Last Saturday we had dinner with our daughter, son-in-law, and little granddaughter. On our way home through a lovely late May twilight, just before we turned into our road, we saw a doe grazing right at the edge of the tall meadow grass. The car startled her. She lifted her head from the grass and with one graceful leap disappeared into the sheltering trees. And oh! Right behind her out of that tall grass came the first little fawn we’ve seen this year! So tiny. So delicate. So earnestly intent on staying with his mama 🙂
So for today’s Perfect Picture Book, I had to share one of my favorites. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do!
Lost In The Woods: A Photographic Fantasy Written By & Photographed By: Carl R. Sams II & Jean Stoick Published By: Carl R. Sams II Photography, June, 2004, Reality Based Fiction
Opening: “The Spring frogs sing-singing with a thousand trilling voices were silenced by the rising sun. New life came into the woods before the sun touched the tops of the trees. He slept quietly in the tall grass on the north edge of the meadow where the trees start the forest.”
Brief Synopsis: The woodland creatures are worried that a newborn fawn might be lost. “Mama said to wait right here,” the fawn whispers. “She will come back.” But the other animals aren’t convinced and offer their advice and help. Does the doe come back? What do you think? 🙂
Links To Resources: The book itself is a resource. Page after page of gorgeous photographs of woodland creatures will introduce children to animals and birds they may never have seen, especially if they live in the city. The very last page of the book challenges readers to look back through the pictures and see if they can find a number of hidden animals. Activity pages, Lesson Plan. If you’re lucky enough to live in a rural area, go for a “deer drive” in the evening, cruising slowly along back roads, and see how many different animals and birds you can spot 🙂
Why I Like This Book: I love this story! It’s simple and sweet. On the first page where the fawn appears, he is a tangle of fragile limbs. His spotted fur helps him blend into the forest floor. By the last page, he has mastered those rascally legs and can be seen bounding through the meadow grass with such joy you can’t help but smile at his airs above the ground. But the best part is the photography. It’s breathtaking. Absolutely stunning! The fawn’s fur looks like you could reach out and touch it. You can see his eyelashes! And there are so many other animals pictured – chipmunk, goslings, a tree frog whose camouflage is amazing!, cardinal, red-winged blackbird, raccoon, and many others. I know I’m an animal lover (and therefore biased :)) but I think this book is exquisitely beautiful and one that anyone would enjoy!
I know you’ve all been anxiously waiting for the moment when I announce the winners of the Birthday Contest.
Thank you for your patience.
And I am definitely going to tell you just as soon as I recite The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
In Middle English.
(deep breath)
“Whan that Aprill with his shoures sote The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendered is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes…”
Sorry 🙂 I’m just fooling’ with you – can’t seem to help myself 🙂 But I won’t really put you through a recitation of all 900 billion stanzas (or however many there are – it seemed like at least 900 billion when we were in 9th grade) and besides, I can only remember about 16 lines of the General Prologue 🙂
So anyway. The Birthday Contest!
We had so many talented writers, and so many wonderful entries! It was incredibly hard, but we narrowed them down to 6:
#1 A Gift Of Love by Delores #2 A Present For A Pirate by Cathy #3 Not Another Birthday! by Erik #4 Birthday At The Beach by Carrie #5 Dan’s Birthday Plan by Stacy #6 The Biggest And The Best by Anthony
96 voters weighed in with their opinions and the winners are…
duhn-duhn-duhn-duhn!!!
Third Place: CATHY with A Present For A Pirate
Second Place: CARRIE with Birthday At The Beach
and last but not least….
First Place and Big Winner 🙂 ANTHONY with The Biggest And The Best!!!
Congratulations to all of you, and to all who entered! You were all superb and I think I speak for everyone when I say we thoroughly enjoyed all the entries and admire your hard work and bravery in entering! Thank you all!
Anthony, Carrie, and Cathy, please contact me using that handy Email Me button on the right or, if you prefer manual labor, by emailing to susanna [at] susannahill [dot] com. Anthony will get first choice of the prizes, Carrie will get second choice, and Cathy will get third.
First, the lovely Jen invited me to be part of her fabulous Let’s Ask series yesterday. If you haven’t had a chance, please pop over and visit her 🙂
Second, remember Randy’s Contest over at Author In Training, and also Delores is running a lovely Words Of June Contest which I meant to mention Wednesday, so do hop over and check them both out!
So now we can all recover from the excitement by making the Perfect Picture Book rounds 🙂 PPBF bloggers, please add your post-specific link to the list below.
Have a great weekend, everyone, and please tune in Monday for Oh Susanna and some exciting announcements 🙂
Grab your donut (or any member of the donut family that suits your fancy this morning – bagel (donut’s less exciting sister), cruller, danish, croissant, preferably chocolate, actually, I suppose even funnel cake qualifies, with all that lovely powdered sugar on top… wait… what was I saying?)
Oh yes. I want you to know that it may be a small miracle if this post actually appears. We are in the path of severe thunderstorms (which I would know even without the weather report and the exceedingly menacing dark sky and high winds because Jemma has glued her shaking little self to my side – poor Baby J!)…
this is Baby J when she’s not being scared by thunder – I wouldn’t want to show you her distress!
…which means that our internet, always temperamental, has become downright moody and is threatening to quit altogether.
