B.C. Dee's Blog, page 2

My Inkshares Campaign

I’m looking for an alternative path to publishing my first fantasy novel. It’s through a crowd-funding publishing space called “Inkshares.”

Readers pre-order the book based on what the author uploads to their site. Uploads can include chapters, character sketches, and opportunities for readers to give opinions: “let the gladiator live or die,” “keep the chapter or dump it,” “select the name of the character…”

When the book reaches 1,000 pre-orders, Inkshares will step into high gear with their staff of editors, designers, and printers. They will publish and market the book that already has a pre-proven readership. If the book doesn’t get the necessary support within 90 days, all pre-orders are refunded.

They have found a publishing model to practically eliminate the risk to everyone, reader, publisher, and author.

If the reader invests (buys a pre-order), they either get the book, or they will get a refund.
If the publisher prints the books, they have already sold enough copies to break even.
If there is no readership for the book, the author can stop writing/revising and dedicate their energy to another project.

Please support my Inkshares project: The Pixie Wars: Elemental Magic. Tell your friends so that they’ll also have the opportunity to be the first in line for the book! As of today (20 October, 2015), the book is 100% done and 10% through its second draft. You can read the first three chapters online at Inkshares.

I Said I Was Awesome, Not Perfect.

Here is my Monday mantra:

Have a great week!

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Speaking of Mo Willems

 

click the cover to see the book on Amazon

The Knuffle Bunny trilogy was my introduction to Mo Willems. All three are really good. This first one is reminiscent of A Pocket for Corduroy. But because Trixie is a toddler (and Lisa a young girl of 6-8), the story is more urgent (and funnier).

The illustrations are a mix of black-and-white photography with cartoon illustrations overlaid. It is a fantastic way to anchor a plausible story (the cartoon) to reality (the photos). It is also visually interesting. The photos make a great background that doesn’t distract from the elements Willems illustrates. I know that I have run across another one or two books like this, but it is telling that I don’t remember them.

I think if this were the only Knuffle Bunny on the shelves, I would have fond memories of having read it a few times to my daughter. But as a prequel to the second book, it is at the top of my gifts to new parents.

The second book has a fun twist and touches a higher concept than just “baby Trixie needs her Knuffle Bunny.” I think the second book (Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity) is genius.

The third book is good. I think it may try to do too much in a short space by bringing in the grandparents and the foreign country. But the story’s resolution and epilogue is so touching that it may be my favorite book of the three. It may be my favorite, but I rarely read it to my daughter because I can’t handle the emotions that it stirs up.

The strength of this trilogy bolstered my interest in Willems’ other books. Of those, my favorites are Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed and Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct. The humor and the messages are classics.

Although I really liked That Is Not a Good Idea!, it is a joke that is funny the first time. Once you are in on the joke, it is interesting the second and third time. Then I found myself hoping my daughter wouldn’t want me to read it again before I had to take it back to the library.

His pigeon series that starts with Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! was great when my daughter was two to three years old. I liked that it is an interactive book where the reader is supposed to tell the pigeon “no,” regardless of how he pleads. Although some of the humor sailed over the head of my toddler, the books just don’t interest her much any more.

We are now starting with Willems’ early readers with Gerald (the elephant) and Piggie (e.g. Today I Will Fly!). As early readers there are lots of repeated words that change meaning with the punctuation. I really wasn’t expecting to have to explain punctuation to my three year old. These books, like Not a Good Idea, are first time funny. There are no backgrounds to be distracting, which is good for my daughter. Also, there are no backgrounds to be distracting, which is bad for me. In any case, the jury is still out on elephant and piggie for my three and a half year old.

 

The repetition is great for practice and familiarity and self confidence. The punctuation is crucial to the meaning of the story, and I think my daughter is a little young to get it in the context of a sentence. Also, in all of these elephant and piggie children’s books, there are always stretch words of several syllables that I think are too advanced for my daughter. That is not a complaint about the books, it is just an observation of where the books might fit in scaffolding reading. Dr. Seuss is going to be our go-to until Isabel is a little older.

Back to Knuffle Bunny, these three books are Willems’ best. I think you’d be cheating yourself if you don’t read the second one.

About the rest of the rest of Willems’ oeuvre, all of his books are much better than most of the other picture books published in the past ten years. But you should go in with your eyes open–Willems is a versatile author and artist, so don’t expect one book to be like the others.

**For your convenience, I have provided links to products that I referenced in this post. These are affiliate links, which means that if you buy something after clicking the link, I may receive a small percentage for the referral. Affiliate links do not affect your cost at all. Also, I only endorse products that I have used and personally recommend–I don’t sell my support period.**

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Intentional Parenting vs. the Jungle Gym

Intentional parenting is all about knowing your values and picking your battles. It is not possible to be intentional if you aren’t mindful of your intentions. Also, micromanaging your children takes responsibility and accountability away from them. It is also the recipe for a quick burnout for you.

I try to be as intentional as possible, but it is not as easy as writing a curriculum of what I want my daughter to learn, do, and be. I can try to carry out pre-planned lessons, but the real parenting challenge comes in identifying teachable moments, and then making the most of them. But I have a doubt about my choices.

