RhyPiBoMo Week 4

Books I read the week of April 25-29:

LEAPS AND BOUNCE by Susan Hood and Matthew Cordell. A story filled with fun, humor and rhyme with a little science on the side. This is basically a lesson in how frogs grow from tadpoles into frogs. It's told as an adventure story with lyrical language and humorous, cartoony illustrations and several open-the-flap pages. And it uses a few of my favorite words: rumpus, hullaballo and shenanigans! It has amphibians rhyming with shenanigans - not a perfect rhyme, but it's so fun, it works.

TINY RABBIT'S BIG WISH by Magarita Engle and David Walker.

MAMMOTHS ON THE MOVE by Lisa Wheeler and Kurt Cyrus.

WATCH YOUR TONGUE, CECILY BEASLEY by Lane Fredrickson and Jon Davis.

NINJA RED RIDING HOOD by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Dan Santat.

I AM COW, HEAR ME MOO! by Jill Esbaum and Gus Gordon.

ROOM ON THE BROOM by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

TYRANNOSAURUS DRIP by Julia Donaldson and David Roberts.

CATS NIGHT OUT by Caroline Stutson and John Klassen.

BOO-LA-LA WITCH SPA by Samantha Berger and Isabel Roxas.

RhyPiBoMo Week 2

Books I read from April 11-15:

I read four books written by Linda Ashman this week.
1. My favorite is MAXWELL'S MAGIC MIX-UP which is illustrated by Regan Dunnick. Both the story and the illustrations are hilarious! And the rhyme is perfect, of course. One of my favorite lines from the book:  "... and there sat the birthday rock, Louise." So, so silly and fun!
2. BABIES ON THE GO is cute and full of gorgeous illustrations by Jane Dyer of how animals carry their babies. And it ends wih an 'Awww' moment.
3. JUST ANOTHER MORNING illustrated by Claudio Munoz follows the exciting day of a little boy and his wild imagination.
4. SAMANTHA ON A ROLL illustrated by Christine Davenier follows Samantha as she tries out her skates after her very busy mother tells her to wait. But she doesn't and we follow her rolling adventure!

NELLIE BELLE by Mem Fox and Mike Austin reads more like a song, with a lot of repetition of Nellie Belle's name. A very cute look into a life of a little dog. I think younger children would love this and want to sing along.

JAZZ BABY by Lisa Wheeler and R. Gregory Christie is along a similar vein. Very lively song-like words and illustrations. I would have to say it's very jazzy!

OUR LOVE GROWS by Anna Pignataro. This book is different than most rhyming books I've seen in that it starts out NOT rhyming, then turns into rhyme. I don't think that's bad, but it breaks all the rules that I've learned about books written in verse. There's one verse that just didn't set well with me, rhyming 'palms' with 'arms,' but otherwise pretty good. Maybe those two words actually rhyme in Australia, where this book was published. This one also ends in an 'Awww' moment.

STICK AND STONE by Beth Ferry and Tom Lichtenheld is a warm story about friendship.

I'LL NEVER LET YOU GO by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Alison Brown. This WHOLE book is an 'Awww' moment! Sweet story about a parent's unconditional love. The illustrations are over-the-top adorable, showing different animal pairs in each spread.

LLAMA LLAMA GRAM AND GRANDPA by Anna Dewdney. Llama Llama is spending his first night away from home with his grandparents (or grand llama?) When Llama Llama realizes he forgot his fuzzy toy, Grandpa saves the day.

RhyPiBoMo Week 1

Here are the books I read April 4 -8:

I love QUEEN VICTORIA'S BATHING MACHINE by Gloria Whelan and Nancy Carpenter. The story is really interesting, and I love the fact that a non-fiction story is told in rhyme. And the illustrations are really fun.

MILES OF SMILES by Karen Kaufman Orloff and Luciano Lozano is really cute, too. It's about how a smile goes on a journey and can be a gift to someone else, and that they can pass it on.

CALLING ALL CARS by Sue Fliess and Sarah Beise is a list book. It's for a really young audience, so its rhyme is very simple. The illustrations are SO adorable – very bright with cute animals in different kind of cars – totally fun!

I LOVE DOGS by Sue Stainton and Bob Staake falls into the same category as CALLING ALL CARS. Really simple rhyme and bright, adorable illustrations showing a lot of different types of dogs – I have always loved Bob Staake's illustrations.

MAXI THE LITTLE TAXI by Elizabeth Upton and Henry Cole is a made for a tad older audience and has more of a story and more complex illustrations. There's lots of fun onomatopoeia in this little romp of a story.