So it will be like a little surprise to see if this post shows up or not.
Talk about living on the edge! 🙂 We laugh in the face of danger up here on Blueberry Hill! 🙂
Anyway, before we get to Would You Read It, I wanted to mention for all you contest junkies out there that Randy is having one over on his blog Author In Training. So hop on over and check it out!
Also, if you haven’t had a chance to vote for who you think should win the Birthday Contest, you still have until midnight! You can vote HERE. And it is quite a heated competition, so your vote could be a deciding factor!
Now then.
Today’s pitch comes to us from the amazing Tina. Here are a few words about her that I lifted off her blog (since apparently I forgot to ask her what she wanted me to say about her – oops! – :))
Tina M. Cho is a freelance writer for education and children’s stories and a former elementary teacher of eleven years. She wrote 16 books for Lakeshore Learning and 4 guided readers for Compass Media. Her nonfiction book for girls from Legacy Press will be out in 2013, and she’s working on another contracted book for girls with them. She has written stories for a private school’s reading curriculum, books reviews for theChristian Library Journal, educational activities foreducation.com,and stories for magazines and e-zines. She is the mom of two kids, a fourth grader and a first grader. She and her husband Jackey recently moved from Southern California to South Korea.
Here is her pitch:
(and BTW, Tina lives on the other side of the globe from many of us, and will be going to bed when the rest of us are getting up and reading this, so please be patient for her responses to your comments!)
Working Title: Dewey Bookworm Takes The Stage Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8) The Pitch: What if a bookworm doesn’t like books? Tree leaves taste better than book leaves. Dewey Bookworm wants to join the circus. Will other book-eating creatures change his mind?
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 Tina 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 Itor on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above. There are openings in August, so you have time to polish 🙂 for a chance for it to be read by editor Erin Molta!
Tina is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!
Tune in Friday for Perfect Picture Books – I have such a perfect one for this week! you’re going to love it! – and for the announcement of the Birthday Contest winners!!! Ooh, the excitement! How will you ever wait for Friday?
I have hemmed and hawed, gone backwards and forwards and sideways, compared notes with my assistant judge, eaten some cookies, chosen, second-guessed, re-chosen, further consulted with my assistant judge (which may or may not have involved more cookies…), third-guessed, hemmed and hawed some more…
Would you just look at me this morning?!
Man this was tough! So many terrific entries! How to choose?
Well, I’ll tell you.
Criteria number one was tied between child-friendliness and creativity (since the contest was for a children’s story about a very creative or unique birthday.) Several entries ended up not being chosen because either the topic seemed more appealing to adults, or the writing felt a little too adult, and several others ended up not being chosen because they just didn’t feel quite unique enough. Criteria number two was quality of writing. A couple of entries had mistakes in basic grammar, word usage etc, and a couple others needed a bit more work on rhyme/rhythm/meter. Although there were MANY other entries we could have chosen for one reason or another, we tried to pick the ones that really did the best overall job with all three criteria.
So. Without further ado, here are the 6 finalists, listed by number and title only in case that helps you be objective 🙂
#1 A Gift Of Love
Kayla sat by her twin sister Kenya’s side and held her hand. It was their tenth birthday and the celebration was going to be very low key. Kenya couldn’t take too much excitement. She was very weak from the chemo treatments. Her head was covered with a soft, knitted hat because her glorious mane of red hair had fallen out. She was as pale as her hospital sheets.
Weak and sick as she was, Kenya was able to dredge up a fit of blazing anger directed at her sister. “What have you done? Why have you had your hair cut off?” she spluttered. She was simply furious. The twins crowning glory was their hair and they took care every day to style it identically. Kayla now had a short pixie style hair cut.
Kayla just smiled, offered no explanation, and simply handed her sister a gaily wrapped birthday gift. “Happy birthday Ken.” She said and slipped quietly out of her sisters hospital room.
Kenya, puzzled, opened her gift and then broke down in tears of joy and shame over having spoken to her twin so harshly.
When Kayla came back in the room Kenya was propped up in bed and her hairdo was the mirror image of her sisters. “Thank you.” She said softly. “This is the best birthday gift I have ever had or will likely ever have again. I love you.”
#2 A Present For A Pirate
Lundy the hound and Captain Saltsam
Were pirates aboard the vast ship Crusty Clam.
On Saltsam’s big birthday, he had one desire:
A colorful bird for his pirate attire.
Lundy decided to cast out their net
And catch Saltsam’s present, the best ever yet.
After sailing around, Lundy pulled in the haul:
Some driftwood, a buoy, a flattened beach ball.
Snared in the net lay a sopping sea bird,
“A parrot?” asked Lundy. “Now don’t be absurd!
I’m a puffin! Release me!” the cranky bird snapped.
“I’ve no place on a ship, and I won’t be bird-napped!”
“Hush up, pesky puffin! Behave and pipe down.
You’re a pirate’s bird now. Eat crackers and frown!
Happy birthday dear Captain!” said the gift-bearing hound,
“A bird for your shoulder! Here – wear him around!”
The bird thrashed his feet and swung with his beak,
He flapped his strong wings, smacking Sam on the cheek.
He wiggled and wobbled and shrieked in alarm,
Then lifting his tail, pooped down Saltsam’s arm.
