The Struggles of Composition

So, now that BookSprouting.com is live, it's time to get some stories posted to jump-start this community. Toward that end I have begun the long, laborious love of composing a book. But let's not call it a book, because it will likely never be published and will probably only be enjoyed by my mother and my not-old-enough-to-be-critical daughter. And then when she is old enough, she'll read it for nostalgic reasons and likely few others. That is, if she can find it.

I think my story, Samuel's Umbrella, will be a short story. Hopefully this stems less from my lack of creativity and more from the fact that I want children to be able to consume it in one or two sittings. And yet I face so many questions that I can, as of yet, not answer. For instance - what age group would be best suited to read this story? Am I using words too advanced for this group? A brief perusal of my first few paragraphs already reveals words like fraught and trekked, but then again there are kids knocking out words at the spelling bee that make me wonder if the competition is in English or Latin. And then I think of how Tolkien intended The Hobbit to be read by young children; I think he expected 5-7 year olds to read it. So, either I'm doing just fine or I'll only be able to market the work to spelling bee participants.

Other issues I'm wondering about (besides the ever-present 'will anybody like it, ever??') are:

1. Who will illustrate it? (because I will sound its death knell if I do)
2. Will it appeal to my intended audience? (which raises the aforementioned - who is my intended audience?)
3. Will it evoke wonder, joy, or admiration? (or the opposite - dread, disdain, and disgust?)
4. Will it further learning?

The list could go on, but I'll spare you.

Ok, I just had a realization - I'll just upload the story to BookSprouting.com now and then you can go there (here) and tell me what you think. It's obviously unfinished but I'm open game for your collaborative feedback. And I'm not sure of the value of posting it with only a handful of paragraphs complete, but hey, why not?

I look forward to hearing from you!

BookSprouting's Inspiration

Having been a lover of books for most of my days, I guess it's natural (but perhaps not) that as I grew older I read fewer children's stories and more grown-up books. Attracted to the classics I lost sight of my roots. Having a daughter changed all of that. Reading to her from her infancy, she naturally began to love and devour books on her own. Christmas and other gift-giving occasions couldn't come fast enough to fill her reading pipeline but fortunately mommy used to teach 3rd grade and Estelle had a bookcase full of books. But what surprised me was that a number of books, which will forever remain nameless, lacked the literary quality that I expect to see in a book. Hey, even if it's for an infant, I still expect that it be creative, witty if called for, prosaic when necessary, and just downright well done. Yet to my surprise many works lacked many of these qualities - as if they had been written by a computer program and proofread by a robot. There has to be a better way!

Enter BookSprouting.com. BookSprouting is a result of channeling this realization into a healthy enterprise. Germinated late last year as I attended a partner conference for a software company (completely and totally unrelated), my hope is that we can attract and build a community that creates the best Children's literature available. As a community of lovers of children's books we will read and then vote on works written by members of the community. Top-voted stories will then receive attractive, sizable prizes as well as exposure for publishing. Now live in Beta, we need your help in building this into the community that we all need it to be. By next week the site will have a forum area where you can give us feedback on how to make the site better. I'm also planning on writing my first children's book and posting it in the hopes that it will help motivate others to do the same. The more stories we can get posted, the more quickly we can get quality works in the hands of our kids.

And that, my friends, is what this hoopla is all about. So check us out at http://www.booksprouting.com/ and join up and participate in the community built for us.

BookSprouting Review: Something From Nothing by Phoebe Gilman

Something From Nothing

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover-Reprint, 32 pages

Published: October 1993

Estimated Price: $18.95 USD

This gem of a book may be difficult to find, but I assure you, it’s worth the hunt. Although not an original story, this Yiddish folktale has taken many versions. Still, Something From Nothing rules over them all. The story is about Joseph and his grandfather’s gift to him when he was born: a blanket. As Joseph ages, the blanket takes many forms as it too ages and must be altered. When finally the blanket is lost entirely, Joseph is crushed and even his grandfather admits that he cannot make something from nothing. Joseph’s decision of how to continue after his loss is something truly remarkable and heart-warming. The quaint illustrations tell stories in their own right that will have children marvelling over the sweet little nuances long after they have read the text. Each depiction contains the richness of the old-world and is an excellent tool in teaching or celebrating Jewish culture and traditions. The story is one of appreciation for the simple things in life provided by the loved-ones who mean the most to us, which is a thing to remember in this day of forgetfulness for what truly matters.

