour for Happenstance Farms: A New Home by S. McMichael with iRead Book Tours (schedule linked.) Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

Author Guest Post

Describe your dream launch party for your upcoming book.

January 11, 2022 is the upcoming launch for the first book in our series Happenstance Farms: A New Home. If I had to think about a dream launch party, it would immerse readers into one of the scenes from the book.  I would have it at a barn or horse show facility that would be decorated with a barn theme. There would be horses and ponies in the stalls, and dogs running around.  Bales of hay would be adorned in corners of the barn.

Horse shaped balloons would be hung up all over the building with streamers and pictures of the horses from Happenstance Farms. There would be a candy and ice cream bar in one corner, a horse treat bar in another corner and we certainly can’t forget about a dog treat bar in the last corner, Eli themed of course. People could bring their families including their dogs and just have a great time.

There would be a table lined with books so that everyone would get a signed copy. Another table would be lined with food and drinks. Music would be playing so that we could all have a great time with each other.  It would be one big party to celebrate with all who wanted to attend. Savanna, Ellen, Eli, Sophia, and Coffee would be on hand to sign or stamp the books. Everyone would leave with a nice parting gift as well as a signed copy of the book.  It would be a memorable experience.

About the Book

Happenstance Farms: A New Home
by S. McMichael

Published 11 January 2022
EK-9 Solutions & Services LLC

Genre: Children’s Fiction
Page Count: 31
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Change can be difficult, especially for Savanna. When she gets a new trainer at a new barn, she can’t help thinking about how much she’ll miss Colts & Company. More than that…she’s a little scared. What will happen when Savanna swallows her fear and takes a chance on Happenstance Farms?

A fun, relatable story about a girl and her pony, your child will love keeping up with the adventures at Happenstance Farms. With charming characters, lots of laughs, and social-emotional learning, this book is the perfect addition to any home or classroom library.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble

My Review

My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Consider liking my review on Goodreads

I was granted complimentary access to Happenstance Farms as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with iRead Book Tours. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Happenstance Farms is a short picture book about Savanna’s move to a new barn and her experience settling in with a new trainer, new fellow students, and new animals. This would be appropriate for pre-K audiences as a read-aloud book or for slightly older young readers who are on the verge of progressing to middle grade levelled readers and chapter books. It doesn’t have the most flashy, exciting plot so it will probably go over best with kids who love animals, especially horses, and just want more horse stories. As a horse-crazy woman who used to be a horse-crazy kid, I would have ate this book up in grades one or two! My own nearly-kindergartner? Not interested, walked away before I was done my preliminary read through. Too many words for this impatient kid.

In terms of illustrations, I’m torn on how to review this. I’m an illustrator myself, and as I’ve already mentioned, a lover of horses. My general impression of the book is that the illustrations are colourful, detailed, and intricate, and I think the intended age group audience will love them. The people, backgrounds, dogs, and birds are consistent and gorgeous. The people are a little more cartoony while everything else is painterly and the contrast is interesting to look at. Then there’s the horses. It’s obvious that this artist did not come into this project already confident with horses, but the range in accuracy and appeal of the different horse illustrations is offputting to me as a fellow illustrator. Some are disproportionate or have too-big, too-human eyes while others look like the unfinished underpainting of a photorealistic portrait. It looks like reference photos were painted over in an attempt to get the shapes and shadows right and then an attempt was made to put the same style of finishing details over top as the people and dogs, and the final effect is that they just don’t quite fit the rest of the image.

About the Author

McMichael serves as the Senior Manager and Information Technology Business Partner for Training Solutions and Global Training Systems & Services in Boeing Global Services. She is a disabled veteran with more than 16 years of domestic and international experience in air traffic management and operations.  

McMichael holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, a master’s certificate in project management, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Southern Illinois University.  She is a recipient of The
Boeing Company CTO Technical Excellence Award, Women of Color in Technology
“Rising Star” award, U.S. Air Force Air Traffic Training Achievement Award, and the International William A. Parenteau Memorial Award from the Air Traffic Control Association.  McMichael serves on the Advisory Board of SSM St. Charles Health Center, and the Missouri Hunter Jumper Organization board.

Giveaway Alert!

Enter to win a $25 PayPal gift card and a signed copy of HAPPENSTANCE FARMS: A NEW HOME (one winner/USA only) (ends Feb 7)

HAPPENSTANCE FARMS: A NEW HOME Book Tour Giveaway

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Author Interviews & Guest Posts, Book Reviews Tags:3.5 star review, A New Home, childrens fiction, EK-9 Solutions & Services LLC, Happenstance Farms, iread book tours, S McMichael

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Comments (0) on “Author Guest Post with S. McMichael, Happenstance Farms”

  1. Rita Wray says:
    January 31, 2022 at 10:45 AM

    My granddaughter will love it.

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  2. Eva Millien says:
    January 31, 2022 at 2:45 PM

    I enjoyed the guest post and Happenstance Farms sounds like a great place for my granddaughter to visit! Thanks for sharing it with me! Thanks, Jenna, for sharing your review! Have a spectacular week!

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    Reply
  3. Marisela Zuniga says:
    January 31, 2022 at 7:26 PM

    I liked reading your review, thanks for sharing

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    Reply
  4. Heather says:
    February 2, 2022 at 2:24 AM

    What a unique perspective for reviewing books! That was interesting to hear and think about. The book sounds charming.

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    Reply
  5. Shelly Peterson says:
    February 6, 2022 at 7:31 PM

    This looks like a cute book

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