Would You Read It Wednesday - The July Pitch Pick!!!

Greetings, everyone!

I hope you have all had a lovely week since last we met :)

Today, since we're tying things up before the August break, we have the July Pitch Pick but no new pitch, so less work for you! :)

Oh, and of course Something Chocolate to get you fueled up (and rewarded!) for your help!

Let's start with that because... why not? :)  How's this for perfect summer chocolate?

Chocolate-Dipped Watermelon!

Okay.  Possibly a little weird :)  But I'll bet delicious! :)  It has chocolate on it.  How can it not be?

Alrighty!  Here we go on the July Pitch Pick!

#1 Lavanya - How I Made My Baby Sister (PB ages 3-7)
The thing about making a baby sister is, you have to be patient. First, you have to be patient until Mom and Dad realize you have the best idea. Then, you have to be patient for the baby to come out. But hardest of all is being patient while the baby grows big enough to play with you.

#2 Rene - Berr-r-rnice (PB ages 3-5)
Wee Woolly Bear caterpillar is STILL eating even though wintry winds are whipping. Journeying to her hibernation destination through mushy mare meadows proves treacherous. Wee Woolly Bear must persevere and ultimately discovers she's not alone in her troubles. A 390 word story of perseverance and friendship for 3 - 5 year olds.

#3 Kirsten - Stuck In The Muck (PB ages 4-8)
Sir Whiskerson loves kitty facials and paw-dicures. When he comes whisker to whisker with a mangy mutt named Sunny, Whiskerson is desperate to remain pristine. But with Sunny stuck in the muck and sinking, Whiskerson must decide whether doing the right thing is worth a gloppy, sloppy fur coat.

Please choose the pitch you think most deserves a read and comments by editor Erin Molta and vote for it in the poll below by Sunday August 2 at 5 PM EST. Thank you all so much!

I will miss you all during the next few weeks, but this has been a pretty tough summer so far and I'm afraid I'm going to pretty much disappear from the internet.  Good lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'll see you all on September 9 for the next installment of Would You Read It! :)

Have a wonderful, happy, relaxing, fun-filled, rejuvenating rest of the summer everyone!!!

See you in September! :)

Would You Read It Wednesday #183 - Sourpuss: Stuck In The Muck (PB) PLUS The June Pitch Pick Winner!!!

Golly!  The summer is just flying along, isn't it?

I can't believe it's half-past July already!

I hope you are all enjoying tons of happy family time, vacationing, beaching, camping and marshmallow roasting... whatever blows your hair back :)

Now...

I bet you're all wondering who won the June Pitch Pick, so I won't keep you in suspense.  (And this time I'm serious - I really won't!  We all have pressing things to get back to like lying in hammocks :))

The winner of the June Pitch Pick is MICHELLE with her pitch for The Sunflower Traveler!!!  Congratulations, Michelle!  Your pitch is winging its way through cyberspace to editor Erin Molta and I'm sure you'll hear from her soon!

Congratulations to all our other fabulous pitchers, too!  You all did a fantastic job.  The choice was SO tough!  I hope at the very least everyone feels they got some helpful feedback from all our generous readers!

And now, I feel the need for Something Chocolate!  How about you?  Due to this heat wave, I've got cold things on the brain, so I think we'll go with a Frozen Brownie Sundae... er, Wednesdae?!  Sound good?

from the Brown-Eyed Baker - recipe HERE
 http://www.browneyedbaker.com/frozen-brownie-sundae/

Enjoy!!!

Today's pitch comes to us from Kirsten who says, "I am a children's writer, a mother of three active preschoolers, a lover of all things salty and fattening, and an avid avoider of cleaning. I have been writing seriously for about 4 years. I LOVE the supportive writing community that I have found and I love my supportive hubby who looks past the piling masses of dirty laundry and asks me how my book is going."

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Sourpuss: Stuck In The Muck
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: Sourpuss is a cat that loves bubble baths, kitty facials, and manicures. When he comes whisker to whisker with a mangy mutt named Sunny, Sourpuss is desperate to remain pristine. Then Sunny gets stuck in the muck and it looks like Sourpuss is her only hope...if he is able to brave the sticky mud.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Kirsten improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in November so you've got a little time to polish up your pitches and send yours for your chance to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Kirsten is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to that Sundae... even though it's Wednesdae :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!!! :)

Perfect Picture Book Friday SPECIAL EDITION! - There Was An Old Dragon Who Swallowed A Knight!

