Let's Start a Conversation: How do we get good books to kids?

I was going to write up a post about the Picture Book Panel at Politics and Prose on May 19th, but Publisher's Weekly did a nice job and there is video HERE. For a great blow-by-blow, check out Once Upon a Story's synopsis.

Instead of writing up my notes, which would not be as good as the two above, I've been thinking about children's literacy non-profits. Something Jon Scieszka said on the panel was that there are a lot of these literacy programs but they give the "crappiest books to the poorest schools." 

So how do we get the BEST books out to kids? If the books the kids are presented with are great, engaging, thought provoking books they are going to want to read. And read them again and again. 

Not only do many of them have programs for getting books into the hands of kids, they have wonderful volunteer opportunities and various events for us all to get involved with. 

Here are is a VERY brief selection:

An Open Book - This organization was mentioned by Meg Medina during the panel.Their mission is to promote literacy in the Washington, DC area. They give books to disadvantaged children and teens and they also provide author and illustrator visits. (If you know of an organization like this near you, please share it below!)

Reading is Fundamental (RIF)- The largest children's literacy non-profit in the US. From their website, "We prepare and motivate children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most. We inspire children to be lifelong readers through the power of choice. RIF provides new, free books for children to choose from and make their own."

National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance - Founded by award-winning authors and illustrators, the NCBLA believes that literacy is more then just the ability to read it is also about accessibility to quality literature that encourages the readers to dream and achieve those dreams. "We believe that literacy is essential to the development of responsible citizens in a democracy. The main goal of the NCBLA is to make issues related to young people’s literacy, literature, and libraries an ongoing priority on our national agenda." (from the NCBLA website.)

Children's Book Council (CBC)- "The Children’s Book Council is the national nonprofit trade association of children’s book publishers. The CBC offers children’s publishers the opportunity to work together on issues of importance to the industry at large, including educational programming, literacy advocacy, and collaborations with other national organizations." (from the CBC website.)

Raising a Reader -  This organization focuses on family involvement in a child's reading adventure. According to their website, since they began they "have helped more than 900,000 families build and sustain reading routines in their homes, with special attention to highest-risk for educational failure."

Lastly, RIF has a current campaign called Book People Unite. You can see the short video and sign the pledge here.

The Enforcer already LOVES to read!

I see our "mini library" at home as such a blessing and gift for our kids. I would love to be able to share the love of reading my family has with others. And hopefully, work towards making books accessible to all kids. 

Do you know of a great children's literacy organization that we all should know about? Please share it below! 

I would love to get a great list together over time.

Any ideas on other ways to get great books to kids?

How a Book is Made according to Mac Barnett

This weekend at the Gaithersburg Book Festival, I had the pleasure of hearing Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett speak together in a talk called Picture Book Fun. (Read more about their talk and the festival HERE.) The audience LOVED seeing them and Mac Barnett shared how his first book was made. I wish I had a video of this because the pictures don't do justice to how funny and engaging his explanation was! 

But, without further blabbing from me:

How a Book is Made according to Mac Barnett 

(paraphrased by yours truly.)

Here is how Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem was made. This is a picture of..... right the United States as it looks from space. This red dot is me in California. I came up with the story and after about the 5th draft sent it to my editor....

 in New York. (See the Statue of Liberty?) An editor is like a teacher and tells you what to fix and what jokes aren't funny. So I changed to the ideas of hers I liked and sent it back.

"But you didn't change this."
"Well, I didn't think it was a good idea."
"I think it's a good idea."
Back and forth and back and forth. (That would be all the red lines crossing the US.)

Then around the 10th draft it was ready to go to the illustrator.

Adam was the illustrator (shown here by the glasses near the Statue of Liberty) and he sent me a few pictures of monsters.

"But these aren't whales?"

"Yeah, they're for my book."

"But what about MY book??"

"I'll get to that.... after I move to Arizona....and write a novel."

(Apparently while moving to Arizona, Adam took a wrong turn and went to Canada and then hiked through the mountains. His move is noted by the green dots from the glasses to the cactus which Mac says looks quite a bit like Adam.)

Finally, the book has pictures and it's sent back to NY where it is ready to be printed. 

Now if you were going to print something that needed to be sent all over the country where would your print it? Exactly, in the middle (see the X.)  And they print it really close to there, over here in CHINA. (big red circle on the bottom of the board.) This is just what China looks like from space. 

