If you are not subscribed to the new ReFoReMo blog yet, you'll want to be! The prize drawing winners have been revealed, along with something special for everyone. You'll find the prize post HERE. You will not receive further ReFoReMo posts from this subscription. You may receive distant future posts from Carrie Charley Brown. But for now, all ReFoReMo content will be communicated from our new home. Join us at www.reforemo.com. You must subscribe in the new location to receive weekly education from the Reading for Research blog. See you there!
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Raise your hand if you benefited from ReFoReMo this year! Raise your hand if you made a new friend (books count, too)! Raise your hand if you are ready to be refreshed once a week with featured authors, books, ReFoReMo revelations, and monthly challenges! Ohhhh, goody! We are so excited to support you all year long.
If you followed us over to the new exclusive blog home for ReFoReMo, then you know where we'll "meet" from now on. I hope you subscribed to the new blog...this will deliver the posts right to your inbox. The Facebook group will not be moving, and we'll keep you connected there, as well. Your very first post from the new blog will be a prize announcement post. However, we cannot guarantee the exact date that the prize post(s) will arrive. We'll do our best, but please understand that it will take us a while to verify our winners. What I can guarantee is an author interview on April 12, a research challenge on the 19th, and a THINK QUICK book-themed interview on April 26. Thanks again for your support! Our ReFoReMo family means the world to us! See you soon! Carrie & Kirsti
By Carrie Charley Brown and Kirsti Call
As mentioned in Monday’s post, our time together is not yet over. There’s a lot more in store for you! You are part of the ReFoReMo family now. Let’s have a HUGE group hug!
Time for a curtain call… a bittersweet celebration of everyone that contributed to this great challenge. I can’t imagine what ReFoReMo would be like without our amazing author-educators. Their valuable, varied perspectives and recommendations were priceless! They kept us inspired and energized! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I encourage you to revisit their work and keep a watch on their achievements. Consider doing an author study (or publisher study) on each of them! Let’s hear it for this amazing team!
Wow! It’s incredible to see everyone here in one place. Encore! Encore!
Please give an extra standing ovation to our sunshiny Facebook group welcome captain, Janie Reinart. She welcomed you into the group, helped share ReFoReMo fever, and spread good discussion vibes. Thank you, Janie! We would also like to thank you, too! The discussions were on fire this year! You didn’t hold back and you really opened yourselves up to one another in the group. It’s been so much fun getting to know you and we hope to see lots more of you. ReFoReMo 2017 will be that much better because you are part of the family. We look forward to bringing you weekly posts until then, but we’ll need a bit of a break first. Whew! We’ll use the month of April to sort out prizes and tech issues, so you’ll see very little of us until May. But then! THEN! We'll be coming to you from our new website! YAY! Don't forget to go to www.reforemo.com to subscribe to the new site. And then claim your entries in yesterday's drawing, which is open to everyone. (Even if you are subscribed to this site, you will need to be subscribed to the new site to continue to have ReFoReMo education and support delivered to your inbox.) It’s time for Rafflecopter directions: If you consistently read picture books every day between March 8-28, commented on each prize post (including this one), and you are properly registered (following #1 and #2 from the registration post), then you are eligible to enter the Rafflecopter drawing one time. This will place you in the drawing for all of the prizes. You may view the prizes by scrolling through the Rafflecopter (see dots under the first listed prize.) If you enter more than once, you will be disqualified. Registrations and comments will be verified before announcing prize winners. But, as far as your reading goes, we are on the honor system. The Rafflecopter is only open from 12am CST March 30 to 12am CST March 31. One day. That’s it. Make sure you take advantage of your entry while you can! Another thank you goes out to all of our prize donators! The biggest prize of all was the education you received, right? Keep on learning!
You’ve done it! You have reached the end! (Go ahead…kiss the ground.) Was that couch beginning to swallow you up? Or were you at your desk most of the time? Whether you read one book or five each day, you are a winner! If you increased your reading research habits in any way, you are a winner! Even if one mentor text helped you revise a manuscript, you are a winner! The official reading period ran between March 7-27. As far as your reading goes, the goal is consistency and developing a new research habit. We are proud of each and every one of you!
Feel free to post your ReFoReMo Winner Badge on your blog, website, and social media profiles. Link the badge back to this address: http://www.reforemo.com/p/reforemo-mission.html Thanks again to our incredibly talented resident illustrator, Lori Nawyn! The badge is beautiful! 
