Would You Read It Wednesday #209 – Tails Of Witches And Wolves (MG) PLUS The February and March Pitch Pick Winners!!!

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It’s been a busy week of school visits so far, but Woo Hoo!  It’s Wednesday!  And you know what that means… 🙂

It’s time for everybody’s favorite pastime: Would You Read It!

 

But first, I’m pleased to announce the winners of the February and March Pitch Picks!!!

The February Pitch Pick was won by Stacia with her pitch for Mia And The Marathon, a picture book/early reader.

The March Pitch Pick was won by Tracy with her pitch for TroublE With A Capital “E”!, also a picture book/early reader.

It’s cool that both winners were on the fence between picture book and early reader because we hardly ever get early reader pitches!

Congratulations, Stacia and Tracy!  Your pitches are on their way to editor Erin Molta for her comments and I’m sure you’ll hear from her at her earliest convenience!

And congratulations to ALL our other pitchers for bravely putting your work out there for commentary so that we can all learn, and for stepping up to revise and improve them for the pitch pick!  They were all really great, and you all did excellent work.  The choice was very tough and I hope even if you didn’t win the pitch pick you feel like you have a better pitch than you started out with!

Next, I think we should have a quick review of the 5 Food Groups by carefully taste-testing Something Chocolate (because you never know… we could have a pop quiz on Friday!) … Today, I think the 5 food groups shall be Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Caramel, Mousse, and Pie.

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Mousse Pie

(note the inclusion of 5 food groups in the name!)

Chocolate-Caramel-Peanut-Butter-Mousse-Pie-02

Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Mousse Pie  Recipe HERE at Handle The Heat

I hope you all feel fortified now that you’ve boosted all 5 of what we’re counting as food groups for today (because next time it could be Cake, Pie, Cookies, Ice Cream, and Chocolate… or, Marshmallow, Caramel, Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Whipped Cream… or simply Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, Semi-Sweet Chocolate, and Hot Chocolate…  It’s important to be flexible on these matters 🙂 )

Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Karah who says, “I’m originally from Kentucky, but now live in beautiful New Zealand where I live with my Kiwi partner and work in marketing for a video game company (another great form of storytelling!). I love storytelling for kids, especially children’s literature and animation, and I adore any story inspired by fairy tales.”

Find her on Twitter at @Karahsel

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Tails Of Witches And Wolves

Age/Genre: MG – Fantasy

The Pitch:  Young wolf Nata is placed under a spell that finally opens a door to the human life she’s always dreamed of. But when a wolf attack leads to the hunting of wolves across the tsardom, Nata must choose between the life she’s always wanted and the safety of the wolf family she left behind.

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

Karah is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to reading Book 6 of the Game of Thrones saga.  Ah!  (you may say)  but George R.R.R.R.R.R.R. Martin hasn’t written it yet!  You are right, of course, so while I’m waiting I think I’m going to try out an episode of Game of Thrones, loaned to me by a friend.  It is on blue-ray, which I don’t have, but my tech-savvy children feel there’s a strong possibility my computer will play it, so here’s hoping! 🙂  I’m a little trepidatious though… I always like the book better than the movie/TV adaptation (need I remind anyone of the disaster that was Little House On The Prairie???!!!  I mean seriously, Albert?!)  Plus, I hear that the TV version of GOT is extremely violent… which means I’ll have cover my tight-shut eyes with my hands, daring snatched glimpses between my fingers now and then, and wait for the bad parts to pass!  But since poor George R.R.R.R.R.R. Martin is still struggling over Book 6 (and believe me, I feel for him! Can you imagine the pressure?  Hard enough to write such a huge saga without the entire civilized world constantly impatiently demanding the next installment!  And it can’t just be any old thing either.  It has to be good or people will give him a hard time!)  But where was I?  Oh yeah.  Since poor George is still struggling, I’ve got to try alternate options 🙂

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

 

Oops! :)

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Happy Friday, Everyone!

Due to a shocking lack of planning, I have no PPBF post for today!  Blame it on the birthday celebrations 🙂  Or possibly the senility of my advancing age 🙂

If I have time this weekend to tackle getting that google form and spreadsheet up for you all I will, but I’m not fast at it yet, and I’m going visiting in the Far North so… I’d say the possibility of that is slim to slimmer.