4 out of 5 sprouts

It Must be Like Saying Goodbye to Children

At the European premiere of the latest Harry Potter film, J.K. Rowling expressed relief and sadness after completing the final book in the series.

'"Finishing it was very, very emotional. It was a combination of relief and sadness really," she said in London on Tuesday night about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, to be published July 21.

"It's been a hell of a month," said the 41-year-old author, who added that she plans to take a long holiday soon.'

Rowling has remained silent on plot details from even those in her family but has let go the fact that two main characters are fated to die.

The book has reached 1.6 million pre-sales on Amazon alone, making it its most pre-ordered book of all time.

Link

BookSprouting Review: Imagine a Night by Sarah Thomson

Imagine a Night by Sarah Thomson

Illustrations by Rob Gonsalves

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover, 40 pages

Published: June 2003

Estimated price: $18.99 USD

Imagine a Night is a creative book that will show your child how to take the ordinary and make it magical through their own imaginations. The extraordinary and haunting illustrations of Rob Gonsalves steal the show as he turns a beautiful albeit simple setting into something absolutely enchanting. A farmer playing a violin to his field of sunflowers may be charming in its own right, but look closely and you’ll see how the sunflowers slowly metamorphose into women with yellow bonnets and green, leafy dresses. A word of caution to those with skittish children, the illustrations are described as “ghostly” and “haunting” for a reason; some of them are a bit eerie even to this no-nonsense 21-year old! The text is whimsical as it encourages children to look beyond the mundane to what possibilities might lie beyond. After all, sometimes lullabies are not only needed for fussy babies, but for “leaf and stem / and dreaming root.”

4 out of 5 Sprouts

First Book Celebrates the distribution of their 50 Millionth Book!

First Book, a non profit organization with a mission to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books, is celebrating the distribution of their 50 millionth book this summer. To help them celebrate, tell them what book got you hooked 'way back when' and you'll have the chance to share the same magic you once felt with thousands of children in one lucky state. Fill out the entry form chronicling your experience and then vote for a state to receive a donation of 50,000 free books. They’ll post the list of the 50 children’s books with the highest votes in August.

Before they were writing books for children, these authors were inspired by the greats who came before them. Here are their memories:

Laura Numeroff

Author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

The book that got me hooked was Eloise, by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight! I loved her antics and the way Kay Thompson wrote in run on sentences! And Hilary Knight's art captured the essence of Eloise's delightful character! It inspired me to write my own stories!

Eric Carle

Author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar

While I didn't have many books as a child, the experience of reading the funny pages in the newspaper while sitting on my father's lap has stayed with me over the years. This closeness with my father impressed upon me that he loved me and cared about me and that our time together, reading or walking in the woods looking at insects underneath the peeled away bark of a tree, mattered a great deal to him. Sharing books together can provide such important moments for children and their parents or caregivers.

Amy Schwartz

Author and illustrator of Begin at the Beginning

At the risk of being politically incorrect, I'll admit that the volume that got me started on a lifelong love of books was a Dick and Jane reader. This was the first book that I could read in its entirety, and I was thrilled by the experience. Miss Miller had her first graders share their early reading successes with the class, and I remember resisting all efforts to cut me short, as I read aloud the whole, glorious, book.

Arthur Yorinks

Author of Mommy?

Many books had profound importance to me, but one memory stands out — I was alone for the first time as a child, waiting for my parents to come home from an evening out, and I sat and read a story by Edgar Allen Poe called The Black Cat. It was dark out and even with my large dog beside me I was scared out of my wits. I was paralyzed with fear — every sound in the house now seemed like impending doom! Wow, I thought, the power of words...

BookSprouting Review: Dogabet by Dianna Bonder

Dogabet by Dianna Bonder

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Hardcover, 32 pages

Published: March 2007

Estimated price: $16.95 USD

Dogabet is the newest book by Canadian author/illustrator Dianna Bonder and her third addition to the alphabet book category. Zany, alliterated descriptions accompany richly detailed, full-page illustrations of dog breeds from A to Z. Although some of the vocabulary may be difficult for most adults to define (e.g. “ideograms”), some well-placed, tricky adjectives like “gluttonous,” “dapper,” and “vivacious” are sprinkled throughout the text, gently adding beautiful words to your child’s growing vocabulary. Each illustration is bursting with hidden images that coincide with the featured letter, allowing for continued fun even after you’ve read through the book. Dogabet would be a delightful addition to any child’s library.

3 out of 5 Sprouts