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Its Story Time: GUIDELINES for It's Story Time and Chapter Book Review
GUIDELINES for It's Story Time and Chapter Book Review
For It's Story Time:To read your children's picture book on, It's Story Time, Saturdays at 10am est, 9AM cst, 8AM mst & 7AM pst, books need to be a storybook/picture book and be at least 8 to 12 minutes long when read aloud or if your book is shorter we will add another author's book of the same duration on one show. We need:. to send a physical copy of the book. The book is needed even though you are reading the book yourself on the show to see the length of the book, scan and display 4 to 5 pictures from it, one being the cover, and have it in case we have technical problems to finish the show. (It does happen! :D ).OR you can send us a PDF file of your book, plus 4 to 5 JPEGS /pictures from the inside of the book, one being the cover.. We Need you to Call in the show at 10 minutes to show time: 10am est, 9AM cst, 8AM mst & 7AM pst. WE will send you an email with the phone number to call and the show's link at Blog Talk Radio.
For Chapter Book Previews: Authors who come on can read THEIR favorite passage from their chapter books: about a ten minute reading. The show will need a copy of the book in pdf or rtf to view and the exact passage specified as well as a jpeg of the book's cover.
WE CAN READ YOUR BOOK FOR YOU if you like. If you live outside of the USA or would just like us to read your book for you we can do that. AUTHOR Jan Britland, of the Rodger Dodger Dog series will be reading books for authors in the show.
It is a FREE show for everyone to listen to, and the shows are archived and can be listened to at another time listeners want to. Our audience is 20,000 and up!
Books given the us are sent to the Children's Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.
Here's the link, check It's Story Time on The World of Ink Network out: It's Story Time,on the WORLD OF INK NETWORK:http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork
Also, if your book is going to be read on the show, PLEASE send me your book trailer or its link on YouTube so it can be added to the YouTube player! THANKS!
To contact, email us at: itsstorytimeforkids AT gmail DOT com
By:
JD Holiday,
on 4/23/2013
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This is a sketch for a short story called, The Boy In The Leaves, which will be in my short story collection: SHORT STORIES AND OTHER IMAGININGS FOR THE READING SPOT.
In the story, two boys stumble on a horrible truth about child abuse.
 |
| Spiders |
Right now I'm working on a book of my adult short stories called,
Short Stories and Other Imaginings For The Reading Spot. Some pictures will be sketching and some in shades of gray, (not fifty shades!) This one is for a story called Spiders, a short short, about two paragraphs long. In the story the woman is working an apple press while she thinks about the things that are happening in her life.
 |
sketch for Janoose & The Fall feather Fair
|
Another project I'm doing sketches for is a sequel for my children's book, Janoose The Goose called,
Janoose & The Fall Feather Fair. The Fox returns to Free Range Farm and he wants something from Janoose!
This book I co-wrote with my grandson. It's in the sketching stage as you can see by the picture. Hope you will come back to see how these two projects progress.
Thanks, JD
By:
JD Holiday,
on 3/27/2013
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I thought I like to take a moment here and talk about a cozy mystery book series I started reading: Sandra Balzo's Maggy Thorsen Mysteries.
I first must admit I have a reading list: jotted down titles, authors and even one character name on it, which I had crossed out long ago having forgotten what book or author it was linked to. This forgettable list is on three ringed looseleaf notebook paper, folded, smudged, crinkled up and barely any room left other than the margin to add another title to, and is tucked on the end of my favorite mystery bookshelf in my livingroom.
When I started the list, (probably two decades ago now,) I had the books listed in the order they were to be bought and read. Very simple: first come, first read. And over the years it has come to the unfortunate truth that books on my list, no matter who the author might be, stand little chance of being read. You see, I'm more apt to pick up a book and just decide to read it there and then rather than check the old thing on the shelf. Unfortunately, one of the Maggy Thorsen mystery series books was on the list.