In general, I want my daughter to do everything that she is capable of so she can learn to do even more. She is a go getter, but she also would love daddy (me) to attend to her every step. I love my daughter dearly so I know that doing for her what she can do herself would keep her from becoming self-reliant. I can’t always be there for her, so I need to give her the training opportunities to be there for herself.

I think that the jungle gym gives me the biggest qualms. She is three and a half, so her physical strength and agility are coming into their own right now. She can get up to the top of every climbing tower in the park. She can’t get down. So what do I do? She can physically get down, but she needs to overcome her fear of falling by trusting in her own abilities.

When she yells “look at me, daddy” from the top and takes a hand off the bar to wave, I try to keep the alarm off of my face so that I don’t sap her confidence. I give her lots of encouragement and praise for the sure steps and good handholds. And when it comes time to descend? I absolutely help her. I don’t just pick her up like a deus ex machina. I guide and secure her feet and occasionally position my hands around her torso in case she should slip. I am the same way in teaching her how to swim. If she doesn’t want to dunk her head, I don’t dunk it for her. I am just not a “throw her into the deep end” kind of dad.

I believe I am being a good, intentional parent when I don’t give in when she is angry and crying because of something that I did or didn’t do. But I can’t see myself letting her cry at the top of the tower while I’m calling reassurance to her. Just today I let her cry instead of helping her put a diaper on her baby “so she doesn’t go pee pee in her blanket.” Almost any other time, I would have helped her with the diaper. I hate it when the baby goes pee pee in her blanket. But I had just asked my daughter to wash her hands and come to lunch. So, I picked my battle and held my ground, even though it meant a meltdown and a heartrending “it will just take a little minute.” Then I had to take her to her room because I gave her the choice of washing her hands and eating or going to her room and resting. I took her crying to be her decision that she wanted to rest.

I tell myself that, at three and a half, my daughter needs me to show her that she has a safety net. That her reach can exceed her grasp, and she doesn’t have to lose a tooth in the process. Some of my friends listen to my stories and make the motion of winding a thread around their little finger. I hope that the story I am telling myself about my actions matching my intentions is true. I guess I will have to ask her therapist in 30 or so years.

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The Reluctant Dragon Children’s Book

Source: Center for Puppetry Arts

Around our house, we love dragons. Isabel’s second birthday cake was a dragon. That’s what she asked for, and that’s what Catharina made. I made the wings. It was delicious.

A friend alerted me to a dragon opportunity in The Reluctant Dragon performance at the Center for Puppetry Arts, and we just got tickets to see it! Isabel said “hurray!” She’s enthusiastic like that.

The author of the book is Kenneth Grahame. He is better known for his classic The Wind in the Willows (1908). He published the children’s book, The Reluctant Dragon, in 1898.

We’ve been preparing for the last week by reading the book. Now we are ready to see it made “real” at the Center for Puppetry Arts. We get to make a puppet there too.

Click Image to See It on Amazon

 

The book blurb says

When a dragon is discovered up on the Downs, the Boy is not in the least surprised. He’s always known the cave there was a dragon cave, so it seems only right for a dragon to be living in it.

The Boy decides to pay a visit to the cave, and he thinks he knows just what to expect. But this particular dragon is not a bit like the ones in fairy tales!

Click Image to See it on Amazon

It is a very sweet story, and I feel that it is a timeless classic. Disney thought so too, and they made a film of it in 2009.

It is out of copyright, so you may be able to find a free copy online. There is a well-regarded Kindle version for 99 cents.

Project Gutenberg doesn’t have the text, but they do have the audio for free.

 

 

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Gianna the Great Book Review

Sitting on the edge of my seat for genealogy? Yep.

The author gave me this book with no strings attached. The following review is my honest opinion…in this case, my opinion is that the book is great!

This book is captivating from the start. The first-person narrative is very well written. It is a short book, but by the end, I developed a clear picture of Gianna, and I liked her a lot. The plot evolves at an exciting pace, as Gianna navigates through the world of her peers, where she is confident and insightful. Entering the world of adults, Gianna is appropriately off balance and more tentative as she deals with the complexity of her mother, and the surprise transformation of ‘old’ Mr. Williams.

The outer conflict was unexpectedly exciting. Exploring genealogy, in this book, comes with a fun mystery, and the unfortunate company of a middle-school know-it-all. The inner conflict is also masterfully revealed as we are privy to Gianna’s thoughts and observations about her mother and their family.

My considered opinion is that Gianna is a strong, believable character who is developed through crisp dialogue and a plot with many little surprises plus one great big mystery.

The book ends just as the setup of the mystery is complete. For me, the sequel cannot come soon enough. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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Bubbles: Big Stink in Frog Pond

Click Cover to Buy on Amazon

Bubbles is a frog with a problem, and it’s all in his name. His moniker comes from the plentiful bubbles that he makes by passing smelly, smelly gas under water. His gas is so smelly, and he passes it so frequently, that his friends tell him he has to leave. Bubbles goes away, but finds a unique way to turn his problem into a solution, and his friends find a way to tolerate his bubbles.

