We Have Too Many Rules! (But mom disagrees) (Snow Puppy Cave Childrens Series Book 1)

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That marriage ended and eventually I met and married my wonderful soulmate and had a daughter. The kids are 13 years apart and really were raised more or less as only children and I parented for over 30 years — first as one of the youngest moms at school and then as one of the oldest. The kids were close until my son left home and now that they are both adults they are starting to become close again. Now I have grandchildren, and with them we really do curl up and read adventure stories together and can send a cute picture to prove it so hang on to that vision for the next generation MMM!

No suffering that I can see. Melissa September 12, , 5: I did the same as you! Married, had a baby, divorced.

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I asked child 1 if he was ever bothered by not having a sibling? His answer was no. He said we showered him with love and he always felt lucky not to split our attention with other siblings. Kellen September 15, , I have a sibling 12 years older than me.

It was always nice having a much older sibling around to babysit occasionally. Scott September 10, , Sounds good on paper, and I agree with most of what is written here, but my wife was an only child and very lonely. I had a sister four years younger and we were very close.

Seeing how close we still are as adults sold my wife even harder on wanting more than one kid. She wanted three or four, so I figure I will get off lightly having one more and stopping at two. There seems to be some poor kind of logic here. Jaclyn September 10, , Laura, how could the wife possibly know if more children will benefit the life of her first child until everything is said and done? Of course they are making parenting decisions based on how they were raised. You can read as many books as you want, but your own life experiences will always influence your decisions.

Almost every major decision I make for my son is based off me not wanting him to grow up the same way I did. And even then, you still have to step in as a parent and guide them safely. Scott September 10, , 1: To take this a step further than just reading books, my wife actually has a degree in early childhood development. You still make decisions based on your prior experience. I think you are reading too much into this. She had, and still has, a wonderful family and was very much wanted.

I think you need to know the kind of person you are in this situation as well. We are not very social people and only have a few close friends we spend time with. Our extended family is also not very large. Having one more kid makes our family feel a lot bigger and we have seen first hand how much happiness that brings us and our son. Druid September 10, , 3: I think a lot of the loneliness that is perceived from raising a single child can be avoided by certain parenting techniques. If the parents are active with the kid and have a lot of time to build a strong bond then the child should not be lonely.

Parents can also get the child involved in sports and other social activities at an early age. Have an only child not by choice, started late and could not have another. He is lonely many times and my heart breaks for him. You can have friends, but are they with you every evening, at night, weekends, trips? Sharing your experiences and thoughts with parents is way diferent than sharing with siblings, who would be preferably close to your age.

Also depends on personality of the child.

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Mine is not naturally outgoing or confident about hilself, not into sports much. I am constantly trying to oraganoze play dates, which is itself a pain. As he gets older, he will have to make his friends himself. His personality being what it is, unless it changes, he may not be as successful. Eventually, we will grow old and die.

He will need to shoulder this himself. I can only hope that he has his own family before that happens. Kamil September 11, , Just a louder Thanksgiving table! I have several friends who are like sisters to me and much closer than at least two of my biological sisters. My husband and I have only one child who has always made friends easily but also something of an introvert in the Myers Briggs sense so is comfortable with the quiet evenings and mornings.

Have you tried involving your child in activities other than team sports? Music, martial arts, dance, visual arts classes can be great ways of helping your child find a more compatible community. Julie September 12, , 1: I recommend Cub and Boy Scouts also to non-athletic kids. More outdoors oriented and he will have an instant set of peers in his Pack or Troop. Yes, I understand there is no guaranty your sibling will be close to you. And yes I have tried a full gamut of activities.

Most did not hold his interest. Of the ones continued, those have not been a source o friendships at all since they have been outside the school system, so we only meet these people for a few sessions, then a new session starts and not everyone is in from the last time. And its not like people dawdle after the activity is done. Also, we moved to the US as adults and there is no close family nearby, ie no cousins either.

I am doing what I can to encourage a lot of play time with a couple of kids at school that he enjoys hanging out with. Only time will tell if there are any long term friendships. Andrew September 11, , 2: I have a sister close to my age. Growing up we just butted heads and fought as children. Once we got past that, all we would do is hang out with our own groups of friends. Victoria Wheeler September 10, , Obviously I am biased, but I also feel pretty certain that I turned out okay and did not miss out on anything huge by being an only child.

