Crafty Story Times ~ by Christy Mihaly

Before my picture book came out last fall, I assumed that a writer's job description consisted more or less entirely of ... writing. 

This is me, not writing.

I was wrong.
In the months leading up to the release of Hey, Hey, Hay!, I embarked on a round of unfamiliar activities: designing bookmarks, arranging blog tours, setting up signings and school visits. Reading my book aloud to the mirror. 

"I'm reading in a frigid hay barn,
and now I need a CRAFT?"

I can do this, I told myself.
But then they said: you need crafts. 
What? 

Yes, friends. Crafts and other book-related activities are a popular element of book readings for kids--whether you're reading your own book or a favorite from the library shelves.  Librarians and educators know this. But many writers find the craft thing a little daunting. 

I have evolved from craft-skeptic to craft fan. I've created different crafts for bookstore readings, story times, classroom events, and a book festival, and learned a lot along the way. So I thought I'd share some tips and photos from my travels and from some picture-book-creator friends. 

Why crafts? 

This energetic class shows off
their drawings, or "readers' responses,"
to my reading

• Engagement: Kids get antsy when you ask them to sit and listen. You already know this. But if you haven't experienced a roomful of kids wiggling as you attempt to read to them, you may not fully appreciate it. I experimented with songs, participatory readings, etc. These are good. But, put a crayon in a kid's hand, and watch what happens.
• Fun: Kids like to create things. And you want them to have fun! One of my HAY audience favorites was a simple craft in which kids cut out tractor wheels and fastened them onto a paper tractor, then colored in the background.

  

  Displaying a completed
  craft after a reading

• Senses: Crafts use multiple senses, and the smells and feels help engage your audience. (One  feature of my HAY readings was a "sniff box" full of hay--kids loved smelling the hay.) 

  

  Jen Betton's Hedgehog Hat to go with
  Hedgehog Needs a Hug

• Skills: Crafting helps teach motor skills, problem-solving skills, and social skills. What's not to like?
• Souvenirs: A craft gives listeners a souvenir to take home and share. 

Tips for Crafts:

Sock Puppet Kipling for Love Mama

• Book Link: Link your craft to your story. Kids loved the tractors in my book, so I went with tractor crafts. Author-Illustrator Jeanette Bradley created an adorable sock puppet craft to go with Love, Mama, her picture book about a little penguin whose mama goes away on a trip. Directions and a description are here. 

  

  A Monster Drawing,
  for Maximillian Villainous

• Keep it Simple. Make it easy to explain. Margaret Greanias provided a blank frame on a coloring sheet for readings of Maximillian Villainous, her picture book about a young monster attempting to fit in. This was brilliant for the preschool set. Kids could invent and draw their own monsters--with googly eyes! Similarly, for Jen Betton's book, Hedgehog Needs a Hug, kids could cut out a hedgehog hat and color it in (photo above). See more hedgehog crafts and activities here.
  
• Allow room for creativity. Assure kids that there's no one right way to do it. Jessie Oliveros created a drawing project to go with her lovely picture book, The Remember Balloons. Children could draw their own memories.
• Make it fun, and maybe educational. Focus first on the fun. But if your craft or activity teaches something related to your book, that's a bonus. Author Hannah Holt's picture book for older readers, The Diamond and the Boy, describes how diamonds are created. She brought a crystal-growing activity to her school visits, and left it in the classroom so the students could watch the crystals grow.

Ingredients for Crystal Growing, an activity to go with
Hannah Holt's The Diamond and the Boy

Hannah Holt grew crystals on eggshells

💥Note that some books, especially those for older children, may be less conducive to crafts. In those cases, consider an art activity, allowing your audience free rein to draw or paint reactions to your reading. Or, try a readers' theater or skit or song or science experiment or other interactive activity. 

Are you a writer, educator, or librarian with craft ideas? Please share them in the comments! Thanks to all.

WRITING PROMPT - PERSONA POEM

posted by J.G. Annino

To finish a longer walk than our everyday

neighborhood amble of about 40 minutes, my hubby & I

mosey 40 miles south out of town through pine and oak forest.

There we breathe salt air of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

& also, the earthy aroma of cypress swamp in this park of many habitats.

The shore here at the Gulf of Mexico is sand marsh. And that marsh

and that shore make all the difference, in spring & fall.

For some birds, the St. Marks Refuge is the first

landfall after a punishing migratory haul across water.

And so it was that recently we ventured on an

old path at the St. Marks refuge, old but never before trod by us.

The grassy way was busy with plant & insect inhabitants,

but not with visiting uprights.

                                          c. Jan Godown Annino  all rights reserved

We admired everything, including water lilies opened to the sun

in still pools, the last pom pom bursts of purple thistle spikes

and assorted small yellow and orange beauties.

 We found adult butterflies and juvenile grasshoppers.

When we met one particular critter, I couldn’t help but wonder –

Who are you?

We uploaded the photos from my Canon camera

at home to share with my writing partner, who is also my

dear/near neighbor & a frequent birder. She congratulated us on

spotting a long-distance migratory traveler.

