Perfect Picture Book Friday – Ellie

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Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

I come from a family of elephant-lovers.

My grandmother had all the Babar books in French, printed in spidery script.  Between the French and the illegible script, none of us (me, my siblings, my cousins) could read them, which suited her just fine because that meant she got to read them to us 🙂

Does anyone besides me remember Babar?  I had the books (in regular print in English!), but I also had a record (Eek! my age is showing! 🙂 ) with 6 of the Babar stories on it.  They were accompanied by songs which you’ll be alarmed to know I can remember to this day.  I can’t remember my debit card pin number or where I hid the spare keys to the house, but I can sing you the song about Arthur pushing Pom, Flora and Alexander in the pram!  (“Twenty steps forward… twenty steps back.  Wheeling the carriage… I’ve got the knack…”)  Or the song about what all the little elephants hoped Father Christmas would bring them! (“Alexander wants a butterfly net and Flora wants a doll.  Arthur says a choo-choo train would please him most of all…”)  My head is crammed full of useless knowledge.  Sad but true! 🙂

Elephants (pronounced ed-o-wenta at our house because of a long-standing mispronunciation when our kids were little 🙂 ) are just as popular with our kids as they were with my siblings and my grandmother.  Maybe it’s because they’re so big and prehistoric-looking yet move with such lumbering grace.  Maybe it’s because of their fascinating matriarchal society.  Maybe it’s because it’s so intriguing to watch them actively problem-solve as a group.  Or maybe it’s just because baby elephants are so cute 🙂

No matter what it is that makes elephants so appealing, I hope you’ll like this book as much as I do 🙂

Ellie

Title: Ellie

Written & Illustrated By: Mike Wu

Disney-Hyperion, May 2015, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-5

Themes/Topics: art, helping others, finding your own talents, animals (elephants)

Opening: “On a bright winter day, when Ellie was just finishing her lunch, the zookeeper came by with an announcement.

“Gather ’round!” Walt called.  “I have some news.

“It is a sad day,” he said.  “The zoo is closing.””

Brief Synopsis: The animals are heartbroken when they find out their zoo is closing.  They wonder if there’s any way they can help prevent it.  Perhaps they can spruce the place up?  Lucy the giraffe prunes the trees.  Gerard the gorilla tidies the path.  But Ellie the baby elephant isn’t tall enough to prune trees or strong enough to move rocks.  Is there anything she can do to save her beloved home?

Links To Resources:  YouTube video of real elephants who paint; fun facts about elephants; elephants work together to problem solve (videos) – help baby cross road, save baby stuck in the mud; preschool elephant activities and crafts

Why I Like This Book:  This is a sweet story about friendly animals pitching in to try to save their home.  Ellie wants so much to help, but at first she doesn’t think she has any skills that will serve.  Quite by accident, she discovers a talent that will not only help, but be the driving force behind saving the zoo, and the story comes to a satisfying ending.  The art is gorgeous and so appealing, starting off in soft greens and grays and becoming brighter and bolder as Ellie’s talent develops and her self-confidence grows.  And Ellie is such an endearing character she’s hard to resist 🙂  The story is loosely based on a relatively recent headline about elephants who paint, so has some grounding in fact 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Oh, one thing before we go!  I wanted to thank everyone who joined in the #aprilfoolphyllis contest last Friday to help spread the word of April Fool, Phyllis!‘s Kindle debut!  You are all so helpful and wonderful, and I really appreciate your help!  Phyllis does too, and she sends you all a virtual strawberry pie 🙂  The winner of the $25 Amazon gift certificate was Chelanne Green, and the 5 winners of a Kindle copy of April Fool, Phyllis! were Vivian Kirkfield, Genevieve Petrillo, Tina Cho, Tracy Potash, and Rebecca Forester.  Thank you, thank you to everyone for joining in so whole-heartedly!

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see your delightful picks for this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!!

 

Would You Read It Wednesday #207 – The School Supplies Intensive Care Unit (PB)

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Okay.

I don’t know who’s in charge of the weather around here, but whoever it is may be in danger of attack from a horde of angry villagers.

