Chickerella - Book Review

Chickerella
Author and Illustrator: Mary Jane and Herm Auch
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Holiday House (March 15, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0823420159
ISBN-13: 978-0823420155

The timeless story of Cinderella is parodied into a hilarious “chick-lit.” “Chickerella had a wonderful chickhood until one night when a fox got into the coop and carried off her mother. Chickerella’s father, now a single rooster, did his best to raise her, providing her with a happy and stable cooplife.”

A few years later, Chickerella’s stepmother and stepsisters, Ovumelda and Cholestera, show up. As the reader would expect, it is not long before Chickerella is a servant in her own coop and banished from the main coop to live in the springhouse. Every day was the same for Chickerella. Work, work, work. Her sparse diet of bugs and spring water began to affect her eggs. Soon she was laying eggs of pure glass.

The clever dialogue is predictable at times with words like “eggscited”, “eggstravaganza”, “eggasparating” but nevertheless fitting for this fowl story.

To read more about this delightful story, surf over to The National Writing for Children Center. While you are there be sure to check out all the other great articles by Suzanne Lieurance's staff and faculty.

Write it down,
Carma

November Issue of Carma's Window Newsletter Now Available!

If you are a subscriber to Carma's Window you should have your copy of my Newsletter in your in box.

Not a subscriber? No problem. Go to the left sidebar to enter your email address and name. Then pick up your free Ebook "Tips for Children's Writers and Illustrators" and I will get a copy of Carma's Window out to you right away. If you are a subscriber and have not received your November issue, please contact me at carmadutra at att dot net.

Write it down,
Carma

Can You Write for Children?

Do you want to write for children? Read this article to determine if you CAN write for children. Go to The Writing for Children Resource Site then scroll down to sub heading "Where should I start?" and click on "Can I Write for Children?"

How does one get started writing for children? Do I need an agent? What are multiple submissions? Have you ever asked yourself these questions and more? I found a website where you can find out answers to these questions and more questions you may not have thought of yet. Bethany Roberts’ Writing for Children Workshop.

The Bethany Roberts Workshop is a place to learn tips that motivate and it will direct you to other helpful links. Do you want to know how to prepare for doing story telling at a library? Read the response here.

Another favorite bookmark of mine is The Purple Crayon. It’s about writing and publishing children’s books. You can also find articles about publishing and submitting etc. For example here is a great article titled Getting Out of the Slush Pile. In piles of hundreds of manuscripts how can you be sure that yours will be noticed? Harold Underdown breaks down some common concerns for writers. This article is about 1) the beginning, 2) overworked story types, 3) What to include 4) Recommended approaches.

Last but by all means First. How to Write a Successful Query There are tons of articles about query submission and from what I hear, the query letter may soon be the only way to break into some of the best markets. This article is one of the better ones.

Write it down,

Carma

Mama's Milk - Book Review

Title: Mama’s Milk
Author: Michael Elsohn Ross
Illustrator: Ashley Wolff
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hard Cover: 32 pages
Publisher: Tricycle Press; Bilingual edition (March 2008)
ISBN-10: 1582462453
ISBN-13: 978-1582462455

Mama’s Milk is wonderful, educational and entertaining for the picture story book age and parents. Michael Ross describes different ways mothers of all creatures nurse their babies. This provides parents a wonderful opportunity to discuss how and why mothers nurse and the benefits of breast milk.

The author begins with a human mother cuddling and nursing her child. “Cuddle little baby warm and tight Mama’s going to feed you day and night.” The story continues with pigs and their piglets, “She’ll fatten you up in a sunny pig sty.”

Every page depicts a different animal nursing their babies and also gives the correct name of each animal and offspring. For example: A Mare and her fold; An elephant and calf. In the back of the book a classification and illustration of each highlighted animal is added with factual statements about nursing practices. Foals nurse every thirty minutes. Kangaroo milk is pink. My granddaughters grimaced with a “Ewwwwww!” giggling all the while. Also, a dolphin calf holds its breath while feeding underwater. Can you imagine?

Michael Ross’ book is a celebration of the beauty of natural breastfeeding and a reminder how much humans and other mammal mamas on this planet earth have in common. The rhyming tone is gentle, comforting and loving. Parents will learn a lot too when they read along with their children.

The illustrations by Ashley Wolff contribute greatly to the message by providing a way for young children to learn and identify animals. The two page spreads are illustrated in deep, rich, velvet looking colors giving off a warm glow. I was especially drawn to the cover of Mama's Milk. Ashley's illustrations made me want to pet the soft fur.

About the Author: Michael Elsohn Ross has worked as a naturalist and environmental educator in Yosemite National Park for over three decades. He is the award-winning author of more than forty books for young people. Over the years he has acquired the nickname “bug author” Visit his website here

About the Illustrator: Ashley Wolff always wanted to be an artist and she has been illustrating books since 1984. All of them about animals, children and love. Please take a look at Ashley's website for more information. Check out her "what's new" tab.