This is a good book for kids 3-4 and older. Toddlers haven’t become self conscious enough to understand fart humor. But we know that fart humor can tickle the funnybone of kids aged four to sixty four, boys and girls alike. There are enough “bloops” in this book to keep a kid laughing for a week.

The story is a page-turner. It’s well crafted to keep the reader engaged and wanting to know what will happen next. Appropriate for the genre, it doesn’t include sub-plots or subtlety. The illustrations are fun and colorful, and there is some fun typography play (bigger/smaller/angled…) that I think will engage early readers. And speaking of early readers, the vocabulary used is great for eight- or nine-year old readers. I think middle-grade (MG) kids would also love it because (a) they will be able to read it easily, and (b) it’s a funny book that MG kids will want to take to school and share with their friends.

I would have given the book five stars, but I don’t feel that the production is above average. That is, illustrations, type, and type placement look good, but not professional.

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Book Review: Lionel and the Golden Rule

Click Cover to Buy on Amazon

Unlucky, picked-on Lionel’s life changes when he finds a lucky Potbellied Three-Toed Walbaun foot in his closet. Although, presumably, extinct, these oddly-named creatures magic lives on. Unfortunately for Lionel, their magic is over the top and unpredictable, and leads to some good laughs in the book. And when it comes time to play in the make-or-break Tri-Valley Baseball Championship game, the unpredictable magic just doesn’t seem like a good idea. You need to read the book to see how Lionel navigates the formidable obstacles familiar to many middle-grade students.

I enjoyed this book very much–I read it in one sitting because, after a slow start, the pacing keeps driving the story forward and enticing the reader to turn the page to find out what happens next. I found it easy to relate to Lionel, and I was rooting for him at each challenge. His mother and brother are his main foils, and cruelly so. And his puppy-dog attraction to Carrie is a very believable motivation for Lionel’s choices.

The book’s title, never directly referenced in the book, would be a great conversation starter to get kids talking about one of the main messages in the book.

For a middle-grade book, intended to be read by and not for, the vocabulary should be 98% in the age group’s grasp. So even without looking words up, the story and humor are understandable. There are some dated terms (appropriate to a book set in 1967) like “…we want to cream the other teams…” Also, the reader should have a basic understanding of baseball/softball because the final quarter of the book recounts the big game.

The illustrations are cute, but there are not many. For me, the illustrations helped flesh out Lionel’s attraction to Carrie.

I recommend this book for kids 11 or 12 and up, and to any adult who wants to revisit their tween years.

Note: I received the e-book in exchange for my honest opinion.

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The Future of Print Journalism Looks a Lot Like Harry Potter

This is from the NY Times in 2012. It’s one of the earliest examples of “story-driven” formatting for print articles.

Click through to see how captivating the story becomes with all of the multi-media elements (video, interviews, maps…)

Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek – Multimedia Feature – NYTimes.com

Fresh powder beckoned 16 expert skiers and snowboarders into the backcountry. Then the snow gave way.

Source: Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek – Multimedia Feature – NYTimes.com

 

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The Napping House and Its Sequel

Click Cover to See It on Amazon

 The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood, an illustrated children’s book

If you haven’t read the “cumulative story,” The Napping House, then you are in for a treat.

Read it, and then we can all be in for a treat when Audrey and Don Wood’s beautiful sequel, “Full Moon at the Napping House” hits the shelves on September 1st (2015).

You may be familiar with other cumulative stories like “The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly,” and “The House that Jack Built.” The Napping House is different in that it cumulatively builds the napping pile of people and pets, then it subtracts each in their own particular way. Its listing targets two and three year olds, and that seems about right. My daughter and I read The Napping House nearly every day for a year! After a hiatus brought about by moving house and temporarily archiving the book, she picked it off of her shelf yesterday. She’s still three, so she’s in the target range, and she seems to love it as much or more than ever.

Full Moon at the Napping House is targeted at four to seven year olds. I am interested to see how the story can be faithful to the original’s mechanism, yet augment the depth enough to capture its new demographic.

Click Cover to See It on Amazon

The cumulative story of The Napping House is a delight that unravels into a glorious ending. More than that, the illustrations are captivating. They have wonderful detail that makes each character worthy of a discussion with little readers. At the same time, there is not too much detail so as to become distracting. The quality of the illustrations should push you to the larger format book, if you have the option. We have the small board book, but we have borrowed the hardback from the library and were doubly enchanted by the larger format. Our favorite story in the illustration is the progress that the flea makes across the page as the characters form their sleepy pile.

Do you have a comment about The Napping House, or could you recommend another cumulative story or song? Let me know it the comments, below.

The Napping House

Age Range: 2 – 3 years
Series: Red wagon books
Board book: 16 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers; Brdbk edition (September 1, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0152026320
ISBN-13: 978-0152026325

Full Moon at the Napping House

Age Range: 4 – 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool – 3
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers (September 1, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0544308328
ISBN-13: 978-0544308329

Full Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate and receive a small commission if you use the link above to purchase the book. My vested interest has had no effect on the content of my review. I have given my honest opinion about a book I love, and have provided the link as a convenience to you.

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