So often we assume that in order to learn something new about God, we have to pick up a hefty theology book that could take years to get through – as if God can only be found in the complex, lofty, hard-to-reach places. But the greatest and most beautiful truths about the divine can be found within
Looking for the most anticipated romance books to read? I'm sharing the best new romance books to read in 2024 that you don't want to miss!
Master the Art of Writing Enthralling Tales for the Youngest pre-and emerging readers! Fully updated and thoroughly revised, Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition is the go-to resource for writers crafting stories for children ages two to eight. You'll learn the unique set of skills it takes to bring your story to life by using tightly focused text and leaving room for the illustrator to be creative. Award-winning author Ann Whitford Paul helps you develop the skills you need by walking you through techniques and exercises specifically for picture book writers. You'll find: • Instruction on generating ideas, creating characters, point-of-view, beginnings and endings, plotting, word count, rhyme, and more • Unique methods for using poetic techniques to enrich your writing • Hands-on revision exercises (get out your scissors, tape, and highlighters) to help identify problems and improve your picture book manuscripts • Updated tips for researching the changing picture book market, approaching publishers, working with an agent, and developing a platform • All new quizzes and examples from picture books throughout • New chapters cover issues such as page turns, agents, and self-publishing Whether you're just starting out as a picture book writer or have tried unsuccessfully to get your work published, Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition is just what you need to craft picture books that will appeal to young children and parents, and agents and editors. Product DetailsISBN-13: 9781440353758 Media Type: Paperback(Second Edition, Revised) Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group Publication Date: 11-13-2018 Pages: 272 Product Dimensions: 5.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)Read an Excerpt Read an Excerpt CHAPTER 1 Becoming a Picture-Book Scholar "Writing is a craft before it is an art. ..." — DONALD M. MURRAY Having your appendix removed doesn't qualify you to then perform an appendectomy, so why should having heard or read picture books qualify you to write one? You wouldn't start creating a software program without first researching computer theory, but some people think they can write a picture book without ever reading or studying contemporary picture books. Picture books have a unique form and audience. In this chapter, you'll learn what a picture book is and what its audience requires from you the writer. But first I'd like to tell you a true story. Several years ago, my family was enjoying a pleasant summer supper outside and having an animated discussion about the state of education in this country. With five other eager participants, I couldn't get in a word. Frustrated at being ignored, I pounded my fist on the table: "Listen to me! I have something to say!" My sixteen-year-old son Alan looked at me incredulously. "Listen to you? Why should we listen to you? You write books for people who can't even read." We all had a good laugh, and I'm happy to say, they did let me speak my piece. Much later, mulling over his comment, I realized Alan had come up with the perfect way to begin defining a picture book. A BOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T READ Picture books are usually read by an adult reader to a nonreader. To that end, picture books combine words with pictures that entice the nonreader to listen and help her construct meaning from the words. Picture books traditionally find an audience in young children. Today, some picture books and graphic novels are published for fluent readers, even adults, but this book will focus on those aimed at children ages two through eight. Such picture books are divided into two categories. The first is books aimed at the nonreader. The second is picture storybooks written for emergent or newly established readers. These have more text and more complicated story lines. Hard- and softcover published picture books are usually thirty-two pages long, but your manuscript, double-spaced with one-inch (25mm) borders, will be considerably fewer pages. A Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) survey found that picture-book manuscripts range from one-half page to sometimes even fifteen pages. Those at the top range would obviously be for independent readers. The length of the manuscript is determined by the age of the audience and its attention span. Manuscripts for children up to two years old (who tend to have short attention spans) should be between one half and one manuscript page. Usually these are published as board books, where pictures are the most important element. There might be one sentence per page, sometimes just one word. Because pictures are so critical to drawing in the listener, early board books are generally written and illustrated by the same person. Today publishers are increasingly reformatting popular picture books into board books. Although some feel too advanced for the intended audience, I'm not complaining. My story, If Animals Kissed Good Night, was originally published as a picture book. When it