Guest Posts

KidLit TV is Turning ONE!

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Light the candles! Cut the cake! Today we’re celebrating with KidLit TV — thanks to Julie Gribble and the folks at KidLit TV for sharing this celebratory post with us. KidLit TV is a diverse group of parents, educators, librarians, kid lit creators, and award-winning filmmakers all working together to bring great books to kids! Their mission is to create fun new ways to reinforce an appreciation of reading that children will carry with them for the rest of their lives. During their inaugural year, KidLit TV experienced many firsts: First free multimedia website connecting parents and educators with authors, illustrators and their books. Launched a video series called StoryMakers featuring top children’s authors and illustrators. Launched a radio show podcast of their StoryMakers interviews. And on Nov 16th, they will host the BIG ONE – their first birthday party! KidLit TV, winner of the Parents’ Choice Gold Award, is definitely a website to check out! In this tech-obsessed world, KidLit TV recognizes that we need to bring literature to where kids are: online and offline. The team would tell you that nothing beats having a paper book in your hand, but they recognize there is more than one way to introduce reading and literature to kids. KidLit TV recently launched their “Read Out Loud” series where authors read their picture books to kids online. Now kids can listen to the author/illustrator themselves read right to them via iPad or other device. And this is just one of the ways they’ve used technology to bring books to kids! ______ But don’t take our word for it, the Children’s Book Council and the Parents’ Choice Foundation both weighed in: “KidLit TV is an exciting and informative destination for authors, illustrators, teachers, publishers, and anyone with a passion for children’s literature.” — Children’s Book Council “Visitors are almost guaranteed to find something interesting and useful, whether they are consumers, producers, or curators of children’s literature.” — Parents’ Choice Foundation on KidLit TV ______ Over the past year, KidLit TV has developed original programs highlighting kidlit creators and events: STORYMAKERS, their flagship series, is an entertaining talk show highlighting bestselling authors and illustrators in the kid lit world. The series is hosted by Rocco Staino, Contributing Editor at School Library Journal, a contributing writer at The Huffington Post, and Director of Empire State Center for the Book! FIELD TRIP – The KLTV crew hits the road to explore the world of kid lit. INSIDE SCOOP – Sneak a peek at bestselling authors’ new books. READ OUT LOUD – Read your favorite books with your favorite authors! Plus exclusive Red Carpet coverage of special events.   You’re invited to join KidLit TV founder Julie Gribble, StoryMakers host Rocco Staino, and special guests as they celebrate the BIG ONE!  You can take part in the fun via your remote device using Periscope* by Twitter. (It’s the closest thing to teleportation available.) Tune in as artist Roxie Munro unveils a very special painting at the event! HERE’S HOW TO WATCH: • Download Periscope* for Android and iOS devices. • Log into Periscope using your existing Twitter account. • Visit @NYMediaWorks on Twitter and click on our announcements, “NYMediaWorks LIVE on Periscope,” to view the party, LIVE! *For more about how Periscope works, click HERE. To celebrate their first year, KidLit TV is also teaming up with Tad Hills and ArtWorks for Youth. Artwork created by professional kid lit illustrators will be available for purchase via silent auction the night of the event. Proceeds from sales will benefit AWFY. ArtWorks for Youth (AWFY) provides free visual art instruction, academic support, and mentoring to students in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. ArtWorks for Youth champions the transformative power of creativity. The event is TODAY! Visit the KidLit TV Facebook Event page and join the fun! You can find out more about KidLit TV on their website: www.kidlit.tv and follow them on their social platforms: www.youtube.com/kidlittv www.pinterest.com/kidlittv www.facebook.com/kidlittv www.twitter.com/nymediaworks www.instagram.com/kidlittv www.kidlit.tv/newsletter

Julie Gribble and KidLit TV Get Ready for Halloween!