I am sometimes envious of the funny stories and fond memories my husband has of growing up with two brothers, however. Only child-dom has only become somewhat more onerous now, as an adult in my late-twenties. There is a lot of pressure on me at this stage, as the sole child, to be that support network for them in their old age as mentioned in the article , which is exacerbated by the fact that I live a few hours away. I do wish now that I had a brother or sister to share in the responsibilities of supporting my family. I suspect in the future, I will also wish I had a brother or sister to reminisce with about what it was like growing up in my family.

SR September 10, , I am an only child as well. And I think that as my parents age there is definitely a benefit to not having siblings involved in helping them or caring for them. And, more often than not, it seems as though one ends up taking advantage of the parents by taking money or other things from them. There seems to be a lot of drama. Taking care of everything myself is much easier. Dottie June 24, , 6: Many times, siblings make one another miserable in those situation as there are a lot of battles over control of what happens to the parents, money, and even how much work each person puts in to care for the parents.

SisterX September 10, , My MIL was talking to me just the other day, saying how glad she is to have her brother to lean on as her parents age. Not that you were saying it as a reason to have more than one, I just wanted to be clear about my own view of it. Katherine September 10, , Complaining about siblings and how they are doing much less than their share might be more draining than being an only child. My husband and I are currently engaged in the preliminaries of what is going to be a very long and drawn-out process of getting his mother safely out of her burdensome house and into assisted living.

He should be getting help from his two siblings. So sister obviously cannot do too much with regard to the frequent on-site actions required. He is not even going over to help MIL take out the trash every week, which she is afraid to do because the house stairs are a deathtrap and she has already fallen once. The existence of a sibling does not in any way, shape, or form imply the existence of active help — or even of inactive support.

This negligence is definitely taking an emotional toll on both my husband and his mother and by extension on me. Ava Rao September 12, , Neither does the existence of parent in any way, shape, or form imply the existence of active help. All gratifying things were routed to Dad only.

In our family, every source of joy was re-coded. Only Dad got those. Mom coped by grooming her three children to be her bodyguards-therapists-confidantes-caregivers by telling us that she was abused for our sake. To exit the insane asylum, I had to bribe Dad. When I got sick with cancer and was desperate for family support, Dad came for less than a day and split the day between all the places where he could drink free wine or food, but left for his million dollar mansion without giving a penny of help.

JLW April 10, , 5: Thank you so much for this comment. My own childhood and adult experience was very much the same as yours. I too have chosen to not have children, and am facing a lot of bizarre stigma and accusations of being cold and selfish for it. Emily September 16, , 3: Did I turn out to be just about as well-rounded and social as everyone else? Sure although, admittedly a little weirder. Lance September 10, , We have one child.

Life is hard with or without kids. Being a parent is just like money, you have to take the time to invest in your family. If you expect things to work out without some effort then good luck with that and get ready for some major disappointment and harder times. Geoff September 10, , As the parent of a 5 year old only, I agree with almost everything you said.

2. Never try to copy someone else’s writing voice.

Kalena September 10, , I was surprised to read in the OP that having only one child is stigmatized, but you and others are echoing that here. Well, imagine having NONE! Maybe I just need to work on my response. Trudie September 11, , 9: Dan the Librarian September 11, , At least where I live. We have friends with kids we can visit and spend time with when we want. Note that the chart says childless folks can be lonely in old age. Become old and grumpy and unpleasant to be around, so nobody wants to hang out with me anymore? Obligating kids to put up with me seems so unfair.

Trudie September 15, , I suspect that the pity response is not universal. I think there are a variety of needs emotional, financial, caregiving that it is not reasonable to expect children to meet. Mark Ferguson September 10, , It actually has worked out Perfect. They do the same stuff, are in the same stages of life and have someone their age to always play with or fight with. With kids staggered in age they tend to have different schedules, different interests and I think it may actually be harder than doing two at once. That was going to be my comment, but you beat me to it: We have several only children families in the extended family some are better off then others and some families with siblings are better off than others.

Blue September 10, , For every wonderful sibling relationship there is a terrible one, or estranged one, or worse. Josh September 10, , 1: Up to this point, working through the challenges of parenthood has helped us focus more on the important things in life and actually caused my wife and I to grow closer, something I hope will remain true as we continue on this journey! Lori September 10, , 8: We struggled to have a child for years. We both wanted to parent and had decided to parent the world at large then I unexpectedly conceived our son.