Hi Everyone!

I know.

I said Perfect Picture Book Friday was on hiatus until September.

And it is.

Mostly.

It's just that I had to interrupt the hiatus today to shout a fabulous new book from the rooftops and make sure you all knew about it in time to preorder!

It's not every day that someone you know - someone whose writing you've watched blossom and grow - releases a debut picture book, so when that happens it is truly cause for celebration!  In this case, that someone is a talented writer and poet, an entertaining blogger, always willing to jump in and help with any hair-brained schemes I happen to be cooking up :), and an all around fun person who I'm privileged to call a friend. . . the lovely and delightful Penny Klostermann!!!

Sit back and get ready to enjoy her splendiferous, tons-of-fun debut picture book: There Was An Old Dragon Who Swallowed A Knight!

Title: There Was An Old Dragon Who Swallowed A Knight
Written By: Penny Klostermann
Illustrated By: Ben Mantle
Random House, August 2015, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-7

Themes/Topics: retelling of classic tale, humor, greed

Opening: "There was an old dragon who swallowed a knight.  I don't know why he swallowed the knight.  It's not polite!"

Brief Synopsis: For some unknown reason (maybe he was hungry?! :)) a dragon swallows a knight... but apparently that doesn't quite do the trick, because after the knight he proceeds to swallow half the kingdom!  Eventually, though, the dragon has had ENOUGH!


Links To Resources: activity guides on Penny's website; make up your own "There Was An Old ____ Who Swallowed A _____" story!

Why I Like This Book:  Is there anything NOT to like??? :)  This is a wacky, fun, rollicking story that takes advantage of the familiar format of There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly while making the whole concept completely new and fresh.  The dragon is delightfully grumpy when he hollers, "I've had enough of this swallowing stuff!", and I dare any kid not to laugh when the dragon burps everything back out.  Well... almost everything :)  (You'll have to read the story to find out how it ends :))  The art is absolutely perfect!  Bright, engaging, and full of humorous details that are just right for the story - an author/illustrator match made in heaven.  There is so much to like in this book that it's hard to pick favorite things, but I am especially partial to the steed who, once he enters the story, goes clippity clippity clippity clop! on every page - so much fun to read :)  Race out and pre-order your copy today, and/or make sure your local library plans to carry it!!!

Penny Parker Klostermann is the author of There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight. She loves all kinds of books, but especially loves very silly picture books that make her laugh. She has been known to hug her favorite picture books and seriously hopes that someday her books will gain huggable status too. Penny lives in Abilene, TX. Find out more about Penny on her website-https://www.pennyklostermann.com.

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF bloggers please be sure to leave your post-specific link in the list below so we can all come visit you!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!! :)

Would You Read It Wednesday - The June Pitch Pick

Happy Wednesday, Everybody!

I hope this morning finds you all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and excited about living in the now :)

So, something unprecedented has happened today.

The pitcher who was up is a no show!

She was scheduled but never sent her pitch and info... and I've been distracted and didn't notice until I went to write the post...

So you guys all get a restful day with nothing but Something Chocolate and the June Pitch Pick!

Woo hoo!

Chocolate first?

That's what I thought :)

And what could be better for a hot day in July than a chocolate ice cream float?

Recipe HERE (along with 19 other ice cream floats!)
http://www.brit.co/ice-cream-floats-2/?utm_campaign=pinbutton_hover

Now that we're all properly fortified with the kind of brain food that will allow us to make hard decisions, let's have a look at our new and improved June pitches.  Once you've read and pondered, please choose the pitch you feel most deserves a read by editor Erin Molta and vote for it below by Sunday July 19 at 5PM EDT.

#1 Lavanya - The Sun, The Moon, And Eve (PB ages 4-8)
In the dawn of the world, a child called Eve sings out her love for her siblings, the Sun and the Moon. But when Eve's songs reveal her favorite, the Sun and the Moon unleash their fury. Eve must dispel the terrible shadow that follows, and restore their harmony.

