Blog Archives

2015 CYBILS Awards

9/20/2015

You likely know that I am addicted to picture books and read a lot of them. My love affair began over 24 years ago when I started my studies as an elementary teacher. However, my intense research took on new meaning I when decided to get serious about writing picture books in 2010. My experience as a 2014 CYBILS Round 1 Fiction Picture Book Panelist supported my already insane reading and research habit. I am pleased to announce that I will once again represent the CYBILS Fiction Picture Book Category as a 2015 Round 1 Panelist! (Official announcement HERE.)

Since I keep an active research habit, I suspect that I will be rereading many of the books I have read over this past year. Rereading offers me a chance to look deeper at stories and see how my feelings are impacted the second time around. But there will also be many new titles that I have not yet had a chance to get my hands on. Any way they come to me, you can guess that I will be giddy and fulfilled!

You can contribute to my reading pile by nominating amazing picture books for review. Nominations open October 1 and will remain open to the public for 15 days. So, reevaluate what you have read this past year. What were the best of the best titles? You’ll find nomination guidelines HERE and a description of what our category is reading HERE. You can nominate in many categories... not just picture books.

Allow the CYBILS mission to guide you:

"We aim to recognize the children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary merit and popular appeal."

Terry Doherty of The Reading Tub is the fiction picture book panel’s ring leader this year. She Tweets about books @thereadingtub.

I’m excited to collaborate with a new panel of judges this year. Each of them bring a wealth of experience to the team. If you want to learn a lot about great books, check them out:

Sondy Eklund of Sonder Books Tweets about books @Sonderbooks

April Crews of Book Buzz for Kids Tweets about books @writerindc

Hannah DeKamp of Hannah DeKamp Reads Tweets about books at @hrdreads

Sandy Brehl of Unpacking Picture Book Power Tweets about books at @PBWorkshop and @SandyBrehl

Maggi Rohde of the Mama Librarian Tweets about books at @mama_librarian

Jodell Sadler of KidLit College tweets @Pacing Story2WOW and @KidLitCollege

Carrie Charley Brown (me!) of Carrie On… Together and the ReFoReMo blog tweets about books @carriebrowntx

To find out more about the panel and their experience, check out this post HERE. Get ready to fill your To-Read list with awesome titles. There will be mentor texts galore!

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September THINK QUICK with author Aaron Reynolds and NERDY BIRDY

9/14/2015

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Hi Aaron! Congrats on the upcoming (September 22) release of NERDY BIRDY. I love how kids will relate to the social aspect of this text and the underlying theme of acceptance that runs through. All of the THINK QUICK themes below appear in your book. Let’s see which way you lean. Remember, THINK QUICK!

On Making New Friends:
Similarities or unique qualities?

Similarities!
That’s everyone’s THINK QUICK answer. But the truth is, some of my very best friends have been unique from me, with a couple common interests.

On Video Gaming:
Die hard gamer or anti-gamee?

Die hard gamer.
I’m a little addicted to World of Wormcraft….I mean, World of Warcraft.

On Nerds:
Break out of the mold or blend in with the pack?

Break out of the mold.
For good or bad, I always did.

On Nerds:
Book nerd or computer geek?

Book nerd. Obviously. But can’t you be both???

On Birds:
Watcher or Shooer?

Watcher.

On Birds:
Eagle, Cardinal, or Robin?

Can’t pick. They’re all such cool birdies.

On Worms:
Bookworm or no worms?

Bookworm. Obviously.

On Problem Solving:
Stick together or stand alone?

Stand alone, with a side of stick together. Sometimes you need help, after all.

On the Odd Bird Out:
Welcome with open wings or proceed with caution?

Welcome with open wings. To a fault.

On Books:
Nerdy Birdy or Nerdy Birdy?

NERDY BIRDY!

Thanks for thinking quick with us!

Click HERE for a review of Nerdy Birdy.
(Review by Carrie Charley Brown)

Aaron Reynolds is a New York Times Bestselling Author and has written many highly acclaimed books for kids, including Nerdy Birdy, Here Comes Destructosaurus!, Carnivores, and the Caldecott Honor Medalist Creepy Carrots! He has a passion for kids’ books and seeing kids reading them. He regularly makes time to visit schools where his hilarious hands-on presentations keep kids spellbound. Aaron lives in Chicago with his wife, 2 kids, 4 cats, and anywhere between zero and ten goldfish, depending on the day. Reach him at www.aaron-reynolds.com.

