Tina M. Cho's Blog, page 11

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year blog readers!
I'm over at the Pens & Brushes blog with a list of picture book opportunities for picture book writers. I hope you join me in many of these endeavors. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas blog readers! I hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends! Keep your writing/idea notebook with you during the holidays; you never know when something will occur that you can use to write a seasonal story!

I'll be back in January and hopefully will post some how to's about Teacher Pay Teachers, since some of you requested that. 

I'll leave you with a wonderful Christmas message from Luke 2:11. "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." 

Winner + Picture Book Island

And the winners of The Girl's Guide to Manners are:
Rhonda B.
Suzy
and Tina M.
Congratulations, ladies!
Please email me your address! (tinamariecho@yahoo.com)

Now today I'm at the Grog Blog talking about a picture book island in Korea called Nami Island. If you're curious, head on over! 

MiSung's Cards of Love ~ A Christmas Story

Made by daughter Anna I'm participating in a holiday story contest hosted by author Susanna Leonard Hill. 

The rules: Write a children's story in which wild weather impacts the holidays!  Your story may be poetry or prose, silly or serious or sweet, religious or not, based on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever you celebrate, but is not to exceed 350 words. And it has to be posted on our blogs. 

Thanks for reading!

Glossary: 
Appa: daddy
Omma: mommy
Halaboji: grandfather


                                   MiSung's Cards of Love

 
            MiSung loved winter in the mountains of Korea. She loved ice sledding, ice fishing, and most of all Christmas. But she didn’t like snowstorms.

            Only two days until Christmas. MiSung had plans. She needed to buy cards for her friends at school (only the girls), write a letter to Santa Halaboji, and help Mom choose a Christmas cake at the bakery. Having only one day off for Christmas made preparations difficult.

            “I can’t take you into town tonight,” said Appa. “Korea's worst snowstorm is heading this way.”

            “Oh no!” said MiSung.

            MiSung wasn’t going to let a snowstorm stand in her way. A small, bare Christmas tree stood in the corner. MiSung strung rice popcorn for a garland. Then she wrote a letter to Santa Halaboji in her neatest handwriting. Last she scrounged her bedroom for colorful papers and scissors. If she couldn’t buy cards for her friends, she would make them.

            She remembered the paper folding art her teacher had taught the class. MiSung wrote each friend a note on her cards. She put them in her backpack to hand out at school.

            While MiSung slept, the wind howled and rattled the windows. Snow dropped in thick puffs that stuck like sticky rice.

            “No school for you,” said Omma the next morning. The street hasn’t been plowed.”

            “But I must get to school,” she said. “I have to deliver my cards, or my friends will think I don’t like them.”

            “They’ll understand,” said Omma.

            The snow fell all day. MiSung pulled on her boots and coat and went outside.

 “Some Christmas,” she said, throwing a snowball into the driveway. It bounced off the ATV.

            “That looks like a sleigh,” said MiSung with a smile.

            She went inside and told Appa her idea.

            The three of them snuggled together on the ATV with MiSung’s backpack. They arrived at church in time for Christmas carols.

            “Merry Christmas, MiSung,” said her friends, showering her with cards.

            “Merry Christmas to you,” said MiSung handing out her cards of love.

           

           

 

Win The Girls Guide to Manners!

My new book, The Girl's Guide to Manners (and all that good stuff.) is out from Legacy Press Kids! Here's your chance to win a copy to keep or give as a gift. In fact, I'm giving away 3 books, and if you're a winner, would you please leave an honest review either on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, or Good Reads?

To enter the contest, leave a comment about what manner or etiquette you think girls in this era need to know.

3 winners!

The contest ends Thursday, Dec. 11th.

Thanks so much! 

My New Store + a freebie!

Today I accomplished a goal that's been a long time in my thoughts---opening an online store at Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT). Most of you know I've been writing for the educational market for a while and am also a teacher. I've stood by the past several years watching TpT become successful and have enjoyed products from wonderful sellers. (Teachers Pay Teachers is an online marketplace for teachers to sell their lesson plans and products to other educators and get instant downloads.) Thanks to encouragement from Nancy Sanders and Pam Brunskill, I jumped in, put my fears aside, and started my own little store. 

I have only two products I've written so far. This one on the left is FREE! So if you want to download it, click on the picture and head over to TpT, make a free account, and enjoy it for the holiday season. If you don't want to make an account, give me your email address, and I can send you the pdf file. But this email offer is only for you--my writer friends. 

I also wrote martial arts nonfiction reading passages that integrate the New Year. You can read all about it at TpT if you'd like by clicking on the picture. It was a lot of work! I now admire these teachers who are also creating these products. I chose a martial arts theme since both of my kids have 2nd degree black belts. 

Would you all be interested in learning about the process I went through so you can create an educational product? Do let me know your thoughts! Thanks for letting me share this with you!

Thanks for You!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm very thankful for ALL of my writing friends. You've taught me so much through your blog posts, critiques, Facebook posts, and lovely comments on this blog. What would I do without you?

I hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends. Know that you're appreciated!

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1

Picture Book Plea

My "Picture Book Plea" is up on my critique group's blog this week at http://pensandbrushes.weebly.com/blog if you have time!

I hope you're enjoying Picture Book Month and all the writing opportunities November brings!

A Busy Halloween Writing

by son, Isaac Cho Happy Halloween to those who celebrate! 


I'm sure you've been just as busy as I have! All my projects were due the end of October, and so I've been swamped with homeschooling and writing and keeping up with normal wife/mother duties. 

 

I can share one project with you that has involved my whole family! I've been revising "Korean for Kids Flash Cards" by Tuttle Publishing. 

My part has been writing activities, songs, and revising what they previously had. My daughter has drawn paper dolls for one of my activities, and this will be her first time having illustrations published. My son has helped me type words in Korean and developed scripts. At age 9 his Korean is more fluent now. And my husband sang three Korean children's songs to go with my activities as well as making sure all our Korean words were correct. This kit will be re-published in March with my name on it as the reviser.  Anna's drawing tool/toy came in handy for making paper dolls. The device has a light underneath, and so she was able to make sure each doll and clothing were the right sizes. Thanks, Anna!

Maybe you writers will come across a writing project that involves your family. It's quite fun to get everyone involved and have a sense of ownership.

Enjoy your fall activities!

Guided Reading Levels and the Writer

Do you want to learn how to write a guided reading book like the one pictured? I'm a guest blogger at Nancy I. Sander's Blogzone. Come join me there if you'd like to learn about guided reading levels and the writer. Nancy has been teaching us how to submit to a specific educational publisher, Kaeden.