Tag: children’s books

April is Mr. Pish Month

pish head for farm sign clearNo joke, April is Mr. Pish month. “What the heck does that mean?” you ask. It means that we continue our celebration of the life and exploits of the famous traveling terrier who was also our mascot.

Mr. Pish visited 41 States, Washington DC, and 7 Provinces of Canada to discover awesome places to share with his readers. He traveled and lived with our admin, K. S. Brooks, and together the two wrote eight children’s books, 13 calendars and planners, one activity book, and one educational app for Apple and Droid products. All of Mr. Pish’s books and products promote outdoor learning and literacy.

But why April? Because Mr. Pish’s birthday is this month, and he’s still thought of every day. And he’s incredibly cute. Can you really resist that adorable face? Mr pish in Spokane on blocks

The Elusive Illustrator: Finding an Artist for Your Book

illustrator Jared George cropGuest Post
by Jared George

I imagine it’s gotta be rough to have an amazing idea for a kid’s book, or have an amazing novel, but it needs the right art to really make it pop. Am I right? Where do you find the illustrators? I mean you know they’re out there. Hundreds, even thousands of them, but where do you find one for your project?

The truth is we are literally everywhere. Just shut your laptop wherever you happen to be writing, stand up, and walk to the nearest comic shop or locally owned coffee shop. When you walk in, say in a slightly loud voice “I’m looking for an illustrator for a kid’s book.” (or whatever your project.) Now you will be beating hungry artists off with a stick. You might be reading this and saying “That’s easy for you to say I’m not a people person.” or “I don’t have a comic shop / locally owned coffee shop” The second option is…dun dun dunnnnn… Continue reading “The Elusive Illustrator: Finding an Artist for Your Book”

Children’s Books Featuring Children With Disabilities Say “You Belong”

author Jo Meserve MachGuest Post
by Jo Meserve Mach

The books in everyone’s homes give out powerful messages. These messages can be scary, confusing, exciting, or hopeful.

My job as an Occupational Therapist providing infant-toddler services brought me into many homes where my role was to teach the parents of a child with a developmental delay how to help their child use their abilities. The parents were often reading books about their child’s disabilities. These books were scary and confusing. Continue reading “Children’s Books Featuring Children With Disabilities Say “You Belong””

Kickin’ It with Kindle Kids’ Book Creator

Kindle Kids' Book Creator LogoI never dreamed of writing a children’s book — didn’t think it was my style. Well, a little ducky changed that. Her name is Sevy, and she caused me a whole heap of trouble as a duckling. I’d posted her exploits on Facebook and everyone kept urging me to write a children’s book. Okay, I did. The print version had its headaches with formatting, bleed, and such, but it’s out there. The eBook, however: I could never get the formatting right for some reason, so I ignored it for a couple of years.

Enter the mighty Amazon and the Kindle Kids’ Book Creator. This is a free download that you can pluck from the KDP login page. There’s also a short (video) on the KDP website that’s pretty helpful.

Once you have it downloaded, open it up, kick the tires and take it for a test drive. There’re two simple prompts at the bottom: Open an existing book, or, Create a new kids’ book. Continue reading “Kickin’ It with Kindle Kids’ Book Creator”