And welcome back to my little corner of the blogosphere and Would You Read It!
I hope you all had wonderful holidays full of love and family and celebration and other good things!
I think it’s important to bring it to your attention that today is National Whipped Cream Day. I believe we can all agree that everything is better with whipped cream on it since people put it on everything from fruit to hot chocolate to pancakes and waffles. And I feel in my bones that there is a picture book in the idea of putting whipped cream on things that don’t normally get chosen for the honor. Elephants? Circus tents? Teachers? Pets? Jumbo jets? Sand castles? The moon? A giant striped hot air balloon? Seems like the sky’s the limit! Or maybe how you might make whipped cream if you didn’t have any cream. . . or a traditional way to whip it. . .😊 A little something to get you thinking and maybe help you out on your idea for the day if you’re doing Tara Lazar’s Storystorm this month!
A little Something Chocolate would most certainly fuel our creativity. How about some Peanut Butter Chocolate Half Moons?
Delicious and nutritious! Looks like breakfast to me! 😊
Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Patti who says, “I’m a part-time teacher, looking to make it big and see my name in lights! Just kidding, looking to insert a little humour into a book in a child’s hands 😊”
Find her on the web at: Twitter: Ransonpatti Instagram: ransonpatti
Here is her pitch:
Working Title: Dragon Is Out Of Here
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: Dragon is out of here, leaving his ‘same old’ book and flying off to find a better spot in one of the other books on his shelf. But the grass isn’t any greener with the Big Bad Wolf, the Old Woman in the Shoe, or Sleeping Beauty. After a close call with Old MacDonald, Dragon rediscovers his own story where he can fly, breathe fire, and be his true self.
So what do you think? Would you read it? YES, MAYBE, or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest. If you answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Patti improve her pitch. Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome. (However I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful. I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks! For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It, or on Would You Read It in the dropdown under For Writers in the menu bar above. There are openings in February, so you could get your pitch up pretty soon for helpful feedback and a chance to have it read and commented on my editor Erin Molta!
Patti is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to what ideas I will think up for Storystorm – always such a great way to start the year!
I don’t even have to ask what’s brought you to this neck of the woods today!
Because it’s obvious.
Clearly, you have stopped by because you can’t go another SECOND without knowing what your Snowman Name is!
Have no fear. I am here for you. All you have to do is follow the directions below!
Take it from Star McSnowflake (that would be me ☃️): there’s nothing like a Snowman Name to put you in the holiday mood!
Also, if you want to go the route of last year’s “What Holiday Picture Book Are You” theme, once you’ve discovered your Snowman Name, you can use it as the main character of your next picture book! As in The minute Star McSnowflake slid into the bubble bath she knew it had been a bad idea to accept Snickerdoodle’s dare.
So there you go! The gift that keeps on giving. A Snowman Name AND a character for your next book!
Please feel free to share your Snowman Name in the comments so we all know what to call you 😊
Happy Holidays from Star McSnowflake and her sidekick snow dogs, Candy and Dreidel McSlushy! See you in 2022!
OH!
Except I forgot one little thing. . .
You’d probably like to know who won the
The11th Annual Holiday Writing Contest
~ for children’s writers ~
As always, I was thrilled to see so many wonderful stories! Really! It is amazing and inspiring, not to mention VERY entertaining! There is just so much talent out there amongst you all!
I want to reiterate how difficult it was too choose! There were so many amazing entries. Really. I could find at least something terrific about every single one. The sheer volume of entries meant that many good ones had to be cut. So if your entry wasn’t a finalist, please don’t feel bad. There was a huge amount of competition. Judging, no matter how hard we try to be objective, is always subjective at a certain point – we all have our own preferences for what makes a great story. And within the parameters of the contest, sometimes we have to put aside a great story because it did less of a good job meeting the contest criteria. The fact that you didn’t make the final cut DOES NOT mean you didn’t write a great story. Everyone who plonked their butt in a chair and worked hard to write a story for this contest is a winner! You showed up. You did your best work. You practiced your craft. You wrote to specifications and a deadline. You bravely shared your writing with the world. And you have a brand new story that is now yours to revise, expand, and polish if you like and maybe submit at some point to a magazine or as a PB manuscript. A lot of people have successfully done that at this point – we have quite a few books in the world that were born in Halloweensie, Holiday, or Valentiny Contests, plus a chapter book series that came out of the Fractured Fairy Tale Contest one spring! And not necessarily from people who were finalists – it’s about the idea and what you do with it. So bravo to everyone who entered!
But as you well know by now, with large entry numbers, all of high quality, come hard choices. My assistant judges and I worked hard to winnow the total down to a manageable number of finalists that we felt were truly all-around deserving of that distinction, and those were the ones we presented to you on Tuesday for your vote.
There were, however, a few entries that barely missed being finalists, and many other entries that were outstanding in certain areas even though they might not have qualified all-around for one reason or another, or that the judges couldn’t reach a consensus on.
So my assistant judges and I would like to award recognition, a lovely badge, and a small prize to the following authors for the following merits:
1. For Honorable Mention In The Competition As A Whole: (entries we truly wrestled with not including in the finalists!)
Mia Geiger – Mew Year’s Contest Deborah Foster – Ernie And The Science Fair Lauri Meyers – Witch’s Gingerbread House Royal Baysinger – Upon A Winter Solstice Katie Brandyberry – The Tastiest Treat Christmas Contest Vashti Verbowski – Christmas Carrots Marty B. – Katie’s Snow Creation
2. For Meaningful Message:
Ingrid Boydston – Christmas Isn’t Cassie Silva – The Most Beautiful Snowflake Of All Marty Findley – What Christmas Means To Me Karen J Moore – Lily And The Winter Festival Amanda Sherlock – The Contest
3. For Great Use of Language:
Allison Stick – Solstice Skaters
4. For Nice Use Of Cultural Elements:
Lynn Grace Wong – Parol: This Little Star Of Mine Carmen Castillo Gilbert – Andres’ Blue Ribbon Shariffa Keshavjee – 2021 Monkey Merry Xmas Judy Abelove Shemtob – The Winning Recipe
5. For Humor:
Becky Goodman – O Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree Kelsey E. Gross – The Cookie Contest Caper
6. For Well Written Siblings:
Dina Silverberg – Asher’s Chanukiah Sarah Demarest Guthrie – The Clean-Out-The-Clutter Contest
7. For Great Use of Format:
Tiffany Hanson – Reindeer Games (sportscaster format)
Congratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories! You may all email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com subject line Prize Winner to collect your award badge and prize, which is ten dollars (and possibly a picture book too, please ask when you contact me) for category 1 – Honorable Mention in the Competition as a Whole – and five dollars for all the other categories, in a format that can be emailed for you to put toward something you’d like at a large online store (and I’m being cryptic because if I’m not I get a ton of problematic spam mail, but hopefully you can figure it out. The store starts with the letter A 😊 )
And now…
…the moment you’ve all been waiting for…
The announcement of the WINNERS OF THE 2021 HOLIDAY CONTEST as voted on by you, our esteemed readers!!!
rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat
DDDRRRUUUMMM RRROOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!
