Can you tell that I’m smiling? I’m always smiling when beautiful new books are born! And today we are singing Happy Book Birthday to NILA’S PERFECT COAT by Norene Paulson, illustrated by Maria Mola and published by Beaming Books. And the author and the publisher are teaming up to offer a wonderful double giveaway: A Picture Book Critique and a copy of the book. Please make sure you leave a comment for a chance to win – and please let us know which you would prefer, the book or the critique.
Hurray! It’s almost time for the #50PreciousWords 2023 International Writing Contest.
Some of you have been participating since the beginning. But others are here for the first time. So, I’d like to share a bit about the back story of this contest.
In 2012 I had a dream. I wanted to write picture books. One of the most important things I did was to participate in writing challenges like Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 and all of Susanna Hill’s contests. Why was that important? Because it got me writing. It got me revising. It got me submitting. Hmmm….writing/revising/submitting. I believe that if we do those three things enough times, our writing improves and agents and editors get a chance to see our work. And as much as I am thrilled with my own success, nothing makes me happier than to hear about the success of others in our kidlit community.
When I first got the idea for this contest back in 2016, I thought a few of my friends might take pity on me and submit a story – to my surprise, there were 128 entries.
Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! And Happy National #GiveKidsASmileDay! And today’s featured book is definitely going to give kids a smile because it all about the friendship between PB and J…Peanut Butter and Jelly! The author is one of my oldest kidlit friends, I met her in Switzerland when I went on my trip around the world in 2019, and she’s the fearless leader of the #DreamTeam book promotion group, Katelyn Aronson.
VIVIAN KIRKFIELD - Writer for Children 