Happy Monday, Everyone!
You would think, given that it's Monday, the start of a new week full of possibility, that I would have something pithy or inspiring or at the very least entertaining to share with you all.
And I do!
I have exactly ONE THING!
(Prepare for the shortest post in the history of this blog!)
I'm sure you will all recall that on Friday we held a giveaway thanks to the generosity of Lori Degman. One of the commenters on Friday's post was promised a signed copy of Lori's new book, Cock-A-Doodle Oops!
Lori and I were amazed and delighted by how many of you stepped up to admit you were donkeys, chickens, pigs, goats, horses, cows, sheep, ducks, and wow! a whole lot of barn cats! Also, we loved your creative and original crows!
Random.org has done its thing, and I'm thrilled to announce that Farmer McPeeper and his barnyard menagerie will be winging their way to sunny Italy, because none other than the lovely Renee has won Lori's book!
Lori, thank you again for generously donating a copy of your wonderful new book!
Everyone who commented, thank you so much for joining the fun, and I hope you all get a chance to read Lori's fabulous book!
And Renee, please email me your address again because although I'm pretty sure I have it somewhere you will get your book a whole lot sooner if you just send me your address than if I start rooting around for it. I'm very ADD when it comes to searching... or house cleaning... and have a tendency to get distracted from my original task and go off on unrelated tangents and would likely end up sending myself a box of Perugina Chocolate instead of figuring out where in Italy to send your book :)
Have a marvelous Monday, everyone! :)
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Blog: Susanna Leonard Hill (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Blog: Susanna Leonard Hill (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: animals, giveaway, Deborah Zemke, Lori Degman, Perfect Picture Book Fridays, Creston Books, Add a tag
Thank goodness it's Friday!
I've been waiting for MONTHS to share this book with you (because I was lucky enough to get an advance copy), and it's finally officially out, so I can finally post it for Perfect Picture Book Friday!
Not only that, but I have a signed copy to give away to one lucky commenter! All you have to do is bake me cookies er tell me and Lori which farm animal you are and why in the comments :)
I, for example, would be the horse because I am beautiful and graceful and I can run like the wind...
*snort*
Yeah, I didn't think anyone would buy that :) I can't even sell it to myself :) But I do really love horses - that should count for something!
If it's too hard to think of yourself as a farm animal on Friday morning at the end of a long week, you can just tell us who you'd like the book for. That will be less sporting and some people might judge you for wimping out, but not me! Nosirreebob! I will not think any less of you if you don't have the gumption to declare to the world that you belong in the donkey shed!
Written By: Lori Degman
Illustrated By: Deborah Zemke
Creston Books, May 2014, Fiction
Suitable For Ages: 3-8
Themes/Topics: friendship, helping others, jobs, animals (farm)
Opening: "Farmer McPeeper was such a deep sleeper;
not even an earthquake could shake him.
A poke or a pinch wouldn't budge him an inch,
'cause only his rooster could wake him."
Brief Synopsis: Poor Rooster! He's tired of getting up so early every morning! What he needs is a vacation. Leaving the other animals in charge, Rooster heads for the beach. Animal after animal tries their best, but no one can wake Farmer McPeeper. Rooster's return is greeted with relief, but he's caught a cold. How will they ever get the sleepy Farmer up now?
Links To Resources: Teacher's Guide to Cock-A-Doodle Oops, Farm animal coloring pages, classroom activities to learn about volunteers, emergency animal rescue, what do I want to be when I grow up, workers and the work they do. Talk about jobs kids are familiar with and what kind of skills are necessary to do those jobs, or what personality traits would be helpful. Talk about friendship and what kinds of things friends might do for each other. Enjoy the YouTube video where Marissa Moss reads the story aloud HERE.
Why I Like This Book: This book is fun from start to finish! The rhyme is expertly written, catchy, and fun to read aloud. The attempts of the various animals to wake the sleeping farmer are hilarious, and kids will enjoy calling out the different crows - cock-a-doodle moo, cock-a-doodle baa, etc. The illustrations are bright and colorful and a perfect match for the story. When Rooster returns from his vacation with a cold, the animals have to come up with an inventive solution to get the farmer out of bed. When at last the farmer is up, he delivers a surprise ending that is clever and funny... but I can't say what it is here because that would be telling :) Just mosey on out and get yourself a copy. You won't be sorry. It's delightful :)
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
Lori and I were going to do a little interview or something to go along with this post, but it appears we didn't quite get our act together in time. I don't know how that happened. I am the epitome of organization. Ask anyone. And please ignore the rapidly increasing length of my nose :)
So anyway, at the very least, here's Lori :)
Now then, my little chickens, get thee to the comments and tell us which farm animal you are and why (or just tell us who you'd like the book for), and one lucky commenter will get a signed copy of this fabulous book!