I don't usually buy the list's contenders up front. However, it must have been a couple of years ago that I did pick up one of them: Brewed, Crude and Tattooed by Sandra Balzo! And so it was on an early fall day that I looked over my bookshelves and there it was, like new and unread. I enjoy fall weather and, I actually look forward to snow, as long as I don't have to drive in it. The thoughts of a nice snow storm to keep us home and comfy was all I needed to sit down and join the occupants of the Uncommon Grounds coffeehouse and wait out the storm.
I was not disappointed. All Sandra Balzo's characters are 'real.' I find the author has a unique insight into human nature and relationships which she weaves into fast pace and shrewd plots that kept me racing through the story. And I can imagine knowing the people in Maggie's town of Brookhills as a place I could live. And if a person or two gets bump off in every book, well, it would just help weed out the trouble makers.
Maggy Thorsen is a well form—believable character, and it never fails that Maggy's flippant and saucy thoughts and banter move these stories along making you smile and laugh. Just wait for them! You won't be disappointed.
I love how Maggie see her relationship with Sheriff Jake Pavlik. Though he is a little standoffish for me and I'd like nothing better than to smack the back of his head once in a while to wake him up. And Frank. He's you 'every person's dog.'
My apologies to Ms. Balzo for adding her book to my list and my thanks to her. I love her books and have plans to get ALL her others.
NO,I won't be adding Ms. Balzo's other titles to the margin of my reading list! :D
First of all I make sure that my manuscript is well edited and ready.
You will need to know who your printing company will be beforehand and understand all their guidelines, margins, fonts and all the printer's requirements.
Next, I resize all my images and make sure they are in TIFF format which works best, I've found in Indesign. I use a few art programs to do my artwork in and resize them. They are Adobe Photoshop Elements, Corel Painter Essentials and Corel PaintShop Pro. I use each one for whatever the program does best.
(NOTE: my images and dates are not in order which does not matter for this preview)
To start with, here, I am using PaintShop Pro to resize images and add frames, edges and borders to some of them to neaten them up.
 |
| Here, I'm using EFFECTS, then choosing EDGE EFFECTS for this image. |
 |
| 1. Here, I'm using IMAGE> PICTURE FRAME. |
 |
2. Here you see there are a number of choices.
For printing books your printer will need the resolution or DPI /Dots Per Inch to be 300 DPI or 600 DPI. I always scan in my images at 300 DPI. A higher DPI means a higher quality print, image or screen resolution. (NOTE: Also know, that the larger the images the more space each image will need on your computer for storaging them. This is important to know because the more high resolution images on you drive can stop some programs from running due to limiting usable space on the hard drive.)
I pick the size of each image due to the size page that it will fit on in my book. |
 |
Making sure the images are at least 300 dpi or higher.
NEXT: Moving To My Book program: Indesign CS 3
How I Make My Picture Books: Part II
|
I use Indesign CS3 for make my books. (There are now later versions of Indesign.)
Indesign does not come with a book instruction manual and there is a lot to
Indesign cs3. I suggest you read one or two books on it so you know the ins and outs for this book making wonderful tool.
The books for Indesign CS 3 that I have are:
Adobe Indesign CS3 Bible by Galen Gruman. I use this one as a reference book.
Adobe Indesign CS3 Classroom in a BookI found
Indesign to be a fun program to work in. It has some much more to it than I use.
There are many tools and you have to familiarize yourself with them so you can use the ones you will need for your project.
The tools I used most are:
Direct Selection Tool - to grab and size pages and images
Selection Tool - moving and re-sizing images
Type Tool - the
Type Tool makes the frames needed to place your text in. To edit and format with the
Type Tool. It works much like word processing software. Indesign has auto-fill which you use
by load the
Type Tool and it flows through the text frames. However, I manually add my text
due to the amount of images, the small amount of text on some pages and how I design my
pages.
In Indesign, you make images and frames. For text frames you place your text either using 'auto fill' or cut and pasting then place a image and the two frames click together. Then you do it again for the next page, and on and on.
If your images are your pages, and you plan to add text into them you selected the
Type Tool and place the text where you want it in the image.
Before we get started, let me remain you to SAVE often while you are working in Indesign.
You start by creating a document.