Then they print stacks and stacks of my books. You can see them from space, just like the Great Wall of China. (great likeness in the picture too...)

So after they are all printed, how is the fastest way to get them here? Right, by boat...

The boat sails through the sea is then boarded by pirates, who don't care about books since they don't read, and then the boat goes on past a sea monster and into the Bermuda Triangle. Finally, after months and months it pops out up by NY. But all the words are backwards. So they have to sail back through the Bermuda Triangle to POP back out with the words the right way. 

Then they send them out all over.

And that is how a book is made. 

As I said, it would have been great as a video. But now we know why it takes so long to get a book published, printed, and out to the readers!

Jon, Mac and the Gaithersburg Book Festival

Get out your pen and mark your calendars for May 17, 2014 The Gaithersburg Book Festival was a wonderful event and I am already looking forward to next year.

What made this event so great? Amazing speakers, friendly helpful staff and volunteers, great food, and of course, great books ALL OVER!

Since I was volunteering in the afternoon, I arrived early to have time to hear a program or two and check out all the community and author/illustrator booths.

I talked with authors and illustrators in the Hall of Exhibiting Children's Authors and met some wonderful people. I spread the word about SCBWI to those who hadn't heard of the organization before and handed out a few brochures.

The opportunity to meet so many other authors and illustrators and really have a chance to talk with them one-on-one is a big advantage of this festival. Smaller then the National Book Festival in DC and the Baltimore Book Festival (both in September,) the Gaithersburg Festival has a great community feel and everyone is willing to talk without feeling rushed or bustled. The pavilions are nicely sized so everyone gets a seat, but even at the packed programs you feel engaged with the speakers. Oh, and though I stayed in the children's area they have areas and presenters for adult genres as well. I meant to stop by and hear the Mommy Bloggers, but I got caught up chatting with a few children's authors. 


Speaking of speakers: I was able to see Mary Quattlebaum and her husband dressed as pirates as they shared her newest books Pirate vs. Pirate, The Hungry Ghost of Rue Orleans, and Jo MacDonald Had a Garden. Who doesn't love a pirate presentation? We all definitely did and the kids anxiously awaited to see what her most precious treasure was in her treasure box. In a pirate author's treasure box you will find jewels and gold of course, but you will also find a hungry ghost trying to eat vegetables from Jo MacDonald's garden. But the most precious treasure of a pirate author is her PIRATE PEN!

Up next was a power-duo, Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett. Both authors have an astonishing list of accomplishments pertaining to writing and spreading a love of literature. 

In one word, they were HILARIOUS. These two gents obviously enjoy playing off one another and the audience certainly enjoyed the show. Each read a story and the other gladly interrupted through out.

Mac then provided the audience with a detailed version of how a book is made, but that will be a separate post later this week. Good stuff there, I sure learned a lot. (Yes, that was a hint of sarcasm.) Here it is!

Then I was off to volunteer at the Story Time tent where local volunteers (teachers, media specialists, and community members) would sit for a bit and read picture books to groups of kids. There were two little girls that would have stayed all afternoon and listen to stories. We had a little break between readers and they looked so disappointed I read them a few of the books I picked up in the morning until the next reader arrived. I love that! It's always nice to find kids excited about books! Getting a small crowd to sit down was always easier after the reader had started, but the biggest crowd was there to hear RGIII's parents read a few of his childhood favorites. 

Though the weather wasn't ideal, it wasn't sun-burning and hot or heavily raining, so I can't complain! I had a great time volunteering and I'm looking forward to next year!

Just a little heads up, I checked the list of already confirmed presenters for the National Book Festival and award winning illustrator JON KLASSEN is on the list! 

Whoa May, Slow Down

Ok, May starts tomorrow so I was taking a good look at my calendar. IT IS SO FULL! Whoa. 

Now that it is getting nice weekends are bound to disappear before we even get to them (full of fun things of course.) But, it seems as my weeks are terribly busy too. More so then usual. 

Here's what's coming up this month:

This is the extent of my doodling.
I should write a story about a snail...

May 1st-May 31st is Doodle Day May. I am not an artist, nor do I claim to be, but this has the potential to get some more creative juices moving and I can involve the kiddos! Can't get much better then that right?