#2 Michelle - The Sunflower Traveler (Chapter Book ages 6-9)
Rhea’s interest in growing sunflowers for Petal Path’s Magazine Contest turned into a quest to help her family when her dad lost his job. Her final requirement for the contest is to describe something new about her sunflowers. But time traveling through a sunflower, talking with birds, and instructing a new gardener from the past may be more than she’s bargained for. Will Rhea solve her sunflower problem and still make it back in time to enter the contest? 

#3 Darshana - The Boys Of Koh Panyee (PB ages 4-8)
The boys of Koh Panyee, Thailand dream of becoming football champions, but they live on a floating village. Unable to find open space anywhere, the boys find another way to make their dream come true, even in the face of village naysayers.

#4 Johnell  How Much Farther (PB ages 4-8)
Buddy wants Dad to carry him. Dad wants Buddy to try out his big kid legs. Both have creative ways to get what they want. Between sightings of butterflies, robins and troll holes they creep closer to their destination until Buddy can’t. go. another. step. When Dad finally offers to carry him, Buddy realizes his big kid legs might be strong enough after all.

Thank you all so much for reading and voting, and for always participating so generously in WYRI - we couldn't do it without you! :)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in November so you've got a little time to polish up your pitches and send yours for your chance to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!  And please pop by on Friday for a very special Perfect Picture Book (even though we're on vacation! :))

Would You Read It Wednesday #182 - Ber-r-rnice (PB)

Howdy, folks, and welcome to another fun-filled edition of Would You Read It Wednesday!

I hope everyone's summers are going swimmingly so far!

I have to apologize. . . sometimes life goes to heck in a hand basket and things you normally keep up with just fine suddenly fall by the wayside, or have to be put off.  Best laid plans and all that. . .  but for a little while I'm just not going to be able to keep pace with normal.

I know I promised a writing contest to follow the illustration contest, but after much agonizing, I just don't think I can do it right now.  I'm so sorry.  I feel terrible about it!  Please feel free to note in the comments if you'd be interested in doing it in September instead, even though the Halloweensie Contest will take place the last week of October and the Holiday Contest will be the second week of December.  I'm hoping I'll be able to do it by then.

I also meant to post the June Pitch Pick today, but forgot to email the pitchers... so that will have to be next week.

But I CAN award the picture book prizes to a random handful of you wonderful people who so graciously commented on two pitches on our double-header WYRI day! :)

The randomly selected people paired with the randomly selected books by random.org are as follows:

Stacy Couch - My Love For You Is The Sun
Cathy Hall - Tyrannosaurus Wrecks
Joanne Sher - What About Moose
Vivian Kirkfield - Tea Party Rules
Mishka Jaeger - Little Miss Muffet
Teresa Robeson - Me Want Pet
Erik Weibel - Jeremy Draws A Monster

Thank you all so very much for pitching in (hehe) to help two people at once, and thanks to everyone else who did so too!

Winners, please email me with your snail mail address, and if anyone wants to trade books or already has what they won and has no one to give it to or what not, let me know!

Now then, how about Something Chocolate and then we'll get down to today's pitch.

Recipe at Lil' Luna http://lilluna.com/frozen-oreo-pudding-cake/

Frozen Oreo Pudding Cake!

YUM!!!

Today's pitch comes to us from Rene.  Rene` Diane Aube's long-dreamed-of writing journey began in 2011 as she and hubby bickered over renovations on a vintage camper. After overcoming some fears and insecurities ~ well, somewhat ~ she plunged into and completed several writing courses and began participating in on-line study groups in the hope that someday she will see one of her picture book manuscripts in print.

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Ber-r-rnice
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 3-5)
The Pitch: Mushy meadows, a ravenous Rain Crow, and galloping mares, too! How will a wee Woolly Bear caterpillar fare in her quest to reach her hibernation destination as snow begins to fly?

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Rene improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in November so you've got a little time to polish up your pitches and send yours for your chance to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Rene is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am hoping to hear from you whether an alternative time might work for the writing contest - my sincere apologies again!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone! :)

The 2nd Annual Pretty Much World Famous Illustration Contest WINNERS!!!

Happy Friday, Everyone!

I know none of you has gotten a minute of rest or a wink of sleep for days, what with the torturous anticipation of finding out who the winners of the contest are!