As we mentioned in yesterday's post, ReFoReMo is moving to a new blog home! To celebrate the transition, we are offering this extra prize opportunity to EVERYONE, whether you are registered for ReFoReMo or not! There are two prizes in this drawing (see the little dots and arrows): one picture book critique (from Carrie) and one picture book (Kirsti's The Raindrop that Couldn't Fall). Follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter below to enter. All we ask is that you subscribe to the new site! That will enable you to continue receiving our weekly mentor text posts. You will enter your email in the right hand side bar of the new site (www.reforemo.com.) You will see a captcha box pop up after entering your email address, so please don’t skip that step. A verification email will come to your email inbox. Confirm that email and you will be all set to receive blog posts and enter the drawing. New options for extra entries in the drawing will be revealed in the Rafflecopter after you unlock the first step. This drawing is open between today and April 5. Please help us by spreading the news! (You are entitled to extra entries each day you share!)
We will remain on this blog site until the end of March. All prize announcements and other posts in April and beyond will come from the new site. If you don't want to miss out, make sure you subscribe to posts from the new site at www.reforemo.com.
Please share your ReFoReMo achievements below and consider sending in a submission for our Revealing ReFoReMo series. This series is open to ReFoReMo participants who are interested in sharing the glory of mentor texts, research methods, specific revelations, or anything else related to your ReFoReMo experience. Submission guidelines can be found HERE. Prize drawings for fully registered ReFoReMo participants will open tomorrow and only be available for one day. I repeat: ONE DAY. One entry will place you in the drawing for all of the prizes. If you enter more than once, you will be disqualified. There is magic in the number one: One Day. One entry. Rafflecopters will open at 12:00am CST March 30 and remain open only until 12:00am CST on March 31. Make sure you take advantage of your entry while you can. You are eligible to enter the drawings if:
Registrations and comments will be verified before announcing prize winners and the process may take us a few weeks. See you bright and early tomorrow morning! If for some reason you have trouble with your Rafflecopter entry, refresh your browser and try again. Even if you are not eligible to enter, please join us as we celebrate the entire team (and you!) tomorrow. Congratulations to everyone! Please share your success below. Yipppeeee! You made it! Does that mean it’s time to stop reading picture books? No way! You still intend to write, don’t you? We hope you will carry your newly established writing and research habits into your daily writing routine. ReFoReMo has given you the chance to dig deeper into mentor texts and improve your writing skills. As you continue your mentor text journey, Goodreads is an incredible resource where you can find the newest releases, write your own reviews, and read books your friends recommend. You’ll also find many incredible picture book recommendations through other sources, including School Library Journal Lists, Matthew Winner’s Let’s Get Busy Podcast, ICL’s Mentor Text Monday, and of course, there is always our ReFoReMo facebook group!  Although the challenge month is coming to an end, our blog will continue year round! We'll continue to support you once a week with featured authors, “THINK QUICK” interviews, and a monthly challenge where we will continue to look at different elements of mentor texts. We also invite you to share revelations by submitting to our Revealing ReFoReMo series. Submission guidelines can be found HERE. We can’t wait to highlight your experience on the ReFoReMo blog! ReFoReMo is moving to a new blog home. (Yay for fewer technical glitches!) To celebrate the transition, there will be an extra prize opportunity open to EVERYONE, whether you are registered for ReFoReMo or not! Look for more information and the Rafflecopter tomorrow. For now, take note of all that you have accomplished during ReFoReMo. How many books did you read? Did you reach your personal and ReFoReMo goals of reading consistently? Did you discover new things about your own writing or writing in general? Do you understand how to use mentor texts better? Did you find a new outlook on a book that you previously did not like? Tomorrow is a day of celebration! We’d love for you to share your accomplishments in the comment section of tomorrow’s post. You will be able to claim your winner’s badge at that time, as well. Happy Reading and Researching, Carrie Charley Brown and Kirsti Call  Carrie Charley Brown is the founder and co-coordinator of ReFoReMo, or Reading for Research Month blog & challenge. She eats, sleeps, and breathes picture books as a writer, professional critique mentor, and contributor on various blogs such as Writer's Rumpus and the Institute of Children's Literature. Carrie contributed as a 2014/2015 CYBILS fiction picture book panelist and donates a large part of her time to SCBWI North Texas as the Regional Advisor. She also produceskidlit videos and provides marketing services for authors and kidlit organizations. She has taught pre-k, kindergarten, first, and third grades. You can follow her writing journey right here on this site.  Kirsti Call reads, critiques and revises every day. She is a member of various critique groups, and blogs for Writer's Rumpus, Children's Book Academy, and the Institute of Children's Literature. As the published author of The Raindrop Who Couldn't Fall and a homeschool mom, Kirsti coaches revision for children ages 5-18. Her school visits involve interactive writing, singing, and of course, reading for research! Kirsti contributed as a 2015 CYBILS YA Fiction panelist and is proud to be the 2016 ReFoReMo co-coordinator. You can follow her journey at www.kirsticall.com.
