Specific Children's Book Writing Goals for 2008

A friend frequently asks me, "Mary Emma, when are you finishing your Uncle Buffalo Bill book? Have you finished the Sarah Jane picture book?"

I grin sheepishly and say, "I'm working on them."

In 2008, I must stop only working on them and finish these projects!

1. Finish the book about my Uncle Buffalo Bill Mathewson, the original Buffalo Bill in the West.

2. Finish my Sarah Jane's Daring Deed picture book.

3. Finish the rough draft of Papa Goes to War, a Civil War era middle reader book based on my ancestors.

4. Develop the activities for these books and place them on my web sites.

5. Draft some of my other writing projects, but concentrate on them minimally until I have the above finished.

HOLLY FRETWELL's "Different" VIEW ON GLOBAL WARMING

With all the scary information out there about global warming, it's refreshing to read a book by a natural resources policy expert that presents a different view, one complete with common sense and factual information.

The Sky's NOT Falling (Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming) is an alternative for young people and adults to the fear-inducing books published today. Author Holly Fretwell, a mother of two and professor of natural resources policy, provides a balanced look at environmental issues and global warming scare tactics. She presents these in an easy to read and understand format for ages 8 and above.

Yes, there are environmental situations to be concerned about, but Ms. Fretwell encourages optimism about the future of our planet and the solutions we can find with human innovation and creativity, along with individual choice, not political agendas.Ms. Fretwell debunks some of the "facts" running rampant about the environment and global warming in today's world.

For instance, you've probably seen the picture of the polar bear and cub, supposedly adrift on a piece of ice because of global warming. Actually the picture was taken as a general interest one a scientific expedition. The photographer called attention to it as a polar bear and her cub on an ice sculpture. Nothing was noted about global warming nor the bears being stranded. Yet the photo was taken out of context and used for propaganda purposes.

You'll certainly want to take a look at the facts in this book about global warming and see what's really going on in a world beset by global warming scare. Check out the truth before deciding "the sky is falling."

(Published by World Ahead Media, Los Angeles, CA.; ISBN #9780976726944. The book includes fun facts and reading for ages 8 and above.)

THE TRADITION OF BEDTIME STORIES

Bedtime stories have been a tradition for at least three generations in my family. I recall my mom reading to my sister, brothers and me...Heidi, Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses poetry, and Robinson Crusoe come to mind.

My husband and I took turns reading to our daughter. He often didn't at bedtime, but while I was preparing supper. "Daddy, you skipped that part!" I'd hear her exclaim when Jim tried to get through a book more quickly.

My daughter and son-in-law, both avid readers, started reading to their children while they were infants. Reading and children go hand in hand in our household...we all still bury ourselves in a book whenever we can in spite of today's electronic world.

Stories in the Kitchen

Although most of the bedtime story reading of my youth occurred in the evening in one of our bedrooms (there were four of us children) as we sprawled on the bed. However, on cold winter evenings, Mother gathered us in front of the wood burning cookstove in the kitchen (a favorite family congregating place) and read stories. While she read, we might munch on cookies and milk or cocoa.

Reading evolves into cooking, as children learn to ponder over recipes and mix up family meals. I recall making my first cake before I fully learned to read. Mother was ill and I decided, with the help of my younger siblings, I would make a cake for supper, along with fried potatoes and eggs.

At six years old, I couldn't decipher everything in the recipe book, so decided to dispense with it and put together the ingredients I'd seen Mother use. I recall my sister and brothers around me as we stirred the batter together, then poured it into layer cake pans.

Since the wood stove oven was the only one we had, it was only natural to bake the cake there. We must have stoked the stove and read the gauge on the front of the oven door adequately. At any rate, the cake turned out fine....except it was fairly flat.

Mother, when she saw it at supper, praised our efforts, as did Father and the hired man. It was only in later years that Mother told me she concluded I'd left out the baking powder.

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

(I enjoy researching and writing about holiday and family memories along with teaching classes in Family History Writing. I conduct these classes online and in person.)

One Book Two Book - Great Blog About Children's Books

I recently discovered One Book Two Book, a delightful blog by Kelly Phillips Erb. Here you'll find information, updates and resources concerning children's books. Kelly is the mom of three children under the age of five and keeps up to date with what's going on in the children's book world.

