You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Children’ category.
Authors always say that we write what we know, and it is completely true—you cannot tell an authentic story if it doesn’t come from a place of truth. The trouble, though, is when you write picture books for kids, how do you define what it is that you know?
I write books about talking pigs and lonely ducks, and I can assure you I am neither a pig (verbose or otherwise) nor a duck nor any other kind of animal featured in any of my books. And yet I feel very strongly that I only write about the things that I know and that almost every one of my picture books draws heavily from my own life.
Take QUACKENSTEIN HATCHES A FAMILY, for example, my newest book published by Abrams. In this story, poor, lonely Quackenstein looks on in envy as all the other animals in the zoo settle in with their families. So he hatches a plan to solve his problem—upon spying a sign for “orphaned eggs,” Quackenstein decides to adopt an egg to start a family of his own.
The previously cantankerous duck becomes a devoted father-to-be, even cooing to his “ducky-poo” that he will never be neglected. But when the egg finally does hatch, it is more than the eggshell that cracks—Quackenstein takes one look at his hatchling and runs off in terror.
Without giving away the whole book, suffice it to say that the hatchling eventually catches up to his father and a few choice words serve to melt Quackenstein’s heart and open his eyes to the fact that families can be different or strange but always find a way to work. Despite his fears, Quackenstein learns to be the father he wanted to be—and that his son deserves.
I wrote this story when I was pregnant with my son, Sawyer, who is my third child. I’d already had two girls, Isabella and Brooklyn, and I was convinced that baby number three was going to be daughter number three. So when the doctor told me that I was having a boy, my first response was, “No, I’m not, and you can’t make me.”
Turns out, I really was going to have a boy and nothing was going to change that.
I will freely admit being terrified at the prospect of having a son. After all, I knew lots and lots about how to be a good mother to girls, but knew absolutely nothing about mothering a boy. (Since then, I’ve learned that boys and girls truly are as similar as, well, ducks and platypi—they might as well be two different species.)
I honestly didn’t sit down to write a book about a parent who was both excited and terrified about having a baby. But looking back, I realize I did exactly that.
Had I written QUACKENSTEIN five years earlier, I am convinced it would have been a different story, because there were different things important in my life then. If I’d never written the book and started fresh on it now, it would definitely be a different story (and probably far scarier!).
As much as authors write what they know, the real test of a good story is whether the author has not only found his or her own truth, but also illuminated some truth for the readers. So I’ll leave you with this hope: that you can find a little Quackenstein in your own heart.
Thanks for giving us a warm-up for PiBoIdMo, Sudipta!
Want a sneak peek of QUACKENSTEIN? Look no further–the trailer is here! With every view, a donation will be made to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums!
Last week, the NY Times published an article on the decline of picture books, claiming that parents are pushing chapter books on younger children because they want to advance their child’s learning. (Although a parent’s quote was taken out of context.)
Is this truly a trend? Are parents feeling pressure to keep up with the Joneses, literally?
I hate to say it, but the answer is yes. (But stay tuned, we’ll circle back to picture books.)
The pressure to raise intellectually superior kids starts even before a child is born. The Mozart Effect suggested that playing classical music for your fetus boosted intelligence. Pregnancy Today says exposure to music in utero may instill your child with a sense of confidence after they’re born.
Remember Baby Einstein? The name alone gets parents thinking about academic achievement in the early years.
You’ve probably heard of Your Baby Can Read. They boast that “a baby’s brain develops at a phenomenal pace…nearly 90% during the first five years of life!” They urge parents to “seize this small window of opportunity,” as if your child will never have the capacity to learn again.
A local preschool is cleverly named “Ivy Leaf.” Are they suggesting enrollment will guarantee your child admission to Yale or Harvard? Hmm…
Kindergarten used to be a half-day of painting, building with blocks and playing music. But now children are given summer tutoring in math and reading to prep for Kindergarten.
Look at the rise of tutoring companies like Kumon and Sylvan.
Rigorous school standards push parents to raise children who are smarter, faster. No one wants their child to be left behind.
But should we give chapter books to young children? If they want to read them, sure! Education.com says “choice is vital to reading engagement. As children learn to self-select their reading materials, they become discriminating and independent readers.” That’s a fancy way of saying children who select their own books are more likely to become life-long readers—and learners.
That brings us back to picture books. They are intellectually stimulating:
- Reading with your child early and often helps develop the parent-child bond. (It’s a nice tradition, folks.)
- Illustrations help children comprehend the story when they don’t understand the language. They learn context.
- Picture books expose children to art. Some of the finest illustrative work in the world can be found in picture books.