“Yuck!” yelled the captain. “Get off me! Goodbye!”
The puffin leaned over and nipped Saltsam’s eye.
Lundy was crushed, gave a low mournful howl.
“I’m sorry I gave you that terrible fowl.”
“Oh well!” said the captain. “I don’t need a bird.
I can see now quite clearly my wish was absurd.
The present I want isn’t one we can catch.
With this nifty new boo-boo, I want an eye patch!”
#3 Not Another Birthday!
Billy hated his birthdays, every single one of them. The day was always a complete disaster. One time, on Billy’s seventh birthday, most of his party guests ended up in the emergency room! In fact, none of Billy’s friends will come to his parties anymore. Only Billy’s relatives show up because they have to.
Things usually start off pretty well. The guests arrive with smiles on their faces, carrying presents in colorful paper. There’s lots of ”Hi’s”, hugs and “How are you’s?” Everyone puts their party hats on. There’s pizza for dinner, and games like guess the wizard, and pin the drawbridge on the castle.
Then comes the cake. Billy’s dad carries it in. This year it has twelve candles on it, brightly lit with flames dancing in the air. Billy notices it is an ice cream cake, “UGH!” He says to himself. “Even WORSE!”
The cake is placed on the table in front of Billy; all the guests cower behind their chairs and under the table as they nervously sing “Happy Birthday to You” in hushed voices. As Billy listened to the song, getting ready to blow out the candles, he thought to himself, “This makes no sense for a fire-breathing dragon.”
#4 Birthday At The Beach
Mom hung up the phone just as Kara finished dinner.
“Grab your jacket,” Mom said, grinning. “We’re going to a birthday party.”
“Whose birthday? We don’t know anyone here,” said Kara. She searched for her jacket among the moving boxes that had arrived, like they had, only three days ago.
“It’s a surprise,” said Mom.
“Where’s the party?” asked Kara, climbing into the car.
“At the beach,” said Mom. “I told you it would be great to live near the beach.”
“But it’s almost dark!”
Mom smiled.
“Will there be cake?”
“Nope.”
A birthday party at the beach, in the dark, with no cake?
At the beach, a small crowd had gathered. Coming closer, Kara saw that the crowd surrounded a rope-marked path from the dunes toward the water. For a birthday party, it sure was quiet.
“Watch that patch of sand,” whispered Mom, pointing. Kara stared through the growing darkness. She thought she saw the sand shift. Then it shifted again, slowly, and then more rapidly. To Kara, it looked like a pot of water beginning to simmer. A small black head appeared, then another, then a flipper, and suddenly the sand boiled over with tiny creatures struggling toward the surface.
“Turtles!” Mom whispered, squeezing Kara’s hand. Dozens of baby sea turtles flip-flopped their way across the sand toward the waves. A woman with a clipboard counted them. The crowd remained still, but once in a while someone stooped to gently guide a wandering baby turtle back to the path.
They’re brave, Kara thought, watching the tiny creatures make their way into the vast ocean, a place they had never been and could know nothing about.
“Happy birthday,” Kara whispered, then smiled at Mom. “I think I’m going to like living near the beach,” she said.
#5 Dan’s Birthday Plan
Dan had to stop Christmas. It was the only way his birthday would be normal. Every year, he celebrated Christmas one day and on the next his birthday.
As Mom announced time for dinner, Dan jumped in.
“We can’t have Christmas. If we do, my birthday will be ruined.”
Dan knew the reason for the season, but his Christmas and birthday presents always had a part missing.
“Christmas always splits my birthday,” Dan said.
“It doesn’t,” Mom said. “That’s your special day. This is another one.”
“Why did I get arrows on Christmas Day and a bow on my birthday?” Dan asked.
“They were two separate gifts,” his sister Sue said.
“One year, I got multi-colored pencils for Christmas. I had nothing to write on until paper arrived on my birthday,” Dan said.
“You had to sharpen the pencils,” cousin Bobby said reaching for a roll.
“The leather baseball glove,” Dan said.
“What was wrong with that?” Dad asked.
“I couldn’t play catch until my birthday. That’s when you gave me a baseball.”
Grandma put her arms around Dan.
“We don’t need to cancel Christmas or your birthday. We’ll celebrate both with no missing parts — right Mom and Dad?”
His parents agreed and they all sat down to eat.
During the gift exchange, Dan tore the Christmas paper and opened the box to find one tennis shoes.
“Oops,” Mom said. She left and returned with a birthday package. Dan opened the box. He beamed holding the shoes. “A pair of shoes for Christmas!“
“Everything worked out,” Grandma said. “Now are you ready for your birthday?”
“Yes,” Dan said and noticed a jar of jelly in his stocking. “Who knows what I’ll get for my birthday.”
#6 The Biggest And The Best
Scott only wanted the biggest and best. For his fourth birthday, Scott’s parents rented a pony.
Scott asked, “No elephant?”
For his fifth birthday, his grandmother baked a five layer cake.
Scott said, “I wanted ten layers.”
For his sixth birthday, his brother bought him the all the Super-Robo-Thunder-Teamfigurines.
Scott asked, “Where’s the Super-Robo-Volcano–Lair play set?”
So Scott figured his seventh birthday was going to be just like all his other ones—just okay.
