What's In a Timeline: AKA What Goes In and What Stays Out? by Tina Cho

I'm in a picture book group called Kidlit for Growing Minds. Our mission statement says: We are children's book authors and illustrators who believe the power of story combined with real world science, social studies, and math can touch hearts and nurture growing minds. With our nonfiction and informational fiction picture books, we seek to support teachers, librarians, and parents, and to inspire curious kids.​

A discussion question arose by our author Lynn Street. "When the subject centers on a person, how often do the timelines include outside dates and events for context vs. just the events of the person's life?" I thought this would make a perfect blog post for our Grog blog readers, especially, as a teacher, I introduce simple timelines in kindergarten! Timelines are part of standards! 

Following are examples of timelines and wisdom from some of Kidlit for Growing Minds authors & illustrators.

Author Keila Dawson shares a poster timeline for her picture book biography, Opening the Road, about how Victor Hugo Green created The Green Book, paving the way for a safer, more equitable travel in America. Her timeline begins with Victor's birth, but then she lists a context date of 1896 when the US Supreme Court rules that segregation IS constitutional.

Keila says: When I heard about Victor Hugo Green on the radio, I wanted to write his story, but I couldn’t find out much about him. So I had to use a wider lens and research the history of segregation and connect that to the larger idea of activism but specific to travel. So I created a timeline to help me get a feel for what was happening and how those events inspired, motivated, and or affected Green and other Black travelers. I am so grateful to the clever book designer at Beaming Books who made it into an illustrated roadmap timeline for the backmatter. Then a librarian mentioned it would make a great poster, so the publisher created that too!

Both personal and context dates are listed throughout in a creative highway graphic. Bravo, Beaming Books!

In Thomas Jefferson's Battle for Science: Bias, Truth, & a Mighty Moose by Beth Anderson, illustrated by Jeremy Holmes, Jefferson battles faulty facts and biases using his scientific thinking of the day. I noticed mostly personal dates on this timeline (thus the title of the timeline) and a few dates of context, like the Louisiana Purchase.

Beth states: The timeline events were chosen for their connection to nature and education which provided the grounding for his scientific thinking; government service to bring context to his role during the period of the revolution; a few family and life events; and the major events of his life that students encounter in curriculum. 

Here’s the link to the Educator Guide - The “Key Ideas and Details” section contains a few activities focused on Fact and Opinion and includes one using the timeline.

In Magic in a Drop of Water: How Ruth Patrick Taught the World about Water Pollution, by Julie Winterbottom, illustrated by Susan Reagan, a breakthrough in the dangers of water pollution is discovered by a woman scientist. 

Julie says: For my picture book biography of ecologist Ruth Patrick, most of the events in the timeline are important moments in her scientific education and career. Many of them were mentioned in the main text, but without exact dates. A few of them did not make it into the story because of space limitations and the timeline provided a way to include them without bogging down the main story. The only event outside of Patrick's life that I decided to include was the passage of the Clean Water Act, but it made sense because Patrick helped to write that law. I also included two events from her personal life—the date of her marriage and the birth of her son—because I wanted readers to know that she managed to juggle a full-time career in science and a family. 

In this timeline, I notice everything listed is personal to Ruth's life, but the dates listed are ones that coincide with the story.

In Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony by Lisa Rogers, illustrated by Stacy Innerst, the American abstract painter and her process and place in France are highlighted with lyrical text.

Lisa states: I focused on the main events in her painting life, as the book is about her creating a particular group of paintings and how she processed her emotions and memories through painting.

Besides the timeline, back matter includes a list of where to see Mitchell's works, a poem she wrote at age 10, an image of Mitchell as a child and one of her in her studio with a painting, and an image of one of her paintings (and a bibliography of course!).

I notice that this timeline includes personal life matter that coincides with the story.

Linda Sweeney, author of Monument Maker: Daniel Chester French & the Lincoln Memorial, illustrated by Shawn Fields, is about how a farm boy sculpted the Lincoln Memorial. 

