Happy Wednesday Everyone!
Grab your donut (or any member of the donut family that suits your fancy this morning – bagel (donut’s less exciting sister), cruller, danish, croissant, preferably chocolate, actually, I suppose even funnel cake qualifies, with all that lovely powdered sugar on top… wait… what was I saying?)
Oh yes. I want you to know that it may be a small miracle if this post actually appears. We are in the path of severe thunderstorms (which I would know even without the weather report and the exceedingly menacing dark sky and high winds because Jemma has glued her shaking little self to my side – poor Baby J!)…
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| this is Baby J when she’s not being scared by thunder – I wouldn’t want to show you her distress! |
…which means that our internet, always temperamental, has become downright moody and is threatening to quit altogether.
So it will be like a little surprise to see if this post shows up or not.
Talk about living on the edge! 🙂 We laugh in the face of danger up here on Blueberry Hill! 🙂
Anyway, before we get to Would You Read It, I wanted to mention for all you contest junkies out there that Randy is having one over on his blog Author In Training. So hop on over and check it out!
Also, if you haven’t had a chance to vote for who you think should win the Birthday Contest, you still have until midnight! You can vote HERE. And it is quite a heated competition, so your vote could be a deciding factor!
Now then.
Today’s pitch comes to us from the amazing Tina. Here are a few words about her that I lifted off her blog (since apparently I forgot to ask her what she wanted me to say about her – oops! – :))
Tina M. Cho is a freelance writer for education and children’s stories and a former elementary teacher of eleven years. She wrote 16 books for Lakeshore Learning and 4 guided readers for Compass Media. Her nonfiction book for girls from Legacy Press will be out in 2013, and she’s working on another contracted book for girls with them. She has written stories for a private school’s reading curriculum, books reviews for the Christian Library Journal, educational activities for education.com,and stories for magazines and e-zines. She is the mom of two kids, a fourth grader and a first grader. She and her husband Jackey recently moved from Southern California to South Korea.
Here is her pitch:
(and BTW, Tina lives on the other side of the globe from many of us, and will be going to bed when the rest of us are getting up and reading this, so please be patient for her responses to your comments!)
Working Title: Dewey Bookworm Takes The Stage
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: What if a bookworm doesn’t like books? Tree leaves taste better than book leaves. Dewey Bookworm wants to join the circus. Will other book-eating creatures change his mind?
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Thanks for your input, Tracy!
Tracy Campbell wrote, in response to Susanna Leonard Hill:
Naming Dewey after the Decimal system is perfect! Just the fact that a bookworm doesn't like books, I'd read it. Just a teeny suggestion. How about showing what the tree leaves taste like?
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I wouldn't read it (but I don't read many PB anymore). I don't know what the conflict is. So what if he doesn't like books? Is he going to die? Will the world come to an end? What is the consequence of him joining the circus. Since I love books, I'm happy he doesn't want to eat them. And I'm ready to squish his friends. They're the evil ones. 🙂
Happy to do it.
Oooh, donuts. I'm wondering if running away to the circus is unique enough… Other than that, I'm always intrigued by people/things that dislike what they're supposed to love!
Thanks for your honest opinions, Stina.
Thanks, Elana, for your comments!
Thanks, Tracy, for your comments and advice!
Welcome, Elana! I'm honored that the author of Possession is visiting my little corner of the blogosphere! Thank you so much for your comment for Tina, and enjoy the donuts! Seconds (and thirds :)) are always allowed around here 🙂
Thanks so much for commenting for Tina, Stina 🙂
Yes, I'd read it. Especially Thefeatherednest's version. But there doesn't seem to be any conflict. Is Dewey in conflict with himself and the other book eating creatures? I'd try and rewrite the pitch with the tension at least hinted at. Can't come up with any myself at the moment. I need to read the book first and see.
It's breakfast time for me and I”m having chocolate cream pie. Yum mmm. 🙂
Thanks for your comments, Clarike!
Ohmygoodness Susana, your puppy is adorable!!
Jemmie and I both say thank you, Juliana! 🙂 She is a sweetheart 🙂
Thanks for commenting, Clar, and I applaud your choice of breakfast 🙂
Which book? This sounds like two different ones (a series maybe!) “What if a bookworm doesn't like books? Tree leaves taste better than book leaves.” This had me wondering if the book was going to be about food, nutrition, eating right. THEN “Dewey Bookworm wants to join the circus.” Here I saw something quite different: the tent, the MC?/announcer and wondered what tricks Dewey has up his sleeves – wait he hasn't got any! Back to the pitch: I guess I got lost, so I'm going to be brutal and say no to it. BUT I would enjoy seeing either of the story images that formed while reading it!
Vivian, I remember B/W cookies from Long Island. I found them in Germany and they call them 'Amerikaner'/Americans! Funny, huh! My daughter has made them a number of times – yummy.
Thanks for your comments, Julie!
Thank you for your insightful comment Julie – I think you articulated this very well and I'm sure Tina will find it helpful.
I'd be interested in reading the book based on the pitch. I really
Aww. Poor Baby J. Tina, I'm a big fan, but it's a maybe from me on this one. I'm intrigued by the idea of a book worm that doesn't like books, but the pitch smacks of biblio-therapy. I'd be afraid a message like “books are for everyone” might overtake the story.
The thunder has passed and Baby J is very interested in breakfast 🙂 Thanks for commenting, Hannah!
Sorry I'm posting this a little late; I'm a bit behind on my blogging!
I like the idea of a bookworm who doesn't want to eat books. However the pitch sounds to me like two different stories/conflicts; in one, he struggles with preferring to eat leaves instead of books. In the other, he wants to join the circus…is this somehow related to him not wanting to eat books? How about combining the conflicts: a bookworm who would rather join the circus than eat books all day?
I also had one quick thought too in regards to the title: I feel that “Dewey The Bookworm Takes the Stage” has a better sound than “Dewey Bookworm Takes The Stage”. Maybe because Dewey could also be an adjective, not just a name (the grass is always dewy in the morning). But maybe that's just me. Cheers! 🙂
Thanks so much for your helpful comments, Dana, and not too late 🙂
Tina, I love the idea of a bookworm who prefers real leaves to book leaves! And I love his name – very clever! I'm not sure what joining the circus has to do with that though. You need to make a connection so it makes sense why he's doing that. I think I'd start it with a statement too, not a question. I sounds like a fun story!
Thanks for the comment, Lori!
Thanks so much, Lori, for your comments and advice!
Thanks for your great comments, Dana. I like Dewey the Bookworm, too.
Thanks for your advice, Hannah!