My book, Cowgirls Don’t Ride Zebras, celebrated its one year anniversary of being published in January. I didn’t get to celebrate with too much fanfare since I was preparing for rehearsals of Peter Pan Jr., which I’m directed for the Worthingway Arts Program. I look back at my journals and see the planning of the play version of Cowgirls Don’t Ride Zebras beginning to be created. It really is a situation of the chicken and the egg: which came first, the book or the play? 

​Cowgirls Don’t Ride Zebras began as an idea for a children’s book. You can read more about the evolution of the story of a baby duck to a book-loving girl named Penny here. My old journals have characters that were cut from the original version of the play: penguins and a giraffe. Cowgirls don’t ride penguins, they don’t want their tuxedos to get dirty. Cowgirls don’t ride giraffes, they’re too busy knitting scarves for winter. The giraffe existed somewhat to get a “winter is coming” joke in there, but also it’s ridiculous and funny to see a giraffe knitting a scarf worthy of the Fourth Doctor.

Cowgirls Don’t Ride Zebras is going to launch to new horizons: digital! The eBook version is currently in development! There isn’t a current release date, but it will be coming very soon. The eBook also has a very special ingredient: a read-along version! This means that with most devices, you can have the book read to you, not by digital voices like Siri or Alexa, but by Emma! Who is Emma? Emma Shachter starred as Penny in the world premiere of Cowgirls Don’t Ride Zebras: the Play. I’m super excited that Emma is a part of the next step for Cowgirls Don’t Ride Zebras! Take a very short listen to what we all have to look forward to!

Emma Shachter is a 5th grader at Scioto Darby Elementary. Her CATCO is Kids credits include A Seussified Christmas Carol and James and the Giant Peach JR.