Halloweensie Contest 2013 WINNERS!!!

November 7, 2013104 Comments

Hey!

What are you all doing here?

Don’t you know it’s Thursday?

I don’t post on Thursdays.

Go home.

I’ll see you tomorrow for Perfect Picture Books.

Oh!

You’re here for a reason?

Well, I’ll be darned!

You must have all come over to hear about my hangnail!

Aren’t you just the sweetest to be so concerned!

Let me tell you, it’s a doozy. It started on Monday when I was washing the dishes. It was just that little tiny painful beginning, you know? And I noticed it when I went to dry my hands and that painful little poinky end got caught on the dish towel and I was like, “Oh, man! Not a hangnail!”….

Wait a minute.

You’re all managing to look very patient.

But I heard yawning…

…and I see some eye-rolling in the back over there….

You didn’t really come over to hear about my hangnail, DID you!

I KNEW it!

So why are you here on a Thursday?

Go home, I tell you!

Jeez Louise! You’d think I had nothing better to do than to entertain you lot with the

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST WINNERS!!!!!

Heeheehee! I’m sorry! I just can’t help myself. Heeheehee. I don’t even HAVE a hangnail! Heeheeheeheehee!

Okay, really. I’m sorry for tormenting you with my juvenile behavior. Let’s start with a few surprises, shall we?

As you are all aware by now, we had a record turnout for the Halloweensie Contest – 79 entries!

I was thrilled beyond measure to see so many wonderful stories!

But with large entry numbers 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 Monday for your vote.

There were, however, many other entries that were outstanding in certain areas even though they might not have qualified all-around for one reason or another.

So my assistant judges and I would like to award recognition and a small prize to the following authors for the following merits:

1. For Honorable Mention In The Competition As A Whole:
Vivian Kirkfield for Halloween Dance Party Countdown
Carrie Finison for Callie’s Prize-Winning Potion
Lauri Meyers for White Cat’s Halloween
Suzy Levinson for Black Cat Goes To Spooky School

2. For Best Use of Poetic Language:
Kathy Moncrief for Halloween Night!
Heather Greene for Untitled (Hallowed Eve)
Julie Rowan-Zoch for Halloween Comes To The Farm
Bradin Farnworth for The Witches’ Song
Kimberley Moran for Black Glass Cat

3. For Spookiest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Teresa M.I. Schaefer for Grim Concoction
Laura Shovan for The Old Hotel
Jackie Wellington for A Disappearing Act
Deirdre Sheridan Englehart for The Spookiest Night!

4. For Funniest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Mike Allegra for Spooky Piggy
Janet Johnson for Brewster’s Trick
Sheila Renfro for Helga’s Black Cat Search

5. For Sweetest/Cutest Entry: (not already in the finals)
Deb for Boo: The Scaredy Halloweenie Cat

6. For Great Kid Appeal: (not already in the finals)
Michelle Barnes for The Witching Hour
Meg Miller for The Halloween CAW Ball
Kirsten Bock for Scare D-Cat

7. For Most Original Format:
Nancy Hatch for Cackle… The Spooky Black Cat – in rap! 🙂

8. For Best All-Around Entry By A Newcomer To The Blog: (not already in the finals)
Juliana Lee for Sleepless Hallow’s Eve
Doris K. Stone for The Fat Black Cat Sat

9. For Favorite Character:
Stacy Couch for her Ninja Ballerina in Olivia vs. The Witch 🙂

Congratulations to all of you for fantastic elements of your stories! You may all email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com to collect your prize, which is your choice of one of the following: (the titles are all links so you can go see what they’re about)

For Kindle:
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi , OR

The Postitive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Attributes by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, OR

The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Flaws by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, OR

In paperback:
Show & Tell In A Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions From Telling To Showing by Jessica Bell

And now…

…the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

~~…a picture of my hangnail!~~

… THE WINNERS OF THE 2013 HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST ACCORDING TO THE POPULAR VOTE!!! (which did not have the consideration to work out very neatly as you will see…)

In First Place, winner of a picture book manuscript critique from Corey Rosen Schwartz (celebrated author of The Three Ninja Pigs and other wonderful picture books) AND a copy of Linda Ashman’s brand new Nuts & Bolts Guide To Writing Picture Books…

DDDDDRRRRRUUUUUMMMMMRRRRROOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!

