FREE Child's Short Story w/- EVERY BOOK Purchased.

BUY ANY

of these
AUTOGRAPHED hard copy BOOKS
from my WEBSITE . . .

***********************************************************

Taconi and Claude-Double Trouble  -  Ruthie and the Hippo's Fat Behind 

Rattlesnake Jam  -  Horatio Humble Beats the BIG D (dyslexia)

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and receive my
Specially Written
short story:

"Taconi and Claude's
21st Century Adventure"
 

absoluteluy
FREE

( a PDF download)

Magical Boab Tree

THE PLOT

Because of a magical Boab Tree, Taconi and Claude find themselves marooned in the 21st Century. Ruthie and Horatio (2 characters from my other books) join forces to help Taconi and his cockatoo find their way back home where they belong - the Aussie outback of the 1950's.

This fun short adventure

is only offered to those who
BUY
a book from my website.

Margot’s Magic Carpet
Kids Books With a WOW Factor!
http://perfectmagiccarpet.blogspot.com/

Beat Your Kid's Summer Boredom - HOOK THEM on READING!

It's coming up on that time of year. . .
Summer Vacation Time,
when kids get bored!

Boys especially fall into S.V.T. pit of boredom.

Many BOYS
don't think reading will offer what THEY crave . . .

GRAND ADVENTURE
CRAZY FUN AND HUMOR

ESCAPE FROM CHORES
BECOMING A WINNER!

Of course Moms and Dads will be glad to hear that the books I recommend below DO NOT teach their sons to be rebellious, crazy, or anything bad. The books are written by writers who understand what it takes to HOOK a BOY (or a girl) into enjoying a good read. Understanding cause and effect, coming to grips with the idea of making good choices, and developing self-esteem, is what GREAT books offer.

A great author knows ways to weave in what parents want their sons and daughters to "get" from a book. A liberal sprinkling of action, humor and adventure "makes the medicine go down" - to paraphrase Mary Poppins.

I have been off-line for a few months, due to knee replacement surgery that threw me a few nasty curves. So, I thought the time was about right to pop in and offer a few" boy friendly" book titles.

These titles are guaranteed to take your
reluctant reader by the scruff of the neck,
and catapult him into the wonders
of reading great books.

Hopefully, reading something that was written with boys ( and their gross humor and other weird macho traits in mind) will also give moms and dads some breathing space.

HERE WE GO!

Any of Daniel Pinkwater's many novels.

Steve Young's books:
Winchell Mink: The Misadventure Begins + his 15 Minutes.

Dotti Enderle recently wrote an adaptation of Huckleberry Finn for Magic Wagon Press. It is made simplier, without dumbing it down.

Toad Rage and You're a Bad Man, Mr. Gum - both funny books.
Granny (Granny dies at the end--but she is mean and horrible. As a reader you are happy to have her out of the picture.)

Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenk - hilarious,
Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express
Martin's Mice
Anything by Dick King-Smith
The Time Warp Trio - books by Jon Scieszka

Boys often like the Redwall series (although again, not lighthearted).
The Wayside School Series by Sachar - way funny.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Any book by Gordon Korman - especially Born To Rock.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is a riot!

Jerry Spinelli also writes books that tickle the young male funny-bone.
Jim Krieg's Griff Carver: Hallway Patrol.
The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger.
Artemis Fowle by Eoin Colfer, offers fun that is dysfunctional: Dad's missing, mom's in shock.
The Diamond Brothers books by Anthony Horowitz are funny.
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is really funny, - join aliens taking over the world.

Terry Pratchett's books for kids are funny too.
M.T. Anderson wrote Whales On Stilts, the Mystery of the Linoleum Lederhosen, and Pals in Peril - all are goofy in a good way.

The Bone series, by Jeff Smith, is a graphic novel series that zooms out of school libraries!
"Chicken Trek: the Third Strange Thing that Happened to Oscar Noodleman" by Stephen Manes.

Anything by Andrew Clements, Richard Peck, Louis Sachar.

HOLES by Lewis Sachar is very interesting and the character has definite boy appeal.

Just type the titles or author's names into GOOGLE or AMAZON to find book information or other books the authors have written. These day,s they also have websites or blogs for you and your kids to check out.

******************

This list is a mere beginning: something to get you started, and your kids interested in summer reading. NOTE: I stole some of the titles from members of my favorite online writing list - Children's Writers and Illustrators. The remainder were ones I knew about myself.

My son was a reluctant reader, so I know all about searching for just the right story to peak a boy's interest - they had to be BOREDOM PROOF!!