In First Place…
Winner of the whole shebang…
who gets first choice of all the prizes…
Daniella Kaufman-Schloss for A Christmas Pickle Story!!!
Congratulations, Daniella, on a fun, kid-friendly, loving story that was clearly very popular with a LOT of readers!!!
In Second Place
Lisa Varchol Perron for Tree Of The Year
Congratulations, Lisa, on a sweet, touching story that truly celebrates the spirit of the holidays! You get to pick your prize after Daniella.
In Third Place
Amy Leskowski for So You Think You Can Prance
Congratulations, Amy, on a delightful entry that made us want to get up and dance! You get to pick your prize after Daniella and Lisa.
In Fourth Place
Paul Kurtz for Cinder-latke
Congratulations, Paul, on you entertaining twist on Cinderella. You had us at the title, and left us longing for latkes! You get to pick your prize after Daniella, Lisa, and Amy!
In Fifth Place
Emily Durant for A Miscalculation
Congratulations, Emily, on a very well written instruction guide to building snow forts. . .along with the caution to make sure they’re within range of each other 😊 You get to pick your prize after Daniella, Lisa, Amy, and Paul!
In Sixth Place…
Jesse Anna Bornemann for Christmas. . .By A Nose
So much fun, Jesse! We loved all the “nose” alternatives! You get to pick your prize after Daniella, Lisa, Amy, Paul, and Emily!
In Seventh Place…
Jennifer Lowe for The Perfect Star
Congratulations, Jennifer! We loved the idea of a star catching contest, and how nicely you showed the nature of sibling relationships! I’m sure you get the idea of how the prize picking goes by now 😊
In Eighth Place…
Judy Sobanski for A Creature Was Stirring
Such a lovely, sweet story, Judy, in such perfect rhyme! You get to pick after Jennifer 😊
In Ninth Place
Marta Cutler for Bear’s Christmas Cookie
Congratulations, Marta, on your entertaining entry. We loved how the other contestants worked so carefully on their cookies, and how Bear just piled everything on his and then asked with such sincere hope if he had won 😊 You get to pick after Judy 😊
In Tenth Place
Lindsey Hobson for Tree Number Nine
Congratulations, Marta, on a sweet entry that tugged at our heartstrings when we realized why it was so important to Sofie to win the contest! You get to pick your prize after Marta!
In Eleventh Place
Nicole Loos Miller for Simply The Best
Congratulations, Nicole, on your creation of a likable, relatable character who was consistently happy for her friends’ success even though she herself didn’t win. You get to pick after Chelsea!
In Twelfth Place
Kelly Clasen for Phoebe’s Snowperson
Congratulations. Kelly, on a wonderfully original way to make a snowman – how creative Phoebe was to make one out of books! You get to pick after Nicole!
All the winners should email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com with the subject heading Prize Winner so we can work out details for you to receive your prizes! (The sooner the better!) And for your convenience, the whole prize list is included at the bottom of this post.
Congratulations again to all our winners – it was a stiff competition!! – and congratulations to EVERYONE who wrote and entered a story in the contest. You all deserve a huge round of applause and a shower of holiday confetti!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this contest SO MUCH FUN, whether by writing an entry, reading people’s stories, leaving comments for the authors, and/or voting in the finals, or by donating a prize. It’s because of all of you that this contest was such a success, so many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart!
As I… hmm… maybe didn’t mention…? but seem to do every year so you’re probably not surprised, I’m taking a little blogging break so I can spend time with my family. So I will see you all in a couple weeks – most probably the first week of January 😊
Before we part company, I want to wish you all a happy and healthy holiday filled with love, laughter, joy, and family, and a happy, healthy and successful new year! It is a pleasure and a privilege to get to spend time with you all, and I’m happy and grateful to know each and every one of you!
Looking forward to all the things we’ll do in 2022!
Happy Holidays, and all best wishes for a wonderful New Year!!!
The Prizes!: Oh! Such wonderful prizes! All I can say is, how lucky are we to be part of such a talented and generous community that offers such amazing prizes!
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for birthday, holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, recommending them for school and library visits, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming or Non-rhyming, Fiction or Nonfiction) with a recording of first read-through by children’s author and poet Sarah Meade, contributor to HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING (Pomelo Books, 2020!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming) PLUS Zoom Chat from developmental editor Lou Piccolo! Lou studied English Literature, creative writing and teaching at university in South Africa. After working as an EFL teacher in France for twenty years, she studied proofreading and editing before becoming a developmental editor of children’s and young adult’s literature for independent authors. She is a graduate of Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Language Lab – Punching Up Prose With Poetry course and Making Picture Book Magic, the in-house writer for Editions Entrefilet’s language-learning magazine ‘Go English Kids’ for children of 8-12 in France, and a traditionally published author of MG and YA fiction with Burlington Books.
Developmental Editor, Lou Piccolo
⭐️ Connecting With School Librarians!Fabulous Opportunity for published or soon to be published authors! Winner’s Choice of either a Zoom or phone chat about how to connect with school librarians and get their ear or an Ask Me Anything Zoom or phone chat about K-8th grade author visits from a librarian’s POV from Kathy Halsey. Kathy Halsey is Storyteller Academy’s Community Manager and Ambassador. She enjoys writing picture books, humor, and nonfiction. Kathy’s active in SCBWI and blogs with other kid lit writers on the GROG. She serves on the Choose to Read Ohio Advisory Council and speaks at educational and literary conferences. Kathy’s a former K-12 school librarian and children’s bookseller. She writes monthly author studies for the Reading for Research Month along with Keila Dawson.
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique(written) PLUS 15 minute Zoom Chat (no nonfiction) from Cindy Williams Schrauben author of THIS COULD BE YOU (Cardinal Rule Press, April 1, 2022)!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Heather Gale, author of HO’ONANI: HULA WARRIOR (Tundra Books, 2019) which was one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Kids 2019, one of the Ontario Library Association’s 2019 Top Ten Titles, Featured on the 2020 Rainbow Book List, Featured on the 2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, and received a Booklist Starred Review!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Maria Marshall! Maria is a children’s author, blogger, and poet passionate about making nature fun for children. She’s a judge for the Cybils Awards and the #50PreciousWords competition. Four of her poems are published in The Best Of Today’s Little Ditty anthologies. When not writing, critiquing, or reading, she bird watches, travels the world, bakes, and hikes. The Picture Book BuzzWebsiteFacebookTwitterInstagram
Maria Marshall
⭐️ A Reversible Handmade Christmas Stocking or Other Winter or Holiday-Themed Gift Bag from Karen Gebbia PLUS a Personalized Signed Copy of CURIOSITY’S DISCOVERY by Nancy Derey Rileyto fill it!
a Personalized Signed Copy of eitherLISTEN (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books 2021) orTWO DOGS ON A TRIKE (Harry N. Abrams 2020) (Winner’s Choice!) by Gabi Snyder
This is no time for play! This is no time for fun! This is no time for games! There is voting to be done! (just go with it and pretend voting is only one syllable 😊) or There are prizes to be won! (no, that doesn’t work either, although it’s true!)