Nata Romeo

for Drusella, The Black Spooky Cat

Congratulations, Nata!!!

In Second Place, winner of a picture book manuscript critique AND a query letter critique from Heather Ayris Burnell, author of Bedtime Monster,

Marcie Rinka Wessels

for Miss Sadie

Congratulations, Marcie!!!

In Third Place, we have a tie between

Eric Weibel and Margaret Greenias

for The Dare for One Ghostly Halloween

One of them will win the signed copies of Halloween Hustle by Charlotte Gunnufson, The Monster Who Lost His Mean by Tiffany Haber, and Marathon Mouse by Amy Dixon, which was the original 3rd prize. The other will win The Writer’s Workout: 366 Tips, Task andTechniques From Your Writing Coach by Christina Katz AND Rip The Page: Adventures In Creative Writing by Karen Benke – they will have to fight amongst themselves and/or come up with a way to split and share the spoils 🙂

Congratulations, Erik and Margaret!!!

In Fifth Place, we have another tie! between

Laura Renauld and Cheryl Secomb

for Foe or Friend? for On Halloween

Since I didn’t previously announce prizes past 3rd, I’m going to keep this tie fair by awarding both Laura and Cheryl a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate – that way they won’t have to fight like Erik and Margaret 🙂

Congratulations, Laura and Cheryl!!!

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! Finalists who did not finish in the top 6 (Joanna, Nancy, Katie, Donna and Buffy) may also contact me for their choice of the Kindle or paperback prizes listed above.

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, a confetti parade, and a large amount of chocolate cake 🙂

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. It’s because of all of you that this contest was such a success, so many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart!

And before we go, I will give you all advance warning so you can start planning a little time into your December schedule…

The 3rd Annual Holiday Writing Contest will be coming up sometime in the neighborhood of December 11-18. I’m running it a little bit earlier this year so we can all fully enjoy it and still have time for last minute holiday things. And to whet your appetites and get your thinking caps on, I will tell you that first prize is something AWESOME! A picture book manuscript read and critique by an actual editor at an actual highly regarded publishing house!!! But that is all I’m saying for now 🙂 You will just have to stay tuned for more details as the Holiday Contest approaches. And I will do my best to post the rules well in advance so you all have time to work on your stories!

Have a terrific Thursday everyone, and thanks again for making the Halloweensie Contest such a wonderful time for all! 🙂

Happy Columbus Day! AND Announcing The 3rd Annual Halloweensie Contest!!!

October 14, 2013February 15, 201553 Comments

Happy Columbus Day, Everyone!

You know what Columbus Day means, don’t you? It’s time for a little (twisted) history:

Four score and seven years ago… plus a couple hundred… Columbus set sail from Peppermint Bay on the Good Ship Lollypop,

searching desperately for a recipe for a perfect pie crust that would be light and flaky and never tough. Instead, he found a brave new world. “Woe is me!” he wailed. “What use is a new land if I cannot bake a decent pie?” Pocahontas led him through the wilderness to the Culinary Institute of America but he was expelled when after 6 months his pie crust still had the consistency of truck tires. “Who cares?” he shouted maniacally as he was led away in footie pajamas. “You guys might make better pie crust, but I’ve got my own holiday! So nanny-nanny-poo-poo!” And he was right, because lo and behold these many years later we are thankful and celebrate ole Chris because we don’t have work or school on his holiday, and anyone can just buy a pie crust any old time from the frozen food section of the grocery store.

And if that is not the version you’re familiar with, well, lets just say there’s a reason it’s called hiSTORY!

Either way, the fact that we don’t have work or school means that we are here… ready… and waiting with baited breath (which, what does that mean really? That your breath smells like bait? Because that would be icky… but I digress…) We are here, and ready for the announcement of…..

The 3rd Annual HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST!!!!!

That’s right! It’s time!

courtesy google images

The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words spooky, black cat, and cackle. Your story can be scary, funny or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words (you can count black cat as one word) and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!) Get it? Halloweensie – because it’s not very long and it’s for little people 🙂 (And yes, I know 100 words is short but that’s part of the fun and the challenge! We got over 40 fantastic entries last year so I know you can do it!)