Linda shares:  I let major life milestones, like births, deaths, moves, wars and then artistic achievements like notable commissions guide what I included in the time line and what I left out.

I, Tina Cho, have a fiction picture book based on reality, sort of memoir as well, (on submission) that takes place in the 1970s. It includes a timeline of only contextual dates happening in America in order for this generation of readers to understand the time and context of the story. No personal dates are listed.

The verdict: What goes in and what stays out of a timeline? From studying these timelines, personal dates that coincide with the story line are listed. Historical dates that give readers clues to the time and place in history that impacted the characters or setting of the story are also included and helpful for readers and students doing research and reports. 

Author Lynn Street states for her work in progress: "I’m hoping to include events that directly impacted my subject." Thank you, Lynn, for bringing up this topic! I hope this post is helpful for others writing timelines. AND, if you have more timeline wisdom, please include it in the comments!

Thank you, Kidlit for Growing Minds authors, for helping me with this post and for sharing your timelines and wisdom! Now go forth and create a timeline :)

Writing Board Books part II ~ an editor's POV

 by Sue Heavenrich

Welcome to the GROG’s second discussion about Board Books. Today I’m sharing the table with two board book editors, Kate Riggs and Gabriela Baron. So grab your cup of … whatever … and let’s get to chatting!

Kate Riggs edits board books at The Creative Company. She began working as an editor in 2006, and served as managing editor from 2013 through 2021. She left the company in July 2021 but remains a freelancer for Creative Editions and continues to have a hand in producing the picture and board books. 

Gabriela Baron has been working as an editorial assistant at Charlesbridge for about three years. With a background in creative writing and poetry, she finds herself drawn to musical stories told in verse. She started acquiring her own frontlist titles over a year ago, mostly picture books and board books so far, but is interested in expanding into middle grade and YA.

Me: Kate, can you tell us about the process of creating a board book? How do you decide number of pages, size, etc? Laura Purdee Salas was a guest at our roundtable last week, so maybe you can talk about her books? 

Kate: When we dipped our toes into the board book market, we wanted to do it in our own way. So we intentionally made them nonfiction in content/concept, but illustrated with the same beautiful care as any of our picture books. From the beginning, we knew the page count and size we would be targeting, so for the majority of the board books, I wrote the texts within those parameters – basically, seven sentences. The only time we ever adapted one of our original picture books as a board book was with the special title What to Do with a Box, by Jane Yolen and Chris Sheban, which our art director figured out how to construct into an actual box. That was a feat! Things can get changed (not necessarily for the better) when they go from larger-format picture books to shrunken-down board books, and it annoys me when details in the art just get cut out ... as though they were insignificant and not part of a greater plan.

I loved working with Laura Purdie Salas on her most recent books for Editions (as well as Puddle Song, from 2023) because she's a poet who knows how to capture the essence of a thought so beautifully and succinctly, and she can do it in such a way that appeals to both reader and listener. She had submitted Puddle Song to us in 2021, and we signed it as a board book because we thought it would fit perfectly with some of our other board books that were poems rather than nonfiction. So when we were developing the concepts that eventually became When a Butterfly Goes to School and A Home Like This, I approached her about writing the manuscripts. I try not to be too intrusive with the fiction and poetry editing, but we did have to do a little dancing back and forth to get just the right words to encapsulate the concepts in those two books.

Me: I’m going to toss the same question over to Gabriela, but with a twist. Can you also address how you adapt an existing picture book to board book format? Darrin Lunde was one of our roundtable guests last week, and I noticed that his board books have fewer spreads and are sometimes in a different order than the original picture book.

Gabriela: Charlesbridge publishes both original board books and board adaptations, but we tend to do far more adaptations because the margins are much better when you are reusing an existing title. Original board books are a tough category because the print costs are proportionately higher to the price you can charge the consumer, and the number of units you need to sell to be profitable is thus higher as well. So most publishers are quite selective about original board editions.

