By the end of next week, most of the schools are out for summer. My stepson has his last day TODAY! One of my best friends and her kids are already on their way to Disney World. So what are you doing this summer?

I’m hoping, especially if you are a teacher/parent reading this blog, that your plans include reading. I was just thinking today about what we are going to get my stepson to read this summer. He is a bit of a reluctant reader, and I may just grab graphic novels at the local library. This way, he can read, and we can still discuss story elements–but it won’t be a battle each time. How many of you are doing a summer reading program? For your kids? For yourself?

One REALLY cool program that actually doesn’t have to do with books, but I think it is super cool AND EDUCATIONAL, so I am sharing it here anyway is. . .Blue Star Museums. From the website about BSM: “What is Blue Star Museums?”

Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment of the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,500 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day, May 28, through Labor Day, September 3, 2012.

Yes, you read that correctly–if you are currently active duty, you can go to any of these museums and pay NO ADMISSION for up to 6 people (military and five family members–including grandparents, aunts, uncles). That is amazing and quite a savings. This means children’s museums, fine arts museums, history and science museums, zoos, and more. For more information, go to the website: Blue Star Families. You do need a military ID to take advantage of the discount.Please pass the word on to any military family you know!

Even if you are not military, consider taking your children or summer school class to these types of places a few times this summer. GO ONLINE before you go–to the website or do a Google search–and find discounts. Often, children’s museums, zoos, science centers, etc will have certain days or hours with free admission or even coupons for special exhibits/parking and so on.

I’d love for you to come back and share with us here anything you do, any opportunity you find, and so on–anywhere in the US. I have readers across the country!

So, this summer–happy reading and happy museum-going!

J. Aday Kennedy is another one of my online writing friends. I’ve never met her in person. . .yet…but she is so inspiring. She has let NOTHING stand in the way of her dreams or what she believes in. I only tell you this because I want you to see that if you have a dream, do it. Don’t let anything stand in your way. J. Aday Kennedy did not. Here’s her story (from her website): “On a Friday in early March, 1998, Jessica Aday Kennedy awoke with a simple ear ache. It worsened over the weekend, eventually causing her to check into an emergency room where she slid into a nine-day coma. After a brainstem stroke, two resuscitations from heart and respiratory failure, pneumonia, and a
tracheotomy, Kennedy awoke totally paralyzed (a quadriplegic) and unable to speak. Today, she is legally blind, depends upon a ventilator to breathe and has partial use of her left arm and hand. Despite all of the devastation bacterial pneumococcal spinal meningitis caused, Kennedy said she refuses to dwell on her condition.”

So neither will we. . .

On to her books–I am going to share two of them with you today.

Klutzy Kantor By J. Aday Kennedy Illustrated by Jack Foster

In this beautifully illustrated and super cute picture book, Kantor Pegasus is a big klutz. He can’t seem to do anything without falling and tripping. He’s tired of it, and he is trying to figure out a way to become less klutzy. His friend, Agra, tells him about a leprechaun that can grant him a wish IF Kantor can win a riddle duel. Kantor practices for the duel with his friends and gets pretty good at guessing riddles. So he sets off to duel with the leprechaun, who gives him a tricky riddle to solve. Will Kantor solve the riddle and get his wish to not be klutzy anymore?

What children will L-O-V-E about this book are the riddles. It’s what I loved about it, and I tried to figure them out before I read the answers just like kids will, too. The illustrations really bring the text to life–Jack Foster is very talented. The author has also written a teacher’s guide to go with the book, so I won’t repeat a bunch of activities here. But you can find the guide at http://www.jadaykennedy.com/files/TeacherGuideKlutzyKantor.pdf.

Stella, The Fire-Farting Dragon by J. Aday Kennedy Illustrations by Jack Foster
Just the beginning of this book will catch children’s attention and bring smiles to their faces! What an opening. . .

“The Dragon Realms Talent Contest is tomorrow,” Stella Dragon cried. “What am I gonna do?”

Allen started to answer, but Stella yelled, “Duck!” Her nervous tummy gurgle gurgled
and BRRRT! shot fire.

Her friend dove behind a rock seconds before fire shot from Stella’s green rear end. The smell of a dozen rotten eggs filled the air.

I love a fun book, and this is what Stella, The Fire-Farting Dragon is! But it is more than just that. Stella is entering a talent contest, and she is nervous. When she’s nervous, she farts. Her friend helps her practice, so that she is great at her talent and won’t fart. So what happens the day of the show? Does the practice pay off? Will Stella keep her gas under control? See, just reading the description probably has you giggling. And once again, Jack Foster has superb illustrations!

