Hi-ho, Hi-ho, It’s Off To School We Go

March 10, 2011Leave a comment

Today’s post will be short and sweet (I know, hard to believe coming from me) but seriously, I’m already out of time!

Last year, when I asked what you called taking a groundhog, a sheep, a hamster, an airplane pilot, a freight train engineer, a construction foreman, a taxi driver, and a couple of unruly boys on a school visit, a friend said, “It’s a Phyllistravaganza!” – which seemed just about right.

So today the Phyllistravaganza and I (really, we’re kind of like a traveling circus) are headed to a big school visit where we will be seeing upwards of 200 kids. We’re just a little nervous, truth be told, because Phyllis is still struggling to come up with a truly great and memorable April Fools Day song to sing. We like to go with familiar tunes and put in our own special brand of words, but this one is a toughie. Luckily we still have driving time, and the car might inspire us if Phyllis can manage to focus instead of waving to passersby and making funny faces.

If anyone has any brilliant ideas, we’re open to suggestion at this point. You have one hour 🙂 But we’ll take suggestions after that, too, in case we have to make due today and come up with something better for next week when we’re doing it again.

Wish us luck!

Why Writing Is Fun :)

March 8, 201110 Comments

Today is all about gratitude, and some of the things that make writing fun 🙂

Anyone who is a writer will tell you writing is hard work. You put in long hours with no guarantee that anyone besides you will ever read the words you struggled to get just right. Hopefully you’re not in it for the money, because in children’s publishing it will probably be a while before you can quit your day job. But if you’re lucky, your stories will go out into the world and you’ll have some moments like these.

Today I want to share three things that have happened in the last three weeks that make all the long hours and at least some of the rejection letters worthwhile 🙂

1. A librarian in California whom I have never met, wrote me this note about Can’t Sleep Without Sheep and sent these pictures:

I finally got to share your beautiful book with the kids and they loved it. Thanks so much for the link to the coloring pages. I took pictures of some of the kids having fun coloring them and thought I would share them with you. Thanks so much and I can’t wait to read more of your writing in the future.

Wasn’t it so nice of her to take the time to write this note and send pictures?

2. A mom who bought Can’t Sleep Without Sheep took time out of her busy schedule to send me this note:

I have not in recent memory had my daughter beg for a book more and laugh harder than she did with this book. The chickens that make such a concerted effort to scale the fence and very comically fail makes her laugh so hard that her 5 year old little face turns bright red and she actually tears up. I was forced to re-read that page 4 times tonight.

There is really nothing better than ability to make a child happy; maybe only making MY child happy :-). Thank you

Knowing they liked it makes me happy!

3. I visited a school last week and yesterday received a packet of letters – one of my absolute favorite things about school visits. It doesn’t happen that often, but when it does, it’s priceless, and I cherish the notes and pictures that young readers took time to send. Here are a few of the letters about April Fool, Phyllis!:

He’s referring to Phyllis’s song 🙂

…and here’s his picture of me with my Phyllis puppet singing 🙂

Awesome handwriting, no? and I would love to do another book about Phyllis!

Someone who appreciates effort 🙂

A budding artist (with great taste in books :))

This is one of my favorites! Short and sweet! I think this is me, sitting in the chair, reading 🙂

Me, too!

So sweet!

So there you have it – the little things that make my days! For me, knowing that even one child enjoyed one of my stories is what it’s all about. (And you may all feel free to remind me of this the next time I’m fretting about rejection letters :)) Thanks for letting me share 🙂

Winning Big And A Thought-Provoking Question!

March 7, 20116 Comments

Well, really, there’s no better way to start a Monday than with prizes, is there? So let’s get right to it!

I’m afraid I love games and contests more than you guys do. Sigh. Out of all my lovely and devoted followers, only two (that’s 2!) submitted entries for the Guess The Children’s Picture Book Contest celebrating Read Across America. I confess, I was disappointed. But not in my two contestants. In fact, given their stellar responses and the fact that they were the only two to step up to the plate, I have decided to give BOTH of them a copy of April Fool, Phyllis!

