• Wrong: Me and Tim are going to a movie tonight.
• Right: Tim and I are going to a movie tonight.

Why?

• If you take Tim out of the sentence, “you” are the subject.
• You are going to a movie. When you’re going to a movie, what do you say?
  • “I am going to a movie.”
  • You wouldn’t say, “Me am going to a movie.”

• When you add Tim, the sentence construction remains the same.
• You’re simply adding Tim, and it’s correct to say the other person’s name first.
  • “Tim and I are going to a movie.”

-found on http://adulted.about.com/od/howtos/tp/fivegrammartips.htm

Why not? Because the story isn’t ready. The chief story writer has lost it, but someone (“Yes, I do mean YOU!”) has already started reading. This marks the start of a race against time to find the notes, gather the characters and get the story told before the end of the book. Finally everything is assembled and there is just space to squeeze in

andtheyalllivedhappilyeverafterTheEND Phew!

on the last line.

The inversion of the story is very well done and the illustrations are brilliant – playful, quirky and colourful. The king is constantly bellowing at you, the reader, not to turn the page or he’ll fling you in the dungeon, which makes for fun reading and gives lots of scope for overacting and silly voices, although possibly not just before bed if you like your bedtime stories calming.

I’m not sure that it’s still in print – our copy leapt out of a charity shop shelf at us – but if not, it ought to be. If you can get it from the library or a secondhand copy, I’d highly recommend it.

It was my first writer’s retreat ever and a maiden voyage of many firsts when I sailed (okay, sat) on the ferry from B-Shed Ferry Terminal at Freemantle to Rottnest Island:

1) 1st Writer’s Retreat
You read about these things. It’s way much better when you are a part of it. Very inspiring!

2) 1st SCBWI event
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been “surrounded” by emails from Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators members
- SCBWI members in the U.S. from the 12×12 group which I am a part of
- the SCBWI WA team organizing team for Rottnest

I have been amazed by the care and support given to a first-time retreater like myself. So, just before I flew off to Western Australia, I signed up as an SCBWI member.

3) 1st time away from Baby
Probably the most emotional first for me. A week before my trip, I told Caleb three things:
- Mummy will be going overseas for a few days
- Papa, Kong Kong and Mama will spend lots of time with him and take turns to send him to playschool
- Mummy loves him and will be home soon to hug him many times over

On the day before flying, I became more specific. “Mummy will be going to Australia tommorrow and will come back on Sunday.”
He said, “Yes.”
I wondered if he knew what that meant.
A moment later, he added,”Mummy sit on airplane.”
I knew then that he understood perfectly.

In the days away, he would intermittently say, “Hug Mummy!”
Then, he would pause and tell himself, “Mummy not here. Mummy in Australia.”

4) 1st time I saw a quokka, Rottnest’s most famous resident. This marsupial looks like a mini kangaroo. Very huggable looking. Reminded me of my baby…sniff sniff.

5) 1st time travelling without Ben in 8 years. And that last “alone” trip eight years ago was my swan song trip (from my last corporate job) where I attended the Americas Lodging Investment Summit and saw Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger deliver the opening speech. More about that in a later post.

6) 1st time in a one-on-one critique session with a publisher
Very helpful. I blabbed a bit but think I did okay overall. Fingers crossed that something will come out of it.

7) 1st time doing a 2-minute idea pitch to a group of writers
I totally forgot about this so spent the few minutes before the session scribbling something remotely coherent together based on an idea I hope to write for junior fiction this year. Of course, as I heard the 20 before me pitch, I kept whispering under my breath, “Don’t reach me, don’t reach me!”

The sun started to set when it came round to me and so I graciously offered to skip. No such luck! But it turned out fine.

8) 1st time I danced in 4 years (and that was only because it was our friends’ wedding.) I apparently had muscles I did not know existed because those were aching all over.

9) 1st time I made a presentation outside Singapore
For one entire hour…without any trusty PowerPoint to fall back on. In the words of Ephesians 3:20, it was better than I could have imagined. More on that later.