- The repetitive phrasing common to picture books helps children recognize words.
- Rhyming picture books help children recognize word patterns.
- Children learn story and narrative structure in a concise format. They get a beginning, middle and end in less than 1000 words.
And, come on! PICTURE BOOKS ARE FUN!
I bet the Joneses read them, too.
I was taken aback this week when a girl posted a comment on my blog in regards to the 365+ Things Kids Like post:
what the hell im i kid i dont like most the things on that list [sic]
OK, so we’ve got one unusual and outspoken kid out there. I mean, nearly 365 things is a lot NOT to like. Although I assume that this kid does like #21 Being Independent, #175 Ignoring Adults and #201: Knowing More than Everyone Else. And this kid may not be of picture-book age (less than 8 years old), given the language.
I add to this list periodically, to keep track of subjects that may work in a future picture book manuscript. But one thing I forgot is that kids like to be unique individuals. Not every child loves riding skateboards and roller coasters. Some are scared of clowns or think they’re stupid. And licorice? Blech. I know I hate it.
This leads me to ask–how do you know the subject of your story will appeal to a broad range of children?
Because at its heart, a picture book isn’t about a dragon or a robot. It’s about an emotional truth–friendship, family, fitting in. Carving out your place in the world. Accomplishing your goals.
So I have to add two things to the list of 365+ Things That Kids Like:
- Being loved and appreciated.
- Having their voice heard.
Remember those embarrassing dance moves your Aunt Myrna unveiled at Cousin Frannie’s wedding? She flapped her arms, wiggled her tush and tumbled onto the parquet floor?
Well, that’s not this chicken dance.
No siree, this Chicken Dance is a brilliant barnyard romp featuring two hilarious hens and their idol Elvis Poultry, thank you. (Thankyouverymuch.)
Author Tammi Sauer grew up on a Kansas farm, tending cows at dawn. Those daybreak chores paid off, ’cause this little lady sure knows how to milk the humor.
According to henhouse pals Marge and Lola, Elvis Poultry is a hunk of bawking love. When the barnyard talent show is announced, the pair discover the grand prize is two tickets to Elvis’ Final Doodle Doo concert tour. They must win!
But the ducks waddle by and wave a wing at the hopeful hens. “Don’t bother, drumsticks.” Seems ducks are top dog at this farm.
Marge and Lola test out their talents but the ducks quack at every failed attempt. When Marge and Lola finally hit the stage–following solid goat, pig and cow acts–they stammer and gulp. A duck heckles, “What’s the matter? Are you chicken?” so they begin to flap, shake and bawk. Just regular chicken stuff, nothin’ fancy. But the crowd loves it and crows for more.
The next spread features Marge and Lola performing dance moves that would make Aunt Myrna shake in her boots. They vogue, point like John Travolta, domo arigato misuta robotto, and walk like an Egyptian. Illustrator Dan Santat makes chickens boogie better than So You Think You Can Dance finalists.
I can’t reveal the contest results, as that would spoil all the feathery fun. But I will tell you that Elvis is in the building. Err, I mean barn.
The jokes even extend beyond the story, with end pages that demo step-by-step “Disco Chicken” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo” dance moves. Funky album covers replace the typical staid author and illustrator photos.
Yes, just one look at the blinged-out, white-caped Elvis Poultry on the front cover, and you know this ain’t your Aunt Myrna’s paltry poultry impersonation.
Can’t get enough of the silliness?
Publisher Sterling Kids is holding a video contest now through October 31. Just shake your tail feathers along to the official music and post your hoe-down on YouTube.
And tell them Elvis Poultry sent ya.
Chicken Dance
Written by Tammi Sauer
Illustrated by Dan Santat
Sterling Kids, August 2009
Want it? Sure you do!
Image courtesy of Ma1974
I hate air travel with children. I mean with my own children. My goal for the flight is to ensure that my toddler and Kindergartener don’t disturb the other passengers. I don’t want them whining, crying, screaming, running through the aisles or otherwise causing mayhem. I remember being a stressed-out businesswoman and being seated near a miserable child. I have empathy for the childless travelers, honestly I do.
I spend a ridiculous amount of time preparing for the trip and devising solutions for worst-case scenarios. Flight delays. Missed naps. Sudden fever. Soiled clothes. Motion sickness. I’ve got it all covered, people.
My foolproof plan involves a bag of books. I read to my children on the flight. (Oh yeah, I can’t forget the lollipops…great for easing the pressure on take-off and landing.)
However, I found out that my efforts to entertain and enlighten my children aren’t necessarily appreciated.
The older woman in front of me turned around in the middle of a story and asked, “How long do you plan on reading aloud?”