So the winners are: Teri and Cindy!!! * Round of loud applause and wild cheering! * Congratulations on your superior knowledge of children’s picture books! Please use the “email me” button on the right hand side of the blog to let me know how you would like your book signed, and the address to which you would like it mailed! Many thanks for participating! (And for those of you who are curious about what the books were, please scroll down and check out Teri and Cindy’s answers to the Read Across America and A Prize post from Wednesday March 2.)

I am going to have a few more copies of April Fool, Phyllis! to give away, so maybe you guys better chime in and tell me what kinds of games/contests you would participate in. It’s more fun if more people join in 🙂

And now, in the interest of a story I’m pondering, here is the thought-provoking question of the day:

Would you rather be forced to tell your best friend a lie, or tell your parents the truth? (Oh, and I should mention you are a 12 year old girl :)) What is your reasoning? (And for Monty Python fans, what is your favorite color? :))

Looking forward to your thoughts!

Read Across America and A PRIZE!!!

March 2, 201115 Comments

I will not post contestants’ responses until all entries are in so that no one has an unfair advantage 🙂 But be assured if you posted your answers, I’ve got them!

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Not even one speck of rain, ice or snow (except for the thigh-deep stuff still on the ground) 🙂 So in celebration of this beautiful morning, Read Across America, and April Fool, Phyllis‘s Book Birthday yesterday (and because it is Wednesday and we all need a little fun to boost us toward the end of the week) I have decided to host a game/contest with a PRIZE!!!

Anyone who has hung around this blog for any length of time knows I can’t go very long without some kind of contest 🙂

So here it is:

Since it’s Read Across America week and we should all be encouraging kids to enjoy the delights of reading, I will post 25 first lines of well-known picture books. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to identify the title and author of each book!

The prize? (Well, I think it’s a prize!) The winner will receive a personalized signed copy of April Fool, Phyllis (it is her book birthday after all) hot off the presses!

The rules are:
1. You must be a follower of this blog.
2. You must list all 25 titles and authors correctly.
3. You must post your answer by 5 PM EST Sunday March 6 (see how nice I’m being – giving you more than the usual 2 days?)

I will announce the winner in Monday morning’s post, with plenty of time to mail the book before April Fool’s Day!

Happy Reading with your kids and happy writing your contest answers everyone! Good luck and have fun!

Here are the first lines:

1. This is Olivia.
2. When I leave home to walk to school, Dad always says to me, “Marco, keep your eyelids up and see what you can see.”
3. The day Helen gave Martha dog her alphabet soup, something unusual happened.
4. Chester Raccoon stood at the edge of the forest and cried.
5. This is the house. The house on East 88th Street.
6. The big hand of the clock is at 12.
7. One day Little Sal went with her mother to Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries.
8. I’m Emily Elizabeth, and I have a dog.
9. Ava had a hard time falling asleep.
10. Once upon a time there was a Little House way out in the country.
11. In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.
12. Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter.
13. Lilly loved school.
14. Harry was a white dog with black spots who liked everything, except… getting a bath.
15. The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called him “WILD THING” and Max said, “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” so he was sent to bed without eating anything.
16. One evening, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight.
17. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young duck named Ping.
18. Chug, chug, chug. Puff, puff, puff. Ding-dong, ding-dong.
19. Farmer Brown has a problem.
20. In the great forest a little elephant is born.
21. Little Nutbrown Hare, who was going to bed, held on tight to Big Nutbrown Hare’s very long ears.
22. In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf.
23. Once there was a tree… and she loved a little boy.
24. Once upon a time there was a very old man and a very old woman.
25. One Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed.

P.S. I discovered this was surprisingly hard to make difficult! So many first lines include the character’s name, which totally gives it away! Next time, I think I’ll try last lines! But at the very least, this will hopefully give you all a list of great books to read with your young friends… 🙂

I will not post contestants’ responses until all entries are in so that no one has an unfair advantage 🙂 But be assured if you posted your answers, I’ve got them!

Oh, What A Morning!!!

March 1, 201113 Comments

Yeah.

So you all know I was headed to the Big Apple yesterday for an author visit with my niece’s school. Such a simple thing, really. I do school visits all the time.