Start Indesign. Choose FILE: then, NEW: then, DOCUMENT |
| Here I am opening the document. FILE: NEW: DOCUMENT |
 |
| The file opens and this is what it looks like. |
I choose for the DOCUMENT PRESET: Custom
In the Number of Pages area, I add the number of pages, including the blank first page, title page, the copyright page, dedication page (if any) and a blank page at the end of the book required by my printer for their use.
I also click the FACING PAGES check box, for just that facing pages in the book.
For PAGE SIZE I use inches, and having check for book sizes in my book printer's specs (which you should know at this point.)
At COLUMNS I add a 1, since one column is what is needed for my books.
In the MARGINS area, click on the MAKE ALL SETTINGS THE SAME icon for the same margin on all sides of the book. I add half inch/ .50, which is the margin my printer uses.
At the
BLEED area I add
one quarter in/ .25.I don't worry about the
SLUG area.
You can save your
PRESET for later use for another book.
 |
| Here you see that I have a PRESET for chapter books. |
Here the
DOCUMENT is open. This is a title page/first page of the document.
With INDESIGN you can put GUIDES around the document so you can see the margin, gutter or bleed areas and not place text or images in them.
~
 |
| A |
 |
B
In both pictures here, A and B, you can see the Arrows pointing to the top and side GUIDES. The Guides turn from read to blue when placed. You GRAB the Guides by going to the ruler, (top and left side rulers,) with your Mice and drag it to your margin, gutter and bleed areas. THAT EASY!~
~
To add an image or graphic (in TIFF Format) to a page, you use the Selection Tool and go to FILE> PLACE.
Your computer opens and you find the image you are looking for and click OPEN.
Then move the Selection Tool to the place you want it on the page and click the spot.
 | | HOW to make a text frame is you take the TEXT TOOL and click and drag on the area in the page you want to add text. |
 | To add text by cutting and pasting, you open you Word, Office Writer or other word processor
and copy from it the text you want to use and move back to Indesign and paste it where you want it. |
|
Now here I have images I have put text into. The area where the text is in these two picture is part of the image themselves. When I PLACED these images in Indesign I had yet to put the text in. So to do what
I did just what I had in the example above, and COPIED and PASTED the text from my word processor and added it to the area I had painted for that purpose.
Throughout this process you are designing your book!Now you will show how I send my BOOK DOCUMENT to my printer.
To return to Part I: http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-i-make-my-picture-books-part-i_8924.htmlTo go to Part III:
http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-i-make-my-picture-books-part-iii.html
First of all I make sure that my manuscript is well edited and ready.
You will need to know who your printing company will be beforehand and understand all their guidelines, margins and all the printers requirements.
Next, I resize all my images. I use a few art programs to do my artwork in and resize them. They are Adobe Photoshop Elements, Corel Painter Essentials and Corel PaintShop Pro. I use each one for whatever the program does best.
(NOTE: my images and dates are not in order which does not matter for this preview)
To start with, here, I am using PaintShop Pro to resize images and add frames, edges and borders to some of them to neaten them up.
|
| Here, I'm using EFFECTS, then choosing EDGE EFFECTS for this image. |
|
| 1. Here, I'm using IMAGE> PICTURE FRAME. |
|
2. Here you see there are a number of choices.
For printing books your printer will need the resolution or DPI /Dots Per Inch to be 300 DPI or 600 DPI. I always scan in my images at 300 DPI. A higher DPI means a higher quality print, image or screen resolution. (NOTE: Also know, that the larger the images the more space each image will need on your computer for storaging them. This is important to know because the more high resolution images on you drive can stop some programs from running due to limiting usable space on the hard drive.)
I pick the size of each image due to the size page that it will fit on in my book. |
|
Making sure the images are at least 300 dpi or higher.
NEXT: Moving To My Book program: Indesign CS 3
How I Make My Picture Books: Part II |
Once to get to the end of making your book you will SAVE and move on to making your DOCUMENT into a PostScript file.
A Postscript file is a programming language that describes a printed page. A printing company will need a compressed Adobe Portable Document Format or PDF file to print the book. Here I describe how it is done.
