I did it. I wrote 26 brand-new picture-book texts in the 28 days of February! Now that I’ve had some time to relax and reflect, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the experience. I started out with great gusto, then stumbled in the middle and took a bunch of days off, but managed to sprint to the finish to
The March/April 2011 issue of The Horn Book Magazine is a special issue devoted to “Fact, Fiction, and In Between.” It’s a fantastic compendium of articles and notes from some of today’s top writers of nonfiction for kids, and it’s giving me a lot to think about. I’ll probably post more on these thoughts later, but for now, I wanted to
I must admit, when my own daughter entered kindergarten and started the unit on texture, I was surprised. Yes, textures are all around us, but what’s to study? These kids are already experts. After all, they’ve been feeling textures since before they were born (often with their mouths)! I soon realized that’s exactly the point, though. They are all around us, but
I love fairy tales. My husband loves fairy tales (thanks to him we own an almost complete set of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library!). And of course, my kids love fairy tales. Who doesn’t? Old photos of Snow White and one of her dwarfs—Hungry, maybe? While searching for ideas for this month’s Picture Book Marathon, I’ve been reading more
I’m behind on the Picture Book Marathon and have some serious catching up to do, so I’m going to make this short, but thanks to this Picture Book Marathon blog post, I discovered some great new story idea resources that I just have to share! Author Rick Walton has some great tips for coming up with story ideas here. He lists a
Last month, I blogged that I was going to to do two big challenges: the picture book marathon and the WordPress PostAWeek. I’ve pretty much been keeping up with the WordPress PostAWeek challenge. I think I’ve put up some good posts so far, but I’m still a little disappointed with the results. I was hoping to get a little more
TOM THUMB: THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF A MAN IN MINIATURE I just finished an advance reading copy of TOM THUMB: THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF A MAN IN MINIATURE by George Sullivan (Clarion; February, 2011; 208 pages; grades 5–9). Writing non-fiction is like putting together the pieces of a puzzle, says author George Sullivan… “I like nonfiction because I’m
I recently signed up for NetGalley.com, which lets publishers connect their upcoming books with reviewers, media, librarians, booksellers, bloggers, and educators. It’s easy to use, helps me keep up with what’s happening in the market, and—lucky for you!—it allows me to share these new works I love with my blog readers! The first book I downloaded was one I’d heard
I have to admit, I’m a little more nervous about attending the SCBWI conference in NY this year. Yes, they’re going to have great speakers (Lois Lowry! Jane Yolen! R. L. Stine! Mo Willems! and plenty of other wonderful people!). And yes, there will be agents, editors, and publishers there. But I’ve gotten fairly used to that by going to so
I’m usually pretty big on reflecting on the past year, re-evaluating, and setting goals (not so much resolutions) around the start of each new year. Starting into this year, though, I just didn’t really have any. Am I just happy where I’m at—coasting along with magazine articles but no books contracted yet? Certainly not! But everything I came up with—everything