I am working furiously on my latest picture book.  It's really taking shape, and is so exciting I'm almost out of breath!  Come on Albie.  You can do it!

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Well I don't know where I got the name Ryelands from - according to Natalie, it is a breed of sheep, and here is a picture to prove it.
I am hoping that I'm not going to be talking to a cinema full of bleating sheep on Tuesday!  Perhaps I'll bring my dog Roo, just in case!!

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I'm off down the road to Uttoxeter on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 June to take part in the Uttoxeter Festival of Reading organised by Thomas Alleyne's High School.

On Monday, I'll be working with Julia Jarman, Author of Class 2 at the Zoo and other fab stories.  We'll be visiting Picknalls First School where we are planning all sorts of fun activities for around 200 infant school children. 

Then on Tuesday I'm visiting Windsor Park Middle School to work with 3 classes of Year 3 and Year 4 children, then in the afternoon, I'm speaking at the Cinebowl to lots of children from the Ryelands cluster of schools. 
Should be fun!!

By the way, don't bother ringing me on Wednesday, I'll be in bed!!

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Yesterday Lynne Chapman and I went to talk to some students at a recently opened Independent Art School in Huddersfield, which is run the artist John Ross. We were invited to the artsy hub of Halifax by Chris Mould, Children's Writer & Illustrator and Artist in Residence at Dean Clough Mill. 

After a great discussion with the students, we were treated to a tour of Dean Clough, where we met some artists at work and had a sneaky look around Chris Mould's studio! 

Visit Chris Mould's Website: http://www.somethingwickedlyweird.com/

Visit Lynne Chapman's Website: http://www.lynnechapman.co.uk/

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Find out some of my secrets at the Author Hotline!
http://www.authorhotline.com/carylhart

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My good friend Rob who lives in sunny California just sent me this picture.  He says the book is "awesome" - hope he's not just being nice!

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Q:  What do you get if you mix 30 very small children, a trolley of percussion instruments, scissors, glue, sparkles, string, stories and songs.... and what do you get?

A:  Lots and Lots of Fun!!
(Oh, and quite a lot of noise!)

Check out the Gallery to find out more about my time with Fairfield and St Peter's Nursery Schools in the Building Foundations Project:

http://tinyurl.com/3xzbgyn

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Knock their Socks Off

If you want to get a picture book published, its going to have to be good.  In fact, not just good, it has to be OUTSTANDING!   

You must have original content, strong characters and a believable story.  If you’re thinking of writing a tale about a poor animal who can’t find a comfy place to sleep, or has lost its nest, or has lost its oink, baa or moo, then you might need a re-think! 

Picture books have progressed beyond all recognition since the days of Peter and Jane, so make sure your story is a real belter!

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Here I am having a fun time with the Rainbow Magic Fairies!

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Here we are, all very excited, waiting to go into the Rainbow Magic Premiere!  If you haven't already heard of them, Rainbow Magic is a series of hugely successful books published by Orchard Books, and written by Daisy Meadows.  HiT entertainment have just released a Rainbow Magic film on DVD and we were invited down to Leicester Square in London to walk up the pink carpet and enjoy the first screening of the film.

We had a great time laughing at the silly goblins, hiding from the scarry snowman and eating popcorn.  Afterwards the children had a great time at the Rainbow Magic party, with pink party food, face painting, balloon sculpture, photographs, more balloons, magic tricks, crafty stuff and more.  And as if that wasn't enough, we each got a bulging party bag with a copy of the DVD, books, CDs, and a lovely sparkly snowstorm to put in photographs we had taken with the Rainbow Fairies.

What a great day.  Thanks Orchard for inviting us!!

More pictures to follow!

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Patience is a Virtue

Publishing a picture book is a LOOOOONNNNNGGG process, especially if you are just starting out. 

Supermarket Zoo is due out on 1 July this year.  That’s two years after it was snapped up by Simon & Schuster in May 2008 and three years from the time I first sat down to write the story.

And you won’t see a paperback until this time next year, May 2011!!  So if you want to get a picture book published, you’d better start now!!

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I'm doing some research on YouTube into what it;s like to mess around in Zero Gravity.  Here is a taster:

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According to this month's Bookseller Magazine, Supermarket Zoo is "One to Watch"
So watch out... Supermarket Zoo is out 1 July.

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My new editor at Simon & Schuster says its OK to begin a sentence with And or But.  Excellent!

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This Week is the London Book Fair, where publishers show off their latest books to buyers and distributors.  If you are trying to get published, get yourself down for the day and find out what's in and what's new.  There are all sorts of seminars and events too to help you in your career.

http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/page.cfm/Link=1/t=m/goSection=1

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Even when you think you've finished with a text - you HAVEN'T!!
There's writing, and re-writing and more re-writing.  Then once your text has been acquired, your editor will ask you for more changes.  Then when your illustrator looks at the text, you will probably have to change even more, either because they can't draw what you've asked of them, or because there are too many words to fit on the page.  It's fun to look back at your original text and see how much things have changed!  Usually for the better.

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You have to consider the health and safety of your readers when writing a picture book.

