Author: Robin Currie

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Kids Lit

Opening Lines for Picture Books

Kids Lit

First lines make a promise. From “Call me Ishmael” (Moby Dick, Herman Melville, 1851) to “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” (Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy, 1878). What first line drew you in so that it lingered in your memory? Did the book deliver on its promise?

In picture books we make the same promise to our readers/listeners each time we write a new manuscript. With those few initial words, we invite them to enter the world we have crafted and care about the characters. Because picture books have only 500 or so words, those first few are crucial!

In April Sara Kruger listed 30 new books with memorable opening lines. Below are a few examples.

“ROAR! Oh, no, you turned into a dinosaur!” (How to Dress a Dinosaur, Robin Currie, illustrated by Alycia Pace. 2022)

“Why aren’t you fuzzy like a dog, or buzzy like a bee?” (The Secret Code Inside You: all about your DNA, Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Steven Salerno. 2021).

“In 1969, people all across the world were sick”. (Tu YouYou’s Discovery Finding a Cure for Malaria, Songju Ma Daemicke, illustrated by Lin. 2021)

Agents and editors make decisions based on those first few words. Readers rushing through bookstores make buying decisions on them. Make them the best possible!

Innovative    

“The kids in Room 207 were misbehaving again. Spitballs stuck to the ceiling.”

Paper planes whizzing through the air. They were the worst-behaved class in the whole school.”

(Miss Nelson is Missing, Harry G. Allard Jr., illustrated by James Marshall, Illustrator. 1977.

“Once upon a time…” is for fairy tale adaptations. First lines engage the reader with curious information that urges them on to page 2.

 Immediate    

“That Spot! He hasn’t eaten his supper. Where can he be?”

Where’s Spot? Eric Hill, 1980.

Look over the first draft to find out where the action starts. Can anything before that point be woven into the manuscript later? Let the first line radiate the excitement to come.

 Intriguing    

“If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk.”

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond. 2015.

The first line relates what is unique about the story. The best opening lines will connect directly to the last line. Problem solved!

Imaginative 

“Horn went “Beep!” Engine purred. Friendliest sounds you ever heard.”

Little Blue Truck, Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry. 2008.

Every picture book word choice is honed to perfection, but the first words are the invitation into a new world. 

Illustrations

“In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf.” (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle, 1981.)

The first line should need no art note. It should be so clear that an editor or agent can immediately get a mental image. And maybe fall in love!

Often the finished first line will not be the first one you write in a rough draft, but ultimately the best one. Start…NOW!

Next month: Opening Lines for Nonfiction

Award Winning author Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, in library story times. She has sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and writes stories to read and read again! Robin was delighted to have the opening line of How to Dress a Dinosaur (familius, 2022) included in Sara Kruger’s Top 30 list of opening lines! Roar!

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Kids Lit

More Meantime…

Kids Lit

Things are getting more exciting for fall – real conferences in person with live editors taking pitches. But until then it is easy to fall into the summer slump since no one…seems…to be…doing…anything.

Don’t waste the opportunity to build PLATFORM! (Pause for loud groans and eyeball rolls.) That has been my attitude, too. Clicks, Likes, Tweets, and Followers just build up numbers to get a book contract. 

Ok – now that is out of our system, here is a different way to look at the platform.

Shift the focus from “How much we can gain in potential sales?” to “What can share with others who may not have time to do the research?” Start with what we know and want to write about: kids and books. Can we say 15-30 seconds about:

Babies – Board books, soft books, novelty. 

Seasonal, holidays, bedtime, birthday. 

Mom, dad, grandma, neighbors. 

New titles, old classics. 

Your favorites, your kids/grandkids/kid next door favorites. 

Preschoolers – pictures and novelty books.

Transportation, food, homes, holidays, new baby, pets. 

Classic fairy tales and the spin-offs. 

Books you love to read and read again.

Books from your religious tradition.

Early grades – picture books and beginning readers, books in series.

Appealing characters, diversity.

World exploration, cultures other than your own, holidays.

School and family stories – new and classics.

Funny books, sad books, poetry.