Maybe we should go with:
Every writer in Bookville liked contests a lot. . . But the judges who judged all the entries did NOT! (although to be fair, we love the contests and we love reading the entries, we just hate having to cut them to get down to 12!)
The point is, we have done our valiant best to come up with 12 finalists (and let me tell you, it was a Herculean task!) and the time has come for you to read the entries that made the finals, choose your favorite, and vote for it!
Normally, I’d waste a little time with tomfoolery, but it’s been a desperate few days (and nights) of entry judging, which means not always paying as close attention to the puppy as I should, which means there is carpet steam-cleaning to be done. (Maybe I should have found a way to finish up my little stanza with that!)
So let’s just get right to it!
I know these entries are a little longer than the Halloweensie ones, so I truly thank you for taking the time to read through them and vote for your favorite. You won’t be sorry. They are all fabulous and I know you’ll enjoy them!
I will say THANK YOU to everyone who wrote an entry, took time to read other people’s entries and leave supportive comments, shared the contest with friends and family so that all our talented writers could get more readers, is taking the time now to read and vote, and who generally helped to make the contest so much fun, but I’m going to skip reiterating the judging criteria (you can check for it HERE) and save all my usual difficulty-of-choosing stuff for the winners post on Friday so you can get right to the entries!
Please read through the following 12 entries and vote for your favorite in the poll below by Thursday December 16 at 7PM Eastern so I can announce the winners on Friday! As always, I encourage you to share today’s link everywhere you want so that as many people as possible can read these stories and vote, but please do not attempt to influence the voting in any way. It is supposed to be based on merit, not on who can get the most people to come vote for their entry because they’re your friends and relations or they owe you for that time you babysat their kids 😊 If you’re a finalist, please don’t broadcast that on social media – just ask people to come read all the entries and vote for their favorite.
So here we go! Your 12 Finalists for
The11th Annual Holiday Writing Contest
~ for children’s writers ~
1 –
2 – Phoebe’s Snowperson
Outside the city library, a flier flits in the wind. “Snowperson Contest!” it announces, catching Phoebe’s eye. She reads:
Kids, let’s spread a little cheer and deck the library halls with handmade “snow”-people who won’t melt like snowballs!
The prize? Free popsicles at the pool this summer.
“Yes, please!” Phoebe exclaims.
Phoebe hurries toward home, her imagination firing with every step. What can she use to build a snowman? Perhaps she should create a snowgirl? How much glitter does she have? Is there any white paint in the garage?
“Hi, Mom! Bye, Mom!” Phoebe yells and dashes to her room. It might be December, but she can practically taste the watermelon-cherry-coconut flavors of summertime.
But when Phoebe starts to gather materials, she feels doubtful. She looks at the pillows scattered about and wonders how she’ll make a snowperson that stands up—and stands out.
Phoebe starts to hum an old song about a snowman who came to life. “He had a magical hat!” she recalls and races to her closet.
Then she remembers a story about snowmen’s nighttime adventures and another about a silly snowman in a hot tub. She smiles.
“The snowmen are in my books. What if my books are my snowman?”
Phoebe lays a chapter book flat with the pages facing out. She stacks on a fat collection of fairy tales and then some tattered picture books. Before long, a snowman built out of stories stares back at her.
“Perfection,” Phoebe whispers.
3 – A CHRISTMAS PICKLE STORY
Sentimental ornaments trim our tree high to low, but Christmas Eve tradition calls for one to steal the show.
Dad dons a scruffy Santa hat and gathers us around. “I’ve picked the pickle’s hiding spot! It’s waiting to be found.”
“Dance! Prance! Blitz and dash! All may search until the finder claims the first gift and the title of ‘Big Dill’.”
Grammy prods each shimmery bough. Mom browses round and through. Baby pulls off ornaments (to get a better view).
I snug myself beneath a branch to peer up from the bottom. A glint of green. A clumpy curve. Yes! I think. I got ’em.
I pluck the pickle from its place, eager to claim my prize, then notice Dad off to the side with sparkle in his eyes.
His festive fuss for all of us makes everybody grin. It doesn’t seem to bother him that he will never win.
I put the pickle back, but shift it where no one will see. Then grumble, “Oh by golly, there’s no pickle on this tree!”
“Ho ho, oh? Check near the stump–” That’s when Dad’s eyes meet mine. I toss a wink and, in a blink, Dad’s rummaging through pine.
He tugs back on a tree skirt bump revealing what I’d done. The pickle found, I quickly cheer, “Gosh, Dad, looks like you’ve won!”
He wraps us all up in a hug and whispers in my ear, “You can have the first gift because I’ve got mine right here.”
4 – SIMPLY THE BEST
Christmas was Maise’s favorite time of year. Awe-inspiring. Wonderful. Magical. Simply the best. Maise wanted to be awe-inspiring, wonderful and magical, too.
Maise entered the Gingerbread House Decorating Contest. Her house had icing and gumdrops! Sprinkles and sparkles! It even had an entire reindeer family reunion! “It’s very…. creative,” said the judges. But, Catalina won with a classic design. “Awe-inspiring,” Maise told her.
Maise entered the Holiday Baking Contest. Peppermint sticks! Mocha melts! Orange and ginger shortbread! “Quite the variety,” observed the judges. But Lester won with his Yule Log cake. “Wonderful,” said Maise, licking her lips.
Maise entered the Ice Skating Contest. Wearing a very sparkly leotard, she skated forward! And backward! She even did a twirl! But Jozef had a routine that was…well… “Magical,” admired Maise.
Maise smiled. She hadn’t won any ribbons but it had still been a delightful day.
“We have one last ribbon to award,” announced the judges. “The award for the Most Holiday Spirit goes to… Maise!” “Awesome,” said Catalina. “Wonderful,” said Lester. “Magical,” smiled Jozef. And to Maise, it was simply the best.
5 – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN PRANCE
“Places, Rudolph. Jump in line.” (That’s me! Contestant #9.)
“Welcome back to North Pole Live: ‘So You Think You Can Prance,’ season five. I’m your host, the famous Prancer. Please welcome back our champion dancer! He’s shimmied chimneys—Seoul to Atlanta: the man, the myth, the legend—SANTA!”
Santa’s back? Last season’s best! His reindeer too? I should’ve guessed. Dasher coasts. Dancer whirls. (Prancer hosts.) Vixen twirls. Comet? She was born a star. Cupid is on point, so far. Donner brings the beat, the boom. Blitzen’s jig ignites the room. Maybe I’ll sit out this year. With four left hooves, I’m bottom tier.
