Fair and Square!

 

Hey, hey, it's an exciting day! 

Unicorn and Yeti book 5, Fair and Square, is out into the world!

As you can see from the book cover, in Fair and Square Unicorn and Yeti take on painting! They also build a forest out of shapes, and Yeti makes a pie! Hazel Quintanilla's illustrations are so amazing, as usual, and bring such joy and wonder to the stories. I am so excited for kids to get to read it!

Looking at the completed book I can see a lot of my family in these stories. When my kids were small we had so many fun painting days. We'd build with blocks and sticks and whatever we could find to make towers and caves and robots--whatever struck our fancy. Our house was also under construction so we always had lots of building going on. My husband
built our house in his time off from working construction, so mornings before work, evenings after, and weekends.

I did a lot of holding up of big pieces of stuff, handing of tools, and nailing of nails--construction support. But let me tell you that a lot of things that you hold up during construction are not easy! And when we built our barn I had to get really high up and I did not have a trusty unicorn to fly me! (I definitely did my best to stay close to a holding place like I am in the picture.) It seems to me that sort of dedication deserves some sort of a medal. But we settled for pie. I made us lots of pies, and that seems to be a better prize anyway. Is the appearance pie in this book a coincidence? I certainly didn't think about it when I was writing the book but now I wonder!

 

Here's the family building a barn. The kids were older and loved helping!

Building, painting, pie making-- it's all fun and magical to me! I'm thrilled that Unicorn and Yeti is a 5 book series now and am so happy to be able to share more Unicorn and Yeti stories with readers! Just look at all of those amazing covers with those two amazing friends!

I can't wait to get to show you all book 6, Together. It comes out in 2022!

 

Me, in PW? aka I HAVE NEWS!!! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!

Publisher's Weekly -- it's the place to go to read about book deals. It can be so fun to read, and to see the people I know from around the web getting book deals. For me, it's inspiring to read about what children's books will be coming out in the future. The Publisher's Weekly Rights Report helps me see what types of books are selling and who the agents and publishers involved are. Reading the weekly report is another good way to get to know the publishing world. Of course, when you really want a book deal it can perhaps be not as fun to read becuase you wonder if you are ever going to see yourself listed there, but it helps to remember that if you are a writer you have to be in it for the long haul.

For me, it has finally happened. My book deal is listed in the Publisher's Weekly Rights Report! It is amazing to see myself there. I have wanted to have a book announcement for so long in general. Of course, I have known about my book deal but seeing it there announced to the kidlit book world makes it feel all new and exciting again. If you don't want to follow the link I will show you here:

I am super excited about this book. It's punny. It involves cookies, and ninjas. Stuff I love! My agent really helped encourage me to write even better than I thought I could. Zaneta Jung and the team at Sterling Publishing are so enthusiastic and supportive. The cut paper illustration style that Bomboland does are fresh and fun. I cannot wait to see how it all turns out!

Cheers to 2014!

You know what? I had an amazing number of wonderful clients this year! I want to thank each and every one of you for sharing your work with me. It is so fantastic to see so many people taking on their dreams and working to create children's literature. I feel really honored to be a part of that.

And so many of you who have sent me kind notes about what helped you in a post or my blog in general. Thank you so much! You keep me going!

Here's to all of you! I wish we could get together for a New Years Party. One with a rejection pinata, great food and drinks, and lots of writing chit chat!

For me, 2014 has been a wonderfully busy year. I signed with agent Sean McCarthy. My family's garlic business more than doubled. And Sub It Club grew like wildfire. Yay yay and yay! It is really amazing for me to look back and see that I've actually accomplished some great things this year.

I resigned myself to the fact that success doesn't come quickly for me a long time ago. I've been working hard on my writing for so long that I can't even count how long it's been. My family has been growing garlic for quite a few years to build up our seed stock so we are just now beginning to find out if we can sell all that we grow. (Scary!) And well, Sub It Club, that's something I wanted to do for a long time but finally got the guts to do just about two years ago now and am amazed to see it take off like it has in 2014.

But if you want to hear the truth, I want to do more. I guess that's what keeps me going. I want write great stories and make Sean proud. I want to grow our family garlic business even more so we can hire employees and help give a few of the wonderful people in our community jobs. I want every writer and illustrator out there to find the support they need. So yup, there's more to do! But how am I going to do it? I'm just going to keep on keeping on!