Her recent post, JK Rowling is "Entertainer of the Year," is a good follow-up for my previous Harry Potter post. Even though I haven't been able to get into those books and movies, Ms. Rowling should be commended for bringing so many youngsters (and adults) to enjoy reading.

Kelly also had another fun post, Our Bedtime Tradition, about story time in the Erb household. This reminded me of the three generations of reading in my family. It even may date back to my mom's childhood.

Mother read to my sister, brothers and me at bedtime. My husband and I read to our daughter. If we tried to skip a part we'd hear, "You aren't reading all of it!" My daughter and son-in-law have always read to their children, who now are avid readers themselves.

What are your bedtime story traditions?

Is Harry Potter for Everyone?

When the first Harry Potter book came out, my daughter, son-in-law, and 5th grade granddaughter devoured it. I thought, since it was so popular, I should read it, too.
However, I couldn’t get beyond the first couple of pages. I found it boring!

Also, it didn’t seem to fall within the guidelines that we authors are told in writing classes…”Catch the editor and reader’s attention in the first sentence, first paragraph, especially the first page.” The older style of writing, with a couple of pages of description and no lively action, is no longer the type that appeals to editors. If you haven’t caught their attention by the first paragraph or so, your story may not have a chance of making it.

However, this doesn’t seem to be the case with the first Harry Potter book. Whatever captured the first editor’s attention, seems to have been enough…and the rest is history.

(But I still couldn’t become engrossed in the book…perhaps because I’m not a fan of science fiction and fantasy.)

Since my granddaughter loves the books and other fantasy ones, I'll get some input from her.

Capturing Young Readers in the Electronics Age

Teachers I talk with, as I do substitute teaching and conduct writing workshops in schools, find it challenging to keep many youngsters interested in reading. They mention that it seems fewer of them like to read…or they don’t read so much at home.

“We have to compete with TV, video games, and movies to hold their attention,” one teacher remarked to me. “I feel I have to be an entertainer.”

When assigned something to read at school, many students groan, while a few (like my granddaughter) consider this an enjoyable respite from other school work.

Parents may find the same situation at home and need to make an effort to get their children away from electronic and television games. Here are some suggestions that might help to encourage reading,

*Let children see you reading
*Read to young children
*Set aside a family reading time
*Have children read to one another
*Encourage children to act out stories
*Participate in reading programs at the local library
*See if your school has extra reading programs...like the Saturday mornings (in March) Reading Enrichment for grades K-8. Our grandkids have thoroughly enjoyed this.

The Idea for Sarah Jane's Daring Deed

Readers often ask, "Where did you get the idea for the story?" This is such a frequent question when I'm giving author visits, doing presentations, teaching workshops, and attending book signings, that I thought blog readers would like to know about the "story behind the story" and have some idea how one children's authors thinks.

Sarah Jane's Daring Deed, which has becme one of my favorites, resulted from research I was doing for a column on local history for a weekly newspaper. As I read about the lives of the early pioneers sho settled the region of New Hampshire where my family and I reside, I wondered, "What was it like for youngsters to live here during that time?"

As I pondered upon this, the story of Sarah Jane evolved. She and her family settled in the latter 1700s or thereabouts far from their city home. Because I live in New Hampshire and my research was focused here, the story, in my mind, took place here.

The story was published in four church school magazines for youngsters. (I retained the rights.) Possibly it appealed to editors all over the country because I didn't name the town or state where Sarah Jane lived and encountered Little Fawn. Therefore, it could have been set in many areas where blackberries grew. (In the opening scene, Sarah Jane is picking them.)

When I was asked to compile an anthology of my children's stories, Tales of Adventure & Discovery, I chose this one as the lead story. It's a story I've always enjoyed and children do when I visit schools and libraries. My daughter even made dolls of Sarah Jane and Little Fawn to accompany me to school.

(c)2006

(If you have questions about Sarah Jane and my programs for schools and writers' groups, e-mail me: me.allen@juno.com. Type "Sarah Jane's blog" in the subject line. )

Teachers Enjoy Using Tales of Adventure & Discovery

Teachers mention they like to read my stories from Tales of Adventure & Discovery (an anthology for children) to their students. It's gratifying to know teachers and their students find the stories enjoyable, entertaining, and educational. A coloring book, with illustrations and excerpts from the anthology was a logical next step for me.

