First of all, this looks like it's a Tuesdays with Mira post! I'm so sorry to have missed Monday you guys, I've just been really swamped with teaching the Craft and Business of Illustrating Children's Picture Books, preparing The Chapter Book Alchemist for it's 2015 run, creating 2 other self-paced courses from scratch for you to enjoy, writing a my Webinar script, and getting excited about the Andrea Davis Pinkey Merit Scholarship opening up! Gosh! Did that make anyone dizzy? Then you'll know how I feel! Anyway, this week we have This Day In June by Gayle E. Pitman, which is a wonderful book about social justice for LGBTQI community. Gayle does a wonderful job of creating a fun and welcoming environment for kids and parents. Gayle is also a professor of psychology and in the back of this book she gives a sweet guide for parents on how to approach their children about these issues. The illustrator, Kristyna Litten, really brings a bright and sunny aura to this book with her quirky, simple, and absolutely adorable illustrations. The rhyme and rhythm of this book is also just really wonderful. After reading this book you'll think to yourself "How could anyone not support this community?" It's just a really sweet book.
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(From Amazon) This book is a practical guide for writers interested in writing for the children's market, and teaches aspiring children's writers how to generate, assess, and apply ideas for fiction as well as nonfiction, short projects as well as long ones. Marcia Thomton Jones offers exercises, worksheets, and guidelines for assessment to help writers apply what they've learned to on-going projects or to help them begin new projects. Story Sparkers begins with an overview of how to write fiction and nonfiction books for children. Jones then discusses the specifics of idea generation assessment and application. The design is open, easy to browse and features boxed tips and quotes from top children's writers. By the end of the book, writers will have a plethora of ideas and insight to help determine audience and appropriate genre, and helpful hints for developing new ideas. While this book is intended for novice writers who are interested in writing for the children's market, writers with experience will find it helpful and motivating, too. This book is filled with writing exercises and prompts to get your ideas flowing. Here is a sampling of brainstorming type activities just from chapter two: Webbing Freewriting Listing Questioning Researching The Five Senses Overheard Conversations Dialogue Letters The Big Idea What If? Thinking Small PIctures Pet Peeves Reading Forced Relationships Timelines Possessions Doodling In My Shoes Musical Muse Unfortunately, it is out of print. But fortunately, you can get a used copy online for a cheap price. So if you are still stuck, during PiBoIdMo, check out this fabulous resource.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the craft of what we are doing and the hoops that often need to be jumped through for publication that we forget the why. Why do we want to get books in children's hands? What kinds of messages do we want to give kids about themselves and the world we live in? Most editors are well-aware of the power of children's books to transform lives either through laughter and delight or through the sensitive exploration of ideas and experiences relevant to their lives. And like me, they are drawn to both kinds of books.Today I have a big soft spot for the second kind of book as seen in this sensitive exploration of farmer's markets through the eyes of a young boy. The author/illustrator, Linda Knoll, was concerned that so many kids were disenfranchised from their food source and ignorant about how food is grown. She also wanted to shine a light on the wonderful world of farmer's markets. So she created the concept book - Patient for Pumpkins. It is a beautiful quiet book that combines both fact and fiction and was published by North Atlantic Press, who publish socially aware books. So let's have a look at how former student and current friend Linda Knoll created Patient for Pumpkins. It's that time of year again! Picture Book Idea Month. Last year, I wrote weekly posts about ways to brainstorm. And to kick off this year, I wanted to re-share those posts all in one location. Happy Brainstorming!!! Be sure to check out Mira's post from Day 2 of PiBoIdMo! http://taralazar.com/2014/11/02/piboidmo-day-2-mira-reisberg-reclaims-and-revitalizes-her-inner-artist/
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We are so excited to be mixing things up at CBA, beginning with some delicious additions to the Blogfish. Meet our awesome bloggers!!
Here's our lineup: 1st Mondays begin with awesome Aussie debut author and former student Amanda Lieber who will be focusing on Aussie kidlit. 2nd Mondays will feature super smart Melissa Stoller whose career is taking off with several new books. 3rd Mondays will feature STEM, STEAM & SEL obsessed author Kourtney LaFavre sharing delightfully dorky, quirky, and fun info. 4th Mondays will be a mystery for right now. And 5th Mondays we'll be taking a break Archives
September 2023
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