Katie's comments (member since Mar 15, 2008)

Katie's comments from the Children's Books group.

Pam, the author is a friend - what are you trying to find, exactly? I will ask her for you.

Katie Davis

Just thinking about what I've read recently, and who I know off the top of my head - pretty much anything by Nancy Werlin (her new Impossible is fabulous, Killer's Cousin), Ellen Wittlinger (Hard Love, Sandpiper), MJ Auch (Ashes of Roses is a great historical fiction), MT Anderson, Jo Knowles (Lessons From a Dead Girl), Chris Lynch (Inexcusable - I think every teenage boy should read)...there is a few suggestions to get you started. I'd read them all before recommending, but they're among the cream of the crop! (And not to mention my own The Curse of Addy McMahon, which I've noticed is crossing over to young YA!).

Good luck!
Katie

The piece of advice I always give to new writers is to absolutely join SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators). The second is try to go to one of their annual conferences (LA in August and NY in January - kind of backwards, I know, though NY in August isn't that pleasant).

Good luck,

Katie Davis

Hi Kyle,

A lot of my picture books have made school summer reading lists (it's SO exciting to see them there, too!), especially Kindergarten Rocks for incoming kindergartners, and Who Hops?, Who Hoots? Party Animals and Mabel the Tooth Fairy and How She Got Her Job!

My novel that just came out is The Curse of Addy McMahon, and instead of me touting it, here is my very first amazon review:

By TeensReadToo.com:

This book was hilarious and yet had a great message to say to young adults.

Addy is in the sixth grade. She loves to do interviews for the school newspaper, which she had a hand in starting. She does very interesting interviews because she uses comic strip form. Her interviews have been printed all over the city.

Addy lost her father to cancer two years ago and a new man is coming to live with them. His name is Jonathan and he also is a writer. Addy can't stand him. She believes that he is breaking up their family. She has a horrible argument with her best friend, Jackie, and to top it off her enemy, Marsha, sees her buying a new bra!!!

Addy believes that all of this bad luck is because of a curse the fairies put on her family. How she breaks the curse and learns that most bad luck is due to the choices we make creates a very good story.

I liked the way Katie Davies writes. She uses comics along with narrative to tell her story. Graphic novels are becoming very popular today. A while back I don't think they were as accepted as they are now. This book blended the two genres together for a great read. This was a wonderful book!

Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

Hi Lisa,
Many of my books were written for very small children, but as Carol said below, it's all how you read it. I thought my books WHO HOPS? and WHO HOOTS? were originally for pre-k through 2nd grade. But the publisher then put them out as board books, and now I've seen them work for babies on up.

You may want to look at The Cow That Went Oink, a hysterically funny book by Bernie Most. Or how about Is There a Horse In Your House? Sorry, I don't know the author.

Just go to your local store and have fun looking! You'll find something just by browsing.

Good luck,
Katie Davis, author/illustrator

Picture book: The Snowy Day
Novel: The True Meaning of Smekday - just finished it. It's laugh-out-loud funny. The child's race has nothing to do with the story, which is why I like it.