Category Archives: Picture Books

PICTURE BOOK REVIEW Feb 2019

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I’m very late posting this review of another amazing Josh Funk Picture Book.

As summer faded into a sunny but chilling fall day, I reached for a sweater and retrieved a box from our front porch. Yes!

Inside was the latest book from the team of Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney:

Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast,

MISSION DEFROSTABLE

Pancake and French Toast are meeting to decide what to do about the sub-zero temperature inside the refrigerator when Agent Asparagus invites them to join the Fridge Bureau of Investigation team. But the Agent suddenly disappears, and Pancake and French Toast are left on their own, unless a previous villain, Baron von Waffle, will guide them through the refrigerator.

This Picture Book is cleverly written in fetching rhyme and illustrated with fun, animated characters and golden embossed emblems on an icy, blue jacket cover. But what makes this an outstanding read, is the question a young story-lover may ask: “He (Baron von Waffle) used to be the bad guy. Can he change and be a friend?”

Check it out  Mission Defrostable  rated on GOODREADS

 

 

PICTURE BOOK REVIEW

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LOST IN THE LIBRARY

by Josh Funk and illustrated by Stevie Lewis

LOST in2 IMG_0551 (3)

One grandson had said, “You can’t get lost in a library. I don’t believe it.”

As two boys began to read, they were intrigued by the complexity of the New York Library structure and a descriptive metaphor that measured Astor Hall by elephants and buffalo.

Since everyone one is taught to speak softly in a library, both grandsons understood how worried Lion, Fortitude, had become when he had to roar to get the attention of the voices in the hall. His good Lion friend, Patience, was lost. But they both must return to their posts at the library entrance before the city awakens.

Illustrator, Stevie Lewis, uses luminous colors, reflecting the time of day, and is sensitive to the feelings of the characters and the prominence of this iconic structure.

Thanks to author, Josh Funk, readers can become acquainted with the interesting history of the New York Library, following the story. This is a book for every library. It’s a story of friendship and feelings, surprise after surprise, magnificent words, and it confirms my belief that Picture Books are not just for children.

After finishing the book, you’ll probably want to visit the library. GO HERE!

For quality, artful, publishing, I thank Henry Holt and Company.

Monthly Picture Book Reviews

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FLYING DEEPIMG_0304 (2)

 

Winner of 2016 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award

Author: Michelle Cusolito www.michellecusolito.com

Illustrator: Nicole Wong www.nicole-wong.com

I must confess. I would never have known the existence of a Dumbo Octopus or a Ghost Crab or tube worms, and more, without reading FLYING DEEP, written by, Michelle Cusolito, and illustrated by, Nicole Wong.

Two grandsons who keep me company in the summer months were not as sold on the book, at first. They are good swimmers and were not bothered one bit by three passengers who are sinking to the bottom of the ocean while aboard Alvin, a small, submersible. They were concerned about how long it took to arrive at the bottom.

I began the story at the back of the book. The illustrations were compelling. The Glossary defined Dumbo Octopus and tube worms as living organisms. If we were inside Alvin, would we see them? We read facts about how far down Alvin must travel. How long would that take? We began turning pages faster, and the boys read, too.

“Look, there’s a Ghost Crab! Those aren’t flowers, Grandma. They’re tube worms”
FLYING DEEP was an exciting journey that opened our eyes to the wonders of the ocean.

To learn more about ALVIN, go to www.whoi.edu/main/hov-alvin
Thank you, Charlesbridge Publishing and Eight Cousins bookstore in Falmouth, MA. Thank you, Tara Lazar, for a STORYSTORM day with Michelle Cusolito.                        Thank you, Michelle, for signing my copy of your award-winning book.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For … Cotton Candy!

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WHAT A SWEET TREAT! Many thanks to children’s book author, Lauri Fortino, @Lauri14o for posting; with thanks to author/poet Jill Esbaum for sharing the story of COTTON CANDY in a new picture book by Ann Ingalls, illustrated by Miggy Blanco.

Source: I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For … Cotton Candy!

