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ReFoReMo Day 5: Tammi Sauer Models HOW-TO do the Structure Strut

3/5/2016

459 Comments

 
By Tammi Sauer

A while back, I challenged myself to write picture books using structures and approaches I’ve never used before. Oh, the horror! The stress! The excitement!

I said see you later to my beloved Classic Picture Book Structure (MC has a problem, MC faces obstacles of escalating difficulty, MC encounters black moment, MC figures out how to solve the problem and grows/changes by the story’s end). This wasn’t easy. That structure had served me well in many of my books including Mostly Monsterly and Princess in Training. Still. I wanted to push myself creatively.
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I went on to write manuscripts that used the Circle Structure (Your Alien, Sterling 2015 and Your Alien Returns, Sterling 2016) and the Cumulative Structure (The Farm That Mac Built, HMH 2017). I also tried a variety of writing approaches. I told a book entirely in dialogue (Roar!, S&S 2015). I even—gasp!!!—wrote a rhymer (Mary Had a Little Glam, Sterling 2016).
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But I also wanted to give the How-To…Structure a try. This structure offers readers information on, you guessed it, how to do something.  I took a deep breath then set out to give myself the best education I could. I hit my bookshelves, the bookstore, and the library. Lucky for me, there were many good examples of books that use the How-To… Structure.
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Vampirina Ballerina by Anne Marie Pace, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
So You Want to Be a Rock Star by Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Kirstie Edmunds
How to Babysit a Grandpa by Jean Reagan, illustrated by Lee Wildish


The more books I read and analyzed, the more I realized that this structure did not involve a list of bland, disjointed steps for accomplishing a task. Nope. Nope. Nope. These steps (along with the art) needed to tell a real deal story. There needed to be a beginning, middle, and end. There needed to be characters, conflict, plot, setting…. There needed to be opportunities for readers to feel something.
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How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Kate Hindley
What To Do If an Elephant Stands on Your Foot by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Peter Reynolds
I Dare You Not to Yawn by Helen Boudreau, illustrated by Serg Bloch
The Younger Brother’s Survival Guide written and illustrated by Lisa Kopelke


I also noticed that many of these books were written in second person.


Armed with this information, I knew what to include in my how-to manuscript.I just, um, needed a good idea.
For me, that is always the very hardest part of the writing process. I thought and I thought and I thought. Nothing.
I thought some more. More nothing.

Then one day, I was in PetSmart with my son. He want-want-wanted a pet dwarf hamster. The two of us were looking at the hamsters. He was filled with elation. I was filled with dread. And I noticed something. Next to the aquariums packed with hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, and mice was a rack of Pet Care Guides. Hmm!
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Credit: PetSmart
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Credit: PetSmart
Now I was filled with elation.
I had a good idea!
I decided to write an outrageous, over-the-top pet care guide.
Caring for Your Lion sold to Sterling at auction. Thank you, PetSmart.

I worked really hard to make Caring for Your Lion irresistible. But here’s the thing. I never would have been able to create it if I hadn’t read and studied those mentor texts. Mentor texts help writers make good things great.
For those of you interested in writing a manuscript using the How-To…Structure, I wanted to include some additional mentor texts that have come out since I sold my book.

How to Read a Story by Kate Messner, illustrated by Mark Siegel
How to Behave at a Tea Party by Madelyn Rosenberg, illustrated by Heather Ross
A Beginner's Guide to Bearspotting by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by David Roberts

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What better way to celebrate ReFoReMo than with some CAKE?! Tammi is giving away a signed, first edition copy of her soon-to-be-released I LOVE CAKE:  STARRING RABBIT, PORCUPINE, AND MOOSE (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins, May 3) to one lucky duck. To be eligible for this prize, you must be fully registered, comment on every post, read daily, and keep a record of your progress.   
Tammi Sauer is a former teacher and library media specialist. She has sold 25 picture books to major publishing houses—Bloomsbury, Disney*Hyperion, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Simon & Schuster, and Sterling. In addition to winning awards, her books have gone on to do great things. Mostly Monsterly was selected for the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program. Me Want Pet! was recently released in French which makes her feel extra fancy. And Nugget and Fang, along with Tammi herself, was featured on the Spring 2015 Scholastic Book Fair DVD which was shared with millions of students. Her newest book, I Love Cake!:  Starring Rabbit, Porcupine, and Moose (HarperCollins), is available May 3, 2016.
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459 Comments

August Author: Tammi Sauer Talks Mentor Texts

8/11/2015

8 Comments

 
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Welcome to part two of Tammi Sauer's author interview! If you have not read PART 1 yet, you can find it HERE. Don't miss out!

Were there any particular mentor texts that inspired you as you created YOUR ALIEN and GINNY LOUISE AND THE SCHOOL SHOWDOWN? How about for the upcoming release of ROAR!?

With YOUR ALIEN, I challenged myself to tell a second person story using a circle structure. Two books that have done this approach well are IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura Numeroff and WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN by Jodi Moore.

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With GINNY LOUISE AND THE SCHOOL SHOWDOWN, I didn’t study any particular mentor texts. That book was entirely inspired by a school visit. A few years ago, upon arriving at Marlow Elementary in Marlow, Oklahoma, I discovered that the school mascot was an outlaw. In honor of my visit, the kids were decked out in outlaw gear, right down to the handlebar moustache. Plus, there was a huge banner in the gym. It read, “You’re not at Cowboy Camp anymore, Tammi Sauer. Welcome to OUTLAW CAMP!” Right away, I knew I had to write a picture book about an elementary school full of bad guys. The book is dedicated to the Marlow Elementary Outlaws, and I am heading back to Marlow next month to celebrate.
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As for ROAR!, I set out to write a book entirely in dialogue that was filled with heart, humor, energy--and dragons. Mo Willems is the expert on writing books in dialogue. The ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE series is genius! 
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Mo Willems definitely knows how to keep the kids coming back. After conducting an author study of his books with my first graders, our school library could not keep his books stocked!

If you have not yet read PART ONE of Tammi's interview, visit HERE. And if you are ready to learn more from Tammi, read her books and consider a trip to my neck of the woods for her full day writing craft workshop at our North Texas chapter of SCBWI. But hurry! It's in 2 weeks!

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Tammi Sauer is a full-time picture book author who has visited hundreds of schools and spoken at various conferences across the nation. To date, Tammi has sold 23 picture books to major publishing houses (Bloomsbury, Disney*Hyperion, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Simon & Schuster, and Sterling). In addition to winning awards, her books have gone on to do great things. Mostly Monsterly was selected for the 2012 Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program. Me Want Pet! was recently released in French which makes her feel extra fancy. And Nugget and Fang, along with Tammi herself, was featured on the Spring 2015 Scholastic Book Fair DVD which was shared with millions of students. This is a link to the video: http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/ESvideo.

You can visit Tammi online at tammisauer.com and at picturebookbuilders.com.

8 Comments
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    Illustration by Lori Nawyn

    ReFoReMo

    March 1-31
    The ReFoReMo Challenge, or Reading for Research Month Challenge, was developed to help picture book writers reform writing by reading and researching picture books.  Challenge registration opens February 15.  To find out more or to subscribe to the Reading for Research Blog for weekly posts year round, visit our new exclusive site at www.reforemo.com.

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