was reissued as a board book, sales skyrocketed. Children between the ages of two and five can sit still longer, so their picture-book manuscripts are longer — around two to five pages. With roughly 200 words per manuscript page, that means 400 to 900 words total. When this book was first published, if my manuscripts were in the 700-word range, I searched for ways to cut. Now 500 words seems long to me. Manuscripts between four and fifteen pages are for older children and even adults. The longer the manuscript, the more likely the book pages will increase, always in multiples of eight. One book might be forty pages; another might be forty-eight and so on. A word of caution: Books with higher page counts cost more to produce. Publishers are wary of spending more money than necessary on an unproven product. And new writers are unproven products. If you've never been published, revise to fit your story into the thirty-two-page format. Because a picture book is both words and pictures, the writer can limit words to the bare essentials. In Where Do Pants Go? author Rebecca Van Slyke asks where certain items of clothing go. She leaves the look of each item to the illustrator, Chris Robertson, thereby eliminating much text (some pages have as few as three words). An added benefit is that she gives Chris control of color, design, and the overall look of the book. While we're at it, cutting words: You don't need to describe the house the character lives in, the appearances of his parents, or the breed of his dog. Descriptions, unless vital to your story, should be eliminated. That allows you, the writer, to focus on the action and dialogue of your story. Picture-book writers, even if they're not illustrators, still must have visual images in their minds, particularly when writing for the very young. Your text should allow the illustrator space for a variety of interesting picture possibilities to keep the listener involved in the book. This may be accomplished through one or all of the following: 1. writing scenes with different actions 2. introducing new characters into the story 3. moving characters to different settings 4. changing the emotional intensity of a scene In picture books for the two- to five-year-old range, the text requires pictures to tell the story. Writers should strive to leave room in their manuscripts for the illustrator to develop an independent picture story line. For example, read the classic If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff. On one page in the book, Numeroff writes that Mouse painted a picture but gives no indication of what the picture looks like, allowing the illustrator, Felicia Bond, to create an artist-quality portrait of a mouse family in front of their tree-trunk house. Sometimes, as in If Animals Kissed Good Night illustrated by David Walker, not having all the details in the words allows the illustrator to add his own story. A rabbit never mentioned in the text is frightened by a bear's growl. A little girl in bed, again never mentioned in the text, is illustrated warmly at the beginning and near the end of the book. Good illustrators add their own story so children too young to read can have fun "reading" the pictures. Good writers leave artists the space to do that. In longer picture storybooks, words can more easily stand on their own. Although they are illustrated, the pictures, while showing aspects of the story, rarely add a new story line. The balance tips from heavy illustration to heavy words; the writer has more room to add details. Often these books have large chunks of text that might take up the entire page. The Great Moon Hoax by Stephen Krensky is nearly 1,500 words and contains many imaginings of life on the moon. The illustrations by Josée Bisaillon echo the action and the imaginings but don't add a second story line. This is true of many historical-fiction and nonfiction picture books. Noah Webster & His Words by Jeri Chase Ferris is 1,417 words long. The illustrations by Vincent X. Kirsch enhance the text but do not add a separate story. Regardless of length, picture-book writers keep the reader wondering what will happen next by creating stories filled with action and little contemplation. THE UNUSUAL TWO-PART PICTURE-BOOK AUDIENCE This is subdivided into two separate groups: children too young to read and adult readers. CHILDREN TWO TO EIGHT YEARS OLD Bearing in mind this targeted audience, it behooves writers to get to know what matters to children. You will have difficulty writing for them if you don't have a strong memory of your childhood or firsthand experience with children. However, you can educate yourself by spending time with nieces, nephews, and neighbors and by visiting parks, nursery and elementary schools, etc. Here are some characteristics of children to keep in mind while you write. 1. EVERYTHING IS NEW. Adults have been in cars so often our minds travel elsewhere when we're driving, yet children are fascinated by every tree, house, and shop they see fr
Amazon.com: All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel: 9781501173219: Doerr, Anthony: Books
Looking for the most anticipated romance books to read? I'm sharing the best new romance books to read in 2024 that you don't want to miss!
Amazon.com: The Sun and Her Flowers: 0050837403659: Rupi Kaur: Books
I was overjoyed to surpass my January reading goal. Now I'm sharing reviews for the 11 books I got through during the first month of the year.