I apologize for falling asleep at the switch, but anyone who posts this week is welcome to just add this week’s book to next week’s list.

Have a wonderful weekend!!! 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday #208 – The Grumps (PB) PLUS The February And March Pitch Picks!

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I hope you ate your Wheaties this morning, lovelies!  We’ve got a full agenda today!

First, we must consult our horoscopes.

Mine says, “Treat yourself to Something Chocolate!”

(Okay.  I admit it didn’t say exactly that… But it did say “You have a wonderful opportunity for refreshment” which is practically the same thing!  Given the comments that followed it was clearly referring to refreshment and renewal in your personal life, but that’s a little too serious for me… So since horoscopes are open to interpretation I choose to interpret refreshment as chocolate 🙂 )

And since we’re going to have Something Chocolate in about one minute, I think we can all agree it’s surprisingly accurate! 🙂

Now that we know it’s going to be a delightfully chocolate-filled day, on to the Pitch Picks!

(I hope you are all sufficiently caffeinated to follow the complexities of Pitch Pick division below.  If not, you may be excused to get a cup of coffee but please come right back!  Loitering in the hall is against school rules and will likely earn you a one-way ticket to the principal’s office 🙂 )

The February and March pitches got a little sideways due to the Valentiny Contest in February followed by a month with 5 Wednesdays, so in the interest of evening things out we shall have the February Pitch Pick with the two February pitches plus the first March pitch, and then the March Pitch Pick which has the other 4 March pitches.

Ready?

The February Pitch Pick:

#1 Lynne Marie – The Dino Store (PB ages 4-8)

Open this book and be transported to – THE DINO-STORE, where dinosaurs are not only NOT extinct, but you can choose from an assortment of plant eaters, meat eaters, big dinosaurs and small dinosaurs – some discovered and some yet to be discovered! You can slide down the back of an Apatosaurus, wow your friends with a Stegosaurus at Show ‘N Tell or scare a bully away with Tyrannosaurus – which dinosaur will you choose?

#2 Tracey – Mary Alice (PB ages 12 and under)

Mary Alice is a little tugboat who wishes she could have passengers on board. One fateful morning, as smoke tumbled out of the two tallest towers, a call came over the radio. Mary Alice turned to to help rescue the people who were stranded on Lower Manhattan.
 
Mary Alice will bridge the gap with the children born after 9/11. This story will also show readers that no matter how small you are, you can achieve mighty things. After all, everyone has a little hero inside of them.  
 
On 9/11,  the largest sea evacuation in world history happened. Hearing the United States Coastguard call, many mariners converged onto Lower Manhattan to rescue almost a half a million people. Mary Alice, a blue-collared tugboat, was one of the vessels used. 
 ***I have permission from the Donjon company to use their boat’s name and they have verified the facts of the story.

 

#3 Stacia  – Mia and the Marathon (PB/ER)

Mia loves running and so does Mama. While Mama is getting ready for her longest race ever, Mia discovers new, exciting ways she can get ready too.  Mia can’t wait to cheer on Mama but oh no! On Race Day, Mia and Daddy can’t find Mama in the big crowd of runners! Don’t worry: Mia is prepared and knows exactly what to do.  It’s time for Mia to cheer her favorite, loudest, cheeriest, cheer ever.

Please cast your vote in the poll below for your favorite February Pitch by Sunday April 17 at 5 PM EDT.

The March Pitch Pick:

#1 Christie – Kitty Clawdette The Broadway Pet (PB ages 4-8)

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

#2 Tracy – TroublE with a Capital” E”!  (PB/ER)

Trouble, sometimes it finds you and even follows you home. That’s exactly what happens one extraordinary day when Jack, the perfect pooch, sniffs out the perfect friend. Together the unlikely duo find companionship, love, and yes, trouble! Stirring up trouble isn’t perfect, but it sure is a lot more fun. Sometimes, “T-r-o-u-b-l-E,” can be spelled with a capital E.

#3 Heather – The Hero Of Foggy Basin (PB ages 3-6)

A happy-go-lucky stray dog, who doesn’t want a home, 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 and tries to fetch them the sun. Just when it seems this task can’t be done, he meets a trio of children who help him find his way again.

