How a book is born. Joanne McGonagle's take on how her book An Ordinary Toad’s Extraordinary Night, came to be.

This is a guest blog post by Joanne McGonagle, author of An Ordinary Toad's Extraordinary Night.

One of the requirements of the Master of Zoology program was to write a plan about how we thought we could make a difference in the world. My master’s journey began with the inspiration from an article by Peter Slovic: “If I look at the mass, I will never act: Psychic numbing and genocide.” This article discusses how the phenomenon of psychic numbing paralyzes humans and prevents them from taking action to help others in need. I thought if this was true for humans suffering, wouldn’t it be true for the big cats too? I wondered if we could deliver a message of hope instead of desperation, of success instead of failure, through compelling storytelling could we lure others into caring about the world around them? If I could get people to care about one tiger, could I get them to begin to care about all the tigers and motivate them to save the entire species?

My master plan focused on big cats and they are considered ‘charismatic megafauna’. The term ‘charismatic megafauna’ refers to large well-known animal species that garner a disproportionate share of the public’s attention. The tiger is the world’s most popular animal according to a survey conducted by Animal Planet. The big cat even beat out the dog for the number one position. These species have the ‘wow factor’ that grabs the public’s attention to try to save them. The koala certainly is charming, but a small toad... perhaps not.

During the peer review process of our master plans, one of my colleagues asked me a compelling question. Tim asked, “How would the results be different if you picked a less cute animal or non-charismatic megafauna? There are many people that like tigers, but how about something that they do not make stuffed animals or commonly occur in Winnie the Pooh cartoons? Frogs and Toads need help too.”

This is an important question. What about all the living beings that aren’t cute and cuddly or fierce and admired?

Driving one day, I thought about toads. Then I wondered why frogs seem to be the preferred amphibians. I imagined a young toad named Andrew. I wish I could tell you why his name is Andrew but I honestly don’t know. But I began to tell Gracey [the author’s cat], she was a great listener, the story of Andrew the young toad that wondered if his life might have been better had he been hatched a frog. And that’s how An Ordinary Toad’s Extraordinary Night came to be.

Thank you for caring for all animals, big and small. Charismatic and non-charismatic, we need them all and they need our help and protection.

Joanne McGonagle is the award-winning author of The Tiniest Tiger.  For more information join The Tiniest Tiger on Facebook.

Author Interview with Carole Roman

1.  What inspired you to write the CaptainNo Beard series?

My son self published a book and challenged me to write one as well. I thought about different subjects and realized I had a wonderful story based on a game I play with my grandson, Alexander. I don't like video games, and we play imaginary games for hours, so Captain No Beard was a natural choice. Right off my head, I had four stories to share about our different adventures.

2.  Will Cayla be in future series?

Yes Cayla will be in future stories. She was born when I wrote Pepper Parrot and I thought about how to include her in the group. Strangers on the High Seas was a great way to introduce her. She will be a very helpful part of the crew from now on.

3.  What do you want your readers to learn from these books? 

The Captain No Beard series is written for both children and the adult reader. There is a wealth of things to do when you use your imagination. You can go anywhere, do anything and have fun for hours. My goal is always for the book to carry on for discussion long after you finish reading it.  I think subjects like bullying, teamwork, talking to strangers, being bossy, being considerate, and learning not to judge others are things that need to be reinforced all the time. I never wanted them to be preachy, or for anyone to roll their eyes when they read it. I tried to approach each issue with sensitivity, hoping that it stays with the reader long after the book is put back on the shelf.

4.  Tell me a little about the If YouWere Me and Lived In... series.

I am a former secondary Ed Social Studies teacher. You can never turn that off.  When walking on the Las Vegas strip during our vacation, my grandson asked me to explain the differences in the themes of the casinos. In the space of one block, we saw the Eiffel Tower, ancient Rome, and a pyramid of Egypt. He was three and fascinated with the idea of other countries and their customs.  I wrote If You Were Me and Lived in....Mexico, the next day.  We came home and I followed with France, South Korea, Norway, Turkey, Kenya, India, and Australia.  I reached for all the continents, and chose countries that I knew almost nothing about. I then edited it down for children to understand and still be enjoyable to read. The books are a gateway to learn about other people and I hope they will open a world of discussion.

5.  How is the feedback so far on this new series? Do you find parents and teachers find the travel books helpful?

The cultural series has been embraced by both parents and teachers. There is very little out there for the preschool and early grade school age group. People who don't understand, complained there was not enough information. Many teachers understood that editing was the hardest to do. There is a wealth of interesting things to write about- but the book is a catalyst for educators to use as a jumping off point for the correct level of information. Using the book as a guide, each page can be instrumental in discussing as much or as little as the age group can handle. Names- how familiar are they, monetary value- what does it tell you about the country, sports, toys, things to do- is the county urban, rural, rich, poor, and what does the food tell you. This book is a terrific way to introduce culture to pre k to age 8, learning to respect both our differences and similarities. Knowledge is a great way to teach tolerance.