To his surprise, dad said, “We decided to get you something bigger and better than anything you have ever gotten!”
“What is it?”
Dad said, “You’ll find out tomorrow.”
Scott thought of all the big, best things he wanted. “They know I want an airplane, but where to put it?
“Maybe it will be my own personal movie theater.
“Maybe a submarine! I told my mom this week I wanted one!”
Scott was nearly unable to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be better than Christmas and 4th of July combined.
At the party, he passed on the games. He devoured dinner in two bites. Scott blew out the cake candles before the singing was over.
“Alright! Where are my presents?”
Dad gave him a card. “Open it, son. Congratulations.”
Inside was a certificate:
Scott,
A heavenly gift from The Star Registry Society.
Your Star’s Coordinates: GSC 4628:237
love,
Your family
“WHAT!?!”
“It’s something big,” said grandfather.
“The star we picked is twice as massive as the sun,” said mother.
“WHAT!?!”
“And you wanted the best,” said uncle.
“There’s not much better than something that spews fire and is billions of years old,” said aunt.
“But…
“I see you are speechless. So let me also show you your new telescope. It’s outside, ready to find your star,” said dad.
They went out to see the biggest and the best.
And I just have to say we had a particularly hard time finally laying aside Bailey Bear’s Birthday Band (by Laura), Happy Birthday Seahorse (by Wendy), Mouse Du Jour (by Penny), The Birthday Giving (by Sabrina), and No Brother For My Birthday (by Vivian).
But really, all the entries were terrific, there were things we really liked about all of them, and you all did such a fantastic job. You are all winners by virtue of the fact that you wrote stories that met the guidelines and entered the contest. They say 90% of success is showing up (or something like that :)) – well, you all showed up! And I know I speak for everyone when I say how much we all enjoyed your work!
And now, if you could all please vote for your favorite between now and 11:59 PM EDT Wednesday May 30 (I extended it a little because I want to make sure everyone has time to vote!) I will announce the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place Winners on Friday after the Perfect Picture Book!
I really cannot wait to see how the voting shapes up!
There are few phrases that fill you with as much anticipation as those 4 little words! (Okay. “I made chocolate cake” is right up there too. Or, if you’re me, “time for Grey’s Anatomy” which is actually a little like “once upon a time” although my faith was badly shaken by the season finale… but I digress.)
When you hear once upon a time, you just know something good is coming! You settle in, get comfy, and eagerly await whatever comes next!
Well, I feel the same way about 4 other little words – Perfect Picture Book Friday! When I hear those words, I just know I’m about to read about a whole bunch of terrific books I can’t wait to get my hands on!
And the one I’m going to share with you today is all about that once upon a time…! 🙂
Aunt Isabel Tells A Good One Written & Illustrated By: Kate Duke Dutton Children’s Books, 1992, Fiction Suitable For: ages 3-8
Themes/Topics: creativity, storytelling, imagination, girl power
Opening: “‘Tell me a story,’ said Penelope one night after supper. ‘What kind of a story?’ asked Aunt Isabel. ‘A good story,’ said Penelope. ‘All right,’ said Aunt Isabel. ‘A good story is the hardest kind to tell, though. We must put it together carefully, with just the right ingredients…’“
Brief Synopsis: At Penelope’s request, Aunt Isabel makes up a story using all the necessary ingredients. A When, a Where, and a Who. Romance, a Problem, and Villains! But when beloved Prince Augustus is in danger from Odious Mole and Bad-Egg Bat, who will come to his rescue?
Links To Resources: probably the best thing you can do with this story is use it as a springboard for creativity, writing, and storytelling activities, one-on-one or in a group. Some online resources to enhance the fun are Scribblitt and Story Starters. And illustrating the stories (before or after) is always fun too!
Why I Like This Book: the story is fun and engaging, and the art is absolutely charming. But even better, it is actually a how-to manual for how to write a story! While Aunt Isabel is making up a story for Penelope, readers are learning how to make up their own stories. This applies to adults as well as kids 🙂 Whether you’re a child, a parent, a teacher, or a writer (or any combination thereof :)), I think you’ll enjoy this one!
Before we all head for the PPB list, I just want to thank the fabulous Natasha over at Writes By Moonlight for bestowing the Kreativ Blogger Award on me! As you all know, I am terrible at these awards, and as you can tell by how impressively brief I’m being today I’m unusually pressed for time, so I’m going to skip the questions and random facts and trying to pick other people to give the award to for now. But do please pop by and visit Natasha!
PPBF bloggers, please add your post-specific links below! I will be popping around reading when I can, and then spending as much of this holiday weekend as I can appropriate trying to choose finalists in the Birthday Contest!
Monday May 21 – The contest is going strong! 11 links so far, plus 4 or 5 entries in the comment section below! Read! Enjoy! Enter 🙂
Woo-hoo! It’s finally here! The Birthday Contest! Although, due to the busy-ness of April we had to push the contest back to a month that is no longer my birthday, surely someone is celebrating! 🙂 Let the games begin!
For anyone who hasn’t seen the rules, here they are:
The contest is to write a children’s story about a very creative and/or unique birthday celebration in 300 words or less. Poetry or prose, your choice.