It is the first week of April, and winter has arrived on Blueberry Hill.  It’s 10 degrees and we’ve got 6 inches of snow!

The robins are not amused.  They’re talking conspiracy.

And my poor little pink hyacinth was caught by surprise, all her sweet new blossoms snowed on and frozen, and now she’s sulking.

I suspect Simon Barsinister!*

I tell you, we’re sitting on a powder keg of disgruntlement!  Things could blow at any moment!

There’s only one solution:  Something Chocolate!

I think we’ll go healthy this morning with a fruit-oriented breakfast-y type of yumminess…

How does Triple Chocolate Banana Bread sound?

tiple_chocolate_banana_bread-16

Recipe HERE on Liv For Cake

tiple_chocolate_banana_bread-10

Recipe HERE on Liv For Cake

As you can see, it’s all about the fruit 🙂

We are so health-conscious!  Let’s pat ourselves on the back and have another slice!  After all, bananas are rich in potassium 🙂

Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Sam.  Sam Altmann is a special education teacher who lives in Baltimore Maryland with her husband and two semi-cuddly chaos loving dogs. She is a sucker for soft serve ice cream, swimming in the ocean, and “quality” reality television.  Follow her on her brand new twitter account at @jsamaltmann

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: The School Supplies Intensive Care Unit

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 5-8)

The Pitch:  When a marker is left uncapped, or a pencil gets cracked, there is only one place they can turn, The School Supplies Intensive Care Unit. Things typically run smoothly, but after a sudden spike in cases at The SSIC-U, it’s up to Nurse Petunia to track down the culprit, and reform the classroom’s worst offender.

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 Sam 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!  Seriously!  Send pitches PLEASE!  The calendar is sadly empty from here on out and is thus feeling as sulky as my pink hyacinth, so we really need submissions!  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.  I am not kidding – next week is currently open! –  so you could get your pitch up for some helpful feedback, and have a chance to have it read by editor Erin Molta!

(On a side note, as you no doubt noticed, being the alert readers that you are, I did not write the Saturday post last weekend…  you know, the one that I was going to write to catch up on the back-logged Straight From The Editors that I finally have in hand.  Instead I took my parents to tour an organic maple syrup farm.  Tough job, but someone had to do it 🙂  If you’re a betting type, I think now is a good time to start wagering… will I manage it this weekend… or not…?  Ooh!  The wondering is agonizing!  🙂 )

Sam is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to SPRING!!!!!  I MEAN IT!!!!!  Enough with this winter wonderland!!!!!  It’s April!!!!!  And this weather is forcing me to wear out my exclamation point key!!!!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

*Should you happen not to have been watching Saturday morning cartoons in the early 70s, Simon Barsinister was the arch villain on Underdog 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – April Fool…. Phyllis! :)

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It’s April!  It’s April!!!

Hurray!  Hurray!!!

I love April!

Even though it’s supposed to be about April showers, it makes me think of new spring grass, baby animals, the rich scent of warming earth, shy leaves unfurling, apple blossoms… and birthday cake 🙂

And what do you know?  After the hardcover went out of print in January, APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS! arrived on Kindle on Wednesday – just in time for April Fools’ Day!

I’m so excited I’m running a teensy contest to get the word out.  Every time between now and midnight that you share about APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS on FaceBook, Twitter or Instagram with hashtag #aprilfoolphyllis (so I can keep track and find them all… and it wouldn’t hurt if you tag me on FB!)) you will get an entry to a raffle.  The more shares, the more chances to win!  Then this weekend I will select at random 1 person who will win a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate, and 5 people who will each win a Kindle copy of APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS! to be delivered to the person of their choice (yourself, if you’d like it, or a little person in your life who would enjoy it 🙂 )  So please, help me share the good news! 🙂

Although I would never post my own books on Perfect Picture Book Friday (because that is a level of horn-tooting I’m extremely uncomfortable with!), in honor of it actually being April Fools Day on a Perfect Picture Book Friday when a new version just came out bringing my little book back from the land of Out of Print, the lovely and talented Beth Stilborn, who very sweetly reviewed APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS for PPBF on March 9, 2012, has most kindly and generously given me permission to post her review here on my blog today.  Thank you, Beth, for the lovely review and the permission to reprint from your blog.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you’re the cat’s (or maybe in this case the groundhog’s 🙂 ) pajamas!!!

