by Stacy
Here’s this week’s Perfect Picture Book Fridays.
How to Make a Night
Written by Linda Ashman
Illustrated by Tricia Tusa
Harper Collins Publishers, 2004
Suitable for: Ages preschool to 3
Theme/Topic: Bedtime, Night, Day, Rhyme
Opening: Bike blew a tire.
Boat sprang a leak.
Scooter’s in the gutter.
Sneaker’s in the creek.
Brief Synopsis: I tried to sum this up then re-read part inside cover. Why reinvent the wheel? Here it is: “In this fantastic bedtime tale, a hectic day is put to bed, and a peaceful starry night fills the sky so everyone can rest. Linda Ashman and Tricia Tusa have created a magical world in which the sun and the moon cooperate with a resourceful young girl who is ready to put her busy day behind her and settle down to a good night’s sleep — so she can wake up to another exciting day tomorrow!”
Link to Resources: The Under the Golden Apple Tree blog has a post on how to Make a Bedtime Lessons Book for Your Preschooler. I’m making one of these. I shared some bedtime resources in this PPBF for Time for Bed.
Why I chose this book: I signed Enzo up this week for the summer reading program at the library. He ran around like a crazy person or toddler — whatever term you prefer — as I grabbed books off the shelf. I enjoy Linda Ashman’s books. Since I was limited to the A and B author shelves, I grabbed a couple of Ashman’s books. We’re going through a phase where a certain Mr. No doesn’t really enjoy going to bed. So, I really liked this story, because I wish he wanted to go to bed and rest.
The Perfect Picture Book Fridays series will take a break from June 22 to Aug. 31. I will take a break on Fridays too. I’ll still be lurking around the Internet, revising the memoir, working on class assignments, writing my picture book manuscripts and living.
So, I’m down to Thankful Thursdays for the summer. You can fill up your child’s summer reading list by looking at the list of great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog.
by Stacy
Mouse Paint
Written and Illustrated by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Red Wagon Books Harcourt, Inc., 1989
Suitable for: Ages 1 to 3
Theme/Topic: Colors, Exploration, Humor
Opening:
Once there were three white mice on a white piece of paper.
The cat couldn’t find them.
Brief Synopsis: From the summary — Three white mice discover jars of red, blue, and yellow paint and explore the world of color.
Link to resources: A homeschool unit on Ellen Stoll Walsh’s books. Three color worksheets and colors recognition practice information and worksheets. Eric VanRaepenbusch’s ebook Three Ghost Friends Learn About Colors is a cute way to add another story about color. Three Ghost Friends also has a color craft stick sorting activity. Enzo likes both his Mouse Paint board book and flipping the digital pages of Eric’s book.
Why I chose this book: Enzo received this book from his cousins Emmett and Owen in Pocatello, Idaho. We had a fun visit with them last summer. They taught him how to wrestle. Today, the book teaches him how to mix colors. He continues to wrestle.
To find more picture books and resources, please visit Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog and look for the Perfect Picture Books page.
A Life in General note — I didn’t mention this on Monday’s blog, because Tuesday was election day (or the day it was official, because no election took place). I earned a spot on my neighborhood’s metro district board of directors.
Logical question: “So, what will you do Stacy?” Once I finish reading the hundreds of pages I received late Wednesday, I can answer the question. I asked for the material earlier. Sigh.
I signed up for the position in February for one of three openings, so residents will have a representative on the government board overseeing our taxes, etc. I’ll take my oath on Monday.
This week, I also received a jury summons for June. I’m still trying to figure out childcare, my class schedule and volunteer duties at Vacation Bible School. Hubby pointed out that as a student, I can delay service to a future date. I’ve never done that before. The uncertainty of jury duty — do I report, do I not, do I get selected, do I keep having to report to the courtroom each day — seemed much more exciting before I had to worry about childcare. Oh, it’s not going to be a boring summer!
Happy Mother’s Day!
by Stacy
 |
| 210 pages or 70,680 words of the “vomit draft” ready for the red pen. |
The revision process is under way for my memoir. During the time I didn’t touch the manuscript file, I read many posts on revising your work. I saved some of those to share for my Thankful Thursday posts in May.
Today, I wanted to share links to the Editor Spotlight series by Karen S. Elliott, The Word Shark. Karen offers proofreading, copy editing, and critique services on her blog, but she isn’t writing these posts. No. She’s paying it forward by highlighting other editors in the series. She’s that cool.
This is a note Karen shared at the bottom of one of the Editor Spotlight posts:
I realize that not every editor/proofreader is perfect for every writer. This is why I am presenting the series, Editor Spotlight. If you know an editor or proofreader who would like to participate, ask them to contact me at karenselliott AT midco DOT net. The Editor Spotlight series will be presented throughout the next several months in between my regular blog posts and special theme weeks. – Karen S. Elliott
I’ve found the posts informative. Here are links to the posts in the series:
My best take away after reading all these posts — get your work in its best shape before you turn it over to an editor. It will save you time, money and maybe a little heartache.
