Thanksgiving Picture Books For Young Children

November is a fabulous time to get to know some picture books about Thanksgiving.  These seem particularly appropriate for younger children.  They are listed in no particular order.

1.  I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie by Allison Jackson and illustrated by Judy Schachner

2.  Ten Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston

3.  The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern and illustrated by Elroy Freem

4.  Five Silly Turkeys by Salina Yoon

5.  The Pilgrims and Me by Judy Donnelly and illustrated by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

6.  Pilgrim Cat by Carol Antoinette Peacock and illustrated by Doris Ettlinger

7.  The Perfect Thanksgiving by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi

8.  Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markus and illustrated by Doris Barrette

9.  Ankle Soup by Maureen Sullivan and Alison Josephs

What do you like to read in November?

Characters You Love

I just returned from vacation (notice the post on Thursday this week instead of Wednesday).  While I was gone I had the chance to read a few YA and MG books.  One of those was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

There's a lot that could be said about The Hunger Games.  I'm going to focus on characters.  Before I read the book I knew everything (okay, almost everything) that happened in the story.  I knew the characters, plot, and even the ending.  Still, I was glued to the book.  Why?  Two reasons: the characters and the pace.  This post is about characters. 

I absolutely fell in love with Katniss and Peeta.  Days after I read their story I have found myself thinking about them.  I've also thought about what made them memorable.  Here's a short list of the characteristics I think made them so addictive: 

* Believable.  Need I say more?

* Heroic.  Both Katniss and Peeta saved people in the story.  Each time, their heroism came with personal peril.

* Fallible.  They both made dumb choices.  As I read it I cringed and thought, "No, don't do/say that!"  But if they hadn't, their characters would have been less believable and the story less riveting. 

* Show Real Emotions.  If I were Katniss, I would feel a lot.  In fact, I'd be an emotional roller-coaster.  Collins did a great job showing those emotions and showing how Katniss tried to hide them.

* Timeless Interactions.  Friendship, love, hate, dependence, and those people that just make you want to hit them.  It doesn't matter if the story takes place centuries in the future or in a New York high school.  These interactions are relationships that everyone can relate to because everyone feels them.

What do you think makes characters so real you have to read their stories?

Cliffhangers

Cliffhangers have been a part of the story-teller's toolbag long before the first bards wanted to keep their listeners hooked.  When I read a book, though, I don't like cliffhangers.

I don't like cliffhangers at the end of a book or movie series...especially if the book or movie series fails to wrap up the main story in the book or movie.

They're not so bad if the story ends, and the cliffhanger points to a new, related story.

I actually appreciate cliffhangers at the end of a chapter--even if the story is not neatly wrapped up.  I like being so drawn into a book that I have to read the next chapter.  That's fun.  I don't like reading a whole book and feeling like I didn't finish the story.

Can you tell I've encountered a few cliffhangers recently?   Do you like cliffhangers?  Do you have any favorites?

The Best Picture Book Ever

As if I could really pick just one!  In honor of Megan's Favorite Picture Book Blogfest, however, I am honoring one of my childhood treats:  Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  Hopefully you won't consider it cliché to love a book so very popular.  After a brief ride through my memories I will share a lesson for writing picture books from the history of Where The Wild Things Are.  

A whirring helicopter noise best describes the sound I think of when I remember discovering Where The Wild Things Are the first time at a school book fair when I was six years old.  I was hunting for the one book my parents would buy, and it seemed to jump off the shelf.  Hundreds of kids buzzing around books with their parents faded out like a movie fading out a noisy street and zooming in on a quiet conversation.  That book spoke to me.  I was a wild thing.  I must belong in that book.  I started reading and had to have it.  I ran to show my parents.  I still have that book. 

It is remarkable that a book written in 1963 remains just as popular now as when it was published.  In 2009 The Morgan Library hosted a display for Where The Wild Things Are and Maurice Sendak.  This little history chapter holds a vital lesson for picture book authors.  It seems that Where The Wild Things Are went through three major revisions.  These were not just line edits.  The first draft included horses.  Sendak made himself put it down because he felt like it was being forced.  When he returned to it, he composed a draft in verse.  He described this as "all bad."  The third draft ultimately became the version I love.  

Many things could be said about Sendak and his books.  His patience in re-writing one of my favorite picture books is an example for all writers.  Perhaps I'll post about him again one day for more lessons!

eReaders For Kids

VTech's Flip eReader

When my baby chews on the corner of a book, I call it Early Literacy.

When I hand him a book in the car, I call it Healthy Entertainment.

When I put him on my lap and look at a book with him, I call it Snuggle Time.

I recently learned that eReaders for young children are available and becoming popular.  At first I wondered how any eReader could survive in the hands of young children.  I have kids.  I've taped pages back in books and repaired bindings more than once.  Then I saw the companies involved.  VTech.  Fisher Price.  Nintendo.  These giants are experts at making indestructible electronics.  I have "computers" from VTech and Fisher Price that have survived seven kids and four years.  I can imagine them making a durable eReader.

The real question is, "Would I want one?"  It could mean less time in my book repair shop.  It could mean happier car rides.  Is there really anything wrong with a book that reads itself?  I do think kids' brains receive helpful sensory input when they feel textures and turn pages, but buying an eReader wouldn't mean throwing away all our books or canceling library trips.  The fact is, I can imagine Early Literacy and Healthy Entertainment with an eReader.