Entries must be posted on your blog (or in the comment section of this post if you don’t have a blog) between right now this very minute and 11:59 PM EDT Tuesday May 22. Please add your entry-specific link to the list below (or, as mentioned, if you don’t have a blog and want to enter, just copy and paste your entry in the comment section below.)
If there are fewer than 20 entries there will be one prize. If there are more than 20 entries there will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes! Finalists will be chosen by me and my assistant judge and will be posted for you to vote on Monday May 28. (I’m trying not to skip Would You Read It or Perfect Picture Books, or overload you with extra posts, hence the wait til Monday the 28th, which I realize is Memorial Day so the voting will stay up throughout Tuesday May 29!)
If there are fewer than 20 entries, and therefore one winner, the winner may have his or her choice of the following 4 options. If there are more than 20 entries, and therefore a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, 1st place will get 1st choice, 2nd place will get 2nd choice, and 3rd place will get 3rd choice of the following 4 options:
So now, to get the party started, I will share a sample entry. As I mentioned yesterday, my original idea did not pan out and I was VERY pressed for time this week, so don’t expect literary brilliance. And what I mean by that is please don’t throw rotten tomatoes at me!
Hoppy Birthday! (206 words)
Joey said, “My birthday’s coming! I can hardly wait!
Here’s an invitation. I sure hope you’ll save the date!
We’ll have silly hats, and blowers that make noise like a kazoo!
Balloons – at least a hundred! – orange, yellow, red and blue!
We’ll play games like Duck Duck Moose and Pin The Tail On Cousin Fred.
We’ll have contests to see who can stand the longest on their head!
If you happen to like water we’ve got lots of room to swim!
But if you’d rather climb and hang then try the jungle (gym).
I’m just hopping with excitement for my party – how ’bout you?
After all it isn’t every day that you turn 2!
Mom will make a birthday cake like you have never seen!
Seven luscious layers filled with icing in between!
All my friends will sing the Happy Birthday song to me.
I’ll make a wish and blow out all my candles – one, two, three!
We’ll serve up cake and ice cream by the gallon and the ton.
We’re going to need a LOT to have enough for everyone!
So won’t you please come join your little friend the kangaroo
For my Hoppy Birthday Party at the San Diego Zoo?
So now that you’re filled with confidence about how good your entry is compared to that! 🙂 please add your entry-specific post link to the list below, or copy and paste your entry into the comments. I can’t wait to read them!
But what with so many of us involved with writing – whether as writers ourselves, maybe striving to complete 12X12, maybe as devoted bloggers stretching ourselves through Mother Reader’s Comment Challenge, or maybe just writing our own thing at our own pace – or as teachers of writing trying to encourage kids to express themselves, trying to show them the fun of creativity – I thought a little sparking activity would be fun 🙂
google images
So here’s my Monday morning spark for you!
1. Choose one of the following characters: a. a 4 year old girl b. a 5 year old boy c. a pirate d. a dog e. a monster
2. Choose one of the following settings: a. the playground b. the bathtub c. the forest d. a train e. a picnic … and, if you wish, combine it with one of the following adjectives: a. enchanted b. crowded c. cold d. boring e. funny
3. Choose one of the following problems/situations: a. getting lost b. hates getting wet c. made a mistake d. scared of loud noises e. feels unimportant
4. Choose one of the following goals: a. wants to be really good at something b. wants to go somewhere c. wants to be in charge d. wants to get something e. wants to be different
5. Choose one of the following random words: a. orange b. key c. wish d. tomorrow e. turtle
6. Choose one of the following bits of dialogue: a. “Don’t touch that!” b. “Did you see that?” c. “That’s strange!” d. “I want to go home.” e. “I didn’t mean to.”
Now. If you’re a writer, take one of these things, or one from each group, or any combination, and turn them into a picture book/story or, if you’re a teacher, share them with your class so they can make a story, either as a group or individually!
If you really want to add to the fun, tell us which prompt or combination of prompts sparked a story – e.g. a monster (#1) who wants to be different (#4) gets lost (#3) in the forest (#2) and… Maybe your combination will spark an idea for someone else. Or add your own ideas for character, setting + adjective, problem/situation, random word, and/or bit of dialogue in the comments below to give readers even more spark options! We could make a creative wildfire 🙂
I’ll be very interested to see a) what characters, settings, etc. other people might toss into the arena, and b) whether this game actually sparks some real ideas for people, so please share! Looking forward to your contributions, thoughts, story ideas 🙂
I hope you all had as wild a party as we did New Year’s Eve to ring in 2012! Want to hear how wild it was?
Alright, then, I’ll tell you, but you might want to sit down first. When we go wild on Blueberry Hill we pull out all the stops.
Okay. Ready?
We played dominoes, Scrabble, and hearts in the glow of the fire and the Christmas tree lights. We ate homemade brownies (not at the table!) and got crumbs on the rug. At midnight we popped open a bottle of bubbly (Sparkling Cider – Stop & Shop’s Finest!) and toasted the New Year and each other. Then we all went to bed. The dogs slept through the entire thing.
Wild. Times.
I told you 🙂
I hope 2012 will be full of all good things for all of you!
