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Zag Animation Studios is a new feature animation outfit that plans to release two family-oriented films per year—one fully-CGI and one live-action/CGI hybrid—beginning in 2017.

Night falls like snowflakes, I slide under warm blankets and wait for dawn’s thaw   Autumn sings her song echoing through the evening golden melodies     Filed under: writing for children Tagged: autumn, blankets, evening, haiku, haiku Tuesday, melodies, melody, night, snow, snowflakes, songs, summer, thaw

4 Stars Drummer Boy of John John Mark Greenwood Frané Lessac Lee and Low Books Pages: 32         Ages: 4+ Jacket:  Carnival is coming and the villagers of John John, Trinidad, are getting ready to jump up and celebrate with music dancing, and a     parade. Best of all, the Roti King has promised free rotis—tasty friend [...]

For those who have days when accessing a particular fact in your brain is like chasing marbles across a high-gloss floor, here is a fun little ditty for word lovers. I have called this my one-and-only bar trick, but it was actually taught to me by my 5th grade teacher, Sister Mary Dolorita, in St. Mary's parish school in Bordentown, NJ. I have never forgotten it and I'm happy to sing it upon request. I would love to hear about others who may have learned something this way.

The prepositions in alphabetical order sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

About, above, across, after,
Against, among, around, at.
Before, behind, beside, between,
Beyond, by, down, during, except.

For, from, into, near,
Of, off, on, over, past,
Through, throughout, to, toward, under,
Until, up, with.

Today we're sharing a love letter to Stone Arch Books that we recently received. Happy Valentine's Day!


Dear Stone Arch Books,

I never imagined that I would be writing a love letter to a publisher of books, but then again I never could have imagined books as wonderful as yours!

We love your books! When I first spied the titles in your catalog I was fascinated and when the books arrived I was thrilled. It was like opening a special gift for my students. The most startling thing happened is when the books hit the shelves…. They magically disappeared… every copy flew as if enchanted into the hands of all the kids in our school.

The teachers soon started asking about the newest treasures (your books) their students were hooked on. I explained that not only are your books Character Counts, and AR books but they were very COOL! Everyone is excited about the creative graphics and fonts used in your books. The storylines and subjects are just perfect!!!!!

In addition to all of those incentives to read the books there was also the extra added features at the end of every volume. There is kid friendly information about the authors, an easy to read glossary of terms used in the book, the kids really get excited about the internet sites mentioned.

Teachers just love, and use the discussion questions and writing prompts that are included on the final pages too!

I contacted our school character counts committee and gave them their very own catalog. I bought as many sets as we could afford and your books are first on our wish lists for next year. They are also FIRST in the hearts of our kids!!

Keep up the good work and we will keep on ordering as many books as we can.

Thank you so much

Cindy Price
Show Low Primary School Library
Show Low Arizona

We love to visit libraries and classrooms whenever we can, but we don’t have time to do it as much as we’d like. So we love it when we get letters from fans. Here’s what one 11-year-old reader from Texas wanted to tell Jake Maddox. Our Jake Maddox sports books are some of our most popular with kids, teachers, librarians, and parents. Letters like this keep us energized and excited to publish more great books!



Dear Mr.Maddox,
My name is ------ ------ but just call me
------. I am in 4th grade. I really got
Hooked on your books! Don’t get the wrong
Idea I am not some geek that sits home all
Day reading. Iam 11 years old .The first
Book I read of yours was Mr.Strike Out.
I read a lot of your books.

I am hoping you write me back. If so send me
an autographed picture of you wallet size
Please!!! also a copy of Mr.Strike Out.

YOUR BEST READER
------

ilivegreen, a Toronto-based site that is creating an online community of environmentally active individuals, seeks "Open Letters". Writers with an interest or background in environmental issues are invited to submit a 500-1000 word open letter. Letters should be informal (not essays) and evoke an epistle (reminiscent of old-fashioned snail mail letters). Writers are encouraged to mix personal and political views. All work must begin with Dear ______ (one reader). Send submissions to: [email protected].

NOTE TO SELF: JUST WHO IS NAUGHTY AND NICE, ANYWAY?