I returned home close to midnight on Sunday (also Father’s Day) so decided not to see Caleb in case he sniffed me out and woke up. And it turned out that he did, which I didn’t know till morning.

When he came over to my room at 6am in the morning, he immediately shouted, “Mummy!” (in the semi-darkness), let out a delighted giggle, nuzzled his head against my neck  and let out a baby sigh. I tried to shift him slightly so I could breathe but he clung on like a baby koala bear for about half an hour.

I may have been the one at the writer’s retreat honing my craft but my 29-month old crafted the best ”Show, Don’t Tell” picture book moment ever:

A single word shouted

“Mummy!”

A giggle

A happy sigh

And a little bear hug that lasted

And that said it better than a thousand words.

Related Links:

Bye Baby, Mummy’s off to Rottnest Island for Write Reasons

As In Egg: SCBWI Rottnest Retreat

2011 Rottnest Retreat

The Drawing Room: 2009 Rottnest Retreat

If you ever loved someone who loved music as have I this is a must buy! This article is for my brother David, “I wish that you had known how much the world loved your music !”

Our school’s music teachers read this to our students and as I sat listening I found myself amazed at not only the words but some of the word choices such as “Beethoven was a slob” never really thought about it but truth is as it may… The children wide eyed. They were listening! This book certainly caught their attention! Great book about the lives of musicians. We listened to the composer’s pieces then we read and talked about them. A fascinating book, a child like look into the life these twenty famous composers and musicians, different temperaments and historical periods. What was their fashion statement back then and what foods did they loft? Besides, were they so driven that they barely ate or slept? Or even have time to take a bath? Too dare to be human. Music being their one obsession? Music being their only love…Did they dare to love anything but music? And in the end was it the end to the end? What did their neighbors think about them? Did they fit in? And only after death did they receive the love they had so long desired? As my kids asked” Why were they famous only after they died?”
The subjects include not only such well-known typical composers of classical music as Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Francois Chopin, Giuseppe Verdi, Johannes Brahms, Peter Illich Tchaikovsky, Erik Satie, Charles Ives, Igor Stravinsky, and Sergei Prokofiev, but also some more popular musicians like Stephen Collins Foster, Arthur Seymour Sullivan, Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, beloved folk singer Woody Guthrie, women pianists, Clara Schumann and Nadia Boulanger. Everyone knows that Beethoven lost his hearing due to his music, Mozart lived a life of poverty, Gilbert and Sullivan wrote musicians. This book shows what these musicians were human in the rarest form… But outside of education and the classroom I really want this book for myself! Mrs. Krull has done a wonderful and delightful job with this book and I now find myself intrude to travel in time to find the Mozart’s sister, and thinking why is their little mention of her in history.. That is the nature of other story! Mrs. Krull you have inspired me!! My new girl hero “Kathleen Krull.” Follow me on my next journey! A we unfold into the pages of “Harvesting Hope.”

Seattle Public Library world record book-dominos

My friend, Mary Cunningham, asked me to participate in this “blog hop interview.” The idea is this: She sent me some interview questions, which I answer, and then at the end I tag 3 other writers who will in turn answer the same questions on their blogs next week.

1. What are you working on right now?

I’m participating in 12×12. Authors write one picture book each month for a year. So far I’m five for five. Having compiled a set of 30 ideas last November as part of Picture Book Idea Month certainly helped.

2. How does it differ from other works in its genre?

It’s not so much that my projects differ from other books in their genre, as committing to writing on a regular basis has made me more comfortable writing diverse stories. My first two books, plus the next one that is currently under contract, are message-driven fiction. They are meant to educate and entertain. The last two books I’ve written for 12×12 have been stories solely meant to entertain. One is Cinderella’s story as told from the point of view of one of her stepsisters. The other is about a turkey who keeps making new costumes to disguise himself from Farmer Jones so he doesn’t end up on the Thanksgiving Day table.

3. What experiences have influenced you?

Reading is a huge influence for any writer. My children and my faith also inspire my writing.

