Picture Books with a Difference

I love picture books that have that 'WOW' factor. You know the type of book that you open the first page and you're already there. It grabs your attention immediately and is a feast for the eyes, mind, and soul.

Wow factor can be described as being different, unexpected, unique and exciting. I'm not just talking about picture books with flashing lights, sounds to press, music, and intricate origami. I'm talking about picture books that really hook you in and children request to be read again and again.

Take a look at the following list.

Which is your favourite?

The Beautiful Opps! by Barney Salzburg

Pete the Cat- I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin (Mr Eric)

No David! by David Shannon

The Rainbow Book by Kate Ohrt

Flotsam by David Wiesner

The Legend of the Golden Snail by Graeme Base

This is Lulu (lift the flap book) by Camilla Reid

The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith

Knick Knack Paddywhack! (move able picture book) by Paul O Zelinsky

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (pop up book) by Robert Sabuda

It's a Book by Lane Smith

Alice Pawfect Tea Party by (Storybook Tea Company)

'Project Spy Kids' with Author Hazel Edwards and Illustrator Jane Connory

I'm delighted to have Australian Children's Author Hazel Edwards and Illustrator Jane Connory on Books for Little Hands. You may be familiar with Hazel's popular picture book,‘There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake.’ I'd like to Congratulate Hazel on the film version that has just premiered at St Kilda Film festival and was screened at the Edinburgh Festival last month. Today we are looking at Hazel and Jane's fabulous eBooks, 'Project Spy Kids.'

When You Also Have a Young Family, How do You Co-Design e-books for Kids?

Illustrator-Designer Jane’s View:

I have two young kids who are as much at home on the iPad as they are at home. They are always grabbing for my mobile devices and I am happier when they sit and read the eBooks I have created rather than watch the movies I have downloaded.

Combining reading with new technology makes it interesting and fun for all the young digital natives out there!

Illustrating picture books is my real love and the chance to illustrate the covers and simple chapter books for Hazel’s stories was a wonderful opportunity. Plus we live in nearby suburbs but Hazel and I also Skype.

I could also ‘test’ on my daughter

I love drawing characters .

I have a home-based business but I also lecture on ‘graphic design’ in sessions at Holmesglen TAFE.

Author Hazel’s Viewpoint:

School holidays. My 10 year old grandson and his mate were to cook ‘hippo footprint pancakes’ on camera at Channel 31 ‘s ‘Kids in the Kitchen’ while I read my picture book to screen.

Serendipitously, I met graphic designer Jane Connory and her children, playing in the park. Innovative Jane lectures in e-skills amongst other graphic subjects, wanted to illustrate children’s books and followed up with her portfolio.

I’m a formatting tragic, but have a backlist of books. My author website (www.hazeledwards.com) was undergoing a major overhaul as I learnt how to upload my own material.My daughter Kim was, and still is, teaching me. I was aware I needed help in re-formatting selected past print titles so they would be accessible on all e-readers, plus they would need new covers and updating.

What inspired you to write the 'Project Spy Kids' series?

Author Hazel's Viewpoint:

Literacy is an area I am passionate about. Hero Art, the sleuth in ‘Project Spy Kids’ is an ace problem-solver but is challenged by reading. ‘The Frequent Flyer Twins’ are international Asian-Australian ten year old sleuths.

As an educator I had always supplied activities with my books, and wanted to consolidate these on my own web-site. Also, readers of my picture books like ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake’ (the film just premiered at St Kilda Film festival and was screened at the Edinburgh Festival last month) had no idea that I wrote adult non-fiction or junior mysteries.

What steps did you take to create your eBook series?

1. Creating a series name and using the same cover but with a different colour, linked the titles. Thus ‘Project Spy Kids’ was created. Aware that the cover, title and one line descriptor were the only clues, the covers had to be enticing for the age group.

2. Jane would create the e-formatted books and new covers and would merchandise the illustrations on Red Balloon or elsewhere in t-shirts, mugs and logos. http://www.janeconnory.com/p/gift-shop.html

3. Jane also formatted my rough ‘How to Design Your Own Mystery’ resources. This has become the MOST valuable download for parents, giving a follow-up activity involving writing and problem-solving skills..