Later we had our second pregnancy and it turned out to be twin girls. But they are 10, 8 and 8 now and we are having a blast. I wanted kids because I could almost hear them calling me. My husband was fine with kids or without, until they were here. Now when he thinks how life would be without them, it almost pains him to think what he might have missed. We are growing mustaches to spend more time with them. I applaud people who have the strength to be authentic. The first act of love for your kids is planning them and bringing them into a world where they are wanted.

I am a little amazed to hear an argument to not have kids because of the resources they will consume. It seems a strange kind of poverty to me. Katie September 10, , 9: I personally have gone through the experience of losing a child, and I am so glad that I did not take on a set approach to the number of children. Perhaps I have a different perspective than some on here, but when I look at my children I do see individuals that are beautiful and worthy of existing for their own sake.

I firmly believe that parents should not have children unless they want them, but to dismiss children as a negative based solely on perceived consumption is a very narrow view. It was a strange sort of poverty that I had no choice in. Joel September 15, , 7: Katie, your story touched me deeply. We as well have lost a child, she was the second of five girls. We would love to continue to have more children but the physical strain of the pregnancies were starting to create issues for my wife.

There is no greater endeavor for us at least than raising a family. Retire with 10million sans children or retire with 2million and a truly abundant life — no brainer. Bpepy September 26, , 7: Katie and Joel, I feel for you, for we too lost a son see my post above. Ours are very close to each other and close to us.

Two of them live very near us, which is their own choice, and the third lives a few hours away but we see her and her family often. We are retired our kids are 35 to 44 and have no intention of moving anywhere—we love being near our kids! Jeff September 11, , 3: Having kids in diapers around seems like it would really help reinforce the avoiding unwanted pregnancy part of the sex talks! Guillaume September 12, , 2: Kim September 10, , You beat me too! My husband and I have divided and conquered a lot though, so good teamwork is essential.

I agree that up to a certain point, twins can be easier than one, but about high school the tides change. Susan September 10, , 9: They are old farts now at 28 so my memories of feeding two infants in the freezing cold dead of winter in NYC while MTV entertained us all have faded a bit , but hey. Mike September 10, , We have three kids and I think this is about right. Having three is incredibly tough, sometimes rewarding, and always fascinating. I think less depends on how many you have, but more of what sort of people the parents are.

We have friends that have many more than three and they seem to function very well. Others struggle with one. Ryan September 10, , This is a pretty common view—that humans just use resources. The truth is that humans also create resources. Population has grown steadily for hundreds of years yet poverty and premature death have plummeted, because the humans that have been born have learned to produce more with less.

A human invented plows, tractors, trucks, and crop breeding techniques that, in developed countries, changed agriculture from being the dawn-to-dusk subsistence activity of almost everyone to being done by just a small portion of the population, who now produce enough food to feed the rest of us. This has freed the rest of us to do other things, like researching drugs that alleviate suffering or using a blog to teach others how to have happier lives! Your boy will almost certainly contribute more to the world than he takes from it.

And while your choice clearly makes perfect sense to you, had you instead chosen to have a second, that human would have done the same. David McKenna September 10, , 3: Good to see a positive person with a positive view of humanity.

So many others on this blog see human life as a pestilence, with nature and feel we are stuck in a zero-sum game of resources. Natural gas was not a resource until humanity figured out how to use, transport, and store it. Oil sands were not a resource until the same. While we should be careful using resources, unless we stifle innovation with regulation, bans, etc. KB September 10, , 5: Thank you for bringing up this point.

Children raised well -often by thoughtful parents who often decide on small families- grow up to be adults who contribute yo the world. Yes, for 5 years children consume and require resources much like a pet, and consume differently for another , but they return giving to the world for another 50, 60, 70 years. Weedy acres September 14, , 5: Money Conscious September 17, , 6: Ryan — absolutely agree!

Resources come from human ingenuity, not from the earth itself. Raising children is the least selfish thing one can do for the world — you invest 18 years or more in a little human so they may become a productive adult that others can employ. Children do well with siblings and without. A lot of people have cited bad relationships with siblings as further evidence that having only 1 child may be better. Bob September 21, , Maybe 1, years ago, even years ago, this was true…but the development of consumerism which only occurred about years ago means we are using up more resources than creating.

Most people work in roles like retail, marketing, finance, etc. Even engineers and technicians, as their work often goes into consumer products rather than necessities. Rick September 22, , They might be difficult things to measure, but in what sense are we using more resources than we are creating? As to your other points, I think there is still a lot of progress going on in terms of creating resources.