4. Why do you write what you do?

I’ve been a Sunday school teacher for over 20 years. My message-driven fiction comes from that background. I’m always looking for new ways to teach familiar lessons. I also like to make people laugh. With my most recent projects, I feel I can do that.

5. How does your writing process work?

Since I am writing shorter pieces of fiction right now, there isn’t a ton of research and I don’t outline. I’ve had a few months to consider the ideas I committed to working on for 12×12, so the starting point is usually easy. It’s hard to control my desire to describe everything, but with picture books the reader has a visual aid, so you don’t have to paint as much of the picture for a reader as you do in middle grade or young adult fiction. If I’m having a busy month, I will write longhand while sitting at softball practice or the girls’ dance lessons. Most times, though, I sit down and type away. Most picture books take me three full days of writing to develop. That’s not to say it’s easy. Before I sit down to write I’m fairly certain of where I am going with a project. That means writing less often than I would like, but I need to be comfortable that I know enough to prevent me from staring at a blank screen for hours.  I am also a firm believer in the practice of write now, edit later. Once I type “The End,” I can take my time pondering what works and what doesn’t before sending it off to my critique group for feedback.

6. What is the hardest part about writing?

For me it is definitely the waiting. Right now, I have no less than nine picture books completed. One is with my publisher awaiting an illustrator to be assigned to it. Another is with a local artist who I’m working with because we might self-publish. Two are ready for me to write query letters so I can submit them to publishers. The others are in various stages of editing. Sometimes it’s tough waiting to hear back on queries or holding out to see the cover art the illustrator designs. But it’s part of the process. You can’t experience the successes without the wait.

7. What would you like to try as a writer that you haven’t yet?

I would love to write an inspirational romance or a cozy mystery. I’ve been a mystery lover since I was kid. My largest problem is creating villains. They never come easy to me.

8. Who are the authors you most admire?

Laura Ingalls Wilder and Lucy Maud Montgomery were superb writers. Before I began reviewing so many books on my blogs I read the Little House and Anne of Green Gables series annually. These authors both had a keen eye for detail that should be studied. Christian authors Jerry Jenkins and Kathi Macias have wonderful ministries. I try not to miss any of their books. Southern fiction authors Karen White and Rhett DeVane are excellent at blending past and present and uncovering family secrets. What surprised me is how much I enjoyed The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Dystopian fiction has never been my thing, but Collins helped me develop a taste for it. I also love historical fiction from C.W. Gortner. I’m staring at one of his recent books now and it’s crying, “Read me.” If you love historical fiction with strong female characters, you have to pick up one of Gortner’s books.  

9. What scares you?

My list of phobias would scare you. From a writing point of view, I’m afraid of making bad choices. When my second book came out, I decided to write it under a pen name. That’s not proving to be the wisest choice. I can handle two websites and multiple social media accounts–though they take a lot of time and are an extra expense–but if I had truly thought about my work as a whole, I would have realized releasing my second book under my actual name would have been just fine, even if it wasn’t a faith-based project.

Please check out Mary’s answers to the questions on her blog at Cynthia’s Attic Blog. Feel free to leave a comment at the end of her interview and tell her it’s from me. In addition, I am tagging the following authors:

Posting June 24th – Nicole Weaver at My Sister Is My Best Friend blog: http://mysisterismybestfriend.blogspot.com/

Posting June 26th – Cynthia Reeg at What’s New With Cynthia Reeg:
http://www.cynthiareegblog.com/ 

Posting the week of the 24th – Tracey M. Cox at A Writers Blog by Tracey M. Cox: 
http://traceymcox.wordpress.com/

Cheryl Malandrinos is a freelance writer, children’s author and editor. Her first children’s book, Little Shepherd, was released in August 2010 by Guardian Angel Publishing. She is a member of the SCBWI, a book reviewer, and blogger. Cheryl also writes under the name of C. C. Gevry. Ms. Malandrinos lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and two children. She also has a son who is married.

Visit her online at
http://ccmalandrinos.com
or
http://ccgevry.com

Free children’s ebooks for ages 3-11 | Oxford Owl.

Help your child’s maths | Oxford Owl.