Post your story on your blog between 12:00 AM EDT Monday October 28th and Thursday October 31st by 11:59 PM EDT and add your post-specific link to the list that will accompany my October 28th post. There will be no Would You Read It that week, so the post and the list of links will stay up all week for everyone to enjoy. If you don’t have a blog and would like to enter, you can simply copy and paste your entry in the comments section of that post once it’s up.

The Judge: my lovely assistant and I will narrow down the entrants to 3 (hee hee hee – you know how much trouble I have with only 3, so we’ll see) top choices which will be posted here and voted on for a winner on Monday November 4th. The winner will be announced with Would You Read It on Wednesday November 6th. If we get more than 20 entries, I will post 6 finalists and give prizes for 1st through 3rd.

The Prize: yeah… I’m still working on the prizes 🙂 Feel free to chime in the comments if there’s something you’d particularly like to win! 🙂 But prizes will include (in some way, shape, or form) a hardcover copy of Charlotte Gunnufson’s picture book Halloween Hustle and an e-pub or PDF copy (winner’s choice) of Linda Ashman’s new Nuts And Bolts Guide to writing picture books. Plus whatever else I dream up in the meantime 🙂

So that’s it! Have a marvelous Monday, everyone, and use that Columbus Day holiday free time to get started thinking about your Halloweensie Contest entry!

Have fun! 🙂

Look What’s Coming! The 4th of July Secret Mystery Writing Contest!

June 10, 2013February 15, 201550 Comments

It’s that time again!!! Writing Contest time!!! Yippee-aye-oh-hurray!!!

I know none of you got a wink of sleep this weekend, waiting for the contest announcement, so I won’t keep you waiting another second 🙂 (Plus, I want to give you all plenty of time to get your entries written in case you have plans during Fourth of July week… write now, you’ll be all ready to go and can settle in when you have a few minutes here and there to read all the wonderful entries as they come in with your kids and families! :))

The Fourth Of July Secret Mystery Writing Contest!

WHO ATE THE BLUEBERRIES???!!!

The Contest: Write a children’s story, in poetry or prose, maximum 400 words about the 4th of July in which a secret is revealed or a mystery is solved!

You may choose any 4th of July setting you like: country, city or small town, sleepaway camp or vacation, with family or friends or all alone, at a parade, a picnic, a fireworks show or a bonfire, in the middle of the woods or in a country where the locals don’t celebrate 4th of July. Your secret or mystery doesn’t have to be anything earth-shattering. It could be who took Granny’s award-winning Fourth of July cherry pie? Or what did Robin tell Sarah who told Olivia who told Gracie about Anna in cabin 7? Or where did the flags for the parade disappear to? Or why doesn’t Becky Sue want to go to the fireworks show? Or what Old Mrs. Hootenspiegal knows about the mayor! Just as long as a secret or mystery of some kind is revealed or solved by the end.

Post: Your entry should be posted on your blog between Monday July 1 at 12:01 AM EDT and Friday July 5 at 11:59 PM EDT, and your post-specific link should be added to the link list on the official Fourth Of July Secret Mystery Contest post which will go up on my blog on Monday July 1 and remain up through Sunday July 7 (no Would You Read It on Wednesday July 3… and although the post will remain up through Sunday to give everyone plenty of time to read, the entry list will be closed at midnight Friday so we have time to judge). If you don’t have a blog but would like to enter, please copy and paste your entry into the comments on my July 1st post by midnight Friday July 5th. (If anyone has trouble commenting, which unfortunately happens, please email me and I’ll post your entry for you!)

The Judging: My lovely assistant and I will narrow down the entrants to five (or possibly a couple more :)) finalists which will be posted here on Monday July 8 for you to vote on for a winner. The vote will be closed at 6 PM EDT on Thursday July 11 and the winner will be announced on Friday July 12.

The Prizes!: The first place winner will receive (I am not making this up!) a picture book manuscript critique from Simone Kaplan!!!!! Yes, THE Simone Kaplan!!! I wish I knew how to put that up in lights and make it all sparkly! 🙂 Simone Kaplan has been editing children’s books and magazines for over 20 years. She was an editor at Henry Holt and Company, and then a Senior Editor at HarperCollins. More recently she has worked as a consultant to various authors, illustrators, and publishing houses. She also runs a wonderful website called Picture Book People (where you can sign up for her free newsletter among other things.) A prize like this makes me wish I could compete in my own contest! 🙂

If we get more than 15 entries, we will place through 3rd. If we get more than 25 entires we will place through 5th. Additional prizes will include critiques, gift certificates and signed books. (Details to come.)