The pictures below are from my printer, Lightning Source, Inc's, instruction.
I have saved my book document in Indesign and go the FILE: PRINT.
 |
Here you will see what to select.
This is the first page,of the PRINT set up for the PostScript |
At Print Preset select: (CUSTOM)
At Printer select: POSTSCRIPT FILE
At PPD select: Adobe PDF
These three above, remain the same throughout the following Print settings.
~
Under GENERAL:
At Page select: All Pages
At OPTIONS under Print Layers select: Visable: Printable Layers
All other dialogue boxes will be left at default.
~
At the second page of PRINT preset, SET UP, these are the settings.Under
Setup: Paper Size select:
CUSTOM
At Width and Height:
You need to know your book size here PLUS the margins and bleed areas. Example: For my children's picture books which are 8.5" x 11" I would put 8.75" x 11.5"At Orientation select:
Portrait
Under
Options:At Scale select:
100% for both Width and Height and
CHECK the box at
Constrain ProportionsAt Page Positioning:
Centered ~
MOVING on to
Marks and BleedsHere, Nothing needs to be add. ~
Next, at
OUTPUTUnder
COLOR select:
Composite CMYKUNDER
FLIP select:
NONE ~
AT
GRAPHICS, under
Images: Send Date select:
ALLAT
FONTS: and under
DOWNLOAD select:
CompleteThen
CHECK the box next to:
Download PPD FontsAt
Postscript select:
Level 3Select at
Data Format:
Binary ~
Moving to
COLOR MANAGEMENT
At
Print: CHECK: Document (Profile U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2)
At
Options: Color Handling - Let InDesign Determine Colors And at
PRINTER PROFILE - Document CMYK - U.S. Web Coated (SWOP) v2
~
At
ADVANCED:Check on:
OPI Image ReplacementAt
Transparency Flattener: Preset select:
[High Resolution]At Ignore Spread Overrides: DO NOT check the box
Then Select: PRINT
The file will be saved to your computer. Make sure you have set up before hand where on your computer you want this file to go.Now I convert the PostScript file to a PDF using the settings my printer provided using Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard program. ~For my print company I use Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard with a distiller to make the Postscript file into the compressed PDF file the company needs.
I open Adobe Acrobat 9. At the top I select ADVANCED the PRINT PRODUCTION: the Acrobat Distiller
When
Acrobat Distiller opens, I select at
Default Settings: and pick: PDF/X-1a2001 which is the format the print company wants. I go to
FILE: OPEN: and
find your PostScript file and click on it.The file opens in Distiller and Distiller makes the correct PDF file.
Once that is done, I now need to check to make should the fonts are embedded. In Adobe Acrobat I reopen the new PDF file and on the menu bar, go to FILE: Document Properties and chose FONTS and a window will open.
Each of the FONTS in the document show have the words, (Embedded Subset) or (Embedded) next to the FONTS name. FONTS should be embedded here if you chose fonts
recommended by the print company. If the FONTS are not embedded I have to go back to Indesign, to the original file and chose fonts that will be match those that my printer required.
Note: I don't discuss kerning here. I do kern for my books but I'm not comfortable describe it to you.Here is am excellent article from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire I think will help. Scroll down to: Working with Kerninghttp://www.uwec.edu/help/indesigncs3/advaform.htm#kerning
To return to Part I
: http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-i-make-my-picture-books-part-i_8924.htmlTo return to Part II:
http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-i-make-my-picture-books-part-ii.html
More about on Self-Publishing ~
http://www.thebookgarden.net/p/tips-on-self-publishing.html
On my tour!
Writers On The Move: Guest Post: The Challenges of Writing and Illustra...: The Challenges of Writing and Illustrating A Book OR The BRIEF Challenges of Writing and Illustrating A Book By: J.D. Holiday ...