I don’t want non-iPad owners out there to feel a bit left out. Even though you can snag all these cool deals with your iTunes account, it would be nice to have something that you could access right now. So, here is a great pair of websites from our friends from across the pond.

The reading website has over 250 FREE e-books, tons of activities and games, and resources to help you with your child’s reading skills. Everything is separated by age range/reading ability which makes it very easy to find what you are looking for. The books range from age 3 up to 11. The math(s) website is geared towards ages 3 to 5 and 5 to 7 with activities and resources to help you develop your child’s math skills. This site is not nearly as robust as the reading website.

Keep in mind, these are British websites, so the pronunciation, phonetic rules, and spelling adhere to Queen’s English.

Recommended for children in pre-K to 5th grade for reading and pre-K to 2nd for math.

L@WS

Our daughter was given this beautiful book pop up book by her godmother – “Birdscapes”, by Miyoko Chu (with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology), a book celebrating bird songs from Northern American habitats.

She would spend hours looking at it. More recently, her young one year old brother has taken up the ritual of opening the book daily, at the crack of dawn and flipping through the pages as they emit different bird songs from different bird species from diverse Northern American habitats. We discover the rhythmic clicking sound of a Buff-breasted sandpiper in the Artic Tundra, the drumming of a Pileated Woodpecker, the spiraling ventriloquial notes of a Swainson’s Thrush from the Pacific Rain Forest or a King Rai’s castanet clicking in the cypress swamp.

The illustrations, by Julia Hargreaves are gorgeous, realistic so engaging that our son also spends hours pointing to all the birds hiding in the trees or in swamps. The paper engineering by Gene Vosough, Renee Jablow and Andy Baron are also incredibly thought out.

Our son now looks up to the trees every time we go out and points to every bird he sees. A very gratifying ritual for an urban mother!

I know, right? How lucky was I?!

Amazing, talented, accomplished, gifted, generous people. All of them.
I did write a blog post about it yesterday but jeepers, it got so gushy and full of love that I deleted it for fear of any SCBWI members reading it and realising just how completely smitten I was with them all. Possibly too smitten. Possibly borderline creepy.

They might never want me back.

So instead, I’ll just say that in four days at Rottnest with this wonderful group of people I learnt things (you’re never too old!), I made friends, I drew pictures, I was in awe (almost the whole time) and I came away from it more determined than ever to get a picture book done…then another…then another…fingers crossed.

I’ll also say this, Deborah Abela, who was one of my housemates, is my new girl crush. What a charming, gracious, intelligent, funny woman. I’m on a mission now to read all 300 of her books (it’s either 300 or 20-something, either way there’s a lot of books). Writer/playwright/poet Justin Cheek had me so blown away by his poems that I practically begged him to let me illustrate one…oops, slightly embarrassing. I can get a little enthusiastic about a project sometimes. Even more so when wine is involved. I can’t find a website link so you’ll just have to trust that they are brilliant poems and that he is brilliant at writing them. And finally, young Gabriel Evans is one mighty fine artist/illustrator and all-round good guy. So massively talented. Like, enormously talented. It’s ridiculous. You should snap up pieces of his work now before he’s too famous and special and important and prices triple!

So you see, I told you I was smitten. By them all. ALL THE PEOPLE!

And then today, I drew this…

At first I didn’t think it was Rottnest related, simply something I’ve drawn in my sketchbook while Will’s at kindy this morning but, actually, maybe, it’s filled with joy, which Rottnest was, so perhaps it is related.

Happy happy joy joy! I’m inspired!

Thank you, SCBWI. A lot.

