Happy Release Day!

How to Care for Your T-Rex is now available. Yay! If you want to celebrate with Buddy and me, join us at any of the following events:

• King's English (Storytime & Book signing in Salt Lake) - 5/4 12-1:30pm  https://www.facebook.com/events/897522127256459/
• Barnes & Noble (Storytime & Book signing in Orem) 5/7 11am-1pm https://www.facebook.com/events/836391520048461/
• Release party at Provo Library(reading, signing, and more) - 5/7 7pm-8:30pm https://www.facebook.com/events/276444323296092/

Picture Book trailer for my T-Rex book

The April 30th release of my new picture book How to Care for Your T-Rex is getting closer. If you want a sneak peak at what it's about, check out the book trailer. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHIkzS75bmU&feature=share 

100 Scope Notes list of How-To PBs

Travis Jonker is a well-known and insightful elementary school librarian and blogger. Today he published a list of picture books coming out in 2019 that teach kids how to do certain things. It's a fun list of books, but there's one on the list in particular that's my favorite. Check it out. http://100scopenotes.com/2019/02/07/how-to-do-just-about-everything-in-2019/

Illustrator for T-Rex book

So excited to have Dave Coverly illustrating HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR T-REX! It's going to be awesome!

Check out some of his award winning cartoons.
Check out the blurb about our upcoming book on PW.

Signed contract arrived!!!

Drum roll........ Today the mailman delivered the signed contract for my next picture book - HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR T-REX. It will be published by Christy Ottaviano Children's Books, and imprint of Macmillan Children's publishing Group. More details to come. Happy dancing!!!

Brave Little Monster Returns

Over the past few years a lot of people have asked me where they could get a hold of my bedtime picture book Brave Little Monster. I would tell them that sometimes Scholastic makes it available through their book club in October, but that was hit and miss. Now I'm happy to say that you can purchase the paperback version of Brave Little Monster on Amazon. Yay!!!!

 To top it off, an ebook version should be available in a few days as well. Enjoy!

Why Plot Focus is Important in Picture Books and Short Stories

Writing Instruction Video

As I have worked with various beginning picture book authors, a common problem that a lot of them run into is difficulty in conveying what their story is really about or going off in to many directions. Creative writing instructors in school may run into a similar problem when they assign students to write short stories. This writing instruction video on picture book plot addresses this issue.

If you enjoyed or found this writing instruction video useful, please share it with others. Thanks.

Can Non-Artists Write Picture Books?

Picture Book Writing Tip

Wanting to write picture books, but you  can't even draw a straight line? Don't despair. This video writing tip tells why.

How to Write a Great Picture Book

You have a great idea for a picture book. That’s wonderful! Having a great idea is a good start. Having some writing experience is a big plus too. But writing a great picture book takes more than just having a great idea and some writing experience. Writing a great picture book requires work. If you’re serious about writing a great picture book, it pays to do the following:

1. Read a lot of current picture books. Believe me, picture books have changed since you were little. You have to familiarize yourself with the type, style and personality of picture books that children are reading today. Read as many picture books as you can that have been written in the past year or two.
2. Do your research. Read different books on the ins and outs of writing a great picture book.  The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books by Harold Underdown is a great resource. There are also a lot of web sites and blogs with good information too, such as www.underdown.org, www.verlakay.com and www.taralazar.com.
3. Attend writing conferences. Local and national children's writing conferences can be excellent resources for gaining much needed insights on how to improve your writing skills and understanding what makes a great a picture book great.  Conferences are also great places to make contacts with other authors as well as editors and agents. You can find out about various conferences at www.scbwi.org/Regional-Events.aspx.
4. Join a critique group. A critique group can give you objective advice on your stories. Once again, SCBWI is a good resource for finding out about local critique groups. Even if you’re not a member of SCBWI, the regional coordinator for your area would likely be happy to tell you about critique groups in your area (Visit www.scbwi.org).
5. Write a lot. Don’t stop with one story. The more you write, the better your writing skills will become. Improve your writing skills even further by taking writing classes or attending writing workshops. Keep on writing.

What Makes a Great Picture Book - Tip 4

Pull Readers in Early

Too often beginning writers delay the introduction of their story’s plot or conflict. Delaying that introduction can cause readers to quickly lose interest and not bother reading any further. A great picture book pulls the reader quickly into the story by introducing early on the problem faced by the main character – typically on the first spread and preferably on the very first line.

