I. The Adventure
“The Blue King” is a fascinating adventure story about a little girl, her brother and their shaggy dog. A wild chase after a runaway soccer ball leads them to the discovery of a mystical “Blue Kingdom” located at the South Pole. The Blue King is the cousin of St. Nicholas, who as we all know, lives at the North Pole. The Blue King and Santa Claus communicate by C-mail (sea mail) with secret messages delivered by a seal that swims between the North and South Poles. The little girl is the heroine and answers a mysterious riddle required to open the message capsule. The message results in the establishment of a humanitarian mission to promote Friendship, Understanding and Niceness (FUN) among all children (and grown-ups) throughout the World. Girls and Boys can join the FUN Club, and become Ambassadors of FUN.
II. Background :
The Blue King Storybook
The Blue King story was inspired by a true-life experience of my children, growing up in Rochester, Michigan. Soccer as a children’s sport was just beginning in the U.S and Rochester was the home of a large contingent of automotive designers/engineers from the UK and EU working on-contract for GM/Ford/Chrysler. The auto industry was experiencing a shortage of experienced designers for new vehicle design projects as the result of safety requirements and new model introductions. This cadre of soccer players formed an affiliation to sponsor and teach the sport.
Soccer became the sport of pursuit for young families across America. Saturday mornings brought-out the “soccer-moms” in SUV’s with their children to play and encourage their success. My daughter Kim and Son Steve were among the participants. The very young children, boys and girls, were initially placed on the same team, with the boys having a distinct advantage. Kim was enthusiastic and a fast runner but not knowledgeable as to soccer rules. One day she came home very discouraged with her soccer experience that day. She was unable to score-a-goal because the boy-goal-tender would retrieve the slow-moving ball headed for the net.
To restore her confidence we invented the Blue King tale as a continuing bedtime story about a little girl who became “the best player on an all-boys soccer team”. Using my actual children’s names and adding “Teddy-Bear” my mascot, who sadly passed-away expectantly, I decided that it was a meaningful story to share with the world. Over-time this children’s story was embellished and self-published as a very successful Children’s Christmas Adventure Story in 2003. With 7,500 printed copies I sold and donated to various charities. This re-publication by iUniverse is intended to diversify the distribution of “The Blue King” children’s storybook that conveys a profound message of humility and respect toward addressing others with Friendship, Understanding, and Niceness (FUN) that is especially needed in our world today.
The book was 1st published as an 8X11 hardcover and included a CD with the Blue King song and story narration recorded by Big Bear Studios (Midland, MI). The song was composed & presented by Lynn Morgan (Michigan Country-Music Hall of Fame recipient).
Print out a free Ebook copy:
The Blue King (pdf)
DOWNLOADThe Blue King Book Cover (jpg)
DOWNLOAD
III. Promotion and Marketing:
• iUniverse (publisher) has submitted this storybook for ‘Hollywood Coverage’ and entry for the “Five More Minutes” promotion program;
• I have made numerous children’s presentations and signings at schools and book fairs as well as the creation of a DVD depicting the song and full-color presentation for public showings;
• The current Blue King storybook includes an Epilogue containing a variety of photos and Holiday lawn displays;
• I encourage that the interested public to view my animated website to view the DVD video and listen to the Blue King song and narration and also print-out the entire book FREE as an E-book. The social media references also display additional information.
• Please go to www.blueking.net
IV. Personal info
Arthur W. Hoffmann, Ed.D., P.E. – (231)421-5141.
887 Wind Drift Dr., Traverse City, MI 49684
If you want to learn more about Arthur, click here to get directed to his website.
AUTHOR BIO