Okay so wordpress changed over night… wow now I feel really out of it. I was already, but now I am in some twilight zone. Oh well will plod along. It’s not so much that I have lost my way it’s more that I would love some direction from here. I have just had my third children’s book published. I have also entered three flash fiction stories for various anthologies and am working on another. I have two drafts to edit. I am writing two more first drafts and have ideas spilling forth onto my laptop. So as an author I feel pretty good (especially since this is a hobby). I also have my other blog (Stitch Says – for interviews and reviews) going well and have a few interviews myself to work on. So lots to do. I guess I’m just still unsure about promoting my books. The problem is no one seems to comment when I do an actual promotion. Now I try really hard to share other people’s work, that’s why I started the second blog. It would be nice to have a few people do the same for me. I’m not complaining though, I just want to know what marketing or promotions actually work?
So I have a question for any other author out there,
Do giveaways actually help boost sales or are you just spending money in hope????

I am also planing a book launch here in my home city, can any one offer me some advice? What works well? What not to do???

Any suggestions would be great. Now it’s back to the writing board, after I’ve navigated the new wordpress. Until tomorrow – have fun!

I live on a neat street. My neighbor, who we will call Bernie, because that’s his name, is in his garden, rain, hail or shine, every Saturday. He weeds his lawn, and he picks the leaves up off his garden bed which is covered in black dyed mulch. He has manicured rose bushes that lead to his front door, and a beautiful weeping cherry tree in his front yard. Our other neighbor has the same black dyed mulch, a border of manicured lavender, and a smaller version of Bernie’s weeping cherry tree.

Then we have our house. Our garden is like the Botanic Gardens. The Botanic Gardens for weeds that it. Recently I got out there to weed it, because it was ridiculously embarrassing. I had weeds taller than the plants! I filled a wheelie bin, just with one section of the garden. While I was weeding my mother-in-law called to see how we were, and asked hubby what we were doing. He replied, weeding. She thought we said weaving. Apparently it was more plausible that we would be sitting around on a Saturday afternoon as a family, weaving, than weeding our garden.

We tried at one point to find someone to come out and look after our garden for us. We are totally realistic about our capabilities, and gardening is not one of them. We couldn’t find anyone in the area to come out – surely not everyone in the neighbourhood does their own garden? Driving around on a Saturday or a Sunday, confirms that probably 90% do. I’m now considering paying Bernie to come over and look after my garden. I’m pretty sure he’d do it at a reduced rate, just so that he doesn’t have to look at our weedy jungle. Although with all the rain we’ve had lately, it is very green and lush…

My mother and my father-in-law are excellent gardeners. They both have amazing vegetable gardens and grow so much of their own food. Neither hubby nor I have inherited these skills. We have killed mint and rosemary in our garden. Yes really. Although, when I did weed the front garden bed, I did find a lettuce and tomato plant growing there. I think my mum must have dug in some compost, and these grew from it.

Do you live on a neat street? Do you enjoy gardening? Or are you botanically challenged, like me?

Reading Franklin the Turtle, Arthur, or The Bernstein Bears to your children reinforces racism and patriarcy according to so-called “researchers”. How childrens books about animals who have human qualities can do so is beyond me.

Thats funny, I don’t recall ever Papa Bear coming off as an Archie Bunker or the Read’s being members of a secret hooded organization.

I know, I’m being silly, but still. Liberal insanity is just so fun to pick at.

Honestly, we can’t make this stuff up even if we wanted to come up with the most bat-s*** crazy ideas ever to thought up.

More than 7,000 academics are gathered in Victoria, B.C., this week for the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, presenting papers on everything from the errant lessons of Grey’s Anatomy to Justin Trudeau’s political brand power. In this week-long series, the National Post showcases some of the most interesting research.

Parents who read their kids stories about happy, human-like animals like Franklin the Turtle or Arthur at bedtime are exposing their kids to racism, materialism, homophobia and patriarchal norms, according to a paper presented at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Most animals portrayed in children’s books, songs and on clothing send a bad message, according to academics Nora Timmerman and  Julia Ostertag: That animals only exist for human use, that humans are better than animals, that animals don’t have their own stories to tell, that it’s fine to “demean” them by cooing over their cuteness. Perhaps worst of all, they say, animals are anthropomorphized to reinforce “socially dominant norms” like nuclear families and gender stereotypes.

“[M]uch of young children’s media reproduces and confirms racist, colonial, consumerist, heteronormative, and patriarchal norms,” Timmerman and Ostertag write in their paper ‘Too Many Monkeys Jumping in Their Heads: Animal Lessons within Young Children’s Media,’ presented at Congress Wednesday.