Middle grades – chapter books, novels, graphic novels.

Banned books, books tackling issues.

Magazines, special interests.

New books, relevant classics.

Fantasy, science fiction, time travel.

Tip 1: Check books out of the library. Show the cover to the camera/screen as if you were sharing it with a friend. (Don’t read the entire book since it is copyrighted.) Talk for 15-30 seconds about why you like it. 

Tip 2: Choose ONE medium – Instagram Reels and TicTok are big now, but that can change. Where are the people who could benefit from your knowledge? And where are you comfortable?

BONUS: Whatever books you choose to share become comp titles for your next proposal!

DOUBLE BONUS: You helped some parents pick the right next book for the kid they love!

Award-winning author Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, during library story times. She has sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and writes stories to read and read again! She hopes How to Dress a Dinosaur appears soon on one of YOUR lists! How to Dress a Dinosaur – Familius.com Shop

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Kids Lit

In the Meantime…

Kids Lit

The clock begins the minute we hit “send.” 

We just launched a glorious new concept, never done before in exactly this way, and it fits the publisher’s needs, and it is a GOOD STORY!

But the acknowledgment of all this effort is…crickets. Did it go into spam? Sick? On vacation? Moved and left no forwarding address?

Hours, days, MONTHS go by. We are living “in the meantime.” 

The publishing industry has scaled back a lot and is not back to pre-COVID levels yet. And there seems to be an annual lag in editorial activity from mid-July to Labor Day. What do writers do in the meantime?

Read

Stop by the library or reserve books online for easy pickup. Stock up in your genre, being aware of publication dates. Decades have gone by since The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Check the word count and subjects of books published since 2017.

Request

While you are at the library, ask the librarian what series or subject kids like. What questions are they asked that do not have recent books to answer. Check with preschool moms or kids at church or soccer practice for book suggestions. 

Refresh 

Where do people get book ideas? Everywhere? Start a file of new ideas and topics: A single object in a museum, a quote, an intriguing picture, a personal experience. Fill a folder with possibilities.

Revise

Dig out old manuscripts. The word count may not be correct for current submissions, but the story is good. Has the time come for that topic again? How could this story be tweaked to fit a different reader? Try rewriting in rhyme, as a comic book, from another point of view, in an alternative time period?

Recreate

Volunteer with kids at summer camps or at Bible schools, in museums or parks. Even the Snack Person hears a lot about kids’ interests and questions. 

Enjoy the summer and have a lovely “Meantime!”

Award Winning author Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, in library story times. She has sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and writes stories to read and read again! How to Dress a Dinosaur came out of direct exposure to preschoolers! How to Dress a Dinosaur – Familius.com Shop

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Kids Lit

Of Adjectives and Illustrators

Kids Lit

“So how do you feel about art notes?”

This came up to a panel of editors recently, and it was clear they wanted to put a positive spin on the answer.

As soon as a story starts burbling, I begin to “see” in my brain the characters and how they interact with the environment and each other. Sadly my art is so bad if I drew a cow (even with udders) I’d have to label it. So my first draft is filled with lots of communication to the illustrator (yet unknown) on how to make this book be exactly what I have in mind!

Over the books I have learned how to give (sometimes nervously!) the illustrator free reign – and the results are amazing! The illustrators chosen have not only been right for the story but augmented it with character emotions and quirks I could not imagine.

Now I edit with these “art notes” in mind.

1 Adjectives

Ah, those descriptive words that come so easily to writers! “The blond girl in the green sweater met the big dog.” Is it important that the sweater is green? Or that the dog is big? Or that the story will only work with a blond protagonist? For every descriptive word in the story, ask if each one will limit the artist or if the description advances the story or defines the character. If a word doesn’t matter (except in how you pictured it) remove and reduce the word count.

2 Art notes

Those little italic comments are off to the side, just in case the artist cannot imagine the action. (In that case, pump up the verbs so it is clear!) So tempting but the editors want to have their images and the artists will too. The only time they are needed is if the page is wordless or what you want in art is the opposite of what you are saying. Did Jesus have to be in a white robe with blue sash like every other picture? Resist! Resist!