 

#4 Patricia – Bird And The Baker (PB ages 4-8)

A rainbow-winged, golden-tufted songbird forages each day for grain. When a popular bakery opens nearby, Bird cannot find enough to feed her family. She trades her songs and rainbow wings for more grain, but Bird must use her brain when the baker demands her golden crown, too.

Please cast your vote for your favorite March Pitch in the poll below by Sunday April 17 at 5 PM EDT.

Thank you all for reading and voting!  The pitchers and I are all so grateful!  Shall we have a little refreshment now- i.e. Something Chocolate? (See?  My horoscope was totally right! 🙂 )

Since we have a birthday in our family today, I think we should have cake! 🙂

Super Decadent Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Fudge Frosting!

Now then, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from Ingrid who says, “Hi! I’m Ingrid Boydston, as a mom/kindergarten teacher &theater director I realized I am a full time story teller. So I’ve been writing my stories down, learning the benefits of editing and critique partners for the past 3 years. Now I’m excited to present this pitch to you.  You find me tweeting as IngridBoydston@ingridboydston and on FaceBook as Ingrid Boydston.”

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: The Grumps

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

The Pitch:  Sometimes you wake-up feeling so grumpy you just want to stay that way! Good thing a good friend knows the only way to help is to be grumpy too. Kind of…

Spend the day with the Grumps and you just might discover a smile hiding under that frown.

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

Ingrid is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to sharing my “newsletter” with you VERY SOON!  I say “newsletter” because it’s not really a newsletter per se… but it will (hopefully) be something fun and useful for you! 🙂

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! 🙂

Monday Morning Special: A Straight From The Editor Extravaganza!

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Good Monday to you, favorite peeps!

I am a fan of Mondays.  They are like mornings – new beginnings full of hope and possibility for good things.  Just because yesterday or last week may not have been all you hoped doesn’t mean things can’t turn around today!

This could be the day you get a BRILLIANT idea for a picture book!  The kind that makes you fish desperately in the glove compartment for an ATM receipt with ketchup on it and contort yourself to reach the partially melted crayon from the backseat of the car and start scribbling madly at a traffic light because ideas like this don’t come along every day and you’ve got to grab it while it’s hot!

This could be the day you finally get the opening sentence of your WIP just exactly right!  The content, the mood, the tone, the language – perfect for hooking anyone and everyone who reads it!

It could be the day you compose a query letter so perfect that it gets you a request!

You know that agent you desperately want to sign with?  The one you’re crossing your fingers and toes and eyes and everything else crossable for a positive response from?  This could be the day she calls and asks to represent you!

It could even be the day you get “the call” – the one where your fantabulous agent or esteemed Editor X says, “I have an offer for you!” 🙂

So embrace Monday 🙂

Here is a sunshiny picture to help get you in the mood (because if you live anywhere near me it is currently raining and you might have forgotten what a sunshiny morning looks like 🙂 )

spring morning

Oh, and that green stuff is grass, which could start growing at any moment, although there isn’t any yet in my neck of the woods 🙂

To help you love Monday, here is the long-awaited backlog of Straight From The Editors that we have been hoping to catch up with.  Editor Erin Molta finally had time to send them, and a mere 3 and a half weeks later Yours Truly is finally putting together the post to deliver all this amazing knowledge and expertise to YOU!  What a way to start off your morning and your Monday and your week! 🙂

Enjoy! 🙂

For June: Michelle – The Sunflower Traveler (Chapter Book ages 6-9) 

Rhea’s interest in growing sunflowers for Petal Path’s Magazine Contest turned into a quest to help her family when her dad lost his job. Her final requirement for the contest is to describe something new about her sunflowers. But time traveling through a sunflower, talking with birds, and instructing a new gardener from the past may be more than she’s bargained for. Will Rhea solve her sunflower problem and still make it back in time to enter the contest?

Erin’s comments:  

Cute premise for a story! As for the pitch, it’s better if you don’t end with a question because of course, especially in children’s books, the conflict will be resolved. So, though you can ask questions, it’s better to make the reader want to know HOW it was resolved rather than asking the obvious question—if.