Ms. Timmerman—a University of British Columbia PhD candidate in educational studies focusing on environmentalism—admits she’s no child psychologist, and admits there are probably extremely thin ranks of those fretting about “subliminal” messages in Goodnight Moon or Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. “I do. But I don’t think most people do,” she said.

Her argument is that books and media are often the first exposure children under 4 get to society—and it’s a society in which tigers don’t talk, bears aren’t cuddly and rhinoceroses are creatures they may never see in their lifetimes.

“If they don’t see what it is that they experience reflected within that media, then they don’t come to value that experience as much or think it’s worthwhile,” she said in an interview at Congress this week.

In their paper, she and Ms. Ostertag recommend children age 0-4 should be primarily exposed to the creatures in their daily lives in their “full richness and ambiguity,” not zebras and elephants and tropical fish and toucans (that, apparently, can come later).

And then there’s the anthropomorphism—animals like Franklin and Arthur the aardvark and The Berenstain Bears wearing clothes and talking to each other and living in nuclear families.

“What I’ve noticed in particular about animals is the cultural stereotypes that we have in our society, and in the culture of prejudices we have often are more hidden when they’re inserted into a story about animals or animal form.”

It’s just problematic when it’s the only way children see animals portrayed in the media and “when we don’t realize that an animal also has its own complex embedded ambiguous life and it exists outside of our own use or interpretation,” she said.

Authors are often trying to convey good social values in children’s books with animal characters, whether it be acceptance or generosity or inclusivity. But Ms. Timmerman wishes these authors would acknowledge that “animals themselves may have lessons to teach us.” For example, bees buzzing around a hive or ants in an ant farm can teach the importance of community and teamwork without having to be anthropomorphized, she said.

“Billy the Bee doesn’t necessarily project any kind of cultural bias unless we ignore, for example, that worker ants are mostly females and we call them male because we tend to think of workers as male,” she said.

Original Article

Update: Who knew there was even something called speciesism.

A wonderful and informative book for all ages. Claude Monet is one of the founders of the impressionistic style of painting, he is well known for his en plein air painting of his gardens in Giverny, France, early 1900′s.

Monochromatic green was the other theme in today’s painting lesson. The mixing of green; blue/yellow, white/green, black/green, and more then placing them as high lights and shadows. The story of Linnea in Monet’s garden has a page where the Nasturtiums cover the ground and path, chop sticks were used to dip into the orange paint and decorate the green path.

Author: New York Hall of Science

Pictures by/Illustrator: Peter H. Reynolds and Fablevision

ISBN-10: 1442421126

ISBN-13: 978-1442421127

Main Characters: Charlie, Kiwi, and Grandpa Charles

Summary:

Charlie has to write a paper about a bird.

He wants to pick a different kind of bird.

Charlie chooses to write about a kiwi.

Charlie, Kiwi, and Grandpa Charles time travel to learn about kiwis.

My favorite part of the story: My favorite part of the story was when they traveled through time to see how dinosaurs may have become like birds.

What I learned from this book: I learned why kiwis can’t fly and don’t have wings but they are still birds.

My rating: 4

Reading difficulty for me: A little difficult

Words that were new/difficult for me: Kiwi, New Zealand, mutter, astonish, shudder, peculiar, contraption, snicker, familiar, ancestor, ancient, wistful, theory, generation, descendants, evolve

Fun facts: Other birds like chickens and eagles are also believed to be descendants of dinosaurs.

View the book on the web

How exciting to see The Hobbit as the Older Readers choice! Thanks to the world of movie making, I foresee a whole new generation getting hooked on Tolkien !

Congratulations to David Legge and Andy Griffiths as well – plus the wonderful work of the CBC Qld branch.

