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The New York Public Library (NYPL) has unveiled its list of “Top Book Check Outs of 2015.” Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult has claimed the top spot.

Some of the titles include The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. The organization has also revealed six additional lists such as “Top 10 Books in Manhattan,” “Top 10 Books in Staten Island,” and “Top Books by Branch in the Bronx.”

Here’s more from the press release: “Individual branches saw a wide variety of books checked out the most, from Henry A. Clumpton’s The Art of Intelligence Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service at City Island Library in the Bronx, to Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel at South Beach Library in Staten Island…Over 20 million items, including books, are circulated throughout the NYPL system each year. Opportunities to check out items will be even greater in 2016, when hours expand at branches across the system thanks to a $43 million city funding increase for New York’s three public library systems: NYPL, Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Library.”

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Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel has joined the iBooks bestsellers list this week at No. 10.

Apple has released its top selling books list for paid books from iBooks in the U.S. for week ending March 2, 2015. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins is No. 1 and E L James‘ Fifty Shades Darker is No. 1 and Fifty Shades of Grey is No 3.

We’ve included Apple’s entire list after the jump.

iBooks US Bestseller List – Paid Books 3/2/15

1. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins – 9780698185395 – (Penguin Publishing Group) 2. Fifty Shades Darker by E L James – 9781612130590 – (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) 3. Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James – 9781612130293 – (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) 4. Fifty Shades Freed by E L James – 9781612130613 – (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) 5. American Sniper by Chris Kyle, Jim DeFelice & Scott Mcewen – 9780062190963 – (William Morrow) 6. Still Alice by Lisa Genova – 9781439157039 – (Pocket Books) 7. Fifty Shades Trilogy Bundle by E L James – 9780345803573 – (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) 8. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah – 9781466850606 – (St. Martin’s Press) 9. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – 9780307588388 – (Crown Publishing Group) 10. Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel – 9780804179621 – (Random House Publishing Group) 11. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – 9781476746609 – (Scribner) 12. A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler – 9781101874288 – (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) 13. Private Vegas by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro – 9780316211147 – (Little, Brown and Company) 14. Motive by Jonathan Kellerman – 9780345541383 – (Random House Publishing Group) 15. The DUFF by Kody Keplinger – 9780316123242 – (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) 16. Falling For My Best Friend’s Brother by Helen Cooper & J. S. Cooper – 9781502215000 – (J. S. Cooper) 17. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – 9780062368683 – (Harper) 18. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty – 9780698138636 – (Penguin Publishing Group) 19. Indestructible by Angela Graham – 9781311074379 – (Angela Graham)

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by Kristi Valiant

Are you ready to jump in? Do you have a few picture book ideas you’ve been keeping secret so you can write them down today and count them? Now for some more…

Start an ongoing list of things you adore or loathe or laughed out loud at or evoked some kind of emotion that stuck with you. Is there a tradition or memory from childhood that comes to mind? What about that time your friend got in trouble for something silly? Write down that funny thing your grandchild or pet did that you keep telling everyone about. It could even be a ridiculous incident your cousin’s yoga instructor mentioned in a Facebook post that you’re still laughing about.

For example, my adorable 2-year-old girl in pigtails walked up to some older kids on the playground and growled in their faces so they’d move and she could play on the slide by herself. I then explained to her that we don’t growl at people. We aren’t bears or monsters. I wrote that down as a picture book idea. But it’s not really a whole picture book, and having Mommy step in to fix the problem is a big no-no in picture books. I can use that real-life experience as a starting point for a character whose personality doesn’t match her appearance, and then make it a better story.

Don’t be afraid to change the way something happened. Writing fiction is lying in a good way. Sometimes we get so stuck on basing our manuscript on a real-life experience or a sweet person or animal we love, that we’re preventing our manuscript from becoming a fully realized, great book.

I illustrated a picture book written by Danielle Steel that just came out this week called PRETTY MINNIE IN PARIS. (Cue the celebratory chocolate lava cake!) This book is based on Danielle’s own teacup-size Chihuahua named Minnie. Did Danielle write Minnie true-to-life? Nope!

In the book, Minnie loves being out and about in Paris, but Danielle’s real pet Minnie is squeamish about touching sidewalks or even being set down outside. In the book, Minnie is a fashionable pup with an outfit for every occasion, but when I visited Danielle and the real Minnie in Paris last year, Danielle had a blast dressing Minnie up for me, but Minnie was mortified! She is not a fan of doggie clothes. Minnie has even rolled on her back and refused to get up when Danielle dressed her in a snowsuit before. That one tidbit made it into the book, but the rest of the book is mostly made up.

If you’re basing a story on real people or animals in your life, you may have a tendency to try to protect them in your story or to make them too perfect. I have a sketch dummy ready to submit that’s based on my husband and daughters and a chasing game we play. I have to admit it was a bit hard to make my little girl shed tears in that story. I had to keep telling myself it’s not really her. Don’t go easy on your characters. They aren’t your real kids or pets.

 

To sum it up, be inspired by real-life incidents, people, and animals, but then ask, “What would make this an even better story?” That’s where the fun starts.

Kristi wrote and illustrated the picture book PENGUIN CHA-CHA and illustrated Danielle Steel’s picture book, PRETTY MINNIE IN PARIS, as well as the Little Wings chapter book series, THE GOODBYE CANCER GARDEN, CORA COOKS PANCIT, and others. Her books received a Starred Review from School Library Journal and won some shiny awards. Kristi graduated magna cum laude from Columbus College of Art & Design with a major in Illustration. She grew up in Wisconsin, studied in Ohio, danced in Texas, taught in China, and now lives in Indiana with her husband, daughters, and a room full of hippos, monkeys and sneaky penguins.

Visit Kristi online at KristiValiant.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kvaliant.

PRETTY MINNIE IN PARIS has its own website (http://www.randomhousekids.com/brand/pretty-minnie) with a look inside the book, Minnie’s map of Paris, and a paper dog activity in which you can print out Minnie and dress her up in lovely outfits. Oh la la!

 

Kristi Valiant will sign a copy of PRETTY MINNIE IN PARIS for a lucky winner!

This prize  will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for this prize if:

1. You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
2. You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
3. You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)

Good luck, everyone!

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Bestselling romance novelist Danielle Steel has landed a book deal for a picture book for kids.

Doubleday Books for Young Readers will publish Pretty Minnie in Paris in fall 2014. Janklow & Nesbit Associates agent Julie Just negotiated the deal with editorial director Frances Gilbert. Gilbert will edit and Kristi Valiant will illustrate the book. Here’s more from the release:

Steel has one passion that her fans might not know about—her love for dogs. Pretty Minnie in Paris is inspired by the adventures of Steel’s own teacup Chihuahua, and her love of Paris—where she resides part of the year. Steel’s picture book tells the stylish tale of a fashionable Parisian pup out on the town … Steel lives in San Francisco and Paris, which inspired many of the scenes in Pretty Minnie in Paris. Over the years she has raised several beloved dogs, and this October 2013 brings the release of her next nonfiction work, Pure Joy (Delacorte Press), a memoir of Steel’s most beloved family pets.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Just in case you needed any more reasons to be convinced why books are great gifts, our friends at the Association of American Publishers have asked some of the most popular and prolific authors to share their reasons why books make great gifts. Enjoy the video below and check out the videos featuring even more authors on YouTube.

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