The ideas for the backlist reuse board book projects can arrive through various channels, but they often come from our in-house creative working groups. And when it comes to books like Hot Pot Night! and Whose Egg Is That? I actually wasn’t the original hardcover editor of those titles. So my goal as board editor is always to preserve the tone and heart of the original picture book but cater it to a younger audience. 

The first step in the process is knowing that we’ll have to cut down our typical 32 to 40-paged picture books to fit our standard 20 to 22-paged board book. Vincent Chen’s Hot Pot Night! has super catchy “Hot pot, hot pot” refrains throughout, so when I was trimming the text/spreads, I knew I wanted to keep these sing-song phrases at the beginning, middle, and end to round out the story. 

As part of my process, I’ll also talk with the original editor and creators of the book to hear more about their key considerations when they first created the story and what might change given the new audience. When I was turning Whose Egg Is That? into a board book, Darrin Lunde and I discussed which animals we thought would be the most unique and appealing to babies and toddlers. We cut the killdeer from the board edition because having the word “kill,” even as part of a bird name, didn’t seem as fitting. Another animal that doesn’t make an appearance in the board book is the platypus. We felt that the rarity and surprise of a mammal laying an egg wouldn’t make the same impact among our littlest readers, so we opted to cut it (sorry, platypus!). 

Trim size and shape are often determined by the illustrations. Kelsey Oseid’s beautiful illustrations travel across the page in Whose Egg Is That?, so we chose a trim size proportional to the hardcover to maintain the horizontal orientation. The playful energy of Hot Pot Night! just called for a shaped book, so the decision to round the edges to mimic a hot pot was a no-brainer.

Me: What do you find is the biggest challenge in creating a book for an adult to read to a very young (0-2 years) child?

Gabriela: I’d say the biggest challenge would be just that! The concept of the book will need to initially catch the attention of the adult buyer and reader, but the story should ultimately cater to the little one who will want to reach for it again and again. It’s the classic conundrum: You are trying to make a book useful and memorable for two groups that differ widely in ages!

Kate: I've always maintained the philosophy that good writing is good writing, no matter the age or audience. When crafting books for the youngest learners, we strive to make them appealing to the ear, engaging for the eye, and palatable for the reader! (Because if it's a good book, you know you'll be reading it over and over.) One of the most satisfying experiences I've had is when children repeat a phrase or remember some detail from one of my board books – then I know [that book] has helped that child form a connection, learn something new, or provided a delight. So much happens as babies develop into toddlers, and we need to give them credit that they can be challenged, that they can connect the dots between their own life experiences and whatever they see or hear in books. It's an incredible privilege to create content for them. (I say this as an editor, writer, and mother!)

Me: What words of advice do you have for picture book authors who might want to try their hand at writing a board book? Or who want to write a picture book with the idea that it might be revised as a board book in the future?

Kate: Keep it simple but not simplistic. The best thing you can do is teach without condescension. Read aloud whatever you write to make sure it will work for the ear as well as the eye. Children are musical; they appreciate rhythm and cadence.

Gabriela: A simple story does not mean uninteresting. Every single word counts. Why might you opt for “stinky” instead of “smelly”? “Why might you say “slimy” over “slippery”? A slight change can make a big difference.

On another note, I often was told in my graduate studies that the easiest way to make a poem boring is writing a technically perfect one. If you are going to follow a rhythm in your story, always break it at least once. And if you’re stuck trying to force an exact rhyme, try out a slant rhyme instead. Or maybe lose it entirely. And remember – some of the most impactful stories are told in the fewest words.

Me: We’ll end with a question I know writers are wondering about: Do you accept manuscript submissions for board books?

Gabriela: Yes, we do! We accept electronic manuscripts (including text-only and illustrated) of all formats ranging from board books through young adult every year during our open submissions period from January to June. For more information on our submission guidelines and materials, you can visit our website at www.charlesbridge.com/pages/submissions

Kate: No, we don’t. We tend to generate concepts/prompts for board books ourselves, and seek out writers to pair with them. So, unfortunately, it's a pretty closed loop at the moment.

