Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff: Author Interview and Review

Author Interview and Book Review: Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff

If you’ve been following the book reviews on Abrazo and Coze, you’ll know I previously did an interview with Stacy C Bauer for her first ever picture book Cami Kangaroo Has Too Many Sweets. Now I have the opportunity to review the next in the Cami Kangaroo and Wyatt Too series: Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff.

Stacy also agreed to another interview, which I personally find really exciting. I love to know who the people are the write the books my kids love. Hopefully, you do, too.

I also get a thrill finding out about new authors.

But enough about my excitement, let’s get on with the review and interview.

Book Review: Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff

Legal stuff first… I was provided a copy of the story in order to do the review. (Seems reasonable, eh?) Now on to that review:

In this tale, Cami is faced with a task given to many children. She has to clean her room before she can attend a party.

In her initial attempt at cleaning, she runs into some trouble, and ends up making a bigger mess than she started with.

After explaining to Daddy Kangaroo what the problem was, he and her brother Wyatt Kangaroo help her out in cleaning and organizing all of her stuff.

With a clean room, Cami finds what she was looking for, and everyone was able to leave on time (or nearly on time) for the party.

The narrative and dialogue of Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff flows well and is casual and conversational. And Cami Kangaroo behaves and speaks just like the child she is.

Cami Kangaroo’s curiosity and imagination shine through from start to finish, as does her enthusiasm.

I think Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff is a fun story that kids will love. If they’re the sort that love collecting (anything or everything) they’ll completely understand and relate to Cami Kangaroo.

I also think you will love sharing this story with your children, especially if you want them to consider minimizing and organizing their stuff.

Author Interview: Stacy C. Bauer

This is your second interview with Abrazo and Coze, so we already know a little about you from that first interview. Instead of telling us about yourself, instead, what is something interesting about you that many people don’t know?

I love to travel. I’ve been to about 20 different countries and many different states in the US.

One of my favorite places that I’ve been to is Greece. My husband and I really enjoy visiting places with amazing history and learning about them.

What sparked the idea for Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff?

When I decided to write a book series about my 2 children, I made a list of about 30 ideas. My daughter’s messy room and trouble with staying organized was at the top of that list. She’s struggled with this for many years and I thought it was a relatable topic.

Does Cami come in to her penchant for too much stuff naturally? Is it hard for you or her dad to keep a reasonable number of “things”?

That is just how she is.

We don’t buy her that many toys, most of it is papers, feathers, shells, rocks, boxes – things like that. She finds little things all over the place and has trouble throwing anything away.

About once a week, I help her clean her room. About once a month, I go in there when she’s gone, and throw things away – she doesn’t even notice!

I’m hoping to get some good advice myself through this book!

When you find yourself collecting too much stuff, how do you decide what to keep and what to get rid of?

If I haven’t used it in a few months, I get rid of it. I hate clutter!

Did you find it easier going through the publishing experience this second time around?

Yes!  Although, I am now teaching full time and trying to market my first book still, so I’m even busier!

What were the challenges you had to encounter to complete Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff?

Balancing working on that book with teaching full time, being a mom and wife and still marketing my first book. Time management is tricky- there’s never enough of it!

What are your favourite children’s books?

My kids and I really enjoy books that make us laugh, which is why I try to make sure my books are funny too. We like anything by Moe Willems. We like the “Mother Bruce” books too.

What are Cami’s favourite books?

She is in third grade and likes “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and other graphic novels.

If you weren’t answering the questions in this interview right now, what would you be doing?

I enjoy reading, playing piano, playing games with my family and being outdoors.

You are launching Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff on Kickstarter. Can you tell us about how that works?

Kickstarter is a platform that helps artists get support for their dreams. If you have an idea but need funding, you can create a campaign and launch it on Kickstarter.

I ran a successful Kickstarter for the first book in the series last year and decided to do it again to raise the funds to pay for the printing and illustrations for this book.

People can preorder my book (or more than one) through Kickstarterer. If you preorder a book, you get special “rewards” that others won’t get.

Available on Kickstarter

So you might be wondering where you can buy this fun story.

It hasn’t yet hit the bookstores. In fact, it hasn’t even been published yet.

What?! It’s true. This book is currently only available to Kickstarter backers.

If you haven’t yet heard of Kickstarter, it’s a crowdfunding platform (possibly the largest of it’s kind), and you aren’t charged until the funding goal is reached, so the only real risk is possibly a delay in delivery times.

Have a look, and read about the Cami Kangaroo Has Too Much Stuff Kickstarter campaign.

You might also be interested in Nonni’s Moon or Becoming Beautiful, or Stacy’s first book Cami Kangaroo Has Too Many Sweets.

Have you backed any Kickstarter campaigns in the past? Tell me about them in the comments below.