So put on those thinking caps and start bouncing those ideas off the wall! Your story could win you a fabulous prize, but win or not, you can be certain your stories will be read with appreciation by LOTS of readers! 🙂

Have a marvelous Monday everyone! 🙂

The Can’t Sleep Without Sheep E-Book Launch Jingle Contest!

May 6, 2013February 15, 201556 Comments

It’s finally Monday!

It’s okay. You can admit it. I know you couldn’t sleep last night (even with plenty of sheep to count :)) because you were So Excited about today’s contest! 🙂

And today’s contest is happening because tomorrow, May 7, Can’t Sleep Without Sheep is coming out as an E-Book!!!

It will be available on all platforms, and it is one of 4 books that Walker has chosen to launch their E-Book line. For that reason, it is very important that it do well. It is a representative! Sallying forth and bearing the flag of honor! So I really want to help spread the word so that Woolliam and Ava don’t end up hanging their heads in disgrace!

UPDATE:
Here is the E-Book link for Bloomsbury! Can’t Sleep E-Book – Bloomsbury

This contest has gone through a few metamorphoses, but has ended up as follows. You may participate in any or all of the 3 categories! 🙂 (and if you’ve already read the rules you can skip a bit :)):

1. Write a jingle that makes Can’t Sleep Without Sheep sound irresistible! So that everyone will want to read it!! On whatever electronic device they happen to have!!! The judges will look with extra favor on anyone who produces a video (sorry, they can’t help it :)) For more details on writing your jingle, please go HERE)

On Monday May 6 – Tuesday May 7, please post your jingle of awesomeness on your blog and include the links to the E-Book (which I’m sorry you’ll have to add tomorrow because the links don’t exist yet!) Add your post-specific link to the list below so we can all come and be entertained by your jingle. (And as always, if you’d like to participate but don’t have a blog, you may either post in the comments or email me and I’ll add your entry to this post.)

On Monday May 13, we will vote for a winner. If we get fewer than 15 participants (*sob*) I will post them all here for popular vote. If we get 16 or more (YAY! :)) my lovely assistant and I will select up to 10 finalists for your voting pleasure.

Prizes for Category #1- The Jingle (given for 1st place if 15 entries or fewer, 1st-3rd if more than 16 entries) are as follows:
Winner’s choice of one of the following:

#1 The Serenity Spa Gift Basket from It’s Only Natural – a $55 value of organic soaps and lotions!
#2 A $50 gift certificate to Amazon!
#3 Tangy lemon bars, fudgy brownies, and sugared butter cookies from Sweet Sally’s Bakeshop! (A $40+ value)
#4 Winner’s choice of any 3 of my books, specially signed for whoever you like (A $30-$50 value depending on which books you choose)
#5 Winner’s choice of my online picture book writing course (a $99 value) OR a picture book manuscript critique by yours truly (a $75 value)

2. Face Book post, Tweet, and/or blog that Can’t Sleep Without Sheep is coming out as an E-Book for all platforms, including links (which won’t be available until Tuesday May 7 when the e-book is actually available – I will add the links to this post as soon as I have them.) Make sure to tag me on your FB posts (Susanna Hill), mention me on your tweets (@SusannaLHill), and email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com to tell me you blogged so I can keep score. You may post, tweet and blog to your heart’s content all week – May 6 – May 14 at 9 PM EDT – and you will receive a point for every single one!

Your names will be entered into random.org at 9 PM EDT on Tuesday May 14, with the number of times you’re entered equal to the number of points you earned (so if you tweet 14 times, your name will be entered 14 times etc.)

Prizes for Catogory #2 – Social Media Love (FB posting, tweeting and blogging):
The randomly selected winner will have his/her choice of either:
#1 A signed copy of any of my books PLUS the new Can’t Sleep e-book on their choice of platform (which they may also choose to have gifted to a young friend :)) or
#2 A $25 amazon gift certificate

3. KIDS CONTEST!

Download The Sheep Drawing Activity so your child/children/preschool or kindergarten class 🙂 can draw something for Ava to count and/or The Sheep Hats Activity so they can draw hats on the sheep and/or write entertaining captions for what the sheep are saying.