May 1st-May 7th is NaPiBoWriWeek or National Picture Book Writing Week. The challenge here is to attempt to write 7 picture book drafts in 7 days. I have my list of ideas ready and I'm hoping they are ready to be written. Sometimes those ideas can be quite stubborn and the first drafts are SUPER bad, but a draft is a draft and the habit or writing a bit every day would be a great one to develop.

May 1st - July 31st Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Contest is open to New Authors. They pick 3 finalists and then in early November he public votes for their favorite. The winner gets their story in a whole bunch of cereal boxes and in the hands of millions of little readers. Not to shabby!

May 13th -May 19th is National Children's Book Week. Their about the week page says "Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country." How awesome is that?!? Go kid lit!

May 18th is the Gaithersburg Book Festival where they are going to have an awesome amount of stuff going on. Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, and Christopher Myers caught my eye quickly! I'm volunteering for the morning of the festival and hoping to be in the children's area to rub a few elbows!

May 19th is a Picture Book Panel at Politics and Prose in Washington DC. Part of the panel are Neal Porter (editorial director of Neal Porter Books) and authors Mac Barnett, Meg Medina and Jon Scieszka and author/illustrators Christopher Myers and Laura Vaccaro Seeger. I'm hoping to meet up with a few other SCBWI members before hand too! 

SO! That's just the picture book/writing/creative bits on my calendar this month. I hope baby #4 likes to go because we are going to be doing quite a bit of it this month. With tee ball, swim lessons and (what we like to call) "Mom's Stroller Workout" during the week and the end of trimester two coming up fast, I'm hoping I have time to sleep!

I'll apologize for the state of my house now, I won't be bored enough to clean it. :)

The Helpful Speed Bump ( aka Finding my Path)

There are two things I wanted to be when I grew up: a mom and a writer.

As other SAHMs (that would be: stay-at-home-moms) will tell you, it is the greatest and hardest job staying home with your kids. Some days are full of fun, laughter, and seemingly unending joy. But other days it can be hard to make it to bedtime. It can be terribly lonely if you don't seek out other adults, but these kiddos are endless sources of energy and boring is NEVER how I would describe my job.

Thank goodness for Spring!

It has taken me a bit longer to realize that being a writer was at the core of everything else I thought I wanted to do professionally. Before working at a television station in college, I was sure that's what I wanted to do. I was going be the next Katie Couric. But, that career ended before it began. The three years I did television in college were the only three years I had anything to do with television production.

From college, I volunteered for six months with Boys Hope Girls Hope in Detroit as a house parent for five teenage girls. This volunteer opportunity opened my mind to a career in non-profit and after a few months as a substitute teacher, I joined Talbot Mentors as the Program Coordinator. I loved the freedom to create new programs and monthly newsletters. I loved working with the elementary and middle school students after-school with homework, projects and other educational enrichment. After the Politician was born, no longer wanting to work full time, I signed on with Caroline County Recreation and Parks as a middle school After-School Coordinator.

Then came PT and with two little ones at home, I took on full time, stay at home mom status. Lots of play groups and story times. And along came the Enforcer in 2011. By then I was really looking for something to call mine, again. Ok, and a way to get rid of some baby weight. :)

So, 2012 was my year of running. With the three little ones at home, I relished the short time away to have something I needed to do alone. Each month I conquered another race. One was a half marathon! I loved the community, the commitment, the determination, and the persistence that running asked of and provided to me. As 2012 came to a close, I was already planning my racing calendar for 2013.

Enter baby number four and my running came to a screeching, stalled out, halt. Our new addition will be arriving late into the summer and has changed all those plans I had for 2013.

I wanted something like running. Something that required so much of me, but brought me so much in return. Something that got me out of my house and even though I could share it with my kids there was much I would need to do on my own. Something with a wonderful community and a way to grow and evolve in many different ways. I found just what I was looking for in writing.

I've always had journals and stories floating in my head, but I finally feel like I have taken the path I was supposed to take. Just like any crossroads in life, without a speed bump (mine is growing daily :) ) I probably would have missed the exit and passed right on by. For so many reasons, I am thankful for my children, but number four will always have a special place as the one who helped me realize a dream I had forgotten.

Many thanks to everyone in the Picture Book Community. Through 12X12 and the PBA (Picture Book Academy,) I have felt right at home and surrounded by amazing, intelligent and like minded people. I look forward to what is in store for 2013 and beyond!

I would love to hear your journey! Have you had a helpful speed bump?