Title of Book:

Time length to read: 4-5 min

Age recommend: 5 and up

Author/Illustrator: Jori Sams

Publisher: Writeious Books

Best place to purchase: Writeious Books or Amazon (click words for direct link)

Price: Ranging from $2.99 to $5.00

Do you ever have days where you are reading a book and the next minute find yourself in the book realistically? Well in this book, a little girl named lil’ lingo finds herself in the same situation. Lil’ Lingo starts reading a book, when she finds herself drawn into the book itself. She is in a kingdom full of mountains, windy roads and a little village. That’s not all though, she ends up meeting a bird dove named Friedee. Friedee tells Lil’ Lingo about the castle and the king and directs her to the castle. Before she knows it, Lil’ Lingo meets the King and feels like she is right at home as the King welcomes her into his castle to stay, and then…she wakes up. Before just thinking everything is all a dream she finds a little clue on her bookmark, to make her think that maybe things aren’t always as they seem.

This was a really cute book filled with a lot of imagination and reality at the same time. I think all of us find ourselves in that position where we feel like we are in the book, and Jori Sams has a very good way of showing that in this book. It gives children the idea to reach beyond imagination. The colorful illustrations, also done by Jori Sams, are very colorful, and depict the scenes of the story well. Another cool thing about this book is that there are more adventures, and this e-book series is also available as a bilingual book.

So if you are looking for a cute book filled with color and imagination, I’ d recommend checking this one out. It will leave you wanting to dive into your imagination.

To learn more about the author, check out the website of Writeious Books.

Early Chapter Book

Today’s 24:  Another Elephant & Piggie hilarious and clever

edition:  This time the joke is intentionally and  kindheartedly on the reader.

Watch out,  readers will go bananas!

]]> http://literarylarder.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/quote-the-sweet-shop-feast-from-pippi-goes-on-board-by-astrid-lindgren/ Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:38:23 +0000 Katrina Calavera http://literarylarder.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/quote-the-sweet-shop-feast-from-pippi-goes-on-board-by-astrid-lindgren/

Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking is a splendid name. Say it out loud right now! It’s almost as tasty as this passage, wherein Pippi treats all of the children in her village to a glorious orgy of candy.

***

Pippi marched on with the false arm slung jauntily across her shoulder. She stopped at a sweet shop. A group of children was outside, gazing at all the wonderful things displayed in the window: large jars full of red and blue and green sweets, long rows of chocolate bars, piles and piles of chewing gum, and the most tempting toffee lollipops. No wonder the little children gazed now and then heaved a heavy sigh, because they had no money, not even one little penny.

‘Pippi, shall we go in?’ said Tommy, eagerly tugging at Pippi’s dress.

‘We’re going into this shop,’ said Pippi. ‘Far into it!’

And they entered.

‘Please may I have thirty-six pounds of sweets,’ said Pippi, waving a gold coin in the air. The assistant only gaped. She was not used to anyone buying so many sweets at one time.

‘You mean you want thirty-six sweets,’ she said.

‘I mean that I want thirty-six pounds of sweets,’ said Pippi. She put the gold coin on the counter. The assistant hurriedly began pouring sweets into large bags. Tommy and Annika pointed to the sweets they thought the best. There were some red ones which were delicious; when you had sucked them for a while a lovely soft mixture oozed out. There were some green acid drops that were not bad either. The jelly babies and liquorice allsorts were jolly good too.

‘Let’s have six pounds of each,’ suggested Annika. And they did.

‘Then if you give me sixty lollipops and seventy-two small packets of toffee, I don’t think I need to take more than one hundred and three chocolate cigarettes for today,’ said Pippi, ‘except perhaps a small cart to carry them in.’

The assistant said she thought a cart could be bought at the toy shop close by.

By this time a lot of children had gathered outside the sweet shop. They were all staring through the window and gasped when they saw Pippi’s way of doing her shopping. Pippi hurried into the top shop, bought a cart, and loaded it with all the bags of sweets. She looked round and called out:

‘Is there a child here who does not eat sweets? If so, will he or she please step forward.’

No one stepped forward.

‘Strange!’ said Pippi. ‘Does there happen to be a child who does eat sweets, then?’

Twenty-three came forward, Tommy and Annika with them, of course.