3 Roughs

The first art we glimpse are the rough drawings. This is like the first or second draft of the writing. It is tempting to go through every page with helpful “suggestions” to show the squirrel eating a nut or having an areal shot of the house. Remember the artist not only has your words in mind but the page flow of the art, the total composition of the book, and the layout of the page with words. Unless there is a factual error (squirrel with two tails), let it go. However, if a certain drawing is a key to understanding the story and you want a change, mention it now before the art is finalized.

4 Surprises

They happen! Here’s a short story about a “Cat who Changed its Fur.”

I published Eyewitness Animals, Christmas Story, (Standard Publishing, 1997, now out of print). It’s the Nativity story through the eyes of 7 different animals who might have been there. The usual ones were Clomper Donkey and Wooly Lamb. My last character was Silky Kitty, the innkeeper’s cat. She led the little family to the barn behind the inn. In my mind, she was a slinky Siamese, able to get into small places and laze in the sun. 

At this time authors did not approve (or even see) art during production, but I figured how many ways were there to draw a donkey or a lamb? Or a cat? 

The book arrived and I loved the cover and the layout and the art! But when I turned to Silky Kitty’s story, I found she had morphed into…

There she is in front of the manger: Fluffy Kitty! 

Every year since it came out, I have read Eyewitness Animals, Christmas Story, to church preschoolers. Every year the favorite character is – you guessed it – Fluffy Kitty!

Award Winning author Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, in library story times. She has sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and writes stories to read and read again! How to Dress a Dinosaur had no art notes and look how cute it turned out! How to Dress a Dinosaur – Familius.com Shop

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Kids Lit

What is “High Concept”?

Kids Lit

After the fifth editor said, “I am especially looking for high concept picture books. I can’t explain that, but I know it when I see it!” I’ve been researching this elusive children’s book category. A high concept book idea is so immediately engaging and plot-driven, that a pitch is a single obvious and action-packed sentence. 

1 Premise-driven

The story is about the action, with less emphasis on character, dialog, or lyric writing. The story is easily summarized in one, intriguing sentence: what if ocean trash were art?

2 Suited for a wide audience

The high concept book is as much fun for parents to read as for kids. It is highly visual to engage all ages and has strong commercial appeal by being immediately relevant or a twist on easily understood situations. 

3 Unique

As in “Wow I never thought of that before! If your premise has been done before, take a new twist and then push it further. Imagine your book ad on a poster. What if the SUPERHEROES were at the Christmas manger?

4 Immediately intriguing

There must be an obvious source of conflict that grabs the attention from the title and delivers what it promises.

The book will undoubtedly include all the expected characteristics of a children’s book: story arc, problem-solving and relatable characters, three attempts and a climax in the plot, excellent word choice, rhythmic pattern, or flawless rhyme.

The best way to find examples of high concept is to read the tag lines from hit movies. (High Concept Movies – IMDb) Groundhog Day, Jurassic Park, Tootsie, Inside Out, Sister Act, The Incredibles. Each one has a poster where one picture and a phrase tell you exactly what you are getting.

The best way to dream up a high concept is to find a relation between two unrelatable things: Vacation on Jupiter. Dining out with various Australian animals. Then push it two or three steps wilder! A really boring vacation on Jupiter. Taking my Wallaby to the Waldorf Astoria.

And the best person to ask for a high concept story idea: any 7-year-old!

Author note: And without ever calling it high concept, my most recent book is How to Dress a Dinosaur  (How to Dress a Dinosaur – Familius.com Shop) and checks many of the boxes! The editor could not describe it, but she knew it was right!

Award Winning author Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, in library story times. She has sold 1.7 M copies of her 40 storybooks and writes stories to read and read again!

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Kids Lit

Who’s Listening to Your Story?

Kids Lit

We’ve all read picture books that just seemed not quite right – the subject matter was too obscure for a board book; the illustrations were too detailed to use in a group. Avoid these mismatches by taking a moment when you write (or revise) to picture the person or group who will most enjoy it. That decision will govern your word choice and count, tone and approach – even if you are writing a book about dogs!