As far as writing goes, I'm going to keep writing the best stories that I can. I'm going to keep learning from agent and editor notes, critique partners and books. I am going to work on learning to listen to myself better when I know something is working...and when it's not.

The garlic? Well, we planted twice as much garlic this year as we did last year so we should be harvesting twice as much come summer. (The weather has been a little wacky so I worry but there's nothing to do but wait!) I'm afraid I may get lost in the garlic abyss around August when there is harvesting, drying, cleaning, shipping, and planting to do, so I'm trying to get lots of writing things done this winter. I guess I'll see what happens!

And then there's Sub It Club. I love Sub It Club. Such a great group with so many amazing people. We just celebrated members' successes of 2014 and I couldn't be happier for each and every person! I hope we can keep bringing helpful information to writers and illustrators who need it, and keep fostering those helpful connections in our support and critique partner groups.

Cheers! To a wonderful 2015!

Get the Scoop!

When you're working towards your goal of publication it is good to keep up on the industry. That means news. You don't have to go searching all over for it. Lisha Cauthen puts together a great newsletter called the KidLit Scoop. I read it every week. As soon as I see it in my inbox I stop everything and open it. I'm not kidding.

Here's what Lisha says about the Scoop:

It's free, my darlings. a weekly newsletter about the children's publishing industry: personnel moves, mergers, new imprints, market trends, grants, interviews and such. Whatever is happening in the kidlit community this week is delivered in digested form to your inbox. IT IS FREE. Did I mention that? Be a sport, subscribe below.

What she fails to mention is that she strings a fun story throughout every issue. Nothing long. Just a sentence or two of funny asides at the beginning of each section. Okay I am going to admit it right now. Sometimes I read it just for the asides. They crack me up. Then I come back later for the news. True story.

Lisha has been putting out the Kidlit Scoop for a long time now. She's almost reached 100 issues! And the woman puts this thing together all by herself. She is a wonder. Help her celebrate and get the scoop on the news. Go subscribe! Then enter to win her fun giveaway. There are autographed books for goodness sake!

Enjoying the Earth

My cabin in the woods in Shasta.

So, I took a break. A vacation even! I drove from Washington State to California and back armed with only my iphone. No laptop, just a tiny little screen to check in on things with. Dana and Lisha took care of all the Sub It Club business while I was gone. (Love those girls!) I preset all the social media posts for the business pages I manage. With the exception of a few things I pretty much got a break from the online world. And I didn't suffer from withdrawal!

Monterey Bay, at the end of the street where I used to live.

Of course there was stuff I *should* have been doing. Blogging this. Checking in on that. Facebooking. Tweeting. And revising. Yes, I really should have been revising.

But I didn't do anything besides a few quick checkins and picture postings. And It was good. Sometimes you just need a break. I hung out. Saw stuff. Did stuff. But most of all I didn't worry about what I might be missing online.

As writers, especially writers trying to break in, it can be easy to can get caught up in the mission of needing to stay on top of things. Knowing what the market wants. What agent is looking for what. What new contests are open. The list can go on and on. Honestly, it is great to be informed but you can't know everything. Sometimes a break can help you see things with a fresh perspective. And a break from the screen can be a rare commodity these days, but you can do it! Get out of your usual life, enjoy the beauty(and even the ugliness) that surrounds you, and be reminded of the other things there are out there in the world. Whether you do this by just taking a walk in a new part of your neighborhood or by going on a little vacation, it's good to get out of your usual zone. It can also make you really long to get back to those revisions!

Once Upon a Time a Writer Found the Perfect Agent

Once upon a time there was a girl who liked to write. The more she wrote, the more she liked it. The more she liked it the more she wanted to see something she wrote turned into a book. And when that actually happened she then wanted to see something else she wrote turned into a book because, as she had learned, writers are never finished, they just move onto the next project.

Many times she felt all alone and like she needed advice. Along her travels she made many writing friends. She liked them so much she started a club where they shared writing secrets with those who knew the secret handshake. But she longed to find that one brave knight who would help her find her way through the publishing forest.

One day, when she was wallowing in the depths of the murky river of writing woe, the knight magically appeared telling her how wonderful her writing was and that he was there to help her make her way through the forest and…

WAIT A MINUTE!

Whose story is this? Well, it’s mine. Sort of. But it didn’t happen quite that way.

I did (and do) write. A lot. I’ve had a bit of success along the way.