Eight contestants soar. I sink. They float. I flail. They curve. I kink. They sway. I swoop. They strut. I stop. They spring. I sprawl. They dip. I drop. Showing off, they’re busting moves, I spin and— SPLAT. I’ve busted hooves!
“Oh, DEAR!” I hear. Yes, I’m aware— my spill was broadcast on the air. The crimson of my well-known nose extends until my body glows. Someone whispers, “not a dancer.” Reindeer snicker—even Prancer! “Can klutzy caribous compete?” My antlers shrink. My legs retreat.
Halfway out the door, I hear, “Rudolph! I need YOU this year! Ho-ho-ho! That grit! That glow! Prancer, change my choreo’: Substitute those samba mixes. No more formal foxtrot fixes. Rudi’s riffs will spark my set— a glow-in-the-dark-breakdance duet!”
*North Pole Live rewrote its jingle to feature Ru’ and Kris-Kross-Kringle, the prime-time prancing pair sensation, who tours one eve—to every nation.
6 – Cinder-Latke
Cinder-Latke puts down her scrub brush and reads a letter on the kitchen table.
—EVERYONE INVITED TO ROYAL PALACE HANUKKAH PARTY—
—Prince Nudnik Will Wed Latke-Making Contest Winner—
Cinder-Latke sighs. “I wish I could go like Pishka and Kishka, my stepsisters—”
Pink lightning FLASHES—
A puff of smoke morphs into Fairy-Godmother Yenta. “—and you will!”
Yenta waves her wand—
Cinder-Latke rides in a gold carriage wearing a sparkling diamond-studded gown.
“The spell ends at midnight.” Yenta grins. “Have fun!”
At the palace, all the princess-wannabes cook potato-pancakes like crazy.
Finally, Prince Nudnik tastes Cinder-Latke’s latke. “It’s perfection—I love you!”
The tower clock chimes midnight—Cinder-Latke flees.
Next morning, Prince Nudnik searches every house in the kingdom.
“Ugh!” He spits out Pishka’s latke and gags on Kishka’s. “One’s heavier than lead and the other tastes like moldy sweat-socks.”
An irresistible aroma tickles Prince Nudnik’s nose, luring him into the kitchen.
Cinder-Latke flips her latke onto a dish. “I knew you’d come.”
Prince Nudnik, drooling, bites into the latke. “Heavenly—” He sinks to one knee and whips out a ring with a gleaming latke-sized diamond. “Please, be my Latke-Princess!”
Cinder-Latke and Prince Nudnik wed on the eighth night of Hanukkah and dance the hora around the menorah.
After the honeymoon, they open a restaurant—
—PRINCESS CINDER-LATKE’S LATKE PALACE—
—and dine on latkes happily ever after!
(Pishka and Kishka become fabulously wealthy businesswomen selling their latkes as cannonballs and bug-repellent.)
7 – Christmas…by a Nose
Newspapers trumpeted! Radios blared! Cable news cried in alarm! BIG CARROT SHORTAGE REPORTED TODAY: CHAOS ERUPTS ON CLAUS FARM
And, indeed, Claus was troubled. Perplexed, some might say. To friends, he appeared worried sick. (This was Sam Claus, who harvested just up the way from his jollier brother, Old Nick.)
Christmas was coming, And, with it, Claus knew, The first of the season’s big snows. But if carrots were lacking, Joy would fade quick… For no snowman could count on a nose!
Assistance was needed— “A contest!” Claus thought. No sense in lazing about. “A trophy” he called. “To the barnyard friend here Who can find the best substitute snout!”
“An apple!” said Horse. (Goat and Donkey agreed.) “It’s festive and rosy to boot.” “But it’s round,” Claus reminded, “And, also, it’s red. A not-at-all carrot-like fruit.”
“Maybe corn?” piped up Chicken. “Oh, yes!” Pig enthused. “I’ve got a few corncobs right here.” “Not bad,” Claus conceded. “A veggie, it’s true. But we need a good nose, not an ear.”
“’Wait, wait!” squeaked a voice. “Down here, take a look! May I share my idea with you, please? You need something pointy and orange-ish, and so… Why not try wedges of cheese?”
“Yes, CHEESE!” Claus applauded. “A trophy for Mouse! Or perhaps a large crumb would be better. And while we’re addressing the subject of snacks: …do we know if the reindeer like cheddar?”
8 – TREE NUMBER NINE
Sofie could barely contain her excitement. Today was Noel Knob’s first ever Christmas Tree Decorating Contest!
She had been gathering decorations for weeks —
Berries from the holly bush next door.
Strings of garland strung with white, fluffy popcorn.
Bows made from leftover ribbon.
She packed everything in her backpack and headed to the town square.
There, evergreen trees lined the lawn. The smell of fir, spruce, and pine tickled her nose.
At the sign-in table, Sofie was assigned tree number 9.
She got right to work — a bow here, berries there, garland wrapped around and around, and a big pinecone right on top!
Proudly, she stood beside her tree. But soon her shoulders sagged.
Around her, trees twinkled with tiny lights, dazzled with store-bought decorations, and on top of each tree was a shining star.
She glanced at the ceramic teapot on the prize table and felt her hopes evaporating like steam.
Zipping up her bag, Sofie headed home.
Behind her, the judges were ready to announce the winners.
“Third place goes to… Tree 21, for most decorations!”
Everyone clapped. Sofie kept walking.
“Second place goes to… Tree 7 for most sparkly!”
Everyone cheered. Sofie kept walking.
“And first place goes to… Tree 9 for most creative!”
Everyone celebrated. Stunned, Sofie hurried to the stage.
“Which prize would you like?”
“The teapot, please.”
When she got home, Sofie carefully wrapped the teapot in red and green paper.
Then, she filled out the gift tag —
To Mom From Sofie MERRY CHRISTMAS!
9 – A CREATURE WAS STIRRING
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, Every creature was stirring, including, Wee Mouse. Stirring and blending, creating sweet treats for a contest to see which ones Santa will eat. “Don’t even bother,” said Pup. “He’ll choose mine.” “I don’t think so,” purred Kit. “Because mine are divine.” But Wee Mouse said nothing. Her movements were nimble as she tossed her ingredients into a thimble. She had flour in her whiskers, some dough on her nose, and a drop of molasses had dripped on two toes. She placed all her cookies in a minuscule sack, climbed up to the table then…UH OH! Fell back! The cookies all crumbled except for one bite. “I’ve barely a taste for Santa tonight!” Wee Mouse dried her tears, climbed back up to the platter, feeling her one little morsel must matter. “It’s totally tiny,” said Pup. “Not ornate. Santa will think it’s a crumb on the plate. Mine have fun sprinkles on top of red icing.” Kit purred, “That brown dot? Well, it’s just not enticing.” Wee Mouse ignored them and went straight to bed, exhausted yet hopeful for what lay ahead. Christmas morning she woke to a gift and a note. She opened it up to see what Santa wrote: “Dear Wee Mouse, My thanks for your cookie so sweet. It was far and away my favorite treat. And the thing that I think set it so far above all the rest was your secret ingredient—LOVE!”
