Sophie and Scottie's Adventures on Turning Mountains into Molehills
Kids are great, aren’t they? God said, “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.” Psalm 127:3. Jesus stated, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14
Hi everyone, my name is Cindy C. Murray, and I write fun, middle-grade novels for children ages 7 to 12. I have three books in The Adventures of Sophie and Scottie chapter book series. They are adventure mysteries where young readers keep turning the pages until the mystery is solved! My website is www.cindycmurray.com. Each book is available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cindy-C.-Murray/e/B00M7HKBDK/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1 and where books are sold. Signed books are available at the online store called Books 4 Readers Bookstore: https://www.b4r.store/cindy-c-murray.aspx.
So why do I write children’s books? I always knew that I wanted to write books, but life got in the way; college, marriage, career, and motherhood. As a Christian mom of two daughters, I was blessed to be a stay-at-home mom when my second child was born. While they were in elementary school, I spent many hours volunteering in their classrooms, and it usually was during the reading hour. I noticed that the students liked adventure stories with action. I also noticed that the same books were available to the kids in the classroom or library. Why would that stand out to me? It stood out because my daughters are four grades apart, so I would expect my younger child to have more recent books from various authors to choose from. That’s when I got my aha! moment and decided it would be really fun to write for children.
Sophie and Scottie
But what would I write about? After much prayer and thought, I was directed to write stories that had action, adventure, a touch of science, and a bit of magic! My characters would be defined as strong, smart, silly reliable, trustworthy, and believable! My books have prayer in them but are not about bible characters.
Therefore, Sophie and Scottie were created. They are 11 “and a half” (as kids always say) fraternal twin sisters. They live on a sheep shearing ranch called Shear Heaven, and like most kids, they have chores. To thank them for their hard work, their globe-trotting Auntie Jill gives them a gift; a crystal-covered picture frame. When a picture is put into the frame (also from their auntie), it glows and grows and turns into a portal for the girls to walk through if they so chose!
The Adventures
“Sophie and Scottie’s Adventures of the Monarch Mystery” is Book-1 in the series where the reader is introduced to who Sophie and Scottie are, their personalities, the ranch, their parents, and how they negotiate regarding walking through the frame. The touch of science comes into the plot with radio waves, monarch butterflies, pollination, and pulley systems (curious about the book yet?) The sisters realize what activates the frame and hope to get another picture from their Auntie after this first adventure. “Sophie and Scottie’s Adventures of Something’s Fishy” and “Sophie and Scottie’s Adventures of Sweet Tooth Rock” are books 2 and 3 consecutively. They are continuous adventures for the girls when deciding to put the most recent picture from Auntie Jill into the frame.
Accolades for Sophie and Scottie
I’ve received amazing feedback from my readers and parents regarding this series, who have actually thanked me for writing books that are age-appropriate. This has encouraged me to keep writing, marketing, and sharing my books at author visits in various elementary school classrooms. My goal for this series is to promote literacy while encouraging students also to keep writing. In fact, studies show that students who aren’t reading at grade level by the end of third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than their peers. Therefore, this book series is perfect for homeschooling or in the classroom. Students can use the books during read-a-thons, book reports, chapter analysis regarding character traits and plot changes, and grammar and sentence structure.
Adventures of Sophie and Scottie – After much prayer and thought, I was directed to write stories that had action, adventure, a touch of science, and a bit of magic! Click To Tweet
Here is a fun quote that I recently received from a teacher here in the Dallas, TX area: “Hi it’s Claire!! My kiddo in my 2nd grade class LOVES Sophie and Scottie!!! She read the first book in two days and is now on the second and is obsessed!” Now that puts a smile on my face! What also makes me smile are the awards this book series has earned. All three titles have won the Silver Award from Moms Choice Awards honoring excellence in family-friendly media, products, and services. These books have also won the Gold Family Choice award that honors excellence in writing; scoring 100 out of 110 total points, “which is extraordinary” per this organization. It was also fun to accept the Silver Award in the Children-Adventure category from Reader’s Favorite International Book Awards in Miami, FL for Book-1.
They Fun Will Continue
I’m currently working on my fourth book in the series. It continues to be full of fun, excitement, twists and turn, and lots of adventure for Sophie and Scottie on their amazing journeys. Please contact me at cindy@cindycmurray.com if you have any questions or comments regarding me or my book series. All the best and God Bless.
Grace and Peace to you,
Yvonne M. Morgan is a Christian author, blogger, and speaker.
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
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