‘Tommy, open the bags!’ said Pippi.

Tommy did so. A sweet-eating began, the like of which had never been seen in the little town. All the children filled their mouths with sweets, the red ones with the luscious juice inside, and the green acid ones, and the liquorice allsorts, and the jelly babies– all higgledy-piggledy. You could also have a chocolate cigarette in the corner of your mouth, because the taste of chocolate and jelly mixed was very nice. More children came running from every direction, and Pippi shared out handfuls all round.

‘I think I shall have to buy another thirty-six pounds,’ she said, ‘otherwise there won’t be anything for tomorrow.’

Pippi bought another thirty-six pounds, but there was not much left for tomorrow in spite of it.

– Pippi Goes on Board, by Astrid Lindgren, translated by Florence Lamborn

(All source images in this post provided free courtesy of photl.com.)

Of Dogs and Writers

Vacation Is Around the Corner.

At this point, my plans include that those who participate will have opportunities to receive first-edition autographed copies of the book with a personal note from me, the chance to donate some of the books to a library of their choice, and for some, a personalized short poem about someone they love (possibly involving a character in one of the books), and/or perhaps one or more of the illustrations from the book signed by the illustrator and printed on high-quality (acid-free?) paper.

That way, the whole community can participate in, and be rewarded by the creation, of the books.

More details soon!

Love,
Russ

I, Perdita Whacknoodle, your favorite dog author (I’m sure) have been quite absent from my blog for several weeks. I will explain, but I am not happy about it.

As you know, I am a very thoughtful dog and a magnificent dog-author. My three books are loved by people all over the world, and that makes me very happy.

But, as you also know, dogs have paws and computers have keyboards. Therefore I have arranged with an unusual human, who I call my scribe, to translate my thoughts, ideas, stories, and canine revelations into books so humans can learn from me. It is a good partnership–I do the thinking and creating (which, of course, is the hard part), and my scribe merely scrabbles on the computer and turns my gems into books.

So far, so good. He seems happy to help, and I am careful to keep the power of my mental transmissions very low so his brain won’t explode.

We were happily working on my FOURTH book and Nancy, the wonderful artist, was busy turning my fabulous stories into pictures for the world to see, so I was confident that even more fame and fortune was just around the fireplug, so to speak.

And then, WHAM! My scribe and his helper (who he calls his ‘wife’) suddenly, with NO warning, left. Vanished. Vamoosed!

They went to Italy, of all things, and left me here with NO SCRIBE AVAILABLE. I had no outlet for my powerful thoughts except for the evening bark-around.

I had no way, without my scribe, to share my thoughts with the humans who need them.

My scribe obviously has his priorities completely wrong, because he should be more concerned about MY success and MY mental health as a dog-author, than having fun gallivanting around Italy for no reason.

Oh, he told me about all the great food. He praised the spaghetti carbonara, the lasagna, the pizza. But, big deal. Why should I care about HIS insalade caprese?

What’s worse, he did NOT bring me even a morsel of the lasagna, nor even a noodle of spaghetti! Sure, he has pictures, but they have no smell and don’t do anything for me!

THEN he had the gall to tell me that Italians love dogs and he saw a LOT of dogs over there. He even made pictures of them, as if that would make everything OK.

I am, honestly, very lucky that my brain did not explode like a watermelon falling off Farmer’s truck because of the pressure of all my unreleased stories while he was gone. But, did he care? Did he?

No! Believe it or not, he keeps talking about the food in Italy, of all things. Can you believe I was abandoned in the midst of my creative burst, for lasagna? (I think it’s sort of sad how humans ONLY think about food. Thank goodness dogs are not like that at all.)

So, I will punish him for a while longer, and then we will get right back to work on my next opus, May Contain Nuts, in which my young translator, Laoorel, tries to get “the truth” out of me.

Dog against human. Obviously not a fair fight, intellectually, but I keep it simple for her, and for my scribe, too. Maybe . . . just maybe . . . I can get him back into his productive mode and finish this long-awaited book.

But first I have to stop him from talking about lasagna.