OR...
Ooh! How 'bout this?
If you REALLY want to impress us, you can write your own crowing line! Examples from Lori's book are:
Her cock-a-doodle-cluck didn't have any pluck
His cock-a-doodle-bleeeeat just couldn't compete
Her cock-a-doodle-whoooooooo just didn't ring true
What kind of rhyming crow can you think up for the farmyard animal of your choice??? :)
PPBF bloggers, please leave your post-specific link in the list below so we can all come visit you and see what treasures you have to share this week!
Have a lovely weekend, everyone!!! :)
Blog: Susanna Leonard Hill (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: fractured fairy tales, prizes, writing fun, Lori Degman, Red Fox Literary, Karen Grencik, March Madness Writing Contest, Cori Doerrfeld, contest, Add a tag
Woo-hoo!!!
Spring is here!
And so is
*as in wild and wacky, not angry :)
"Fairy Tale" apparently turned out to be a very debatable term, so my fellow judges and I will do our best to handle whatever you've come up with.
Title not included in word count.
- 6th Prize (which just skated in under the wire - thank you Sudipta!) is a personalized signed copy of hot-off-the-presses SNORING BEAUTY by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
And don't forget, all you illustrators, that this will be followed by a related Illustrator Contest in April!!! (to be announced and elaborated on as soon as the writing part of the contest is over! :))
And now, so that everyone will feel happy and confident about posting their stories, I will share my sample, a Wild West twist on The Gingerbread Boy at exactly 400 words (phew!):
Wasn't that nice of me? Now you can all feel brave and smug, secure in the knowledge that your story is better than that!!! :)
Anyone besides me feeling an urge to sing?
"Like a Cornpone Cowboy
riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo
Cornpone Cowboy..."
No? Darn! I was hoping the exceptional quality of my singing would distract you from that story even though "cornpone" doesn't have quite the same ring to it as "rhinestone" :)
I can't wait to read what you have all come up with! Let the fun begin! :)
And remember to check back here for entries added in the comments. I'll list them as they come in :)
Blog: Kid Lit Reviews (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's Books, Picture Book, Poetry, Favorites, Rooster, children's book reviews, farm animals, Deborah Zemke, Lori Degman, waking up, 5stars, rhyming text, Library Donated Books, Creston Books, Add a tag
.
by Lori Degman & Deborah Zemke
Creston Books 5/13//2014
978-1-93954-07-1
Age 3 to 9 36 pages
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“When the rooster is away, who is there to ring in the day? Cock-a-Doodle Oops! is the humorous tale of a community of farm animals who band together to help out a rooster who is badly in need of a vacation. How hard can it be to wake up a sleeping farmer? While the rooster is gone, the pig, cow, sheep, and other farm animals attempt to rouse Farmer McPeeper with “cock-a-doodle SQUEAL,” “cock-a-doodle MOO,” and “cock-a-doodle BAAAA,” with hilarious results.”
Opening
“Farmer McPeeper was such a deep sleeper, not even an earthquake could shake him.
A poke or a pinch wouldn’t budge him an inch, ‘cause only his rooster could wake him.”
The Story
Rooster had planned a beach vacation and the time had come to leave. He was excited to be able to sleep as late as he pleased. All the animals were worried.
“If you go, who will crow?”
Rooster had a plan. Each animal would take over one morning and waking up Farmer McPeeper. On Monday, Pig knew he could do it and with the others looking on Pig gave his best.
“Cock-a-doodle-SQUEAL!”
On Tuesday, Sheep took her turn. Wednesday Cow, with much ego, told the others to step aside as he gave a morning wake-up for Farmer McPeeper. Chicken, also sure of himself—he and Rooster were birds of a feather. She stood atop the fence and gave her very best, which wasn’t very good. Chicken blamed it on the weather. Mule filled in on Friday and Goat did his best on Saturday. Finally, Owl, with much confidence, tried to wake up Farmer McPeeper. When Rooster arrived home, all the animals gathered around urging him to wake the farmer. But something was wrong .