The engineers, farmers, doctors, etc. It allows everyone else to go off to the cities and get educations and work in the jobs that drive technological progress. Chuck September 10, , MMM, My new bride and I have been tossing this back and forth — originally we were all about having a litter of children with the mindset that: We are nearly debt free, and once the last of student loans are paid off we could simply not have kids, and likely have a year career before retiring at The two lifestyle choices are vastly different, but both very appealing in their own way.

Subversive September 10, , 4: Ellie September 10, , I endured decades my entire stretch of potential child-bearing years getting unsolicited advice on how much I would regret that decision. Once I was trapped next to a guy on an airplane whose grief over not being a grandparent, because his only son and daughter in-law had decided not to have children, led him to tell me that I was making a terrible mistake.

I even had a therapist who tried to convince me to have a child! Many of my friends and acquaintances have one child. My husband is an only child who never longed for a sibling. He was very close to his two cousins growing up, and that was fine for him. The people who, in this age of population explosion and diminishing resources, are still having large litters of children, those are the ones screwing up the planet. Responsible, thoughtful people who carefully consider the right number of children for them are doing themselves and Mother Earth a good service.

Zol September 10, , I also am not sure i want kids have another yrs to figure it out but still going back and forth. People think only having 1 is stigma try telling them you are thinking of having none! JDC September 10, , 1: Questionable argument here especially because it seems to be the richest, most consumptive countries that have the lowest population growth. As MMM has stated, it is the entitlement attitude and luxury habits of the first world that are driving wasteful consumption, not an over abundance of people on the planet.

LaPriel October 5, , 8: I am one of four children all born on different forms of birth control. The last was with an IUD. I hated the looks my mother used to get when she took us all out grocery shopping. Parents with 4 children also get stigmatized. The three of us who are grown are doing just that. Mark September 10, , 9: We all seem to be having a fully human experience to me. I also look less harried than most of my parent friends and have vastly more free time and choices. Mark, you very eloquently said exactly what I was thinking.

Catherine September 11, , We have purchased exactly two cell phones in 7 years. We have one TV and one computer. Everything gets used by more than one person before it is either retired or passed along. Our garbage can is no larger than any of the others around us — neither is our house for that matter. Also, even though I have a litter of children, we have carefully considered the right number of children for myself and my husband. Not surprisingly, I get quite a few comments myself. We still all use and contribute to a common pool of resources.

Catherine September 14, , It IS a personal choice. The impact may not be localized to my family, but the choice is very personal. And the point I wanted to make was that each child was carefully considered, wanted and is loved beyond measure by both of their parents and their siblings. KBL September 15, , The children will also be contributing substantially more to society in all sorts of ways. Dan Wilcock September 10, , You sensibly reserve that for truly dumb things, like watching lite beer commercials. LeisureFreak Tommy September 10, , I totally agree that it is personal and nobody should be questioned for having one or no children.

I believe you should have as many or not children as you want to have as long as you can afford them both financially and emotionally. As you said, its a long term investment. Having more kids than you can care for is far worse of a human condition than having one or none. I am the oldest of 4. We had 3, my oldest a son. All very different in their adulthood, all bring blessings.

Our son passed away at age 21 and so the family is now 1 short other than in our hearts and memories. C September 10, , However, I truly appreciated having siblings as we navigated the deterioration and passing of our father three years ago. Chris September 10, , This article is so perfectly timed, you have no idea! Our first child is 16 months old, and we randomly have the second child conversation. Right now, having a second child feels like a horrible idea, but everyone makes the age old argument about your kid having a friend to grow up with. Did people forget what it was like having two teen age kids in the house?

I remember what I was like, and we were NOT friends…. It also seems like a financially irresponsible thing to do, not to mention each kid will get half the attention and focus that one kid would. Growingupgreen September 16, , 2: I could have written this post except my daughter is now 2. We are so balanced and happy, is it cowardice to not want another child to upset that?

My husband does want a 2nd and he changed his mind from being ok with a adopted 2nd to wanting to experience the birth and upbringing of his own 2nd and a 3rd possibly adopted child! That seems to be the only way I can force myself to make a decision and stick with it. Sblak September 10, , You ought to also give people permission to have no kids, as well as to have as many kids as they can responsibly care for.