~World of Ink Tour Schedule~
Writers On The Move—Guest Post
January 10th
Kit-Lit Reviews—Spotlight
The Crypto-Capers Review
Blog Talk Radio Show – Stories from Unknown Authors
January 9th
January 8th
Mayra’s Secret Bookcase—Interview
January 7th
Fran Lewis Book Reviewer
Writing Blind—Spotlight
I can't say enough about this Christmas story. Here is my review of it, again and author, Melissa Ann Goodwin's note on this wonderful holiday story! Enjoy! ~ JD
The Christmas Village
by Melissa Ann Goodwin
Young teen, Jamie Reynolds’ father does an illegal business deal which turns Jamie’s world into turmoil. Ashamed to face his so called friends and gossiping neighbors, Jamie and his mother need to get away and head for comforting surroundings of his grandparent’s home for what they hope is a peaceful Christmas.
Grandma’s decorations for Christmas include a miniature village from 1932 and Jamie’s mother tells him the story about the village and it’s earlier time and place.
He wishes he could go and live in this truly enchanted time where no one knew his problem.
Late one night he hears the voice of a young girl and finds the two children in the village scene in trouble on its miniature pond. Jamie quickly moves to save these tiny characters who have amazingly come to life and he finds himself physically drawn right into the small village of Canterbury. Jamie has a remarkable adventure, but it’s not long before his wishes to be back in his own time with his mother and grandparents.
 |
| Melissa Ann Goodwin |
THE CHRISTMAS VILLAGE is a story for everyone! It is a well written story which moves and intertwines through the character’s history together. This story is destine to become a Christmas classic and will make a wonderful Christmas movie.
Melissa Ann Goodwin has written many stories, poems and articles for children's magazines, and her non-fiction work has appeared in national magazines and newspapers. For more about Melissa Ann Goodwin visit:
That's The Christmas Village by Melissa Ann Goodwin, In A Nut Shell! ~J.D. Holiday
READ The Story's Notes by the Author:
The Christmas Village by Melissa Ann Goodwin
The idea for my book, The Christmas Village, came – not surprisingly – from my own miniature Christmas village. I actually never intended to have one of those villages. It started with one piece – a little lighthouse that I had for several years. Then I thought it would be nice to have a couple more pieces, say three, so I got a church and a pretty little New England cottage. Well, you know how it goes, the next thing I knew I was on ebay bidding like crazy! My village isn’t that big – perhaps 10 pieces or so, and it’s a mishmash from different collections. But it’s still very pretty.
One night I was staring at the village, thinking how perfect and pretty it looked all lit up in the dark. And I started to wonder: Who lives in that little cottage over by the covered bridge? And who lives in the big house up on the hill? What song is the church choir singing? I wonder what they are having for supper in the boardinghouse tonight ….
And so it began. Then came the idea of a boy who was sad for some reason as yet unknown – looking at the village and wishing he could escape into it. All I knew at the start was that there would be this sad boy, who thought it would a Perfect Place, where things never changed and bad things never happened. He would make a wish to live there, and somehow, his wish would come true.
But what actually happens in the book is far different from what I was thinking at the start. Along the way, characters arrived and events emerged that were total surprises. For me, that’s the joy and excitement of writing – the miracle, really. You think you know where you’re going, or maybe you have no idea! Then suddenly, it all takes off. Writing The Christmas Village was a roller coaster adventure for me, and that’s how the story came out too. One of the things that delights me most is when people say they expected it to just be a nice Christmas story, but it turns out to be a jolly good adventure with lots of suspense and surprises. I am working on a sequel, and my hope is to complete it next year. I want to take my time with it, because I want it to live up to the first!
Bio: I am a storyteller. I grew up in Andover, Massachusetts, where I spent a happy and carefree childhood reading books and living in my own imagination. It was just a matter of time before the adventures in my head would spill out onto the written page! I want my stories to transport you to new places, make you laugh and cry, take you on rollercoaster adventures, and surprise you with their twists and turns. By the end, I want you to feel as though my characters are good friends to whom you don't want to say goodbye, and that the worlds I've created are places in which you wish you could stay forever. I hope you will enjoy reading The Christmas Village.
