I’ve been busy preparing for a presentation next month on November 6 at the Missouri SCBWI Conference.
I’m excited to have been asked to talk about “How to Get Published.” So I’m trying to condense about a semester’s worth of information into an hour and fifteen minutes. But writers are good at editing, right? 🙂
The conference should be great fun. Lin Oliver, co-founder, and Steve Mooser, executive director of SCBWI, will be joining us this year. How cool is that?
Hope to see you there!
THE NEW YORK TIMES printed a controversial article recently about the decline of picture books. The article presents children’s book publishers and booksellers who note the drop in sales and an acceleration of young children toward chapter books.
Librarians were quick to respond. An excellent blog on the topic can be found at EARLY WORD. Blogger, Lisa Von Drasek, notes the importance of picture books in the lives of children. Picture books provide young listeners an exposure to higher level vocabulary as well as visual literacy. For a list of great read-alouds, check out this site, as well as more info on my website:
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Reading Aloud
Don’t give up on picture books! Reading would never be as fun without these colorful, clever, WONDERFUL books.
October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. My niece, Katie, has a beautiful son, Jack, who was born with this syndrome. Katie does an excellent job explaining the condition on her blog, HAPPY JACK AND BABY EVAN. Please stop by and read her revealing insights about Down snyndrome.
Check out these stats on Down syndrome.
Below is a short list of lovely children’s books on this topic. Your library will probably have many more.
The Best Worst Brother by S. A. Bodeen
Victoria’s Day by Maria Campos.
My Sister, Alicia May by Nancy Tupper Ling.
Russ and the Apple Tree Surprise by Jane Elizabeth Rickert
Scholastic recently released the results of a survey of children and parents on current reading trends. 86% of kids feel a sense of accomplishment after reading a book themselves. And while only 50% of kids consider reading enjoyable or important, 75% know they should read more.
The study also found that kids are drawn to electronic reading options. This information supports the growth of ebooks in children’s literature. But the study also concluded that other technology options–like texting and online fun–can use up reading time opportunities for students.
For wonderful ideas on helping your child become a reader, visit the READING IS FUNDAMENTAL website.
And for some additional ideas, check out my website as well.
Happy reading!
In recent years this has become an ongoing educational issue: boys are falling behind girls in reading. This is a serious problem. Students who don’t read at grade level will not be able to succeed in school–or in the world.
A recent Wall Street Journal article presented interesting new information on this topic. A study conducted by Dr. Robert Weis of Denison University found that boys with video games available to them at home spent less time reading. It seems a rather simple and obvious finding, but it presents compelling evidence to the importance of limiting video play time. Instead, boys need easy and plentiful access to good reading material–which should be readily available through their school or local library.
Perhaps if parents spent more of their resources–time and money–on providing reading material for their sons and less on easy access to video games, there would be no literacy gender gap.
HIGHLIGHTS Magazine has some fun October online activities.
Try your skills at Build a Scarecrow. Create the scarecrow of your dreams, then print your creation.
Or there is JACK-O-LANTERN MAKER. You can even make it glow.
While you’re there, read a spooky story. MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED HOUSE by Ellen Javernick is sure to scare you silly.
And if you want a snack to go with your story, mix a batch of SPIDER SNACKS. They’re frightfully delicious.
Here is the link to a fun Halloween coloring page by illustrator, Jack Foster.
The characters are from Donna Shepherd’s POODLE AND DOODLE picture book.
I know it’s early yet, but have you decided what you’re going to be for Halloween?
You know what would be fun…read a Halloween book every day until the big day on October 31.
Here is a good one to try: J IS FOR JACK-O-LANTERN: A HALLOWEEN ALPHABET by Denise Brennan and illustrated by Donald Wu.
Here are the last of the Guardian Angel Publishing photos taken at the Borders book signing last weekend.
Author and illustrator of GILLY THE SEASICK FISH, Susann Batson is busy autographing books as author Donna Shepherd looks on. Donna’s latest picture book, BRADYBUG, is illustrated by Kit Grady–the illustrator of two of my Pet Grammar Books, DOGGIE DAY CAMP and HAMSTER HOLIDAYS.
K.C. Snider, illustrator of a variety of books like THE MAGIC VIOLIN by Mayra Calvani, stands next to Marilee Crowe, author of DOWN BY THE SHORE. The beautiful photos in this poetic gem were created by MarySue Roberts, the illustrator for my picture book, GIFTS FROM GOD.
What a fun event, hanging out with such a creative crew.
Take a look at Connie Arnold and her book, ANIMAL SOUND MIXUP. What would happen if animals made rather unexpected sounds? Check out Connie’s book to find out.
Here is Sue Berger, along with her books from Guardian Angel Publishing. She likes to talk to kids about her book, EARTHQUAKE. The book is full of cool facts about earthquakes, and Sue’s been through a few earthquakes herself. She knows all about “rock ‘n roll.”
Kim Chatell is making another RAINBOW SHEEP. The colorful little critters are made from dyed wool. Kim shapes the wool in a number of different of creations, like snails and kitties. Felting for fun!
Finally, if you’re a Rick Riordan fan, you might want to sign up for the launch of THE LOST HERO, his first book in the new series, THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS. The event happens on October 12.
As promised, here are a couple more photos from the Guardian Angel Publishing events last weekend.
These two pictures show illustrators, Jack Foster and Eugene Ruble, in action.
Jack is demonstrating his drawing techniques for the eager audience. He’s showing them how he developed the characters in Donna Shepherd‘s POODLE AND DOODLE picture book.
Eugene is creating on-the-spot cartoon portraits of lucky kids. Eugene captured each child’s likeness in a flash. And what fun the kids had posing and then seeing themselves come to life in pencil.
All this was happening at the St. Louis Children’s Illustrated Art Museum last Friday.
While we’re on the subject of art, why not pull up this month’s Highlights Magazine Hidden Picture and challenge yourself to see how many objects you can find. Maybe you’ll want to try your own hand at a little illustration as well.
Have fun!