My plan was foolproof: put my youngest daughter on the school bus, run back to the house, grab my school visit stuff, be guilt-tripped by my faithful writing buddies (who I was about to leave home alone for many hours with only a couple visits from Grammy and Grandpa to relieve boredom and calls of nature) and head to the city with plenty of time.

faithful writing buddies

You’ve probably already guessed that’s not quite what happened…!

(This is the moment when you should make sure you have a fresh cup of coffee and a little something yumptious, because I confess this post runs a little long…:))

Have I mentioned that our house is 6/10 of a mile from the bus stop, around a number of curves that make it impossible for me and the bus driver to see each other until the last minute? This has been the situation for 13 years of bus riding, so as a result I ALWAYS call the bus when we’re not taking it so the bus driver doesn’t waste time waiting. In return, I hope that the bus driver will give us an extra moment – the benefit of the doubt, if you will – if we happen not to be there when she pulls up.

Since I work from home, most days it doesn’t matter more than a little wasted gas if something goes awry with the bus.

Yesterday being a day when I really needed my daughter to ride the bus, I made sure we arrived at the stop on time.

No bus.

(I would like to supply a photo of the empty bus-less icy road in the the driving rain here, but not knowing I was at the front end of an epic morning, I didn’t have my camera with me :))

Well, I consoled myself, the weather is dreadful – freezing rain, icy roads – maybe she’s just taking her time.

One minute. Two minutes. Five minutes went by. No bus.

Now, normally I have my cell phone with me so I can call the bus depot if there’s a question. But yesterday, knowing I would be away from home for many hours, I wanted to make sure it was fully charged. Hence, when I grew panicky at the five minute late mark, I groped in my pocket for my cell phone only to discover I’d left it charging on the kitchen counter 6/10 of a mile away around a number of curves…

So we waited a little more.

Six minutes. Seven minutes. Ten minutes. No bus.

Now I knew I was in deep doo-doo (pardon my French!)

Back up the icy road, around the curves, 6/10 of a mile to our house. Up the icy steps at breakneck speed. Speed dial the bus depot. “What happened to the bus?” I asked with that very attractive high panicky pitch to my voice.

“Let’s see,” the depot master said bemusedly.

The long and the short of it was – substitute driver arrived early, didn’t read the running sheet saying call the house if we weren’t at the stop, didn’t wait until anything close to our time, and LEFT WITHOUT US!!!

DEEP doo-doo.

So instead of my calm, foolproof plan, I raced around like a deranged chicken, grabbing my stuff, shoving it in the car, racing through a quick email to my niece’s school warning them I would most probably be late, and heading off up the icy road to my daughter’s school – which, incidentally, is in the opposite direction from the city.

About 3 miles into the 13 mile drive, we got behind a sanding truck, driving down the middle of the road, spewing salt and sand in all directions over the icy surface. There could be no passing. We drove a maximum of 15 mph for the remaining 10 miles while I watched the minutes tick by on the dashboard clock and tried to remain calm… not very successfully I might add. My poor daughter…

At last she was safely at school and I could head for the city. I was now leaving nearly 45 minutes later than I had planned to from a distance that was half an hour further away. And the roads were still icy. And it was still a driving downpour. Not great conditions for making time! (And nobody better bring up the speeding ticket incident… (s)…!)

icy…

…then rain slick roads…

…followed by traffic jam number one…

…and traffic jam number two….

And I didn’t even take pictures of traffic jam number three because by that time I was far too panicky! (Although, if anyone asks, I was certainly not driving and taking pictures at the same time!) And we won’t even mention the two cups of coffee I had in lieu of breakfast that began demanding to be acknowledged about 45 minutes into the trip!

I pulled into 90th street at 10:07, had to back up and squidge over to allow a cop car to back up past me, wasting precious moments. On the next block, my first good luck of the day – a parking garage with vacancy! I dashed in, grabbed my stuff, practically snatched the ticket from the parking attendant, and ran, literally ran flat out, through the driving rain to my niece’s school (although I had the foresight to tuck Phyllis and Woolliam and my other valuables under my jacket, since I did not have the foresight to grab my umbrella out of the back of the car :))

I dashed into the school, dripping wet, out of breath and, remarkably, only 12 minutes late, to find 4 first grade classes waiting patiently for me in the library. No time to catch my breath or acknowledge that coffee – it was show time – for three straight groups in a row, from 10:12 – 11:50.