10 – BEAR’S CHRISTMAS COOKIE
Of all the holiday traditions, Bear’s favourite was the cookie decorating contest. Hedgehog always won. This year Bear was determined to beat him. He’d been planning his cookie for months.
The animals lined up with their cookies displayed. The crows approached. They were notoriously picky judges. They started with Rabbit.
Rabbit had decorated his cookie with a garden of sugar spun carrots and roses.
Badger had created a glittering forest of silver and gold gumdrops and candy cane stars.
Hedgehog had outdone himself. On his cookie, he’d crafted a miniature ice-rink with tiny skaters, each holding cups of hot cocoa. You could even see the marshmallows.
Bear was last. The Crows approached his cookie. Their black eyes widened. Towering above them was layer upon layer of icing, chocolate, candy cane, marshmallows, toffee, sprinkles, sugar plums, and whipped cream. At the top, they could just make out a Christmas angel spinning in the wind.
“Did I win?” asked Bear.
Suddenly the cookie began to wobble. It leaned one way. It leaned the other.
“Look out!” cried the judges.
SPAAAALOOSH!!!!
Every inch of fur, feathers, and forest was drenched in icing, chocolate, whipped cream, and candy. The angel landed on someone’s head. Badger licked sprinkles off his coat. Rabbit brushed marshmallows from his nose into his mouth. Hedgehog wiped icing out of his eyes. He licked his paws with gusto.
“Actually,” he said, “I think we all won!” And that day they all enjoyed the most glorious candy feast, thanks to Bear.
11 – A Miscalculation
*Attention all children! Come out in the snow And bring all your shovels and gear Join in the sport, And build your best fort For the holiday contest this year!*
We dig and we pat We scoop and we splat To build the best fortress of all No torrent of snow, No, nothing they throw Will knock down our unyielding wall!
Two towering turrets Three tactical windows Four bunkers built into the floor Snowballs piled high, Stacked up to the sky There must be two hundred or more!
We hold up a finger So that we can tell Which direction the cold wind is blowing We take up our stance, They don’t stand a chance Let’s get this tournament going!
Whoosh, whoosh, THUD, THUD Oh no, wait a minute! We should have seen this from the start The snowballs we chuck Don’t have any luck— Our snow forts are too far apart!
12 –
WOW!
Now YOU get to enjoy the agony of decision as you try to choose which of those amazing entries to vote for!
Please vote for the entry you feel deserves to win in the poll below by 7PM EST Thursday December 16th.
Tune in Friday December 17th to see THE WINNERS!!! – same bat time, same bat station 😊
Thank you all so much for taking the time to write (if you did), read, and vote! These contests simply wouldn’t be what they are without all of you!
I truly cannot wait to see who you choose as the winner! Good luck!!! 😊
⭐️Deck the Halls! ⭐️ Light the menorah! ⭐️ Fill the Kikombe cha Umoja! ⭐️
It’s time for . . .
The11th Annual Holiday Writing Contest
~ for children’s writers ~
The Contest: Write a children’s holiday story (children here defined as age 12 and under) about a Holiday Contest!
Your contest can be anything you want! Baking, wrapping, decorating (tree or home), raising money or collecting gifts for those in need, ice skating, sledding, caroling, fancy dress, snowman or fort building. . . sky’s the limit! But it must be about a holiday contest!
Your story may be poetry or prose, silly or serious or sweet, religious or not, based on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year’s or whatever you celebrate during the Holiday Season, but is not to exceed 250 words (I know! So much freedom after the Halloweensie Contest 😊 ) (It can be as short as you like (the judges will be grateful 😊 , you are welcome and encouraged to write shorter, but no more than 250! Title not included in word count.) The field is wide open! Have fun! The more creative the better! No illustration notes please. (And yes, if you feel compelled to submit more than one entry you may, just remember you’re competing against yourself!)
Post: Your entry should be posted between right now this very second and Thursday December 9th at 11:59 PM EST, and must be posted below in the comment section of this post. All entries should include a title, byline (people always ask what this is – it means who the entry was written by, so, by Suzy Q. Writer or whoever 😊) and word count. You are welcome to also post your entries on your own blogs and include your blog address with your entry here if you’d like to encourage people to come visit your blog, but your entry must be posted in the comment section of this post or it will not be counted because we won’t see it. This post will remain up for your reading pleasure until I post the finalists. There will be no regular posts (Tuesday Debut, Would You Read It, or Perfect Picture Book) for the duration of the contest so everyone will have plenty of time to visit and enjoy. If you have trouble commenting, you can email your entry to me and I will post it for you. Please copy and paste your entry with word count and byline into the body of the email – NO ATTACHMENTS please.
The Judging: My lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to approximately 12 finalists. In the interest of finishing up the contest in a timely fashion so everyone can go about their holidays, we will do our best to post the finalists here by Tuesday December 14th for you to vote on for a winner. (But it almost always seems to end up taking us longer. . . so it might be a day or two later.) The vote will be closed on Thursday December 16th at 5 PM EST. Whoever gets the most votes will be first and so on down to twelfth place (or wherever we place to), and the winners will be announced on Friday December 17th. (These dates are subject to adjustment if it takes the judges longer than we anticipate to get the judging completed.)
Judging criteria will be as follows:
1. Kid-appeal! – These stories are intended for a young audience (ages 12 and under), so we’re looking for stories that children will enjoy and relate to.
2. Holiday Contest! – the rules state a Holiday Contest story, so it must be crystal clear that the story is about a contest that in some way relates to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year’s, or whatever seasonal winter holiday you choose. The story must center on the contest – the contest must not be just an offhand mention/reference in a story about something else.
3. Quality of story – entries must tell a story, including a main character of some kind and a true story arc even if it’s tiny 😊 Entries must not be merely descriptions or mood pieces.
4. Quality of Writing: check your spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. If you’re going to rhyme, give us your best 😊 Overall writing quality and use of language are also important. Please proofread!
5. Originality and creativity – because that is often what sets one story above another.
6. PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! Large numbers of entries make it easy to cut entries that haven’t been entered as we asked.
The Prizes!: Oh! Such wonderful prizes! All I can say is, how lucky are we to be part of such a talented and generous community that offers such amazing prizes!
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for birthday, holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, recommending them for school and library visits, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming or Non-rhyming, Fiction or Nonfiction) with a recording of first read-through by children’s author and poet Sarah Meade, contributor to HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING (Pomelo Books, 2020!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming) PLUS Zoom Chat from developmental editor Lou Piccolo! Lou studied English Literature, creative writing and teaching at university in South Africa. After working as an EFL teacher in France for twenty years, she studied proofreading and editing before becoming a developmental editor of children’s and young adult’s literature for independent authors. She is a graduate of Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Language Lab – Punching Up Prose With Poetry course and Making Picture Book Magic, the in-house writer for Editions Entrefilet’s language-learning magazine ‘Go English Kids’ for children of 8-12 in France, and a traditionally published author of MG and YA fiction with Burlington Books.