Review
Cock-a-Doodle Oops! had me laughing starting with page one. Poor Rooster, worn out from his morning job, he needs a vacation. For one week, Rooster is going to the beach and someone else will have to wake up Farmer McPeeper. Every page will delight kids. Those reading will enjoy all the opportunities to sound like a cow, or a mule, or a sheep. Storybook hour will explode with laughter.
The illustrations deftly show the animals cock-a-doodle-doing their hearts out for Rooster and Farmer McPeeper as the other wide-eyed animals look on. The animals take on a life of their own as they spew out their wakeup calls. From the farmhouse a short ways away, all that one can “hear” are the z’s of McPeeper’s sleep. Even his dog stays by his side, asleep, waiting for the Rooster to arouse him and his master. Just getting through the week of substitute morning calls will delight the children. But there is more. There is an unexpected twist, or rather, a double-twist!
I know young children will love Cock-a-Doodle Oops! The fresh story has a cartoon flare and the illustrator makes sure the delightful story stands out from the crowd. The ending is cartoon-comical. I want so badly to tell you the crazy twists, but no endings here.* The rhyming story is easy to read, which is good since kids are going to want Cock-a-Doodle Oops! read to them nightly. And don’t forget those voices. Your kids definitely will not. Find a home on a shelf for Cock-a-Doodle Oops! It’s a keeper.
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Find out more about Cock-a-Doodle Oops! HERE!
Laugh at the wild ending after you get a copy at Amazon
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Meet the author, Lori Degman at her website: http://www.loridegman.com/loridegman.com/Home.html
Meet the illustrator, Deborah Zemke at her website: http://www.deborahzemke.com/
Find more great books at Creston Books’ website: http://www.crestonbooks.co/
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COCK-A-DOODLE OOPS! Text copyright © 2014 by Lori Degman. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Deborah Zemke. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Creston Books, Berkeley, CA.
ALSO BY LORI DEGMAN
. 1 Zany Zoo
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– Won 2010 Cheerios New Author Contest
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ALSO BY DEBORAH ZEMKE
The Deep, Deep Puddle
Sports Doodles Placemats
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Filed under: 5stars, Children's Books, Favorites, Library Donated Books, Picture Book, Poetry Tagged: children's book reviews, Creston Books, Deborah Zemke, farm animals, Lori Degman, rhyming text, Rooster, waking up
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By: tara,
on 11/6/2010
Blog: Tara Lazar (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Picture Books, Children's Writing, Writing for Children, 1 Zany Zoo, Lori Degman, PiBoIdMo 2010, Add a tag
by Lori Degman
Thanks, Tara, for letting me be a guest blogger for PiBoIdMo 2010! I was an avid follower last year and came away with more than thirty story ideas (some great, some not so great). It really jump-started my brain!
About a week ago, I sat down to write this post and drew a blank. I just couldnʼt come up with a good idea (pretty ironic, huh?). The next day, after the weather forecasters predicted record-breaking winds, I said to my husband, “That forecast sure was overblown.” When I stopped laughing (well after my husband), I realized I had found my topic—PUNS! Iʼm a sucker for a pun—good or bad—I just canʼt get enough of them!
Most puns just pop out of my mouth, without really thinking about them, but Iʼve learned how to purposely create puns, too—some of which have lead to funny, punny picture book stories! Though some puns go over childrenʼs heads, the adult readers catch them—and itʼs important to please your adult audience as well. After all, theyʼre the ones who will be reading your book again and again and again (hopefully)!
Here are some ways you can create puns—Iʼm sure there are tons more:
Put a twist on an idiom or slang phrase:
- Mrs. OʼLearyʼs cow kicked the bucket.
- Baking a pie is a piece of cake.
- Being a vampire really sucks! (Not for kids, but I thought it was funny.)
Think of animals and related traits:
- The cow was udderly delightful.
- The elephant packed his trunk for a trip.
- Having skunks for neighbors really stinks!
Make references to well-known fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters:
- Maryʼs in trouble and now sheʼs on the lamb.
- The Big Bad Wolf stomped off in a huff.
- Mother Goose hatched a plot.