The first story in the book, Sarah Jane's Daring Deed, has been very popular with youngsters when I read them stories and teach writing workshops. I often use it as a springboard for their own writing. Because this story set in pioneer days, I often tie the story in with history they may be learning at school. I'm currently in the process of developing a picture book version of this story.

One teacher purchased my book when I taught a writing workshop for educators. Other teachers in her school wanted to know where she had obtained it. So the school ordered a dozen books for the teachers to use.

Selecting Picture Books for Children

“Mary, the children like illustrations that look like something they could draw. Adults select books with lovely art,” a children’s librarian mentioned when she looked at the illustrations in my anthology, Tales of Adventure & Discovery. I’d apologized because they were so simplistic.

Later, a first grade teacher said much the same thing when she saw my illustrations. She explained that her students gravitated to the books in the classroom or library with the simple black and white or cartoon drawings.

“You really mean this?” I asked. Then I explained about the librarian and her discovery about youngsters and book art.

I notice, too, that my grandson, now 11 years old, generally has selected books with cartoon type characters or those drawn with simple lines. He doesn’t attempt to draw pictures to accompany the stories, but these seem to capture his attention and imagination.

A friend said she realized, with her seven children, that at the younger years, up until about 8 years old, they liked to watch movies with animated characters and lost interest in the ones with real actors. Once they were older, they watched both equally.

It would be interesting to hear what you’ve noticed with the youngsters in your life…whether you’re a parent, teacher, librarian, friend, or bookstore owner.

Mary Emma Allen Introduction

Who am I to write a blog on books for tots through teens? Why would I want to do this?

Reading children’s books and writing stories for young people have interested me since childhood. I still have a story I wrote when I was 11 years old and another from an 8th grade English assignment. (I won’t mention how many years ago this occurred, except to say I now have a teenaged granddaughter who enjoys reading and writing, too.)

I’ve had stories published in more than 200 children’s magazines and anthologies, including Tales of Adventure & Discovery. (This latter contains only my stories.) I also illustrated this book and a coloring book that accompanies it. The picture book, Sarah Jane’s Daring Deed, is under production. This story is one youngsters particularly like when I give presentations in schools and libraries.

Children’s Literature was my favorite class at SUNY, New Paltz, NY (USA), where I received my teaching degree. When I showed the instructor some of the children’s stories, she encouraged me to continue with my writing. So my interest in reading and writing children’s stories continued. Currently, in addition to writing for children and adults and conducting workshops, I do substitute teaching in grades K-12. So I'm involved with readers of all ages.

I live in a multi-generational home in New Hampshire, with husband, daughter, son-in-law, two grandchildren and assorted pets. I also come from a family of readers and writers, since my grandfather was a published writer and my mom and grandmother kept journals. My daughter and granddaughter also has had some of their writing published.

Why "Book Bag" Blog?

When I was attending school (I won't say how many years ago!), we carried our books and homework to and from school in "book bags." Today they've been replaced by backpacks, roller bags and computer bags. Ours had a handle or occasionally an over the shoulder strap.

A new book bag and pencil case might be among the back-to-school items Mother bought us when school started. We carried home whatever books we were reading and those for homework, along with notebooks and pencils in our book bags. (The new pencil box stayed at school in our desk.)

So.....when I think about reading and books, my memories often go back to those book bags we used during my school days.

What better name for my blog than "book bag," when I want to share information about reading and writing for tots through teens and the adults in their lives?

Welcome to Book Bag Blog

Welcome to my blog about books for young people. I'm looking forward to providing you with insight into children’s books for pre-schoolers through teens.

In addition to being an avid reader, I writes stories for children. I've been published in the United States and Australia. I also teach writing workshops for youngsters and adults.

Through this blog, I plan to give you insights into the world of reading and writing for younger readers. I'll also interview authors who write for these age groups and host blog tours.

Don't hesitate to let me know what you'd like to hear about and let me know the books you and your children enjoy reading.