ATTENTION moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandma's and grandpa's: Help wanted

I'd LOVE to fill this entire blog, at this point, with videos of your kids' genuine reaction to the book if you decided to get it (like Olivia's).
Email me your videos at leah.fricano@gmail.com

Thanks, I think this will be REALLY fun if it works.

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/aunt-lanta-magic-spells/305163

Olivia told me her reason for doing the spell "to make it rain"

I wished Olivia a happy birthday yesterday before she went out to dinner with Jerry and Andrea. I told her I saw the video of her doing the spell "to make it rain" that morning (video posted on blog). She said, "yeah hehe. Aunt Leah, I did that this morning because I wanted indoor recess at school on my birthday rather than outdoor." Also, it just so happened to work; bonus. Cool that she actually has a motive behind reading it.

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/aunt-lanta-magic-spells/305163

Olivia's reaction to the book

Olivia received her book via mail last night. Jerry sent me the video of her opening it. When she read that is was from "Aunt Lanta", on page one, she knew it was from me and was surprised. She was impressed that I made it myself and was specifically made for her.

She called me last night, all gitty and giggly, and said she LOVED the book and excitedly read me the "spell to get a snow day". She told me she that she did the "spell to make a wish come true", and that her wish was to come to Atlanta; if you read my previous post about where I got my Pen Name, that's hysterical.

This morning Jerry sent me a video of Olivia on her birthday morning, surprised by tons of balloons, flowers and other little gifts from her adorable parents. Jerry was talking to her and kept her attention for a few minutes......and then she was thumbing back through the book. She then whet outside and did the "spell to make it rain" as well as the associated action (throwing grass into the air). Olivia walked back into the garage and said, "its raining harder I think".

Well she was my test subject and if she's anything like other imaginative kids, as Jerry said, "I think you're REALLY onto something".

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/aunt-lanta-magic-spells/305163

Inspiration for my first book

So this book may seem a random creation because, well, it was.

Simple intention simple logic:
My niece's 7th birthday was rolling around and really wanted to get her a kid's fun and fictional magic spell book but came up 100% short. There was NOTHING out there so I had to create it myself. We've been told all our lives that if one has a question in class, there are plenty more in class with the same question. Expanding from there I figured if one searches relentlessly for a magic spell book for kids, I can't be alone; thus my publication.

My true inspiration for, "Aunt Lanta's Magic Spells":
Not sure if it was the chicken or the egg here. I had an obsession with a movie with magic and spells and wonder in it as a kid, not the one you're probably thinking. I believe it was this movie that sparked the ideas of making "magic potions" consisting mostly of dirt and pine needles, which Rochester, NY had plenty of to offer haha.

The movie is, "The Worst Witch" from 1986, starring Fairuza Balk, Charlotte Rae, Diana Rigg and Tim Curry.



My brother Jerry and I, and eventually Jake, excitedly anticipated this movie's rare, but always consistent, airing of "The Worst Witch" every Halloween. That holiday is the best but wasn't complete for me until I watch it, NO EXAGGERATION. It was the bright colors, costumes, set design, music, plot, SPECIAL EFFECTS (LOL), and most of all the idea that kids went to school to learn magic powers; I was hooked to say the least and Jerry was too, I'm pretty confident.

I continued my tradition and never missed a year until one Halloween it didn't air, I think I was about 11 or 12. No kidding, I was abnormally disappointed and got increasingly upset every year thereafter not airing, as an adult. One could think, "why didn't you buy the thing online". 1- we didn't really have "online" like we do now and when we finally did, I looked and came up short every time. Even though I didn't bother mentioning it to anyone but my family at the time, I looked for it on TV every single year into adulthood. Until a boyfriend in college gave me the best gift I've ever gotten to this day; I cried like a crazy person at age 24 when I unwrapped "The Worst Witch" DVD. I didn't even remember telling him about it. Nonetheless, you guessed it, I've watched it every year on Halloween since.

Last year I mailed it to Olivia, Jerry and Andrea's daughter, to maybe pass on a tradition that I still cherish, if she loved it as much as we did. Well she did! Jerry, for the record, was also glued to the TV and singing along to Tim Curry's unforgettably hysterical song. She was, too, enchanted by the magic of this and in this movie.

This year I searched for a kid's, easy reader, book of magic spells, similar to the books characters in "The Worst Witch", "Harry Potter", "The Never Ending Story" and "Hocus Pocus" frantically thumbed through. You can't tell me you didn't want their spell book, leather bound and covered in dust. I wanted to put the magic in her hands the way I always wished I could after watching those flicks.

So, you know the rest.

I all goes according to plan I'll figure out how to make my book resemble the ancient treasure looking books in the movies, that's the dream. I'm not above taking advise on how to go about it. Going to look into getting a literary agent and talking to a publishing company to start once I get my own copy as my prototype.

In the meantime, though, it is for sale online for individual purchase as well as distrobution for retailer with the ISBN barcode.

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/aunt-lanta-magic-spells/305163

Inspiration for Pen Name: Aunt Lanta

Though a Rochester, NY native then Baltimore, MD, I now reside in Atlanta, GA for 4+ years.

My niece, Olivia, is inquisitive about Atlanta, I think she thinks its a whole different world haha.
She asks about the pool and the rooftop at my apartment complex, and makes jokes (even though she's serious) about flying to Atlanta for adventures and what she'd want to do during her time there. So, its a funny Atlanta overload really and I think she knows it too, because she look/sounds like she's looking for a laugh when she inquires.

One of my family visits to Rochester, NY was a funny one to me. We fed these HUGE CRAZY geese hot dog buns on the shoulder of a busy main road on Irondequoit Bay. It was very chaotic as we were being malled by starving giant birds. In a flustered mindset Olivia yelled, "AUNT LAN...."...and faded off. I turned to her and she GOT the humor and was laughing to herself. She then said with giggles, "Aunt Leah hahah, I almost called you AUNT LANTA hahaha!". Hysterical yes a GREAT children's book Pen Name considering where I live, that it resembles my real title "Aunt Leah", and most importantly that I wrote this first, of hopefully many, for her. Love that she named me.

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/aunt-lanta-magic-spells/305163

I Wrote My First Children's Book; hopefully not the last

I searched for a kid's magic spell book for my niece, Olivia's, 7th birthday and found no related publications that I could purchase: ENTER...MY FIRST CHILDREN'S BOOK:



By Aunt Lanta
For ages 6-10.

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/aunt-lanta-magic-spells/305163


Check it out and if you want a copy you can buy it online from the above link.

Or you can request your local bookstore to stock it and purchase it from there.
It's a more affective way for a book to gain exposure and it might end up cheaper for the buyer. It has an ISBN number so retailers order and can sell it. Retailers also get the book at a discounted rate.


Read posts on my inspiration for the book and where I got my Pen Name: Aunt Lanta.