GO TO IT PARENTS!!

*********************

COMING SOON:
My new mid-grade adventure for boys.

"Taconi and Claude- Double Trouble"

Set in the Aussie Outback territory, where survival, a crazed emu, and sneaky Dreamtime spirits, keep Taconi and his talkative cockatoo pal Claude, hopping. His dad needs help, and he is sure the magic blue kingfisher feather, if he could find it, would solve everything. Not to mention adventure, fun, plus all the rattlesnake and witchetty grubs a boy could eat!

*********************

BOOKS - Gifts That Will Change Kid's Lives!

Children's BOOKS
can be a Magic Carpet Ride into the past,
or a peek into the future.



They offer ways of learning that GRAB a child's
imagination. Books encourage thinking.
They also allow your child to safely
visit fascinating places.

BOOKS

Guide children down the pathway of knowledge,
enjoyment, and pure fun.

THIS IS TRUE
(no matter what format that books arrives in)

Whether unwrapped on Christmas morning,

as hard cover or soft cover, or appearing
on your computer screen ( gasp!)
as a
Thrifty GREEN Download,
or a way-cool CD.

Your kids ARE computer savvy. They GET books
downloaded onto e-readers or screens!


SEE FOR YOURSELF!

7 eBook

TRAILERS HERE



"Kangaroo Clues"
from my Wild & Wonderful rhyming series.
(fun and educational)

*********************

NOW. . .

Other books that will make terrific gifts,
and HOOK your reluctant reader on reading.

Three winners by JUDY COX :
Mistress of fast-paced books for boys
(and girls too)

* The Mystery of the Burmese Bandicoot:
Book One in The Tails of Frederick and Ishbu
Marshall Cavendish $16.99
* The Case of the Purloined Professor:
Book Two in The Tails of Frederick and Ishbu
Marshall Cavendish $16.99
* That Crazy Eddie and the Science Project of Doom
Holiday House $15.95
ALL 3 at Amazon
====================

Series by RENEE HAND:
Fun and adventire for all.
North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.

The Crypto-Capers: The Case of the Missing Sock
The Crypto-Capers: The Case of the Red Rock Canyon
The Crypto-Capers: The Legend of the Golden Monkey
Amazon
====================

DEBORAH HOPKINSON:
Fast-passed historical fiction for boys set in the
San Francisco earthquake of 1906:

Into the Firestorm
Knopf/Yearling $5.99
Amzon

====================

Two great boy's books by DORIS HOLIK KELLY:

* Mystery of the Copper Turtle - Amazon
* Mystery of the Voyageur's Rendezvous - Amazon
Arbutus Press
** Book #3 in this series is coming soon:
The Mystery of the Bone Scavengers
====================

Check some of my past Blog pages for other
terrific titles your reluctant readers
will enjoy reading.


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Books for Kids - Manuscript Critiques
HOOK KIDS on READING
Margot's Books for Kids + Writing News

Great Christmas BOOKS for BOYS.

Okay, here I go again, on my hobby-horse:
GREAT BOOKS for BOYS.

This Blog is all about
TWO THINGS. . .

Identifying terrific books for the kids (especially boys) in
your life, and writing books for them

However today, I can take none of the credit for this post.
I simply copied and pasted this wonderfully
detailed resource for you to read.

The guilty party is . . .
Cathy Camper's

BOOKS for BOYS
and
WHERE TO FIND THEM

Get that reluctant reader
HOOKED on READING


by giving him books that follow his interests.

Cathy's post to me includes:
links, titles, authors + words of wisdom.

Let's begin with a link to
Multnomah County Library's lists.
( OR the library where you live)

Cahy begins by writing. . .

We did some great book clubs with dads and boys,

a good way to foster male mentors.

Jon Scieszka, of Stinky Cheese fame, is a huge supporter of Guys Read, and has lists on his website. His biography, Knucklehead, is a book for guys, talks about his childhood growing up in a family of 5 boys. Really funny, not hard to read.

I work at the library doing outreach to schools grades K-12.
So I'm always doing book talks: talking with kids
about what they're reading etc.

Please don't forget non-fiction when pitching to boys. One thing we have to get over is that reading = fiction. Reading can equal sports stats, almanacs, poetry, graphic novels. So here's some titles I've seen hands grab:

Heck Where the Bad Kids Go by Portland author Dale Basye...the 2 middle school protagonists are bad, but too young to go to Hell, so they end up in Heck, which is like...ugh! Middle school.