But what a beautiful library, and what a wonderful group of kids! The morning drama was well worth it because after all that? We had a good time 🙂

Of course, the copy of the book I had moved mountains to get in time for the visit so I could give it to my niece afterwards didn’t arrive. (I read off the F&G, which was no easy task – as you know, F&Gs are unbound, so when you try to hold them up so everyone can see, they have a tendency to fall all over the floor. This supplied much hilarity, however. I explained to the third group that I had already dropped the F&G about 20 times, and halfway through reading to them, it fell once again, prompting a sharp tack in the back row to shout “21!”)

Anyway, after all the drama of getting there, the visit was such fun!

And guess what was waiting on my porch when I got home?

Confession – this photo was staged this morning; when I arrived home yesterday, the book was in a sodden brown cardboard wrapping in the rain 🙂

Picture Books In The Classroom

February 28, 20114 Comments

Get ready. This is going to blow your whiskers back!

APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS! IS HERE!!! Woo-hoo! *Cheers and throws confetti with reckless abandon!*

(Although, I don’t actually have a copy yet… :))

AND, it gets even better! The exceptionally knowledgeable and qualified Shannon Morgan has just completed Classroom Guides for April Fool, Phyllis! and they will be up on my website (for anyone who would like to download) hopefully by the end of today. The timing couldn’t be better because, as of this weekend, the book is available on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble and it should reach Indie bookstores of discerning taste this week 🙂 (Holiday House, publisher of April Fool, Phyllis!, markets primarily to schools and libraries, so not all bookstores will carry it… unless you ask :))

What need have I of a classroom guide? you may ask. Well, if you’re not a teacher, a homeschooler, or possibly a daycare provider, you probably won’t have much use for it – unless you have a hamster who likes educational bedding.

But if you ARE a teacher, a homeschooler, or a day care provider, what could be more fun than using picture books as a source of learning in your classroom? And how better to do that than with a handy dandy guide that gives you a whole slew of ideas and resources on how you can incorporate the story into language arts, social studies, science, math, art etc. for your specific grade level? Including content standards!

Some books lend themselves to curricula more readily than others. April Fool, Phyllis! should be one of them. There aren’t that many picture books about April Fools’ Day, and it’s a fun holiday to explore with young readers. In addition, it opens the gateway for discussions of weather, maps, and making maple syrup 🙂 among other things.

Not to toot the horn of my own book (er, or something along those lines) but the classroom guides are really awesome. (I’m allowed to say that because I didn’t write them :)) I hope you’ll all check them out and pass the word along to any teachers you may know. It’s like a gift – whole lessons already planned! – they may shower you with gratitude and offers to take you to dinner 🙂

For any of you who might be interested in creating classroom guides for your own picture (or other) books, I highly recommend Shannon! She is a woman of many interests, so if you click on her link and see pictures of cute cats in cups, or recipes for amazing homemade bread, be assured you have not gone to the wrong place 🙂 Once the guides for April Fool, Phyllis! are up on my website, you’ll be able to see examples of her fine work.

And now, as if all this wasn’t exciting enough, Phyllis and I are off to the Big Apple – right this second! – to visit my niece’s school and perform the debut reading of April Fool, Phyllis! (from the F&G because, like I said, I don’t have an actual copy yet!) There is a special surprise for my niece – the book is dedicated in part to her, because April First is her birthday 🙂

If we remember to take any pictures, I’ll share them tomorrow 🙂 Wish us luck!

Mutton Busting and Another Award!

February 25, 2011February 15, 201514 Comments

It’s still February, still winter, and there’s all kinds of ice, sleet, and freezing rain falling out of the sky. Obviously, we need some amusement. SO….

Today’s post is not strictly about writing or really anything to do with it except maybe inspiration 🙂 but it is amusing.

Everyone’s heard of rodeos. Most of us have probably been to at least one in our lifetime. If so, you’ve seen bronc busting and bull riding. But the other day my friend, Clare, told me about a new twist that just proves people will do anything!

Apparently, future bull and bronc riders have found a way to break into the game at an early age.