I have great writer friends. 

And now I do have the perfect agent for me. I found him the best way I knew how—by querying!

Was there magic involved? Perhaps a little. I wrote a story I really liked. I got it critiqued. Revised it. A lot. I studied agents, made a list of what I thought were the best matches, and queried them. Guess who was my top choice? Sean McCarthy. And amazingly enough he was busy starting his own agency when I was ready to query.

When I read the news about Sean McCarthy Literary Agency I got my submission ready immediately. But I didn’t send it. What if he didn’t like it? Was I ready to be disappointed? Apparently I talked about it quite a bit because my daughter finally said, “Mom, just send it to him already! He's going to love it!” (When your daughter rolls her eyes at you because you’re being childish it can really help you do the things you need to do.) So I did. Click. Done. Wait.

I didn’t have to wait too long.

You want the fairytale ending? Sean did like my manuscript. And he read a bunch more of my work and liked that too! Plus he’s thoughtful, understanding, concerned, informed, open, honest, helpful… all those things you hope to find in an agent. Heck, look at his fabulous list of recent books! So yes, now I can say,

I am represented by Sean McCarthy of Sean McCarthy Literary Agency! 

As for the rest of the tale? It has yet to be written. 

But I think I'll end this story with... 

                                                       ...and they lived happily ever after.

Brainstorming a New YA... with my Daughter

My daughter, Ellamae, has been a book lover all of her life. I started reading to her when she was a baby. She started going to storytime at the library when she was around one. She would peek through the book return slot at the desk and have conversations with the librarian. She's gone through the progression of books from picture to chapter to middle grade, and young adult novels. She reads. A lot.

I started writing with an eye toward publishing when Ellamae was pretty young. She's watched me write, listened to my stories, and given me feedback. I've shared some of my writing frustrations and disappointments with her. She's celebrated my victories and been my biggest fan.

I've pushed nothing on her. Just shared with her when she was interested. I figure my kids will grow up to be whatever they want to be. She's seen how hard and frustrating it can be to write. I'm sure she's also noticed how much I've enjoyed it. Whatever the reason, it seems she's made her own natural progression from reader...to writer.

Today she asked my about an idea she has for a young adult novel. It's complex. It's challenging. It's good! The more we talked about it the more the outline came together. She's come up with some amazing twists and even a marketing hook. Needless to say, I am impressed.

So, will this come to fruition? She's written 130 pages of a novel before so she has the potential. Writing is hard, even for adults who have been doing it for a long time. I think she can do it, but I look up to her for even trying. And it sure is fun to have a brainstorming partner!

A First Grade Interview with Ame Dyckman & Dan Yaccarino, creators of BOY + BOT!

BOY + BOT is the story of a boy and a robot who become friends. It is created by one fabulous duo, Ame Dyckman and Dan Yaccarino.

I brought this great book to school, along with a giant BOT, to share with some of my friends in first grade. And thanks to my nice friend Ame Dyckman, the kids got to interview the author and illustrator of a book, which was very exciting!

                            


First I told the kids about BOY + BOT's illustrator and showed them a selection of books Dan has illustrated and written, along with some of the stuff he's done for television. Television is impressive, of course, but the kids really ooohed and ahhed over all of the books that Dan has done. Pretty cool.

Then I told the kids about Ame and showed them her photo. Did they love her hat with ears? Affirmative. Did they love that she has pink hair? They certainly got excited about it! Did they think it was cool that she wrote a book and they got to ask her questions? Absolutely. And they were even more amazed when I showed them on the globe that Ame (and Dan too) live all the way across the United States far away from us here in Washington.

I think we got a lot of learning done just by talking. We talked about what authors and illustrators do. How they can work anywhere. How they work together along with the publisher. What a publisher is. We even got some geography in there. And we hadn't even started the book yet! But when we did there was lots of wiggling, giggling, and excitement!

After the applause died down, and we talked about misunderstanding and friendship(which is what BOY + BOT is all about), we did some creating of our own and made Bot inspired robots! The kids really got into it and enjoyed coming up with their own robot designs. Some even made baby bots to accompany their big bots. How cool is that! And, of course, the kids came up with questions they wanted to ask Ame and Dan. They wrote them on the giant Bot!

Here is Mrs. VanWoert's first grade reading class' interview:


How did you decide what Boy + Bot were going to look like? –Skyler

Dan: I just drew what my favorite robot would look like.


