Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 84
July 18, 2012
Picture Book Writing Exercise
From time to time here on my blog this summer, I’ll be posting various suggestions for writing exercises you can do on your own or with your critique group to help improve your picture book writing skills. If you really want to dive into the world of picture books, you can even form your own mentoring group this summer like I did this past year.
Meet together or online in cyberspace 4 or 5 times to discuss favorite picture books you’re reading, evaluate picture books with the same picture book rubric we used in our group, and offer feedback on brand new picture book manuscripts you’re writing. Your picture book writing will never be the same!
PICTURE BOOK WRITING EXERCISE: UNIVERSAL THEMES
Want to learn how to improve your picture book manuscripts by basing your story on a universal theme that tugs at every kid’s heart? Try this exercise out for size.
1. Borrow Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator from your library or purchase it and use it as a reference.
2. It is important to always have a strong universal theme in your picture book manuscript. To download a copy of your very own list of Universal Themes for young children, visit the site of my writing buddies, Writing According to Humphrey and Friends. Click on the link for the UNIVERSAL THEMES AGES 4 TO 7, download it, print it out and add it to your personal writer’s notebook.
3. Brainstorm ideas about friendship, the universal theme Mo Willems used in his book, Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator. Choose a favorite toy to be the best friend of your main character.
4. Write a fresh and original approach to the universal theme of friendship in a picture book manuscript of 500-800 words where the main character is best friends with a favorite toy.
July 16, 2012
Book Review: Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator!
5 Star Review
Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator
Author/Illustrator: Mo Willems
What an adorable book about the tender friendship between a child and her favorite stuffed animal. And Alligator, though stuffed, has an awesome personality!!! He loves to play and do creative things with Amanda. The one thing Alligator doesn’t like, however, is how boring it is when Amanda leaves. Until one day, Amanda shows up with a new present from Grandpa: Panda! What will Alligator do? Surprise! When Amanda leaves, life is no longer boring. Alligator gets to play with his brand new friend, Panda!
July 13, 2012
List of Favorite Current Picture Books
Here’s a list of 20 of my favorite recently published picture books. It’s not a total list by far! But during the picture book mentor group I hosted this past spring at my house with a small group of published authors, I read over 80 current picture books published since 2010. That was each of our goals and then we met to discuss our favorites. Many of these are on this list.
It was so exciting to also hear about other people’s favorites, too! I added some of these to my list of favs, too!
Order these books in from your local library or go read them at your local bookstore. Fill out a picture book rubric for each one and put it in your personal writer’s notebook so you can evaluate each picture book from a writer’s point of view. Post reviews about these picture books on your blog. Give 5-star reviews of these books on Goodreads and Amazon. Use these books as springboards of inspiration to help you become a better picture book writer.
Also, don’t be surprised if you don’t care for some of the picture books I do. There were actually 2 picture books that I read at the store and didn’t care for them AT ALL. Yet when we met together as a group, the other members had LOVED them! And I found out both were Caldecott Honor award winners!!!! So personal tastes can really vary among readers, writers, editors and everyone who loves picture books.
Here’s the list. Read them and enjoy!
All Kind of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano
Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel
Bats at the Ballgame by Brian Lies
Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson
The Bear Who Shared by Catherine Rayner
Betty Bunny Wants Everything by Michael Be. Kaplan
The Biggest Kiss by Joana Walsh
Big Hugs Little Hugs by Felicia Bond
The Blue House Dog by Deborah Blumenthal
The Boss Baby by Marla Frazee
Builder Goose: It’s Construction Rhyme Time by Boni Ashburn
The Camping Trip that Changed America by Barb Rosenstock
Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond
Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown
Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld
Crouching Tiger
Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill
Dinothesaurus by Douglas Florian
George Washington’s Birthday by Margaret McNamara
Join the Picture Book Celebration!!!
If you’d like to join in the celebration of picture books going on all summer long here on my blog, click here to find out how to hop on board.
If you’d like to post my logo on your blog, click here to find out how to do this.
If you’d like to visit other sites of picture book writers who are joining in the celebration by posting on their blogs about picture books this summer, click here to find the list. And follow the directions there to add your own blog to the list, too!
July 11, 2012
Celebrate Picture Books…Yes! Dreams Still Can Come True!
I know we hear everywhere that this is a tough, tough picture book market.
Well, I want to encourage you all today to still pursue your dream of writing picture books, even in this dry market today.
Wanna read a funtastic inspirational story that just happened for realsies and that could actually factually happen to you, too?
Hop on over to agent Jill Corcoran’s blog to hear what just happened at an SCBWI conference in Miami!
July 9, 2012
Picture Book Writing Exercise
From time to time here on my blog this summer, I’ll be posting various suggestions for writing exercises you can do on your own or with your critique group to help improve your picture book writing skills. If you really want to dive into the world of picture books, you can even form your own mentoring group this summer like I did this past year.
Meet together or online in cyberspace 4 or 5 times to discuss favorite picture books you’re reading, evaluate picture books with the same picture book rubric we used in our group, and offer feedback on brand new picture book manuscripts you’re writing. Your picture book writing will never be the same!
PICTURE BOOK WRITING EXERCISE: POETIC DEVICES
Want to learn how to improve your picture book manuscripts by incorporating poetic devises into your writing so that your words spring to life? Try this exercise out for size!
1.Borrow Red Sings From Treetops from the library or purchase it and use it as a reference.
2. Choose one concept to write about that every child learns in kindergarten or first grade such as: colors, shapes, numbers, the alphabet, size, counting, animal names, seasons, days of the week, and days of the months.