Me: Thank you so much, Kate and Gabriela for joining us today and sharing your accumulated wisdom!

 

Writing Board Books part I ~ an author's roundtable

by Sue Heavenrich

Welcome to the GROG’s roundtable discussion about Board Books. I’ve got four board book authors with me today, so grab your coffee (or cocoa or tea), pull up a chair, and let’s meet the authors. 

Darrin Lunde typically writes on topics related to animals and nature. Seven of his picture books have been reissued in board book format, most recently Whose Egg is That? Darrin’s day job is mammals collection manager at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History, so he’s often in the field doing research. 

Laura Purdie Salas is a Minnesota author who has written more than 140 picture books and board books. She loves connecting kids to nature and hopes to inspire them to look at a familiar topic in a new way. Her most recent board book is A Home Like This. 

Nancy Churnin, a longtime journalist and former theater critic living in North Texas, is probably best known for picture book biographies. Her rhyming board book, Counting on Shabbat, encourages readers to think about ways we can make the world a kinder and more inclusive place.

Laura Gehl has written board books, lift-the-flap books, picture books and early readers. Her newest board book, Odd Bugs: Meet Nature's Weirdest Insects joins her “Curious Critters” series in March, 2026.  

I have no board books. What I do have is a new grandbaby … which is why I invited these wonderful authors to the table this morning - I want to pick their brains!

Me: Let’s begin with topics - What made you know that you HAD to write your book?

Nancy & her mom

Nancy: It was actually my mother, Flora Churnin, who inspired Counting on Shabbat – she loves numbers. My mother is 99 years old, and for the past decade it has been hard for her to go out and visit with people she loves. That's why Counting on Shabbat starts with an elderly person on his own and how delighted he is to hear five knocks on the door and have a family arrive with food and cheer. Is it his family? Is it a family caring for someone in the community? That does not matter. In the book we are counting objects on Shabbat, so we are counting, but we are also counting on kindness. My mother has been dealing with dementia for the last five years, and as she has struggled to read and speak, this has become one of her preferred books.

I think there is a lot of value in sharing board books with seniors as well as toddlers, and would love to see an organized effort to bring board books and picture books to senior living facilities. One of my most precious moments came after I read this book to her. After I closed the book, she looked me right in the eye and said, "Eleven!" Then she grinned as if she was telling me something I didn't know (after all I had only gone up to 10). I loved that!

Laura Salas: For A Home Like This, the publisher actually asked me to write a board book about animal homes. While the topic was chosen, I got the fun of figuring out how to approach it. I love refrains, and I wanted the book to be lovely and lyrical, like Joyce Sidman’s Swirl by Swirl. I also wanted a bit of a different approach from the board books already published on this topic. I wrote a few different drafts exploring materials, how homes are different, some in rhyme, some not. I wrote close to 20 drafts spread among eight or so different approaches. Because board books are so short, a lot of my writing time was spent trying different structures. It's enormous fun, and I love the trial and error of it all. I have to be open to diving in and seeing what appears on the screen. It ended up gently rhyming, but without any refrain at all!

Darrin: Sometimes I get my ideas for books by settling on a topic and then waiting until a catchy title for it pops into my head, for example, Meet the Meerkat. Other times, the topic presents itself during the course of a normal day, such as when I was standing in the driveway of my neighbor talking. We both looked down at the same time and saw what turned out to be a fox scat in his driveway, but when we both looked up at each other and asked Whose Poop is THAT? I knew I had my next book. I try not to force things. Rather, I try to stay open and alert to new possibilities. Of course, I always have the fear that I might never come up with a new book idea, but so far, the ideas have kept coming.

Laura Gehl: My new board book is the third in a series. The first two were Odd Beasts and Odd Birds. I knew I wanted to do Odd Bugs if possible—because there are so many weird and wonderful bugs out there—but we had to wait to see how well the first two did. I was so excited when I heard from my editor that Odd Bugs was a go!

