By Sharon Giltrow

Today I feature the delightful picture book - A CROCODILE IN THE FAMILY, by Kitty Black and Daron Parton. This book provides the perfect balance of heart and humour. It also conveys the important underlying themes of family, belonging and acceptance.

I asked Kitty to share two of her favourite, humorous pages, which are also full of heart. I also asked, why she finds these pages so funny.

K - “I adore this spread! The way the illustrations convey the cheekiness of Croccy, combined with relatively sparse text just makes me smile.”

Kitty has utilised a very important technique for writing funny – surprise the reader. What a surprise it is to find Croccy in a box of donuts.

K - “This gorgeous double page spread is all about the ridiculous. Before we even get to using a crocodile as a coat rack - there’s different types of hats to examine, the bowler hat. as well as a cockatoo in a bonnet, plus a teeny tiny bird on the tip of Croccy’s nose. Then, we can take in the fact that Croccy’s wearing a party hat and is being utilised as equipment. I love it.”

Through the use of sparse text, Kitty allows space for the illustrator. The text doesn’t say what types of hat Croccy will be holding. Thus, allowing the illustrator to use his skills to add to the humour.

FUNNY FACT
The word crocodile is funnier than the word alligator. This is because it uses the hard /K/ sound. Comedians use this when they write funny. Amp up the humour in your writing by using some hard /C/ of /K/ words. Croccy has three hard /C/ sounds in his name - funny.

Well, that’s it from me this month, see you in March, with another great Aussie book.
 
Share a laugh and connect with someone today.

GIVEAWAY
For a chance to win your very own copy of A CROCODILE IN THE FAMILY

1. Comment on this blog post
2. Share this blog post on social media
3. Follow Sharon on twitter
4. The winner will be announced on twitter on Monday 8th March

BIO
Sharon Giltrow grew up in South Australia, the youngest of eight children, surrounded by pet sheep and fields of barley. She now lives in Perth, Western Australia with her husband, two children and a tiny dog. Sharon has taught for all of her career. Previously a teacher of children who are hearing impaired and Deaf-Blind, she now teaches young children with Developmental Language Disorder. Her humorous debut PB BEDTIME DADDY! released May 2020 through EK books. Sharon’s humorous follow up PB GET READY, MAMA! Is due to be released through EK books in 2022. Awarded the Paper Bird Fellowship for Writers in 2019. Sharon used this time to write her early middle grade book SAMARA RUBIN AND THE UTILITY BELT. To be released in 2021 through Clear Fork Publishing’s new imprint &MG. Sharon is also a Blogger for the Children’s Book Academy,
 
CONNECT
https://www.instagram.com/sharongiltrow1/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/sharongiltrowwriter/
https://twitter.com/sharon_giltrow
https://sharongiltrow.weebly.com/

by Bryan Patrick Avery

Well folks, it’s February which mean it’s Black History Month. I’ve put together a reading list of a several of my favorite titles centered on the Black experience. I’ve steered clear of many of the traditional Black history topics (slavery, civil rights, etc.) and focused, instead, on books that focus on Black youth experiencing the world they live in with passion, creativity, joy, and even struggle. While I do think things like slavery, civil rights, and other issues are critically important, I think that celebrating complete Black experience is equally important and, quite often, overlooked.

So, without further ado, here's my 2021 Black History Month Reading List:

Hopefully, you’ll find a new favorite or two on this list.
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Well, that's all for now. Happy reading and have a magical month.

by Melissa Stoller
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Photographs can provide new writing inspiration. Here are a few tips for harnessing the power of photos and developing writing prompts that will spark story ideas.
 
 
PREVIOUSLY TAKEN PHOTOS
 
Search through old photos, either in albums, on your computer or phone, or on your social media sites. 

-Find photos of family and distant relatives
-Gather photos of pets
-Plow through travel, holiday, birthday, and special event photos
 
Write a story using a subject matter from a life experience.

NEW PHOTOS
 
Stroll through your neighborhood and take photos of everything you see. Or look out your window and take photos all that you notice. Capture details such as:

-doors, windows, part of homes
-nature such as birds
-bodies of water
-methods of transportation
-people
 
Write a story based on an image you capture. You can even use selfies for inspiration! 
 
INTERNET PHOTOS
 
Have fun scrolling through the internet!

-Find all those adorable pet trick photos or the many cute baby photos on the internet. 
-Search photo GIFS
            
Write a draft based on one photo that captures your imagination. 
 
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I hope that using photos helps you generate story ideas this month. Let me know in the comments. Cheers to creativity! 

BIO:
Melissa Stoller is the author of the chapter book series The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Return to Coney Island (Clear Fork Publishing); and the picture books Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush, Ready, Set, GOrilla!, and Sadie’s Shabbat Stories. (Clear Fork). Melissa is a Blogger and Course Assistant for the Children’s Book Academy, a Regional Ambassador for The Chapter Book Challenge, a volunteer with SCBWI/MetroNY, and a founding member of The Book Meshuggenahs. In other chapters of her life, Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer and editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her family, and enjoys theatre, museums, and long beach walks.

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CONNECT:  
https://www.MelissaStoller.com
https://www.MelissaStoller.com/blog 
http://www.facebook.com/MelissaStoller
http://www.twitter.com/melissastoller
http://www.instagram.com/Melissa_Stoller
http://www.pinterest.com/melissa_Stoller
https://www.TheBookMeshuggenahs.com




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Hello Creatives--
Since the beginning of a new year tends to encourage us to undertake new endeavors, I'm sharing some of my go-to web resources for inspiration. These are just a little taste from one of my 3 presentations for the recent Picture Book Palooza in the Wonderful World of World Wide Resources. In case you missed it, I'm sharing them again.

• 7 Impossible Things: An inspiring blog about children’s books.
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert: Elizabeth Gilbert’s book that will completely change the way you think about the creative process.
• Tara Lazar: Blog & site of children's book author Tara Lazar
• ​Mac Barnett TED Talk: In this whimsical talk, award-winning author Mac Barnett speaks about writing that escapes the page and art as a doorway to wonder.
• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott: Anne Lamott’s hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice for writers.
• 12x12: A year-long writing challenge where members aim to write 12 complete picture book drafts, one per month, for each 12 months of the year.
• The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children by Nancy Lamb:  A wonderful kidlit craft book.

• The Magic Words by Cheryl B. Klein: Great book on writing children’s and young adult novels.
• Picture This by Molly Bang: An illuminating book about how the visual composition of images works to engage the emotions, and how the elements of artwork can add power to storytelling
• ​Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly by Gail Carson Levine: Shows how you, too, can get terrific ideas for stories, invent great beginnings and endings, write sparkling dialogue, develop memorable characters
• Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication
• Rate Your Story: A a service where writers from all levels can submit their story to receive honest feedback from published authors.

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Hope these resources can help you on your KidLit journey.  If you enjoyed this and want more, you can still get access to all the worksheets and videos from the Picture Book Palooza and support CBA's 2021 diversity+ scholarship fund here

With much warmth,
Mira & the CBA gang