The Inspiration and Art of Children's Books

Today, illustrator Jessica Love guest blogs about the wonder of children's books:

I believe that children's books occupy a very important, sanctified part of our memory. There is a kind of magic to them. Probably that's partly because of the way they imprint on us—enjoying our Mom or Dad read to us in bed; hearing a favorite story that we only get to listen to at our Grandparent's house. I remember my Dad reading me The Hobbit when my family was in Alcapulco. The floor of our beach hut was sand, and I could hear the ocean outside while Bilbo invisibly approached the sleeping dragon.

I think people have a personal feeling about the children's books that they love, which is deeper than the books discovered in adulthood. These stories are fundamental to who we are. I think Maurice Sendak typified this quality in a profound way. He understood something about the way children exist in the world, which is part of what makes his work so lasting and vital; he didn't ever simplify the experience of being a child. He wan't saccharine or cute. His stories felt true because they contained elements of terror, of extravagant boasting, and of the animal urges we all have. That is why perhaps, his stories always felt like they were speaking to you, rather than down to you.

I remember in an NPR interview with Terry Gross, Sendak spoke about a promise he made to himself: never to forget what it felt like to be a child. I think most kids swear this oath to themselves at one point or another.  I remember making that promise myself. I had a running list of things I would never do to a kid when I crossed over to the other side of the river, into adulthood. Most of the things on the list had to do with never underestimating the depth of a of child's ability to remember. What children don't have is experience to measure new encounters against. What they don't yet have is "wisdom."


On one side of this coin shows itself in the face of a child's hysterical crying over the loss of a toy, or the fear of a horror, or the rage of an injustice. There is nothing to measure those experiences against, therefore, they all register as seismic. The other side of the coin, however, is the perpetual sense of awe, because everything is new, demanding understanding. And this, I think, is the quality of experience all great children's books are able to capture—the sense of immediate, strange, and dazzling wonder.

The Fate of Your MS

Have you ever submitted a nonfiction article to a magazine editor, but never received a reply?  You're not alone.  Many writers have experienced the “silent treatment.”  It’s frustrating because you not only wrote a wonderful piece, you have waited on the average of three months or more to hear back.  

What can you do?  Make sure you understand the writer's guidelines for that publication. Some editors only respond if they are interested in your work.  If however, an editor has stated that they will respond in a given amount of time and you haven't received a reply, then send a follow-up letter.  In your letter, include the date that the piece was submitted, the title, and a brief synopsis. Remember to thank the editor for his time.  Be polite and professional.

Hopefully, you’ll hear back with a decision on the fate of your manuscript.  But what if you fail to receive a reply on the follow-up?  Then it's time to move on.  That doesn't mean you should forget about that fabulous manuscript.  If you love what you have written, then you must find other markets that will make a good home for your work. 

You can shop for a market by searching online or by using books like the Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market by Writer’s Digest.  Join SCBWI so that you’ll have access to the valuable market surveys.  Make a list of markets that publishes pieces like the one you’ve written.  Read some back issues.  Review the writer’s guidelines.  Edit your piece if necessary to meet this magazine’s needs. Write another query letter tailored to this new market.  And submit again.  Persevere.  The fate of your manuscript lies in your hands.   

Creating Believable Characters

Today, Cheryl Carpinello guest blogs about knowing your reader for believable characters:  

Authors can have the most exciting plot loaded with lots of action in the most exotic place, but if their readers do not form a connection with the characters, then they won’t finish the book. How do children’s writers ensure that their characters will appeal to young readers and, hopefully, draw those readers back for more? This is no easy task, but these exercises may help a writer connect their characters to their readers.

1. Determine the age group that will be reading the story. The most common breakdowns, but not the only ones, are infant (ages 0-3), preschool (4-6), lower elementary (7-9), upper elementary or Middle Grade (9-13), Tweens (12-15), and Young Adult (15 +). Every time I do a writing workshop with elementary students, I ask them to decide who they want to read their story. Inevitably they say, “Everyone.” I use this vivid example to help them understand why they can’t write for everyone. If they want high school students to read their story, then they need to put in kissing. The groans are sufficient to get my point across. Writers cannot write for all ages if they want to create believable characters that readers can relate to. Each age group has its own distinct qualities which must be embedded in the characters.

2. List qualities associated with the chosen group of readers. Consider their maturity as far as what they are able to do on their own and how developed their thinking skills are. When writing for children, a copy of Bloom’s Taxonomy is a must. It gives a breakout of what children are capable of doing at different stages of their development. Take into account the immediate world(s) of the readers as these can vary greatly based on economic, social, and even political situations. See how the different age groups handle relationships with the same sex and the opposite sex. Don’t forget think about their dependency on parents and their sophistication of language usage.

3. Observe and interact with the chosen age group. Observation only is not enough. Writers need to interact with them. Find out what makes them laugh, what makes them cry, what angers them, what touches their hearts. Each age group is different. Learn what makes each group of readers unique. Some ways to do this are to volunteer in classrooms, lead Sunday school classes, work with after school activities, and help out at homeless shelters for families and battered women’s shelters. The opportunities are limitless.

At the end of these exercises, writers will find themselves building characters that echo the world and surroundings of their readers. These characters will then find their places in the hearts of readers.

