If you, like me, already have Christmas music playing and are counting down the days, already doing your shopping, etc., this episode is for you!  If you have a little one who loves Santa and loves trucks, this one is for you, too.  If you're a country music fan, this one is for you as well!  So much fun, so many layers, and a great conversation awaits!  Climb up in the big rig and let's have a chat!  Breaker, breaker 19; Out.

This is a fun take on "What would happen if the reindeer couldn't pull Santa's sleigh?"  In Brandon's version, Santa cranks up the big rig to deliver gifts around the world!  The illustrations are bright and fun and full of music and energy.  It is a country-rocking Christmas tale that blends trucker fun with country music, a little geography, and a whole lot of Santa and his reindeer. Every truck-loving kid will also love this book, and the song that accompanies it!  It's the perfect gift to go under the tree or read in the weeks leading up to Christmas -- or really, any time to keep the fun and magic of the holidays rollicking all year long!

To hear the song that started it all, click the photo below.  It will take you to the website where you can give it a listen, sing along, and get your own copy of the book!  Country-rock fans will be ready to create their own boogie to go along with this fun take on a Christmas story, told in a song.  With a strong beat, it would be fun to use in the music classroom, or anywhere Santa's 18 wheeler might fit!

Check out these layers and how you can use them at home with your kids or in the classroom:

Country music (Check out the music teacher section!)

Trucking!​
Preschool/Kinder ideas:

• Trucker play
• Sensory bin
• Pretend CB radio 
• Truck crafts

Primary/Elementary ideas:

• Truck matching
• Parts of a truck
• Vocabulary/trucking language
• Conversation/using quotation marks (w/CB radio)
• How goods travel (Use in conjunction with I TRUCK by Kelly Rice Schmitt)

Santa/Reindeer
Preschool/Kinder ideas:

• Santa/reindeer crafts (See Pinterest board below)
• Other stories and songs about Santa and/or reindeer alternatives
• Sensory play

Primary/Elementary ideas:

• Writing activities
• Other holiday stories surrounding Santa's travels
• Letters to Santa

Around the World with Santa
Preschool/Kinder ideas:

• Introduce globe/map
• World floor puzzles/foam puzzles, simple puzzles
• Ways to travel/transportation
• Play with globe inflatable balls
• Christmas Around the World songs/dances/stories
• ​Christmas traditions around the world

Primary/Elementary ideas:

• Plot the locations mentioned in the book on a world map
• Learn the 7 continents
• Christmas Around the World songs/dances/stories
• More challenging puzzles
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas in different languages
• Christmas traditions around the world

Hey there everybody, this is Brandon Boron- Thank you all for taking a few moments to
get to know a bit about my latest project, “Santa’s 18-Wheel Chrome-and-Steel Sleigh”.
A special shout-out to Tonnye Fletcher here at PBJamz for sharing this post! I’m so
happy to have brought this song to life as a children’s picture book and I sure hope you
and the little truckers in your life get a kick out of the story and illustrations!

As a writer, I am often asked about my process and if I have any routines that I follow
while writing. Conversely, I also enjoy hearing from other folks about their own creative
process. So I am happy to share with you a few tips that help me bring my ideas to life
and please feel free to add your tips in the comments section (which will also enter you
in a chance to win one or more of the Christmas Give-away Prizes).

Tip One: Write Even When You Aren’t “Feeling It”.

Writing after being struck with inspiration is wonderful, and often leads to exciting,
inspired stories and songs, but if you are like me, that can be inconsistent and often
comes at inconvenient times or not at all.
In the often hectic, scattered world of a multi-job, hustling Creative, having a routine is
challenging (and maybe even contradictive), but committing to a block of time,
consistently, is probably the most important step to creating “product”. I understand that
we are talking about creating art, but as a “commercial artist” we are also talking about
creating products. And nothing puts a business out-of-business faster than not
producing anything.

Writing and creating art is a great hobby, but can also be a rewarding profession, both
financially and personally. Acting and treating yourself as a professional is a great way
to help manifest those traits and manifest pro-level product and art.

Tip Two: Find Your Happy Place.

Having your place to create that is inspiring and allows you to work is important. For
some that may be an office or studio, the kitchen table, the front porch, or the coffee
shop (I love my “music room”). Some people thrive on stimulation; others need less
distraction (that’s me). The key is to have your place always at the ready. If it’s
unavailable when the muse strikes (or see Tip One, it’s your designated time to write)
you will be more likely to skip that session (and the next, and the next, and so on).

Tip Three: Write Down All of Your Writing Ideas, ASAP.

Getting started is the hardest part, and nothing makes getting started harder than
having nothing to write about. Having an idea that you’re sure will lead to a Pulitzer is
wonderful, but sometimes writing about the mundane or what seems to be the simplest
of topics can lead to great creativity.