Write it down,
Carma

Stimulate Your Imagination With Online Prompts

Where do your ideas come from? If you are like many writers they come from all over. My ideas come from reading, music, playing with the grand kids and so on. Sometimes I use online prompts as a stimulus. I listed a few below.

Illustrationfriday.com – this site is very interesting. Illustrators visit this site each Friday to get a key word and then they produce a piece of art and link it to the Illustration Friday site. This is a way for them to showcase their art and expand their portfolio. If illustrators can do this why can’t writers? This week the word is Repair. Click here to view a list of art from a variety of artists and mediums. Who knows, you may get some wild ideas from a number of illustrations. There are many illustrations in the category of children's art as well.

Dictionary.com sends out a word of the day. October 28 word of the day is execrable which means detestable, abominable. If you don't like this word, look on the previous word of the day list. You can also subscribe for free to receive the word of the day.

For while agents and editors often misunderstand their market and sometimes reject good or even great works, they do prevent a vast quantity of truly execrable writing from being published.
-- Laura Miller,

Quotationspage.com is a great page and I love browsing around here. The trouble is I could end up spending hours perusing. Here are a couple of quotes on writing.

All of us learn to write in the second grade. Most of us go on to greater things.
Bobby Knight

The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn't behave that way you would never do anything.
John Irving

Can you see how quotes can stimulate your creativity?

I fell in love with Rhymer.com. It is a free online rhyming dictionary. Look up a word and then let your brain bounce around with all types of possibilities. For instance I typed in moustache and selected end rhymes. Thirty words popped up. Example: moustache/slapdash, moustache/panache, moustache/mishmash. If you like words and what writer doesn’t, you can see how much fun this site can be. There are six types of rhymes and a section on phonics and alternative pronunciations. This site is especially exciting for me since I am working on a picture book that needs to have a cadence to it.

Prompts are good for collecting ideas but it may take some patience and time. Stretch your imagination. Start with one workable goal per prompt. The more you actively brainstorm ideas, the better chance that one of them will grab you.

Try playing the “what if” game. What if boy meets girl becomes boy meets dead girl. Or girl meets cyber-boy. It doesn’t matter how you choose to practice generating ideas, just keep on practicing. The more you practice the more open you will become to possibilities that are all around you.

Write it down,
Carma

Writing Conference Secrets

Chance favors a prepared mind

These are the words of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) keynote speaker and author Elizabeth Partridge. Partridge is the author of biographies of John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, and Dorothea Lange, which is an SCBWI Golden Kite Honor book; winner of the Jane Addams Peace Honor; an ALA notable book and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. The tranquil campus of Mills College in Oakland, CA was the perfect setting for a wonderful conference.

Writing conferences are the best way to meet and network with other writers and meet editors, agents and publishers from houses that do not accept unsolicited submissions. However, editors, agents and publishers graciously accept manuscripts from writers who attend an SCBWI conference. What an opportunity!

When you attend a conference and hear the presentations, you will learn more ways to get your proverbial foot into the door. Editors and agents know a writer is serious about their craft when they attend writing conferences. Also, editors and agents are more likely to read queries from conference attendees.

Editors and agents are also serious about their business. However, issuing rejections are the least favorite part of their job. Another little bit of information I learned was that we are all equal until the first page is read. How well your first page is written will determine if that first page is turned.

A query letter is the first sample of your writing an editor or agent sees. This is why queries are so important. Also, remember to research the agent. Find out what kinds of work they want. Do they want queries by email or snail mail and what about professional stationary? Should you use it or not? Make your cover letter and your query stand out from the manuscript you send in. Show your professionalism and show your knowledge of the market to agents.

Julie Romeis, editor at Chronicle Books related the story of first-time author, Lisa Klein’s Ophelia from acquisition to development and publication. A two year process that was satisfying and successful for editor and author. Romeis also took us behind the scenes and gave us a detailed look into the cover design process.

Write it down,
Carma

Hurty Feelings - Book Review

Here is a sneak preview of Hurty Feelings that will appear on The National Writing for Children Center, home of the Children's Writing Coaching Club on Saturday October 25.

Title: Hurty Feelings
Author: Helen Lester
Illustrator: Lynn Munsinger

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardback: 32 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books; 1 edition (March 26, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0618840621
ISBN-13: 978-0618840625


An emotionally fragile hippo named Fragility and a rude elephant named Rudy will delight children from ages four to eight (and a few parents along the way.) Fragility is over sensitive and Rudy is overly rude. Author Helen Lester begins her humorous tale with Fragility was a solid piece of work. When she walked her world wobbled.

Fragility is very happy in her own world, she has strong jaws that could munch grass faster than any lawn mower, she never cries when she stubs one of her toes or all sixteen. However, something did bother Fragility and it was injured feelings.

Click here to read more about the author and illustrator.


Write it down,
Carma