Scan the gorgeous results and post them on your blog and link to the same link list that will be posted here on Monday May 6-Tuesday May 7 – just put (kids) so we’ll know 🙂 (Again, if you want to participate and don’t have a blog, just email me the scanned pictures and I’ll post them for you here.)

Kids Contest participants will also be voted on May 13, and of course there will be a prize for that too! The winner of the Kids Contest will receive either the new Can’t Sleep Without Sheep E-Book on the platform of his/her choice or a signed hardcover copy PLUS a Folkmanis Sheep puppet!

All winners will be announced on Wednesday May 15!

Now. Fasten your seat belts. I have a sample (don’t I always?), maybe two! And I also have an entry from Ruth!

Are you ready?

//www.youtube.com/get_player

This video is a Hill Family Production featuring the musical talents for Eric who made up the jingle and is singing and playing guitar, the videography talents of Number Five who was roped in because I didn’t have enough hands, and Yours Truly as actor/prop manager, producer and director! As you can see, we are amateurs at movie-making 🙂

Great Scott it took me about two days to get this to load! I hope it’s running properly. You might have to turn your volume pretty high… Fingers crossed it works!

And now, at last, here comes video #2. Fair warning… don’t put your volume too high and get ready to cover your ears 🙂 Never let it be said that I’m not willing to make a fool of myself for my art 🙂

Here is Ruth’s Entry:)

Text/Jingle Copyright Ruth Benedum 2013
Illustrations Copyright Mike Wohnoutka 2010

And may I just say that Ruth and I struggled mightily to get something up that worked. This is her third effort. I’m sorry the first one with sound wouldn’t load properly, but isn’t this beautiful and fun?

And here is Carrie’s Entry! 🙂

//www.youtube.com/get_player

Now, all you talented people who have your jingles posted, please add your post-specific links to the list. We’re all coming to see you! 🙂

Let’s Talk Sheep – BAAH! A CAAHNTEST!!!

April 29, 2013February 15, 201543 Comments

Well, folks, not only is there always adventure around here, there is always excitement! 🙂

First of all, I’m pretty sure my hair has grown at least a millimeter since last week 🙂

Really!

Pretty sure!!

But even more exciting than that, I just found out that Can’t Sleep Without Sheep is being released to E-Book on May 7!!!

Phyllis is sulking. She thinks everything should be about her. And usually it is.

But this week I really think Woolliam and Ava deserve their turn in the limelight.

illustration copyright Mike Wohnoutka 2010

So I put on my Old Thinking Cap and thought to myself, what can we do that will be fun and also help spread the word about the E-Book?

Right away I thought of cake.

Because, as you may have noticed, that is often my first thought.

But although I feel quite sure there will be cake involved, I think this occasion calls for even more than cake.

I know.

The mind reels.

But I want Ava and the sheep to have a chance to kick up their heels and have some fun.

So here’s what I’m thinking…

LET’S HAVE A CONTEST!!!

You know how I love contests 🙂

Here’s what we’ll do:

Write a jingle that makes Can’t Sleep Without Sheep sound irresistible! So that everyone will want to read it!! On whatever electronic device they happen to have!!!

You can do straight rhyme like the old roadside Burma Shave commercials, you know, like:

I’ve heard it praised
By drugstore clerks
I tried the stuff
Hot dog! It works!
Burma Shave!

Or you can do it to a tune (just tell us what is is so we can sing it :)), like:

My bologna has a first name
It’s O-S-C-A-R
My bologna has a second name
It’s M-A-Y-E-R
I love to eat it every day
And if you ask my why I’ll say…
‘Cause Oscar Mayer has a way
With B-O-L-O-G-N-A!
(I’m assuming everyone is familiar with that one, but if not you can view it HERE :))

If you’re REALLY feeling creative, you can post a photo or slide show to accompany your rhyme/jingle, or do a short video so we can hear your rhyme/jingle, preferably featuring the book cover, or a sheep in pajamas or tucked in bed, or a stuffed animal pajama party, or a pillow fight, or stuffed animals demolishing Lincoln Log fences…, or anything fun to do with the story whilst you recite or sing! (And I’ll tell you right now, any entry like this is bound to get extra love from the judges! :))