It's Story Time, Gather 'Round!: Latest Books for the Shriners Hospital for Childre...: All the books authors send us to read on It's Story Time, Gather 'Round we will donate to the Children's Shriners Hospital in Philadelph...
Join authors JD Holiday & Christy Condoleo on Saturday, November 10, 2012 at 10AM est, 9AM cst, 8AM mst & 7AM pst, for a
Triple special treat with 3 picture books:
Margot Finke's Mama Grizzly Bear ~ Spend an exciting year with a mama grizzly bear and her cubs. Follow her hunting, then hibernating in winter and the birth of her cubs. Spring finds them learning lessons from Mama on how to survive. They have only one enemy – man and his gun. A rhyming tale for all ages.
Author Paisley Hansen's Chubbi Bunni and the Pastry Shoppe ~ An old woman and her pet rabbit who open a pastry shoppe. But when the townspeople eat too many sweets and suffer the consequences, it's up to Chubbi Bunni to save the day by sharing the lessons he learned and teaching them that you can have too much of a good thing.
Buy it at:
http://www.amazon.com/Chubbi-Bunni-Pastry-Shoppe-ebook/dp/B009F12CTM & The Spy Game by JD Holiday ~ Eddie would love to have a puppy to play with. A puppy would pull on a rope. Catch a ball and lick your face. But his Uncle brings Eddie an older dog named about a famous spy. What can you do with an old dog? It probably couldn't learn new tricks, and the only thing this dog did was stare. It's what they find to do together that makes them the best of friends! The Spy Game is available for Kindle Devices at:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Spy-Game-ebook/dp/B009EGBY1K/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_t_1 JD Holiday's site: http://www.thebookgarden.net All stories read on the show are copyrighted by the authors. The show has permission from the authors to read their books and display pictures from it.
Christy Condoleo:
http://eppyscreations.com
GPS WITH BENEFITS, on Kindle November 1st, a funny short film script about a GPS with a mind of 'her' own. The film based on the script will be shot in 2013.
Thank you for having me on your blog today. I'm truly honored to be here with all of you!
How many people do you know that make jokes about their GPS device or even talk to it?
Nearly everyone, right?
GPS devices know where you are and how fast you are driving. Who says that, in the near future, they won't be able to know you look at and what you say.
These thoughts form the basis of my new release, GPS WITH BENEFITS, in which a womanizer purchases a new GPS device, not knowing that it has a mind of 'her' own.
"The inspiration for GPS WITH BENEFITS came to me when I was in the car with a friend," Vanessa says. "We made jokes about the GPS device and imagined what it would be like if the GPS was actually aware of what the driver was thinking. I immediately knew that these ideas could be turned into a hilarious story."
I won't reveal more, but GPS WITH BENEFITS has some twists and turns that you won't see coming and that will have you laughing out loud.
Your turn... What's the weirdest or funniest thing a GPS has ever done to you?
By the way, if you leave a comment on this post, you'll automatically be entered to win an Amazon Gift Card of $25.
About the author:
Vanessa Morgan is known as the 'female version of Stephen King'. Her screenplays,
A GOOD MAN and
GPS WITH BENEFITS, are currently being turned into movies. She is also the author of the books
Drowned Sorrow, A Good Man and
THE STRANGERS OUTSIDE. If she's not working on her latest supernatural thriller, you can find her reading, watching horror movies, blogging, digging through flea markets or indulging in her unhealthy obsession to her cat. She writes in English, Dutch and French.
About her latest release, GPS WITH BENEFITSIn GPS WITH BENEFITS, a womanizer purchases a new GPS device, not knowing it's one with a mind of 'her' own.
GPS WITH BENEFITS is available NOW at Amazon.com:
AMAZON.COMhttp://www.amazon.com/GPS-With-Benefits-ebook/dp/B009YIZXHY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1351582404&sr=1-1&keywords=vanessa+morgan+gps+with+benefitsAnd Amazon.uk:
AMAZON.CO.UKhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/GPS-With-Benefits-ebook/dp/B009YIZXHY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1351582678&sr=1-1Places you can cyberstalk Vanessa MorganOfficial blog: http://vanessa-morgan.blogspot.comAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/vanessamorgan
By:
JD Holiday,
on 9/13/2012
Blog:
JD'S Writers Blog
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The Spy GameEddie would love to have a puppy to play with. A puppy would pull on a rope. Catch a ball and lick your face. But his Uncle brings Eddie an older dog named about a famous spy.