50 PRECIOUS WORDS CONTEST

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A friend and author, Vivian Kirkfield viviankirkfield , creator of the “50 Precious Words” contest, inspired me to write a Haiku for children, age 12 and under. Finally, after three tries, I’ve composed an entry to my satisfaction. In the end, it was great fun, Vivian. Thank you. Many stories in 50 words will be posted today on Vivian’s blog.

WINTER RUNNING LATE
by Pamela Miller

Faces peering out
“Why is Jack Frost not about?”
Fog-free window panes

Smelled the weighted air
February never fair
New red sled hangs ‘round

Cloudy, down pouring
Loud, the old Grandpa snoring
Soft, hair white as snow

March teased with flurries
Then shouting, sledding, I burst
Now? It’s April first!

GOOD NIGHT, BADDIES Winner! — Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)

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The winner of the GOOD NIGHT, BADDIES giveaway is: LILLIAN HECKINGER! Congratulations, Lillian. I will be emailing you shortly. Thanks for entering and I hope everyone will pick up a copy!

via GOOD NIGHT, BADDIES Winner! — Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)

What Success, 2015?

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As part of Julie Hedlund’s 12 Days of Christmas program, I am looking back before moving into the new year. Below is how this year went for me.

In retrospect, the year was more about listening, learning, and appreciating authors, agents, publishers, and writers who were recently published and writers still trying to put books in the hands of children and the adults who read to them. I am most grateful for those who have taught me and pushed me along my writing journey, especially to my writing critique group.

  1. Beginning Jan. 5, grandchildren visited. They are my exercise, both physical and mental, and often my inspiration for kid words, kid interactions, and a Picture Book manuscript.
  2. Similarly, Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 Writing Challenge added many exciting and informative Webinars this year. I wrote notes, recommendations, and jotted down recent publishers to find online. As a GOLD member this year, I submitted three times to agents, and wrote query letters. Two agents returned rejections. One so nice that it could have read “Dearest Pamela.” Who knew agents could be so nice? The fear was gone.
  3. Something on my to-do list was finalized this year. The attorney did most of the writing, but the objectives were noted on my list that prepared a Will, a Living Will, Power of Attorney for property and health. It takes a bit of searching to find necessary records and research legal terms online. But sitting with your attorney and asking questions, immediately answered, will provide comfort and a legal document that no one can alter or question. It’s done. And one’s successors will not have to argue over the unknown but simply collect anything left to them.
  4. Writing makes one a clear communicator. If ever that will come in handy, it is during times of family stress. I certainly wanted to consider my feelings and those of my family when my sister died May 17, 2015, less than a month after I last sat with her and after flying to her home in Arizona. E-mails seemed to fly back and forth as her condition was updated. Her oldest daughter was most dedicated and responsible. I shared a poem with her that I wrote after my father died. For her mother’s service, she shared her poem with me. I wrote to thank her and posted to my sister’s obituary.
  5. Professor, Emma Walton Hamilton (I shamelessly name drop.) is the accomplished daughter of Julie Andrews, famous actress, singer of –duh –the world. Emma teaches “Just Write for Kids!” Her course was professional, college-level, and upgraded my writing. In completing the course, I learned to dissect a Picture Book. I used Emma’s choice of five classic titles: Whistle for Willie, Where the Wild Things Are, Olivia, Knuffle Bunny, and Owen.
  6. I continued through 2015 by mapping these Picture Books: One Big Pair of Underwear, Laura Gehl; Snowmen at Night, Carolyn Buehner; When a Dragon Moves In, Jodie Moore; Little Red Gliding Hood, Tara Lazar; and What If . . .? by Anthony Browne. I paid close attention to theme, plot, point of view, the story arc and the story question.
  7. And, of course, I mapped my own manuscripts to see if they were close to submission status.
  8. I wrote and updated a guest list for a 50th Wedding Anniversary dinner that our daughter planned for me and spouse, Jim, and a total of 51 people. I wrote thank you notes.
  9. I wrote and rewrote manuscripts. I now have 18 total (in various stages).
  10. I submitted one manuscript to a publisher. I won’t hear back for another two months.
  11. I completed PiBoIdMo a Winner in November. Two additional manuscript in the making and ideas circled on every page of my 30-day journal. I’m thankful that Tara Lazar has organized this challenge. It’s a needed shove into a new year at the very least, and so much more.
  12. I attended an SCBWI luncheon/workshop for Fraidy Cats. Signed up to Tweet, Link in, and created a Facebook author page with their guidance. Still working on the goals of fully understanding social media, but I’m connected. That was the promise. I became aware of the workshop because
  13. I printed and actually read the entire SCBWI Bulletin!
  14. Used my Pay Pal and Amazon Prime for business and to reward myself, on occasion, with another wonderful Picture Book to read to my children.
  15. Purchased an excellent reference/motivational book by author/entrepreneur, Katie Davis, HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR CHILDREN’S BOOK.
  16. I got up in the middle of the night to write. Driven by a solitary word that kids might need to learn, I wrote a page. Then I slept ‘til morning.