So, I would rework it something like this: Rhea’s interest in growing sunflowers for Petal Path’s Magazine Contest turned into a quest to help her family when her dad lost his job. Her final requirement for the contest is to describe something new about her sunflowers. But who would believe that she time traveled through her sunflower, talked with birds, and instructed a new gardener from the past?  Rhea needs to come up with a way to describe her sunflower situation in a way to not only help the people in the past but her family as well. 

For July: Kirsten – Stuck In The Muck (PB ages 4-8)

Sir Whiskerson loves kitty facials and paw-dicures. When he comes whisker to whisker with a mangy mutt named Sunny, Whiskerson is desperate to remain pristine. But with Sunny stuck in the muck and sinking, Whiskerson must decide whether doing the right thing is worth a gloppy, sloppy fur coat.

Erin’s comments:

This seems adorable but it would have more impact if we knew if Sunny was a friend or foe. Were Sunny and Whiskerson rivals before he was stuck in the muck? If you can get that in then I think this would be fab.

(August was blogcation – no pitching or pitch picks :))

For September:  Zainab – Dear Cat (PB ages 4-8) 

Persistent Bird keeps bugging Cat with his letters to be his friend.  Cat snubs Bird…until it’s snack time. Cat is ready for a tasty meal except Bird has his own devious plan in mind for this “clever” cat.

Erin’s comments:

This sounds like it could be interesting but I think you need to be more specific. I’m not quite sure what Bird’s letters have to do with a devious plan to trick Cat. It would work better if you framed it more simply: “Bird wants to be Cat’s friend but Cat snubs Bird. When it’s snack time Bird makes Cat notice him by (whatever it is he does)…  and Cat realizes that perhaps birds can be good friends.”

For October: Kirk – My Next Door Neighbor Is A Dragon Princess! (MG)

I didn’t care much for Maddie Buckner. At two, she bit my ear. At four she pushed me off a slide. At 8, she broke my favorite model airplane that took five months to build. At 10, she kissed me – on the lips! – under the Big Toy in the playground and told me she loved me. At 11, she spit in my face and said she hated me. Then she asked Parker Williams to the sock hop. Parker Williams! Oh, how I despised her. But then she had to go and save my life. That’s when I discovered her secret.

Erin’s comments:

I love this. Gets the tension in and the voice and the humor! The only thing I would suggest is making the numbers consistent. In theory, all of them should be written out but if you prefer not to do that, then they should all be numerical. And I just tightened it up a tad.

I didn’t care much for Maddie Buckner. At two, she bit my ear. At four she pushed me off a slide. At eight, she broke my favorite model airplane that took five months to build. At ten, she kissed me – on the lips! – under the Big Toy in the playground and told me she loved me. At eleven, she spit in my face and said she hated me. Then she asked Parker Williams to the sock hop. Parker Williams! Oh, how I despised her. But then she saved my life. That’s when I discovered her secret.

For November: Jessica – Showdown At The Sippy Cup Saloon! (PB ages 4-8)

In the tiny town of Toddle, in the cradle of the West, Sheriff Wyatt Burp is snoozing in his crib when Wild Bill Hiccup arrives to wake up — and shake up — the pint-size population.  “Don’t go gettin’ yer onesie in a twist,” Wild Bill warns Wyatt, but tempers flare until the two go bib to bib in a showdown at the Sippy Cup Saloon. Who will emerge the rootin’ tootin’ squirt gun shootin’ hero of the West?

Erin’s comments:

This sounds like it could be adorable! The only thing I would worry about is making it too precious. AND, it’s best not to end with a question. What if you framed it as more of a statement: Wild Bill Hiccup and Sheriff Wyatt Burp face off to decide who will emerge as the rootin’ tootin’ squirt gun shootin’ hero of the West.

So much fantastic advice as always from Erin!  We are so lucky to have her, and she is so very generous to share her expertise with us!  Thank you, Erin, and thanks to all the writers who step up each month to share their pitches so that all of us can benefit and learn!

I hope you’ll all find Erin’s comments very educational and helpful.

Have a marvelous Monday, everyone!

(And in case, in spite of all the advice and uplifting words about Monday you’re still longing for it to be Saturday, I have two helpful words for you:  Mister Softee 🙂 )

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)

28 Comments

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

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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!

24 Comments

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!

17 Comments

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!!! 🙂