What can you do with an old dog? It probably couldn't learn new tricks, and the only thing this dog did was stare. It's what they find to do together that makes them the best of friends!
Wise Bear William is the captain of the attic where worn out toys wait for children to come for them. The Campbell’s have an old family tradition. For generations, their children come to the attic to choose one toy to love. When the children grow up the toys are sent back to the attic.
When the toys hear the children coming, Rag Doll Rose, Bean Bag Bunny and Calico Kitty depend on Wise Bear William to get them ready. The captain would use everything in the attic to mend them and tell them all he knows about what makes a child love a toy. They have one chance to be a child’s best friend. But there is one thing that they can’t do anything about: not everyone will be picked. The toys begin to get ready replacing missing eyes, propping up droopy ears and mending all rips and tears.
Wise Bear William’s words of wisdom that it’s what is on the inside that counts, and everyone is special ring true for not only the toys but for the book’s readers as well. This is a sweet, charming and humorous story!WISE Bear William: A New Beginning! is well written and the illustrations are vivid and beautiful. It’s an entertaining story for its readers of all ages that includes a lesson about compassion, remembering promises and helping others and it’s what is on the inside the matters the most. You will laugh and cry with these lovable characters. I read it with my six year-old, grandson and I had tears in my eyes too!Arthur Wooten is no novice at storytelling being a critically acclaimed novelist and playwright. His novels include Birthday Pie, and On Picking Fruit, and Fruit Cocktail. The wonderful pictures are by award-winning designer and illustrator, Bud Santora.WISE Bear William: A New Beginning! can be Bought at:http://www.amazon.com/Wise-Bear-William-New-Beginning/dp/0983563160
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/wise-bear-william-a-new-beginning?keyword=wise+bear+william+a+new+beginning&store=allproducts https://www.createspace.com/3656975
1 Comments on Review of WISE Bear William: A New Beginning! written by Arthur Wooten, In A NUT SHELL!, last added: 1/23/2012
The Christmas Village
by Melissa Ann Goodwin
Young teen, Jamie Reynolds’ father does an illegal business deal which turns Jamie’s world into turmoil. Ashamed to face his so called friends and gossiping neighbors, Jamie and his mother need to get away and head for comforting surroundings of his grandparent’s home for what they hope is a peaceful Christmas.
Grandma’s decorations for Christmas include a miniature village from 1932 and Jamie’s mother tells him the story about the village and it’s earlier time and place. He wishes he could go and live in this truly enchanted time where no one knew his problem.
Late one night he hears the voice of a young girl and finds the two children in the village scene in trouble on its miniature pond. Jamie quickly moves to save these tiny characters who have amazingly come to life and he finds himself physically drawn right into the small village of Canterbury. Jamie has a remarkable adventure, but it’s not long before his wishes to be back in his own time with his mother and grandparents.
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| Melissa Ann Goodwin |
Christmas Village is a story for everyone! It is a well written story which moves and intertwines through the character’s history together. This story is destine to becom
This is page 16! Only 9 painting more!
LEFTOVERS is anything but
leftovers! From beginning to end it has a neatly skilled and clever plot twist. You certainly don’t need to have lived in
1950s America to enjoy this novel. The settings and
mores are all there for you to see in this well-written story about life as it was back then.
No matter what decades you’ve live through you might have experience some of what
Vivian has. Through a mix of drama and comedy you see Vivian, a sweet and kind person, rise above all that threatens to keep her down including marital problems and a heartless mother, come to realize she needs to do what she needs to do to control her own life and make it what she wants it to be.
