Snap Magic Blog Tour Overview

Wow, I only just caught the Snap Magic Blog Tour in time. It has been like a very fast train, leaving the station straight after the massive weekend of book launches (photos to follow tomorrow) and visiting nine stops on its way. Huge! I need a holiday now.

I've enjoyed catching up with the most gracious hosts you could imagine on this tour, and it was thrilling beyond words to read the first reviews of Snap Magic.

Thank you most sincerely to all the blog tour hosts. It has been a wonderful journey.

If you missed a stop, direct links are now live below:

Snap Magic Blog Tour Stops

October:

Monday 13. Kids Book Review

                     Snap Magic vs Pond Magic – Independent vs Trade

Tuesday 14. Sheryl Gwyther–author

                     Interview – Independent Publishing

Wednesday 15. Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie Parnell

                           Themes and Messages in Snap Magic

                           
                           Karen Tyrrell Author

                           REVIEW – Book Giveaway

Thursday 16. Alison Reynolds Author

                        Interview – Writing Habits

Friday 17.  From Hook to Book – Chris Bell Author

                    Interview – Story vs Character

Saturday 18. Boomerang Books Blog

                       Interview – A bewitching encounter

                       Dim's Write Stuff – Dimity Powell Author

                       REVIEW – Snap Magic – It's more than hocus pocus

Sunday 18. Stories are Light Sandy Fussell Author
                    REVIEW 

Monday 20. Aussie Reviews

                     Interview – 

Tuesday 21. DeeScribeWriting Blog – Dee White Author

                     Tips on Writing a Sequel
                     REVIEW

Books for Children's Illustrators

I've been meaning to post about this for some time. As part of my Write and Illustrate a Picture Book workshop I lug around a pile of books, many of them on the art of the picture book and specifically aimed at Children's Book Illustrators.

Here is my list of delicious books to inspire, devour, own, borrow and pour over:

Writing with Pictures by Uri Schulevitz has been around for some time and is written in four parts: One - Telling the Story; Two - Planning the Book; Three - Creating the Pictures; Four - Preparing for Reproduction. This book is like attending a masterclass every time you open it.

Illustrating Children's Books- Creating Pictures for Publication by Martin Salisbury is a very popular reference. It's broken up into chapters on: History; Drawing; Media, Materials and Techniques; Character Development; The Picture Book; Illustration for Older Children; Non Fiction illustration; Design and Typography; Getting Published. I first discovered this one at the library and now have my own copy.

Making Picture Books by Libby Gleeson is for both writers and illustrators. Whichever you are, you need to read this book as picture books are a marriage of both crafts, and to do one well you must understand how they both work.

The Encyclopedia of Writing and Illustrating Children's Books by Desdemona  McCannon, Sue Thornton and Yadzia Williams is well worth a read. It's a book I usually borrow from the library and is on my 'must buy' list.  

Creative Illustration Workshop for mixed media Artists by Katherine Dunn. Just delightful.

The Encyclopedia of Illustration Techniques by Catherine Slade

Below is an overview from Amazon.

* A fully illustrated, step-by-step guide to more than 50 illustration techniques, from watercolors and pen-and-ink to collage and wood engraving 

* Offers professional guidance on all aspects of illustration, from mastering basic techniques to developing an eye-catching personal style 

* Provides information on getting the best reproduction results for your illustrations and tips on time-saving methods 

A year ago I bought myself the most useful book ever called Facial Expressions - A Visual Reference for Artists by Mark Simon. 

Normally I have a mirror handy when drawing a variety of expressions, but sometimes my eyes are squeezed shut, depending on the emotion, and that's where this book comes in handy. The book is filled with facial shots of male and female adult models of all ages and sizes and a range of ethnicities. Their expressions show a variety of emotions and some pretty crazy face pulling as well. It's a great reference book for illustrators. I've just purchased the companion book which has photos of 'Babies to Teens'. Can't wait for it to arrive!

Mark Simon also has an E-Book companion to his Facial Expressions books, which you can download at his website.