You can use this book with kids to help them talk about something they are nervous about, and how to work through their nerves. You can also share a fun book with kids–and some reluctant readers may just discover how fun reading can be!

Both of these books can be purchased on Amazon.com

For the babes in our lives. . .

*Picture book/concept book, realistic for toddlers/preschoolers
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: My 18-month-old daughter is in love with this book, Blue Sky. It’s from a few years back, but we recently checked it out of the library. She wants to read it over and over and over again–and I actually don’t mind.

Short, short summary: This book has very few words on each page. We start out in the morning with “blue sky.” Then the next scene is of the cute, little boy main character and his parents looking at a “cloud sky.” Then he realizes it’s a “rain sky.” And we continue like this through the day, with different types of skies, until we get to “star sky,” “moon sky,” and “sleep sky.” In the end, the book circles back to the beginning: “new sky, blue sky.”

So what do I do with this book?

1. Besides this just being a lovely and fun book to read with children, you can teach two things through it. The first is weather and how it changes throughout the day. We have a blue sky, then a rain sky, then a rainbow sky. Discuss with children different changes in weather in the book and then draw their attention to it in “real life.”

2. This goes through a day in the life of a small person. He wakes up and sees blue sky. At one point it rains, and then he sees a rainbow. Compare/contrast your children’s day to the day in the book.

3. Allow children to draw their own illustrations of BLUE SKY or RAIN SKY or SUNSET SKY!

I am not exaggerating by sharing this photo with you on a post that is about my road to publication. It has been ominous, just like this path in the woods. But I am here; I am ALMOST holding my book in my hand. Here’s my story–the shortened version–and what you can learn from it. Since it’s children’s book week, I hope my story can help you fulfill your own dreams!

I currently have three books under contract from three different publishing companies. Two of them are set to come out this year. The books are:

• Finding My Place (historical middle-grade fiction, set in Civil War) from White Mane Kids.
• Lucy (working title, picture book about Red Ribbon Week, and a little girl with a listening problem) from High Hill Press
• Maggie Mae, Detective Extraordinaire and the Case of the Missing Cookies (picture book, humorous) from Guardian Angel Publishing

I have been writing since 2000, and my first contract was offered in 2007. I had magazine publications and contest wins before that, but no book contract until 2007. That was for my MG novel, and it is just coming out at the end of the summer because of issues with the economy. But I have seen a cover. I have seen galleys. I am keeping my fingers crossed. . .

As for the other two, I am waiting for an illustrator for GAP and waiting for cover and teacher materials for High Hill Press. Publication is a lot of waiting, but that’s okay–I just keep writing.

Anyway, what I really want to tell you is that my MG novel is being published because of a few things I did. My story is not unique, and so again, if publication is eluding you, consider:

• Getting involved in a writing conference: I ushered agent Ginger Clark around at the 2005 Missouri Writers’ Guild conference. When I sent her Finding My Place, she wrote back and told me everything that was wrong with it. That was the best gift she could have given me. I added a whole new layer to my book because of her notes. She wouldn’t have taken the time with my book if I didn’t know her personally. BTW, I revised it and sent it out again.
• Listen to the experts: I sent my book to Emily Easton at Walker and Company. She read it and wrote a personal rejection back. She said it just wasn’t commercial. (NO BESTSELLER FOR ME!) But she suggested going to school and library markets because I had a good book, so. . .
• Subscribe to children’s writers’ newsletters/join SCBWI, etc: I got a newsletter called The Children’s Insider. In it was listed a small publishing company, White Mane Kids, who was looking for MG fiction set in the past in the United States. WOW! I had the perfect manuscript; and as they say, the rest is history.

As for the two picture books, I started getting smart. I knew Lou, publisher at High Hill Press, for years, and she was my friend. So, I submitted to her. NO brainer! As for Guardian Angel Publishing, I want to a conference with Lynda, and I went to her session and listened to her. I talked to her at the conference, and I submitted to her. She didn’t take the manuscript right away, but she suggested some revisions and invited me to re-submit. I did! And I have a contract with them now.

My story is not unusual. It takes persistence and patience. It takes networking and listening. It takes HOURS and HOURS and HOURS of revising. Most of the authors listed in my sidebar have similar stories. So, if you are submitting your work, keep it up. If you are published, congrats! If you are a reader, please read these authors, buy their books, or support them through the library.

Happy Children’s Book Week! Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter drawing below for a free picture book critique or bag of books!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Of course, Children’s Book Week is special to me–I am a children’s author, I blog about children’s books, and I am a parent (as well as former elementary school teacher). I think I love children’s and YA books better than adult books some times! And I know that I am not alone.