Any of you who don’t know Beth, please go visit her blog!  She writes a wonderful one!  And she offers copyediting for all levels of fiction through her Flubs 2 Fixes website (www.flubs2fixes.com)

So without further ado…

apirl-fool-phyllis-cover-b

Title: April Fool, Phyllis!

Author: Susanna Leonard Hill

Illustrator: Jeffrey Ebbeler

Publisher: New York: Holiday House, 2011

Genre: Picture book, fiction

Audience Age: 5-8

Theme: April Fool’s Day, trusting your instincts, respecting other’s advice, changing seasons, treasure hunts, riddles.

Opening Sentences: Phyllis knew everything about the weather.

After all, she was Punxsutawney Phyllis, Weather Prophet Extraordinaire!

So when she woke up on April first, the day of the Spring Treasure Hunt, it took only one whiff of the morning air to tell her something wasn’t right.

Synopsis: Phyllis is certain that there’s a storm brewing, but no-one will believe her, because it’s April Fool’s Day. Everyone is too excited about the Spring Treasure Hunt to pay attention to Phyllis’ continued warnings. The Treasure Hunt provides clues in riddles that children will enjoy guessing along with the young groundhogs in the story. Each riddle leads them closer to the treasure, further from home – and closer to the snowstorm that’s coming. They finally realize that Phyllis was telling the truth about the weather. (Of course she was! She’s Punxsutawney Phyllis, after all!) They do make it home safely – but Phyllis has the last laugh.

Why I liked this book: As in the first of Susanna Leonard Hill’s delightful Phyllis series, Phyllis shows herself to be a spunky and resourceful little groundhog, wise beyond her years, and a lot of fun to be around. The theme of April Fool’s Day jokes is something children can easily relate to, as is the problem of not being taken seriously. The riddles are great fun, as the obvious answer is not the correct answer, so the reader and read-to have to think. The story keeps the reader turning the pages, eager to find out what will happen next, and the illustrations are a delight. Kids will love that Phyllis gets the last laugh on everyone.

Activities/Resources: The author gives a page of information about April Fool’s Day at the back of the book, and has classroom guides and activities on her website .

There’s some history of April Fool’s Day (in kid-friendly text) at Mr. Donn’s resource site.

A to Z Teacher Stuff has lots of April Fool’s activities.

Lesson Planet has lesson plans using riddles as a teaching tool.

Story Arts has a story treasure hunt.

Lesson Planet’s treasure hunt lesson plans include math treasure hunts, map-reading treasure hunts, even a treasure hunt in the school library.

Availability: Readily available in hardcover. (And now for Kindle!)

Every Friday, bloggers join together to share picture book reviews and resources, thanks to author Susanna Leonard Hill’s brainchild, “Perfect Picture Book Fridays.” Susanna then adds the books (and links to the reviews) to a comprehensive listing by subject on her blog. Find the entire listing at her “Perfect Picture Books.”

Reblogged from Beth Stilborn http://www.bethstilborn.com/april-fool-phyllis-perfect-picture-book-friday/

Thank you all for indulging me and Phyllis in our wild and crazy April Fools’ Day celebrating (and horn-tooting) 🙂

PPBF peeps, please add your post-specific link (post-specific PLEASE!!! not general blog link!) to the list below so we can all come see your fabulous picks for the upcoming weekend (which looks to be a cold/rainy/snowy one perfect for curling up with picture books!)

(And here we go again with this google form/spreadsheet which I feel in my bones I’m going to mess up but don’t worry, if I do I’ll fix it once I get help from my in-house computer genius later in the day!)

 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday #206 – Bird And The Baker (PB)

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Howdy, Friends!