I Found My Happy Place
Some stories are true that never happened. ~Elie #Weisel #writing #storytelling #screenwriting #film #books #story
“In this life we cannot always do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” -Mother Teresa At the beginning of the month, I set out to complete 30 Random Acts of Kindness in 30 Days. I’d been seeing a lot of 30-Day challenges, and kept thinking to myself “that’s something I …
It's a good idea to have a few free outdoor activities in your back pocket! If the weather is looking good, spend your time in the great outdoors!
This is The Frog And The Mouse Fable Story for kids. Once upon a time, a mouse and a frog were close friends. The frog often visited the mouse at his...
Explore the most hilariously funny books to read for adults. Read humorous novels, funny fiction books, mysteries, & fantasy stories.
A strong neat shot of imagination for your Monday morning. Don't worry this does not come with a hangover; you can drive and operate heavy machinery after consumption. Turkish artist Hüseyin Şahin doesn't capture a scene, but rather fragments of different stories to create a new one out of them. The trick is to make it look like this is the photo that one photographer took from one camera and one shot. Digital art, skills and imagination are the ingredients that are going to make it possible. Through photo manipulation, Şahin has to ensure to erase any clue that this might be a patchwork quilt of images. If you look at these pictures and the first thing is not to question the reality of the scene, but to see it's beauty, the composition, lighting and more... Then Şahin has achieved the desired result. I think Şahin passes with flying colors. Ps. I gave the images some titles. If you are going to live in a fishbowl, it might as well be a beautiful one. Press the Image to Enlarge it. Time never stands still even when you do. Press the Image to Enlarge it. The future of travel. Press the Image to Enlarge it. A message in a bottle from a lost universe. Press the Image to Enlarge it. A tiger Pegasus. Press the Image to Enlarge it. Perspective in Architecture. Press the Image to Enlarge it. Your tiny house on top of a mountain. Press the Image to Enlarge it. A fantasy mushroom house. Press the Image to Enlarge it. With books you walk through stories and worlds with out moving from one spot. Press the Image to Enlarge it. Letting nature in. Press the Image to Enlarge it. A portal to another universe. Press the Image to Enlarge it.
I have told my students that to be a great writer, you must be a great reader. Summer is MY time to read. I remember my fourteenth summer when I decided to read the entire Edgar Rice BurroughR…
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop is a cozy slice-of-life story for anyone who loves books and wants to ponder what living a good life really means.
Our favorite quotes about books.
A contemporary collection of original short stories by Anica Mrose Rissi that is sure to elicit chills, laughs, and screams, even from the most devoted fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! A game of hide-and-seek goes on far too long… A look-alike doll makes itself right at home… A school talent-show act leaves the audience aghast… And a summer at camp takes a turn for the braaaains… This collection of all-new spooky stories is sure to keep readers up past their bedtimes, looking over their shoulders to see what goes bump in the night. So if you’re feeling brave, turn the page. Product DetailsISBN-13: 9780063026964 Media Type: Paperback Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Publication Date: 05-10-2022 Pages: 224 Product Dimensions: 7.40(w) x 5.10(h) x 0.70(d) Age Range: 8 - 12 YearsAbout the Author Anica Mrose Rissi is the author of Always Forever Maybe and Nobody Knows But You, along with several books for younger readers. She lives in Princeton, NJ, and Deer Isle, ME. Visit her online at www.anicarissi.com,
Explore classic and new dark historical fiction books to unveil the twisty mysteries of the past and sometimes the supernatural.
Discover surreal & weird books where beautiful prose entwines with bizarre worlds that challenge the bounds of reality and imagination.
The characters may be fake, but the emotions are very real.
Structuring your story can frighten some writers and confuse others, but it doesn't have to be so - here is a simple way to look at story structure.
Beyond the tales within their pages, old books have stories of their own. The weathered and sometimes seriously battered books in Simon Brown’s ongoing...
Books based on true stories, including four days on the Titanic, the botched assassination of Bob Marley, and a teen concubine who became Empress of China.
I occasionally meet a book that doesn’t want me to to tell you a thing about it. Part of the appeal of these books is letting the story lead the me where it wants to go, rather than expecting it to stick to the itinerary mapped out on the back of the book. I know […]
What’s your motto?
I don't want to just read books. I want to crawl inside of them and live there.