6.  What are you working on now?

I have a Captain No Beard book in production called The Treasure of Snake Island.  I would like to keep doing the cultural books. People are asking for me to do the country of their ancestors. Self publishing is very expensive and I am hoping the cultural series is embraced enough to pay for itself. I think it is an important series in so many ways and I hope it succeeds. 

Read our reviews on Captain No Beard and If You Were Me and Lived in... South Korea.  Also, visit the author's website for more information on her upcoming series and read the Best of 2012 Kirkus Review for the first book in the series Captain No Beard.

Book Review | 2 Kurious Kids by Heidi Gill

2 Kurious Kids by Heidi Gill is an adventure series for kids ages 3 to 8. Siblings, Hannah and Jacob love to take imaginary trips around the world, exploring each country at a time and learning new languages and experiencing new cultures.

On their first imaginary adventure, they travel to China. They imagine what their typical day may look while living in China. By the time they were on their fourth trip, they were visiting India. Most of the illustrations in both books were almost the same with variations in food and activities; in China children like to participate in gymnastics while in India they like cricket. Gill’s series emphasize that people are basically the same in their daily routine wherever they are in the world.

Though this is true, there are still variations in our daily lives that make our experiences culturally different. It would have been nice to see more activities and places that are indigenous to these cultures both in the story itself and in the illustrations, such as a market place scene or children at play using a type of toy that is native to the culture. This would illustrate that even though we are similar in most instances, there are some things that are only unique to various cultures.

Nevertheless, Gill does a great job in educating readers on the everyday words commonly used in all languages. For example, readers can learn breakfast words like cereal and milk, and at school words like chalkboard, teacher and pencil. The language characters and the word pronunciations are included, making the series wonderful starter books ideal for kids being introduced to a new language.

Teachers can demonstrate the language characters for kids to learn how to write them, giving kids a more hands-on approach and making the experience of learning a new language more appealing.

Look for more books in the series - Hannah’s and Jacob’s trips to Egypt, Mexico, and France!

Happy Reading!  

Book Review | One Year in Coal Harbor by Polly Horvath

Hilarious, witty, and endearing, One Year in Coal Harbor by Polly Horvath is the sequel to Everything on a Waffle. 

Horvath’s middle school novel is set in an ocean-side town in British Colombia, and chronicles a year in the life of the main character, 12 year old Primrose. She keeps herself busy by being matchmaker for Uncle Jack and Miss Bowzer; friend to Ked the new foster kid; and author of a new cookbook to help raise money for the Fisherman’s Aid, meanwhile trying to lead the life of an ordinary 12 year old.

But Primrose isn’t an ordinary 12 year old. Her perceptions and insights are deep and instinctive. We see her reaching out instinctively to befriend Ked the new foster kid because, once a foster child, she could identify with Ked’s loneliness and awkwardness toward his new family, school, and town. It caused Primrose to reflect on her time when her parents were lost at sea, and therefore she reached out to Ked in empathy.  Primrose’s perception on love and romance is also quite insightful. Her observations of the romance and courtship between her Uncle, Jack and Miss Bowser were for the most part on point. Her hard work to get the two together was quite hilarious and yet the tactics used, though sometimes juvenile, however, showed she had much sensitivity to the matter.

The book is written as a first person narrative, in a distinctive voice of the ‘continuous chatter’ of the typical 12 year old. The narrative is an easy read, and the narrator Primrose goes in depth describing the characters, the events, and circumstances in a comfortable, story-telling like manner.  Of course, the inclusion of a recipe or two at the end of each chapter is great, and they are informally written in the same narrative as the rest of the book.

An absolute favorite scene in the book is the town hall meeting. Horvath successfully captures the hilarity, confusion, anger, and frustration of the atmosphere at the town hall meeting, and she pulled all these elements into an explosive and dramatic, yet hilarious scene told honestly and without judgment from a juvenile’s perspective.

One Year in Coal Harbor is beautifully written and can be appreciated for its lessons and insights.

Happy Reading! 

Interview with Beryl Reichenberg, author of The Mysterious Case of the Missing Birthday Cake

l. Congratulations! You have written over 35 titles of children's books! Tell me about your history in writing.

Six years ago I began writing children’s stories. Initially, I wrote my first book for my two-year-old  grandchild, Zoe who was afraid of a blue dinosaur in her closet. For her benefit, I decided to write The Blue Dinosaur, a story about a friendly dinosaur that included her and her cousin as story characters. From that point on, I have written, illustrated and published over 35 titles, some fiction and some non-fiction.