Can you believe it’s March 30?!  Which means it’s PRACTICALLY APRIL!  Which is so awesome!  (And I am just ignoring that little snowflake picture on my phone’s weather app for April 5th.  Obviously the weather app folk are messing with us in their typically fiendish way.  They have a weird sense of humor 🙂 )

Since I’m a little bit psychic, I know you will be fascinated to know that today is the 220th anniversary of the day German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss discovered the construction of the heptadecagon.  It certainly makes MY day feel special 🙂  I mean, how fun is it to say “heptadecagon”?  There could be a picture book in that…  it sounds a little like a dinosaur…  how about ALFRED T. REX VS. THE HEPTADECAGON… Would You Read It?  🙂

Or we could just make it into a tongue twister.  Try saying heptadecagon three times fast.. it’s pretty hard… I just practiced so I know!

Of course, being the polar opposite of a brilliant mathematician (i.e. a nincompoop 🙂 ) I had to go find out what a heptadecagon was…

(On the off chance that any of you are as blissfully mathematically ignorant as I am, you’ll be thrilled to learn that our boy Carl Friedrich woke up on March 30 at the ripe old age of 19 and discovered that a heptadecagon is a 17 sided polygon, which is uber cool because 17 is a Fermat prime number, and you can make one with a compass and an unmarked straight edge.  And that is as much math talk as I can stand without chocolate!)

So bring on the Something Chocolate!!!

I vote for Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Pie because I’m pretty sure you could make one in the shape of a heptadecagon if you were comitted!  🙂

Dark Chocolate Caramel Oreo Pie

Dark-Chocolate-Salted-Caramel-Oreo-Pie-Recipe-02

Recipe HERE at Kevin & Amanda

 

Ooh, la la! YUM!

(And now, for an extra challenge, try saying heptadecagon three times fast with your mouth full of Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Pie!)

Now then, onto today’s pitch which has absolutely nothing to do with heptadecagons comes to us from Patricia who says, “I am a pre-published picture book author, wife, mother of 3 almost-adult children and Two Orange Pups, and avid gardener. The title of my blog pretty much sums it up: Wander, Ponder, Write – a KidLit Journey (www.patricianozell.com). That’s what I do, that’s what I enjoy.”

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Bird And The Baker

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)

The Pitch:  A rainbow-winged songbird forages each day for grain to feed her flock. But when a popular bakery opens in the nearby village, the grain disappears. As Bird bargains for grain, she must use her head or risk losing her natural gifts or flock.

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 Patricia 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!  Seriously, PLEASE!  I’m pretty sure the calendar is wide open from here on out, so we really need submissions!  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.  I am not kidding there are openings in April (which is PRACTICALLY HERE – see above 🙂 ) so you could get your pitch up for some helpful feedback very soon, and have a chance to have it read by editor Erin Molta!

(On a side note, I’m thinking of writing a Straight From The Editor Saturday post just to catch us up since I have a whole pile of back-logged ones that came in from Erin this month.  Of course, that requires that I put together a Saturday post… so we shall see… 🙂 )

Patricia is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to exploring the picture book possibilities of ALFRED T. REX VS. THE HEPTADECAGON because in the time it’s taken me to type down to the bottom of this post, I have decided that heptadecagon sounds more like a dragon than a dinosaur and a t-rex vs. a dragon would be a pretty good show down!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

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Happy Friday, All!

So!  I think we had some success with the google form last week.  Do you?  I mean, there were a few kinks, but once I got the size adjusted and such like, it seemed like it worked pretty well.  Yes? No? Maybe so?  What are your thoughts?

I like this model because I can see how easy it would be to archive Perfect Picture Books into the Google Form right from the list here each week – it would be sort of self-managing.  The only part I have to figure out is how to add the themes in an efficient and easily navigable way.  But all the rest will load directly into the form and can be easily viewed by week and searched by book title, author, illustrator, key word, etc… (and eventually theme.)  It sounds too good to be true!  We shall see 🙂

Anyhoo, onto today’s Perfect Picture Book!  As you can probably tell from my recent posts, I have spring on the brain, and what says warm weather like bugs? 🙂

Title: Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

Written & Illuatrated By: Bob Barner

Chronicle Books, 1999, Non-Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 2-6

Themes/Topics: Bugs

Opening: “Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!  I want to see bugs!  Butterflies that flutter in the sky.  Spotted ladybugs that go creeping by.”  (This is actually the first three spreads.)