1 Family one-on-one

The subject matter is not as important as the experience of snuggling together and sharing. Board books, pop-ups, and interactive sound books are popular. A dog story might review the actions of a puppy all day and the snuggle next to mom for the night.

Spot Says Goodnight by Eric Hill 

 2 Discussion topics for a family setting

The subject matter is specific to the child and situation. Topics may be divorce or bullies, sharing, emotions, school behavior. There will often be suggested questions for discussion or opportunities to follow up. A dog story might be fear of dogs and how to approach one safely. 

The Not-So-Scary Dog by  Alanna Propst 

 3 Small group school sharing

The subject matter will be specific to the group’s interest: dinosaurs, community issues, learning about other cultures. A dog story might compare the work dogs do in different parts world or use dogs to teach math concepts. 

Dozens of Dachshunds: a Counting, Woofing, Wagging Book by Stephanie Calmenson

4 Group read aloud

The subject matter is not as important, but the best (and repeated) read-aloud books have several common traits: simple pictures, limited text, humor, surprises, rhythmic language.

The dog story might be about a teeny dog who attempts tasks humorously too big for him but finally discovers what only a small dog can do. 

Dachshund Through the Snow by Michelle Medlock Adams

So, before you write the dog story (or folk tale or biography), take a minute to imagine the listener. That extra step may move your story to First Place. Woof!

Robin Currie learned story sharing by sitting on the floor, in children’s sermons, and in library storytimes. Robin has sold 1.7 M copies of her 30 Bible storybooks and writes stories to read and read again! How to Dress a Dinosaur is available now! How to Dress a Dinosaur – Familius.com Shop

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Kids Lit

Beyond Halloween, Christmas, Easter!

Kids Lit

Flip through the 2021 calendar and remember especially happy times. Big annual events were special, but your best memories may the “less stressful but loaded with fun” celebrations. Libraries and bookstores are hungry for picture books and board books beyond the Big Three to fill demand year-round. And back list titles take on new life every year! How can you fill this need?

Lesser-known holidays

Imagine or visit the local party store. What decorations festoon the aisles? President’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, May Day, Mother, Father and Grandparent’s days, Arbor Day, Thanksgiving. (Try mixing two – Valentine Turkeys, Thanksgiving dinner with the Presidents. Anytime a dragon or dinosaur shows up for a holiday, fun will ensue!)

Own voices holidays

If your personal traditions include Hanukkah, Juneteenth, Diwali or Cinco de Mayo, all children need these stories.

Birthdays and anniversaries

Celebrations are annual so the possibilities are always there. Kid birthdays are ready made opportunities for gift giving. How do flamingos celebrate? What’s the right gift for a grandma?  Who was the very first person to celebrate a birthday? (States have birthdays, too, as do countries, presidents and explorers. Great opportunity to piggyback on curriculum.)

“There’s a day for that?” celebrations

Foods have days: Jan 19 is popcorn, April 12 is grilled cheese, October 4 is tacos! Animals: Feb 27 Internal Polar Bear Day, June 4 Hug Your Cat Day, Dec 2 National Mutt Day. Activities, inventors, and saints all have days! None of these alone may be big enough for a book but a “Eat your way through the year” or “Which day is better Mutts or Cats?” (To find these lists put in your interest and add “holiday,” “celebration,” or “awareness day.”)

BONUS: all these celebrations lead naturally to back matter of recipes, crafts, family activities, and origin stories.

Here’s to a year of happy holidays!

Award winning author Robin Currie led children’s departments of Midwestern public libraries before being called midlife to ordained ministry. She has a special love for children’s literacy and Bible storytelling. Robin annually volunteers teaching English in developing countries. She and her husband actively grandparent 5 wonderful kids.

Robin has published seven library resource collections of creative ideas for library story times, and more than 20 Bible story books for children.

National Dinosaur Day is June 1! How to Dress a Dinosaur, illustrated by Alicia Pace and published by familius in March 2022.

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Kids Lit

2022: Your Best Year Ever Starts TODAY!