We all know someone like her or have been where she has been, and like all of us, Vivian
needs a good friend or two for support. She finds no better friends than the brother and sister duo of Stew and Babs. Babs is always ahead of the game and willing to share her knowledge with her childhood friend. While Stew just might be the right guy for Vivian. At first I didn’t think Stew was the right guy, but slowly, long before Vivian knew, I came to see that he was a perfect one for her.
Having read other stories by this author I have to say again
Arthur Wooten knows storytelling.
Arthur Wooten is a critically acclaimed novelist and playwright. His novels include
Birthday Pie, and
On Picking Fruit, and
Fruit Cocktail and
WISE Bear William: A New Beginning,
a children’s book.
(reviewed by JD Holiday)LEFTOVERS can be bought at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Leftovers-A-Novel-Arthur-Wooten/dp/0985052929/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332801337&sr=8-1Arthur Wooten's site:
http://www.arthurwooten.com/And at:
http://bostonbookbums.com/2011/06/08/arthur-qa-arthur-wooten/ THAT'S
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For more about my book THE SPY GAME
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| Page 19 of THE SPY GAME |
About my book THE SPY GAME
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Page 20 of THE SPY GAME
~JD Holiday |
Pell Shade and The Mysterious Paper written by
Christy Condoleo~Reviewed by
JD Holiday 6-28-12
~ The socially awkward
Pell Shade liked nothing more than staying in her darken room nursing her allergies, asthma, reading, and longing for a pet she could not have. Her
Aunt Syne is about to change all that. She knew just the place to find the prefect gift for
Pell. The mysterious
Rare Finds Shoppe is overstuffed with odd treasures like a large rock from the road less traveled and other weird things that are only sold to the right person. It’s guarded by trolls and mischievous spirits and all patrons are welcomed by their own musical bird chimes. And to add to it, is its strange guardian,
Gampi Raido who knew just what
Aunt Syne was looking for before she did.
When
Pell’s Aunt Syne brings her the thick stack of colored paper it looks like nothing more than a boring gift! It isn’t long before she learns that with the right book, one that tells more than you read in it, and some special words she has an extraordinary present no ordinary child should play with.
It’s not long before a man known as
Awl Blott comes for
Pell’s gift that he said is his and the unbelievable happens. With the questionable aid of a rude and infuriating boy, and his vulnerable sister, who has a fear of water yet pledges to help
Pell as a spellbinding adventure begins.
For young teens,
Pell Shade And The Mysterious Paper is a clever and imaginative tale. Along with Pell’s mystery the story is charming and a fascinating read for most everyone.
Christy Condoleo’s next installment will be eagerly awaited!
That's Pell Shade And The M
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
A screenplay by Marsha Casper Cook Noah is miserable. Noah runs a party planning business called Party Time left to him by his father. His mother, Rosalind Meyers, would do anything and go to any length, even coming to town in bad weather to get him married. After all, his mother believes that’s what will bring him true happiness.
The bright spot in his life is being a part-time coach of a Special Olympics team of pre-teen boys hoping to play basketball like everyone else. They look to Noah to help them fulfill that.
Noah’s only salvation is the person who understands him most and fixes everything for him is his office administrator and jacqueline of all trades, Annie.
When the school Noah coaches at is threatened with closure, his mother comes to town, and a mysterious man joins the staff at Party Time, Annie begins to manage more than Noah’s personal life.
It’s only a matter of time with the perfect woman is right there beside Noah that a budding romance takes shape.
Marsha Casper Cook is a talented author and storyteller. Written as a screenplay,
It’s Never Too Late is witty, charming and an enjoyable read. You can imagine yourself backstage and watching the performance, seeing the characters come alive. I can’t wait to see is
It’s Never Too Late on the
‘big' screen.~Author
J.D. HolidayMarsha Casper Cook is also the author of six published books and 11 feature-length screenplays. Her screenplay co- authored by Craig Clyde is optioned at this time. Her published works include “LOVE CHANGES,” a romantic novel about a family in crisis, and “Sala, More Than a Survivor
0 Comments on It's Never Too Late by Marsha Casper Cook: In A Nut Shell! as of 1/1/1900
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It's on my wish list! : )