How long did it take to figure out what Bot was going to look like? -Laurelii

Dan: A few days.


How did you color the pictures? –Katelyn

Dan: I used a special paint called gouache (pronounced "gwash").


What did you use to make the illustrations? –Dakota

Dan: A paint called gouache on watercolor paper.


Dan, were you good at drawing when you were seven? –Reagan

Dan: Not as good as I am now, but I drew every day, so I got better.


How did you learn to draw? –Victor

Dan: By drawing every day.


Why is Bot red? –Katey

Dan: I like red. All robots should be red.


Why do you choose to illustrate other authors books as well as your own? -Heather (Okay, I couldn't resist asking Dan and Ame each a question as well.)

Dan: It's fun.


What is your favorite color? –Kayla

Dan: All of them.

Ame: My favorite color is blue, like the sky. (And often, my hair!)



What does Boy + Bot = ? -Jasper

Ame: Best friends forever!


I like your book. Why did Bot go swimming? –Kyra

Ame: Thanks Kyra! I like you name. Why did Bot go swimming? It was hot. (Don't worry. Bot is waterproof!)


How did you think of the story? –Kylar

Ame: I love robots. And I love friendship stories. I thought, "I'll write a robot friendship story!" And once, when I rolled down a hill, I got poked by a rock. So, I wrote that in, too.


Do Boy + Bot have names? –Jasper

Ame: Bot's real name is Bot. Boy hasn't told me what his name is yet.


Does the inventor have any other inventions? –Elijah

Ame: Lots! Right now, the Inventor is working on an automatic swinging hammock. (He's been a little dizzy lately.)


Does Bot have to work for the inventor or does he just get to play? –David

Ame: Bot has chores. When his chores are done, he gets to play. Watt (the little light bulb robot) is the Inventor's helper. This makes Watt happy.


You did an Unread interview with me way back in 2009! Now that you are a published author, how have things changed for you? -Heather

Ame: Now I get to write my name in a book and not get in trouble. But what do I love best? When kids and grandparents and teachers let me know they like Boy + Bot. That's the greatest thing ever!

And mine and Ame's definite favorite question:
Did it take more than one day to make the book? -Joey

Dan: Yes, it took me about three months to make the paintings.

Ame: And Joey, if you count the whole entire process (from the day I finished the 1st draft of the text for BOY + BOT to the day it went on sale), it was about 1,225 days! Do I hope you like our book? Affirmative!

*You may have noticed a lack of kids in the photos of this post! That is because there are rules and there was no time to deal with permission slips and all that. I do have permission to show one kid, who happens to be my personal helper on all things first grade related.

Running into Kidlit Peeps, Right Here On My Mountain

You may already know this, but I live on a secluded mountain in the state of Washington. Needless to say, I don't get the opportunity to hang around with many writers, let alone kidlit writers. And I certainly doubt I will ever run into any agents or editors around here...or will I?

Well, maybe not in person, but that's why there's Twitter. Maybe you're on it already so you know what I'm talking about. But if you're not, I suggest you give it a try. I've learned a lot about different agents and what they're looking for. I've gotten to ask editors questions. I've even been asked to submit something to a publisher! But best of all, I get to "hang out" with writers. Now that may sound silly, but it's true. I can just  turn on Twitter and there are writers right here at 3500 feet, chatting it up. I've made some good friends on Twitter too. That's not something I ever even considered when I reluctantly joined.

So, if you haven't tried Twitter, as you can see, there are lots of good reasons why you should. Don't know who to follow? Well, Twitter gives the capability to create lists, and as a professional list maker I just have to list everyone! Here are some of my lists that are good starting points for children's book writers and illustrators:

Kidlit writers: https://twitter.com/#!/heatherayris/kidlit-writers
(These people have taught me that kidlit writers are AMAZING!)

Illustrators: https://twitter.com/#!/heatherayris/illustrators(They all have rad avatars, because ILLUSTRATORS ARE COOL LIKE THAT.)

Kidlit agents: https://twitter.com/#!/heatherayris/kidlit-agents
(Some agents are so sharing and helpful on Twitter it is ridiculous. OF COURSE I MEAN THAT IN A GOOD WAY. They do #askagent chats for crying out loud! Just because they want to!)

Publishers: https://twitter.com/#!/heatherayris/publishers
(I try to keep this to publishers who do children's books, but a few adult only publishers may have snuck in there.)