Doesn’t that sound fun? Plus it can count as your Short & Sweet for the week 🙂

So that’s it. You have a whole week to come up with an awesome jingle to help Woolliam and Ava in their quest for fame and fortune 🙂

On Monday May 6 – Tuesday May 7, please post your jingle of awesomeness on your blog and include the link (which I will hopefully have by then to give you!) to the E-Book. Add your post-specific link to the list that will be here on my post that day. (And as always, if you’d like to participate but don’t have a blog, you may either post in the comments or email me and I’ll add your entry to my blog post.)

Earn extra points by spreading the word on Face Book and Twitter (and make sure I know by tagging me – Susanna Hill on FB, @SusannaLHill on twitter). You may do this to your heart’s content all week 🙂

Because of course there’s a prize!

On Monday May 13, we will vote for a winner. If we get fewer than 15 participants (*sob*) I will post them all here for popular vote. If we get 16 or more (YAY! :)) my lovely assistant and I will select up to 10 finalists for your voting pleasure.

The winner will receive his or her choice of the following prizes:
#1 The Serenity Spa Gift Basket from It’s Only Natural – a $55 value of organic soaps and lotions!
#2 A $50 gift certificate to Amazon!
#3 Tangy lemon bars, fudgy brownies, and sugared butter cookies from Sweet Sally’s Bakeshop! (A $40+ value)
#4 Winner’s choice of any 3 of my books, specially signed for whoever you like (A $30-$50 value depending on which books you choose)
#5 Winner’s choice of my online picture book writing course (a $99 value) OR a picture book manuscript critique by yours truly (a $75 value)

If we get more than 25 entries, prizes will be given for 1st – 3rd!

IN ADDITION there will be a special contest FOR KIDS!

WHEW! That is so much excitement I’m feeling a little faint. I think I’m ready for a nap. And a brownie. Not necessarily in that order 🙂

I hope you will all join me in going hog-wild (well, I guess SHEEP-wild would be more appropriate in this situation… perhaps BAAHzerk? :)) to help launch this little e-book out into the wide world. I will be truly and deeply grateful for any and all participation, and I hope the prizes will help make it worthwhile for you 🙂

Thank you, my friends, and have a wonderful day! 🙂

Would You Read It Wednesday #63 – Scooter Annie Braves The Hill (PB), Straight From The Editor #13, AND The Halloweensie Contest!!!

October 24, 2012February 15, 201589 Comments

Holy Jack-O-Lanterns Batman!

Why didn’t anyone remind me that I forgot to post the Halloweensie Contest Rules on Monday???!!! Now we’ve got a gigantic post for today! So that’s it. No chitchat! We’re getting right down to business!

First things first. It’s Would You Read It Wednesday, so grab your Something Chocolate! Care to join me for some chocolate cheesecake?

Chocolate Cheesecake… YUM!!!
Photo copyright Stacy Jensen 2012 used by permission

You know, usually I can rationalize the chocolate into some form of acceptable breakfast, but this one eludes me. Just enjoy 🙂

Now then. Straight From The Editor for the September Pitch Pick, which you will recall was won by the lovely Elizabeth with her pitch for Buff The Magic Dragon.

Buff The Magic Dragon

Picture Book, ages 4-8

The Pitch: Buff the Magic Dragon is afraid of EVERYTHING. But when his magic trick-gone-wrong lands the baby Princess Ponypants in the tentacles of Captain Meanie Bones Jones, Buff must swallow his fear to save her.

Here are editor Erin Molta’s comments:

This is cute. I think it would work better if instead of saying “swallow his fear” you say, “overcome his fear”. Because when swallow is used it’s almost always about swallowing one’s pride and I think you’d rather have the connotation being strong. Then I think you might want to be a tad more specific about what fear he is overcoming. I know he’s afraid of everything but if he is to rescue Princess Ponypants(cute name!) from Captain Meanie Bones Jones, he’ll need to face that fear directly. So perhaps Buff must overcome his fear of . . . eight-legged purple sea monsters or his fear of water in order to do battle with the Captain . . .