A male, this creature smaller than a robin, had flown

here from winter residency in South America, possibly

Argentina.

After the trip I read that children’s author Laura Shovan 

(THE LAST SIXTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL) suggested the writing prompt of creating a poem in the

voice of an object, or in the voice of something living, by using an image

and not memory. I was glad I had the photo image.

This is the work-in-progress, revised two times.

                                                                                   c. Jan Godown Annino all rights reserved

Think

by J.G. Annino

Dear bird watcher,

Ah! You saw a flash, pale yellow

I heard you - What a pretty fellow

Do not think me here for show

I face treacherous miles to go

While you watch me on this spent thistle

Think – he had to stop and wet his whistle

Think - what other creatures has he seen

Think – what is his perch,  when humans dream

Flash! I lift my wings - I’ve seen seeds

After drink and rest it’s food I need

While wings beat steady steady again

Go write a poem, be my friend

I must fly,

Bob, traveling bobolink

c. Jan Godown Annino 2016

Writing a persona poem brings the writer inside the

head of  a character. I think I may find another

character for a persona poem, soon. Can you see

how it’s a boost to those of us who are always seeking

to understand characters?

Some afterstory

Bob O’Lincoln is the call some birders

attributed to this bird.  Over long time that name

evolved to the lyrical way we say it today.

A tagged bobolink once traveled 12,000 miles in migration.

In a day a bobolink can fly up to 1,000 miles. Without a

suitcase! Bobolinks like rice fields, to glean the grains, such as

in Louisiana &  South Carolina. I feel fortunate to have now seen
my first bobolink.

Sources: Cornell Ornithology Lab online

Wikipedia

My Dictionary

Plus, a thank you chirp for bobolink identification of this photo –

which I took May 7, 2016 on our walk at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge –

chirped out to my birding/writing pal, dear/near neighbor, Ann Morrow.

And two chirps of thanks to Michelle H. Barnes of the delightful

blog Today’s Little Ditty, & to Laura Shovan, for the persona poem prompt.

To learn more: www.michellehbarnes.blogspot.com/

Screen Plays and Picture Books - A Surprising Connection

by Leslie Colin Tribble

Recently at my regional SCBWI conference I heard two different people mention the correlation between writing picture books and screen plays. What? What does writing a screen play have to do with writing children’s picture books? 

I sat down with a friend, Jake Graham, who writes screen plays to see if I could understand this phenomenon and I discovered some interesting ideas. Read on – you’ll see these different forms are actually pretty similar types of writing.

 Every Word Counts

I haven’t been in the picture book industry for very long, but in just a few short years agents and editors have gone from asking for word counts to be under 1000, to 500 and now it seems 300 is a good length to shoot for. That means every word must be absolutely the best choice. There’s no room for a mediocre word or sentence. Screen plays are the same. Each word, snippet of dialogue or scene description has to strongly convey the story. The perfect screen play is 120 pages which is the equivalent of a 120 minute movie – one page equals one minute of movie. Mediocre isn’t going to find a home in 120 pages either.

Move the Story Forward

In a screen play, the writer must move the plot forward or reveal something about the character in every scene. With the brevity of picture books, there’s a “scene” on each page, so every page has to count for something. Jake told me some of the best screen writers use index cards when writing. Each card is a scene – it has the slug line or heading, scene description, character description and action. The writer then lays the cards out and reviews the story. If an index card contains something that doesn’t move the story forward, it gets tossed. It’s a great pre-writing tool to structure the story better, but it’s also an excellent rewriting tool. 

Picture book writers are told to make a dummy of their book to help with flow and page breaks. I think the index cards might be a useful tool as well. A dummy makes your manuscript already feel like a book and you might be more hesitant to make some of those cruel editing decisions. Index cards seem less permanent - you might be less horrified to throw out those precious words.

One Thing

In a screen play, each character is known for their particular “one thing.” Every interaction with other characters, every action must be about that “one thing.” In writing picture books, I think this relates to understanding the main character’s conflict or desire. Don’t muddy the waters by suddenly bringing in another conflict or issue. Keep the plot about the “one thing” and its resolution.

Three Act Play

Screen plays are traditionally thought of as occurring in three acts – Act One is 30 pages, Act Two 60 pages and Act Three back to 30 pages. That’s pretty much the same in picture books, setting up the conflict, working to resolve the conflict and satisfying ending.

Plan

Jake told me the best way to write a screen play is to know the ending and work to get there. This allows you to have greater control over the scenes and keeps the script tighter. He suggests spending a lot of time pre-planning the story, which is hard to hear for someone whose writing consists of “winging” it. Planning and plotting was another refrain I heard more than once at the conference - that's an aspect of craft I’ll definitely have to work on.

Conclusion

After learning a little bit more about screen writing, I understand why the conference speakers suggested this medium as a way to become a better picture book writer. The two disciplines have a lot in common. Who knows? Maybe you’ll after looking into screen writing you’ll decide this is the writing you were meant to do!

*Note: The book, Save the Cat, by Blake Snyder was mentioned as a good resource for learning about screen writing.