Ruth Ellen Parlour's Blog, page 5

Ruth Reviews – There’s a Bear on my Chair by Ross Collins

There's a Bear on My Chair" target="_blank">Poor Mouse! A bear has settled in his favourite chair and that chair just isn’t big enough for two. Mouse tries all kinds of tactics to move the pesky Bear but nothing works and poor Mouse gives up. Once Mouse has gone, Bear gets up and walks home. But what’s that? Is that a Mouse in Bear’s house?!

Story

The blurb sums up the whole story, it’s a quirky and fun tale of a simple frustration I’m sure we can all relate to. It’s written in rhyming couplets which makes it really fun to read.

Characters

Yes they’re simple; mouse is frustrated and clever, Bear is blasé. But I like it. Simple and effective for the story.

Art

The images are bold and cartoony, large and simple. The characters are brought to life by the artist and the reader can sympathise with them both. The text is large and easy to read. There are a few pages with no text and just images, and it’s easy to follow what is happening.

Moral

There’s no moral in the story, but mouse has to use his whit to overcome the problem that bear caused.

Value for money

Hardback £9.99

I would consider buying this as a gift for a young relative, it’s a fun read and something that would be read multiple times.

Age appropriateness

I would gage this book to be appropriate for ages 2 – 5 years

My Vote

I really enjoyed this book; it’s fun to read and something that people can relate to.

Four stars.

How I rate books:

Mostly I look for:

Great images
Exciting story
Message or meaning

Five stars: Only my very favourite books get a 5 star rating

Four stars: Books that I enjoy

Three stars: Books that are okay

Two stars: Books that are pretty rubbish

One star: Books that make me mad

Ruth Reviews – Max the Brave by Ed Vere

This is Max. Doesn’t Max look sweet. Max looks so sweet that sometimes people like to dress him up in ribbons. Max does not like being dressed up in ribbons. Because Max is a fearless kitten. Max is an intrepid kitten. Max is a brave kitten. Max is a Kitten who chases MICE

Story

Max is a kitten who desperately wants to chase a mouse, the problem is he doesn’t know what a mouse looks like. He sets out asking various different animals if they are mouse.

The format is a bit repetitive and I was wondering where the story was heading, but when Max does encounter mouse, he doesn’t realise it. Mouse then sends Max on to monster!

I thought the twist was quite clever and I was curious as to how Max’s encounter with monster would be resolved. It wasn’t particularly exciting but Max figures out in the end that he can chace monster’s instead of mice, (as in – what he thinks is a monster which is really a mouse.)

Characters

Max is a likeable character, he’s a brave fellow that kids would root for.

Art

There’s not a lot to the drawings themselves. They are quite rough and sketchy but still expressive and lively. The artist uses bold colours for the background and makes great use of the ‘blank’ space, making best use of the layout of text and images.

Moral

There’s no obvious moral or message expressed in the story. Having said that; Max is a brave and curious character. He gets tricked by the mouse but learns from his mistake and gets the better of mouse in the end.

Value for money

Hardcover RRP: £11.99

Paperback RRP: £6.99

Kindle Version: £3.99

If you’re into e-reading devices I can imagine the kindle version would really bring the vibrant colours in the pictures to life, and kids would enjoy flipping the ‘pages.’

Obviously the price is cheaper on Amazon for the physical copies but in terms of RRP I wouldn’t pay £12. A hardback is more durable sure, but it’s only useful if your child is going to read it multiple times. Even if they read it 12 times, that’s £1 a time, still pretty expensive. It would depend on how much your kid enjoys it.

Age appropriateness

It depends on the individual child but in general I think this book would be enjoyed most by younger children, 2 to 5 years especially.

My vote.

Max the Brave is well reviewed on Amazon by parents (four and a half stars.) But I have super high standards in fiction across the ages. I would give it 3 stars. I certainly wouldn’t pay £11.99, that’s for sure, but I would buy it on Kindle.

Anything else?

There’s another Max book coming out in September 2015 which, if I can borrow from the library, I’ll get my mits on it for a review.

How I rate books:

Mostly I look for:

• Great images

• Exciting/interesting story

• Message or meaning

• Five stars: Only my very favourite books get a 5 star rating

• Four stars: Books that I enjoy

• Three stars: Books that are okay

• Two stars: Books that are pretty rubbish

• One star: Books that make me mad

Great New Kid’s Picture Books for 2015

I’ve been doing a lot of research into popular children’s fiction and here’s a collection of awesome books that I want to get my mits on! You can follow my pinterest board for even more new kids books.