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September Mystery Author: Josh Funk

9/7/2015

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When you're new to a critique group, you are never really 100% sure what you'll get the first time around. But, when I opened Josh's initial submission, I was blown away. Can you guess which piece I read first? Yep...Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast! As writers, we always hope our critique group might return a few choice dream words... "This is the one!" or "Get this one out there right away!" Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast was one of those books. When I think about Josh's work as a whole, one of the first words that comes to mind is voice. The second is humor, which cycles into Josh's voice. I've complimented him on several occasions for these traits, comparing him to some of the strongest voices out there in our picture book world. You'll want to pay attention to this guy and reserve his books as mentor texts. (Speaking of mentor texts, Part 2 of Josh's interview covers that exact topic and can be found HERE.)

Welcome, Josh! What came first- rhyme or prose?

Definitely rhyme. Back in college and my early twenties (oh, so long ago), I played guitar and wrote songs. My lyrics weren’t the poetic Eddie Vedder style, I was more of a quirky They Might Be Giants type of songwriter. Thinking back, it makes sense that my style of songwriting, while not good enough to garner any record deals, lends itself well to writing picture books.

Do you visualize the illustrations as you write? If so, do you carry them out in the form of a dummy, thumbnails, or illustration notes?

No. Not at all. When writing, I guess I don’t think particularly visually. I’ve never been one for dummies, and Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast had zero illustration notes. I think this has helped me in the long run. I am not a visual artist. I’ve been very lucky that Brendan Kearney has taken Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast and raced off with it so perfectly.

How would Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast persuade anti-rhymers to summon their inner-rhymer?

Lady Pancake would tell you that anyone can rhyme, it comes from deep within your light fluffy center. Sir French Toast would argue that it takes years of practice to perfect a rhyming recipe and should be approached with caution.
But they’d both agree that adding a hefty dollop of rhyme to a picture book gives it a charm that’s hard to beat.

You are dining out and stuffing your face with the most delectable French Toast you have ever eaten. Sir French Toast walks in, and is elated to see you until… he sees what you are eating. What do you say?

I would never eat French Toast! How horrific! I only eat anthropomorphic vegetables and talking cheese. And bagels.

How do your first mental visualized images of Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast differ from Illustrator Brendan Kearney’s vision?

As I mentioned, I don’t think particularly visually, so Brendan’s illustrations blew me away when I first saw them. The first thing I saw were his character sketches, not just of the two main characters, but of many side characters, and they were all awesome! From the very beginning Brendan had designed the strawberry hat, the mustache, the whipped cream hair – it was as if he drew all the things I didn’t know I always knew they looked like.

Kathleen Rushall, of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency is your agent. What do you feel is the single most important factor of an agent/client relationship?

Trust. But that’s probably true of almost all relationships, period. She’s open about every interaction she has on my behalf and very quick about it. But I lucked out with Kathleen. She’s on top of everything. She knows what to send to who and when, how to handle all the contract stuff, gives great editorial feedback, and has expertly guided me on the path to publication. Go #TeamKrush!

Aren't you just loving this? Part 2 of this interview happens now! Come on over to hear Josh's take on mentor texts. Part 2 is HERE. You can find my review of LP & SFT HERE.

Josh Funk lives in New England with his wife and children. He is the author of LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST (Sterling 2015), and the forthcoming picture books DEAR DRAGON (Viking/Penguin 2016), PIRASAURS! (Scholastic 2017), and JACK! [and the beanstalk] (Two Lions 2017). Find more information about his books at JoshFunkBooks.com.

Josh is the co-coordinator of the 2016 and 2017 New England Regional SCBWI Conference and is a board member of The Writers' Loft in Sherborn, MA.

Josh is terrible at writing bios, so please help fill in the blanks. Josh enjoys _______ during ________ and has always loved __________. He has played ____________ since age __ and his biggest fear in life is being eaten by a __________.

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Click picture for a video greeting.

Carrie Charley Brown

As a children’s writer, and a teacher, my goal is to help you carry on. Sometimes learning is challenging, so why go it alone? Your journey will be more meaningful and comfortable with friends to share it with. Together, we'll get up close and personal with authors, illustrators, and the best of picture books. If we work together, great things will follow!

2015 CYBILS Awards

September THINK QUICK with author Aaron Reynolds and NERDY BIRDY

September Mystery Author: Josh Funk

Carrie Charley Brown

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