Canva image by Melissa Stoller Where I live, May is National Pet Month! What a wonderful time to celebrate all the pets in our lives. This month, spend some time thinking about how to celebrate all types of pets, real and imaginary, and how you can infuse pets into your story ideas. Here are a few prompts to get you started: 1) If you have a pet in your life, study your pet in detail. Research the type of pet, and notice their habits, likes and dislikes, and distinct personality traits. Include some details in a story! 2) If you don’t have a pet, perhaps play with a friend’s pet, visit an animal shelter and volunteer to assist with pets, or try pet sitting. Notice the antics of pets playing together. Or observe solitary pets. Create a title or a first line to a story. 3) What about imaginary pets! Write about a character who befriends an imaginary pet. What kind of adventures would they have together? Create the time period and setting. 4) And what about stuffed pets! Perhaps name some stuffed pets in your home or that you remember from your childhood. Use those stuffy names and images in a story. This month, let the pets in the world help inspire your own pet-filled stories. Let me know in the comments if these prompts helped. Happy writing! MELISSA’S BIO: Melissa Stoller writes to bring connection, joy, and a bit of magic to her readers. Her newest picture book, Hazel and Mabel: Two Hearts Apart, illustrated by Anita Bagdi, releases from Gnome Road Publishing in Fall 2025. Melissa is also the author of the chapter book series The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Return to Coney Island, and the picture books Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush; Ready, Set, GOrilla!; Sadie’s Shabbat Stories; Planting Friendship: Peace, Salaam, Shalom; and Building Bridges: Peace, Salaam, Shalom (co-written). Melissa is a Blogger for the Children’s Book Academy, a Rate Your Story Judge, a volunteer with SCBWI/MetroNY, a Book Meshuggenahs member, a Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center Trustee, and a past school and Synagogue Trustee. She also interviews authors and offers resources on her blog. In other chapters of her life, Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer/editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her family, and enjoys theatre, museums, and Central Park walks. CONNECT WITH MELISSA: https://www.MelissaStoller.com https://www.MelissaStoller.com/blog http://www.facebook.com/MelissaStoller www.twitter.com/melissastoller www.instagram.com/Melissa_Stoller www.pinterest.com/melissa_Stoller Comments are closed.
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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 former school psychologist Dr. Debra Collins who will be writing about Social emotional Learning in kidlit and behind the scenes as well as Jewish children's books. 2nd Mondays will feature super smart Melissa Stoller whose career is taking off with several new books. 3rd Mondays will feature our new blogger coming soon. 4th Mondays features new blogger, the fabulous Brentom Jackson, who has a beautiful approach to blogging. And 5th Mondays we'll be taking a break Archives
July 2024
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