Hello, my name is Jackie Morreale and I am the host of Wisdom for Wannabes. Today I am tuning in with some very special news: It is October 31st, which means it is Halloween. Happy Halloween to everybody out there! It is also the last day of Dyslexia Awareness Month. That is why I have this extreme clash of an outfit on. We wear red in October. We also wear orange in October.

I want to share some great news. I have published my third book! 

My first two are Princess Tessa Meets Luc the Duke, and Princess Tessa & the New Look. Today I am publishing Princess Tessa & Luc the Duke: Trick or Tiara Halloween Surprise. This can be found on Amazon in paperback, soon to be hardcover and eBook.

I'm very excited to also say I have added a coloring activity book to the fun, so that little hands can also make the Halloween surprise reflect their own trick-or-treating experience.

This is my new Halloween surprise story, appropriate for ages three to eight, and their parents to read to them.

Without further ado... read-aloud storytime:

Princess Tessa and Luc the Duke: Trick or Tiara Halloween Surprise, written and illustrated by me, Jackie Morreale.

Dedication. To our Trick or Tiara friends and family from over the years who helped us make the best Halloween memories. Sending love. To the grandmothers, especially Nonna Maria and Glama Lorette, who always make the holidays more fun. October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. To all my superheroes out there, keep thinking big.

Page one, in Tessa's voice.

Halloween is my favorite time of year. Why? It is the creepiest and also the most fashionable time of year.

We dress up however we want to. We see all our friends. We walk through the neighborhood late at night. But the best part? The candy! Some houses in my neighborhood even give away full-sized candy bars!

But this year is different. My little brother, Luc the Duke, is one. Talking a little, walking, well, practically running most of the time.

He's ready for his first real Halloween to join us trick-or-treating, or how I prefer to call it, trick-or-tiaras.

I think and I think about what I want to be for Halloween this year. A puppy? Too silly. A ghost? Too scary. A pumpkin? Too babyish. An artist? Maybe.

Or just me, Princess Tessa, as a snow princess. I have all the sparkle I need and third time is a charm.

And for Luc, mom has the pumpkin suit.

"Not the pumpkin suit," I groan.

"You looked so cute in it when you were little," she says and smiles.

Poor Luc the Duke.

"Luc can be the pumpkin prince and you'll be the snow princess. Better together."

I am not so sure, but it does sound kind of cute. I like when my mom thinks like a royal.

At five o'clock, we meet our friends at the corner. It is a Halloween fashion show. The twins are dressed as love bugs. Rachel and Zoe are an angel and a devil. Michael is a superhero. Evan is a robot. Charlie is a cat and her big brother is a monster.

The pumpkin prince is riding in style.

A blow up dinosaur and a wolf in flip flops arrive.

"Roar, roar," says Luc the Duke.

"Roar, roar," echo the dads underneath. The Halloween fun has already begun.

Our parents (always) want pictures. Smiley ones, scary ones, silly ones. But we're a little distracted. So off we go. Mom and dad follow with a wagon in case any of the little kids get tired, of course.

House number one. We run to the door and knock. No one answers. Luc spots a candy basket. Take one or else, the sign says. We all take one apiece.

Luc the Duke tastes his very first chocolate bar. It's already the best day ever.

House number two, a cat lady. "How do you do? Take two," she says. Two nutty buddies each.

House number three, a skeleton man. "Look and see, take three," he says.

House number four, a ghost guards an enormous bucket. A sign says, "Take four, no more."

That's 10.

Then House number five, with the full-sized candies.

We ring the bell. A dim light flicks on. The door creaks open... and a queen appears, but not just any queen. She has fangs and nails and a crown bigger than mine! Plus, a whole tray of full-size candy bars.

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If you would like to hear what happens at house number five, six, and seven on Princess Tessa and Luc the Duke's Halloween Surprise adventure, check Amazon or make it your own with the new coloring book version.

I want to skip ahead and give you a sneak peek of the end of this story. There is a look and find, where you can go back through the book and answer questions with your little one as to how many pumpkins there were, how many times we saw the black cat, et cetera.

