WRITING WITH HEART AND HUMOUR

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.

A Crocodile in the Family
Written by: Kitty Black
Illustrated by: Daron Parton
Published by: Hachette Books, August, 2020
US release: Fox Chapel Publishing, September 2021,
A charming, warm-hearted picture book about a family of birds who take home an egg, and even though the crocodile that hatches from it doesn't look or act like the rest of the family, he belongs.

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/