The blogosphere is full of challenges this year. 

One of the ones that struck a chord in me was Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 in 2012.  Julie is a talented writer, inspired blogger and generous spirit.  I’ve never met her, but if you visit her blog, you’ll see what I mean.

Badge by Linda Silvestri

When my children were little, I always had a pad of paper and pencil and pack of crayons wherever we went.  Bored children?  Write a story!  Cranky children? Write a story!  Happy children?  Write a story!

You get the picture!

The original mock-up for The Balloon Man

Sad to say, many of those stories were tossed during different moves we made over the years.  Others languished in taped-up boxes, forgotten in the shadowy corners of a closet.

My children are grown now, with families of their own…but my passion for picture books remains fresh!

Of course, I am fortunate in that I get to read picture books with a new generation of children when I present the Show Me How Story-time with Miss Vivian programs to library groups, kindergartens and Pre-K’s.  And I do have the opportunity to read to my grandchildren when I visit them.

But one of my dreams is to write a picture book story that children love and want to hear over and over and over again.

And that’s why, when I saw Julie’s 12 x 12 Challenge, I knew I had to participate.  Write twelve picture book drafts in a year…one each month.

January has come to a close…and I’m proud to say that I’ve completed my January assignment!

I know it needs a LOT of work…it’s just a rough first draft.

The tentative title:

 Caroline’s Hat…or Caroline’s Flower-Sprigged Hat.

The story:

Little Caroline is out in the garden.  She forgets her hat when her mother calls her in for lunch.  While she is gone, several garden animals help themselves to parts of her hat so that when she returns, it is not where she left it.  As Caroline searches the garden, she discovers her hat is being used by the animals for their own purposes.

The opening lines:

“The soft summer breeze tousled Caroline’s’ curls,

As she lay in the tall green grass.

On a blueberry bush, the red ribbons waved,

From the brim of her flower-sprigged hat.”

I think we all have secret dreams…would you like to share yours?

Today is the last day of the month, so our 2012 PPP “Read to your Child Everyday” Challenge ends for January.  In the next few days, I’ll be posting the name of the January winner of a picture book.