But why are children’s books so important? I believe it is not ONLY because they help us to learn to read and comprehend OR because they remind us of a special time in our childhood when our moms read to us or when we went to library programs or even read 100 books over the summer. Children and YA books are meant to be used.

That’s what my blog is all about. I’ve covered using children’s books (and some adult books, too) since August 2008. You can see by my categories in the sidebar that I’ve covered YA, middle-grade, and picture books, and you can see the many authors I’ve read and wrote about, too. One of my favorites for middle-graders is pictured here–the “Al Capone” books–these books help children who are struggling with a special family situation, such as a sister with autism. It’s a great read, too, with a loveable main character, and children won’t even realize they are learning family dynamics or about children with special needs. That’s why I love children’s books–they are so good at disguising the lesson.

You can use children’s books and YA novels to teach history, social studies, science, writing, reading skills–almost any curriculum objective in the classroom or home school can be covered with the right book. I have included three activities to go with most of the books listed here on about 80 percent of the posts in almost 4 years–these activities are easy and ready to use in the classroom or at home.

The best thing, though, is children’s books can be used to talk about things that are hard for children–from potty training with Elmo to dealing with suicide with Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why. Children can discuss joys and concerns through characters in books–that is a lot easier than talking about themselves.

So my hope for you is not just to read children’s books this week/summer/year, but to use them with a child or teen, too. You won’t be sorry!

And don’t forget to leave a comment below AND record that you did this in the Rafflecopter box to be entered to win a picture book critique or a bag of books from Guardian Angel Publishing.

PS: If you are interested in writing for children in magazines, picture books, middle-grade novels, or YA novels, check out WOW! Women On Writing’s classroom page. Our classes are economical and the teachers are professionals! Here’s the link: http://www.wow-womenonrwiting.com/WOWclasses.html. All classes are online and run this summer!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It’s National Children’s Book Week, a week to celebrate children’s books. There are no better! This week, I am taking part in a blog hop with other children’s bloggers from my publisher, Guardian Angel Publishing. (They are publishing one of my picture books, release date still to be determined.) Anyway, you can visit each blog this week for exceptional posts and a chance to win fabulous prizes! To enter, visit any of the blogs listed below and participate in the RAFFLECOPTER contest. If you’ve never done RAFFLECOPTER before, it is so easy–don’t be scared. You just do each step and then click the + points button to get credit for it. It is really important that you give yourself credit because Rafflecopter is collecting all the entries for us from all the blogs. If you don’t push the button, you won’t get credit, and you can’t win the fabulous prizes.

What are we giving away? (You can win either one.)
• One FREE Picture Book Manuscript Critique by Margot Finke
• One FREE tote bag of children’s books from the participating authors

Visit May 7-13, 2012 and automatically enter for a chance to win by commenting, become a GFC Follower, and/or become a Facebook fan or friend at each of the author blogs listed below.

Here’s who is participating:

Guardian Angel Publishing Author Blogs:
Mayra Calvani – www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com
Margo Dill – www.margodill.com/blog
Margot Finke – www.hookkidsonreading.blogspot.com
Donna McDine – www.donna-mcdine.blogspot.com
Nancy Stewart – www.nancystewartbooks.blogspot.com
Kai Strand – www.kaistrand.blogspot.com
Nicole Weaver – www.mysisterismybestfriend.blogspot.com

So visit these each day for a new entry! You can win children’s books during CBW!

I’d like to kick off this week by talking about a new favorite at our house–my toddler LOVES this book. She wasn’t so sure it was great when I first brought it home from the hospital, but. . .I won her over, and it is now almost as popular as Brown Bear, Brown Bear. SO, the title is Farmyard Beat by Lindsay Craig. It starts out with the chicks who have the beat. Peep! Peep! Peep! So, of course, they wake up. . .SHEEP. . .who also have the beat–and they wake up cat, and so on. Soon, Farmer Sue hears the racket, and she comes to investigate. But those chicks, they just can’t help themselves. This book is so catchy that I walk around the house now singing it. I have it practically memorized, and my daughter claps to the beat. I think it’s appropriate for kids up through first or second grade even. Marc Brown did the cute, cute illustrations!

So, what can you do with this book?

1. Have fun with preschoolers. Dance, sing, chant, clap, play musical instruments–create your own farmyard beat. SO CUTE!

2. What other farm animals could get in on the action? Students/children can make up their own animals such as horse, goat, or pig. What noise would these make in the farmyard beat?

3. When owl says, “WHOOOOOO?”, ask children to guess whom they think is coming. Let them work on their prediction skills before reading the entire book to them.

