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I am scheduling a free kindle eBook giveaway of Silly Monsters ABC for this Friday and Saturday, 27th and 28th of April.

Cartoon Network is turning 20 this year, and it reveled in its position as the #1 network for 6 to 11 year old boys (during its upfront presentation this week. The network officially announced a few shows that we knew were coming — including... Read the rest of this post

Here’s a roundup of some of the best ways that brands are using Facebook’s new Open Graph (to encourage their fans to share their brand interactions on the site. We’re big fans of Ticketmaster’s mashup with Spotify’s... Read the rest of this post

This week, the major TV networks got all dressed up to court advertisers at their upfront presentations. They casually announced several show cancellations — “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior,” “Hellcats,” “$#*! My Dad Says,” and many,... Read the rest of this post

1. Wild About Books- This picture book is written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown. It won the E.B White Read Aloud Award in 2005. It was published by Alfred A. Knopf in August 2004. It is a great book to read aloud both in the classroom and at bed time. What happens when librarian Molly McGrew by mistake drove her bookmobile into the zoo. All the animals end up having fun borrowing her books. The illustrations are wonderful and the story brings your child into a world where animals read books and the adventures they have doing so. The animals also discover reading. This is probably one of my favorite books. It will be a great read for any child or adult. I highly recommend it to be available in any school library. 
2. Flotsam- This book was illustrated by David Wiesner. It won the Caldecott Medal in 2007. It was published by Clarion Books in 2006. This book uses only illustrations to tell a wonderful story. The main character is a boy spending time on a beach. The boy's story is told through pictures that flow smoothly. He discovers an old camera with film in it. It seems the pictures had traveled in the ocean for a very long time. It is a great book for children because each illustration tells its own story. It also proofs that picture books do not necessary need words to tell a wonderful story. 
3. MoonPowder- This book was written and illustrated by John Rocco a very good friend of mine. It was published by Hyperion Books for Children. It came out in 2008. This book is the story about Eli Treebuckler who is known for fixing everything. Then one day the Moonpowder factory is on the blink and he is the only that can fix it. The question is will he get there on time. This book is full of wonderful illustrations and a fantastic story. This is a great book to read to your child at bedtime. It covers topics like dreams and nightmares. It also takes Eli on a amazing journey to save the Moonpowder factory. I believe it will also take your children there.          

1. Charmed Life- This book was written by Diana Wynne Jones. It was published by Macmillian Children's Books in 1977. This is the story about two siblings a boy named Eric who has no talent with magic and Gwendolyn   who is a gifted witch with astonishing powers, it suits her enormously when she is taken to live in Chrestomanci Castle. This is the home of a great enchanter. However, life with his family is not what either of the children expects and sparks start to fly. This is a charming story that is probably like the Harry Potter of it's day. Even though it came out over thirty years ago it can still be viewed in our day. It has a great story that any middle grader interested in magic and fantasy  could enjoy. I highly recommend this book for them. 
2. Over Sea, Under Stone- This book was written by Susan Cooper. It was published in 1965 by Simon and Schuster and came out again in 2000 from Aladdin paperback. This book is the first in the Dark is Rising Sequence. When three siblings go on holiday to Cornwall they find an ancient manuscript which sends them on a dangerous quest for a grail that would reveal the true story of King Arthur and entraps them in a battle b
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Has the term 'hipster' lost all meaning? (A mysterious San Francisco startup named after the demo that dare not speak its name generates early buzz by fueling the ongoing debate. As for where teens tread online, the Alloy Digital Network holds on... Read the rest of this post

When Stories Start to Go Wrong!

Here are some descriptions of manuscripts. Read them and figure out what’s wrong:

• 6000 word, ABC book
• 13,000 word middle grade
• 250,000 YA/teen novel
• 2000 word YA poetry book
• 4000 word picture book

Match Audience with Length and Format of Your Story

In each of these cases, the format, especially the length of the manuscript, does not match up with the intended audience.