HAPPY NEW YEAR dear reader!

 

Get Over the Winter Writing Blues

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Shake it off. My motto today drives me to the keyboard. Or, maybe you need a prompt – a favorite writing exercise to provide something to write about.

Pick a color (favorite, hated, one from a hat). Then write about it in terms of the 5 senses. List HEAR, SEE, TASTE, TEXTURE, FEELING across the top of your page. Set your timer for 3-5 minutes. In each column, list as many words as you can about your color. Example: Red is a bell ringing, a crown, a rich bon bon, a velvet skirt, and haughty. Now keep going . . .

. . . AND if you are wonderfing how to format your Picture Book manuscript, click this link provided by Julie Hedlund and the 12 x 12 Writing Challenge, 2015.

http://www.writingpicturebooksforchildren.com/manuscript-formatting.html

A 2014 SUCCESS STORY

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It began with a program: Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge. There was a Bronze Level, Silver Level, and Golden Book Level. Not yet published as a children’s book author, and not yet written anything that was ready to publish, I chose the Silver Level, so I wouldn’t have the opportunity to submit to the programs featured agents. I had a lot to learn. That was my plan.

Then, I met writers like me, online. One illustrator was from my city. Some were authors already. It took a few weeks to get used to the forum technology, but I let folks read my first 250 words of a story and I read their words. I gave and received feedback. These were nice folks with a great attitude. They had written and/or published the best children’s books.

With new confidence, I had no problem volunteering to read my grandson’s favorite Rosemary Wells book as a guest of his kindergarten class. I’d like to make more visits.

I wanted to connect. I joined some of the writers in a private Facebook group. I met others in a Google launch and in Webinars. I joined Pinterest. I upgraded my Website and began to blog about my writing journey. (Thank you followers. Posting more often, a 2015 goal.)

I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) because it was recommended as a continuing resource. The 12 x 12 member from my city is also a member of my local SCBWI group.

I attended the SCBWI day-long conference in Chicago. DID I MENTION IT WAS ON A YACHT? The food was fabulous. The speakers were, too. And author Liz Garton Scanlon (wrote Caldecott award winner, ALL THE WORLD) presented a short workshop on revising a manuscript. I bought her books, one to serve as my example of a concept book. I learned how to edit my work for brevity and cut the “darlings” that did nothing to move my story forward.

AND, now I could give a critique that might be valuable to the writer. Three ladies in 12 x 12 and I formed a Critique Group. We live in different states and countries, but we’re on a schedule and submit work weekly. They don’t always tell me what I’d like to hear, but they tell me what I need to know. I learned to trust their expertise and trust myself, when I have reason. I learned to revise, revise, and revise again, until a manuscript shines.

Before I attended a summer SCBWI weekend conference, I made business cards. I worked hard to take in all the wisdom of an agent, an editor, and author who were speakers. I participated in another critique group for the weekend.

The next month, on a short family excursion, my brain produced a story faster than I could write. Another came out in rhyme in the car.

In 12 x 12, an author from Australia gave me a free critique – a prize bomb. That meant I could submit my entire manuscript to her. I couldn’t believe someone would take their valuable time to pour over my story and add her brilliant thoughts.

I also enrolled in other programs. Each program had an area in which I needed to improve, if an editor or agent were to take me seriously; such as, How to Make Money as a Writer and The Ultimate Guide to Picture Book Submissions.