Don’t forget to read the way to enter the contest below–see the Rafflecopter box and follow directions. Any questions? Leave in my comments or e-mail me (margo@margodill (dot) com). ALSO, you might have to click on READ MORE (in some browsers) to see the Rafflecopter box. Thanks!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Start Journaling and Change Your Life in 7 Days
by Mari L. McCarthy

Today, I welcome back Mari L. McCarthy, whom I just love. She knows everything about journaling, inspiring writers, and encouraging everyone to do their very best! In the winter, I took her 28-day journaling challenge; and I found that journaling can really help you get out all those worries, so that you can concentrate on the important matters like your WIP. Journaling is for everyone–teachers, parents, writers, librarians, and students.

Mari is back with a new book and new Start Journaling and Change Your Life in 7 Days Challenge, which will be June 4-10. It’s free to do the challenge–you just have to purchase the workbook, OR you can purchase the workbook and do it on your own at any time. For more information about this, go to Mari’s website: http://www.createwritenow.com/start-journaling-workbook

Today, Mari has written a wonderful post about taking some time to play around with your creativity. She gives you several ways to do this. If you are a teacher, you could have your students do these, too.

And we are having a giveaway! Please leave a comment below or a question for Mari by Sunday night, May 6, and one winner will be chosen by random.org. The winner may choose either an e-copy of Start Journaling and Change Your Life in 7 Days, the spiral-bound version, or one of Mari’s signature t-shirts (see photo). So, let’s “hear” what Mari has to say and leave a comment below!

Just Playing Around
(GUEST POST BY Mari L. McCarthy)

How long has it been since you played? I’m referring to the kind of playing that you used to do when you were five. Playing nonsensically, just following your nose, moving, imagining, making noise, being silly and crazy without thought or inhibitions. Making up your own rules, focused myopically on your story, you are no longer yourself; you’ve become the narrative unfolding.

The older we get, the less time we spend playing. It’s sort of sad. Thank goodness, there’s journal writing to help keep us young.

If it’s been far too long since you had a bunch of fun just playing around, pull up a journal and start being foolish.

• Scribble, for instance. Put the tip of the pen on the paper and let it move. Follow, do not lead it. No thoughts or objectives. No rhyme or reason. Just line, shape, marks on paper.

• Get a charcoal stick from the art supply store or a marker with a broad-to-fine tip and play with light and dark, thick and thin, line and space on the page.

• Doodle, drawing the cartoons, sketches, and stick figures that occur to you randomly, without precedent or meaning.

• Paste bits of this and that together in your journal to make a collage. This may be scraps of anything around you, whether 2- or 3-dimensional; it may be souvenirs from a walk in nature, or a selection of images from magazines or photos.

• Make up a story in your journal: a fantasy, mystery, romance, or melodrama. Describe exotic characters, adventures, and intrigues.

• Write a stream-of-consciousness list of words–both real and imaginary words. Let them spill out one after the other.

• Create a haiku, limerick, or other poem from a silly prompt like banana, zipper, my friend Alfred, or bamboozled.

• Write out the scenario in which you execute your deepest mission, satisfy your deepest yearning, achieve your greatest accomplishment. Explore and relish all the minute details.

• Write a letter to your nemesis, stating in no uncertain terms how you are offended by it, and how you hurt as a consequence of its actions. Do not send this letter, by the way. Just write it, with full conviction and passion. Don’t save the letter, either; rather, scribble over it with crayons, pick out five hot words from it and continue to write, or burn it ceremonially.

• Create a fictional character that you can love unconditionally and describe him or her carefully in your journal.

In general, I think, we worry too much about being constantly productive in a grown-up way. We too-willingly set aside childish preoccupations, as if they are useless. The trouble is, there’s no guarantee that our adult preoccupations are any more legitimate than children’s games.

Considering the full span of our risk in living and participating in society as adults today, the best practice may be to include both “grown-up” pursuits and “childish” play in the hours that are allotted to us each day. Yes, we should seriously contribute in mature ways; but remaining in touch with childhood’s creativity is equally essential to our well-being.

Mari L. McCarthy, journaling therapy specialist and author, owns Create Write Now, a website dedicated to all things journaling. The site includes hundreds of journaling prompts, personal journaling stories, interviews, a blog, and many other resources. Mari publishes many e-books and e-workbooks to help journalers accomplish amazing things. She also conducts online challenges, and you won’t want to miss her upcoming Start Journaling and Change Your Life in 7 Days Challenge, June 4-10.

*Historical middle-grade fiction
*Girl as main character
*Rating: Jingo Fever is a well-written book, set in 1918. It is also universal in its themes–situations that Adelle has to deal with, such as racism/bullying, in the book are current in everyday life.