You can follow an entire list if you like. Or you can go through the list and follow individuals. I would recommend that because chances are high that they will follow you back and then you can have a conversation. And that's what it's all about.

If you need some help just ask me. You can find me @heatherayris

Things that take time...

Sometime last fall, my husband and I decided that we should start doing some farming, so we planted some garlic...

The garlic is growing well so far.

Then we got some alpacas. They are happy out in their pasture.

Next we decided we should keep some bees. We had to have them down in town for a while because it was so cold and snowy up here on the mountain for so long, but they're home now. It's nice to sit and listen to the buzz of the bees.

Then we got three lambs. They were so tiny they could ride in the back of the car.

We plowed up some field. The whole family got in on it. Don't worry, the tractor goes like two miles an hour.

We even managed to get a herd of goats--sorry, they wouldn't pose for me.

So now we've got wheat planted.

And oats.

The lambs are getting big....

So there is a lot going on around here while we wait for things to grow. (I didn't even get a photo of my garden!) But I'm patient--I'm a writer after all. Plus I have lots of new inspirations all around. I just need to wander outside and sit in the grass. I hope that you take the time to find some summer inspiration too. I'd love to hear about what you find!

Bee Books!

Since my family is keeping bees the kids and I have, of course, been reading picture books about bees. You can learn a lot about bees from picture books! Here are a few of our favorites:


THE BEEMAN is about a boy and his grandfather who keeps bees. It's a really great introduction to beekeeping as it goes through the entire process from the smoker used to calm the bees to the different types of bees in the hive to the honey on the table. There's also a great nonfiction section at the end.










BUSY BUZZY BEE is interesting because it shows closeup photos of the inside of a hive and how the grubs grow into bees. My kids liked being able to see all the details so closely.










ARE YOU A BEE? does a nice job of showing how bees grow and live in the hive as well as how they collect pollen and what they do with it. The illustrations are really nice and it's a good read aloud.










As with all MAGIC SCHOOL BUS books, there is tons of fun stuff to read in INSIDE A BEEHIVE!








Check out one or all of these books and you're sure to know a little more about the world of bees, even if you're a grownup.

My Favorite Picture Books

I'm so excited! I'm featured on Sergio Ruzzier's blog today! I love Sergio's books. I can so relate with AMANDINA and I love, love, love THE ROOM OF WONDERS.

Sergio asked me if I would share my list of favorite picture books with him. Of course, I said yes! It was hard to narrow it down, but I got the list down to ten I really love. If you want to check out my list you can see it on Sergio's blog.

I'd love to check out some of your favorite picture books if you want to share them with me in the comments. I'm always up for new favorites!

New Things

It seems that with the release of Bedtime Monster lots of new things have come along. Of course, having a book release is all new to me. I've been doing interviews and writing press releases about myself. I've written press releases before, but talking about myself is a bit different than talking about the next library event. I'm planning a book release party. I'm even getting ready to do a small library tour.

But it hasn't only been book things that have been happening, it just seems like having my book released created some sort of waterfall effect of new things. I've learned how to drive a tractor because my husband I are trying our hand at garlic farming. We planted fifty pounds of garlic. We're creating business plans. We're thinking ahead. Hopefully the garlic will grow!



I've become a line judge at volleyball games at school. Now this may not sound like a big deal, but I am not known for my powers of concentration. My mind tends to wander off into thoughts of stories and fantasy worlds if I am doing something boring like watching a line, but I have prevailed! I can concentrate when I have to and make important line calls under pressure. Don't want to disappoint the kids with a bad call.

I went on a job search. I made a resume and everything(never had a need for one before.) There isn't a lot of places to work in my small town but I managed to find one place. I had a real job interview--only the third one in my entire life, then worked in an office. I haven't done that since I moved away from the city and became a mountain girl. There wasn't even a window. The horror! Lucky for me I'm on call. I can live with that.

And just the other day I got a revision request on an article. I don't write much non-fiction for adults so this is exciting. I hope I can change the focus of the article to their satisfaction. I'd better get to work. I'd like to add having an article published to my list of new things someday.

It's On!

The wind on the mountain has finally died down enough to set up the badminton net. If you've been reading my blog for a while you know what that means--THE BADMINTON CHALLENGE!

Yes, it's all very fascinating that I, a total non-sports type person who randomly trips over her own feet, played badminton in high school. Not only that, but I managed to smash my way to being the top player on the team often enough. (Yes, smash, that is a badminton term. Get with it people!)