Miss Hazeltine’s Home for Shy and Fearful Cats – 7 May 2015

by Alicia Potter (Author), Birgitta Sif (Illustrator)

A heart-warming tale about overcoming your fears. Miss Hazeltine rescues cats and tries to teach them how to be real cats. When she gets lost in the woods the cats have to band together and overcome their fears to rescue her.

There’s a Bear on My Chair – 4 Jun 2015

by Ross Collins (Author)

Bear is sitting on Mouse’s chair. Mouse has to think of everything he can to get bear of his chair! A really good fun rhyming book with a good twist.

Max the Brave – 4 Jun 2015

by Ed Vere  (Author)

Max is a kitten who doesn’t know what a mouse looks like! He gets tricked my mouse and tries to chase a monster instead.

The Night World – 25 Jun 2015

by Mordicai Gerstein (Author

Shadows of the Night World come to life in this dazzling book. One night, a little boy is awoken by his cat, Sylvie. Everyone in the house is sleeping, but outside, the Night World is wide awake!

Ninja Bunny – 18 Jun 201

by Jennifer Gray Olson  (Author)

A fresh and funny book about a bunny who wants to be a ninja. Bunny has to decide if he is cut out for the ninja life, even though it means leaving his friends behind.

Interstellar Cinderella – 5 May 2015

by Deborah Underwood  (Author), Meg Hunt (Author, Illustrator)

An independent heroine, this version of Cinderella is someone who fixes space ships. When the princess ship has mechanical troubles, interstellar Cinderella is the one who saves the day.

Water Is Water: A Book about the Water Cycle – 26 May 2015

by Miranda Paul  (Author), Jason Chin  (Illustrator)

A book that takes the reader on a journey through the seasons, and the different states of water.

Beastly Babies – 7 Jul 2015

by Ellen Jackson (Author), Jackson Ellen (Author

A rhyming picture book show casing different kinds of adorable beastly animal babies.

To the Sea – 21 May 2015

by Cale Atkinson (Author, Illustrator)

A sweet tale about friendship and being invisible with beautiful ocean illustrations.

Butterfly Park – 11 Jun 2015

by Elly MacKay (Author)

The new girl in town tries to restore the butterflies to butterfly park. With glorious luminous paper-cut illustrations, the enchanting story explores community, friendship, and wonderment in the beauty of everyday life.

Luna & Me: The True Story of a Girl Who Lived in a Tree to Save a Forest – 12 May 2015

by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw  (Author, Illustrator)

When Julia and discovers that Luna, the redwood tree is to be cut down, she lives in it for two years until Luna’s future is save. The illustrations are gorgeous and lively, bringing the forest to life.

The Tea Party in the Woods – Aug 2015

by Akiko Miyakoshi (Author, Illustrator)

Follow Kikko as she joins a cosy tea-party in the wintry woods with some unusual guests. Clever illustrations complement this gently story.

This is Sadie (Sadie Mac) – 14 May 2015

by Julie Morstad (Author), Sara O’Leary  (Author)

Perfect for more quirky children, follow Sadie on her adventures in her imagination.

Song for a Summer Night: A Lullaby – 12 May 2015

by Robert Heidbreder (Author), Qin Leng (Illustrator)

When the sun goes down, children peer out of their windows and watch the wonders of the creatures that appear. Gorgeously illustrated with bold and colourful pages, this book will have children following it’s footsteps.

New Kid’s Picture Books for Summer 2015

I’ve been doing a lot of research into popular children’s fiction and here’s a collection of awesome books that I want to get my mits on! You can follow my pinterest board for even more new kids books.

Miss Hazeltine’s Home for Shy and Fearful Cats – 7 May 2015

by Alicia Potter (Author), Birgitta Sif (Illustrator)

A heart-warming tale about overcoming your fears. Miss Hazeltine rescues cats and tries to teach them how to be real cats. When she gets lost in the woods the cats have to band together and overcome their fears to rescue her.

There’s a Bear on My Chair – 4 Jun 2015

by Ross Collins (Author)

Bear is sitting on Mouse’s chair. Mouse has to think of everything he can to get bear of his chair! A really good fun rhyming book with a good twist.

Max the Brave – 4 Jun 2015

by Ed Vere  (Author)

Max is a kitten who doesn’t know what a mouse looks like! He gets tricked my mouse and tries to chase a monster instead.

The Night World – 25 Jun 2015

by Mordicai Gerstein (Author

Shadows of the Night World come to life in this dazzling book. One night, a little boy is awoken by his cat, Sylvie. Everyone in the house is sleeping, but outside, the Night World is wide awake!