THE SNATCHABOOK by Helen and Thomas Docherty came in a really close second for my favorite for the week. This one has the most complex story and rhyming scheme. Love the little Snatchabook creature!

SNOWMEN AT NIGHT by Caralyn and Mark Buehner is a fun story about the secret lives of snowmen. The lighting in the illustrations are luminous.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DUCK by Eve Bunting and Jen Brett is a cumulative story – his friends give him gifts and I like how it unfolds into a big party.

MOOSE TRACKS by Karma Wilson and Jack E. Davis is a silly, fun story.

PARIS UP, UP AND AWAY by Hélene Druvert is a very interesting book – I saw it at Barnes & Noble, and it was the only one of this book there. The story is cute, nothing special (the Eifel Tower is a character and I really don't like that here) but what's so interesting about it is its illustrations.
 It is full of really beautiful cut paper illustrations made out of black or white intricate papers. I would be afraid that kids would destroy the delicate cut-paper pages.
I found some photos of some of the inside pages on Amazon to show you a little of its beauty:

I love April because it's National Poetry Month and along with that, RhyPiBoMo!

RhyPiBoMo is a month-long challenge for children’s writers to learn more about rhyming, poetry and poetic techniques.

Everyone is encouraged to follow along! Here is the pledge:

RhyPiBoMo Week 5

My reading material from this week:

 

My favorite for the week is WHEREVER YOU GO by Pat Zietlow Miller illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. Love, love the illustrations!

Here is my poem for the Golden Quill Poetry contest:

KITTY'S QUEST FOR FREEDOM
I must sneak out, I must sneak out,
this kitty wants a walk about.
I’ll duck out when Dog comes in –
if I fail, I’ll try again.

Now I’m out, now I’m free!
I’m scared – it’s way too much for me!
I should be glad ... to my chagrin,
now I want to sneak back in!

RhyPiBoMo Week 4

Here are the fun books I read this week:

I think I have 3 favorites this week! First is HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADAME CHAPEAU by the author/illustrator team Andrea Beaty and David Roberts (the same team I mentioned before). 
Again, I love the quirky drawings and the story is funny about a hat maker  without a hat. It's so funny.

YOU NEST HERE WITH ME by Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple, illustrated by the wonderful Melissa Sweet is another of my favorites. This book is like the illustrators's name – sweet and beautiful.

TABBY MCTAT by anther dream team, writer Julia Donaldson and illustator Axel Scheffler is my other favorite. It's about a busker who has a cat buddy sing with him, and something happens where they get separated, but it comes out happy at the end. I'm always a sucker for a cat book.

RhyPiBoMo Week 3

Here are the fun books I read this week:

I really enjoyed all of these books, but I think my favorite is TOM'S TWEET.  STANZA is really cute, too – both are written by Jill Esbaum. I just had to pick TOM"S TWEET because it's about a cat (LOVE them) and is so wonderfully illustrated by Dan Santat (LOVE his work!) That little bird is too darn cute! STANZA is illustrated by Jack E. Davis.

I'm really excited because one of the optional writing prompts gave me a great idea for a book.

Still working on my new poem for the contest, which has a deadline in a week.

RhyPiBoMo Week 2

Here are the fun books I read this week:

They are all really cute, but I think my favorite is A GIRL AND HER GATOR by Sean Bryan and illustrated by Tom Murphy. It just made me laugh out loud too many times!

The two books by the author/illustrator team Andrea Beaty and David Roberts, IGGY PECK, ARCHITECT and ROSIE REVERE, ENGINEER, are really, really good, too. I love that they're about two different kids from the same class. The illustrations are so weirdly quirky, and the stories are so fun.

Still working on my new poem and story!

RhyPiBoMo Week 1

Here are the books I read this week.

My favorite is THE GRUFFALO by Julia Donaldson and illustrated byAxel Scheffler.  

SNOOZEFEST by Samantha Berger and illustrated by Kristyna Litten came in a close second, though. I mean, a sloth in pjs going to a sleep event with other animals in pjs! How cute is that??

I'm working on a new manuscript during this month, and I plan to enter the Golden Quill Poetry Contest again. Keep rhyming!

RhyPiBoMo 2015

Happy April! Not only is it the month where Spring REALLY arrives here in St. Louis, but it's also National Poetry Month and along with that, RhyPiBoMo!

RhyPiBoMo is a month-long writing challenge for children’s writers aspiring to write rhyming picture books poetry and to add poetic techniques to their prose.