I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen is a perfect example of this. In the very first sentence we learn the bear’s problem. His hat is gone. The second sentence builds on the conflict telling us the bear wants it back. This immediate introduction to the story’s plot pulls readers in quickly and has them turning page after page until they know how the problem ultimately gets resolved.

Of course, even worse than not introducing the conflict of the story early, is not introducing it at all. A great picture book needs an engaging plot and it needs to be introduced as early as possible.

Time is running out to register for the Picture Book writing workshop I'll be teaching at the WIFYR conference June 16-20.

What Makes a Great Picture Book - Tip 3

Use Voice to Make Your Picture Book Come Alive

Many editors and picture book authors will tell you that the single most distinguishing feature between a great picture book and an okay picture book is “voice”. The problem is that “voice” is hard to define. Some think of voice simply as character dialogue, but voice is much more than that.

For me, voice is what gives your story personality. It’s the way your language usage and style create the mood for your picture book and stimulates emotions in your reader.  It's the rhythm of your story. It's the way you structure your sentences. It might be how you leverage simile, metaphor, rhyme, repetition or contrasts. All of those things add up to the personality of your story and determine whether or not your picture book has the fresh, unique voice that an editor might be looking for.

The books PIGGY PIE and OWL MOON do a good job of illustrating how these elements work together to create two strong, yet very different examples of distinctive voice.

You can learn more about developing distinctive voice in your stories at the Picture Book Writing workshop I’ll be teaching at the WIFYR conference in June.

What Makes a Great Picture Book - Tip 2

great picture book characters are like parfaits

Great Picture Book Characters are Like Parfaits

great picture book characters are like parfaits

Flat, one-dimensional characters will doom a picture book. Similar to being larger-than-life, the main character in your picture book needs to be dynamic. By the end of the story, great picture book characters experience growth. Of course, for a character to actually experience growth it follows that the character must have shortcomings or flaws. A perfect character is a boring character.

It might seem obvious, but multidimensional characters need to have multiple characteristics or aspects of their personality to give them depth. Or as Shrek might say, great picture book characters are onions. Onions have layers. Great picture book characters have layers. Or if you prefer to be in the Donkey camp, you could also say that great picture book characters are like parfaits. Especially if you’re talking about parfaits with layers of melted chocolate, vanilla pudding, bananas, chocolate cookie bits and whipped cream on top. With all those delicious layers you can’t go wrong. Bottom-line, whether you prefer onions or parfaits, your picture book’s main characters need layers to make them more dynamic, interesting and irresistible.

Creating multidimensional, parfait like characters will be another topic of discussion at the Picture Book Writing workshop I’ll be teaching at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (WIFYR) conference from June 16-20.

What Makes a Great Picture Book - Tip 1

Larger than Life Characters

Characters can make or break a picture book. Donald Maass, literary agent and author of WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL, talks about the importance for novels to have larger-than-life-characters. These are characters that act in unusual, unexpected, or dramatic ways. These are characters that do or say things that we wish we could do, but don't ever dare  to do or we are not able to do.

Larger-than-life-characters are not only important for novels, but they’re important for picture books too. Think PETE THE CAT, OLIVIA, CURIOUS GEORGE, and NO, DAVID. The characters in these stories are what make children want to read them over and over again. Want to write a great picture book? Start with a larger-than-life-character at its heart. The characteristics of larger-than-life-characters might include wit, spontaneity, compassion, daring, quirkiness, perseverance, cunning, humor, likeability, and so on.

Developing larger-than-life-characters is just one of many things I’ll be discussing from June 16-20 in the Picture Book Writing workshop I’ll be teaching at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (WIFYR) conference in Sandy, Utah. There are still a few slots open if you're interested.

Want to learn how to write picture books?

Want to learn how to write picture books? I'll be teaching a week-long workshop at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers (WIFYR) conference in June. It's hands-down, the best writer's conference in Utah, and one of the best in the U.S.  In addition  to my morning PB workshop, as well as other writing workshops, there will be afternoon presentations from editors, literary agents, and bestselling authors.


Check out the website for more info http://www.wifyr.com/.