Three years ago, I met a publisher at a book festival, Billie Johnson from Oak Tree Press.  We signed a contract to publish Ants on a Log.  Since then, she has published two more of my books, The Mysterious Case of the Missing Birthday Cake and Camouflage. Two additional books will be released in June, When Caterpillars Dream and Butterfly Girls. Both these new books are about Monarch butterflies in a fiction format.

Recently, I self-published through CreateSpace, a series of four wildlife books. These books, containing my photographs and text in verse about various animals, are entitled Wild Africa, Elephant Families in the Wild, Wild Hippos, and Backyard Birds.  All the African animal photographs were taken on safari in Africa. Additional books will follow including books on zebras and camels.

 

2. Did you illustrate and do the photography for all of them, and why do you illustrate in mixed mediums?

 

To illustrate most of my books, I first draw my characters using watercolors and pencils and then select backgrounds from my own photograph collection. Using my MAC, I float the drawn and scanned characters onto the photo backgrounds, slightly blending in the edges of the characters with a blur tool. Sometimes, I also blur the backgrounds a bit so that they look more like drawings.

I use this technique in order to combine reality and fantasy in my illustrations.  Children do this process naturally, often not differentiating between fantasy and the real world. In addition, stories by their very nature are often a blending of these two elements.

In a few books, I have drawn the backgrounds as well as the characters, as in Ants on a Log and The Littlest Dinosaur.   In my wildlife series, I only use photographs because these books are non-fiction, and I want to convey the immediacy of the natural world. In a few books, I have collaborated with other artists as illustrators.

3. Tell me a little about your book The Mysterious Case of the Missing Birthday Cake.

I wrote this story because my publisher, Oak Tree Press, has numerous mystery writers. At one point I was the only children’s author, so I thought it would be fun to write a children’s story that was designed as a mystery.

A missing birthday cake from a party seemed the ideal starting point for children to enjoy.  Such a story would teach children about following clues while using deductive reasoning in an engaging way.  Each animal has certain personalities based on their characteristics, for example,  a raccoon who is fearless and persistent teamed with a mouse who is shy and easily frightened. And, of course, young children welcome happy stories that promote friendship and sharing, understanding that working together can solve problems.

4. Tell me why you write for children?

For me, becoming a grandparent was a profound experience. For the first time,  I could enjoy children without having all the parental duties and responsibilities.  In addition, I  also have my own fond memories of sitting with my grandfather in a rocking chair by our fireplace as he told me stories about the Three Jolly Fleas. Writing my first book, The Blue Dinosaur, was going to be a once-in-a -lifetime adventure.  I found that I enjoyed writing and illustrating this and later books, first just for my grandchildren and then for other children.  The more I produced stories, the more I enjoyed this experience. Being an artist, as well as a photographer, means I can combine my talents in a meaningful way.

Connecting with children, whether at a signing, a school or workshop, is a joy. It reminds me of my teaching days many years ago. Although I taught high school English and Social Studies, I find teaching and relating to young children is similar. Moreover, I can combine several of my talents into one media and have fun as well.          

5. Are you currently working on any other title?

I am working on more books for my wildlife series, including books on zebras, camels and giraffes. I have several, self-published books with Blurb which are being revised and will be submitted to Oak Tree Press. New books include a story about a persistent black bear wandering down from the mountains, invading suburbia.  This story is awaiting illustrations by another artist.  There is a long list of stories I’d love to write some day, including a book about children in Burma. I have traveled extensively throughout the world and there are other exciting ideas to be gleaned from those travels.

My two new books, When Caterpillars Dream and Butterfly Girls, are now available!

Ants on a Log

Camouflage

Wild Africa

Elephant Families in the Wild

Wild Hippos

Backyard Birds

Interview with authors Don and Cathy Rush

Don and Cathy Rush are the authors of Robby’s Quest Series: Robby’s Quest for Seed; Robby’s Quest: Ocean Bound; and Robby’s Quest: Return of the Cat. These books were Reviewed by Children's Book Examiner.

1.  In your research on birds, what significant information about birds did you discover?

We did a little research on a few things such as the type of birds that live in Ohio, how fast the birds actually fly, physical size and colors of the birds and what they might enjoy eating. However, we noticed something interesting:

Cathy and I love to sit outside in our back yard and watch the birds. To us, birds are graceful and wonderful creatures. We normally fill the bird feeder with seed every morning. We noticed that sometimes, after we have filled the birdfeeder, it would be empty just two hours later. We began watching a little closer and we noticed the smaller birds kicking seed to the ground for the larger birds to eat. We could see the seed flying all over the place. It was very amusing. While the little Sparrows were kicking seed to the ground, the Doves were beneath them packing it away. The remaining birds patiently waited their turn while sitting on the block wall in the back of the yard. There seemed to be some structure and teamwork involved in how the birds interacted.