Developmental Editor, Lou Piccolo
⭐️ Connecting With School Librarians!Fabulous Opportunity for published or soon to be published authors! Winner’s Choice of either a Zoom or phone chat about how to connect with school librarians and get their ear or an Ask Me Anything Zoom or phone chat about K-8th grade author visits from a librarian’s POV from Kathy Halsey. Kathy Halsey is Storyteller Academy’s Community Manager and Ambassador. She enjoys writing picture books, humor, and nonfiction. Kathy’s active in SCBWI and blogs with other kid lit writers on the GROG. She serves on the Choose to Read Ohio Advisory Council and speaks at educational and literary conferences. Kathy’s a former K-12 school librarian and children’s bookseller. She writes monthly author studies for the Reading for Research Month along with Keila Dawson.
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique(written) PLUS 15 minute Zoom Chat (no nonfiction) from Cindy Williams Schrauben author of THIS COULD BE YOU (Cardinal Rule Press, April 1, 2022)!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Heather Gale, author of HO’ONANI: HULA WARRIOR (Tundra Books, 2019) which was one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Kids 2019, one of the Ontario Library Association’s 2019 Top Ten Titles, Featured on the 2020 Rainbow Book List, Featured on the 2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, and received a Booklist Starred Review!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Maria Marshall! Maria is a children’s author, blogger, and poet passionate about making nature fun for children. She’s a judge for the Cybils Awards and the #50PreciousWords competition. Four of her poems are published in The Best Of Today’s Little Ditty anthologies. When not writing, critiquing, or reading, she bird watches, travels the world, bakes, and hikes. The Picture Book BuzzWebsiteFacebookTwitterInstagram
Maria Marshall
⭐️ A Reversible Handmade Christmas Stocking or Other Winter or Holiday-Themed Gift Bag from Karen Gebbia PLUS a Personalized Signed Copy of CURIOSITY’S DISCOVERY by Nancy Derey Rileyto fill it!
a Personalized Signed Copy of eitherLISTEN (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books 2021) orTWO DOGS ON A TRIKE (Harry N. Abrams 2020) (Winner’s Choice!) by Gabi Snyder
With so many great prizes up for grabs I hope there will be a lot of entries – the more the merrier! And you’ve still got a couple days to write, so you can squeeze in under the wire if you haven’t written yet. Feel free to spread the word to your writing friends as well. And your reading friends – parents, teachers, etc. The more people who read and enjoy your stories, the better!!!
Contest Entrants, remember you MUST post your entry in the comment section below and include title, byline, and word count.
Eager Readers – just go along the list of links below, click on them (they’ll take you directly to whichever story you click on), and enjoy the stories!
It’s going to be the last PPBF for 2021, as the Holiday Contest (guidelines on that link if you’re interested in entering – lots of fantastic prizes!) opens next week and is going to keep us busy for the usable rest of December! Anyone who isn’t running a Holiday Contest and continues to post Perfect Picture Books for the next couple weeks is welcome to add their titles to today’s form or to the one I post in the first week of January! 😊
I love the book I’m sharing today for many reasons, not least of which is that I happen to have a newly adopted shelter puppy who is learning how to behave (although his challenge will be the Christmas tree, not the dreidel, menorah, and latkes 😊!)
Title: Latke, The Lucky Dog
Written By: Ellen Fischer
Illustrated By: Tiphanie Beeke
Publisher: Kar-Ben Publishing, August 2014, fiction
Suitable For Ages: 2-8
Themes/Topics: Holidays (Hanukkah), animal rescue, pets, family
text copyright Ellen Fischer 2014, illustration copyright Tiphanie Beeke 2014, Kar-Ben Publishing
Opening: “I am one lucky dog. Imagine a mutt like me, picked as a Hanukkah present. It happened one day in December when a family walked into the shelter. A mom, a dad, and two kids – Zoe and Zach.”
Brief Synopsis: (from Horn Book Magazine starred review) “On the first night of Hanukkah, a family adopts a little golden-brown dog and names it Latke. As the family celebrates the Festival of Lights, Latke joins in, thinking, ‘I am one lucky dog!’ But he has a lot to learn about how to behave.”
text copyright Ellen Fischer 2014, illustration copyright Tiphanie Beeke 2014, Kar-Ben Publishing
text copyright Ellen Fischer 2014, illustration copyright Tiphanie Beeke 2014, Kar-Ben Publishing
Why I Like This Book: This book gives a nice glimpse of a loving family and the traditions of Hanukkah from the point of view of a newly adopted shelter dog. Latke, the dog, has a lot to learn about how to behave. He helps himself to the sufganiyot (Hebrew for donuts), unwraps the gifts on the floor, chews the dreidel, knocks the applesauce off the table, chews the menorah candles, and slobbers all over the gelt (gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins), but luckily his new family is very understanding and they give him a Hanukkah gift of his own – a chew toy 😊 The story is warm, and the art a perfect accompaniment sensitively showing the dog as he tries to learn to do what is right. I love that not only does the reader get a sense of what Hanukkah is like, but is also shown that although a new animal family member might not behave perfectly at first, it is important to give everyone time to adjust and learn. A lovely story for all young readers/listeners!
text copyright Ellen Fischer 2014, illustration copyright Tiphanie Beeke 2014, Kar-Ben Publishing
text copyright Ellen Fischer 2014, illustration copyright Tiphanie Beeke 2014, Kar-Ben Publishing
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
Welcome to the last Would You Read It Wednesday of 2021!
By this time next week, we’ll be all-in on the Holiday Contest, and that will pretty much keep us occupied until school is out and we’re all up to our ears in holiday prep, travel, family and friend get-togethers, baking, cooking, and wrapping…all with kids underfoot 😊 Busy and wild, but just the best, isn’t it?
In order to fuel up for all that, I think we’d better get right to Something Chocolate! I don’t think we can go wrong with Caramel Mocha Nutella Brownies!
Ooey-gooey-chocolatey goodness! Make some for yourself, make some to give as holiday gifts, sample all of them 😊 Yum! Yum!
Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Emily who says, “I am a physical therapist, writer, rock climber, and animal lover – yes, even rats! (They’re really not so bad. Google ‘cute rat pictures’… aww!) I usually write picture books, but inspired by my pets’ antics, I figured it was time to try my hand at a chapter book series. I had a blast writing the first book, and best of all, I didn’t have to watch the Word Count box tick upwards with a feeling of dread! Thank you so much for your feedback on the pitch! Find me on Twitter @emilydurwrites”
Here is her pitch:
Working Title: The Adventures Of Ricky And Flash: Escape From The City
Age/Genre: ChapterBook (ages 7-9)
The Pitch: After double-crossing Slick, the street-hardened stray cat who rules the alleyways, city rats Ricky and Flash race to leave New York City before they get caught. But where will they go? The brothers have never known anything but city life, and country living comes with its own perils! They try to make a home at Wild Down Farm, but just like in the city… cats rule. When two kittens get trapped, Ricky and Flash have a decision to make—help out the fearsome barn cat who has been stalking them or walk away from both the kittens and their new life on the farm.
