Does your llama need a haircut? Um, not those llamas. YOUR llama. If you struggle to separate your child from those tangled locks that are threatening to eat his or her head, this is the book for you. Share this funny, sweet, and so true-to-life tale of llama drama with your … Continue reading When Your Llama Needs a Haircut
Call me sentimental, but when Susanna Leonard Hill's "The Road That Truck Built" arrived in the mail, I sat down with my now-13-yr-old son and read it immediately. THIS book would have been his go-to for every bedtime, snack time, every-waking-moment-time until it fell apart. And then we would have bought another. Not only is … Continue reading The Road That Trucks Built – Perfect Picture Book Friday
There's an ongoing discussion in the kid lit world about why boys don't want to read "girl books," meaning books that star female protagonists or feature fairies or princesses on the cover or in the title. Is this "preference" intrinsic, or are they steered away from such interests, starting at a very young age? Shannon … Continue reading Reading Gender Into It – Children’s Books and Beyond
Made it through Reading for Research Month (ReFoReMo), the picture book marathon of reading and studying various picture book attributes, so now it's time to recommend perhaps a book or two from my reading that were not on the prescribed reading list. While I was combing the stacks of the San Francisco Public Library's children's picture … Continue reading Brief Thief – Perfect Picture Book Friday
I stopped packing boxes long enough to write this teensy-weensy story for Susanna Leonard Hills' Halloweensie story contest. Here are the rules: Write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words costume, dark, and haunt. Your story can be scary, funny or anything in between, poetry or prose, but … Continue reading Dental Hygiene Halloween – Halloweensie Story Contest
Hello everyone! Back for Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Book Extravaganza. My entry is the hot-off-the-press: Mama Seeton's Whistle by Jerry Spinelli (yes, THAT Jerry Spinelli). It has an old-fashioned look because it's an old-fashioned memory. And it's based on Spinelli's next door neighbor that he knew as a child. I dare say there won't … Continue reading Mama Seeton’s Whistle – Perfect Picture Book Friday
My 11-yr-old son has discovered Russ Cox, a wonderful illustrator. You can see his work at Smiling Otis Studio. [Yes, Mike Allegra (HeyLookAWriterFellow), Otis was one of Russ's cats. They're everywhere! And BTW, a mouse snuck into our pantry and tore into the brown sugar, dried beans, and pancake mix. I'm thinking we've got a diabetic … Continue reading Illustrator Influence
Time once again to add to Susanna Leonard Hill's growing list of recommended picture books. As I passed the "new" shelf in our library, the cover illustration of Shoe Dog caught my eye. Katherine Tillotson, magically transforms a handful of brown scribbles into a sniffing, chewing, boisterous puppy. And when I opened it up for … Continue reading Shoe Dog – Perfect Picture Book Friday
When HeyLookAWriterFellow (Mike Allegra) sent my son a "Celebrate" stamp (see post "Celebrate Cats!"), he didn't know what he was getting himself into---or maybe he did. My son thanked Mike for the stamp by creating a new stamp, "Celebrate Falling!" and a comic book (see post "Alien Invasion - A Graphic Novel" and sending them as … Continue reading Celebrate—Illustrators!!
Well, folks, the SCBWI's spring conference at Asilomar was inspiring, despite the food provided by ARAMARK. The glutinous pad thai noodles, grey prime rib, and screams for life-rings from the nicoise salad ingredients as they bobbed above the pool of nondescript salad dressing---all this failed to throttle the enthusiasm of the children’s book writers and … Continue reading Humor and Tragedy for SCBWI
Jilanne Hoffmann 