Me: Did you initially write this to be a board book? And if not, why do you think it works well as a board book?

Laura Gehl

Laura Gehl: Yes, this was always intended to be a board book. It has very simple, rhyming text, just one line per spread. However, what’s unusual about this board book (and the other two in the series) is that it has back matter. At the end of the book, there are photographs of each critter, plus a few interesting facts about each one. I think the back matter allows these board books to appeal to older kids and adults as well as to babies and toddlers. 

Laura Salas: Definitely. I think its gentle rhyme and adventurous language make it work well. Of course, Miriam Nerlove’s brilliant art and the wonderful design helps! Each spread has an animal close-up on the left side and a pulled-back view of the home on the right side. Perfect to help kids understand what animal we’re talking about and what its home looks like. I also think the ending, which comes around to humans and to love, makes it a satisfying toddler read. They know love, and they’ve likely heard opposites, such as big and little and below and above. I feel like the main text language may stretch them some, with a few less familiar words and creatures. But the cuddly ending brings it all back to the heart. This is a book I would love to read to a baby on my lap.

Nancy:  I had always envisioned it as a board book anchored by the 1-10 counting element. From the start it was a book that began with 1, which in the book is "1 table draped in white," but that you can also see that visually as the 1 elderly person who is alone. I always wanted it to lead up to "10 smiles. Shabbat is here!" because that reminds us that what is joyful about this weekly celebration is when we are all together as a family and as a community -- including the four cats, whose smiles are included in the 10-smile count. I believe it works well as a board book, because the story is told visually, with Petronela Dostalova's exquisite illustrations. The simple rhymes and the numbers on each page anchor the story while toddlers can "read" the narrative to themselves by following the pictures.

Darrin: No, I've always written 32-page picture books and then my editors pick and choose which ones they want to adapt as board books. I think my first few picture books I had originally written as board books, but my editor asked me to expand them as 32-page picture books. Funnily enough, some of these same books were later reissued as board books.

Me: What’s the biggest challenge in creating a book for an adult to read to a very young (0-2 years) child?

Darrin Lunde / Charlesbride photo

Darrin: I'm a very economical writer, meaning that I like to write in the simplest possible form. I'm always trying to reduce my word count, but without sacrificing content. For me, writing board books is like solving a puzzle--How do you say what you want to say with crystal clarity in 100 words or less? It's fun, and I'm always looking for ways to further simplify or reduce my text.

Laura Gehl: For me, the biggest challenge is targeting the book at the very young child but somehow making it interesting enough for the adult reader too.

Nancy: You have to approach a board book with a different mindset than you would a picture book. With a board book, you have to let the illustrator take the lead – with the written words as anchor and jumping-off points. Picture book writers are discouraged from writing too many art notes. But with Counting on Shabbat, art notes were essential because without them how would you know that there would be one senior alone on the page that simply says "1 table draped in white." Without the art notes, how would you know that "5 knocking on the door" would reveal a family of five bringing bags of food? All those details didn't need to be written out for the reader because Petronela was creating the images. But I did need those essential words (and art descriptions of what I was envisioning for my editor and illustrator) for the images to make sense.

Laura Salas: Two things come to mind immediately. First off is the incredibly short word count. A Home Like This has fewer than 60 words to both introduce a big topic and also connect with the reader. The other challenge for me is finding the right tone—one where I’m talking to a very young child, but not in a babyish or condescending way. It’s an exciting struggle to balance between having fun with my own creativity and giving the adult and child readers a wonderful experience. 

Me: Any advice for picture book authors who might want to try their hand at writing a board book?

Laura Salas

Laura Salas: Think about word choice, word count, language, imagery, rhyme, complexity… then simplify, simplify, simplify. That doesn’t mean dumb down. It means find a single, elegant line to follow through your text. Even if it’s a laugh out loud funny text. There’s only room for one narrative, one concept, one conflict. It has to be simple and sparkling. So it's about finding the best, most exciting way to relate that one idea using language that evokes a reaction from the reader. It's okay to use some words that a toddler doesn't know. But the idea has to be one a toddle can really connect to somehow.