Now then. Even though you are probably still recovering from your much-wilder-than-mine celebrating, I have four things of import to mention today. I will try to be brief, but you know me…
First, I want to thank Saba for bestowing the Superstar Blog Award upon me. I was so honored to receive this lovely award for the first time! In addition to thanking Saba, I am also supposed to pass the award along to 5 other deserving bloggers. But you are all so amazing and wonderful and deserving that I can’t possibly pick just 5!!! So my New Year’s present to you is that you may take this award if you feel it fits you as long as you pass it along to other deserving bloggers. Look how pretty 🙂
Second, I have a very important question. I’d love a show of hands on this. In the form of please vote below 🙂
Here’s the question: I’ve been having so much fun with the writing contests, getting to know everyone and reading all your awesome work. Would you like to continue with writing contests once a month as we have done for October, November and December? If so, I would be happy to run them! But if that sounds like more work than fun and you don’t want to do it so often or at all, it’s best if I know 🙂 So please let your voice be heard below:
I will leave this poll up until Wednesday or Thursday, depending on response time, so I can tell you Wednesday or Friday whether there will be a contest this month or not 🙂
Third, I am participating in Julie Hedlund’s 12X12 in 2012 Challenge. (Note the gorgeous new badge in the sidebar!) I know quite a few of you are doing this as well, and I’m very excited about being part of such an enthusiastic, supportive community. Here’s hoping we all accomplish great things in 2012!
Last but not least, as you know, anyone who posts Perfect Picture Books is eligible for the random (and when I say random, I do mean random – you never know what might end up in the goody bag!) end-of-the-month drawing for a prize. You get one entry for every book you post during the month (so in December, some people got 4 or 5 entries!) I load all the entries into random.org and let it pick the winner. Last month (November) it was Stacy. December’s winner is Clar!!! Clar, please contact me and let me know which prize you’d like. This month’s goody bag contains a $10 Amazon gift certificate, a signed copy of Freight Train Trip by Yours Truly, a paperback copy of The Land Of Painted Caves by Jean Auel (which has nothing to do with children’s books but I received one for Christmas and I already have the hardcover so it’s up for grabs :)) and a hardcover copy of Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel – you may take your pick of one of those lovely items! The rest of you, who knows what will be in the goody bag for January? You could be the lucky winner just by posting excellent Perfect Picture Books on Fridays! Thank you all so much for participating!
Okay. Those are my four things of import. Happy New Year Everyone, and see you Wednesday as we get back on track with Would You Read It!
You stayed up all night watching the minutes tick past, waiting for this post to be up so you could find out who won the Thanksgiving Contest and share your thoughts on this week’s Would You Read It pitch since skipping last week sent you into withdrawal 🙂
And we’ll get to both of those things in one second…
First, I have to say that I am such a complete space cadet that I forgot to mention Monday that I was being interviewed on Julie Hedlund’s blog for her How I Got My Agent series. I know many of you are Julie’s devoted followers and have already read it, but if you haven’t please pop over and visit. Julie writes an awesome blog at Write Up My Life and I think you’ll find her How I Got My Agent series (although not necessarily my part in it :)) very illuminating and helpful! Thanks, Julie, for inviting me to take part and sorry I forgot to mention it Monday!
Second, I have just realized that tomorrow marks my first blogiversary. I can’t believe it’s been a year! I should probably be doing something wildly and crazily amazing to celebrate, but I’m fresh out of ideas at the moment. If any of you have suggestions, feel free to share! 🙂 But I want to thank everyone for being so wonderfully supportive. I have so enjoyed getting to know so many people who are both talented and nice! 🙂 I think, at the very least, this calls for some celebratory cake! Please help yourself to a slice, because cake definitely counts as a healthy breakfast – milk (calcium), eggs (protein), wheat (grains)… need I say more?
google images
Now on to all that excitement you stayed up all night waiting for!
I want to thank each and every person who submitted an entry to the Thanksgiving Contest as well as everyone who took time to read and vote. I think I speak for all of us when I say we so enjoyed reading everyone’s stories and they were all so wonderful. As you know, my assistant judge and I had a terrible time narrowing down the finalists, but we did at last and now your votes have spoken.
The winner of the Thanksgiving Contest, with a delightful, creative, and original story, is
Penny!
(That’s entry #2!) Congratulations, Penny! You have officially knocked our socks off 🙂 Please email me (susanna [at] susannahill [dot] com) or use the handy Email Me button on the right hand side of the blog and let me know if you’d prefer the $15 Amazon Gift Card or the hardcover copy of Balloons Over Broadway!
And now, on to Would You Read It!
This week’s pitch comes to us from the lovely Ashley who, until October of last year, considered herself a person who didn’t like to write but has now discovered she loves it!
Working Title: Prelude To An Apocalypse Age/Genre: YA Literature The Pitch: Jack wakes up in the hospital to find a mysterious man offering to take her in, to teach her everything she needs to know about being a Wizard, but something deep inside tells her she can’t trust him.
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 Ashley 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 Itor on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.
Ashley is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!
Please join us Friday for Perfect Picture Books, and I hope everyone is hard at work on their Holiday Contest entries! Who knew practicing our craft could be so companionable and fun with such great prizes? 🙂
Happy Monday everyone! We’ve got all kinds of fun in store today, but first I have to share something totally off topic that made my day 🙂
Isn’t that just the nicest thing? 🙂
OK. Now on to today’s important business!