So what do you think? Would You Read It? YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest. If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Emily improve her pitch. Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome. (However I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful. I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks! For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on Would You Read it in the dropdown under For Writers in the bar above. There are openings in January, so you could get your pitch up pretty soon for helpful feedback and a chance to have it read and commented on by editor Erin Molta!
Emily is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to baking some ginger cookies because, you know, it’s important to give the oven a warm-up and let it practice a little before the full work of holiday baking begins! Otherwise it might pull a muscle or something 😊
Grab your hot cocoa, everyone! It’s time to gather ’round for Perfect Picture Book Friday!
Although winter (which is on its way if this morning’s temperature is anything to go by! Brrrr!) is not my favorite season, I do love snow! I love how cozy it feels to be indoors with a cup of hot cocoa while the snow falls silently outside the window. I love sledding and making snow-angels, snowman-building and fort-making, getting cold and wet and then coming inside to get warm and dry.
So when I saw this book, I had to read it immediately. And then I had to share it with you because it is so perfect!
Title: A Thing Called Snow
Written & Illustrated By: Yuval Zommer
Publisher: Doubleday Books For Young Readers, Nov. 2, 2021, fiction
Suitable For Ages: 3-7
Themes/Topics: snow, discovery, friendship
text and illustration copyright Yuval Zommer 2021, Doubleday Books for Young Readers
Opening: “Fox and Hare were born in the spring, grew up in the summer, and were the best of friends by autumn.”
Brief Synopsis: Fox and Hare have never seen snow. Wondering what it is like, they travel in search of answers, until at last they get to experience the magic of their first snow themselves.
text and illustration copyright Yuval Zommer 2021, Doubleday Books for Young Readers
text and illustration copyright Yuval Zommer 2021, Doubleday Books for Young Readers
Why I Like This Book: This story is so delightful! It has the feeling of an adventure, as Fox and Hare set off to find out what snow is. There is companionship and friendship, curiosity and discovery, and there are helpful folks along the way. There is the feeling of newness and wonder that kids experience often, since they are just learning about the world and there are so many firsts. Each animal that Fox and Hare encounter tells them one thing about snow which, on its own isn’t quite enough for them to identify it, but when at last they experience snow, both Fox and Hare and the reader can see how each of those things were true but had to be taken all together to understand snow. The art is soft and beautiful and just a perfect accompaniment to the text. All around a book that kids (and their adult readers) will all enjoy!
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
What a busy week it has been! Apparently we’re at Wednesday already, and do you know what that means?
It means that since tomorrow is Thanksgiving I can no longer put off cleaning my house.
I’ve been waiting for it to clean itself.
I’ve been incredibly patient, if I do say so myself.
But at this point I think it’s safe to say it’s not going to happen so, desperate times calling for desperate measures and all that means it’s up to me.
Some people love to clean. I love things to BE clean, I just don’t like to be the one who has to get them that way 😊 When I’m Queen, I’m going to get someone to do it for me 😊 I’ll take care of their horses and they can clean my palace!
Wow. Just thinking about having to clean makes me require Something Chocolate. We better have something good. I think I’ve got just the thing!
I feel fairly confident that with enough of those I can get the house clean 😊
Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Melissa who says, “I have spent the last 15 years living in Tanzania as an English teacher, a journalist and then as a wife, mum and storyteller.”
Find her on the web at Twitter: @MelissaKValente
Here is her pitch:
Working Title: Don’t Think About Lions!
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: DON’T: Told not to do something, our minds often wander to doing that very thing. When mum goes out, she leaves a series of instructions, including: “Don’t think about lions!”, but this cheeky monkey and his renegade bush baby buddy get so focused on meeting a lion that they break all the rules. The refrain ‘what if we just…’? encourages little readers to turn the page and follow these wild risk-takers as they get closer and closer and ultimately learn their lesson, in this 400-word rhyming adventure.
So what do you think? Would You Read It? YES, MAYBE or NO?
If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest. If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Melissa improve her pitch. Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome. (However I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful. I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)
Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks! For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on Would You Read it in the dropdown under For Writers in the bar above. There are openings in January, so you have a little time to polish your pitch before putting it up for helpful feedback and a chance to have it read and commented on by editor Erin Molta!
Melissa is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to seeing lots of family this weekend for Thanksgiving! (Even if it does mean I have to clean the house 😊😊😊)
Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone, and a delicious, delightful, happy, healthy, family Thanksgiving!!! 😊
I was tootling along, minding my own business, when suddenly I realized it’s November 22!
“Holy Flying Reindeer, Batman!” I said to Violet. “Do you understand the implications of this?”
Apparently she thought I was asking her to BE a flying reindeer and felt no urgency whatsoever regarding the situation!
I, on the other hand, understand the urgency all too well!
There are only TWO WEEKS until the opening of the Holiday Contest and you guys need your guidelines so you can put your thinking caps on and start writing!
I tried to get Violet to put HER thinking cap on but she was very uncooperative so I had to fake it. Clearly, she doesn’t like the fake one any more than the real one.
ANYWAY, the point is that somehow November has flown by and it’s time to tell you what you need to know to get started on your Holiday Contest stories!
Ready?
Everything you need to know to about the. . .
11th Annual Holiday Writing Contest
~ for children’s writers ~
The Contest: Write a children’s holiday story (children here defined as age 12 and under) about a Holiday Contest!
Your contest can be anything you want! Baking, wrapping, decorating (tree or home), raising money or collecting gifts for those in need, ice skating, sledding, caroling, fancy dress, snowman or fort building. . . sky’s the limit! But it must be about a holiday contest!
Your story may be poetry or prose, silly or serious or sweet, religious or not, based on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year’s or whatever you celebrate during the Holiday Season, but is not to exceed 250 words (I know! So much freedom after the Halloweensie Contest 😊 ) (It can be as short as you like (the judges will be grateful 😊 , you are welcome and encouraged to write shorter, but no more than 250! Title not included in word count.) The field is wide open! Have fun! The more creative the better! No illustration notes please. (And yes, if you feel compelled to submit more than one entry you may, just remember you’re competing against yourself!)
Post: Your entry should be posted between 12:01 AM EST Tuesday December 7th and Thursday December 9th at 11:59 PM EST, and must be posted in the comment section of the Official Contest Post which will go up here on my blog on Tuesday December 7th. That post will remain up for your reading pleasure until I post the finalists. There will be no regular posts (Tuesday Debut, Would You Read It, or Perfect Picture Book) for the duration of the contest so everyone will have plenty of time to visit and enjoy. If you have trouble commenting, you can email me (we’ll go over this part in more detail on the December 7th post! 😊 ) but do not email me any entries before the opening of the contest on December 7th! They will get lost in the abyss that is my inbox!