Short, short summary: (FROM CRICKHOLLOW WEBSITE) This middle-grade historical novel is set in 1918 during World War I in a small Midwestern town. The story deals in a quiet, thoughtful way with the effects of anti-ethnic bigotry (towards German-Americans) during wartime conflicts abroad.

Young Adelle Klein is a German-American girl who has come from Milwaukee with her mother to live for the summer of 1918 with Uncle Mike in Ashland, a small town in northern Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior.

Adelle struggles to cope with the local patriotic fervor, in support of American troops abroad . . . but spilling over into a hatred of all things of German origin.

As she seeks friendships with local youngsters her age, she wonders how to deal with the bigotry of anti-German sentiment, which escalates with the approach of the July 4th celebration. In the meantime, she and her mother worry about Adelle’s brother, Karl, a young man of German-American who is fighting with the U.S. troops in France.

The summer’s events will teach Adelle about the importance of standing up for what’s right.

THEMES
Family & Friendship • Ethnic Heritage • Patriotism during War • Resisting Intolerance & Bigotry • Standing Up to Bullies

So, what do I do with this book?

1. In the beginning (and throughout), Adelle deals with bullying/teasing due to her German heritage. She becomes embarrassed by it. Even though this is set almost 100 years ago, children will be able to relate to Adelle’s feelings and actions. Ask students to journal about Adelle’s problems. Then ask them to write about if they have ever felt that way and what they did/felt/wanted to do.

2. Students may not understand why there is so much hatred toward the Germans. Some history may be needed to understand the story to its fullest. You can do a KWL (Know Wonder Learn) chart about WWI topics to see what your students/child already knows about this time period and what they are wondering. Here is a link to a good site that shows how to do a KWL chart: http://www.education.com/reference/article/K-W-L-charts-classroom/

3. Discuss the title of the book, Jingo Fever. Do students like the title? Do they think it is a good match for the book? Which characters in the novel have jingo fever? Ask students to give examples to support their answers. Does Jingo fever have a positive or negative impact on these characters’ lives?

*Picture book, contemporary for preschool through first graders
*Scooter the dog as main character
*Rating: Kids will love Scooter in the Outside and see a bit of themselves in this dog without knowing it. That’s the best kind of picture book. Scooter is exploring his independence–something children are doing all the time with mixed results!

Short, short summary: Scooter the dog belongs to Lucy. He loves to go for walks, but they only go so far each time–to the corner. Scooter wants to go farther (Editor’s note: My 18-month-old daughter can really relate to this; we are constantly stopping her from doing all sorts of dangerous, independent things!), but Lucy won’t let him. One day, the front door is left open, and Scooter goes out and GOES AROUND THE CORNER! Then, he becomes a bit scared at what he encounters. Luckily, he also encounters Lucy, and she brings him home. It’s a rather sweet ending, especially for anyone who has a dog that is a member of the family.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Scooter in the Outside is definitely a fun read. Bowen has included some onomatopoeia: “Ba-Dump” is Scooter running up the stairs. “Thwappa” is wagging his tail, and so on. Plus the illustrations are lovely, and children will like to look at them and discuss what Lucy and Scooter are doing in each. I highly recommend reading this to a class or as a bedtime story.

2. Discuss with children how Scooter felt once he went to THE OTHER SIDE. Why did he feel that way? Why did Lucy put limits on him? See if they can make the connection between Lucy and Scooter and what you do for them either as their parent or teacher. Why is it important to have limits/boundaries?

3. The bond between a pet and his owner is something special. Children will want to share information about their pets after reading this book. Allow them to draw and write a sentence or two about something they love to do with their pets. If students do not have a pet, they can draw an activity they like to do with a friend OR you can visit a humane society OR have some guest dogs come into the classroom–then all children can draw about pets.

This fall, I will have a middle-grade historical fiction novel coming out from White Mane Kids. I went to a writing conference in St. Louis this weekend, where the agents said that historical fiction for kids is not selling. It is one of the hardest genres to sell, and agents probably won’t take you on if this is what you have–no matter how good your story/writing is. I didn’t have an agent for mine–I sent it to an independent publisher and have worked with them directly. White Mane Kids ONLY publishes historical fiction set in the U.S. though, so my book fit them perfectly.

What do you think? Do you think historical fiction for middle graders (4th to 6th grade) is dying? Do you think teachers and home school parents are still using this genre to teach history?

Just curious. We had a big discussion about it at lunch too, and several of us writers are upset about this trend.

Back to the regularly scheduled program on Thursday, so share your opinion here if you have time!