Brief Synopsis: Simple facts about familiar bugs in a rhyme.

Links To Resources:  One back page of the book includes a display of actual-sized bugs so young readers can see how big they are in real life and how they compare with each other.  Another back page compares facts about all the insects mentioned in the book: can it fly, where does it live, etc.  Here are a few activities, and here are a bunch of coloring pages.

Why I Like This Book: This book is delightfully simple.  Easy enough for youngest readers to enjoy, but with enough information in the back to interest slightly older children.  The pictures are bright, colorful, and engaging and do a great job of making bugs look friendly and non-threatening.  I’m not really much of a bug person, but I find this book very appealing 🙂  This is also an interesting example for writers to study.  The author gets across information in a fun way in only 76 words!

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF peeps, please leave your picture book title and post-specific link in the google form below along with as much of the other information as you feel like putting in (nothing but title and link are required, but you will earn mucho brownie points with Yours Truly if you enter the other info because it saves me having to do it at some later time 🙂 )

NOTE:  As you can see, I’m still learning how to use google forms and spreadsheets.  I’ve made some kind of error that is causing a big blank spot at the top of the list, but all of today’s Perfect Picture Books DO appear on the list… you just have to scroll down.  Technopoop.  That’s me 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and for those of you who celebrate, Happy Easter! 🙂

(And for everyone, Happy Chocolate 🙂 )

choc bunny

Would You Read It Wednesday #205 – The Hero Of Foggy Basin (PB) PLUS The Dec/Jan Pitch Pick Winner!

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Woo hoo!  It’s Wednesday!  And it’s officially spring!  I hope you are all feeling sunshiny this morning! 🙂

Did any of you ever read Cheaper By The Dozen by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey?  It was a favorite of mine when I was growing up, about a big, happy, busy family having one hilarious adventure after another.  If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it (and not the movie with Steve Martin… read the book!  Not that I have anything against Steve Martin – actually, he is a favorite – but I always think the book is better than the movie 🙂 )

Anyway, the reason I bring it up is because the father in the story  was an efficiency expert.  And I’ve decided I could seriously use an efficiency expert!  I would love to have someone organize my time and tasks and keep me on schedule.  I would do it myself but it turns out I’m not very good at it – too easily sidetracked by interesting tangents! 🙂  So if any of you are extremely organized, like to crack the whip, and are interested in working for brownies, you may apply in the comment section 🙂

Because look at this!  Here we are in March and I just realized, what with the Valentiny Contest and all, we got a little off our schedule and I never announced the winner of the December/January Pitch Pick!

So without further ado…

…the winner…

(…drum roll please…!)

…is Ashley with her pitch for The Race Against Sleep!

Congratulations, Ashley!  Your pitch is on its way to editor Erin Molta for her thoughts and I’m sure you’ll hear from her soon!

Congratulations also to our other courageous pitchers, who put their work out for all the world to see and comment on.  You all did a fabulous job – it was a close race! – and I hope even those who didn’t win got enough helpful feedback to really improve their pitches!  Well done all of you!

And now, so that we don’t accidentally miss Easter in some lapse of efficiency (because it’s so early this year it would be easy to miss!) I thought this festive, springy Easter Egg Pretzel Chocolate Swirl Bark would be an excellent choice for today’s Something Chocolate!

Easter-Egg-Pretzel-Chocolate-Swirl-Bark-Recipe-by-Five-Heart-Home_700pxAerial

Recipe HERE at FiveHeartHome

So pretty, isn’t it?  And chocolatey and sweet and salty…YUM!

And now, in what can only be called a model of efficiency 🙂 , onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Heather who says, “Several years ago, I was a Silicon Valley proofreader/copy editor. Now I’m a mom, school volunteer, and student of picture-book writing. The writing light switched on for me in third grade when we were all asked to dictate a story into a tape recorder. I got gold stars on my assignment that day, and writing has been part of my creative life ever since. Nowadays, the world feels right when I can walk around creating characters in my head. Aside from my picture-book characters, I live with my inspiring kids and rocket scientist husband in Redwood City, California.”

