Monthly Archives: April 2017

FREE Book Giveaway! (I mean, BOOKS)

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Today, the a-mazing (no, make that A-mazing with a capital A) Kirsten Cappy of Curious City is launching a FREE STEM Story Hour Kit, designed especially for educators and librarians, to use with MY BUSY GREEN GARDEN. To get a look at this beautiful kit, just buzz, hop, flutter or dawdle on over to her website HERE.

And today, Curious City is starting a book giveaway (yes, as in FREE, F-R-E-E) to kick off the celebration of this gorgeous STEM Story Hour Kit. CC will be giving away 22 copies of the book! (special thanks to Tilbury House, my publisher, for donating the books). For details in how to enter the giveaway, click HERE.

But don’t dawdle too long–winners will be announced on May 8, on the Curious City DWP page. Please share this any educators or librarians you know!

Clever Disguises…What Scientists Call Camouflage

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“There’s a surprise in clever disguise…”

This a repeating line in my latest picture book, MY BUSY GREEN GARDEN.

But what is the surprise in clever disguise? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out! (hint: the answer is below)

In the meantime, here are a few other “clever disguises”–also called “camouflage”–that animals use to blend in to keep themselves safe from predators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could you spot them all?

 

 

 

You can read more about camouflage HERE.

NaPiBoWriWee!

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I’m so excited that the amazing Paula Yoo has asked me to be part of the 2017 NaPiBoWriWee. What exactly is this mouthful of a word? It’s National Picture Book Writing Week! In just one week, participants will write seven picture book manuscripts–one per day. Do they have to be polished, ready-to-submit drafts? Of course not! We all know it takes months (or years) to work a picture book into perfection. But this is an opportunity to commit yourself to ONE WEEK of writing picture books, to get that first messy draft down on paper, to put those ideas that have been floating in your mind all year down on paper. Yee-haw! Pull out the pencils!

Along the way, Paula will have guest authors (like Jason Gallaher, Courtney Pippin-Mathur, Emma Otheguy and myself) giving you some tips and insight. And did I mention there are PRIZES??? Yes!

So stayed tuned for registration announcements so you can join in the fun. And best of all, have SEVEN picture book drafts in one week! Warm up those fingers, folks. As the great Kathi Appelt would say, you’ll “write like your fingers are on fire!”

I Need Space (and so do you!)

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Great tips from Anna Redding today on EMU’s Debuts with how to get some space from your manuscript when you’re revising.

EMU's Debuts

Ever feel so focused on the details of a manuscript that you actually lose sight of the entire work? Maybe you are working on the pacing or world building or hunting down ‘telling’ to replace it with “showing.” Maybe you have zeroed in on three words, writing and re-writing them over and over again. Meanwhile, six hours just zipped past. And these three words you labored over––exist in a manuscript that has 35-thousand more!

It’s critical to focus on the bits and pieces, to lose oneself in the particulars. But when I am ready to emerge from the deep the woods of writing, sometimes I need a compass to find my way out.

As I painter’s daughter, I know that artists also become consumed with specific brush strokes or the interplay of colors in hidden shadows, or using the reflection of a painted sterling cup to tell a story. Detail…

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Educator Guide Now Available!

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You can find the FREE educator guide for MY BUSY GREEN GARDEN (here) on the Tilbury House website. Having an educator guide for this beautiful book isn’t enough to entice you to visit the site? How about if the pot is sweetened and Tilbury House gives educators a 20% discount on all its books as a way of showing how much they appreciate educators? Now we’re talking! Go on now…they’re waiting for you :-).

Rhyme Revolution 2017 Day 1 ~ Lori Mortensen ~ Rhythm and Rhyme

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Terrific post about writing in rhyme by Lori Mortensen over at Angie Karcher’s Rhyme Revolution. Lori points out some important points in getting started on writing a story with rhyme and rhythm.

Angie Karcher

Red StarsClyde Award Image

COWPOKE CLYDE RIDES THE RANGE

by Lori Mortensen

Illustrated by Michael Allen Austin

2016 Best in Rhyme Award Winner

Congratulations Lori!

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See the Top 20 Best in Rhyme Books for 2016

One blue star

RHYTHM AND RHYME

By Lori Mortensen

If you’ve ever delved into rhyme, you know rhyming can be a complicated business.  Not only is there a boatload of elements to consider such as true rhymes, near rhymes, forced rhymes, end rhymes, and internal rhymes, but there’s also a slew of specific rhyming patterns with names like iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, and spondee. (If you know these terms, you definitely deserve some extra rhyming brownie points!)

The good news is–you don’t have to know these terms to write fun, frolicking stories in rhyme.

For me, writing in rhyme is all about the rhythm.  As a former dance major, I’m drawn to the rhythm of the words and the beat they create…

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Book Signing Fun!

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Success! What a wonderful time I had reading and signing books yesterday at Red Rock Books in Ridgecrest, CA. It was so fun to see some old friends and make new ones, connecting with folks in many ways. We even sold out of MY BUSY GREEN GARDEN!

The event felt like a perfect blend of coordinated efforts from the bookseller and myself, resulting in a successful event packed with fun.

RRSigning32017We had a beautiful paper flower craft activity the bookseller organized, in connection with Wildflower Weekend, a local festival.

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A local baker provided gorgeous, too-pretty-to-eat cake pops that looked like bees and flowers, with the theme of MY BUSY GREEN GARDEN.

While while the bookseller was managing the store, I signed books, chatted with kids and adults, and did a reading. Author swag was also available for the taking!

Special thanks to Sarah Herrington from The Enchanted Whisk Bakery for the custom-made adorable bees and flowers cake pops (pictured) and Ann Rizzardini, owner of Red Rock Books (pictured with me) for hosting the event.

My favorite moments of the day–
1. When I saw someone reach for the last copy of the Garden story (knowing we’d sold out–I want booksellers to have that success).
2. When someone (an adult) walked up to me with watery eyes and told me that MAMA LOVES YOU SO was so touching it made her cry.
3. When a mom asked, “Will there be a PAPA book coming out too?” (I sure hope so!)
4. Talking to so many children. Love it! Kids are so uplifting!

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 If you couldn’t make the event but would like a signed copy of either book, call Red Rock Books at 760-375-3454 and they’ll be happy to take your order and ship to you (after they call me down to the store to sign your book!)