Knuckleheads in Disney

Hi! I'm at Disney where I am suffering from major Internet withdrawal. (Thank goodness, they sell Starbucks frappuccinos everywhere so my other addiction is being fed)

I bought The Lightning Thief to read on the flight down, but my three year old didn't sit still long enough for me to get anywhere. (only to fall asleep AFTER the landing... while we were taxiing to our gate!)

My husband and kids have a club called the Knuckleheads, which I am excluded from. They decided to make me an honorary member for the trip. They count off and even have a Knucklehead cheer. My kids have always told me that I can't join because you can only be a member if you like to wrestle. But the real truth came out from David. The main criteria for membership is that you must have exceptionally bad judgment. That disqualifies me. Not saying I have great judgment. But it is better than a three year olds. (Sadly, my husband's isn't.) For example, I would know that it wasn't a good idea to pick up a two year old by her hands and feet and swing her though the air as high as I could. They apparently forgot to mention that in my husband's PhD program at Princeton. So he did it, and dislocated her elbow.

I am excited to be a Knucklehead, though, even if it is just for a week.

My Little Martial Arts Expert

Since Josh inspired my new Karate Pigs story, I think he deserves the dedication. And a spot on my blog!

School Visit Debriefing

I was too exhausted yesterday to post, but the school visit went pretty well. The drive was a bit of a nightmare. I had the sun in my eyes and could barely see signs. I thought I was going to miss the Jersey Turnpike and end up God-knows-where. But I managed to arrive without getting too lost and even better, without colliding into any other cars.

When I walked into the Glenn School, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were Hop! Plop! bulletin boards and art projects everywhere! The walls were plastered with gorgeous paintings and drawings of Mouse and Elephant.

At the Bean school, every kid wore an "Elephant" hat and one class knew the story so well that they pretty much recited it word for word along with me as I read it! The faculty really prepared the kids for my visit and I was treated like a celebrity.

I did seven presentations in all and though I faded a bit around #6, I managed to keep all the students engaged. I felt a bit disorganized, but the media specialist assured me that holding the attention of 50 kindergartners for a half hour is no easy feat. She said I was very "animated" and she'd be happy to write me a testimonial, so I am considering the visit a success!

School Visit Hysteria

I can't concentrate on blogging because I am a basket case over my school visit tomorrow. I don't know what I am more nervous about? The 90 mile drive each way. (Since my accident in Nov. I have avoided "merging" like the plague.) Or the fact that I have to present to three classes at a time. I am used to no more than 20 or so kids, and now I will have kindergarten and first grade groups of 50-60. How will they all see my picture book? How I will I engage them all? How will I make it through seven presentations in a row? UGHHHH! And it is my daughter's birthday. Why did I ever agree to do this.

Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow night blogging about cute the kids were and how well it went!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

It's not only the 105th birthday of Dr. Seuss, it is also the 50th anniversary of his book, Happy Birthday to You! To celebrate, Seussville is a running a Happy Birthday to You Sweepstakes. Enter to win a trip to Universal Orlando.

I'm So Excited and I Just Can't Hide It!

Remember that song by the Pointer Sisters?

I am WAY too excited about my new PB manuscript. I already have the dedication written in my head. Very BAD. It can only lead to disappointment to be convinced that I have a surefire winner on my hands.

I am so completely lost in my fantasy that I can't concentrate on anything else. HELP! I have got to rein myself in.

Perking Up a Picture Book

While digging through old versions of Hop! Plop! for an upcoming school visit, I came across my very first draft. Gosh, is it pathetic!

I am calling this to your attention, not to disparage myself (I do plenty of that in other posts), but to remind you that the goal of a first draft is just to GET SOMETHING DOWN. It doesn't matter how crappy it is. You just need something to work with.

Once you have a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end, you can work on style, or as my friend Kristy says, "funning up" the language.

There are lots of ways to do this. Here are just a few.

1) Rhyme
2) Alliteration
3) Onomatopoeia
4) Made up words
5) Repetition

In Hop! Plop! I decided to mainly go with #1 and #3. In the opening scene Mouse and Elephant find a playground and decide to go on the seesaw.

Here were the original words I put down: So, Mouse hopped onto one end of the seesaw, and Elephant plopped onto the other. But Elephant hit the ground with a thud, and Mouse was flung far into the air.

You can clearly see what I was envisioning, but this did not achieve the effect I was going for. After a few other unsuccessful attempts, I hit on a solution:

Hop!
Plop!
Boom!
Bop!
Mouse landed with a whop! (this last line later changed)

A lot punchier, huh? In a picture book, less is often more. And now, I had a pattern that I could repeat throughout the book.