4 Comments / Ad-Lib Mondays, Guest Posts, Starred Books / By

  Today’s post is from Julie Gribble and Rocco Staino of KidLit TV. Take it away, Julie!   Hello, By Word of Beth readers! I’ve been super busy at KidLit TV getting ready for our first birthday party, so I’m celebrating a bit early by sharing a post from our super cool site with Beth! We’re rushing toward the holidays at top speed, and fast approaching is Halloween, one of my favorites. Maybe it’s the candy; maybe it’s the costumes or the memory of staying up late running around the neighborhood — my reasons are many. And here are a ten more, recommended by Rocco Staino, Contributing Editor at School Library Journal, a contributing writer for The Huffington Post, and Director of Empire State Center for the Book! 10 Spooky Books for Kids! by Rocco Staino As we say goodbye to summer and welcome autumn, Halloween can’t be far off.  In preparation for that ghoulish holiday,  I present here a list of ten titles that parents, teachers and librarians may want to share with the kids in their life.  This is not a top ten list nor are they Halloween specific.  It is a list of ten “spooky” books for kids broken down by age level. Some are new and others you may remember from your own childhood. Seven Orange Pumpkins: A Counting Book (Dial, 2015) by Stephen Savage. A  board book that serves several purposes.  It will give the reader the opportunity to introduce Halloween images to the very young children as well as counting and basic subtraction.  Those of you who are looking for more pumpkins can checkout Savage’s Ten Orange Pumpkins (Dial, 2013) Crankenstein (Little Brown,  2013) by Samantha Berger & Dan Santat.  This book shows preschoolers that our crankiness can truly turn us into a monster.  Santat, the book’s illustrator, is this year’s Caldecott medalist. Leo: A Ghost Story (Chronicle, 2015) by Mac Barnett and Christian Robinson.  What’s Halloween without a ghost story.  The story of Leo, a charming classy misunderstood ghost will not frighten children but will teach them to be accepting. The  Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Atheneum, 2007) by Washington Irving and Gris Grimly.  Want to introduce this classic to young children? Try this graphic novel edition visually translated by Gris Grimly. Nightmares (Greenwillow, 1976) by Jack Prelutsky.  Looking for a poem about ghouls, ghosts or skeltons? Prelutsky provides them in the classic illustrated by Arnold Lobel. Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery (Atheneum, 1979) by James & Deborah Howe.  Consider introducing middle grade readers to this book about a vampire bunny who sucks the juice out of vegetables.  This book spawned almost a dozen sequels. Scary Stories to tell in the Dark (HarperCollins. 1981) by Alvin Schwartz .  This is the first of three books that Schwartz wrote drawing upon urban legends and folklore to create stories with such Halloween worthy titles as the Ghost with the Bloody Fingers and The Girl Who Stood on a Grave. Early editions of this book have drawings by Stephen Gammel. Witches (FSG, 1983) by Roald Dahl . Nothing says Halloween more than a story about child-hating witches.  Parents will enjoy sharing this book from their own childhood. Graveyard Book  (HarperCollins, 2008) by Neal Gaiman. This book about an orphan who is raised by ghosts and werewolves won the 2009 Newbery Medal. It has broad middle grade appeal. Halloween Night (Scholastic, 1993) By R.L. Stine.  For readers 12 and up.  What’s better than the combination of Stine and Halloween.   Be sure to also check out these Halloween books from KidLit TV guests! Tara Lazar’sMonstore Steve Light’s Have You Seen My Monster Pauls Czajak’s Monster Needs a Party(Monster & Me) Emma Walton Hamilton’s The Very Fairy Princess, A Spooky, Sparkly Halloween   Tell us your favorite Halloween or spooky books for kids!   About KidLit TV KidLit TV, winner of the Parents’ Choice Gold Award! We are a diverse group of parents, educators, librarians, kid lit creators, and award winning filmmakers all working together to bring great books to kids! Our mission is to create fun new ways to reinforce an appreciation of reading that children will carry with them for the rest of their lives. STORYMAKERS, our flagship series, is an entertaining talk show highlighting bestselling authors and illustrators in the kid lit world. The series is hosted by Rocco Staino, Contributing Editor at School Library Journal, a contributing writer at The Huffington Post, and Director of Empire State Center for the Book! Other KidLit TV programs you won’t want to miss include: FIELD TRIP – Our crew hits the road to explore the world of kid lit. INSIDE SCOOP – Sneak a peek at bestselling authors’ new books. READ OUT LOUD – Read your favorite books with your favorite authors! Plus exclusive Red Carpet coverage of special events. “KidLit TV is an exciting and informative destination for authors, illustrators, teachers, publishers, and anyone with a passion for children’s literature.” — Children’s Book Council Visitors are almost guaranteed to find something interesting and useful, whether they are consumers, producers, or curators of children’s literature. –Parents’ Choice on KidLit TV   About Julie Gribble Julie Gribble is the owner of New York Media Works which creates and produces works for children and the children’s literature community in both the United States and Great Britain. She founded KidLit TV to help children’s authors and illustrators broaden their audience by using new technologies to complement and promote their work. KidLit TV is the first online resource of its kind for parents, librarians, teachers, and kid lit creators. Julie has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and is a multi award-winning writer, screenwriter, filmmaker, and producer. Her charming picture book, Bubblegum Princess, is based on a true story about Kate Middleton and was released on the day the royal baby, who we now know as Prince George, arrived. Copies of the book have been donated to underprivileged children in the US and to children’s hospices in the UK. In addition to producing KidLit TV’s original shows, Julie is one of the co-producers for Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg, a feature film shot in Dorset, England with Bonnie Wright of Harry Potter fame, and DOG BOWL, a short film by Gordy Hoffman which premiered at the 2015 Raindance International Film Festival in London.  Julie sits on the Children’s …