Cheryl Carpinello

author/speaker

ccarpinello@mac.com

http://www.beyondtodayeducator.com

http://carpinelloswritingpages.blogspot.com                                                                

The King's Ransom (Young Knights of the Round Table), 2012 CLC Silver Award for YA Fiction, 2012 USA Best Book Awards Finalist for E-Book Children's Fiction

Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend, 2011 Global E-book Finalist

Check out my books at one of these stores:

https://www.amazon.com/author/cherylcarpinello

http://www.outskirtspress.com/Guinevere

http://www.museituppublishing.com

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CherylCarpinello

Member of

http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/cheryl-carpinello.html

http://www.bookbuzzer.com

http://www.polkadotbanner.com

                                                 

What is a blog hop?

A blog hop is a linky list that is SHARED ON MULTIPLE BLOGS. When several blogs put the same linky list code on their blog, the exact same list appears on each blog.  Blog visitors can submit their entries on any blog that contains the list. The entries will appear on each blog where the list resides.  Blog readers see the same list on each blog, and can "HOP" from blog to blog seeing the same list of links to follow: BLOG HOP!

Book Lovers Blog Hop:

Make friends, share the love of reading and be entered to win a FREE book!

For the list of Hop Rules visit:

http://familiesmatter2us.blogspot.com/2011/10/book-lovers-blog-hop-october-2011.html

Read, Write, Draw!

Courtesy of ClipArt

Happy New Year!

Editor Irene Roth and I are happy to announce the Kid’s Imagination Train.  The first issue of the blog magazine will appear in January.  KIT was created to promote writers and to encourage children to read.  As an extra bonus, children will have the opportunity to illustrate their favorite stories.  Designed for children ages 5 -12, KIT offers book reviews and fiction and nonfiction by writers all over the world.

The Kid's Imagination Train accepts fiction and nonfiction from writers 18 years and older. Suggested topics for writers include: science, nature, animals, technology, history, astronomy, sports, world cultures, adventure, health, and volunteering.

Each month, KIT plans to publish one fiction story, one nonfiction article, and one book review.  Illustrations will be added to stories and articles in the order in which they have been received.  Please check out home page for writer's and illustrator's requirements:  http://kidsimaginationtrain.blogspot.com/   

 

Professional Writer's Resume

Have you ever wanted to earn a special writing assignment?  If so, you may need to provide a writer’s resume.  Here’s a simple example that you may want to use or modify to suit your own needs:   

Contact information:  At the top of your first page, center your name, street address, city and state, phone, email.

Add the next sections in bold type, flushed left.

Summary:  The summary is an overview of what you have accomplished as a writer.  In a single paragraph, describe your writing experience and any other experience related to writing.   

Education:  List your degree, college attended, and year of graduation. 

Professional organizations:  List your memberships.

Experience:  List your job titles and the dates you’ve worked at each job.  The list goes from present to past.

Publications:  First, give a general summary of the kinds of pieces you’ve published.  For instance, it could look like:

Summary: 

educational articles for children

parenting and writer’s articles

elementary education lesson plans

fiction for children’s magazines 

Then add a sub-heading by listing the specific places where your work has been published.  These may include books, newspapers, websites, or magazines. 

There are many different ways to format a resume.  You can use my example or check online to see what works best for you.  Creating a professional resume is always good to have on hand.  You'll never know when it may be needed to earn a coveted writing assignment.

Guidelines/Requirements

In a recent post, I blogged about three of my pet peeves:  improperly formatted bibliographies, submissions that fail to follow the guidelines, and rushed revisions. Let’s focus on pet peeve number two:  submissions that ignore the guidelines.  

Not that long ago, I received a fiction submission for my new blog the Kid’s Imagination Train  http://kidsimaginationtrain.blogspot.com/.  When I glanced at the word count, I cringed.  It was not just a little over the word limit, it was grossly over the word count. The submission was 2800 words.  KIT requires a 500-word count for stories and articles.  Now, I don’t get me wrong.  I don't get bent out of shape if a story or article exceeds word count and runs to about 600 words or so, but anything longer will probably earn a rejection. This author either failed to read the guidelines or chose to ignore them.  

Kid's Imagination Train guidelines are in place for a reason:  we respect our young audience.  Since the age group for KIT is for children ages 5 -12, this article would be too long to hold their attention.  

Writer's guidelines are not a set of rules open to interpretation.  They are policies a publication expects you to follow. So, my husband and trusted adviser offered me a suggestion—change the "writers and illustrators guidelines" to "writers and illustrators requirements."  Perfect!  I made the necessary change to KIT's home page.  This should clear up any ambiguities concerning word count and other submission rules.  But only time will tell.  Hopefully, writers will submit as required. And if they do, I will most likely strike pet peeve number 2 off the pet peeve list. 

Words of Wisdom

I never attended a seminar led by the motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, but if I had, I would have eaten up all of his advice, especially the words of wisdom about dealing with rejection.  For me, rejection often breeds negativity and defeat.  It makes me wonder if I will ever publish a children's book. 

Luckily this mood doesn't last long and I find ways to pick myself up.  Take for instance these amazing quotes by Zig.  Recently, I received another rejection, but after reading the quotes my spirits lifted.  If you are going through a similar period of frustration in writing for children, perhaps the following advice will be beneficial:  

"Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street."

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."

"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude."

"There is little you can learn from doing nothing."

"If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost."

"Expect the best.  Prepare for the worst.  Capitalize on what comes."
"It's not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life; it is how you handle what happens to you." 

Zig Zagler was born on my birthday, November 6^th.  He passed away on November 28^th, 2012 at age 86.