Here’s a typical run down of manuscript lengths for different formats:

Picture book, including ABC titles. The hottest items are under 500 words. Some picture books can go up to 2000 words, but those are iffy. The audience for picture books can be anything from birth to about 10 years old. Usually the break down is something like 1-3 years old, 2-4, 4-8 or 6-10, though it varies from publisher to publisher.

The best advice for a picture book manuscript is “cut it in half.” Yes, it’s hard in 500 words to have a beginning, middle, end, a satisfying narrative arc, and a character that kids want to spend time with. Welcome to the difficult world of picture books.

ABC books, especially Sleeping Bear Press ABC titles, sometimes will go longer. But essentially the ABC format is just a way to organize information. These are not true ABC books for preschoolers.

Beginning reader and early chapter books. These are aimed at the beginning reader, so ages 4-8. For the truly beginning reader, the text may just be a couple words on each page. This is the only place where a publisher will try to control vocabulary, choosing words with regular spelling or from the sight vocabulary lists. By second grade, though, kids are reading short chapter books, and there’s more leeway in vocabulary and complexity of texts. These run maybe 6000-12,000 words, again depending on a publisher’s inclination and publishing program. Usually these are contemporary stories, grounded in a child’s real world.

Short chapter books. Some people add this category for 3-4th graders. These are short novels (novelettes?) of about 12,000-20,000 words. The topic of these books changes slightly to allow for historical fiction, science fiction or fantasy, or mysteries.

Middle grade novels. For grades 5-8, or about 10-14 years old, the middle grade audience has a wide variety of interests that are reflected in their fiction. Novels for this group run 30-80,000 words, but tend to fall more in the 40-60,000 range. Only the rare Harry Potter will go to 100,000 or more.

YA/Teen novels. For ages 12 and up, the YA or Teen novel has an almost free rein in length, complexity and subject matter. Still even here, the average novel might run 60,000 or so. You can go longer or shorter, if there’s a good reason for it. Some have said that YA novels are just like adult novels, just 100 pages shorter and without the sex scene. Today, you can add both the 100 pages and the sex scene. What distinguishes this literature is the tone of the story, particular the tone of rebellion of some sort. It’s a time of life when kids must break with their parents and figure out life for themselves; that’s what is reflected in the liter

Hi everyone! You may remember my ABC Circus series I had started a couple months back. Well, since I’ve been really getting into working digitally. I’ve decided to revisit this series and redo the final pieces. I’ve only done the letters “R” and “P”. You can see the previous watercolor versions here. Tell me which version [...]

Today we bring you another installment of Youth Media Movers and Shakers. We've culled through industry publications looking for the recent executive placements we think you should know about. If you have executive news that you want us to... Read the rest of this post

Artist Scott Teplin has created this superb series of 26 letterpress dream-houses, each designed from the letters of the alphabet: Alphabet City. The prints are $80 each, and the entire set is available in a bound volume for $2000.

Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: ABC, Illustration, prints, Scott Teplin, Typography

It's been more than a week since Adam Lambert set tongues wagging and complaints firing with his AMA performance, and Disney is continuing to take a hard line against the sexually-charged theatrics. The latest expression of the network's... Read the rest of this post

Nobrow is fast becoming my favourite small press outfit. They keep putting out fantastic small runs of illustrated books and comics, all of them beautifully printed.

The latest is an English translation of French comicker Blexbolex’s graphic novella Abecederia. The book is a horrific scifi thriller masked as an alphabet book; each page features an illustration based on the shapes of the letters of the alphabet, all printed in a minimal 3 colours, and the combinations they make. Visit Nobrow to order the book.

Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: ABC, Blexbolex, Books, Comics, Nobrow, Printing, Typography

Today's Youth Advisory Board post is from Julia Tanenbaum, a freshman in high school, one of our newest Youth Advisory Board members (look for the official announcement coming soon on Ypulse!), and a fan of the new sci-fi drama "V" on ABC. As... Read the rest of this post

Ebook: How to Write a Children’s Picture Book

It started out as 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book. But now, (drum roll, please), it’s an Ebook. Expanded from it’s original format, it now includes new sections on writing rhymed verse for a picture book, and many examples of different types of texts.

