D: Dare to Face Your Fears

D is for Dare to face your fears.

As writers, it can sometimes be scary to face our fears, whether they be fears of the past or of the present. But our fears help us write better. And writing about our fears, or at least the feeling of facing them, allows us to better connect with our readers. If we can allow readers to better understand life by sharing our feelings with them, then we have succeeded as a writer. Dare to dream big. Face those fears and get back to your writing!

I know my clues are kind of wonky, but if you stick with it, I really think you'll be able to figure out the secret message by the end of the month. See you tomorrow!

Keep on keepin' on...

C: Celebrate Literacy

C is for Celebrate Literacy!

British poet, Lord Byron, of the early 1800's speaks of solitude in the following poem.

Solitude by Lord Byron

To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell,
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene,
Where things that own not man's dominion dwell,
And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been;
To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,
With the wild flock that never needs a fold;
Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean;
This is not solitude, 'tis but to hold
Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled.
But midst the crowd, the hurry, the shock of men,
To hear, to see, to feel and to possess,
And roam alone, the world's tired denizen,
With none who bless us, none whom we can bless;
Minions of splendour shrinking from distress!
None that, with kindred consciousness endued,
If we were not, would seem to smile the less
Of all the flattered, followed, sought and sued;
This is to be alone; this, this is solitude! 

And what better way to celebrate literacy than to enjoy your own personal solitude by reading or writing a poem or a good book? Enjoy!

B: It's a Book

B is for book! B is for blogger. B is for book blogger.

Lane Smith wrote a great little book I'd like to get called It's a Book. I haven't read it yet, but it looks like so much fun that I think I actually am going to buy it before reading it, and I never do that (unless it's nonfiction)!

Check out the book trailer.



That's it for today. Have a great day, and go read a book!

A: A Challenge Like No Other

"A" is a word in the English language, quite possibly the most used word of all. If not, then "I" might be #1. Either way, "A" is in the top TWO! This month, I'm participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

A is for:

• "A"
• A Challenge Like No Other
• A to Z Blogging Challenge
• ANY word that starts with "a"
• AWESOMENESS!
• April Fools Day

Have fun blog hopping today! See you tomorrow for "B"!

The extra challenge is to follow me through the whole month and read all my posts to figure out the secret message. Every day has a clue word. The first person to figure out the message gets a PRIZE! Better than a bookmark, not quite as good as a novel. Good luck!

Spring Contest Is Here!

The Winter Quarter for the Lucky Clover Picture Book Contest is now closed. Good luck everyone! Winner will be announced in April.

The Spring Quarter is NOW OPEN!

Get those submissions in and spread the word.

Have a great weekend!

Do a Good Deed and Feel a Warm Fuzzy

READ-4-LUCK is the weekly feature that acts as a book recommendation, book review, teaching tip, and writing lesson for children, parents, teachers, and writers. I post each week with Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Book Fridays.

 = Not bad. Might read twice.
 = Fun read first few times. Would get from library again.
 = Very enjoyable. Wouldn't mind owning a copy.
 = Awesome! Never tiresome for children, parents, teachers, or writers. May just have to buy this book.

This week's pick is Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed written by Emily Pearson, illustrated by Fumi Kosaka.


Summary:

A young girl's good deed is multiplied as it is passed on by those who have been touched by the kindness of others.

Publisher: Gibbs Smith  

Year: 2002

Word Count: 1222
Book Level: 4.2

Age: 4-8

Topic: service, blueberries, multiplication

Theme: good deeds, helping, pay it forward, kindness

First Lines:

Ordinary Mary was so very ordinary that you'd never guess she could change the world. This ordinary kid? She did! She changed the world!

RATINGS

CHILDREN:  Rhyming words scattered throughout make great word play. Every day. Yea oh yea! But this is NOT a rhyming book. It is so cute.

PARENTS:  This is a feel-good book you want to read to help teach your kids that kindness and good deeds actually do make a difference.

TEACHERS:  Not only is this great for character development, but also great for math. A great intro to multiplication. Could make a tree chart that shows how many people can be affected by the chain of events in a ripple effect of kindness.

WRITERS:  Lots of characters. Interesting to see how the rhymes are worked in and how the ending circles back to the beginning.

Be sure to visit other "perfect picture books" at Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.

Keep on keepin' on...

Writing for Children

Only one week left to enter the Lucky Clover Picture Book Contest - Winter 2012 Quarter!

Today I'm exploring craft. The writing craft. I'm trying to think of different sections or categories. So far, I have:

1. patterns
2. plot
3. rules of 3
4. word play
5. favorite words
6. word usage
7. vivid verbs
8. character growth
9. voice
10. tense
11. action
12. dialogue
13. rhyming
14. grammar
15. style
16. genre
17. conflict

What other ideas do you guys have? I'm trying to narrow it down to 10 categories. HELP! Which ones might I combine? Any and all ideas will be most welcome!

Pass the Paper #6: The Picnic Party

It's time for the monthly writing exercise, Pass the Paper!  

I base this on the activity sometimes done at school or camp.  One person begins a story (either on paper, or aloud) and the next person adds to it.  Participants continue around the room until everyone has had a turn.  If the story doesn't feel finished, go a bit further until it gets an ending, even if it IS goofy.  But then, that's the fun of it! 


Just leave a comment below to add to the story. It's that simple! When you leave a comment, click on "subscribe by e-mail," so you can be notified when the next comment is written. That way, you'll know when to come back and write some more. Thanks for playing! 

Holly was so excited to have graduated 2nd grade, but she was even more excited about summer. She LOVED summer picnics, but she HATED thunderstorms. Her favorite picnic meal was an egg-salad sandwich, a giant sweet pickle and watermelon. She and her friends spent several days planning...

Okay, let's see what you guys can do with this one!


If you missed Leonard the Purple Pig's story, be sure to see how it turned out.