Also, go to several libraries and bookstores and read dozens of dozens of board books. Especially try to read the ones that aren't licensed characters or aren't just adaptations of picture books. Find the publishers creating the ones you love the most and study their catalogs. Then choose a topic and start playing with it. Have fun!

Nancy: Think short. Counting on Shabbat is only 48 words! Think spare. I didn't have to say who was cooking the matzo balls or bringing the kugel to the table or that the kids were drawing pictures and our senior would put them up on his refrigerator (even though that is what I envisioned). Leave the illustrator room to weave the visual magic. But make sure your editor and illustrator are on the same page with your vision for the story. 

Laura Gehl: What Laura said - and then go read lots and lots of board books and see what works. Unlike picture books, board books don’t always have a standard number of pages, but aiming for about ten spreads is a good idea. As far as word count, I’d say aim for 100 words max. Another important aspect of writing board books is to think of a series concept rather than just a single book. Single board books do sell on occasion, but most board books are sold in series.  

Darrin: (nodding in agreement with the Lauras) and then it all comes down to having a love for clear and concise language. I actually don't write board books for children, rather, I write board books because I love writing as simply as possible. Even when my editor thinks a manuscript is done, I'm always looking for a way to say something more simply – to cut down on words without sacrificing clarity.

Me: We could talk about books all day long, but my coffee cup is empty. Please drop by our roundtable guest's websites, and check out their amazing books! And make sure to come back next week when I chat with two board book editors.

Nancy Churnin shares books and more at her website, www.nancychurnin.com. You can find an activity guide here.

Laura P. Salas parks her website at laurasalas.com

Laura Gehl shares her books and more at her website lauragehl.com

Darrin Lunde has a page on the Smithsonian’s site at naturalhistory.si.edu/staff/darrin-lunde

So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly! Book Chat and Review with Jessica Fries-Gaither by Kathy Halsey

It’s always a treat when an author friend has a new book drop and wants to share it with the GROG. This week’s treat from Jessica Fries-Gaither, a nonfiction picture book, is a trick as well as a treat. Beware… some of the 20 animals featured in So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly, may even keep you up at night! Imagine rude, crude creatures like the Eastern Hognose snake, or Turkey vultures, or a Tongue-eating louse. If I have your attention, just imagine how kinder-middle schoolers will react to this book that shares unique animal behaviors even your Mom would look at in askance! 

Book Review

So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly is engaging “browseable” nonfiction that enables readers to dip in and out of content to focus on what interests them most. This feature is especially helpful for younger readers who may not be ready to tackle longer pieces of text and for school librarians interested in sparking curiosity for research projects.  As author, nonfiction expert Melissa Stewart says browseable nonfiction features “eye-catching design, lavishly illustrated along with short blocks of straightforward text.” Fries-Gaither’s newest from Millbrook Press combines unusual facts (Hippos throw their waste around!), compelling photographs, and great book design.

As a practicing science teacher for over 20 years, Jessica Fries-Gaither knows how to entice students and teach about animal behaviors simultaneously. She combines humor and employs the “ick” factor that elementary students love. Back matter with a glossary, further explanation of animal behavior, and list of books for further reading make this a winning book for kids and educators alike.

Craft Chat 

Jessica and I met up at the Ohioana Book Festival.

Kathy:  So Rude features so many animals behaving badly. How did you whittle down the list to the 20 most rude for the book? Which animal, in your opinion, has the highest "ick/cringe" factor? (For me, my husband and I agreed it’s the tongue-eating louse! Yikes!)

Jessica: I started my research process by brainstorming a list of rude behaviors (lying, cheating, stealing, etc.) and then looked for animals that exhibited them. That gave me a great place to start, and many of the 20 came from that process. I also tend to bookmark articles I find interesting and think I might be able to use someday in either my writing or teaching, and several animals came from that massive collection.