This badminton challenge is between me and my husband. We play however many games we can fit into the summer. And last year *gasp* he won. Horrifying, I know. It's funny, when I play, my super secret competitive nature busts out and I play to win. But apparently that wasn't enough this year. Oh no. You know what he said? You aren't going to beat me ever again now that you're middle-aged.

Middle-aged? MIDDLE-AGED! Can you believe it? The nerve of that guy. Just because he's ever so slightly younger. I am so not even close to middle-aged. It wasn't too long ago that I actually got carded. So there.

Yeah, he knows how to get me going, and you know what? I kicked his patootie. That's right. Power to the old people baby!

WriteOnCon!

Incase you haven't heard, there's a free conference for kidlit writers coming up in August! That's right, FREE. WriteOnCon is getting together a bunch of great writing professionals(check out the agents and editors page!) and hosting a conference... online. No travel or conference expenses, and you don't even have to change out of your jammies. I just registered. How about you?

What Skiing Taught Me About Writing

With the mounds of snow right outside my door, I've been doing a lot of cross country skiing lately. It's peaceful, shushing through the silent hills. There's no houses. No people. I do keep an eye out for cougars but usually only see mouse and rabbit tracks or an occasional coyote or deer trail.

The thing about cross country skiing is, if you want to go down hill, you have to go uphill. That's right, ski uphill. There's a slight downhill trail I take from my house but it's only a matter of time before I have to make my way back up again. It's hard work. Sometimes you slide backwards. Sometimes shoulders ache from all the pushing, your legs tire from the strain.



I started out skiing as a baby in a backpack my mom wore when she downhill skiied. (Yes, that sounds horrifyingly dangerous but I survived.) Anyhow, suffice it to say that I love going downhill so I'm willing to put the work in to get up that hill for a quick ride back down.

When I'm going uphill, I rarely look up at my destination. It's too steep. Too far. I'll tell myself that I'll never make it. If I keep my eyes on the path ahead of me and keep moving forward, little by little, I can surprise myself with how quickly I make it to my destination.

Cross country skiing is a lot like writing in a way. Writing a picture book is enough of a mountain to ski up. I find it overwhelming to think that I have to write around 50,000 words to complete this young adult novel I'm working on. Then there's the revising. The editing. I may as well try to ski up Mt. Everest.

Fortunately, cross country skiing has taught me something. If I just to keep my head down, worry about the next word, the next sentence ahead. If I just keep moving, I can get a lot further than I think.

Badminton Season

Finally, the badminton season is off to a start around here. When I say badminton season I mean that we have put up the net in the yard and it's actually been wind-free enough to play.

I wait all year for badminton season to arrive. You see, badminton was the only sport I played in high school and is the only sport I was ever any good at. I'd never even played before my bff Tini forced me to join the team. Badminton--how dorky. Now softball, soccer and volleyball, those were the sports the cool girls played.

Fortunately, I was never really into cool. Okay, I wasn't that into it. Plus I couldn't stand waiting around to actually do something on the softball field, hated all the running that soccer required, and as far as hitting a volleyball over the net went, I sucked.(Hitting probably isn't even the right word!) Apparently badminton was the sport for me so I went with it. It was a lot of fun. It still is.

And now, badminton is the only sport I can beat my husband at. I mean, I love having a big strong man around to do all the heavy lifting but jeez, it's nice to be able to beat him at something sometime. He runs fast, he's a kick-butt tennis player, I can't even beat him in scrabble anymore now that he knows all the fancy two letter words. But with badminton I still have a shot at least. I was down on the season, two games to none, but I pulled out a win last night. He better watch out.

I think I'll add a scoreboard on the side of the blog for inspiration. I'm going to need all the help I can get.

Billy's Bucket

I've been wanting to talk about this book for a long time. It's one I go back to time and again.



It's Billy's birthday, and he wants an unusual present. He won't be talked into anything normal like a new pair of sneakers or a bike. No! Billy wants a bucket for his birthday.

Mom and Dad don't like the idea. Like mom says, "buckets are far too bucketty to be a birthday present." So starts Billy's Bucket by Kes Grey. After a little pleading, Billy gets his way.

Where does one go to get the perfect bucket? Buckets R' Us, of course. Once Billy finds his bucket, amongst a warehouse full of them, it's time for some adventure because when Billy fills his bucket with water it turns into... an ocean.