Are you winded? Whew! Great job working hard! Inhale... rewinding through the past month, the busy pace, the hard work. Exhale...accomplishment. Congratulations!
Our reading period ended yesterday, but please feel free to catch up if you need or want to. Enjoy your Sunday and Happy Easter! We still have a few more days of posts to bring it all together. See you tomorrow! Carrie & Kirsti ReFoReMo Day 26: Carrie Charley Brown Questions Everything Is your head spinning? We have certainly put a lot of information and great books in front of you. So, for my reflection today, I want to ask you only one question: What do YOU need most right now? If you're me, it's a vacation! (I’m guessing some of you are also raising your hand.) Where should we go?  But seriously, it goes deeper that. I need time to think about my own writing now. I'm willing to bet that you do, too. Therefore, I’ll need to ask you more questions to dig deeper. (This happens to me a lot…one question leads to another.) What are you working on right now? Assess which projects call to you most. If you’ve been reading lots and writing less, maybe you just need to start writing! Go for it! Not sure where to start? Here's a quick brainstorm activity. What did you love reading most over this ReFoReMo month? Were you inspired to try something new? Did reading reveal any new education or elements that you need to work on? If so, check out only that type of book and do some focused research to enhance your writing skills. What would make your manuscript different than everything else out there? There's a lot more reading to tackle! Start with similar concepts. Research to make sure your idea has not been done and stands out as unique. This is only the beginning. Hopefully, you have created a new healthy research habit for yourself. But, through it all, take time to reflect. I’ll repeat my initial question again: What do YOU need most right now?
By Brett Duquette Editor Sterling Children's Books Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Voice in writing always seems to be a tough concept to nail down. But strong voice, at its core, is what unifies the point of view of a book and all the other elements (characters, plot, language, art) within. When one of these things is out of sync with the others, that’s when voice falls apart. For example, if a character is totally, completely, overwhelmingly happy with her 4th birthday party, she should be noticing brightly colored balloons, birds chirping in the sky, the mouthwatering smell of her grandmother’s homemade icing. Not, that the balloons are causing too many static shocks, the chirping birds are shrill and too loud, or that the icing is too goopy or wet. That second set of examples would be a girl who is UNHAPPY with her 4th birthday party, and would be a totally different book. That is all probably very obvious, but it illustrates the point. To have strong voice means that the components of a story are selected carefully and aligned with the point of view the book (or character) is trying to get across. Here are some examples:
by Russ Cox Each book on this list is character driven and from that, I learned the importance of having a strong, but sometimes delightfully flawed, central character. The stories are also very simple and beautifully written but with complex and very deep subplots. From each of them, I learned that less is more and never boring.        Russ is giving away these amazing sketches! The bookmark is perfect for any bookworm! Thank you Russ! To be eligible, you must be a fully registered participant, comment on this post, read daily, and keep records of your progress.  Russ Cox writes and illustrates children’s books from his studio in Maine. He lives with his wife and 4 very opinionated cats, who serve as art directors and rule the rest of the house while constantly screaming for food. He's represented by Danielle Smith at Red Fox Literary.
These (mostly) young picture books cover big topics. They were especially helpful to me in thinking about sharing complex information in focused and poetic/lyrical ways, using layered text, and sharing maximum information in minimal word counts. They influenced my Can Be… books, If You Were the Moon (Millbrook, 2017), and If You Want to Knit Some Mittens (Boyds Mills, forthcoming).        Laura is giving a signed copy of one of her CAN BE...books--winner's choice! To be eligible, you must be a fully registered participant, comment on this post, read daily, and keep records of your progress.  Laura Purdie Salas has written more than 125 books for kids, including the award-winning CAN BE… series and BOOKSPEAK! She coaches writers through Mentors for Rent and speaks at writing conferences around the country. |
Illustration by Lori Nawyn
ReFoReMoMarch 1-31 ALL DONATIONS FILTER BACK INTO THE ReFoReMo CHALLENGE & BLOG
Carrie Charley Brown, Founder & Coordinator
Kirsti Call, ReFoReMo Co-Coordinator
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