Ninja Bunny – 18 Jun 201

by Jennifer Gray Olson  (Author)

A fresh and funny book about a bunny who wants to be a ninja. Bunny has to decide if he is cut out for the ninja life, even though it means leaving his friends behind.

Interstellar Cinderella – 5 May 2015

by Deborah Underwood  (Author), Meg Hunt (Author, Illustrator)

An independent heroine, this version of Cinderella is someone who fixes space ships. When the princess ship has mechanical troubles, interstellar Cinderella is the one who saves the day.

Water Is Water: A Book about the Water Cycle – 26 May 2015

by Miranda Paul  (Author), Jason Chin  (Illustrator)

A book that takes the reader on a journey through the seasons, and the different states of water.

Beastly Babies – 7 Jul 2015

by Ellen Jackson (Author), Jackson Ellen (Author

A rhyming picture book show casing different kinds of adorable beastly animal babies.

To the Sea – 21 May 2015

by Cale Atkinson (Author, Illustrator)

A sweet tale about friendship and being invisible with beautiful ocean illustrations.

Butterfly Park – 11 Jun 2015

by Elly MacKay (Author)

The new girl in town tries to restore the butterflies to butterfly park. With glorious luminous paper-cut illustrations, the enchanting story explores community, friendship, and wonderment in the beauty of everyday life.

Luna & Me: The True Story of a Girl Who Lived in a Tree to Save a Forest – 12 May 2015

by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw  (Author, Illustrator)

When Julia and discovers that Luna, the redwood tree is to be cut down, she lives in it for two years until Luna’s future is save. The illustrations are gorgeous and lively, bringing the forest to life.

The Tea Party in the Woods – Aug 2015

by Akiko Miyakoshi (Author, Illustrator)

Follow Kikko as she joins a cosy tea-party in the wintry woods with some unusual guests. Clever illustrations complement this gently story.

This is Sadie (Sadie Mac) – 14 May 2015

by Julie Morstad (Author), Sara O’Leary  (Author)

Perfect for more quirky children, follow Sadie on her adventures in her imagination.

Song for a Summer Night: A Lullaby – 12 May 2015

by Robert Heidbreder (Author), Qin Leng (Illustrator)

When the sun goes down, children peer out of their windows and watch the wonders of the creatures that appear. Gorgeously illustrated with bold and colourful pages, this book will have children following it’s footsteps.

What do you look for in a Children’s Book?

Classic Kid’s book – The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I’m looking to start reviewing children’s picture books, partly for fun and partly for market research. I’d like to know what kind of things people go for in picture books so I can talk about them in my reviews.

For my own books, I wanted to create something that was exciting and lively. Too many times I’ve read picture books that bored me. Where’s the surprise? The danger? Just because you’re writing for children doesn’t mean it has to be boring!

I love a book with little extra bits that add value to the experience. For me, I didn’t set out to design my book to be educational. I wanted to create realistic images, using real plants and animals native to my locale. Only then did the idea occur to me to have an index in the back of the book with the names of the plants and creatures that I used so children could look through the book and try to spot them, and in turn, learn a little bit about wildlife. It gives the purchaser a little extra value for money.

I wanted to create a children’s book that:

Adults would enjoy reading to their children.
Provided an exciting experience for children.
Had some kind of positive message.
Was a little bit educational.
Had inspiring pictures.
But most of all – a great story that’s fun to read!

What I would like to know is, when you buy a children’s book what do you look for?

Do you go for:

What’s popular.
What looks nice.
What is recommended.
What you already know.
Famous brands (like Disney.)
If it’s educational.
What your child is interested in.
Value for money.
Or anything else!

I’d love to know your thoughts and opinions on children’s literature. What do you find your children respond to best, and what kind of books do you want your children reading?

Thanks for reading and any comments you might have.

The Water Dragons is Available to Buy!

The Water Dragons
Too Heavy to Fly

The day has finally arrived!

My children’s book, The Water Dragons: Too Heavy to Fly, is now out in the world at long last.

When Silver sees a soaring buzzard he decides to learn how to fly. Together with his sister, Pearl, they make a pair of wings. But flying isn’t as easy as it seems.

The illustrations are packed with British summer time wildlife for children to spot, with a gallery in the back with their names.

Animals to spot in The Water Dragons

The paperback version is available from Lulu.com

and there’s a Kindle version available from Amazon

Please check out my website’s, The Water Dragons, page for free printable activity sheets for kids.

Boy Vs Girl Fictional Gender Roles for Characters.

Silver and Pearl

I have to admit, I wasn’t a girly girl. I used to play with my brother’s toys, climb trees, and dreamed about being a warrior princess. But as adults, tradition and society often influence our roles in life, what we should and shouldn’t do based on our gender. Modern life is blurring the gender differences but we can’t say they’re still not there.