Mutton busting!

5 year old kids don helmets and protective vests (actually, they don’t always – sometimes just a cowboy hat), grab onto the back of a sheep, and hang on for dear life! Really, they’re very determined.

If you don’t believe me, check out this video:

I wish I’d known about this when I was 5. It looks like fun… although maybe not for the sheep 🙂

So, like I said, not much to do with writing, but seriously, there has GOT to be a story in there somewhere!

And now, I am so honored to have received another blogging award from my new friend Alison over at Alison Pearce Stevens! Isn’t it nice?

As part of the award, I must list 7 things about me. So…

1. I love all animals, but horses and dogs are my favorite.
2. I went on a roller coaster in Amsterdam when I was 7 and it cured me of EVER wanting to get on a roller coaster again! … but I love bumper cars 🙂
3. My first car was a cream-colored Chevette Scooter named Rover. (How many of you name your cars? It’s par for the course with me… after Rover came Skippy, then the Mouse Mobile, so named because mice were constantly nesting in the engine and it did NOT smell good! My current car, as my devoted followers will already know, is called the Dog Mobile because really, part of my job description is chauffeur, and my dogs ride shotgun :))
4. I love oatmeal raisin cookies and good chick flicks, separately or together 🙂
5. I am a closet Grey’s Anatomy fan – well, I guess not anymore!
6. My favorite color is blue – any shade. Yellow and pink are tied for second.
7. If I could meet a celebrity from history, I would be very tempted to pick Man O’ War or Secretariat, even though I know I should choose someone like Martin Luther King Jr.!

And now, I would like to pass this award on to some new blogging friends:

Becky at What’s Your Thought On That
Kari Marie at Writing By Heart
E.J. Wesley at The Open Vein
L.A. Colvin at First Draft on Life, Literature and Lunacy
and really, this list could go on for a long time, so I’ll stop there!

Beer is Zo Moe!

February 23, 2011February 15, 201513 Comments

No, we’re not starting the morning off with questionable beverages! This is about a picture book 🙂

Or it will be, as soon as a little business is out of the way. I have to start by confessing to my lie. It was actually kind of a double lie: although I don’t eat a lot of meat, I am not a vegetarian, and although I will do it when occasion dictates, I do not enjoy public speaking of any kind, not just about vegetarianism 🙂 Congrats to those who guessed!

So, about that picture book….

Although blond hair and blue eyes may be a tip-off to my Friesian heritage, I do not, in fact, speak Dutch. So it may come as a surprise that I’m going to have a book published in The Netherlands this coming spring – in Dutch! And it’s not a book that was originally published in English and translated. It’s a first edition. The title is Beer is Zo Moe! (or, for our English speaking audience, Bear Is So Tired!) and it is due out in May 2011 from Veltman Uitgevers.

How, you may ask, did I pull this one off? Well, I’ll tell you…

Nicole Rutten, the exceptionally talented illustrator of Not Yet Rose, was invited by a Dutch publisher who admired her work to submit a book. It had to have both story and art, however, and she does not write. So she asked me if I could provide the story. I did, she translated it into Dutch, the publisher loved it, and the rest is history – or, maybe history-in-the-making since the book isn’t actually out yet.

Putting a picture book together is a surprisingly long process. (Those of you who write picture books already know this!) I have had manuscripts sit on an editor’s desk for as long as two years before she decides if she wants it or not. Once the decision is made, you’re still looking at anywhere from a year and half (if everything goes smoothly) to upwards of 4 years before your book is actually available for purchase.

Beer is Zo Moe! has actually come along very quickly. From submission to publication (assuming it’s released on time) it will have taken just about a year. We are currently deciding on a cover. This is the one we probably won’t use, but it’s fun to see anyway:

Want to see some more? Well, okay. You’ve twisted my arm 🙂 One more…

How cute is Little Bear?!

The story includes back matter about bears – The Bear Facts 🙂 – so it has a useful educational component as well!

So how fun it that I can’t read my own story? It’s pretty entertaining to try, though 🙂 Need a little amusement to break up your work day? Try clicking on the bottom photo so it enlarges and see if you can read the story aloud! Let me know how you make out!

First Challenge!