I had no idea what I was letting myself in for when I started the Thanksgiving Contest.
Seriously.
To begin with, there were more than twice as many entries as for the Halloweensie Contest – 19 all together in case you were wondering (the 20th was in there just for fun, but because the author is related to the judges it could not in fairness be considered :))
To top that off, you are all so creative and talented! I could have found a reason to make any of the entries a finalist. My assistant judge and I couldn’t even come to a consensus on which 3 it should be, so in the end, as senior judge, I made the call. I just want you all to know it was really hard, and I wish I could give everyone the prize!
Entries were judged on appropriateness as a children’s story, originality, and Thanksgiving-ness (that is too a word!)
So without further ado, here are the 4 finalists because I just couldn’t decide between 2 of them and make it 3, so I’m cheating and leaving it up to you guys 🙂 They will be identified by number only. Please vote for your favorite!
#1
They were set to go to Grandma’s
For their big Thanksgiving feast,
But the blizzard came in fast
Growling, howling like a beast –
Hurled itself around the house
Rattling windows, banging doors.
They laid a fire in the hearth
Against the blizzard’s wicked roars.
They couldn’t roast a turkey.
Electricity went out.
They ate tuna for their meat,
For their veggie – sauerkraut.
They wrapped themselves in blankets
Lit some candles, played some gin.
Dessert was pumpkin out of cans
With some cinnamon stirred in.
They started telling stories
Scary, funny, tried and true
Til the fire turned to embers
And the clock struck half past two.
They stoked the fire to blazing,
Snuggled close and rested heads.
That fire was so darned cozy
That they did not miss their beds.
They formed a sleeping circle
With the dog curled up inside.
Slept so soundly through the night,
They did not hear the storm subside.
They woke up the next morning
To a dazzling, blinding light.
Snow had piled up to the rafters,
And the world was frosted white.
They threw on coats and snowsuits
Raced out straight into the snow.
Threw some snowballs, built a snowman
Came back in with cheeks aglow.
They sat sipping some hot chocolate
When they heard the doorbell ring.
Behind the door was Grandma
With a giant turkey wing!
That Thanksgiving sure was different.
Many folks would call it lame.
But they made the most of family
And were thankful just the same.
#2
“They were supposed to go to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving, but the blizzard came in fast.
The weatherman said, “It’s best to stay inside until this storm is past…
In fact don’t heat the oven. Make sandwiches instead
With pumpkin flavored jelly spread on a piece of bread.”
That’s when I said with a look of great suspicion,
“That funny looking weatherman knows nothing of tradition.”
And what is that he’s wearing? A faux-feather suit!
And that…That’s a waddle dangling down from his snoot!
“DAD! Call the station! Quick! This guy is a fraud!
The whole blizzard thing…it’s just a big facade.”
So, as they snatched Mr. Gobble right off the TV station,
We loaded up and headed out for Thanksgiving vacation.
“Grandma we’re coming. There’s really not a blizzard.
But you can’t blame a turkey when he tries to save his gizzard.”
#3
They were supposed to go to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving, but the blizzard came in fast. The wind howled. The tree creaked.
Papa stockpiled wood inside the burrow. He stomped his feet and bolted the door.
Papa looked at his shivering brood of three. “I know you are disappointed, but we are safer in our burrow.”
“What about Grandma’s acorn pie, ” asked Sammy. His pudgy cheeks quivered and is large glossy eyes brimmed with tears.
“We have plenty of nuts, berries, fruit, seeds and grains to feast upon,” said Mama. “Why don’t you do your chores. Be thankful that we’re together.”
Sammy, Teddy and Rose tidied up their nests and swept the burrow. Sammy wondered what they could do to make Thanksgiving special.
Then Sammy spied a twig resting against the wall inside the burrow.
“Hey Teddy and Rose, I have an idea,” said Sammy. The three siblings huddled and whispered. Rose jumped up and down. The rest of the morning they worked in a corner of the burrow on their idea.
Mama worked all morning preparing their feast. Papa tended to the fire so that the burrow remained warm.
Sammy carefully placed their centerpiece on the table.
“It’s beautiful!” Mama gasped.
“It’s our thankful tree,” beamed Sammy. Tied to the branches were acorns, pine cones, and dried leaves bearing the names, Mama, Papa, Grandma, Sammy, Teddy and Rose.
They heard a rustle in the tunnel and a voice called out, “Acorn pie anyone?”
“Grandma,” they chirped. “We’re thankful you’re here!”
#4
We should have gone to Grandma’s but the blizzard came in fast.
The snow banks drifted deeper and we knew that they would last.
We thought of Grandma’s turkey and prize winning pumpkin pie.
Could we miss her fancy feast? Oh no! We had to try!
Dad shook his head. “Our tire tread won’t get us out of here.
We need some transportation with snow blizzard traction gear.”
From the barn we pulled an old toboggan, bent and beat.
We lashed some rope onto the front and pulled it to the street.
The horse, the cow, the dog, the cat – we tied them to the sled.
Then gooped their feet with peanut butter, honey and some bread.
We hopped aboard and held on tight when Dad shouted, “Now, MUSH!”
Whoosh! We sailed across the snow and slid along the slush.