Every year Canada Post gets into the holiday spirit by acting as an intermediary between children and the North Pole in its annual "Write to Santa." To this end kids are encouraged to mail their letters to Santa at "SANTA CLAUS, NORTH POLE, HOH OHO, CANADA" The service in both English and French, has been offered going on 26 years and is overseen by 11,000 Canada Post employees known affectionately as Postal Elves. More than a million children send letters to the jolly, old, elf and receive a reply but some received an unexpected response. Make that shocked response.

Seems that somebody - likely not "the" Santa - has been dropping letters in the mail box over the last couple of days to kids living in Ottawa, Ontario, but not the nice kind. In fact some of them contained filthy messages, much to the consternation of parents'. For its part Canada Post is understandably shocked and along with the Ottawa police, have been attempting to trace down the baaaaaad Santa.

One young recipient aged 2 years received a P.S. to her letter that read: "This letter is too long, you dumb shit." Definitely not Santa-like content. Her 10 year old brother, meanwhile, had the add-on message: "Your mom is s****d**** and your dad is gay."

Lucky their mother read the letter before she handed it to her children.

Meanwhile, yesterday Canada Post shut down its Write to Santa program across the city in a joint effort with the police to track down Santa's un-helper.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071214.wsantletters1214/BNStory/National/home

This is a short list of things that irk agents most when reading a query--

1. Saying no other titles are comparable to yours because it is too unique.

Well, the thing is your story may be unique to you. All stories are unique in some way or the other, but what this statement really tells me is that you don't know your market, or there is no market for your book. Do the research, find something you can compare to your work.

2. Saying you're the next Dan Brown, Harry Potter.

There are many writers whose books can be compared to Potter or Brown or James Patterson, etc. in some way. Try to find other authors to include in your comparable titles, authors with great track records, but not so much hype.

3. Too much personal info.

You wouldn't go to a job interview and tell that person how much your dog, or your parents, or whomever, loved your ability to brew coffee (or file papers, etc.). So, don't tell me how much everyone loved your story.

On the other hand, if a published author or a known editor has read it and made positive comments, by all means give me a BRIEF run down.

4. Too little essential information.

You can tell me as much about the story as you want, but I need the genre and word count.

In the same vein, you can regale me with your publishing experience, but please include something about the story your pitching me.

5. Addressing your query.

Do not 'Dear Sir or Madam.' Do not "To Whom it May Concern.' This tells me up front that you have done absolutely no research about who we are, what we want, and what we need.

(I'm posting this several days in advance so the word will get out. Feel free to forward it or re-post it anywhere you think it might be helpful.)

Is it a stretch to call clinical depression "An Evil Spell"?

When I had finished a draft of Letters From Rapunzel, and before I gave it to anyone else, I showed it to my sister and asked her: Is this how you feel?

"Yes," she said. "And more."

I had described The Evil Spell as:

"...being locked in a dark room, and you've forgotten your name, why you're there, where the door is..."

"Once upon a time, there were two little girls who slept in a wide bed under a rose-patterned comforter. Before they fell asleep, the younger (not by much) of the two would describe for her sister the spectral objects appearing before her eyes: 'Look...a wedding ring!...there's a piano!...now I see a mushroom...' The older sister strained to see what her sibling was identifying, calling out by name in the darkness. Sometimes, she could almost believe she saw those filaments of her sister's imagination, but mostly she enjoyed hearing her voice exclaiming, 'Look! There goes a...'

Reading Letters From Rapunzel, I heard my sister's voice again, saw her imagination forming images into words on a page. Piecing together letters, lists, fortunes, essays, free-writing, and fairy tales into a telling collage. Believing that if she can only name what she sees in the deep space of her imagination, others will glimpse the fairy trails also. Hoping that they will be as delighted and comforted as I was.

Thanks, Sara, for keeping me company in the dark and for having the courage to break the Spell of Silence."

This is an essay I wrote several years ago, before I published (or even wrote) my first book. It chronicles a turning point in my life as a writer, and I dug it out recently because it talks about being seventeen and unsure of your role in life, things that were on my mind as I drove my daughter to college a few days ago. Also, because some of you have asked about the letters I'm lying on in the picture to the right. Here's part one:

Taking It All Off in Knoxville,Tennessee