Any of these puns might make a great starting point for a story. I hope this gets your imagination off and punning (sorry)!
Lori Degman is a teacher of deaf and hard of hearing students. She currently lives in Vernon Hills with her husband, John and two sons, Sean,24 and Brian, 21. Her first picture book, 1 Zany Zoo, was the winner of the 2008 Spoonfuls of Stories Contest and was released July 2010 by Simon & Schuster. For more punny stuff, visit her at loridegman.blogspot.com.
10 Comments on PiBoIdMo Day 6: Keep it Punny Like Lori Degman, last added: 11/6/2010
By: Lori Degman,
on 3/29/2010
Blog: First Book (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Literacy, Books & Reading, Authors & Illustrators, First Book, cheerios, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 1 Zany Zoo, aspiring children’s book authors, Cheerios New Author Contest, Lori Degman, www.spoonfulsofstoriescontest.com, Add a tag
Our guest blogger today is Lori Degman, a special education teacher from the Chicago area. Lori is the winner of the 2nd Cheerios New Author Contest for aspiring children’s book authors.
It seems sort of fitting to write about my first book for First Book, doesn’t it? I’m thrilled to tell you that MY first book, called “1 Zany Zoo,” is coming out this spring. Actually, 2.2 MILLION copies of my book are coming out this spring!!! In English and Spanish. Inside Cheerios boxes! And then it will be released at retail in hardcover this summer through Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
It’s all happening because I won the 2nd Cheerios New Author Contest, a contest for never-before-published children’s book authors. I actually wrote the original story for this about 20 years ago. Then I got busy: returning to work . . . raising my children . . . life . . . Then, when my two sons went off to college and I became an empty nester, I pulled out this story, and some others I’d written, and decided to give writing another try. The story, originally called, “1 Wacky Zoo,” is a rhyming, counting story about a boy who sneaks into the zoo before it opens, and the crazy animal antics he sees. I’d worked on improving the story with the help of my critique group and family members and I decided to enter it. When I got the call from Cheerios telling me I was the winner, I was blown away. Being a published author has been a dream of mine for so long. It’s just amazing to think it’s really happening.
And BOY, is it ever really happening!! My son sent me this picture of an end display in a store, with boxes and boxes of Cheerios stacked up, all with my book inside! That is really something. I’ve even been doing interviews about my book and how it all happened. It’s really fun to tell the story – and to know that a lot of kids are going to be reading my book. A book that I originally wrote almost 20 years ago.
Here’s the good news: Cheerios is launching the 4th New Author Contest. Entries are accepted in English or Spanish from March 15 – July 15 at www.spoonfulsofstoriescontest.com. So what are you waiting for? You never know, you may have already written your first book!
I love puns!! And like you, I’m usually laughing by myself long after I’ve shared it.
Thanks for the post, Lori. The ‘overblown forcast’ was my favorite.
I’m a sucker for puns too, Lori! Love “udderly delightful”.
Interesting point you make about inserting things that might go over kids’ heads into picture books because the adults reading them like to be amused as well. I tend to agree, although I’ve been dissuaded from doing so in the past. I think kids “get” more than we think they do, and if they don’t, they will eventually “get” the jokes and appreciate the book all the more! Plus, it allows an opportunity for the adult reader to explain the pun to the child, leading to a funny situation where the child either stares at the adult as though she has two heads, or loses herself in a fit of giggles.
Gem of a tip, Lori. Thanks for sharing!
a pun is fun! hahaha…didja groan?
okay, that’s more of a rhyme, but i’m workin’ on it. great, great post and you’ve given me the gift of a few ideas to work on today! thank you!
Lori, I love puns! Thank you for the great tip. I am especially happy you mentioned the appeal to adults who will (hopefully) be reading the stories over and over again.
I love puns too. ‘Hatching a plot’-my favorite. Now I wish I could hatch a plot for today’s challenge. Thanks for your informative and creative article.
Thanks for the ZANY pun ideas, Lori!
Oh, I love me a good pun! Or a bad one for that matter. Thanks for the great post, Lori. I think you picked the write topic. Heh heh.
I am so glad that you are a guest blogger!!! Thanks for sharing your book with the world (my son definitely enjoys it… we got it from a cheerios box
and thank you for sharing another great way of looking at stories! I’m off to create! Blessings to you!