I don’t know about you, but I always find Erin’s thoughts very helpful!

Moving right along, we have today’s pitch from Carrie who blogs over at Story Patch and who, if you’ve spent any time around here at all, you will recognize as the pitch doctor 🙂 She has an uncanny ability to take any pitch, keep what’s best, and fix what needs help. But it’s always a different matter when it comes to your own work, isn’t it? So today she’s asking for your help. Let’s see if she needs any 🙂

Working Title: Scooter Annie Braves The Hill
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: When Annie gets a new scooter, she can’t wait to ride. She loves swooping down her driveway and gliding along the sidewalk. But if Annie wants to ride in the neighborhood parade, she must find a way to conquer her fears and tackle the biggest hill in town.

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 Carrie 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 the Would You Read It tab in the bar above. There are openings in January, so you have time to polish 🙂 for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Carrie is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! And I am looking forward to presenting The Halloweensie Contest!!!

Are you ready?

What is that noise in the dark of night?

It’s coming closer…

…and closer…

*dramatic Hollywood scream* AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

It’s the (2nd Annual!) HALLOWEENSIE CONTEST!!!!!

courtesy google images

The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words witch, bat, and “trick-or-treat“. Your story can be scary, funny or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!) Get it? Halloweensie – because it’s not very long and it’s for little people 🙂

Post your story on your blog on Wednesday October 31 and link up here (and I’m really hoping we don’t get 2 feet of snow that knocks out the power and the internet this year!!!) If you don’t have a blog and would like to enter, you can simply copy and paste your entry in the comments section of the Wednesday October 31 official contest blog post that will go up here.

The Judge: my lovely assistant and I will narrow down the entrants to three (hee hee hee – you know how much trouble I have with only 3, so we’ll see) top choices which will be posted here and voted on for a winner.

The Prize: Okay. Seriously? I think this is a good prize 🙂 The winner will receive 5 (that’s FIVE!) brand new picture books personalized and signed by the authors! These 5 awesome books are: PUZZLED BY PINK by Sarah Frances Hardy, THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN by Tiffany Strelitz Haber, THE THREE NINJA PIGS by Corey Rosen Schwartz, MARATHON MOUSE by Amy Dixon, and FLAP! by Alison Hertz. Great to keep for your own collection or to give to little ones in your life as holiday gifts 🙂

Doesn’t that sound like fun? Last year this was the very first writing contest I ever had on my blog, and I think we got 8 entries. I’m really really hoping we get lots more this year – it’s fun, it’s not too long (one might even call it short and sweet :)), it has to do with Halloween, which makes you think of candy, which is pretty much synonymous with chocolate… – so really, what could be better? 🙂

So get those thinking caps on – you’ve got a whole week to come up with a 100 word kids’ Halloween story! (and I’ve already given your three of the words 🙂 witch, bat, and “trick-or-treat“) – and, since I went and distracted you with the contest, everyone please remember to leave your thoughts on Carrie’s pitch!

Have a lovely Wednesday, my friends 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Harry The Dirty Dog And International Dot Day And The Summer Contest Winner!!!

September 14, 2012February 15, 201562 Comments

Holy Dot Day, Batman!

If you managed to read the whole title of this post, you know we have a lot on the agenda for today! And it all has to do with dots – either directly or in a more roundabout way 🙂

We’ll start with Perfect Picture Books, which I like to put on top so it’s easy to find when people click over from the master list. I’ve chosen a book about a dog with spots… which are a lot like dots.

Next up will be my Dot for International Dot Day.

Finally, just when you think you can’t bear the suspense for another second, I will announce the winner of the Summer Send-Off Contest… before you go dotty! (OK. That was a reach :))

Ready? Set. GO!

Harry The Dirty Dog
Written By: Gene Zion
Illustrated By: Margaret Bloy Graham
Harper & Row, 1956, Fiction

Suitable For: ages 3-8

Themes/Topics: bath time, behavior (rebelliousness), facing consequences, problem solving, animals (dogs)
Opening: “Harry was a white dog with black spots who liked everything, except… getting a bath. So one day when he heard the water running in the tub, he took the scrubbing brush… and buried it in the back yard.”