As for the highest “ick” factor, there’s no competition in my mind. The tongue-eating louse wins that gold medal. Everyone–from my critique group to the team at Millbrook–has commented something along the lines of “EWWWW!”

YIKES! It's the tongue-eating louse!

Kathy:I love the visual appeal of this book. For new nonfiction writers or those considering writing nonfiction, can you explain the structure idea adding speech bubbles, text boxes, and photographs to shape this book? Did you have input in the design, or did Millbrook Press/Lerner take the lead on this?

Jessica: I think the book is so visually appealing, and that’s all due to the Millbrook Press/Lerner team. The book is part of their photo-illustrated STEM series (the same series that my previous title, Nature’s Rule Breakers: Creatures That Don’t Fit In belongs to), so it was always going to include the captivating photographs. But the speech bubbles and text boxes were all thanks to the talented design team!

Kathy: Tell us about your research process for So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly. I know you'll have some great tips, since you spent last year as an Einstein Fellow at the Library of Congress! What are your favorite go-to science resources?

Jessica: I get a lot of ideas from popular science articles that land in my inbox or come across my social media feed: National Geographic, Science Daily, Live Science, etc. After reading those, I always try to track down the original scientific paper that the article was based on. I have a degree in biology, so making sure I understand the original findings and as many nuances as I can understand is important to me. Just check out my bibliography for the book! But I’m also not above Google searches for terms like “rude animals” when I get stuck! I cast a wide net and then make sure I read well on the specific examples I choose. 

Kathy: Review sources state that this book is aimed at preschoolers or readers ages 4-9. Since you're a practicing science educator and I'm a former middle grade teacher and K-12 school librarian, I'm interested in where you see this book fitting in both the curriculum and grade bands. I feel intermediate and middle school students would love this book.

Jessica: If I’m being completely honest, I was really surprised to see that preschool designation in the reviews. Millbrook/Lerner’s series is aimed at grades K-2, to the best of my knowledge, and I knew I was landing on the higher end of that range with some of the vocabulary and technical information I chose to include. In my experience, kids really enjoy the stretch in concepts and vocabulary that a read-aloud can provide, and you can always simplify a read-aloud for younger children.

From a curricular perspective, I think this fits well in both primary and upper elementary grades. The Next Generation Science Standards include Disciplinary Core Ideas around animal behavior in both 1st and 4th grades that align with the examples and message of the book. And while I find that picture books can be a tough sell to middle school students, I think they would definitely enjoy the content!

No one is behaving badly at Cover to Cover Books for Young Readers!

Kathy: So Rude just came out at the beginning of October. How are you celebrating and promoting this book? Tell us about school visits, bookstore events, and activities that educators and parents can access. Do you have an educator guide?

Jessica: I had a fun launch event at my favorite local independent children’s bookstore, Cover to Cover Books for Kids. In the month of November, I’ll be at the Buckeye Book Fair in Wooster, OH on Saturday, November 1 and at Books By the Banks in Cincinnati on Saturday, November 15. Technically, I’m promoting another book at these events (Wild Wonderings: Scientists and Their Questions), but I’ll have a display copy of So Rude! and ordering information for those who are interested. 

Ironically, even though I’m a teacher, I haven’t created educator guides for my books. Perhaps I need to consider that as a future project.

About Jessica Frie-Gaither

Jessica is an experienced science educator and an award-winning author of books for students and teachers. Her titles include So Rude: Animals Behaving Badly, Nature's Rule Breakers: Creatures That Don't Fit In, Notable Notebooks: Scientists and Their Writings, Exemplary Evidence: Scientists and Their Data, Wild Wonderings: Scientists and Their Questions, and Science Notebooks in Student-Centered Classrooms. She is currently a 2024-2025 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the Library of Congress.