Visit her at:  www.HeatherKinser.com

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: The Hero Of Foggy Basin

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 3-6)

The Pitch:  A stray dog with a sunny disposition wanders into a town that’s always blanketed by fog—and can’t find the way out. Dog brightens the lives of the gloomy townsfolk, but when he realizes he’s not free to leave, he gradually loses hope. That’s when he meets a trio of children who seem to carry a light of their own, and decides it’s his job to fetch them the sun.

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 Heather 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 April so you could get your pitch up for some helpful feedback very soon, and have a chance to have it read by editor Erin Molta!

Heather is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to seeing who applies for the job as my efficiency expert or, failing that, who has any excellent suggestions on time management 🙂

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – President Squid

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It’s a brave new world, darlings!  We are going where no technomoron has dared venture before… into the Land of Google Forms!

In my ongoing quest to find a way to get our Perfect Picture Book Link List to show up in the actual blog post, I asked my talented web designer (who made this beautiful new website for me) if he had any bright ideas.

He did.

A Google Form.

So we’re going to try it today and see how it works and how we like it!  Please feel free to share your thoughts on this new system in the comments.

All you have to do is fill in your Perfect Picture Book title on the line that says “Title” (for example, The Opposite Zoo) and then copy and paste your post-specific url into the line that says “link” (for example, https://susannahill.com/2016/03/11/perfect-picture-book-friday-the-opposite-zoo/), and then scroll down a smidge within the form box and hit the Submit button.

In an ideal world, your title and link will then show up on the list below!

Wouldn’t that be awesome?

I’m not sure if it will work instantly… or if you’ll have to refresh your browser to get it to show up… or exactly what will happen…

But that is why we are so daring!  We shall try it!  If it works, wonderful!  If it doesn’t, we’ll move on to Plan J or whatever we’re up to at this point… 🙂

Here is MY Perfect Picture Book for today – tons of fun!  Then we’ll get to the newfangled Google Form and see if all of YOUR Perfect Picture Books line up nicely and behave 🙂

President Squid

Title: President Squid

Written By: Aaron Reynolds

Illustrated By: Sara Varon

Chronicle Books, March 1, 2016, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics:  leadership, politics, responsibility, humor

Opening:  “I HAVE REALIZED SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT.  Something that changes everything!

No giant squid has ever been president before!

Which means I will be the first.

President Squid!

Now that has a nice ring to it.

I WILL BE THE GREATEST PRESIDENT WHO EVER LIVED!

Wanna know why?

Here are five important reasons.”

Brief Synopsis: In a persuasive style reminiscent of campaigning politicians, Squid presents the compelling reasons why he should be president… until he decides maybe there’s an alternative.

Links To Resources: US Government For Kids (K-5); discuss with your children or students whether or not they would like the job of president.  How would they go about campaigning?  What kinds of things would they like to change, and how would they go about creating the change they’d like to see?  Write letters to the president and tell him in what ways you think he’s doing a good job and what things you’d like to see him do if he’s able (or she, given that it’s an election year 🙂 )  Write a letter or give a talk in which you present 5 reasons why you’d be very good at something, or why you should be chosen for something (persuasive writing exercise)

Why I Like This Book:  Very simple: it’s funny! 🙂  And Squid has a very believably childlike twist to his personality in that he is absolutely sure he wants something, totally committed to getting it, right up until the moment he decides…actually…he wants something else 🙂  The story is clever, light-hearted and fun, and teaches a good lesson about making sure you know what it is you’re asking for because you just might get it!

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

Okay, PPBF peeps!  It’s time!  Please leave your post-specific links in the brandy-spandy-newfangled google form below so we can all come see what fabulous books you’ve chosen this week!  Fingers crossed it works! 🙂

 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday #204 – Trouble With A Capital “E”! (PB/ER)

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Happy Wednesday, Peeps!