Sometimes when writing a story, the characters develop themselves and go off on a tangent you didn’t expect. There’s not a whole lot of scope for character development in a 500 word story but I’ve noticed a pattern developing with my two main characters, and I’m not entirely sure whether it’s right in this PC world we live in.

Silver is the boy in my books. He’s clumsy, exceptionally greedy, and doesn’t always think before he does something. On the other hand he’s brave and will do anything to help someone in trouble.

Pearl is the girl in my books. She’s the voice of reason, she’s sensible, and puts others first. On the other hand she is moody, frightened, and struggles under pressure.

I believe these characteristics have come from the men and women in my life, and my beliefs about their character. But my question is: is it ok for a boy to be a boy, and for a girl to be a girl? Or should Silver be making daisy chains while Pearl play fights with her friends?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you are a writer yourself struggling with the same principle!

As always, thanks for reading.

My Biggest Compromise with The Water Dragons

There’s a famous writing saying that gets banded around the internet:

It means that sometimes, no matter how much you love a scene, a character, or some other element, sometimes it has to be brutally cut from the book if it doesn’t have a purpose.

I spent a long time (quite a few days) designing a title for the front of the book. I had in mind what I wanted it to look like and I drew it using Photoshop. When I got some feedback for the book, the title I had designed was noted as not being appealing. I can take criticism no problem so I set to work on a new title and designed a few different styles that were fancier and eye catching.

The Water Dragons final front cover

When I got feedback on the new fonts, they were too fancy and detracted from the picture. I was advised to use a standard font. I felt like crying. Days of my lives went into making a nice font that kids might like. As a designer and artist it was hard for me to come round to the idea that a fancy font just didn’t do the job that a regular font did. I couldn’t deny that a standard font appeals to people’s eyes, it’s easily readable and most of all it does actually stand out!

So I uploaded a new cover with a bog standard font (the same that I used for the interior) even though I wasn’t really happy with the choice, I knew it was for the best.

What do you think? These were my designs, do you think I made the right choice in the end?

Thanks for reading! In my next article I’ll be asking your opinion on gender roles in kid’s books.

Is it Ok to have Morals in Children’s Books?

People ask me what the moral is in my book.

My Aunt works in a library and often does readings for children. She told me she likes it when a kid’s book has a moral, and she can explain it to the children after reading the book.

I read a piece of writing advice from a children’s author that said to forget about morals completely, or to make them so subtle you won’t notice them.

Is it just down to personal taste or are there authors using morals so badly that people advise against it?

Don’t get me wrong I don’t think I’m going to influence a child’s future or change their life around by offering a moral. But I think having a subtle moral or message gives the book a more complete feel and might make someone say ‘aww,’ at the end. I think it’s unfair to steer away from them completely. I don’t write a book in order to have a moral, but I think it’s ok to have a theme that expresses a positive element, even something so simple as; it’s good to help people.

The moral (or message) in my book – The Water Dragons: Too Heavy to Fly, is about being yourself. Simple enough a message right?

What do you think about having morals in kid’s books? Ye or nay?

Thanks for reading!

In my next article I’ll be talking about My greatest compromise in The Water Dragons.

Creating the Artwork for The Water Dragons

As a child I remember holding one of my brother’s Warhammer books and studying the image. It was so full of life, so much on the page, and every time I looked I saw something different. Every soldier was unique with his own stance and facial expression.

I was inspired by great artwork from a very young age, I’m not really talking about classic artwork either. Good art is something not necessarily associated with children’s books, but it was something that I really loved as a child. Good quality pictures!

Why I decided to use Photoshop instead of traditional media.

Traditional techniques like acrylic or watercolour paint certainly has a charm that can’t be replaced by digital media. For the sake of what I wanted to do and achieve, using Photoshop was just too convenient not to use.  I’m happy that I’ve created some unique images using techniques I wouldn’t be able to do by hand.

I wanted to create a somewhat educational book, using a real setting with real plants and creatures native to the area. It creates more interesting and engaging images.

Are they not too complicated for a children’s book?

Sure I could have made simple cartoons and backgrounds but that’s not what I wanted to achieve. I’m not some huge publishing company churning out mediocre stories to make some big bucks. I wanted to create a piece of art that a child can enjoy not just for the story. Something they can study and pick something different out of the images when they look again. Something precious that they can treasure. That’s why I’ve spent a long time creating (not just pictures) but pieces of art that I would hope can be enjoyed by children and adults both.

Does the quality of images influence your decisions when buying children’s books?

Thanks for reading!

In my next article I’ll be discussing morals in children’s books.