 

Jessica's Social Media Contacts

 www.jessicafriesgaither.com

https://www.facebook.com/jfriesgaither

Instagram @JessicaFGWrites

BlueSky: @jessicafgwrites.bsky.social

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-fries-gaither-14407233/

From Contest to Craft: Leveling Up the Two-Sentence Scary Story Contest

How two small changes turned a fun Halloween contest into a surprisingly deep writing experience.

The room was almost dark.
Two Alexa speakers whispered haunting music while the LED lights stretched like a ghostly ribbon across the tops of the bookshelves.
Creepy images from the Canva slides flickered on the screen, each one timed perfectly with the soundscape.
Fifth graders slipped into the library wide-eyed and whispering, unsure whether they were entering a classroom or a movie set.

For the next two weeks, this was our world.

---

A Contest Transformed

Last year, our library’s two-sentence scary story contest took on a life of its own.
More than 170 entries poured in, and for weeks the space buzzed with creative energy.
Kids who rarely set foot inside were suddenly huddled over iPads, whispering eerie ideas and cracking nervous smiles.

It was one of those lightning-in-a-bottle moments that every teacher quietly hopes for.

But when the excitement faded, I found myself wondering: what if it could be more?

The contest had been fun, but I wanted to turn all that spooky enthusiasm into something lasting.
Many stories leaned on shock value or gore.
I wanted to see what would happen if we aimed for something smarter, quieter, and more psychological.

So I made two changes.

First, every story had to be 25 words or fewer.
Second, I turned the contest into a four-part writing workshop called The Blueprint for a Scare.

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The Blueprint for a Scare

Instead of sending out a Google Form and hoping for the best, every fifth-grade class came to the library to collaboratively build their stories.

And that’s when everything shifted.

For two weeks, the library underwent a transformation. The lights were low. Spooky music played. The air hummed with imagination.

We weren’t just talking about writing anymore—we were making it.

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Session 1: Deconstructing the Scare
We became Story Detectives. Together we noticed that every great short scare has three parts: a Setting that feels off or lonely, an Uncanny Character who isn’t quite right, and a Twist—the moment everything tilts.

Session 2: Brainstorming the Blueprint
This was all about freedom. I gave them a handful of What if... prompts (“What if your reflection didn’t copy you?”) and told them to just see where their minds wandered. They filled pages with eerie openings and half-formed story seeds. The goal wasn’t perfection. It was play.

Session 3: Forging the Twist
Here came the challenge: 25 words. No more. Every word had to earn its place.

We worked like editors, tightening sentences and swapping ordinary words for better ones. I modeled with “good vs. great” examples on the board.
We turned “Mom tucked me in twice tonight. The second one didn’t smell like her.” into “Mom tucked me in twice tonight. Then I heard my real mom calling from downstairs.”

That’s when it clicked. They could feel what strong writing sounds like.

Session 4: The Horror Showcase
The final day was hushed and electric. Students polished their stories, checked word counts, and submitted them through a QR code.
Then we dimmed the lights and shared.

Prizes were waiting, and yes—they were thrilled about those.
But what stayed with me was something deeper. They had felt the process of writing in a new way.
Many realized, maybe for the first time, that a story isn’t about length or shock value. It’s about choices. Word by word, moment by moment.

They discovered truths that will follow them into every piece of writing they do.

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“A whisper can be scarier than a scream.”

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What Changed

That 25-word limit I worried might hold them back? It set them free.

With less space, they learned to imply rather than explain.
A whisper could be scarier than a scream.
A flicker could say more than a paragraph.

The constraint didn’t shrink their creativity. It sharpened it.

The contest became a small writing lab—part language, part rhythm, part courage.
When we finally read the stories aloud, the library filled with gasps and laughter.
It didn’t feel like Halloween anymore. It felt like discovery.

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What Lingered

In the end, the monsters and ghosts were never the point.
It was about what happens when young writers feel their own power.
The courage to whisper a story into the room and hear someone gasp.
That small spark of connection—that’s the real magic.

What lingers for you after a moment of shared creativity—the product, or the process?