Brief Synopsis: Harry doesn’t want a bath, so he hides the scrubbing brush and runs away. All day long he plays happily, getting dirtier and dirtier, until finally, when he returns home, he’s so dirty his family doesn’t even recognize him. What’s a dog to do?

Links To Resources: Harry The Dirty Dog Activities, Harry The Dirty Dog read by Betty White with pictures and tasteful animation (delightful!) as well as activities.

Why I Like This Book: I not only like this book, I love it. I loved it as a child. I loved it with my children. I love it as a writer because to me it’s a story that does everything right. I think children (and adults :)) can relate to Harry’s story because we all have the urge to rebel from time to time but, like Harry, in the end what we want most is to be safe and loved… even if it means having a bath 🙂 The art is delightful, depicting Harry as lively and lovable, culminating in the sweet last page where Harry is curled up, happily asleep and dreaming, but leaving you to wonder whether he hid that scrubbing brush to make sure he was always clean so his family would always recognize him, or whether he hid it to avoid another bath any time soon 🙂

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

Moving on, it’s time to celebrate International Dot Day!

Following the lead of Patricia Tilton on her wonderful blog Children’s Books Heal, I am joining in on International Dot Day, based on Peter H. Reynolds’ picture book The Dot. The idea is to encourage people not to be intimidated and to create their own art in the form of a dot. This year over half a million people will participate – primarily children in classrooms – but lots of other people as well. Celebri-dots features dots created by well-known authors and illustrators. (Dot Day is actually September 15, but I don’t post on Saturday so mine is going up today :))

I am not particularly artistic, but I had an idea for a dot. The lovely and talented Beth Stilborn, whose computer skills leave mine in the dust, turned my idea into reality. Thank you, Beth! 🙂

My dot is about love.

Love comes in many shapes and sizes. For my daughter it comes in the shape of a polka-dot pony. The pony is not fancy or highly bred. She’s 14.1 hands* of fine, cinnamon chip fur, with a sturdy build, a velvet-soft nose, one brown eye and one blue, and though she might not appear to be anything special, she owns my daughter’s heart. And it just so happens that two of those cinnamon dots that sprinkle her fur so liberally are heart shaped. I am not making this up. You can see one of them in the dot 🙂
* (for those who might not be horse people, a hand is the unit of measure for horses and is equal to 4″. 14.1 hands means that the pony stands 57″ at the withers.)

And just for fun, another dot… 🙂

Here is the special pony those dots and that heart belong to 🙂

my daughter counted the pony’s spots one day and in case you’re wondering, she has 791! 🙂

and the poem my daughter wrote about her:

Chestnut, chestnut, chestnut spots

Appaloosa polka-dots.

How many little chestnut spots?

Lots and lots and lots and lots!

by Little Hill 5

So there you have it. My polka-dot pony love dot 🙂

So I guess that’s it, right? We’ll wrap up and head out to read everyone’s Perfect Picture Books….

What?

OH! You want to know who won the contest?

Well. Okay 🙂

I’ve got to tell you, somehow this turned out to be the closest contest we’ve ever had here and that’s saying something because everyone is so talented that the contests are always close. In this case, however, the contestants were literally neck and neck. First one would pull ahead, then another. It was a serious nail-biter! In the end though, we did have a clear winner. And that was…

DDRRUUMM RROOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

ERIK!!!!!!!!

Congratulations, Erik! Well done!

And to all the other finalists, excellent job as well. And to everyone who entered, you are all amazingly talented and creative people and it was a joy to read every single entry! Thanks to everyone for participating.

Erik, you may email me at your convenience and choose your prize 🙂 And since we only had 15 entries, I’m only giving a prize for first place. (If we’d had over 20 entries I would have included 2nd and 3rd place prizes, but now you’ll just have to wait for the Halloweensie Contest on October 31st for that! :))

Although I don’t usually add the placement of all the finalists, in this case it was such a close race that I thought you (and they) might like to know how well they did:

1st: Erik

2nd: Sidney

3rd: Vivian

4th: Romelle

5th: TIE: Jess and Lauri

So now, my lovelies, if all the PPBF bloggers would kindly leave their post specific links in the list below, we shall all come visit – the best part of Friday 🙂

Have a great weekend, everyone! 🙂

Susanna Leonard Hill

Children's Author

Category: prizes