Friday, June 11, 2010

"KLUTZY KANTOR" - Cool Book - Cool Author.

It is my pleasure to introduce
a very special children's author
and her first book.
. . .

"Klutzy Kantor"
by
Jessica Aday Kennedy

Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing
Illustrator: Jack Foster




PRINT: 978-1-61633-051-4; 1-61633-051-1
eBook: 978-1-61633-052-1; 1-61633-052-


Like Aday, Klutzy Kantor, the riddle-solving, klutzy Pegasus, is not afraid of facing adversity. He flies to a rainbow and challenges a tricky leprechaun to a mental duel. If he solves Cobbledom Leprechaun’s riddle, the leprechaun will end Kantor’s klutzy ways. Klutzy Kantor uses his mental muscles to seek a solution to his clumsiness problem, because his brain is his strongest asset.


WIN PRIZES HERE!
1 of 5 Prizes - you choose
See details about the give-away and prizes
HEAR the
KLUTZY KANTOR "GO ME" Theme Song
and download of the dance steps.

The “Go Me” song, co written with
The Character Studio
DOT com’s Leferna Walch,
and can be heard on her website.


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

Below are Jessica's answers to my questions.
This talented writer likes to refer to herself
as, "A Differently Abled Writer."


Take it away Jessica!

What got you started writing for children:
I actually began writing for adults. My mom has been shaking her head for years, because I was such a BIG kid. I wait for every animated and kid’s movies eagerly. I loved coloring, playing with my nieces and nephews, have scads of stuffed animals and board games, etc… It never dawned on me to try. I started with short stories, moved to picture books (I’ve got 8 to be published by Guardian Angel Publishing), and I am working on a tween chapter book and a young adult novel. I concentrate almost completely on books for children.

Tell us about “Klutzy Kantor and how you came up with that fun name
.
It is pretty convoluted. Well, he’s like a horse, but has wings. Horses canter. He shares some of my sister’s traits. He’s a total klutz. I liked klutzy better than clumsy, and put a K on canter, and changed the e to an o.

With your disability, how do you go about promoting your book?
That’s my biggest hurdle. I try to visit radio stations, book stores, television stations and newspapers by phone. Whenever possible I go in person. It is a lot harder for people to say, “No.”

What do you think makes a great children’s picture book?
A combination of excellent illustrations and prose make a great picture book. Due to the reduced word count, every word must pack a punch and engage the reader.

Tell the readers something about yourself that no one else knows.

I haven’t eaten anything by mouth in two years. Boy am I hungry! Actually, I am fed through a tube in my stomach.

NOTE: Let me explain, that due to a stroke, this wonderfully determined and talented writer is paralyzed, and permanently confined to a wheelchair. I am honored to call her my friend.

Thank you Jessica, and I know
"Klutzy Kantor"
will be a huge success.


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

Books for Kids - Manuscript Critiques




Tuesday, May 25, 2010

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!

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



Thursday, December 24, 2009

HAPPY HOLIDAYS - from Margot.


HAPPY HOLIDAYS MATES!




I want to thank ALL those who either
read
or followed
my 2 BLOGS and my
WEBSITE during 2009.

HOOK KIDS on READING

Margor's BOOKS for KIDS + Writing News


Margot Finke's of Books for Children


I tried to offer writing help and guidance to those who write for children, as well as provide titles and links to where parents and teachers could find books that HOOK BOYS on READING, as well as hook other RELUCTANT READERS.

HEY - I know I ragged on about e-BOOKS,
and books on CD.
I couldn't help it, fairdinkum!



I just LOVE the eBooks I wrote:
How can you beat QUALITY that is
THRIFTY, GREEN. . . and COOL?




Warm Holiday Greetings



from me to YOU!

And wishes for continued health and happiness
,
NEW book contracts,+ hefty
royalty
checks for 2010!




May 2010 be your break out year!

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


Margot Finke

see

Book Trailers HERE




Saturday, December 5, 2009

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.



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


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




Thursday, December 3, 2009

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!






Monday, November 16, 2009

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?




Wednesday, November 11, 2009

MAYARA CALVANI - writes books that Hook Kids on Reading!


Mayra Calvani

writes stories that captivate
kids and their parents.


Her latest is no exception.



Illustrated by Kit Grady
Guardian Angel Publishing

Who wouldn't love jumping into the world of a cute hamster like Humberto?
And Kit Grady's illustrations bring Humberto and friends to LIFE!

Humberto is an antisocial little hamster… he’s totally addicted to books! His neighbors, the squirrel, the rabbit, the skunk, the hedgehog and the beaver want to become his friends, but Humberto doesn’t have time for them. He’s too busy reading! Then one day, disaster strikes and he must choose between saving his books and helping his soon-to-be friends.

Softcover ISBN: 978-1-935137-92
eBook ISBN 978-1-935137-93-1
Copyright 2009
Paperback/Ebook
24 pages
Ages 4-8

PURCHASE Link

And here's a not too well kept secret. . .

If you go to Mayra's Website you can read more
about Humberto and his friends. Click on Picture Books,
and take a peek at her other delightful books for young children.

Mayra's BLOG is another place full of goodies you will enjoy.