This Week at the Library

First of all, THANK YOU to the Maid Marians who came to Toddler Time and Preschool Storytime on Wednesday: Sophia, Paige, Noel, Belle, and Rachel. The toddlers were fascinated by the girls in their sashes and headdresses, and the Maid Marians did a super job of diving in to the songs and fingerplays. They did a wonderful job telling the stories at Preschool Storytime and leading the songs, too. The children responded very well to them. I hope they come back next year!

Second, I had a wonderful time at Learning Palace at Cascade Station as a part of their "Back to School Blast." I had a table with Scholastic and got to talk to teachers about my book "Cliffhanger Writing Prompts." I handed out lots of business cards to those interested in having me visit their classrooms. If you know of a teacher who might like me to lead a fun creative writing presentation, pass my name along.

Baby Time

We had "only" six babies today. Several of our regulars have graduated to Toddler Time and we miss them. I think this is prime vacation week, too. We didn't even have any big brothers or sisters building block towers on the side. But, a mom came with twins, so I got to have a real baby in my lap!

Toddler Time

The competition was fierce today for sitting in my lap and holding my hand. Sometimes I have to let one child hold my hand while another holds my finger. I'm always relieved when this is acceptable.

We read:

No, David!, by David Shannon. Did you know this book is autobiographical? He tells about it just inside the cover page. Quite a few kids knew this book and were eager to tell me all about it every time I turned the page.

First the Egg, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Most of the two-year-olds can't guess the "answers," but the three's can.

Preschool Storytime

On Tuesday we had a "Summertime" theme. I read:

Sand Cake, by Frank Asch. Baby Bear has to figure out how to eat a cake his dad made out of sand.

Rain Talk, by Mary Serfozo. We had fun making "bup, bup, bup," and "ploomp, ploomp, ploomp," noises.

Froggy Learns to Swim, by Jonathan London. We practiced "chicken, airplane, soldier," and "bubble, bubble, toot, toot!"

Sunflower House, by Eve Bunting. I've always wanted to do this! Plant a circle of sunflower seeds, and let it grow into a house that kids can play in.

When the Maid Marians came, they brought their own favorite picture books to share. They were:

Balloonia, by Audrey Wood. Where does your balloon go when it floats away? This book can save your child some tears when it happens to him/her.

Piglet and Mama, by Margaret Wild. Nobody but Mama will do for little piglet.

It Looked Like Spilt Milk, by Charles Shaw. Rachel used the flannelboard for this story, which makes it extra fun.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Numeroff. We had the big book for this, which is great since in the regular book, the pictures are so small.

The girls led everyone in "The Beaver Song" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Thanks again!

It's Here!

My book arrived on my doorstep today! Hooray! I'm afraid I screamed so loudly I scared my daughters, but they celebrated with me once they knew what was going on. I'll have copies for sale at Storytime if anyone would like one.

Release Day!

My book has been released! I called Scholastic to order copies to sell and asked the customer service person if she knew what day it would be released, wondering if the date I had been told had changed (June 23). She said, "Oh! It's today!" Woohoo! So I'll have copies for sale at the library ($10), or you can order on Amazon here.

If you're interested in having me visit your school or homeschool group, please email me: t.klep(at)sterling.net. I also have a Facebook page for the book. Just put in the title "Cliffhanger Writing Prompts."

Reality Gets Closer

On Friday, my editor emailed me the layout of my book Cliffhanger Writing Prompts. It's a book for teachers (and homeschoolers) to use to inspire creative writing. It was very fun to see what it's all going to look like when it goes to print. This was kind of like a rough draft layout. The copyedits were all over the pages, showing where I left out commas and used too many pronouns. I figured it's a good learning experience for me to help me become a more accurate writer. My editor wasn't sure I'd want to see all the mistakes I made, but I think it's interesting.Hopefully I won't make as many mistakes next time. The line drawing illustrations were there, which I love.

Just a couple more months now, and I'll hold a finished copy in my own hands!!

There It Is!

I just found out my book Cliffhanger Writing Prompts is on Amazon.com! Up till now it was on the UK and Canada site, but a friend just told me she preordered it on the American site. My first sale! Feel free to look it up and "like" it. ;-)

That's REALLY Weird!

I just found my not-yet-released book on Amazon! That was a very weird moment, but quite exhilarating! I won't be released until July, but seeing my cover right there with the Amazon banner was so cool! It's on the Amazon.ca and Amazon.uk sites, but not Amazon.com. I have no idea why. It's also on Overstock.com with a decent description of it. Amazon says it is #485,305 on the bestseller list, which amuses me since it hasn't sold any copies yet.

Since Scholastic hasn't told me about any of this, I wonder where else it's available for preorder?

Why Don't I Own This Book?

I discovered the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg, long ago when I was teaching school. (If that author sounds familiar, he wrote The Polar Express, and Jumanji.) As it is one of my favorite books of all time, I'm wondering why on earth I don't own it. I think I'll fix that soon.

