About viviankirkfield

Writer for children - Reader forever - Mom of 3, educator, author of FOUR OTTERS TOBOGGAN: AN ANIMAL COUNTING BOOK (PomegranateKids, PIPPA'S PASSOVER PLATE (Holiday House), SWEET DREAMS, SARAH (Creston Books); MAKING THEIR VOICES HEARD: THE INSPIRING FRIENDSHIP OF ELLA FITZGERALD AND MARILYN MONROE (Little Bee Books); FROM HERE TO THERE: INVENTIONS THAT CHANGED THE WAY THE WORLD MOVES (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Jan 19, 2021); PEDAL, BALANCE, STEER: Annie Londonderry, First Woman to Bike Around the World (Calkins Creek/Astra, Feb 20, 2024) picture book junkie, lover of travel, hiking, fly-fishing, cooking, and playing Monopoly with my grandson.

Perfect Picture Book Friday: Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine Book Blog Tour

Posted on November 6, 2015 by viviankirkfield

Hold onto your hats, dear friends. This Perfect Picture Book Friday post is JAM-PACKED!

First of all, the winners of Susanna Leonard Hill’s Halloweensie Contest have been announced. There were 145 entries…if you’d like to read some of them, hop on over: http://susannahill.blogspot.com/2015/11/2015-halloweensie-contest-winners.html

Because Susanna is one of the most generous and loving mentors in this kid lit community, in addition to the top winners, she also awarded a bunch of honorable mentions. And I’m thrilled to have gotten one of those. I even get to pick a prize…a choice from several books on the craft of writing. Putting your work out there can be scary, even if it’s not Halloween, but it’s a great way to grow as a writer and connect with others who are traveling the same path.

Another way to grow as a writer is to participate in Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo. The daily inspirational blog posts of Picture Book Idea Month will knock your socks off and get those creative juices flowing! http://taralazar.com/2015/11/05/piboidmo-day-5-david-michael-slater-listens-plus-a-prize/

A third way to grow as a writer is to read lots and lots of picture books. And that brings us to our Perfect Picture Book Friday selection for this week, which, by the way, got a starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and Booklist! But I told you this post would be JAM-PACKED, right?

The author of today’s book, Laurie Wallmark, invited me to be part of her book blog tour. I am thrilled! At the end of the post you can find the link to the other blogs that are participating…I hope you will travel along. PLUS, Laurie has agreed to share some thoughts about Five Important Women in STEM. You’ll find her guest post after the book review. I know many of you are writing nonfiction picture books…or reading them to your kids. Laurie’s debut picture book is a delight and her post is fantastic!

Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine

Written by Laurie Wallmark

Illustrated by April Chu Continue reading →

It’s Time for Halloweensie and Picture Book Month!

Posted on October 26, 2015 by viviankirkfield

Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Boo!

Boo, who?

Don’t cry! It’s time for Susanna Hill’s 5^th Annual Halloweensie Contest!

Courtesy Google Images

That’s right—the contest runs from today till Friday…so there is still plenty of time to participate. Here are some of the rules from Susanna’s post.

The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words costume, dark, and haunt. Your story can be scary, funny or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!) Get it? Halloweensie – because it’s not very long and it’s for little people. 🙂 (And yes, I know 100 words is short but that’s part of the fun and the challenge! We got over 130 fantastic entries last year so I know you can do it!) Also, you may use the words in any form – e.g. haunt, haunts, haunted, darkness, darkening, costumed, whathaveyou 🙂 No illustration notes please!

For more details, please click here: http://susannahill.blogspot.com/2015/10/its-about-that-time.html

I love this contest—all of my previous entries have been rhyming, so I thought I would change it up a bit this year. I hope you enjoy my story. And when you finish reading it, please hop over to Susanna’s website where you will find many more Halloween tales.

Halloween Fever (99 words)

Philpot blew his nose. His eyes watered. His throat tickled. His skin flushed red with fever.

“Oh no!” he moaned. “Whoever heard of a red ghost?”

Never had Philpot missed going a-haunting on Halloween. Opening Wanda Witchner’s spell-book, he flipped to the ‘C’s’. Exploding CAKES. Flying CATS. Disappearing COLDS.

“Hocus Pocus Mucus Phlegm!”

Blink. No more watering.

Swallow. No more tickle.

Sniff. No more dripping snot. But his skin still glowed red.

“If magic won’t do the trick, I can use my imagination!”

And grabbing a white sheet as his costume, Philpot floated out into the dark night.

I hope you enjoy my little Halloween tale…for many more incredible stories, please visit Susanna’s Halloweensie Contest page: http://susannahill.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-5th-annual-halloweensie-writing.html

MORE GOOD STUFF – Please keep reading!