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How to Make a Picture Book, Part 3b

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The Making of Bubblegum Princess Story Development, Part 2: Our corgis can fly! It’s extremely frustrating when you know your picture book story is not quite working, but you don’t know why, or how to fix it. Maybe you’ve become wedded to the plot, or tangled in rhyme, or too fond of your characters to cause them any grief, but whatever the reason, being dissatisfied with your manuscript is a good thing because it’s an indication that you’ve grown as a writer and now know when something is not working and has to change. When I got to that place, I sought a fresh perspective. I had already shared the story with friends who were accomplished screenwriters, and they had given helpful feedback, but I needed to hear from an expert — a professional picture book editor.

How to Make a Picture Book, part 3

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How to Make a Picture Book, part 3 Story Development   Julie Gribble is back with the third installment of her blog series. You’re going to like this… … … Bonjour, mes amis! I’m taking a break from sightseeing in Old Montreal to write this post. It’s a nippy spring day and the shining sun is trying its best to offer some relief. So I’m giving it a head start while spending part of my morning inside a charming cafe in Canada, eating a crepe, sipping a cappuccino and typing on my computer …

How to Make a Picture Book — The Making of Bubblegum Princess: Part 2: Choosing your Illustrator/Choosing your Author

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It’s the second Monday of the month, and that means it’s time for Julie Gribble’s guest post series on How to Make a Picture Book. I love the subtitle of today’s post: Choosing your Illustrator/Choosing your Author or How to Find a Best Friend for You and Your Story. If you missed the first post in the series, last month, click here. If you have any questions, or would like more information on anything Julie and Lori cover in today’s post, please ask in the comments, and Julie will answer in her next post. Thank you! I’m delighted that Julie has asked her illustrator, Lori Hanson, to chime in with her experiences in this collaboration. Julie’s words are in regular type, Lori’s are in italics and are labeled with her name. Let’s see what the two of them have to say…

DEBBIE OHI! Guest Post — It’s Worth the Wait

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I am thrilled to be helping to promote friend and Canadian illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s first picture book on my blog. I hope you saw I’M BORED on my Perfect Picture Book Friday post last week. Today, Debbie has graciously agreed to do a guest post on my blog, and I am so grateful to her for sharing her thoughts about why, for her,  the long wait time in the traditional publishing process was worth it. Debbie Ridpath Ohi writes and illustrates for young people. She is the illustrator of I’M BORED by Michael Ian Black (Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, Sept/2012) and her work also appears in the teen fiction anthology, TOMO (Stone Bridge Press, Mar/2012). Represented by Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown Ltd. For longer bios, see:  http://debbieohi.com/press-bio Also, see the interview Joanna Marple did with Debbie on September 5th. There are oodles of links near the end of this post — and there’s a GIVEAWAY! Any comment on this post will be entered for a chance to win a copy of I’M BORED. The winner will be announced next Monday, September 17th.  Read to the end of the post to find out how to get an EXTRA entry! And now let’s see what Debbie has to say. I assure you, you won’t be bored!

Jennifer Kirkeby — Wednesday Worthy

19 Comments / Behind the Scenes Month, Guest Posts, In The Spotlight, Music for Kids, Theatre for Kids / By

It is an absolute joy to me to have a guest post today from Jennifer Kirkeby. Jennifer is a fellow member of the 12 x 12 picture book challenge, and the Children’s Book Hub Facebook Group, and I am so grateful that because of these groups I have come to know Jennifer, at least a bit. She’s a multi-faceted person, an actress, playwright, dancer, choreographer, director… the list goes on. Most recently, she brought the wonderful picture book Llama, Llama, Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney to the stage. It had a successful run at Stages Theatre Company in Hopkins, Minnesota, and has been on the road, as well. In their four-week run they played to about 22,000 people!   Yesterday, you had a sneak preview of the production through photographs. Today you get to read the story of how the book went from page to stage, straight from the llama’s mouth. Click for more…

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