The Judging: My lovely assistants and I will narrow down the entrants to approximately 12 finalists. In the interest of finishing up the contest in a timely fashion so everyone can go about their holidays, we will do our best to post the finalists here by Tuesday December 14th for you to vote on for a winner. (But it almost always seems to end up taking us longer. . . so it might be a day or two later.) The vote will be closed on Thursday December 16th at 5 PM EST. Whoever gets the most votes will be first and so on down to twelfth place (or wherever we place to), and the winners will be announced on Friday December 17th. (These dates are subject to adjustment if it takes the judges longer than we anticipate to get the judging completed.)
Judging criteria will be as follows:
1. Kid-appeal! – These stories are intended for a young audience (ages 12 and under), so we’re looking for stories that children will enjoy and relate to.
2. Holiday Contest! – the rules state a Holiday Contest story, so it must be crystal clear that the story is about a contest that in some way relates to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, New Year’s, or whatever seasonal winter holiday you choose. The story must center on the contest – the contest must not be just an offhand mention/reference in a story about something else.
3. Quality of story – entries must tell a story, including a main character of some kind and a true story arc even if it’s tiny 😊 Entries must not be merely descriptions or mood pieces.
4. Quality of Writing: check your spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. If you’re going to rhyme, give us your best 😊 Overall writing quality and use of language are also important. Please proofread!
5. Originality and creativity – because that is often what sets one story above another.
6. PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! Large numbers of entries make it easy to cut entries that haven’t been entered as we asked.
The Prizes!: The prize list is under construction. . . But I wanted to get the guidelines up so you guys would have as much time as possible to work on your stories! Stay tuned for an updated list – I will be adding to and rearranging/redistributing the prize section over the next couple days! 😊
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming or Non-rhyming, Fiction or Nonfiction) with a recording of first read-through by children’s author and poet Sarah Meade, contributor to HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING (Pomelo Books, 2020!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming) PLUS Zoom Chat from developmental editor Lou Piccolo! Lou studied English Literature, creative writing and teaching at university in South Africa. After working as an EFL teacher in France for twenty years, she studied proofreading and editing before becoming a developmental editor of children’s and young adult’s literature for independent authors. She is a graduate of Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Language Lab – Punching Up Prose With Poetry course and Making Picture Book Magic, the in-house writer for Editions Entrefilet’s language-learning magazine ‘Go English Kids’ for children of 8-12 in France, and a traditionally published author of MG and YA fiction with Burlington Books.
Developmental Editor, Lou Piccolo
⭐️ Connecting With School Librarians!Fabulous Opportunity for published or soon to be published authors! Winner’s Choice of either a Zoom or phone chat about how to connect with school librarians and get their ear or an Ask Me Anything Zoom or phone chat about K-8th grade author visits from a librarian’s POV from Kathy Halsey. Kathy Halsey is Storyteller Academy’s Community Manager and Ambassador. She enjoys writing picture books, humor, and nonfiction. Kathy’s active in SCBWI and blogs with other kid lit writers on the GROG. She serves on the Choose to Read Ohio Advisory Council and speaks at educational and literary conferences. Kathy’s a former K-12 school librarian and children’s bookseller. She writes monthly author studies for the Reading for Research Month along with Keila Dawson.
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique(written) PLUS 15 minute Zoom Chat (no nonfiction) from Cindy Williams Schrauben author of THIS COULD BE YOU (Cardinal Rule Press, April 1, 2022)!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Heather Gale, author of HO’ONANI: HULA WARRIOR (Tundra Books, 2019) which was one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Kids 2019, one of the Ontario Library Association’s 2019 Top Ten Titles, Featured on the 2020 Rainbow Book List, Featured on the 2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, and received a Booklist Starred Review!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Maria Marshall! Maria is a children’s author, blogger, and poet passionate about making nature fun for children. She’s a judge for the Cybils Awards and the #50PreciousWords competition. Four of her poems are published in The Best Of Today’s Little Ditty anthologies. When not writing, critiquing, or reading, she bird watches, travels the world, bakes, and hikes. The Picture Book BuzzWebsiteFacebookTwitterInstagram
Maria Marshall
⭐️ A Reversible Handmade Christmas Stocking or Other Winter or Holiday-Themed Gift Gag from Karen Gebbia PLUS a Personalized Signed Copy of CURIOSITY’S DISCOVERY by Nancy Derey Riley to fill it!
⭐️ Personalized Signed Copy of eitherLISTEN (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books 2021) orTWO DOGS ON A TRIKE (Harry N. Abrams 2020) (Winner’s Choice!) by Gabi Snyder
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for birthday, holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, recommending them for school and library visits, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊
Wow! Aren’t we all so glad it’s Friday? Not only is the weekend so close you can taste it, we get a whole stack of Perfect Picture Books to start it off right!
And about time, too, as we missed a few weeks of PPBF for Halloweensie!
(Which reminds me, if you’ve been posting Perfect Picture Books during the weeks I couldn’t put up the list, please feel free to add your back titles to today’s list!)
I have a great book to share today, which I think is just perfect given that the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City is only 6 days away! At this point it’s an oldie, and many of you may have read it, but it’s such a great book I’m sharing it in hopes of introducing it to folks who may not have been reading picture books back in 2011!
Title: Balloons Over Broadway Written and Illustrated By: Melissa Sweet Houghton Mifflin Books For Children, November, 2011, Non-Fiction Biography/History
Suitable For: ages 4-8
Themes/Topics: art, puppeteering, pursuing a dream, non-fiction, biography
Text and illustration copyright Melissa Sweet 2011, Houghton Mifflin
Opening and brief synopsis: “From the time he was a little boy, Tony Sarg loved to figure out how to make things move. He once said he became a marionette man when he was only six years old.” Melissa Sweet tells the true story of Tony Sarg, inventor of the huge balloons that are the trademark and centerpiece of the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade in New York City.
Links to resources: this story is perfect for a curriculum section that covers art, history, biography, or Thanksgiving, or just as a good story for children interested in where things come from and how they work. Balloons Over Broadway Activity Kit. (Please be patient – the activity kit loads slowly because of all the art but it’s well worth the wait!) There is also a spread of interesting and helpful back matter at the end of the book to expand your learning/lesson.
text and illustration copyright Melissa Sweet 2011, Houghton Mifflin
Why I like this book: this book is interesting, entertaining and educational. Tony Sarg is an inspiration because he had little or no formal art education and yet he went on to pursue his dreams and become world-renowned for his work. One of his apprentices, Bil Baird, created the “Lonely Goatherd” marionettes for The Sound Of Music, and one of Bil Baird’s apprentices was Jim Henson who invented The Muppets!
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
Susanna Leonard Hill 
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