But what I really love is that there's a little bit of fun history added to this story,to those who might experience Day of the Dead in different parts of the world. This is new for this story and I'm excited to include: A Note from Nonna.

Princess Tessa and Luc the Duke's Nonna and Nonno (Grandma and Grandpa in Italian) come from Sicily, which is an island in southern Italy. While they didn't grow up trick or treating on Halloween like Tessa and Luc do, they would celebrate Il Giorno dei Morti, the Day of the Dead, every year on November 2nd.

The day is a celebration of the memory of family members who have passed away. Families gather over stories and of course delicious foods, especially sweets as gifts for children. including Pupi de Zucchero, which means sugar dolls, and Ossa di Morti, which means bones of the dead, which are cookies.

Thank you so much for your support. I'm very excited to share this new Halloween Surprise book with you all. Have a wonderful day, and Happy Halloween!
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Hello, my name is Jackie Morreale, and I am the host of Wisdom for Wannabes, the podcast series that seeks to discover wise words in business, beauty, and betterment.

I'm very, very proud to announce the launch of my newest, latest and greatest book, which is called Princess Tessa & The New Look: A Tale of First Glasses, First Grade, and Friendship. It's now available in paperback and ebook on Amazon and soon to be coming to hardcover.

Let me put on my new look before I tell more about this particular tale.

This tale was inspired by a new pair of glasses. Could anything be scarier on your first day of school than having a new look that means a new pair of glasses right there on your face for everyone to see? Sometimes all you need is the help of a friend to get you through the day. That is just what we found with our character, Princess Tessa, when she met her BFF in this story.

This story was illustrated with the help of ink on paper and colored with markers.

I would like to talk directly to all my young artists out there: Keep drawing, keep coloring, keep exploring.

Very excited to bring back this first day of school poster that we actually used back in the day and revive it with Princess Tessa. So Princess Tessa in this story is six years old. Date in the story is September 2025 now. Her favorite day was when her brother was born. When she grows up, she would like to be a veterinarian.

She's very sweet. I'm very excited to bring this character to life with my new book.

For those of you who've been following the Princess Tessa saga, I wanted to share an exciting update that Princess Tessa meets Luc the Duke is now available in hardcover. It's great for little fingers. It'll keep longer. It's a great book, a great gift for any big sisters to be, especially if a little brother is on the way. So that one is available anywhere that you buy books online as a hardcover in addition to ebook and paperback, soon to be on Audible as well.

Without further ado, I would love to read some excerpts from Princess Tessa & The New Look, which is written in rhyme. Let's see how this goes.

Excited but nervous and almost late.
I check my calendar, today's the date.

I'm starting first grade.
Get up. Here we go.

Grab my notebook, my backpack.
Fix my pink hair just so.

I wait for the bus. My daddy says, bye.
I look out the window, new houses fly by.

The bus makes a stop. What's that? Let me see.
More children pile on, but who can they be?

New faces, new backpacks, new worries. Oh my!
Whe driver keeps going and I just want to cry.

What is this new place? It can't be my school.
It's big and it's noisy and I don't know the rules.

I walk to the classroom, my name's on the line.
I carefully look to find which seat is mine.

Rounding the tables, not here, not there.
I peek toward the back. Is that the one that I'll share?

With loads of new friends, all different from me.
Some bigger, some smaller, some seem so ready.

"Hello," says a voice, so glittery and fun.
"Let's all introduce ourselves and get to know someone."

I look beside me and who do I see?
A girl with round glasses, just like me...

If you'd like to explore more from Princess Tessa & The New Look, pick yours up today and you can see how this story concludes.

This book is dedicated to my daughter, for always knowing how to bring style and people together. It is also dedicated to all our BFFs, who know how to make you smile and feel confident on your first day, no matter what.

And to whoever branded girls' glasses to make my daughter believe that they are jewelry for the face, thank you very much for making life easy.

Thank you all for reading my stories. I really appreciate it. I hope it brings you together with the little ones in your life! Have a wonderful day.
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