On Friday, I mentioned that November is a great month because of the PiBoIdMo Challenge. Well, there is another awesome picture book event coming up…Picture Book Month. Organized by author and literacy advocate Dianne de las Casas, this event is supported by everyone who loves picture books. Visit her website http://picturebookmonth.com every day during November and be prepared to be inspired and informed with posts by: Sudipta Bardan-Quallen, David Biedrzycki, Paulette Bogan, Mike Curato, Matthew Gollub, Julie Gribble, Julie Hedlund, Carter Highins, Molly Idle, Joe Kulka, Jennifer Gray Olson, Kathryn Otoshi, Anne Marie Pace, Rukhsana Khan, Robin Newman, Penny Parker Klostermann, Eric Litwin, Loren Long, Deb Lund, LeUyen Pham, Matt Phelan, Stephen Shaskan, Trisha Speed Shaskan, TJ Shay, Whitney Stewart, Holly Stone-Barker, Mo Willems, Natasha Wing, Matthew Winner, and Paula Yoo.

How lucky are we to have these incredible mentors sharing their love of picture books with us!

Thank you for stopping by. Your visit is much appreciated!

PPBF and PiBoIdMo

Posted on October 23, 2015 by viviankirkfield

What’s with all those letters in the headline?

Well, Thanksgiving is only one month away. I looked out on my front lawn this morning and I do believe these turkeys have gotten the word…they are on the run.

Finding turkeys in the front yard is one thing…finding a whale in your swimming pool is way more unusual…author/illustrator Joyce Wan was definitely thinking outside the box when she came up with her latest book. So the first bunch of letters in the headline are for Perfect Picture Book Friday. You’ll have to read to the end of this post to discover what the other letters are for.

The Whale in My Swimming Pool

Written and illustrated by Joyce Wan

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (2015)

Ages: 2-6

Themes: problem solving, creative thinking, whales

Opening Lines:

“Race you to the pool! Whoa…a whale?”

Synopsis:

From Amazon
“One sunny day, a little boy heads outside for a swim, but his pool is already taken . . . There’s a big whale in the water and it’s not budging! The boy tries everything to get the whale to leave. Nothing seems to work. Not fetch. Not tag. Not even offering his allowance. What’s a boy to do? Luckily, he comes up with the perfect solution: he decides to chill out on a spray of water over the whale’s spout.”

Why I like this book:

Simple sparse text is perfect for young listeners and new readers
Bold bright illustrations grab a child’s attention
Encourages problem solving and thinking outside the box

RELATED ACTIVITIES

Photo courtesy: http://tangrila.blogspot.com

You will need: A paper plate, construction paper, markers or crayons, scissors, glue, (optional: googly eye)

If you want a blue or gray whale, you can paint or color In the paper plate. For a simpler project, leave the plate uncolored and make a white whale.
Cut construction paper tail and fin.
Glue on tail and fin.
Add features with marker or crayon.
For more detailed instructions and more wonderful crafts for kids, please visit: http://tangrila.blogspot.com/2012/04/whale-paper-plate-craft.html

Find out about where whales really live: http://www.whalefacts.org/whale-facts-for-kids/

And more information and activities here: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/

AND NOW FOR THE PIBOIDMO REVEAL

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, Thanksgiving is just a month away…which means that the month of November is just around the corner.

And if you love picture books, you will love PiBoIdMo!

A month-long challenge: Picture Book Idea Month

http://taralazar.com/2015/10/05/lotsa-winners-and-piboidmo-update/

I want to share a bit about Picture Book Idea Month or PiBoIdMo. I discovered the amazing Tara Lazar and her fabulous picture book idea challenge back in 2011…I was just starting to dip my toes into the world of writing for children. I lurked in the shadows that November, reading the guest posts and leaving a couple of comments. When 2012 rolled around, I wasted no time. I signed up, got a new notebook, and actively participated by reading and commenting and jotting down my story ideas.

And every year since then, I’ve looked forward to November because I know that PiBoIdMo is coming. To be honest, this challenge played a big role in sparking my enthusiasm for writing picture books. So don’t hesitate! It’s free! It’s fun! It’s fabulous! Whether you are a newbie, just thinking about writing for children, or a multi-published author or illustrator, this is the one challenge you don’t want to miss.

What you need to do:

Sign up on her blog.
Read and comment on each of the inspirational posts written by authors, illustrators, and other lovers of picture books
Keep a journal or notebook, jotting down at least ONE story idea for each day of the month

What you get in return:

A notebook FULL of great story ideas that will keep you writing
30+ inspirational posts from people who are passionate about picture books
A community of generous caring supportive people who are happy to share their knowledge and expertise
Oh…and did I mention the prizes? Oh yeah! Books and critiques and all kinds of good stuff!

Registration opens REAL SOON! So hurry over to Tara’s website: http://www.taralazar.com

Have a wonderful weekend, dear friends!