So continued a rudeness I’ve never experienced before, someone complaining about a happy, content family. She mistakenly said I had been reading for an hour when the flight had been in the air only 25 minutes, and she told me that if I was going to “read for another hour” she “wouldn’t be able to take it.”
Did you ever have one of those conversations where you wish you could say something different than what leaves your mouth?
I could let my children play bongos on the tray tables if you prefer.
A crying jag can be arranged.
We’re going to peek over the seats and force you into an endless game of peek-a-boo later.
Instead, I apologized like the polite person I am. I was sitting in the last row with a terrible jet engine din and could barely hear what I was reading. Was I a little loud? Maybe. Could she have approached the subject differently? Sure. So could the cowardly husband who decided to give a rude stare and play with his seat, knowing that we in the last row had nowhere to recline ourselves.
She finished by not making eye contact. “Well, just lower your voice.”
Hmmm. I didn’t hear “please.”
Benjamin wanders too far from home one day and stumbles into Dragon Wood. In this tale of boy meets dragon, the unexpected happens–dragon meets boy.
The cover art by Gwen Millward drew me into Timothy Knapman’s quirky little tale. Her forest reminded me of the Truffula Trees in The Lorax, albeit on a smaller scale (and perhaps not as poofy). They frame Benjamin and the Dragon on a clever, die-cut cover.
I admit that I goofed while reading the story for the first time. I got confused. I had to flip back to the beginning to understand Knapman’s brilliant twist on a familiar theme. When editors tell aspiring authors they want to see fresh ideas in picture books, Guess What I Found serves as a perfect example.
“What kind of review is this?” I hear you asking. “She’s not telling me anything about the book!” Oh yeah, sorry ’bout that. If I tell you too much about the Benjamin’s quest, I’ll ruin the surprise.
“Wait a second, did she just call him ‘the Benjamin?’ Must be a typo. What a sorry excuse for a blogger.” Um, I must inform you, that was no typo.
So okay, calm down. I’ll tell you that I loved the striped boots, the whirly wee-woo boxes and the soccer goalposts. And I can’t forget the volcano-sitting lessons! If you want to know more than that, you’ll have to stumble into Dragon Wood yourself.
Don’t get lost!
Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood
Story by Timothy Knapman
Illustrations by Gwen Millward
Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books, December 2007
Got a favorite children’s book? Write a review! Today is “Write a Review Wednesday.” Help support kidlit!
Thank you to everyone who celebrated the release of Carin Berger’s newest picture book OK Go! by participating in her green-themed collage contest.
Carin thought the entries were so fabulous, she has posted all of them on her website!
We selected three winners at random.
Verity, age 7, wins the signed copy of OK, Go!
Ellie, age 4, wins a signed bookplate and an All Mixed Up mini-book.
Isaac, age 10, wins a signed bookplate and an All Mixed Up mini-book.
The rest of our artists receive an All Mixed Up mini-book. Everyone wins!
Visit Carin Berger’s website to see all the terrific collages and read the children’s inspiration for their art!
Thank you, green parents and kids! 
<– And don’t forget to pick up a copy of OK, GO!
OK?
Go!
It’s Children’s Book Week! So what does that mean? It’s time to celebrate children’s books across all genres.
Read to children. Inspire their creativity. Write a story together. Draw pictures. Enter Carin Berger’s Contest. Do whatever you want to make reading a priority in your family’s life! (Although I’m sure it’s already a priority.)
To help you along on this salute to Silverstein, this festival of Fox, this jubilee of Jeffers, here are some links:
- Read story starters by children’s authors and finish what they started.
- Visit the Write For a Reader blog. Shelly will have author interviews and give-aways all week.
- Check out IlluStory and Create Your Own Pop-up Book, fun ways for your child to publish their own book.
- Review the Top 10 Summer Reading Lists from various organizations and the children’s choice reading list from the Children’s Book Council.
- Share your favorite children’s book with us. Comment below so others can discover great books.
And here are some marvelous picture books being released this week! Enjoy!
First there was Mitali Perkins’ list of young adult authors on Twitter. Then came the picture book author and illustrator list.
And now–finally–middle grade authors have a list to call their own.
Below you’ll find authors of published books (or soon-to-be-released titles) for middle grade readers. Chapter book and tween authors have been included as well.
If you know of others who should be on this list, please leave a comment and I’ll update the list periodically.
Enjoy! Discover talented writers; make new connections.