So yesterday, I drove to JFK.  I got there a teensy bit early (shocking, I know! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten anywhere early before! :)), so I went to hang out in the cell phone lot.  And guess what?  What should come along but a Mister Softee truck!  It plonked itself right in the middle of the cell phone lot, and drivers from all the fancy black SUVs with taxi and limousine service license plates came flocking up for ice cream!  That’s what I call enterprising – capitalizing on a captive audience.  And the line for cones proves that the child in all of us is never too far away 🙂

And since I’m apparently spouting random facts today, as you’ve no doubt noticed by now, being observant writerly types :), I have a new website – just about 2 months old 🙂  I’m picking away at adding to it and updating it, and it occurred to me that maybe I should mention (in case your browsing hadn’t taken you that far) that there are all kinds of hidden gems, either already up or coming soon!  So I am taking this opportunity to mention the Resources For Writers page (still under construction) which has, er, not surprisingly, resources… for writers 🙂  Hop over if you’re interested.  Peruse what’s there.  And then come back and let me know if there’s something you’d particularly like to see there that I can add for you!

Right then.  Enough with the chit chat.  We’ve been here nearly 14 seconds already so it’s time for Something Chocolate, don’t you think?  What with spring being in the air and all, I thought I’d go healthy today, so I’m serving No Bake Strawberry Chocolate Tart (healthy by virtue of the fact that it contains a fruit item :))

Looks like health food to me! 🙂  And you can’t go wrong with a dessert item that is both chocolate and no bake!  (I seem to be on a no-bake kick… impatient much?! :))

Alright.  Grab a napkin so you don’t get chocolate and strawberry juice all over your computer and let’s check out Would You Read It!

Today’s pitch comes to us from Tracy who says, “Hey there! I’m Tracy and I am a Language Arts Interventionist, who loves every minute of it! I recently submitted my first article for Highlights Children’s Magazine and I couldn’t be more excited, Yahooie! Animals, children and writing are my passion, and fortunately for me, I have all three in my life. Thanks so much for taking a look at my pitch :~)”

Visit her at:
www.chattytcp.wordpress.com

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Trouble With A Capital “E”!

Age/Genre: Picture Book/Early Reader

The Pitch:  Sometimes, no matter how perfect things seem, trouble will find you and perhaps even follow you home. And that’s exactly what happened on an extraordinary day while Jack and his favorite person, Lily, went walking. Join Jack and Lily on their early morning adventure that brings trouble and the unexpected into their quiet home. The perfect pooch found the perfect friend, and together the unlikely duo find friendship, love, mischief, and yes TROUBLE. Sometimes, “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” can be spelled with a capital E.

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 Tracy 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 April so you could get your pitch up for some helpful feedback very soon, and have a chance to have it read by editor Erin Molta!

Tracy is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to seeing what you think of the Resources For Writers page and what kinds of things you might like to see added there!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Opposite Zoo

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Happy Friday, Folks!

Yesterday was a marathon day of quality time with Princess Blue Kitty (which means I was driving all day :))  I may not be able to speak for ALL of America, but it’s certainly true that this American runs on Dunkin’ – they make such good coffee!  (It’s also possible that I have a weakness for chocolate munchkins but I’m not admitting to anything!)

Anyway, given all the driving, you guys will be happy to know that you are spared any long-windedness from me today because I was up against it to get this post finished.  So without further ado, here’s my Perfect Picture Book pick for today!

Opposite Zoo

Title: The Opposite Zoo

Written  & Illustrated By: Il Sung Na

Knopf Books For Young Readers, March 8, 2016, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 2-5

sloth:cheetah

Themes/Topics:  Concepts (opposites), animals, diversity

Opening: “The sky is DARK, and the Opposite Zoo is CLOSED.  But the monkey’s door is OPEN!  Time to explore…”

Brief Synopsis: When his cage door opens at the same time the Opposite Zoo closes for the night, an escaped monkey tours the zoo seeing all the opposites from an awake owl to a sleeping panda, a shy chameleon to a bold peacock, noisy monkeys to a quiet turtle.  He returns to his cage in the morning just as his door closes and the Opposite Zoo opens.