Lastly, I have a selection of good cartooning books to add to the mix, which I often refer to for a few tricks of the trade.

What are your favourite illustration reference books? I look forward to your recommendations in the comments below. Now let's go draw!

Day 6 of the Pond Magic Blog Tour

Kids Book Capers has published a great review of Pond Magic on their blog at Boomerang Books http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog/review-of-pond-magic/2010/10

Followed by an interview with me about 'Where Story Ideas Come From'.
http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog/the-magic-of-pond-magic/2010/10

Hop on in!!

Review of Pond Magic on 'Kids' Book Review'

Pond Magic is reviewed today on Kids' Book Review

Read what Tania McCartney has to say about my 'froggy' tale.

Finding the Window

In my experience a good lesson uses a variety of teaching strategies to capture the interest of each individual learner in the class. The time sequence needs to be flexible and reflect the interest of the group as a whole. When teaching a second language, I generally change to a new activity every 5-10 minutes, depending on the age and ability of the group. If the class is engaged in the activity then I allow them to continue. But each individual learner comes to the situation with different experiences to the others and they will react differently to each new activity as it is introduced. What interests one child may not interest another.

When a child is 'interested', when he/she is 'engaged', then that is your chance as a teacher or parent. That is your Window of Opportunity.

For very young children, children for whom English is a second language and children with learning difficulties, this window of opportunity offers them the chance to succeed. Finding this window of opportunity for children with learning difficulties can also be the key to teaching them to read.

Recently I came across The Fun Funnel, a picture book written by Robbie Cameron, an Australian author from Byron Bay. This picture book speaks, sings and dances across the page. It appeals to the visual and auditory learner on a variety of levels. It offers children a window; children with learning difficulties who have not previously understood that those squiggly marks on the page are in fact the words of the story.

To achieve this Robbie Cameron has successfully taken the karaoke idea and transformed it into a picture book with DVD. http://www.dvdstorytime.com/

The book is displayed on the screen as it is 'read', showing the turning of each page etc, while the child holds the book. What impressed me most was how each word 'bounced' on the page as it was read aloud in a clear Australian accent, making it obvious to the child which word they were up to. The cheerful illustrations are also animated, bringing to life the light-hearted tale of a grumpy old man who (like the Grinch who stole Christmas) tries to steal all the fun.

I tested The Fun Funnel out on my niece and nephew, who are 2 and 5 years old. First I gave them the book and as avid book lovers they devoured it while I read it aloud a couple of times. We then watched the DVD together with the book and that is when the window opened. The words on the page started moving and my nephew followed with his finger on the word in the book. Later that day my sister found him copying the words from the book onto a page. He had never done that before.

The Fun Funnel has proven to be successful with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Downs Syndrome. The parent of one boy with Aspergers had this to say about The Fun Funnel: "The jumping words have sparked his interest in individual words and he often points to words in other books now and asks What's that?" There are many more similar testimonials on Robbie Cameron's website with an overwhelmingly positive response from parents.

If you have a child who has difficulty reading or is just starting to read, then The Fun Funnel may be just the window of opportunity you are looking for.

My first review (from a child I don't know)

My recently completed children's urban fantasy manuscript for 9 - 13 year olds is ready and polished. To celebrate its 'birth' as a final draft manuscript I sent it off a few weeks ago to a couple of friends. One of these friends has no children herself and so gave my manuscript to a friend's child to 'test it out'. All I know of this little girl is that she loves reading and is 11 years old. I was thrilled then to receive this feedback:

I really enjoyed it. I thought it was imaginative and really surprised me at the end. I just loved the way it kept you hanging at the end of the chapters. And also how it tied in with the show at school. I thought it was really funny how the prince knew everything about the blue powder and the girl turning into a frog. (Ellen, age 11)

Does that have you intrigued? A publisher has solicited the manuscript and it is being sent out next week. Fingers and webbed toes are crossed.

Call in next week. I'm making my mum's apple strudel.

Angela