The sequel is now out too, Rapacia the Second Circle of Heck. At one school book talk I did, ALL the boys wanted to read this, and NONE of the girls. I did a podcast interview with Dale. Podcast posted HERE

Mummies; the Newest, Coolest and Creepiest from Around the World. Think mummies are just found in Egypt? Think again, there's bog mummies, Peruvian mummies, mummies preserved in ice...and my favorite in this book are some Eastern monks that drank special herbs, meditated...and mummified themselves! Check out the pictures in this book if you don't believe me.

Just starting to read? Luke on the Loose is a fantastic graphic novel with a controlled vocabulary. Luke's a kid that can't stop chasing pigeons, so he chases them all over New York City. This is published by Toon Books, Art Spiegelman and his wife Francis Mouly, and they have a really good line-up of graphic novel readers. Visit them HERE

For 2-4th grade boys, don't miss The Dunderheads, by Paul Fleischman, about a group of kids who have a horrible awful teacher...and figure out how to use their talents, to get revenge.

For older boys who are into sports, I recommend the novels of Mike Lupica. ( I liked Heat). They talk about sports, but work in other issues as well. Heat is about a boy with fantastic baseball talent, but also involves immigrations issues, and competition between boys.

The Juvie Three is another one for middle school boys, about three boys in trouble with the law, who are assigned to live with a social worker in an apt. in NYC. When the social worker is injured in a fall, and loses all memory, the boys decide they must do everything just as if he were still around, so the authorities won't send them back to jail....but can they pull it off? Especially when one of them becomes a rock star, another falls in love, and the third is pulled back towards his life of crime....

And yes, I'm working on 2 books for boys...because I love writing humor, a lot of what I like falls into the 'what boys like' category, and I often have boy protagonists. As an author, when I book talked my book, Bugs Before Time, I often got asked by kids, "Why did you, a girl, write about bugs?" Answer: "Because they fascinate me." : )

I hope this helps and do please take a look at some of these great titles!

Thanks Cathy.
These add to the growing number of
BOOKS BOYS WILL READ!

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Books - Manuscript Critiques - Writing Help
Margot's Books for Kids + Writing News

Margot gets Smacked Down!

Oh BOY! The BIG Margot Smack Down
caught me by surprise.

I have been known to pontificate about the fact
that most books for boys are written by men.

Well, a knowledgeable writer pelted me with titles,
provingthat a good number of females
DO write terrific boy's books.

I still insist it's not a majority (which was my original
point), yet larger numbers than
I gave the ladies credit for.

This writer pointed out the error in my assumptions, and went on to provide titles, plus author's names to back up her claims. I do not admit defeat, but I do bow to her great research, and wide knowledge of what goes on in the world of writing for children.

Introducing the Smack Down lady herself. . .

Rosanne Parry
( a wonderfully talented writer)
HEART OF A SHEPHERD - Random House


She smacked me down with this impressive list of authors and titles.

All of them kid friendly books - written by women,
and with young boys in mind.

Guys Lit Wire. They have hundreds of boy-oriented books in categories including everything from First Love to Flying Cars.

I think there is not lack of women who write strong boy characters. From Portland alone, Ursula Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea series qualifies, as does Henry Huggins, and Henry and Ribsy,The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. Heather Vogel Frederick's Spy Mice series is James Bond for 9 year olds. Gretchen Olson's Joyride is a great example of a strong male YA character.

Laini Taylor's Dreamdark series and Virginia Euwer Wolff's Make Lemonade series have devoted readers in both genders. Their female protagonists are nicely balanced with a cast that includes interesting men and boys.

If you want to look beyond the hometown (Oregon) crowd, here are some books published this year, authored by women with strong boy protagonists.

Bull Rider by Suzanne Morgan Williams
When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton
Freaked by J.T. Dutton
Initiation by Susan Fine
Haven by Beverly Patt
Operation Redwood by S. Terrill French
The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate by Donna St. Cyr

Rosanne
hit the jackpot with these titles.

And Oregon DOES have a slew of great children's writers. Maybe it's our extremely active and helpful SCBWI? Or maybe, just maybe, it's all that rain? I mean, what else can you do, cooped up during those long, chilly, wet winters? Kill slugs?

***************************


Margot Finke
Books for Kids - Manuscript Critiques
HOOK KIDS on READING
Margot's Books for Kids + Writing News

BOOK TITLES that HOOK BOYS on READING

Parents, Home Schoolers and Teachers. . .

Today I bring you 3 books with built in HOOKS.

If your boy (or girl ) reluctant reader hides when you suggest they read,
or when the teacher assigns a home reading project, don't despair.

