Photo courtesy Jennifer Cole Judd.
By Sloane Samberson
staff writer
Dancing elephants, trapeze artists and pie-throwing clowns galore, Coppell author Jennifer Cole Judd’s latest release Circus Train gives children the fun of a circus within the pages of a book.
On Saturday, Judd held a book signing for Circus Train, which was released March 24. Judd has already received a great amount of response from the community.
“I was so thrilled to see that the Coppell Public Library put it on their website and that people have been tweeting and facebooking about it,” Judd said. “People I don’t even know have showed me Instagram pictures that they are reading it.”
Many of Judd’s fans came to support her in this great milestone in an author’s life.
“I don’t know if I could count how many kids, friends and neighbors that have come out to support me,” Judd said. “We had a clown making balloon animals and kids coloring pictures of circus animals, just a lot of people coming to buy the book and talk about it.”
Judd came up with the idea for Circus Train in 2006.
“The idea for Circus Train came when I took my children to a circus in Dallas,” Judd said. “I watched my 5-year-old daughter, her eyes lit up with excitement and I just wanted to capture that feeling she had.”
That night Judd came home and began writing.
“I wrote a little poem then expanded it to a picture book,” Judd said. “I put it on the shelf for about six years, and focused on learning the craft of writing for children.”
In 2012, Judd pulled it off the shelf and sent it to her critique partners.
“I then added the train into the story and sent it to Two Lions [publishing company], and within two months they emailed me saying that they wanted to acquire it,” Judd said. “I signed the contract then and it didn’t get published until this past spring.”
Though the process was long, it was all worth the wait, for many fans are anxious to read it.
“Just from the cover you can tell its very cute with great colors,” Judd’s good friend Anna Hopkins said. “I think Jennifer is a good, intelligent and kind person. I can’t wait share it with my kids.”
Judd’s daughter, Coppell High School sophomore Allie Judd, is very proud of her mom’s dedication.
“This is something I know my mom has been wanting for a really long time,” Allie said. “She has been hard working ever since she had the idea. She really inspires me.”
Judd hopes through Circus Train children can experience the wonder that going to the circus gives you.
“I also hope that the musicality, the rhythm and rhyme, speaks to children and encourages them to want to learn how to write,” Judd said. “Circus Train is a light-hearted, fun book and I think that is what childhood should be about.”