This week, Karen shares a Tribute to Moms — Mothers’ Week. These posts have been uplifting, thoughtful and helpful. For writers, you may find the post The magic of home-made chapbooks by Shawn MacKenzie helpful. Happy early Mother’s Day to all my mom friends!
How do you edit your work — do you hire an editor, use a critique group or something else?
by Stacy
 |
| Junior Prom |
Kelley Lynn at Between the Bookends and Emily R. King are hosting an “Oh, Those High School Dances! Blog Hop” today.
People are sharing photos and stories from high school dances.
I thought I would put a 2012 spin on my 1988 junior high school prom.
Here’s a tweet, if there had been Twitter back then:
Prom date works at flower shop. Can you tell? Dancing night away w/ #friend @BrotherWaylon #verycasual #havingfun
I attended Junior Prom with a friend I met at an FBLA camp — that’s Future Business Leaders of America. Oh, I had so much fun traveling around the state of Georgia attending competitions, camps and conferences in high school. It was a great way to get out of the comfort bubble of my small hometown and meet new people. I met my friend and future prom date Brother Waylon (I can’t remember why we called him Brother. I did live in the South).
If you need a dose of high school inspiration or maybe a giggle at our outfits, visit the other blogs on the hop.
by Stacy
Maybe this should be named the Several Things Happened on the Way to the A to Z Challenge.
As I mentioned in my Thankful Thursday post, I’m grateful folks took time to read the memoir posts I wrote for the challenge.
Instead of writing all my posts before the challenge, I wrote them in three batches. My outline for each letter held firm, except for two.
Here’s a breakdown of my A to Z month:
- Visits — I tried to keep up with my regular blogging buddies plus visit A to Z blogs. I visited 85 new blogs from the A to Z sign up list. Participants were asked to visit five a day, so I failed this task.
- Reading — I read more in April than I have in several months, so this hampered my blog visits.
- Conference — I attended the Pikes Peak Writers Conference. This weekend kept me more unplugged than I anticipated, but it was a good thing.
- Goals — A personal goal this year was to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows during the break after I typed the end in my memoir manuscript and before I began revisions. I took an almost two-month break from the manuscript, I did not open my file until the day after I finished the Harry Potter book. Then, I printed the first chapter for a revision workshop at the conference.
- Technical — During April, I had a few glitches on my blog. The source of my streamlined subscription buttons disappeared during the first few days of the month. I fiddled with my email subscription delivery and delayed delivery one day. Then, Blogger changed its format. As I understood it, Blogger wants you to use your G+ (Google Plus) profile. Then, when I commented on other blogs, I received feedback people couldn’t find my blog. Anyone want to share how I can comment on a Blogger blog and leave a link to my blog in the comment?
- Personal — We had house guests, a series of medical tests for Hubby and lots of activities during the month. I also spent time investigating how to return to school to study website design and digital images. Hubby says I’ll be like Shirley from the TV show Community. Well, if you read that bio, not everything is the same. I would share my brownie recipe.
- Connections — I will continue to follow some bloggers I met during the challenge. Other blogs were too specialized in an area that doesn’t interest. I was impressed by the variety of topics and themes writers used for the challenge. The diversity was inspiring.
Will I do it next year? I’m not sure. I need to evaluate my time better as I didn’t have enough time to properly comment on other blogs. Also, I felt like I was spamming my regular blog followers with all those posts.
I appreciate you taking the time to read my A to Z posts and to comment. Your encouragement, especially on the posts related to my memoir manuscript, helped me as revisions are under way.
Would you like to try your hand at memoir or a personal essay? Here are two opportunities:
What are you working on today?
by Stacy
 |
| Some of my Perfect Picture Books from the library. |
Today is Perfect Picture Book Friday. I hope you’ll stop by Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog to check out today’s list.
I’m not adding one this week, because all the books I’m reading are recommendations from the Perfect Picture Books list.
 |
| Of course, I had to check out the Gluten-Free Cupcakes book. |
My other reading time has been filled with cookbooks and diet books. I’m not going on a diet, but most of the books are selling a quick weight loss answer. I’ve been squeezing these books into my daily routine for more than a month in anticipation of a doctor’s recommendation. This week, we were told Hubby may avoid surgery, if we eat a Paleo diet (think cave man) or remove gluten from our diet.
So, we’re reading the cookbooks including the ones screaming about weight loss. I’m smiling when someone says, “I would just die if I can’t eat bread.” And, remain grateful for public libraries where I can check out all these books for free to see if they are something my family can use.
Hope you have a great weekend. What are you reading?