The number of kids a couple chooses to have should be decided by the couple and agreed to by both people in the relationship. Nothing is worse for a relationship than having kids while one partner does not want them. Some people should not have kids until they can change their situation and learn first to care for themselves. In the pros section you flippantly note that multiple children lead to chaos and sports teams. But in reality it is similar to having one child.

I have deep one on one relationships with each of my children, and each has changed me, taught me something unique about life, humanity, and given me a unique sense of joy. It also does take more resources. I would say you need support of grandparents for more than one kid as well. No, not financial, but emotional support and babysitting. You should also add that you will experience multiple times the pain, worry, and exhaustion of raising one child. We never buy new, we live a small home, we ride bikes, we make our own food at home, we use hand-me-downs, and teach our children to care for nature and the world.

I think of it as planting additional seeds of anti-consumption in the world. Kye September 10, , Deciding to experience raising children by no means requires you to have many. I got tremendous pressure from Mom and MIL to have a second child. For us the decision was more for health reasons, but I was amazed at the comments from co-workers, other Moms, etc.

Do what is right for your family. Our only child is turning into a wonderful young man and doing just fine without a sibling. Erik Y September 10, , Thanks for writing this. The financial implications are real too. When you have more kids the need for bigger housing, bigger cars and more stuff may limit how much you can save and when you can hit FI.

Granted that most Americans have way more house, car and stuff than they need, but even buying eight bicycles is more than three and takes more space to park. We have six kids and all of the pros and cons you listed are true. Our friends who only had one or two kids are pretty much done and free, while we have two seven year olds: I have to disagree jkenny. TMAT September 10, , I have one child who is now five and went through many of the same feelings you did. Basically, her end conclusion is that you should only have multiple children if it is something you as a parent truly want, and not just because you think it would be better for the first child.

For anyone debating having multiple children or just looking for reinforcement of their decision to have only one, I recommend this book. Emily September 10, , When our daughter turned one we decided to not have any more. We get push back from relatives all the time. The big decision now is when to get the snip…. Laura September 11, , 7: The first year of raising the first child can be the hardest.

The second child, born three years later, seemed so much easier because we had some experience. You may want to consider waiting until your child is 3 before your husband gets the snip. The snip can sometimes be undone but there are no guarantees. I have two friends you had the snip shortly after their child was born and later changed their minds.

The reversal worked for one but not for the other. Emily September 11, , If I got pregnant by accident we would be very excited. But I doubt that we would actually make the choice to have another child. Our one is right for us. Sarah C September 10, , I am the happy parent of an only child who will stay that way. I love my brother and am thankful for his presence in my life, but in no way feel that I am robbing my child of something essential by not giving her a sibling. Brandon September 10, , Historically, parents would have many children in almost a selfish manuever if you can call it that to ensure that they will be well-cared for as they get older.

Dr Bill September 10, , 3: There will be more parents living with their children as benefits are inevitably cut in the homes where, for lots of different reasons, the retirees lack the resources to withstand a societal hit like that. So, did you Teach Your Parents well? Crosby, Stills and Nash.

CT September 10, , 4: Also, children worked to add support to the family. Children as young as 8 yrs. Some may say selfish to have so many; others may say survival. MandalayVA September 10, , As the years went on, however, we kept finding reasons to put it off. The idea of having to be completely responsible for another human being scared the shit out of me. When I made the decision not to have children, it was like having a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

Thanks for being so honest about the impact on your marriage. Especially for difficult or ill or severely allergic or whatever kids. My own childhood was a big family 6 kids and I am so thankful. Several of my siblings are extremely close friends, and I like the others. My one row of thumb from observation is never stop at 3!!! Either they are always the same 2 against 1, or there are treacherous shifting alliances, Survivor style. It depends a lot on the age difference and sex of each sibling. I had a two-years-younger brother and a seven-years-younger sister. My brother and I adored our baby sister.

SisterX September 10, , 1: As the odd man out in a family of four, this is BS. I was the one they picked on because of gender. As we got older and the older two stopped being so dumb, the youngest did get excluded simply because he was often too young for things. DMoney September 10, , 6: Then husband and I ended up with twins on the second go round. The twins are special because they are freaking identical twins and people think that is awesome which it is.

Too early to tell about the ganging up thing yet! Paula September 10, , My husband and I had kind of a sideways pressure about having children. Which will hopefully be made up for when we kick the bucket and leave them everything. Ascalon September 17, , Big Guy Money September 10, , Over the course of the next year, I continued wishing that I had a book that was a good fit for Graphic Arts.