When I imagine Snuggle Time with an eReader, I start to cringe.  Then I realize what is really important: the snuggles.  And learning to read, of course.  As long as snuggling doesn't get replaced with the newest technological trend, I won't fight the eReader.

How do you feel about eReaders and kids?  Is there a place for them?  This article lists a few eReaders for preschoolers and this article announces VTech's newest plans.

Language Matters

Photo by Ian Britton at FreeFoto.com

When my daughter was two, a friend gave her a picture book that had more vocabulary words she'd never heard than words she knew.  Each page had 3-4 sentences on it and perhaps 3-4 words that she recognized.  I overheard her first exposure to the book:  the Giver sat down on the couch with the Toddler.  They looked at the colorful cover and began the story.  High interest faded fast.  She lasted about three pages.

A few days later I pulled the book out and "read" it to her.  I translated each page into toddler-speak as we went along, leaving 1-2 new words on each page.  I figured a little vocabulary-building couldn't hurt.  When we finished, she asked me to read it again. (That's toddler-speak for "I like it!") 

As I've written for children and teenagers I've tried to write on their level.  I don't want them to need someone to translate or lose interest because they don't understand what I've written.  Trying to write on-level, however, brings a couple problems:

•   Not all 3-year-olds (or 8-year-olds or 14-year-olds) are on the same level! 
•   I still think a little vocabulary-building is good.

Trying to balance my desire to write on level with my utopian-world concept of eager children excitedly learning new vocabulary has been an interesting line to walk.  I feel like the vocabulary in an article or book is a precise chemical equation that must be perfectly balanced, or (horror of all horrors!) it will never be read.  Because of the resistance to reading I've seen in junior high and high school students, I've tended toward the safer, on-level side of the writing equation.  A research project a friend introduced me to this week is shifting my attitude.  A little.

In 1983 Betty Hart and Todd Risley began a research project that wouldn't be complete and published until 1995.  They followed 42 families from upper, middle, lower, and welfare socio-economic levels for several years, recording and transcribing how much the parents talked to their babies.  What they discovered was astounding.  The average child in an upper socio-economic family heard 2153 words per hour while the average child in a welfare home heard 616 words per hour.  By the time a child turns four, that translates to almost 45 million words for the wealthier child and 13 million words for the poorer child.*  Even more interesting, the preschooler's vocabulary can be an indicator for how well they will perform in later years.  All this by the time they're four!

I've always thought vocabulary-building is good, but this makes me much less timid about introducing new words to kids!  Even if they don't know what each word means, it seems that the simple exposure is doing them good!  Also, books tend to have more opportunity to use language that isn't common in everyday conversations and speech.  It's okay to use complete sentences and appropriate grammar in books where in "real life" it might sound a little formal.

At three-and-a-half years old, my daughter still likes the picture book I mentioned earlier.  I haven't translated it for many months.  She's probably heard it over 100 times.  She still doesn't know what all the words mean, and I am perfectly okay with that.


* Read an NPR article about the research here: http://www.npr.org/2011/01/10/132740565/closing-the-achievement-gap-with-baby-talk.  The actual article Hart and Risley published is available here: http://www.elfrank.net/UFT/Articles/early%20catastrophe.pdf.  

A Scary Story

Photo by Ian Britton at FreeFoto.com

Kids can be the best place to go to learn what's important when writing a story.  While my two children and I were waiting for some laminating my 3 1/2 year old daughter told me some stories.  She made them up while we waited in the copy shop.  I'll share one with you:

"Once upon a time a boy decided to travel to the jungle without his family.  While he was in the jungle, a ghost grabbed him and took the boy to the ghost's house!  The ghost sat down, but the boy pushed him away with his arms!  The boy ran out of the house and locked the door, so the ghost was stuck.  Then the boy went home to his family."

Look at some of the elements that were important to her:

•   The main character was a child.
•   The child became the hero of the story.  No Mom or Dad to the rescue here!
•   There was tension: a kidnapping and a dangerous ghost.  Just being a child doesn't make her appreciate fine literature any less.  She expects a climax and a conflict with appropriate resolution. 
•   It was high interest...this is, of course, related to the tension but my daughter finds jungle, travel, family, and ghosts exciting.  I'll admit, though, the kidnapping did surprise me!

These same elements were present in all the stories she made up that morning...even the stories that she did not label as "scary!"  I took a look at the writing in some of her favorite books, and they all had all four of these elements.  Important?  I think so.

What Do Kids Read?

If you're writing for kids it's important to know what they are reading.  When you run out of kids to interview, here are three great resources.

Every year librarians in Texas put together a list of 20 recommended books for kids between two years old and second grade.  The 2 x 2 Reading List is distributed to libraries, book stores, day cares, and other locations throughout the state.  It is also available here.  Check your own state's library association for additional recommendations.

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) also publishes an annual list of "Notable Children's Books."  It is edited by librarians also and is available here.

The International Reading Association (IRA) compiles a list of favorite children's books every year by surveying about 10,000 children.  This is unique because it is chosen by kids.  It is available here.

The Children's Book Council also has a short list of children's favorite reads that they publish in association with Children's Book Week.  The 2010 list is available here.

Happy reading!