One of my books currently in production is called Dinosaur Seeds (Simon & Schuster).  In it, our little character, Albie, discovers a jellybean tree.  Originally, the jellybeans were to grow inside long black pods, but I have recently learned that eating raw beans from pods can be very dangerous.  The Laburnum tree, which has lovely yellow flowers, produces black seed pods which are totally poisonous. 

We can't risk encouraging children to eat laburnum seeds, so we are now going to have jellybeans hanging in clusters like bunches of grapes.  Much safer and so much more colourful!

Dinosaur Seeds is a follow-on to Supermarket Zoo and will be out in 2011 (I think)

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Be the first to get your hands on my next book, illustrated beautifully by Ed Eaves.
Supermarket Zoo is the tale of Albie, a small boy who hates shopping.  This time, when he is taken to the supermarket, he gets more than he bargained for!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Supermarket-Zoo-Caryl-Hart/dp/1847384773/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270829514&sr=8-1

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Yesterday, we celebrated the publication of Rhino? What Rhino? with 75 primary school children.  

The library at Lady Manners School, Bakewell, provided the perfect setting for a morning of sticking, cutting, gluing, rhyming, puppets and laughter.

It was such fun, and all the preparation was definitely worth it!  Giant cut-outs of our cheeky Rhino and Aunt Ann dominated the room, creating a live scene for the children to decorate.  By the end of the morning, Aunt Ann's washing line was crammed with all sorts of weird and wonderful creations, covered in glitter, pompoms and sparkly ribbon. 

On Wednesday, Sarah and I worked with a group of Year 10 Lady Manners students to create props and scenery for the launch.  By the end of a very chilled day in the artroom, the students had produced two giant scenes from the book, loads of crazy cut outs and three puppet theatres made from cardboard boxes.  On the day, children added their own characters to the scenery, and had great fun re-creating Rhino's adventures with hand puppets and cut-outs.

Big thanks go to Kat Kemp, Head of English at Lady Manners School, Chris Mould - who ran the puppet theatre activity, and the art and library staff at Lady Manners School. 

View full gallery at: http://www.take2theweb.com/pub/litton/ca/lh.html

For your own copy of the book, signed by both Sarah Horne and myself, please contact me.

http://www.take2theweb.com/pub/litton/ca/j.html

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I spent the day at Lady Manners School with Sarah Horne and a group of Y10 kids preparing for tomorrow's launch.  Honestly, they are so talented and SO well behaved and polite and fun to be with.  We made puppet theatres and scenery, and some huge backdrops and lots of characters to cut and colour. 

Then I had to rush over to Alfreton - wherever that is - to pick up the standees.  Incase you're wondering, a standee is a stand up cut-out character.  Hodder have been so generous in providing props for the launch including a giant Rhino and a humungous Aunt Ann.Rhino. So humungous, in fact that they hardly fitted in the car!

Anyway, we made it in the nick of time, just before the depot closed, so all should be well in the morning!

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Yippeee!
My second picture book is out on Thursday and we are having a fun launch event to celebrate!
Sarah Horne, the wonderful illustrator, is jetting up from London (well, driving actually), to join in, and there may be another celebrity guest too.

The launch is going to take place at Lady Manners School in Bakewell, and attended by children from three local primary schools.  On Wednesday, Sarah will be working with some Lady Manners sixth formers to paint some big backdrops to decorate the school library.  Then on Thursday, lots and lots of children will be gluing,

Check back soon for pictures.

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I had a great time at Somers Park Primary School in Malvern this week.  I wanted the children to find out about the process of creating a picture book, and what better way to do so than inviting volunteers to dress up?  By the time we had all the key players up at the front, there were hardly any children left in the audience!
For more pictures to to my gallery:

http://beta.take2theweb.com/pub/litton/ca/l.html

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I have just found out that Don't Dip Your Chips in Your Drink, Kate! has been nominated for the picture book category of the Sheffield Children's Book Award! 

Last year, over 200 Sheffield schools took part in the awards, voting for their favourite picture books, shorter novels and longer novels.  The awards ceremony was a riot!  Imagine a city hall full to bursting with school children screaming their heads off for their favourite titles!  It's incredible! 

Last year, the picture book award was bagged by Steve Smallman and Joelle Dreidemy for Smelly Peter, The Great Pea Eater and in 2008, Claire Freedman and Ben Cort won with Aliens Love Underpants. 

As you can imagine, I am absolutely thrilled to pieces that Don't Dip Your Chips in your Drink, Kate! has been nominated.  But we'll all have to wait a wait to find out how we get on, because the award ceremony isn't until November!!

I can't reveal the other five books to be nominated as two have yet to be confirmed, but prmise to update you all when I find out.

Meanwhile, all you Sheffield kids - get voting!!!

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I have just finished a tour of village schools in Derbyshire as part of The Write Stuff literacy project organised by Lady Manners School.  We had a brilliant time, reading stories and finding out all sorts of secrets about publishing picture books.  Also appearing in the festival were Lynne Chapman, and The Two Steves!  Check out my website gallery for lots of pictures and video clips!

www.carylhart.com

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