There's still time to sign up (you have until April 8) , or just follow along! There are daily posts about rhyming and optional challenges – if you've ever considered writing in rhyme, no matter what THEY say, join in the fun! If you're up to the challenge, and a chance to win some prizes, here's what you need to do daily:

Final Week of RhyPiBoMo

Books I read this past week:

A bittersweet ending to a wonderful month learning tons of stuff about poetry. I'm sad it's over, but I got great news this morning: I received an honorable mention for my poem Please Don't Make Me Eat Those Peas AND I randomly won one of the daily prizes! Yay!

There were some really good entries in the contest – check them out here!

I am now a graduate of the first annual RhyPiBoMo and I will proudly display this here:

RhyPiBoMo End of Week 4

Here are the books I read this week:

I love looking at these little squares of awesomeness! It just makes me happy!

I also have a poem to share with you –  the poem I entered into the Golden Quill Poetry Contest. Angie said she had over 40 entries! I'm excited to see the finalists!

Please Don’t Make Me Eat Those Peas

Please don’t make me eat those peas –
they stink and make me gag and wheeze.
I have a strong aversion to
those squishy globes of greenish goo!

I try to feed them to our puppy,
the hamster, and the family guppy.
They try a pea and spit it out –
they hate them, too, without a doubt!

I wish you would respect my wishes–
I promise I will do the dishes
if you don’t force me to consume
that evil, little green legume!

I’ll clean my room and make my bed
and make sure that the pets are fed.
If you love me, I’m beggin’ please,
Please don’t make me eat those peas!

RhyPiBoMo End of Week 3

Still plugging away on RhyPiBoMo and learning A LOT! I don't have any poems to post, but I'm almost finished with one that I'm going to enter into the Golden Quill Poetry Contest. In the meantime, here are the books I've read last week.

RhyPiBoMo End of Week 2

I am learning so much about writing poems. There sure is a lot that I didn't know that I didn't know!

One of the things that I didn't know about is a 5-line poem called a Tanka. It's similar to the Haiku, in that it has rules about how many syllables each line has:
Tanka- a 5-line poem

Line 1 has five syllables

Line 2 has seven syllables

Line 3 has five syllables

Line 4 has seven syllables

Line 5 has seven syllables

Here’s my Tanka:

Instantaneous!
Spring has sprung just overnight
Mother Nature just pressed ‘go’
Trees abloom with white flowers
We revel in the beauty

Books I read this week:

RhyPiBoMo - Day 8

One of the rules of RhyPiBoMo is to read a rhyming picture book every day. Here are the books I read in the fist week.

One week down and 3 to go! Today, we learned about the different quatrains and the different rhyming patterns they can have. Here is one with the ABAB pattern:

    Buddy
    Buddy is a crazy boy!
    He jumps on everyone around,
    because he can’t contain his joy.
    He’s such a wacky, happy hound!

RhyPiBoMo Day 5

Today, we learned about Haiku and Limericks. Here is a fitting Haiku for today since a tornado touched down about 2 blocks from my house this morning and I didn't even wake up!!!

Tornado
Wind bursts barrel through,
So strong and powerful, then,
Eerie quietness.

RhyPiBoMo Day 3

    April Fool
    They say don’t write your book in rhyme,
    but I still do it all the time.

    I don’t set out to do it –
    the editors will boo-hoo it!

    I guess I’m just a foolish fool
    who thinks that’s such a ghoulish rule!

    If I can make a kid laugh –
    with a rhyming paragraph –

    Then a fool, I guess, I’ll be
    along with Seuss, and company!

RhyPiBoMo Day 2

I'm a dork, and I love cats and silly poetry. Here's a poem/song that I wrote about my cat Squeaky:

Squeaky
Squeaky, Squeaky, she runs around the house
squeakin', squeakin', just like a mouse.

Squeaky, Squeaky, she's sweet as can be,
but she'll turn around and bite you if you touch her belly.

Squeaky, Squeaky, her tail's a ball of fur,
I really like to cuddle her and listen to her purr.

Squeaky, Squeaky, it really does seem
that we make a pretty darn good cat and mommy team.

RhyPiBoMo - Day 1

RhyPiBoMo
Scanson, anapest, iamb, oh my!
Will I get this before I die?

This is the start of a month full of learning
To become an expert of something I’ve been yearning
to be

Wow that rhyme sucks,
But not to fear,
Because Angie Karcher
 and RhPiBoMo are here!