The premise of the book is that Harris Burdick, an author/illustrator, brought a portfolio of his work to a children's book publisher. He said he had fourteen stories, and brought one illustration from each to show the publisher. As said publisher was very interested, Mr. Burdick agreed to return the next day with the stories. He was never seen again. What follows in this picture book are the drawings "left behind" by Harris Burdick, each one with a title and caption. These illustrations are phenomenal, as befits a Caldecott winning artist. A full page drawing of something mysterious or fantastic draws you in, while the title and caption spark your curiousity and imagination. One of my favorites shows the inside of a towering gothic cathedral. A nun, sitting in a chair, floats high in the air above two priests' heads. The title reads "The Seven Chairs." The caption says, "The fifth one ended up in France." What's the story? How did that nun in the chair get there? What happened next?

I think this book was in the back of my mind when I started writing my own stories that will be in Cliffhanger Writing Prompts. I imagined a picture book where each page turn would show a new story with a full-color illustration. Well, that concept didn't fly, but stories that leave the reader to imagine what happens next did. I'm looking forward to teachers using my book in the classroom the same way I used The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. And that is very cool!

Fun Stuff!

I haven't posted in a bit. Lots of stuff going on around here. I'm just about ready to spray paint those leaves around my house that are threatening to turn yellow! I'm certainly not ready for fall!

I was thrilled to get to see the cover of my book. My editor emailed me what the illustrator has come up with - I'm not sure if it's the final version or if there still might be changes, but it was very cool to see that red Scholastic banner across the top and my name at the bottom. They've titled it "Cliffhanger Writing Prompts," which I first thought sounded kind of dull, but after talking to my editor, she convinced me that a teacher picking up my book in the store needs to instantly know what the book is about. "And Then..." wouldn't convey the information quickly enough. Yeah, yeah, Scholastic has done this a bazillion times and they know what they're doing.

Saturday I got to try out my stories on a public audience, as opposed to a captive group of kids in a classroom. I was at the Relay for Life at Sherwood High School and I managed to attract a dozen or so kids to come listen to some stories and venture up on stage to tell the audience how the stories turned out. I loved the aliens from the moon who were afraid of pickles! President Obama had all the farmers in America grow pickles and scared them away. (How do they come up with these ideas?)

Sunday my 14-year-old and I went to the Willamette Writers Conference. We got to go to several workshops, get our manuscripts critiqued, and my daughter got to meet with a publisher and pitch her book (mostly for practice, but still awesome!). She's on the third draft of an 83,000 word novel (approx. 275 pages). I'm proud of her!

Now I just have to wait patiently for a YEAR for my book to be in the stores!

This Week at the Library

First of all, I have to tell you my incredibly exciting news! Scholastic Professional is going to publish my book! And Then...Cliffhanger Stories to Ignite the Imagination has been under development for about four or five years, percolating through my brain and going through several incarnations. I submitted it to Scholastic as a professional resource book in January and got a phone call yesterday that they were interested. I spoke to an editor this morning and it all looks good! No contract signed yet, but I'm very encouraged! Say a prayer for me!

Back to Library news:

Baby Time

What a nice big group we had today! Lots of regulars, a few newcomers, and adorable babies from seven weeks old to one year. The main topic of discussion today seemed to be sleep habits. I guess my main bit of advice is "This too shall pass." Whatever phase they're in right now, they won't be in a little while. I don't know of too many five-year-olds who still wake Mommy up every couple of hours.

Toddler Time

I'm beginning to see a pattern with the children who have graduated from Baby Time to Toddler Time. Most little ones who start coming when they're about 14 months old spend several weeks just watching and adjusting before they're ready to dive in and participate. The ones who started with Baby Time and then graduated to Toddler Time seem ready to get in there right away. They're doing the hand clapping and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes like old pros right off the bat. So cool!

Our stories this week were:

How Do I Put It On?, by Shigeo Watanabe. They loved the ridiculousness of the images of the bear putting his cap on his foot or his shoes on his ears.

Spots, Feathers and Curly Tails, by Nancy Tafuri. I wish you could have seen their proud faces when they guessed right which animal was in the picture.

Preschool Storytime

Our theme for the week was "Mothers" in honor of Mother's Day.

Just For You, by Mercer Mayer. Little Critter has such a hard time doing his mom a favor!

A Mother for Choco, by Keiko Kasza. Choco discovers a true mother is one who acts like one, not just one who looks like one.

Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch. I read recently how some adults hate this story and think it's creepy. They obviously don't understand Robert Munsch's writing. It's meant to be silly, and I don't think the mom crawling across her grown son's bedroom floor and rocking him in the middle of the night is supposed to be taken seriously. I mean really! That needs to be separated from the touching "moral of the story," that a mom (or a dad) is a mom forever, and your child is your child forever, no matter how many years pass. And yes, one mom admitted that she wiped a tear away at the end of that book.

Only My Mom and Me, by Alissa Capucilli. The fold out pages really hold the kids' attention, as well as guessing which season comes next.

Is Your Mama a Llama?, by Deborah Guarino. We talked about rhyming words to help us guess the name of the animal with this Big Book.

We sang the Baby Bumblebee song:

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee.

Won't my mommy be so proud of me.

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee.

Ouch! He stung me!

I'm squishing up the baby bumblebee.

Won't my mommy be so proud of me.

I'm squishing up the baby bumblebee.

Ew! It's yucky!

I'm wiping off the baby bumblebee.

Won't my mommy be so proud of me.

I'm wiping off the baby bumblebee.

There! That's better!