Not surprisingly, wishing did not make it so. I challenged myself to replace the pirate character with a different character, and the idea of a cowboy soon came to mind. I, too, disagreed with the assessment that only boys would be interested in a Pirate Potty book, but this time as I re-read those words, a new question emerged: What about a cowgirl? I found myself immediately transported to a time when my college-aged daughter was in grade school, and her wardrobe included a bright pink pair of cowgirl boots.

I paged through old photos and found the one I was looking for: A photo of my daughter dressed-up for her western-themed grade school carnival. And all of a sudden and about a dozen years later I had two potty stories I loved, one with a decidedly western theme. I identified several publishers that might be a good fit for Cowgirl, and I developed a submission plan.

Graphic Arts Books was at the top of the list. They loved that story, too. Dawn loves to travel and has visited thousands of potties across the Pacific Northwest and around the world. Learn more at dawnprochovnic. You may have seen some garbled gobbledygook like this:. Covers in general are always a challenge—a lot of questions go through my mind. Because this book features a circus school, I knew that I wanted the cover to reference vintage circus memorabilia in some way—a nod to the past, but with a modern update.

So I went back to the drawing table and I decided to take a more decorative approach. One thing I noticed in my research was a consistent use of graphic patterns and simple shapes. Once the publisher approved of my second attempt, everything was pretty easy at that point—I arranged the elements around the central focus, the blackboard, and passed my artwork off to the folks at Tundra after I was finished for them to add the title.

Although covers generally go through a lot of back and forth, I am so happy with where it ended up. I wanted the end result to hint at the exciting nature of the story inside, so hopefully it does just that! I knew I wanted the interior to use a lot of black and white elements, so that was easy to nail down. I had originally chosen a yellow and blue color, but we decided to add pink into the mix to round it out—basically the primary colors but with a twist. Did you go to the circus as a kid? What was your favorite part of the circus? I went to the circus once as a kid with my mother and three sisters.

I remember being really excited to see the performances, but my favorite part was actually the costumes. I loved that everyone looked different, but at the same time they were all part of a big family. There were a lot of patterns and colors in interesting combinations which is always something I have tried to incorporate into my own illustration work.

I still love looking at old images of the circus for inspiration, there is a lot of great design that was used to promote the circus during those early years. Melissa, you did a stupendous job on the cover! Thanks for showing us your process to get there! You can pre-order now… online or via your local indie…and if you do, leave a comment telling me so. October 30, in Picture Books Tags: I meant to have Stacy on the blog then to talk about her newest book.

But the website went down, I had conferences and school visits, and my plans were sunburned to a crisp. EARTH was not pitched as a series. When we sold the book to Henry Holt, it was a two-book deal but the only requirement for book 2 was that it needed to be funny nonfiction. Once EARTH was a finished book, we knew we had something special, and the publisher wanted to do more. And I wanted to do more! I just wish scientists would make up their collective mind! But I recently read about a new study that wants to change the planet definition again currently, the IAU—International Astronomical Union—sets the rules and that would allow Pluto back into the group.

For now, I will say Pluto is a dwarf planet and a loyal dog to Mickey. EARTH emerged from the wreckage of a failed project. My critique group hated it. I was trying to tell a story about time and how humans are here for just a blink in geological terms. When I talked to my publisher about doing more books, I pitched Sun, Moon, and Mars—all are extremely interesting.

I would have had a hard time making that choice. If you could be any planet, star or other object in the universe, who would YOU be? Moon is a bit too familiar. Mars is the right balance of mysterious and recognizable. Well, thank you for visiting this blog, Stacy. Henry Holt is giving away copy of SUN to a random commenter.

Great News: You’re Allowed To Have Only One Kid!

Leave one comment below and a random winner will be selected soon. October 23, in Picture Books Tags: Is it your 4,,,th birthday? And she was counting on me to host her on the blog today. So, frantically on Sunday, I renewed the domain after having mucho problems logging in , but it remained unprocessed. Then I woke up from a nightmare. So, consider this post a placeholder until I am able to get something worthy of Stacy, Stevie Lewis, and YOU, my dear blog readers, up and running today.