February 21, 201120 Comments

Okay, folks, this is exciting! We are off and running with the first writer’s platform building challenge today! The winner will receive an awesome prize, and as you well know, I am all in favor of prizes 🙂

As of the writing of this post, I have deliberately not read anyone else’s challenge yet, because I didn’t want to be influenced (or intimidated out of even trying!) so I’m really looking forward to reading them all once I’ve finished mine. The rules state that we must include one secret, one lie, one interesting quirk, one annoying habit, one of our best character traits, one of our favorite things in the whole wide world, use the words bloviate, fuliguline, (yes, those are actual words and yes, I will have to look them up before I can use them!) blade and rabbit, and accomplish it all in 300 words or less in any writing form we choose!

Ready? Go!

Susanna was not like the other rabbits. She liked to get up at 5 AM, not 6 or 7. She preferred the openness of the meadow to the safety and confinement of the briar patch. She loved how blades of spring grass tickled her feet, like fuliguline down. And while the other rabbits were quiet and kept to themselves, Susanna liked to hop up on the back porch steps of the farmhouse where the sun was warm, and bloviate at length about the merits of vegetarianism to anyone who would listen. She spoke especially firmly about this to the dogs, a habit the other rabbits found bizarre. Why would anyone talk to dogs? The other rabbits figured that the reason she enjoyed public speaking and communing with dogs was because she was adopted. No denying she was odd, but they were willing to overlook her eccentricities because she was loyal and kind and always quick to help when called upon. Susanna loved her home and her family, but sometimes she felt her differences and couldn’t help but wonder where she had come from, and how and why she had ended up here. Still, she was a happy rabbit – how could she not be with all the good fortune bestowed upon her by not just one but four lucky rabbit’s feet 🙂

There you go – and only 220 words – pretty good for the queen of long-windedness 🙂 Those of you who have read Punxsutawney Phyllis may recognize the familiarity of the opening lines 🙂

Now, here is the question: I may have revealed something about myself that isn’t strictly true (actually, of course I have, because the rules required one lie!) Can you guess what it is? The answer will be in my next post, but I will look forward to your guesses! If you want to, feel free to try to guess the secret, too, and/or follow the guidelines listed above and submit your own list/paragraph/story/poem in the comments for us to enjoy and guess at if you’re not already in the Crusader Challenge (because I know a bunch of my followers are very creative and not crusaders!)

So, see if you can guess and/or add your own attempt!

In The Pink! – A Winner and Some Good News!

February 18, 2011February 15, 201513 Comments

One of my favorite things about blogging – aside from getting to talk with so many interesting people! – is getting to give prizes 🙂

Today, we have a winner in the PENNY LOVES PINK contest. I’ll give you a hint. She (okay, all the entrants were shes, so not much hint so far!) said her favorite pink things were:

1. Laynie! (Even her sling is decorated in pink stickers!)
2. Grapefruit lip gloss from Bath and Body Works.
3. Strawberry Cake, which I made for Laynie’s birthday.
4. Pink cheeks! Is there anything cuter?
5. Flamingos. Call them tacky, but how can you hate anything that is naturally that pink!

Note the reference to the sling? How fitting that the winner should be someone who can use a little pick-me-up this week 🙂 It turns out, the winner (well, actually her daughter) needs a little cheering from a broken collar bone, so isn’t it nice we can help?

In case you haven’t guessed yet, the winner is BECKY! Come on down! Please use the Email me button on the right hand side of the blog to let me know your address (so I can mail your prize) and how you’d like the book signed (so Cori can get it just right :))

Thanks to all the other contestants. I really appreciate your enthusiasm. I wish everyone could win, but alas – not possible. For those who would still like a copy of PENNY or any of Cori’s other books, please visit Cori Doerrfeld on Amazon. And thanks again to Cori for such a terrific interview!

And now, for some other great news in the pink department: April Fool, Phyllis! arrived in the warehouse on Wednesday! Hurray! *cheers and throws confetti* This means that, once they get around to inventory and unpacking boxes, it should be available any time now. So exciting! Keep your eye on Merritt Book Store (likely to have it first), Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, and you could be among the first to have your very own copy 🙂

Here’s a sneak peek 🙂