2.  How were you inspired to write about the birds?

We wondered how the birds could actually fly all those miles, south for the winter, and what problems they might run into along the way. We decided to write a short story about bird migration. Soon we had a few pages, then a few chapters. Before you know it, our birds were taking us on a wonderful adventure. We made sure the birds traveled to places we have previously visited or lived so we would be familiar with at least some of the geography. Then, since the birds had to communicate with each other, we added dialogue to our stories. Were the birds speaking to each other, and if so what were they saying? We wanted to create an adventure story that children would enjoy reading.

After we finished the first book, we were encouraged to write the second then third books. We chose San Diego as the destination for the second book because the ocean is my favorite place to visit. Cathy came up with the idea of the birds traveling to Las Vegas to see the wonderful sights for our third book.

3.  Is there a particular reason you chose a Robin to be the leader of the pack?

Our original title was “Quest for Seed.” Our friends thought that there should be a main character in the book so we chose Robby. Robins are beautiful birds and are larger than most of the Doves and Sparrows. We thought Robby would make a very good leader.

Actually, Robby likes to discuss all decisions with his peers and have the birds vote on the critical issues. He flies at the front of the pack mainly because he is experienced and a very strong flyer. Robby does not have a problem listening to others for the overall good of the flock. Robby gives encouragement to others. There is nothing he wouldn’t do for his friends. This makes him the perfect leader.

4.  What do you want your readers to learn from your books?

First, we want the children to enjoy reading the books. We think they are fun to read and we hope the adventures will keep the children interested. Initially we did not have illustrations in our books. That was a mistake and we have since added some very colorful pictures. We would like children to enjoy watching and feeding birds. Birds are beautiful and graceful creatures we should all admire. Besides that, we want the children to learn a little about teamwork, leadership, democracy and especially friendship.

5.  Are there more books in the series of Robby's Quest?

We have the three titles now, Robby’s Quest for Seed; Robby’s Quest: Ocean Bound; and Robby’s Quest: Return of the Cat. All three books are available on eBook from Amazon and paperback from Createspace. We have just finished producing Robby’s Quest for Seed in audio book format. Tracy Elman, voice-over expert from Los Angeles, beautifully narrated the book. All audio books will be available at audible.com, amazon.com and iTunes. Once we publish Robby’s Quest for Seed in audio format, we will publish the second and third books soon thereafter. 

We recently began our fourth book about the birds traveling north along the coastal highway from San Diego to San Francisco. This is a beautiful and scenic route. We expect the birds to make plenty of fun stops along the trip. We would expect them to stop in L.A., Big Sur, Carmel, maybe the Redwoods National Park and possibly even Alcatraz Island. We can see the birds playing on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. We just hope Joy and Josie don’t get themselves in trouble again.

Eventually the birds will make their way back to Ohio, where it all began.  In addition, Hershey the Cat will be searching for his siblings. His travels will take him to Minnesota. We wonder what will happen if Hershey crosses paths with the birds again? All together, we would like to write a total of five books on the series, but we’ll have to wait and see what the future brings.

Please visit us on our website for the latest information on Robby’s Quest.

Introducing Sarah Hill, author of Whimsy Wood Series

This is a guest blog post by Sarah Hill, author of Posie Pixie and The Copper Kettle - book 1 in her children’s series, Whimsy Wood.

Sarah Hill is a small animal Vet. Having studied Veterinary Medicine at Bristol University, she qualified in 1999 and worked in practice for 10 yrs. At that point, she had her second daughter and soon after decided to take a career break. She now writes her series of children’s books, the ‘Whimsy Wood’ series, at home in Wiltshire with her husband, two daughters, two dogs, two cats and ‘a partridge in a pear tree’! They are expecting their third child this July.

The books in her series are all based in a woodland setting called ‘Whimsy Wood’. The series is divided into five sets, each containing seven books, making a total of thirty-five books in the series. Each book is written for a specific month in the year, so the flora and fauna change accordingly as you read through the series. Finally, there is a proverb hidden within each story for the reader to find, giving the story a real meaning. The majority of characters within the series are woodland creatures, with the occasional pixie or fairy and a dollop of humour thrown in!

Book 1 sets the scene for the rest of the series and explains why Posie Pixie finds herself in Whimsy Wood. “How does the copper kettle come into it?” I hear you ask! Aaaah…. Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out! Please check out the Facebook page ‘Whimsy Wood Series’, where you can see some of the beautiful illustrations, done by the very talented Sarah Mauchline, which will appear in this book.

Posie Pixie and The Copper Kettle will be published by Abela Publishing by the end of July 2013.