October 16, in Picture Books , Uncategorized Tags: For many years I did a school visit presentation on voice. They always got them right! So how do you create an unforgettable voice for your manuscript? I usually let my ideas percolate for several weeks before writing down a single word. This personality continues to grow until one day it becomes too large to contain and the story and its unique voice! However, you can and must! Doing this might cause you to feel annoying pangs of envy. Sometimes writing short, punchy lines without a lot of frills can create the loudest, most memorable voices.

A minimalist approach gives the illustrations more room to shine and tell the story. I kind of feel like the story is telling me who it is and who am I to disagree? However, if for whatever reason, the manuscript is missing a spark, you may need to consider a new approach. Many stories that initially came to me in rhyme were eventually rewritten in prose. I almost always despise the non-rhyming version at first, but if I push through and give myself some time to adjust, I usually end up liking it better than the original.

I thought I was writing a story about a stubborn elephant. After the happy delirium wore off a bit and I had time to think about the story. I started thinking about elephants and pink elephants like those from Dumbo. A symbol of hallucination. And it made me think about how some of our problems can be a collective hallucination and that if we talked it out we could solve it.

At the same time I was sketching it out, the White House was trying to ban people coming in from a seemingly random list of countries. All Muslim countries though, and they were obviously stirring up some racial and ethnic hatred. The small town of Prickly Valley then became a stand in for the whole world, which is why they are illustrated as impossibly diverse for a town that has only one light and intersection. Each group of people tried and failed to solve the problem in how they were trained, usually by some form of force.

I had a lot of fun illustrating these constructions, some of which were in the text but there were plenty of others that were left wide open for anything I could think of. I got to illustrate four pages of text that were just:. That kind of generosity of spirit and trust which leaves room for real collaboration is the solution!

And thank you, Tara, for generously giving us both a voice here on your blog! Thanks, Kelly, for teaching us how to speak elephant. A winner will be randomly selected in a couple weeks. Visit Kelly at kellydipucchio. Zachariah OHora is an award-winning illustrator and author. He lives and works in Narberth, Pennsylvania, with his wife and sons. Visit him at zohora. October 10, in Picture Books Tags: While we waited in a small, astronaut-themed room I wondered if my son might have pneumonia. While we waited some more, I wondered about this picture hanging on the wall.

As a seasoned Storystormer , I knew inspiration could strike just about anywhere. The image of the baby got me thinking about board books. I knew science-themed board books were selling well. This is not my first time working on board books. That year I was approached by a couple of publishers who had discovered my art through my stationery line and my work with Target. She also writes non-fiction for older readers.

Visit her at lorialexanderbooks. Allison Black is an illustrator and designer specializing in cute and colorful creations.

She now has six published books and has another ten in progress! In addition to making art around the clock, Allison has a particular love for goats, guinea pigs and gummy bears. Visit her at allisonblackillustration.

1. Let the voice come to you.

Winner of the Irma S. Wow, such incredible technology! Ben Eastaugh and Chris Sternal-Johnson. You get the sensation, right? Oh geez, those York folks may be after me now, too. Now, time for booties. No, not baby booties. Book booties… Available from Groove Bags. I know, we writers have high shelf esteem.

Highlights Unworkshop Available from Highlights Foundation. Now, lemme ask some writer friends what they recommend. The Bookstand Available from TheBookstand. Good enough for me. Welcome to picture book cover reveal headquarters! I asked Laura and Joshua to interview each other, so without further achoo… Joshua: What was your favorite part of the writing process for this one?

So I read those first verses… Boys play monster trucks with glee. Thank you, Laura and Joshua! An agent I follow online posted about a squirrelly situation last month. Umm, not that situation. That writer put the kibosh on their career. Watch out for an email from me. And watch out for another giveaway tomorrow. What was your journey to publication? Eda, what was your approach to the cover design? One key revision, and two new books. You may have seen some garbled gobbledygook like this: What type of mood do I want the cover to convey?

Should it tell a story? Should it be simple, or more complex? How did you decide upon the color palette? Thank you, Melissa and Tundra Books! Here Comes the SUN! But the SUN rises again another day! And why is SUN the next in the series?

• Twin Towers Estate: The Riot Trilogy (Books 1-3 Crack, Kitty, Smack) (Twin Towers Estate British Crime Thrillers)
• Natural Dyes and Home Dyeing (Dover Pictorial Archives)
• Ave Maria - Score
• Venice Why Bother? (The Why Bother? Guides Book 1)
• Nina Mae McKinney: Th e Black Garbo
• Fouquet (Biographies Historiques) (French Edition)