3. Familiarize yourself with poetic devices such as imagery, personification, metaphors, and repetition.
4. Write about the concept you chose using poetic devices, just as the author did for Red Sings From Treetops. For example, if you write about size, you’ll write about big. Then you’ll write another piece about medium and another piece about small.
5. Organize these into a picture book manuscript of 500-800 words.
Join the Picture Book Celebration!!!
If you’d like to join in the celebration of picture books going on all summer long here on my blog, click here to find out how to hop on board.
If you’d like to post my logo on your blog, click here to find out how to do this.
If you’d like to visit other sites of picture book writers who are joining in the celebration by posting on their blogs about picture books this summer, click here to find the list. And follow the directions there to add your own blog to the list, too!
July 6, 2012
Book Review: Red Sings from Treetops
5 Star Review
Red Sings from Treetops
Author: Joyce Sidma
Illustrator: Pamela Zagarenski
A poetic telling of the seasons that is vibrant with joy, color, and life. The art is fresh, whimsical, and engaging. The use of language and poetic devices resonates to bring the beauty of nature in all its colors and glories into our hearts. Perfect to read aloud or cherish while snuggled up in your favorite spot. A fresh, engaging concept book that teaches children their colors along with the seasons.
July 5, 2012
Pinterest for Picture Books
Do you use Pinterest?
Pinterest is an online bulletin board of sorts. It’s a way to bookmark sites that have interesting things you like.
As a picture book writer, I’ve grown to love using Pinterest! It helps me get organized. How?
One of the ways I use it is that I created a board of my favorite picture books. So when I’m exploring books online and see a favorite picture book or a new picture book I want to read, with just a couple of clicks I can pin it to my Pinterest board: Celebrate Picture Books. Later, I go back to this board and refer to it to order in new picture books from the library, purchase new picture books to use to teach classes or writing workshops, or buy a picture book for a friend.
Another way I use it is to organize research I’m gathering for a nonfiction picture book idea I have. I create boards for different topics. I also organize craft or activity ideas that might come in handy for building a website for one of my upcoming picture books. Plus, I organize links to writing tools that could be helpful for picture book writers.
One of the agents at my agency recommended all the authors use Pinterest, and I’m glad she did. I recommend that you sign up and learn how to use it, too, if you’re a picture book author. Because that’s another thing it’s good for. Networking!
Just go to Pinterest and follow the directions to sign up. A couple of the steps are a little tricky, but it’s worth pressing through because after that, it’s pretty simple.
Then click to follow me. And when I get the alert that you did, I’ll click to follow you back. What a great way to share our favorite picture books!
Happy pinning!
Join the Picture Book Celebration!!!
If you’d like to join in the celebration of picture books going on all summer long here on my blog, click here to find out how to hop on board.
If you’d like to post my logo on your blog, click here to find out how to do this.
If you’d like to visit other sites of picture book writers who are joining in the celebration by posting on their blogs about picture books this summer, click here to find the list. And follow the directions there to add your own blog to the list, too!
July 4, 2012
Happy Birthday, America!
Today we’re celebrating the Fourth of July here in America. At our home that means my husband, Jeff, hangs our flag out in front of the house because we’re proud to be Americans!
In the morning before our family celebrations begin, we plan to join several thousand other Christians at our home church, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, where we will gather to pray for America. That’s because we love our country and we love God who established the foundation of our nation and led our nation’s founders to build our country from the ground up based on godly principals.
It’s also because we take to heart what God says in the Bible in 2 Chronicles 7:14:
If my people, who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
I love America and pray that not only with God bless America, but that America will bless God.
This is one of the reason I write many of the books I do.
And to learn more about the founding years of America and the influence African American Christian leaders had on our nation, read my book, America’s Black Founders.
July 2, 2012
Links for Summer Picture Book Celebration!
If you want to join in on the fun this summer and celebrate picture books on your blog, here are some links you can post on your site!
If you want a big picture of the logo I’m using so that you can post it on your site, here’s what it will look like (Also, click on the picture and you’ll discover a list of links for people who are participating in our picture book celebration all summer long so you can visit their sites and hopefully have them visit yours, too!):
Here’s the html code you can copy and paste into your own blog so that this image appears on your site along with the link to the list of people’s blogs who are participating this summer:
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And if you haven’t yet signed up on the list of blogs of writers who are celebrating picture books all summer long, just post a comment here today with the URL to your site and I’ll add your site to the list so others can stop on by and say hi!
June 29, 2012
Caldecotts: The Best of the Best!
Let’s start out our summer picture book celebration by reading the top award-winning picture books of all!
Each year the Caldecott Medal is awarded to the illustrator of that year’s best picture book. As picture book writers, it’s important to keep our ear to the ground and familiarize ourselves with these amazing masterpieces of children’s literature.
For a list of Caldecott Medal and Honor Books, CLICK HERE.
Then, sign on to your local library county system’s website and order in all the books on this list from 2008 up to 2012.
Once your books have arrived at your library, sit down and read these amazing books for pleasure. Read them to a child. Read them aloud. And then study them and fill out a picture book rubric for each one to keep in your personal writer’s notebook so that you can learn WHY these books are winners!
JOIN THE CELEBRATION!
This summer we’re holding a picture book celebration here on my blog all summer long!
If you want to join in the celebration, there are 3 basic things you can do hop on board:
1. READ picture books
2. WRITE picture books
3. POST about picture books on your website, blog, twitter, facebook, or other social network you’re already plugged into
If you want to be part of the celebration, you can even sign up on a list I’m creating for everyone to see so we can visit each other’s sites…all summer long! Just post a comment here today with the URL of your site and I’ll add your blog to this list with links to everyone’s site.
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