4. As a former teacher, reading outcomes matter, so we’ve listed them.

5. Jane experimented with a FaceBook page for the titles .

While aware some schools do not permit use of Facebook, we’re still experimenting with new ways of encouraging reading.You can ‘like’ us if you wish.

Own Face Book Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Spy-Kids-Series/181162638598927?sk=wall

6. Picture books are more complex as e-books, and on hold. Currently my website has links to the e-books for sale by my publishers and also to their print books,

7. I’m featuring a monthly print book for sale from my site.This month’s is ‘The Business of Writing for Young People’ because many parents with young children like to write and request mentoring.

That park meeting with Jane has been a year-long apprenticeship to put up our trial e-books. Now, some literacy skills will be shared via the website.

And we hope, new readers (of the human variety) will be created.

Jane’s Viewpoint:

Being able to learn new technology as it appears has become part of my job as a graphic designer, and collaborating with Hazel on this project was no different.

Hazel is an ideas woman and envisaged these two series of books as eBooks without either of us really fully comprehending what this would entail. It was a great opportunity for me to illustrated the covers in Adobe illustrator and format the documents into books in InDesign. I then had to teach myself how to produce these files as ePub documents and navigate the process of marketing the books.

A steep learning curve but the idea that we are forging our own path is exciting.

I now also have the opportunity to teach this new concept of publishing to my graphic design students at Holmesglen Institute. Maybe they’ll be teaching their employers a thing or two in the years to come.

What are the titles of your eBooks?

Project Spy Kids is one series title, with 10 year old Art, as the hero.

* 978-0-9871078-6-2 – Winning a Giraffe Called Geoffrey

* 978-0-9871078-7-9 – Mindspaces

* 978-0-9871078-8-6 – Birds on the Brain

* 978-0-9871078-9-3 – Zoo Poo Clues

Browse http://www.hazeledwards.com/shop for e-books.

Illustrated & merchandise designed by Jane Connory

Hazel Edwards is an Ambassador for the 2012 National Year of Reading & also for the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge.

Linking Cooking and Sharing Books

The learning doesn't have to stop once a picture book is shared. Why not provide a follow up experience like cooking to stimulate interest and understanding?

Australian Author Hazel Edwards recently appeared on Community T.V 31, Kids in the Kitchen.

Hazel read her picture books Plato Plumber (part-time) and Hooray! There's a Hippopotamus on our Roof Having a Birthday Party with recipes created and cooked by 10 year olds. Although the TV program can be viewed, other children might like to experiment with their own creations.

Muddy Bubbles

(Since platypus breathe under water...and there are bubbles...) Ingredients:
4 cups rice bubbles 1 cup coconut 1 cup icing sugar 250gms copha
3 tablespoons Milo Method;

Plato and Hippo Prints

Ingredients: 1 cup of Self Raising Flour pinch salt 2 tablespoons of sugar 1 egg 1 cup of sour milk(with teaspoon of vinegar added) 2 teaspoons of melted butter/oil

Sift flour, salt and soda in a bowl Make well in centre, add sugar, egg, milk and butter. Stir flour in from sides to make smooth batter.

Put tablespoonful on hot pan, Cook until bubbly on top and brown underneath. Turn to brown other side. Eat.

Platypus Creek Dip

Vegetable sticks scraped and cut from carrots, celery etc Hummus or some muddy vegetable dip

http://www.hazeledwards.com/page/plato_the_platypus_plumber.html

In ‘Hooray! There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Having a Birthday Party’, the children have tiger biscuits, lion cupcakes and vegetables in animal shapes with a birthday mudcake But hippo likes the chocolate ant bread best.

For more delicious recipes to share with picture books, check www.hazeledwards.com for cake –eating bibliography, publisher , teacher resources and curriculum links.

Who inspired you to write?

As you reflect on your writing achievements for 2010, think about who inspired your writing this year, and also over your life. Was it a parent or teacher? Was it a friend or a partner? Who has influenced you the most and inspired you to write?