How to Write a Children’s Picture Book includes 36 self-paced lessons on every aspect of writing, editing and selling your children’s picture book.

Basics of Writing a Children’s Picture Book

Start your journey toward publishing by studying the basics of children’s picture books: number of pages, word count, audience, setting, characters, words, messages, morals, themes, voice and more.

The Unique Writing Process for a Children’s Picture Book

Once you understand the basic structure of a children’s picture book, it’s time to choose a topic and write your first draft. Learn topics to avoid and perennial topics. Special techniques for editing your picture book manuscript are also covered.

Typical Picture Book Genres

If you want to write a specific type of children’s picture book, you’ll find tips here for humor, rhyming text, poetry collections, picture book mystery, picture book biography, creative non-fiction picture book, and the ABC picture book.

How to Submit Your Children’s Picture Book

Your story is done? Learn the biggest mistake people make when submitting to a children’s book publisher and how you can avoid it. How do you find the name of an editor? What about self-publishing?

Download your pdf immediately.
Order NOW!

Related posts:

1. Top 10 Picture Book Topics to Avoid
2. Research Competition
3. Picture Book 4

Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman

Andrew Zuckerman has made an entire little industry out of the images from his big fat Christmas-present book Creature. There are notecards and floor puzzles and a calendar, and now there's an ABC book.

I kind of can't fault the guy for it, either. When I swung open the cover of Creature abc, I gasped. His pictures of animals great and small - details, portraits, and full-length shots - are lit so brightly I worry for their fur, and shot (and printed) at such a high resolution as to appear three-dimensional. I just looked through the portraits (of humans) on his web site, and I didn't actually want to be that close to Nick Nolte.

The big bold black sans-serif text is easy to read. The little fact boxes about each animal that appear at the end are easy to digest. And there is just nothing funner than turning each thick page with a three year old. "What is that animal? It's a LION, you're right! Is that lion gonna eat you? NO! You eat that lion up first!"

Definitely my new favorite present for two- and three-year-olds.

I've donated this bookish little fella for the Association of Booksellers for Children's annual auction shindig. This year they've put all of the auction items online for your viewing pleasure. I'll be at the auction, so if you see me, be sure to say howdy.

Here’s something different:
a poetry collection presented as a sly dictionary of 51 challenging vocabulary words with clever poem definitions. From “aggregate” to “gregarious” to “lugubrious” to “refute” to “wistful,” poet and teacher Michael Salinger personifies each word in ways that suggest attributes and defining characteristics—making the word memorable and visual for kids (especially tweens and teens) who want to expand their word knowledge.

A table of contents (with the part of speech for each word designated) lists all the featured words, and an introduction by the author provides a bit of overall context. The small (5 X 7) trim size is appealingly pocket-sized and cartoonist Sam Henderson offers doodly pen and ink elliptical people for many of the poems.

Each poem begins with the vocabulary word in bold and then includes a description or list that gives the highlighted word a personality all its own. They're light on rhyme, but strong on structure, and built upon personification. Many of the poems end with a pair of clever end lines with a twist or surprise. A one-line straight definition of each word appears at the bottom of the page in small print. Here’s one example:

Obsolete is absolutely useless
although in the past
he was reasonably handy
time—it kept on ticking and he
just never bothered to adapt
so now he gets passed over
sits in the corner collecting dust
his colors are fading
his chrome has started to rust
but don’t feel too bad for obsolete
his future is not completely bleak
as long as he keeps hanging on
eventually he’ll become an antique.

[obsolete: no longer useful; outmoded]

Salinger, Michael. 2009. Well Defined; Vocabulary in Rhyme. Ill. by Sam Henderson. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press, 46.

I think it would be fun to use this as an example for a class project with kids working alone or in pairs on a designated word, creating vocab-poems that can then be combined in a class book. Challenge them to cover the alphabet with words from A to Z. What a great way to prepare or review for vocabulary tests or the SAT or ACT exams!

Image credit: http://www.michaelsalinger.com/

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2009. All rights reserved.