Building literacy | VIVIAN KIRKFIELD

Logo by Vicki Fang

The #50PreciousWordsForKids International Writing Challenge is now OPEN!

Last month, I hosted a challenge for writers. I invited them to create a story for children in 50 words or less. #50PreciousWords drew hundreds of participants. What amazed me was the incredible creativity that was unleashed by the restrictive word limit.

MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN YOU MAKE EVERY WORD COUNT!

One of the participants told me that she and her six-year old daughter had an amazing bonding experience. Seeing her mom writing, the little girl wanted to write a story also. And she did. And her mom shared it with me.

DINOSAUR SNOW by Bethany (age 6)

It snowed a lot through the day. Pteranodon and her sister Teethless were bored. Pteranodon said, “I planned to go outside and it’s almost time for lunch. Oh it’s 11:00. Let’s go wake Mom and Dad.” “You’re right,” said Teethless. So they did. And then they ate lunch.

And when my eight-year old grandson spent a day with me, he wanted to write one, too.

Locked Out by Jeremy (age 8)

One evening, when me and my mom got home from school, we tried to unlock our door. We heard a snap. Our house key broke! We went to our neighbors for help. They said, “Get a ladder and climb into a window.” We followed their advice. Unlocked the door. Home!

Those two stories got me excited! As a retired kindergarten teacher, I’ve always been on a mission to help kids become lovers of books and reading. Now I write for children. My debut picture book, Sweet Dreams, Sarah, will launch next year.

What if I could encourage kids to become the storytellers! And so, #50PreciousWordsforKids was born.

#50PreciousWordsforKids coincides with Children’s Book Week, May 1-7.

EVERY CHILD in grades K-6 is invited to participate.

This is an INTERNATIONAL challenge…there will be stories flying in from all around the world!

Teachers can have each child write a story of 50 words or less…then the teacher and/or class will choose one story to submit. Perhaps this can be a whole-school event to celebrate Children’s Book Week. Or just a single class project. Teachers/students choose one story per class to email to me.

Parents are invited to encourage their children to write a story at home (whether or not they are homeschooled) – parents can email me one story per child.

My only rule is that the stories must be emailed to me by a teacher or parent (or other child-care facilitator).

Here are the guidelines.

The challenge runs May 1-7 and the stories need to be emailed to me: viviankirkfield@gmail.com by 11:59pm on Sunday, May 7^th.

I’ll enter those stories on my Thursday, May 11^thblog post. All teachers and parents will receive a certificate that can be copied and personalized with the name of each child who participated. And there will be seven mini-Skype author classroom visits randomly awarded—one per grade.

Please, dear readers, help spread the word by sharing this post on your social media channels and by reaching out to your teacher and parent connections.

If you have any questions or need clarification, just email me: viviankirkfield@gmail.com. I’m flying to Chicago on Thursday to visit with family…but I’ll be checking emails every day!

What a wonderful opportunity for kids to become the storyteller.

I’m excited to read all of their precious words.

WILL WRITE FOR COOKIES

INSIGHT – INFORMATION – INSPIRATION

FOR WRITERS

TODAY’S GUEST

ANNIE SILVESTRO

Today I’m thrilled to help you to get to know a little bit more about another 2017 debut picture book author.

Annie Silvestro is a lover of books who reads and writes as much as possible and can often be found shuffling piles of them around so she has a place to sit or someplace to put her teacup. Her picture books include BUNNY’S BOOK CLUB, illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss (Doubleday Books for Young Readers), MICE SKATING, illustrated by Teagan White (Sterling, Fall 2017), and THE CHRISTMAS TREE WHO LOVED TRAINS, illustrated by Paola Zakimi (HarperCollins, Fall 2018). Annie lives by the beach in NJ with her husband and two boys who like to read, and a cat who does not.

So, without further ado, let’s welcome Annie!

ME: Who were your favorite authors/illustrators when you were a child?

ANNIE:

There are so many! For a start, I loved William Steig, Richard Scarry, James Marshall, the BABAR books by Jean de Brunhoff, AMELIA BEDELIA by Peggy Parish, MADELINE by Ludwig Bemelmans. Growing older I was crazy about Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, and L.M. Montgomery.

ME: What do you know now that you wish you had known when you first started writing for children?

ANNIE:

Don’t rush! Everything in publishing takes time and patience. Wait to submit your work until you have several stories (at least) under your belt and have spent a good amount of time reading and writing and practicing and researching.

ME: Where do you like to write/draw – inside, outside, a special area in your home, on the computer, in a notebook? And when do you find time to write?

ANNIE:

I mostly use the computer on the desk in my office to write. Most ideas, though, start as written “drafts” in a notebook or on a scrap of paper. As nice as it is to have a notebook in my purse and next to my bed, more often than not I end up writing on an old receipt I find in the car or whatever is closest at hand at the odd moment when inspiration strikes.

ME: When during the day (or night) are you most productive? Do you set a schedule for working or do you write/draw when the muse speaks?

ANNIE:

I like to write in the morning but a lot of times I end up writing late at night when my kids are finally asleep. I don’t have any set schedule, but since I work part time I try to use my days off as writing days as best I can. It’s easy to get sucked in by laundry, grocery shopping, etc., but I try hard to protect that time..

ME: Why do you write for children?

ANNIE:

My father is an amazing storyteller. When I was growing up, he would invent the most wonderful bedtime stories. My favorite was called The Marshmallow Pillow. He inspired me to become a storyteller myself.

Also, the books I read as a child still mean so much to me. Books are incredibly powerful and provide children with their earliest connections to and understandings of the world. What a gift to have the potential to make that type of meaningful connection! Or to make a child smile, laugh, or feel understood or comforted in some way. Not to mention the profound opportunity to encourage kindness and empathy.

ME: Annie, if you have any thoughts or advice for aspiring writers, please share. As well as anything else you want to talk about that parents, educators, writers, librarians might want to hear.

ANNIE:

For aspiring writers:

Being a member of the SCBWI has been invaluable to me. I have been involved with my local NJ chapter for many years and have learned so much and made so many wonderful friends and connections. It is an incredible organization!

ME: I agree 100%. The SCBWI is an organization that stands ready to assist writers and illustrators in so many ways.…joining in the fun is the best way to learn and grow. Annie…this was so much fun…we all appreciate what you shared.

Visit Annie online at: http://www.anniesilvestro.com and on Twitter and Instagram: @anniesilvestro

And now for one of my favorite parts of Will Write for Cookies…the cookies!

Annie is sharing an unbelievable treasure with us…a recipe, actually written by her grandmother!

The photo is of my grandmother’s recipe for Anisette Biscuits (biscotti) along with my latest batch. They were my favorite treat as a child and I love baking them for my children. They never turn out exactly the same as my grandmother’s biscotti did, but I will keep trying! The smell of them in the oven brings back the very best of memories.

Oh my gosh…I am going to gain lots of pounds this year with all of these incredible recipes!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Next week, we’ll be reviewing another 2017 picture book, THE GREEN UMBRELLA. And we are going to have a SPECIAL blog post on Monday…the COVER REVEAL for..well…that would be telling!

Yup…2017 is a wonderful year for picture books! And I thank all of you for joining me on this journey.