In his excitement, Billy tells his parents about the creatures is his bucket. Mom and Dad don't believe a word of it and have some good laughs over their sons "imagination". Boy are they in for a surprise.

I love that Billy knows just the right bucket to choose. It cracks me up that Billy's parents heckle him but Billy keeps right on being chipper about all the cool things he's seeing. I adore Garry Parson's illustrations; Billy's head appearing at the top of the ocean like a full moon.

Billy's Bucket is a bucket full of imagination and fun, and while I might omit a couple of adjectives, it certainly makes for a great story time read.

Billy's Bucket, written by Kes Gray and illustrated by Garry Parsons, is published by Candlewick Press.

Otto Grows Down

Jealously of a sibling is definitely something my kids can relate to. That’s why I was excited to get a copy of the new picture book OTTO GROWS DOWN by Michael Sussman. I wasn’t disappointed.





In Otto Grows Down, Otto’s little sister, Anna, spoils everything—by being born. When Otto makes a birthday wish that Anna was never born, strange things start to happen. Otto’s life switches into reverse! Everything goes backwards starting with Otto giving his birthday presents back to his friends, to a strange day at school, bringing in the trash, and to Otto’s joy, returning Anna to the hospital.

Otto soon realizes that all is not bliss. He keeps growing down. Plus he feels a little guilty for making his baby sister disappear. What's a boy to do when he’s only got five birthday wishes to try to get things back to normal, and fewer and fewer words to make wishes?

My entire family has had great laughs with Otto Grows Down. There are all sorts of funny backwards happenings to get a kick out of, one that may be a bit shocking or totally hilarious depending on your sense of humor. Otto Grows Down has opened up many discussions with my little ones as they imagine what it might be like to live life backwards and wonder what would happen if Otto didn’t figure out how to fix his wish. It’s also caused them to talk about jealousy and being kind to one another, which is always a good thing.

Otto Grows Down is the best book on sibling rivalry that I’ve read in a long time. Scott Magoon’s illustrations add the right amount of humor to the story. The dark pages set the mood and let readers know that something isn’t quite right. And when the love finally comes into the story, you can feel it.

I liked Otto Grows Down so much that I asked author Michael Sussman if he would grant me an interview. Not only was he kind enough to say yes, he’s also going to give away a signed copy of Otto Grows Down! Come back Thursday, April 2nd to read some great insights from Michael and enter to win a copy Otto Grows Down.

Otto Grows Down is published by Sterling Publishing.

Rock On!

I’ve wanted to play the guitar for a long time now. My sweet husband bought me an acoustic as a birthday gift before we were married. Unfortunately, I get frustrated easily and never played around with it for too long before setting it down. My husband has gone through periods of fooling around with the guitar too, but hasn’t stuck with it. I guess we have short attention spans.

Thank goodness for long winters. We are finally learning a few things on the guitar. Well, I’m learning a few things. My husband is learning a whole lot of things. He plays while he sits at the computer and trades stocks every day. He plays in the afternoon. He plays in the evening. Me, not so much. I play when the kids give me a bit of a break and I don’t feel like writing, which was like, um, never.

And since I was playing never, my husband decided I needed a guitar that was more my size. He got one from his dad, who happens to be quite a musician and has lots of guitars laying around. He gave us a 1956 Fender Music Master. Doesn’t that sound official? Well, it was officially thrashed.



It happens that my husband is a do-it-yourself sort of guy. After playing on that ugly guitar for a few days he decided to do something about it. And viola! A beautiful “new” guitar. Isn’t he good? Now we just need to find a cover for where the strings connect at the bottom of the guitar. Yeah, I’m sure there’s a better way to explain that, but I’m too lazy figure it out.




This guitar is a ¾ size and it’s quite a bit easier for me to hold down the strings. I’ve actually been practicing, a little. If I could just remember where the fingers go for the chords and what they’re called. Sheesh! I am able to pick out single notes, by ear a lot of the time, so at least I can do something. One song at a time, I guess.

We’re teaching ourselves, which is a challenge in itself since we know nothing. But it’s fun. The kids are digging it too and are learning here and there. There are lots of good sites online that give guitar lessons (we like Guitar Noise ) plus we are able to find the songs we’re trying to play and listen to them online, which is cool. Maybe this time I’ll actually learn to play an entire song.