First, make sure they do not have a genuine reading
disability, like dyslexia, or a need for glasses.
Once that hurdle is cleared, your main
problem is finding books that
have a plots and characters
that interest them.

Bland and cute will not cut it with these finicky readers.

Try wild adventure, outer space, quirky wimps that mature fast, or a character with the same interests as your child. If they love computers, racing cars or horses, then search for author who bring these elements into their stories. With your librarian's help, point your reluctant reader in the direction of of books that involve the things they are passionate about. Look for fast action, cool situations and dialogue, plus wacky adventures.

Below are 3 examples of books that have "boy baited" hooks:

Storky: How I Lost my Nickname and Won the Girl -
by D.L. Garfinkle

Partial Review From Booklist - American Library Association:
Gr. 8-11. High-school freshman Mike Pomerantz is tall and too skinny, with bird legs and wiry hair. He has an unrequited crush on fellow smart-kid--beautiful, popular Gina--who scorns him. Mike confides his troubles to his computer journal, with wry humor and deliciously bitter caricatures.

* Available from Amazon

**********************

Stuck in the 70s by D.L. Garfinkle

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up—When Tyler walks into his bathroom in the middle of the night and sees strange, but gorgeous, Shay taking a bubble bath, he thinks he's dreaming. She thinks it's an elaborate joke. One minute she's in 2006 and the next minute, the dorky guy who won't stop staring at her is telling her it's 1978. All Shay wants to do is get back home. Tyler wouldn't mind if she stayed a while and maybe helped him improve his science-geek reputation. They strike a deal. She will help him out at school if he'll figure out how to send her back to her own time.
Because it is WAY out-of-the-box, teens (boys and girls) will be hooked on this one.

* Available from Amazon

**********************

A sneak peek at Max Elliot Anderson's Blog told me about this book:

Bran Hambric - The Farfield Curse - by Kaleb Nation,

Part Synopsis:
Bran Hambric was found locked in a bank vault at six years old, with no memory of his past. For years, he has lived with one of the bankers, wondering why he was left behind -- until one night, when he is fourteen, he is suddenly confronted by a maddened creature, speaking of Bran’s true past and trying to kidnap him. Bran finds that he is at the center of a plot which started years before he was even born: the plot of a deadly curse his mother created…and one that her former masters are hunting for him to complete. Haunted by the spirit of his mother’s master and living in a city where magic is illegal, Bran must undo the crimes of his past...before it is too late.

This is another book reluctant teen readers will devour.

* Want to preview the first 4 chapters for free?
Click here to download.

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My Website - Manuscript Critiques
Margot's BOOKS for KIDS + Writing News
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
BUY any Autographed Book from my website, and
receive a FREE LINK to me READING that story!
Soft cover - CD - Download

Max Elliot Anderson - Author of BOOKS BOYS WILL READ

Today, I want to introduce you to

Max Elliot Anderson and his Blog,
BOOKS and BOYS

If you want your boy to stop being a reluctant reader, you need to search out authors who know how to write about things boys find cool, fun, and slightly dangerous. Max Anderson is one such author. Boys eat up his wildly adventuresome plots and characters.

WHY? Because Max's characters do things
all boys long to do.

His characters dig deep, and find the courage to act in ways that make boys feel good about the end result. Boys find it easy to root for and identify with what his main character feels and does. His books reach a chord within young boys that appeals to their macho image of themselves, without overdoing it. And his books are FUN!

Max Anderson's Blog, BOOKS and BOYS is the place
to go if you want to discover books your boy
will read, and then beg for more.

To give you some idea of how this great writer thinks, plus synopses of some terrific adventures for boys, click on the links below. Also read pertinent links to articles on how to write for boys.

• The Dillinger connections
• Authors Share Tips on How to Hook Boys on Books
• Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Educational...
• Announcing new Blog - Cool Guys Read
• School Library Journal & Books For Boys

*************************

Read Max's fascinating interview for the
Stories for Children magazine

Here's another Author Interview with Max Anderson,
where you can score BIG for your
reluctant reader.

Click on the link above, and add a comment on that blog,
and you could WIN one of Max's books!

These links below start you off on the Max Elliot grand tour:

Books for Boys
Cool Guys Read
Books for Boys by Max Elliot Anderson
Action-Adventure & Mystery Books for Boys
+
Background on Max Anderson

And if you CLICK HERE you can link to ALL the rest of Max's Blogs.



Hey, what can I say. The man's a dynamo!




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My Website - Manuscript Critiques

BUY any Autographed Book from my website, and
receive a FREE LINK to me READING that story!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

HOOK KIDS on READING with the RELUCTANT READER LAIR!