No doubt you have paced a hole in your carpet!

But fear not!  The day has arrived!

Are you ready to see who won?

The 2nd Annual Pretty Much World Famous

Illustration Contest for Children's Illustrators!

Great!

Me, too!

I just have one quick thing to say, which is that EVERYONE who entered this contest should be very proud of themselves.  You all showed up, put in the work, produced GORGEOUS illustrations, followed guidelines, and worked to a deadline - all very important skills to practice when illustrating and/or writing is your profession :)  Even if you didn't make the finals, be assured that your illustrations were greatly enjoyed by many upon many!  Seriously!  I am not making this up.  The contest post with all your links had around 3000 views, which means lots of people were visiting you, even if they didn't all comment!  So we are giving you a round of thunderous applause - clapclapclapclapclap!!!!! - and you should pat yourselves on the back and have an extra slice of chocolate cake - you did good! :)

So now, without further ado, by popular vote, the Winner of the 2nd Annual Pretty Much World Famous Illustration Contest and the opportunity to take Mark Mitchell's fantastic Make Your Marks And Splashes online illustration course...

DDDDDRRRRRUUUUUMMMMM  RRRRROOOOOLLLLLLLLLL  PLEASE!!!!...

Anna Totten!!!

Congratulations, Anna!!!

2nd Place, and winner of the Wacon Intuos Pen and Touch Small Tablet is...

Dow Phumiruk

3rd Place, and winner of the $50 gift certificate to Blick Art Materials is...

Cheryl Pilgrim

Congratulations, Cheryl!!!

4th Place* is...

Michelle Todd

Congratulations, Michelle!!!

5th Place* is...

The Write Laura

Congratulations, Laura!!!

6th Place* is...

Micha Klann

Congratulations, Micha!!!

*4th-6th Places may have their choice of any one of the following:

     - Writing With Pictures by Uri Shulevitz

      - A Caldecott Celebration - Seven Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal by Leonard Marcus

      - Show & Tell - Exploring the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration by Dilys Evans

      - 2015 Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market by Chuck Sambuchino

  - a Canson sketch pad and a small set of Derwent or Faber Castell colored pencils

and of course you ALL get the bragging rights to having won or placed in a Pretty Much World Famous Contest! :)

Winners, please email me so we can talk details :)

Thank you again to all the illustrators who participated in this contest and treated us all to such beautiful artwork; to our wonderful judges, Iza Trapani and Lisa Thiesing, without whom we could not have done this!; and to all the readers and viewers who visited, commented, and voted to celebrate these talented artists!  It is all of you who make these contests fun and worthwhile!

Have a spectacular 4th of July Weekend, Everyone!!!

Would You Read It Wednesday #181 - How I Made My Baby (PB) PLUS Keep Voting For Illustrators!

Howdy Folks!

It's time for Would You Read It Wednesday!

But since Im interrupting the voting for the Illustration Contest, I have to add a link right here to remind anyone who hasn't voted yet to hop over and show those talented illustrators some love :)

http://susannahill.blogspot.com/2015/06/illustration-contest-for-childrens.html

And since you are all so wonderful for voting, we'll skip right to Something Chocolate... Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich!

Perfect for a July summer day! :)

Today's pitch comes to us from Lavanya whom you will remember from last July with her pitch for Sophie vs. The Monster and her pitch last month for The Sun, The Moon And Eve.  She says, "I'm a software engineer by day, and an avid reader of fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and literature by night. I'm also mother to a young girl who has just discovered the magical ability to make meaning out of the printed word. I started putting my own words down on paper last November, and when I went to my regional SCBWI conference in April, I confirmed a suspicion that I had long harbored - writers are the nicest people in the world, and I want to be one of them. :-)"

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: How I Made My Baby
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: The thing about making a baby sister is, you have to be patient. First, you have to be patient until Mom and Dad realize you have the best idea. Then, you have to be patient for the baby to come out. But hardest of all is being patient while the baby grows big enough to play with you.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Lavanya improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in November so you've got a little time to polish up your pitches and send yours for your chance to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Lavanya is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to seeing who will win the Illustration Contest!!!  (And one more time if you didn't get to vote yet... :) http://susannahill.blogspot.com/2015/06/illustration-contest-for-childrens.html)

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!!! :)