Links To Resources: Do The Opposite Dance; pair with books such as Sandra Boynton’s Opposites, Eric Carle’s Opposites, and Tad Hills’s What’s Up Duck? A Book Of Opposites; Teaching Opposites To Children; ask children to think up opposites from their own life/experience, giving them hints, if necessary, to help them come up with ones that aren’t mentioned in the book.

owl:panda

Why I Like This Book:  Spare, simple text allows Il Sung Na’s gorgeous art to take center stage and show youngest readers all about opposites with a friendly cast of colorful animals.  The story is quiet, with a lullaby-like rhythm that makes it a lovely choice for naptime, bedtime, or any time a little settling down is called for.  With the exception of the first and last spreads, each page/animal is accompanied by only one word (e.g. “slow” “fast”, “hairy” “bald”), so it is very text-light allowing young readers to take in the concept of the opposites offered by the illustrations without bogging down in excess verbiage.  (Picture book writers take note – the whole book is only about 57 words – unless you count all the “noisy”s on the monkey page… then it’s 63 🙂 )  But the art is what this book is really all about.  So inviting and appealing!  Friendly animals.  Gorgeous colors (I especially love the owl, peacock, tiger, turtle…oh, never mind – they’re ALL irresistible! 🙂 )  Just look at that tiger on the cover!  How can you not want to open this book?!

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF peeps, please leave your post-specific links in the we’re-using-this-linky-list-for-the-time-being-until-I-think-of-something-better list below so we can all come see what fabulous books you’ve chosen this week!

And everyone: whether you have a book to add to the list or not, you must click the “click here” link to see the list!!!

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Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

And I apologize for the linky list… I’ve had a couple weeks in a row where I’m short on time to figure out something else, but I’m hoping to try a different system for next week… fingers crossed 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday #203 – Kitty Clawdette The Broadway Pet (PB)

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Helloooooooo, friends!

Here on Blueberry Hill Spring thinks it’s coming ahead of schedule!  The weatherfolk are forecasting 71 degrees for today – practically unheard of around here on March 9!  The sun is shining, the geese are returning, and the cardinals (the cardinals!) are singing from the blackberry patch already!

Phyllis is working on her tan… 🙂

Phyllis

All this springiness is making me feel like doing something new and different, something exciting and fun, so I’d like to take this opportunity to ask you if there’s anything in particular I can do for you?

Is there a new feature you’d love to see on this picture book writing blog?

Is there an old feature you’d like to see brushed off and brought back?

What would help you the most in your picture book writing and reading pursuits? (And I direct this question not just to writers, but also to teachers, and parents – anyone who spends a lot of time with picture books on a daily basis 🙂 )

If you’ve got any bright ideas, please share them below in the comments and I’ll do my best to accommodate!

I am (hopefully) getting close to having my newsletter ready (more news on that as it develops), and I’m hoping you’re going to find that helpful and fun!

Speaking of helpful and fun, today we have a special Something Chocolate for the gluten-free cake lovers in our audience!  (See how I segued there?  In a way that actually made no sense but kind of sort of sounds like it did?!  It’s a talent.  Some people are just born with it :))

Anyway, where was I?  Oh, yes.  Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake.  Can’t go wrong with a name like that! 🙂  It’s comprised of dark chocolate fudge cake with white chocolate mousse between the layers and a sour cream chocolate icing.  Sounds like breakfast, don’t you think? 🙂

Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

 

Today’s pitch comes to us from Christie who loves writing picture books and connecting with other kid lit writers on Facebook and Twitter. On her blog, she hosts a weekly picture book brainstorming session called Fridea Fest. You can also find her on Instagram @bonster_goose where she encourages fellow pet lovers to “Read to your dog!”

Visit her on the web:

 

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Kitty Clawdette The Broadway Pet

Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)

The Pitch:  Kitty Clawdette, a homeless cat, aches to be a star on Broadway, but she’s an unknown talent with no experience. Dedicated to practice and presentation, and with the help of her lucky star, the theater janitor, Kitty finally gets a big break and learns there is something more important than fame.

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 Christie 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.  Unbelievably, there are actually still openings in March so you could get your pitch up for some helpful feedback very soon, and have a chance to have it read by editor Erin Molta!

Christie is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to seeing what kinds of things you guys would like to see here and finding out how I can be most helpful to YOU! 🙂

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