Could I complete a November program, PiBoIdMo? It’s presented every year by Tara Lazar, picture book author. I DID IT! I got 30 ideas in 30 days! Two manuscripts are already written.

One amazing program that I desperately needed was Video Idiot Boot Camp, a Katie Davis product. It proved to be too much to finish just yet. However, I succeeded in updating my technology at home. I made a Welcome video and posted it on YouTube and on http://pammmiller.com . I can improve lots in this area, but I have made a place for an author’s work to be seen and grow. Most importantly, I have an account that is just for my business, because a writer is an entrepreneur.

While some of my journey was fun as well as pedagogical, I’ve developed a writing habit. I wrote 12 and one half manuscripts during 2014, posting 10 of them in 12 x 12. In 2015 I’ll return for another year of inspiration and support and try to give more than I have received.

Children’s books? At every opportunity, I’m looking at the latest, the funniest with telling illustration, the Best of 2014, the concepts and characters, because I am an entrepreneur and because I have young grandchildren who are learning to read. I’ve read over 100 picture books. My immediate goal, after posting this blog, is to update my list of 100. It will include my latest favorite, THE PICTURE BOOK WITH NO PICTURES by B.J. Novak. Although it seemed a gimmick, the author was brilliant because he simply wrote for kids to make them laugh and to want to read.

Please check out the video of B.J. Novak reading his book by searching for it on Amazon. It’s full of silly words that make children say, “Read it again.”

As a writer, I attended a Christmas party with my local group. Gosh, it was fun. Earlier, an agent had presented an amazing program for us. We were invited to submit a manuscript for critique. Mine has come back marked for revision. But we will talk again. And those professional comments make me very hopeful for my writing journey.

That’s my new plan: write, revise, talk with agents/editors. I’ve taken the first step.

Don’t forget to check out my Welcome Video and my 100 Best Children’s Picture Books List.

Manuscript in the Making

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Picture books are stories with an author’s succinct words; that is, verbs that show action, words that rhyme, and lyrical writing. But that’s half of the book. The wonderful illustrations tell the part of the story that the words don’t.

Before that happens, the story is a draft manuscript. (Maybe you have written one lately.) In the first revision, I’m looking for a great opening sentence – it’s usually about three paragraphs down.

Often, I begin with back story. That’s the information about the setting or the main character’s (MC) description and traits. That’s okay, because I need to know all of this to define the MC, but I don’t need to write it all on the first page. (This is a good way to ease into your writing.)

A picture book is short. While editors used to suggest 1000 words, many advise cutting to 500-600 words before submitting for publication. The reader, an adult reading to a child of 4-8, wants to keep the child’s attention, so a good opening sentence begins in the middle of the action. Then the page must be turned to find out what happens.

I’ve cut lots of words by beginning with the third paragraph. I’ll save that draft. I might need to review my thoughts later. For example, when the MC rushes in the back door and tosses his/her book bag on the kitchen floor, I’m setting the time of day—after school time. If the MC gulps down part of a soon to follow meal, that part of the story won’t be illustrated with orange juice and muffins.

More revisions follow and cut more words. Descriptive words are deleted. It’s the job of the illustrator to decide hair color, princess dress or jeans, and whether the MC is a girl, a bunny, or a dragon, unless the title indicates or a “purple plastic purse” is a character trait and crucial to the story. My verbs should not be passive. Instead of “he was running,” I write “he ran.” I also delete modifiers: quickly, very, sweetly.

If I’ve rambled a bit (much like my blog today), I may have created a funny or cute situation, described a darling little girl’s playhouse. But, if those “darlings” don’t advance my plot, don’t show the result and consequences of the MC’s first attempt (of three) to solve his/her problem, out they must go.

Why don’t I just write into a grid the first time? Would I still need to revise? Yes. Revising improves and polishes my manuscript. It puts things in an expected order and, hopefully, goes a step beyond.

Writing, of course, isn’t just an organization of words. The words that flow from my pen (and yours) create a unique voice. It’s from my heart into the character. It’s creative fiction, but the story rings true. It breathes, and the magic begins.

For fun and inspiration read to a child this week, or the child in yourself. I’m beginning a list of my favorite Picture Books. Watch for the tab, soon.