Here are a few of mine.

My Mum

Mum read to me before bed at night and bought me books like, The Magic Faraway Tree, and The Famous Five. She would encourage us to do puzzles, play board games, play in the mud and sand, and venture into the garden. By allowing us to escape into an imaginary world she also fostered our ability to use our imagination and play creatively. This is an incredible gift to a child that I'll be forever grateful for.

Mrs Cartwright- Grade 6 Teacher

Mrs Cartwright read us The Hobbit a few times a week. At first I found it bizarre being read to at eleven, but it was something that the class always looked forward to. I remember we all made the characters to hang around the class. This was also the age that we really started writing, even with a computer! I wrote a story called, The Witch of Wickazoom, that I still have. Mrs Cartwright was just one of those teachers that inspired every child to read and write no matter what their ability.

Author - Mem Fox

I've always really enjoyed reading Mem's books as an Early Childhood Teacher, but it wasn't until I seriously considered writing that I discovered how brilliant she is. Many people will pick up a picture book to read and think, 'Isn't that lovely!' But Mem explains in, 'So you want to write a picture book,' just how challenging it can be. Every book Mem Fox has ever written, show cases her enormous ability to write for assorted ages, in a variety of styles, books that children will adore. She instinctively knows what children will find fun, entertaining, and will request time and time again. Every single word has been painstakingly monitored for its importance in the book. There are many picture book authors that I admire, but Mem Fox would have to be Number 1!

My Family

My husband, son, and daughter, inspire me everyday to write. Funny things that have been said, our strengths and weaknesses, and situations that make the light bulb go off in my head. Of course I don't write the exact experience, but it's like doing a puzzle or cooking. I'll take a little bit of this, add a pinch of that, and then garnish it with something else. I'm so incredibly lucky that my family support my writing and listen to my brilliant ideas even though I'm sure they'd prefer to ride the jetski or play the xbox.

So, with 2011 fast approaching, it's a time to look at where you're going but also where you've been. Who changed it all for you and shaped you to be the writer you are today?

Writers, Have you ever...?

Have you ever been told that you could be the next J.K. Rowling?

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

Have you ever...

*been told it's too hard to become an author?

*listened in on a conversation for good material?

*woken up in the middle of the night to write?

*written about your life experiences?

*written about a friend or a family members life experiences?

*been told that your story has been done before?

*picked up a book in a bookshop that is the same as the one you just wrote?

*spent the whole day writing in your pyjamas, eating biscuits, and drinking coffee?

*thought that being a writer is the best job in the world?

*said, 'There's a story in that!'

*written on a coaster, serviette, or your arm?

*used someone that you know as a character?

*been asked, 'What do you really do for a job?'

*asked someone to repeat themselves so you can take notes?

*felt immense pride in your writing efforts over the day, month, or year?

*asked your sub-conscious to give you a brilliant idea in your dreams?

*done anything out of the ordinary to get published?

*entered a writing competition?

*been asked, 'Aren't you published yet?'

*talked to yourself in public?

*read your story to your dog or cat?

*been asked who will illustrate your book?

*been upset or disappointed with a rejection letter and then later realised that they were right?

*had writer's block?

*noticed a mistake in spelling or grammar after you've posted your manuscript?

*travelled to an exotic country or place to research your book?

*answered the phone professionally just in case it's a publisher?

*socially networked on blogs, face book, and twitter?

*stood in front of people at your book launch and thought, I did it?

*noticed that your rejection letters are getting better?

*been mentored?

*meet a group of writer's that encourage and inspire your writing?

*tried writing out of your comfort zone in a completely different genre?

*used a dream for inspiration?

*read a dictionary just for fun?

*turned down an event so you could write instead?

*thought your book would make an incredible movie?

*met your favourite author?

*wondered what do I have do to become published?

*been so involved in your writing that you have literally lost the plot?

*had to write your entire novel from another character view point, first or third person?

*used strange facial expressions to accurately describe your character in a scene?

*completely lost yourself in your own imagination?

*wondered what your life would be like if you weren't writing?

How many questions did you answer yes too?