Having an extensive list of random thoughts and topics and using those as simple
exercises to get started can be freeing and push you to think outside the box about a
subject or look at something from a different angle. Play with the words, over-use
adjectives and punctuation, don’t take yourself too seriously. Have fun. That mental
exercise with topics you may not feel worthy of extensive investment will still certainly
enhance your writing (and maybe even land you that Pulitzer Prize after-all).

Tip Four: Use Outlines, Maybe.

This may be a contentious tip, after all, there are “plotters” and “pantsers” (Google it).
Diving into a writing session or project without a plot, theme, or character arcs may work
for some (i.e., Stephen King), but not so much for others (i.e., J.K. Rowling). I have no
desire to tell anyone what to do (I cringe at the idea), and where you fall on the
spectrum is your business, but again this is a business and having a plan makes good
business sense.

For me, having an outline is a great way to start broadly and then begin filling in the
spaces in-between. While others may find this ridged or restrictive, I find it the opposite.
I feel it’s more liberating to have a structure that I can then allow myself to be free and
expressive within without losing cohesion or direction. And there is no harm in altering

the outline, plot, characters, or any other elements should your imagination steer you
there- It’s your ship!
If you’re new to writing or simply enjoy the conversation, I hope that these writing tips
may be helpful or reinforce what works for you. More than anything, I hope you enjoy
yourself and the process and thank you for sharing your gift and stories with us all!
Please share your tips and comments below (and enter to win Christmas Give-away
Prizes)!

YouTube list of "Best Trucking Songs" (*Some may not be appropriate for young children. Please preview before sharing.)

Curated YouTube playlist of songs and activities to go with SANTA'S 18-WHEEL CHROME AND STEEL SLEIGH 

Pinterest board with activities to go along with SANTA'S 18-WHEEL CHROME AND STEEL SLEIGH

What do you do when your dream is a little out of reach?  You improvise!  That's what Sally learns, but what a fun journey getting there!  SALLY'S MUSICAL TALE is inspirational, fun, funny, and full of great heart, along with understated messages of perseverance, tenacity, originality, creative problem-solving and more!  

There are some fabulous videos in the YouTube playlist -- including several tutorials for playing snake songs on the piano, but I love this fun little dance where kids get to emulate a slithery snake.  But if you don't like this one, check out the links section for lots more musical connections.

Layers: Piano, snakes, problem-solving, teamwork, perseverance/tenacity, creative thinking, musical puns/wordplay

Piano (See Music Teacher section)

Snakes -- This book would make a fun kick-off for a snake unit or a chunk in a snake unit. There are so many ways you could branch out with snakes depending on the age of your students/children. I will list a few here, but there are tons of crafts and lessons and activities in the Pinterest board in the links section as well.

• Snakes and Ladders (could be used with all kinds of content
• Snake life cycles
• Snake body parts
• Snakes as a larger part of a reptile unit
• -ake word family/rhyming words
• Different types of snakes
• Values, benefits and dangers of snakes
• Snake conservation
• Pair with nf snake text or snake poems for literacy

Problem-solving
Teamwork
Perseverance/tenacity
Creative thinking -- These all tend to lend themselves to social-emotional learning, growth mindset, etc.  This book would make an excellent example for any of those areas or to use as a jumping off place for diving into some of those topics. 

ELA (English/Language Arts)

• onomatopoeia
• puns/word play
  
• ​Verb tenses/endings
  

While the main focus for this book is (obviously) the piano, there are also tons of other instruments, musical vocabulary and musical puns/wordplay in this story. Some ideas:

• Basic piano knowledge (black and white keys, key names, etc.). There are quite a few piano games in the YouTube playlist and the Pinterest board.
• Listen to piano music (You could extend by focusing on one or more famous pianists or piano composers.)
• Fun challenge:  Try to get 10 kids using one finger to play together on the piano. Talk about the challenges Sally and her siblings would have had learning to play together.
• Scavenger hunt in the book:  Find all the instruments (names and/or pictures)
• Snake songs (Check the YouTube playlist and Pinterest board)
• Songs about problem-solving, teamwork, perseverance, tenacity, and creative thinking.
• Pair with other piano books (MY PIANO by Jen Fier Jasinski, for instance) for a piano unit in the music room.
• Musical vocabulary/language:
  • Pianist/piano
  • keys
  • melody
  • octave
  • concerto
  • technique
  • maestro
  • musician
  • drums
  • harmonica
  • rattle
  • rehearsal
  • perform
  • concert
  • high note
  • audience
  
  

YouTube playlist full of musical connections!  You'll find songs, dances, tutorials, etc.

Pinterest board with lots of crafts, snake facts and activities, teaching ideas, and all sorts of fun things to do with SALLY'S MUSICAL TALE.

**Free poster with cool snake facts!!! ​https://www.rosiejpova.com/books.html (Look for the green arrow!)