Corinne Demas | VIVIAN KIRKFIELD – Writer for Children

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! When I was a kid, my very favorite stories were fables and folktales. And today I am thrilled to share a new picture book that launched last month from author Corinne Demas that is a modern fable, ONCE THERE WAS. And stick around till the end of the post and make sure you leave a comment because there is a GIVEAWAY!

ONCE THERE WAS

Written by Corinne Demas

Illustrated by Gemma Capdevila

Published by Harry N. Abrams

Ages: 5-7

Themes: Dreaming, fable, imagination

Synopsis: From Amazon:
A simple, modern fable about dreaming of being something else, transformations, and the interconnectedness of all things

In this magical, modern fairy tale, a girl dreams she is a princess. A princess dreams she is a horse. A horse dreams she is a tree, a tree a mountain, a mountain a moon, a moon a sea, a sea a girl.

Why I Love This Book:
1. Imagination…that is what we hope to spark in children with our stories, right? And ONCE THERE WAS is the perfect imagination-sparker! I love that!
2. I love the old-time feel of the story – and the beautifully lyrical lines that flow from one page to the next.
3. I love the glorious illustrations by Gemma Capdevila – and I know you will, too.

I had a chance to chat with author Demas when we were planning this post – and she shared a bit of the inspiration for this story.
CORINNE:
In my creative writing seminar at Mount Holyoke College, where I taught for many years, one of my favorite assignments was to have my students write a short story based on a dream.

It usually produced the most original and interesting fiction they wrote during the semester. When I wrote Once There Was, my challenge was to explore the fertile territory of dreams, but keep the story to picture book length– use minimal text to create something rich and expansive. As with so many of my picture books, I found it useful to read my drafts aloud and rely on my ear, as editor.

Well, Corinne…you definitely succeeded…the text is absolutely magical!
To connect with Corinne:
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

RELATED ACTIVITIES
Dream Catchers

Photo courtesy: https://www.teachingexpertise.com/classroom-ideas/dream-catcher-activity/

This link has quite a few dream catcher craft ideas – the one above can be created by our youngest artists. For detailed instructions for this dream catcher and others: https://www.teachingexpertise.com/classroom-ideas/dream-catcher-activity/

Please remember to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of ONCE THERE WAS from our generous author and her publisher. And don’t forget that the best way to say thank you to authors and illustrators for their hard work is to:
Buy a copy of the book (this would be awesome for kids who have nightmares…maybe it will help them create dreams that make them smile).
Review the book on Amazon and Goodreads.
Tell friends about the book (share on your social media!)
Ask your local library to order copies for their collection.

Thank you all for spending your precious moments with us. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends!

Has another week truly passed by? I can hardly believe it. I’ve been up to my ears in boxes and taking stuff to the dump and giving away books to the library and to friends…just how many books can a person accumulate over the years? And yet, with all of the hundreds of books I gave away, I still have more than a dozen boxes of books in the storage unit, waiting for October 1 when we move into our new house.

One of the books I will definitely be keeping is today’s Perfect Picture Book selection – I connected with the author, Corinne Demas, at my local NESCBWI conference last year…and I absolutely love her newest book that launched in June.

THE GRUMPY PIRATE

Written by Corinne Demas and Artemis Roehrig

Illustrated by Ashlyn Anstee

Published by Orchard Books/Scholastic (June 2020)

Ages: 4-7

Theme: Emotions, getting along with others, friendship

And getting along and friendship were definitely important factors in the creation of this story – here’s a picture of co-authors, Corinne Demas and Artemis Roehrig.

Synopsis: From Amazon

Gus the Pirate is always grumpy, but can the wise Pirate Queen convince him to change his ways?

There is one grumpy pirate.
They call him Grumpy Gus.
He grunts and gripes and grouses,
and always makes a fuss.

Gus the Pirate complains about everything — ARRRRRGH! Gus grumbles about his lumpy bed and his itchy clothes. He complains about the yucky food and doing his chores on the pirate ship. Even sailing toward buried treasure can’t make Gus happy! Finally, the other pirates have had enough! They ask the Pirate Queen to help.

So the Pirate Queen gives Grumpy Gus a pet parrot — but the parrot is grumpy, too! After Gus spends the day with a parrot who’s just as grumbly and grouchy as he is, Gus realizes his bad attitude might be a little hard to deal with. Can Gus turn his frown upside down before the other pirates make him walk the plank?

All kids can relate to feeling grumpy like Gus, and this swashbuckling pirate adventure teaches kids the importance of trying to have a positive attitude!

Why I love this book:

Starred review from Kirkus: The art is cartoony and appealing. It won’t take much searching for kids to recognize themselves (or their siblings) in Gus’ general poutiness… A paean to grouchy Guses everywhere presented with pouty piratical aplomb.”
Great rhythm and rhyme…a rollicking tale well-told about getting in touch with our emotions.
Wonderful illustrations full of fun that keep the reader engaged from first page to last.

RELATED ACTIVITIES

Photo courtesy:

Photo courtesy: https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/66927/25-pirate-crafts-kids-can-make/

Avast, me hearties! Here are 25 super cool pirate crafts to make with the kiddos. For detailed instructions: https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/66927/25-pirate-crafts-kids-can-make/

Please don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered in the generous giveaway from Corinne and her publisher of a copy of THE GRUMPY PIRATE. Maybe you can share what makes you grumpy.

I hope you all have a beautiful Labor Day weekend. And please come back next week when we have THREE blog posts…a book birthday for Liz Bedia’s BESS THE BARN STANDS STRONG, a Perfect Picture Book Friday for Dawn Young’s COUNTING ELEPHANTS, and a Will Write for Cookies with Kirsty Call who co-authored MOOTILLA’S BAD MOOD with Corey Rosen Schwartz.