The icy snow was blinding, but we thought we headed east.
Our rag-tag team was working hard to get us to our feast.
On and on we traveled, til our teeth were blue with frost.
Finally little Suzie cried, “Oh Dad, I think we’re lost!”
Then up ahead we saw a twinkling light among the trees.
It wasn’t Grandma’s house but we must stop or else we’d freeze.
We would have gone to Grandma’s but the blizzard came in quick.
Who knew that was the year we’d have Thanksgiving with St. Nick!
With seriously honorable mention to runners-up Erik and Abby who nearly caused some heated hot chocolate slinging between the judges over whether to include or not!
See how hard this is? I can’t wait to see what you vote for! Polls close Tuesday November 29 at 11:59PM EST so I can announce the winner on Wednesday, so please vote ASAP!
The response to the Thanksgiving Contest was so enthusiastic, and I think we all had such a good time, writing our stories and reading everyone else’s, and there was such a sense of fun and community, that I have decided to hold a Holiday Contest! YES! IT’S TRUE! I’m announcing it now to give you all plenty of time to get your stories written before the holiday rush. Here are the entry requirements:
Write your own version of Clement C. Moore’s traditional poem, ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas! Entries must be at least 12 lines/3 stanzas, not to exceed 40 lines/10 stanzas (although I realize the original is 56 lines/14 stanzas, but I’ll have to read them all during the week before Christmas :)) Entries may refer to any winter holiday you celebrate (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.) or to any combination of winter holidays, or no holiday – just a good winter-time story if you’re not comfortable with a holiday. I chose a rhyming challenge because so many people seem keen on it, but if the idea of rhyme strikes fear and loathing into your heart, you may write a prose version not to exceed 350 words 🙂
Entries must be posted on your blogs, or copied and pasted into the comments on my blog between Monday December 19 and Thursday December 22.
3 finalists will be chosen (hopefully really 3 next time :)) for you to vote on Monday December 26. The winner will receive their choice of a $15 Amazon gift card (to buy themselves whatever book they really wanted and didn’t get as a holiday gift :)) or the 2012 Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market!
I hope you’re all as excited as I am about the Holiday Contest! And please, don’t forget to vote for your favorite Thanksgiving entry by tomorrow night!
The Thanksgiving Contest is officially open! Post your 250 (or fewer) word kids’ Thanksgiving story, beginning with “They were supposed to go to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving, but the blizzard came in fast…” (poetry or prose is fine, and the opening phrase counts toward the total word count) and add your link to the link list. We’ll all have a great time visiting and reading your stories! (Note that if you choose to write in poetry/rhyme, you have permission to tweak the opening sentence to fit your meter/rhyme scheme, or you can begin with that sentence and then continue in rhyme. And if you’d like to participate but don’t have a blog, just copy and paste your story into the comments and make sure I have a way to contact you!)
The contest is open from now until the end of Thanksgiving Day, and this post with the link list will remain up during that time. (You will recall that the powers that be (me) decided not to run Would You Read It this week because we will all be too busy cooking, traveling and visiting to give it the attention it deserves, so there will not be a new post on Wednesday.) Once the link list closes, my assistant judge and I will select three finalists, who will be posted next Monday Nov. 28 for you to vote on. The winner of the contest will receive their choice of a $15 Amazon gift card or a hardcover copy of Melissa Sweet’s new picture book, Balloons Over Broadway in time for the holidays!
Here’s my totally wacky just for fun sample (250 on the nose!) 🙂 You’ll just have to imagine the pictures… 🙂
The Bloopers Thanksgiving
They were supposed to go to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving, but the blizzard came in fast.
“Our bicycle built for five won’t make it through this snow,” said Dad. “It’s time for Plan B.”
“Thanksgiving won’t be the same without Grandma and Grandpa,” cried Bridget, Babs, and Ben.
“Now, now,” said Mom. “We’ll still have fun. Go and suit up for our happy day.”
Bridget, Babs, and Ben raced off to don their favorite finery.
“Bikini, tankini, and trunks!” said Dad. “How festive!”
“Your bunny suit looks great, too, Dad,” said Bridget, Babs, and Ben.
Bridget, Babs, and Ben put their colored eggs under the Thanksgiving Tree and hung their American flags by the coat rack with care. They made cookies in the shape of four-leaf clovers. They helped Mom carve a scary face into a giant rutabaga and they stuck it on top of the June Pole in their living room and danced around it to welcome spring, which was just 5 short months away.
Then, though the blizzard blustered and blew, the whole family bellied up to the barbeque pit to enjoy their feast of baked beans, beef du jour, berry juice with baby blue umbrellas, and bananas flambé.
“Children,” said Dad, “Didn’t Mom barbeque beautifully?”
“Thamsgfh Mohsdf!” said Bridget, Babs, and Ben whose mouths were brimful of barbequed banana and beans.
At bedtime, Bridget, Babs, and Ben snuggled into their bathtub.
“Plan B was fun after all,” said Bridget, and they stayed up all night playing Battleship.
I can’t wait to read all of your stories!!! Readers, please check the comments section below. Some people are entering their stories there!
And don’t forget to tune in Friday for Perfect Picture Book Friday, entering it’s second week!
Susanna Leonard Hill 
You must be logged in to post a comment.