Jennifer Semach wrote three children’s stories 14 years ago.
She said she authored them for her kids because she had a learning disability as a child and wanted to show them that despite the struggles she had, she kept trying her best to overcome those hurdles.
Fast forward to 2021 and Semach has published one of those stories, Moxie Moose Finds a Tail, with proceeds from sales going to her beloved Walkabout Farm Therapeutic Riding Association in Minden.
Semach said she works with children at the farm who also struggle with literacy, anxiety and dyslexia in their Reading Buddies Program.
“It brought back all those feelings of inadequacy, frustration and worthlessness seeing kids today struggling the same way I did,” she said.
That got her thinking that maybe she could dust off Moxie Moose Finds A Tail and try to get it published so she could show program participants that, “I know exactly how you feel. I’ve been where you are but I did overcome hardships and did eventually learn how to read and look at this, here is a book I wrote for you and all the children of Walkabout Farm.”
She said while they were at it, she thought why not raise some money to further develop their accessibility to program participants.
“We are just one of many not-for-profit organizations who are trying to survive the COVID-19 pandemic disruption.
We need funding and we’ve really had to think outside the box in these unprecedented times,” Semach said.
She said the book is illustrated by another local, Biljana Banchotova.
Semanch said that “luckily” Kristin Groulx of Tenth Muse Books decided to take her book on, which will assist with distribution and marketing to reach a far greater audience than if she had selfpublished.
“We now have access to people outside our community and country who can contribute to our mission by buying a funny children’s book,” she said.
The book will be released March 20.
It can be ordered through Amazon when it’s released.