****************************

The Reluctant Reader Lair
is all about authors writing "Books That Will HOOK Kids
on READING," and parents who are happy
to find and buy them.

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Do You Worry Because Your Child
Doesn't Like Reading?

I have discovered that more reluctant readers are boys.
As a writer of children's books, I find this
shocking and unacceptable.

However, I'm betting it's because girl genes swoon over
frills, pink, cute puppies, playing house,
and dress-up.


On the other hand, boy genes go for fast action, frogs,
yucky stuff, dirt, shooting guns and practicing
gross underarm noises.


Who writes kid's books anyway?

More women than men write books for children, so it stands to reason that they tend to lean toward things that appeal to kids of the female persuasion: not always mind you, but quite often. Lady writers know what little girls (and not so little girls) like - right! So, with the profusion of story choices offered to them, about topics they think are cool, it's no wonder girls read more than boys.

Now that I've dragged this dirty little secret out in the open, what can writers do about fixing this, so our boys will also have a ready supply of books they love to read?

First off, female writers have to go discover the other side of the gene pool - the Testerone Mystery! What makes it tick? What interests those it inhabits? How can we entice a "testerone flavor of the month" into the books we write for boys?

YIKES!!
It's beginning to sound like a banned book!
NOT SO, mates.

My son David was a reluctant reader. Short of my gluing a book to his hands, and threatening dire consequences, he would not read. Not sure about you, but I was certain this was not the way to get him HOOKED on BOOKS!

"It's boring, Mom."
"Can I stop now?" - after 5 minutes.
"I'll read it later - promise!"
"Laura liked it ( his sister), so it's gotta suck."
"But a lady wrote it!!"
"Aw Mom, the team will flub without me."

Just A few of my son's wiggle-outa-reading excuses. Books should be a can't-put-it-down-till-I -finish, kinda fun - not a gun-at-the-head torture. How could I hook this kid of mine on the pleasure of reading, the thrill of that magic carpet ride to fascinating and far away places, of intriguing characters, and boy targeted adventures.

Then I found him the Hardy Boy's Series. Not great literature for sure, but who cares: These books GOT DAVID READING. No nagging, no excuses. After reading the complete series of umpteen books, he asked for more of the same. Now that I knew his reading needs, it was no problem to provide my son with the sort of macho page turners he loved.

That's when the answer hit me right in the face. . .
WRITE ABOUT WHAT INTERESTS BOYS.

Forget the frills and the fashions. Dump the giggles and the whispered secrets. Think mini-male.
Give boys a scaled down version of what their Dads, Uncles and Grandfathers enjoyed reading.

*An humorous action mystery
*A fast paced wild country adventure
*A school bully fed his own medicine
*How to survive ( macho man style) in an all female household.
*A bordering on gross holiday adventure - fast and funny!
*Fantasy and Sci-Fi dudes on the rampage.
*Tales about winning team sports.
*Bring on the dinosaurs!

Keep girls to a minimum and the DIALOGUE ALL BOY!
Let the yuck factor rule - especially with humor.

Get the picture. . . sorry, I mean BOOK?

Begin by researching what the boys you know and love like to do. When they gather to watch TV, sports, or play computer games, SPY ON THEM! Listen to the way they talk, their current interests, the food they crave. Note what they think is cool, and what they hate. Get a feel for what tickles the junior male funny bone!

Now, go to the library and read everything they have that was written with boys in mind.
Depending upon the age you want to write for, look for books written by:

Max Elliot Anderson
Gary Paulson
Steve Young
Louis Sachar
Lemony Snicket
Bruce Colville
Jeanne duPrau

Or, go to Michael Sullivan's Website
BOOKS FOR BOYS

There you will find a plethora of books written with macho in mind - from picture books to young adult, from fiction to non-fiction, and everything in-between. More than 99% of them written by men. Come on ladies, we can't let men keep this side of writing all to themselves!!

If we want young boys to start reading, we as authors have to write books that have boy appeal.
And parents need to understand that little Andy and sister Jillian might look a lot alike, but this does not mean they want to read the same sort of books. Andy will want macho man stories, while Jillian will probably go for girlie stuff.

RELUCTANT READER BOYS CAN BE HOOKED!

Authors need to WRITE BOOKS BOYS want to READ
And then. . .
Parents can buy books that HOOK their boy's interest.


a
Slam-dunk, Mates!


MORE NEXT TIME


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My Website - Manuscript Critiques

BUY any Autographed Book from my website,
and receive a FREE LINK to me reading that book -
all reluctant reader friendly!

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