- R.J. Anderson @RJ_Anderson
- Elizabeth Atkinson @tWeenBooks
- Susan Taylor Brown @SusanWrites
- Meg Cabot @MegCabot
- RJ Clarken @LightVerse
- Bonnie Doerr @BonnieDoerr
- Michelle Knudsen @MichelleKnudsen
- Adrienne Kress @AdrienneKress
- Cynthea Liu @Cynthea
- Lauren Baratz Logsted @LaurenBaratzL
- Anne Mazer @AnneMazer
- Kate Messner @KateMessner
- Lauren Myracle @LaurenMyracle
- Nicole O’Dell @Nicole_Odell
- Ellen Potter @EllenPotter
- Sarah Prineas @SPrineas
- Karen Rivers @KarenRivers
- Christine Rose @ChristineRose
- Laurel Snyder @LaurelSnyder
- Cynthia Chapman Willis @CynthiaCWillis
What a lucky duck–I got to meet the moovelous Betsy Lewin this week. The whimsical illustrator of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type and countless other barnyard books visited our local elementary school and entertained the kids with a mix of slide show, drawing lesson and Q&A.
Two Kindergarten classes filed into the library with clipboards and crayons, eager to learn from a master cartooner.
But first, Mrs. Lewin showed photos of her 120 year-old Brooklyn brownstone. Her living room is filled with souvenirs from her world travels–Africa, Australia, the Galapagos–places where she has observed animals and gained inspiration. When she showed her husband’s studio on the fourth floor, she pointed out that it was far bigger than hers, not because he was more important, but because it also housed a photography studio. Ted Lewin paints his realistic watercolors by studying photographs. He pays neighborhood kids to model for him. “Anybody want to move to Brooklyn?” she asked. (My hand went up!)
Mrs. Lewin brought along her cartoon friend, Weirdly, to show the children how to draw expressions: mad, sad, excited, laid back and cool, mischievious, shy. “Weirdly helps me draw ‘sound’ words like BOOM and CRASH because sometimes I can’t imagine what they look like,” she explained.
She also showed her first draft cover for Doreen Cronin’s Duck for President. The original cover depicted a national political convention. The point of view is Duck’s, looking out over the crowd (we see his back and tail, wings outstretched). In the front row there’s Farmer Brown, some cows and chickens, Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin. Red, white and blue balloons are falling from the ceiling as the crowd holds signs with slogan spoofs like “The Duck Stops Here,” “I like Duck,” and “A Veggie in Every Pot.”
Then her publisher decided they didn’t want political sayings on the cover, so they asked her to write signs with all 50 states. She soon realized that wouldn’t work. “Which states should go on the front cover? Which states should go on the back? It wouldn’t be fair. What about M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I? That’s too long!”
Ultimately they decided to put Duck on the podium with just three signs: DUCK, Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin. PERFECT!
The hilarious moment came when Mrs. Lewis showed a photo of someone in a cow costume, typing away. She said the photo was sent to her in an unmarked package. Then she asked, “Does anyone know what Doreen Cronin was before she became a children’s author?” One kid had an answer. “A cow?”
Much to his disappointment, no. Ms. Cronin was a lawyer, just like Mrs. Lewin’s brother, a judge, who had sent the funny cow costume photo. (Yep, lawyers are some of the funniest people I know. My own father included.)
Next, Mrs. Lewin showed the children how to draw a lion with a few easy steps. She broke it down into wiggly lines, circles and half circles and then had the kids decide how they wanted to draw the eyes–happy, sad or angry–with just a slant of the eybrows. She had the first row stand up to show the rest of the audience how different each lion was, as different as they were. “And that’s what makes you so special,” she said. “You’re the only you in the whole world.”
After some questions and answers–her favorite books as a child were Winnie the Pooh and Call of the Wild–she asked the children for suggestions of what to draw. An animal lover and observer all her life, Mrs. Lewin grew up in rural Pennsylvania surrounded by farms. She would watch the animals intently so she could remember how to draw them. She doesn’t need to look at an example as she creates. She can draw anything!
Mrs. Lewin draws with quick strokes, and it’s amazing to watch how these simple lines and squiggles magically come together to form monkeys, elephants, rocket ships and knights in shining armor. Two lucky ducks, I mean kids, even got their portraits drawn.
The most interesting part of the presentation was when Mrs. Lewin showed the difference between her original black and white drawings for her debut 1979 book, Cat Count, and the new full-color edition. In the new release, she gave two dancing felines a blue room lit with the shimmering, sparkling light of a disco ball. The way the dots played on the page gave the scene a magical feel, as if it could lift right out of the book and tango around the room.
I’ll use the saying “lucky duck” one last time: how fortunate children are to have such marvelous books illustrated by a true genius. Thank you, Betsy Lewin!
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 