Kids Lit

What do you want to accomplish in your writing by Dec 31, 2022? From the perspective of January, everything is possible!

1. Vision

Hold a 1-hour team staff meeting with yourself and brainstorm all that could be in 2022. Remember in brainstorming there are no wrong answers, nothing too far fetched. Use sticky notes or file folders or a spread sheet. Dream BIGGER!

Vision: I want a manuscript sold to a publisher by Dec 31, 2022.

2. Plan

Sort stickies into categories: writing, platform, network

Plan: to publish book I need to:

Writing: read in category, generate ideas, 1st draft, critiques, edit

Platform: social media, personal contacts, conferences

Sale: research publishers, complete proposal, query, agent, pitch

Maybe stop for coffee.

Plan: to increase my platform I need to:

Social media: Facebook author, IG author, Pinterest pages, website

Personal contacts: teachers, parents, librarians, author, twitter and LinkedIn, blogs

Conferences: in person, virtual, opportunities to pitch or submit

Er, make that a latte with an extra shot.

Plan: to make the most of conferences I need to:

In person: dates, cost, travel, other opportunities in area

Virtual: dates, cost, critique and pitch opportunities

Other opportunities: Blogs or groups the regularly interview agents or editors who open to followers

Ready for a double expresso mocha?

3. First step

The first step is the hardest and the most exciting! Let’s go!

First Step: Today I will look at 7 recent books in my writing category
First step: Today I will add 1 item to my FB author page promoting the book of another author

Macchiato!

Robin Currie
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Kids Lit

How I Spent the Mesozoic Era

Kids Lit

Does it seem to take FOREVER to get a brilliant (they all are!) book published for kids? Even as a published author and an agent, months and yeas pass between burble of idea and book in hand.

The Idea

Somewhere between the Construction Equipment Phase and the Superhero Phase, the Dinosaurs roam. Kids are fascinated by the huge lumbering beasts. One theory is that small children, feeling powerless, imagine themselves as awe inspiring predators with gigantic teeth! Roar!

Boy and T-rex

The original inspiration for this story was in fall of 2014, when my youngest grandson was 3 years old and had many things on his mind to do with dinosaurs but few with getting dressed. James was in the dinosaur phase where he can’t pronounce “broccoli” but can say “Pachycephalosaurus” and correct my mispronunciation. He also owned dinosaur themed shirts, hats, socks, jackets, and underwear. And hundreds of plastic painful-to-step-on in-the-dark dinosaur figures.

So how about a book that empowers the child to feel the capabilities of the dinosaur channeled toward the mundane task of getting ready for the day?

The Writing/Editing

It was a brain burble that became first a badly rhyming text – what rhymes with Diplodocus? (Hopped aboard a bus? Was oozing green pus? Super-flu-i-us?). By 2016, I shared “Dressing a Dinosaur” 12-page board book with my critique group. They found things to improve in the 199-word manuscript – and that is why I appreciate them!

boy with stuffed dinosaur

A year of tweaking, renaming to How to Dress a Dinosaur and trimming to 181 words. They reviewed it in again in 2017 and thought Dinosaur was ready to roar.

In February 2019 I sent this manuscript to a critique service, and it received a “GO”!

The Publishing

On to my agent, which required a full proposal with marketing ideas, sales of earlier work, and comp titles – far more than 181 words. Luckily in the meantime no one else thought of this and wrote it!

how to dress a dinosaur cover

The Book

By March of 2022 I expect to celebrate 10 chewable pages of How to Dress a Dinosaur! (In a later article I’ll discuss the stages of preparing the world for this jungle shaking this even!)

Soooooo…

If you are counting, that is a total of 8 years for a board book! Take away: know your reader, edit, edit, edit, wait wait wait, but believe that the best ideas out there will find a home! Even if it seems to take longer than the Pleistocene era!

Robin Currie

Award winning author Robin Currie led children’s departments of Midwestern public libraries before being called midlife to ordained ministry. She has a special love for children’s literacy and Bible storytelling. She serves in Chicago area parishes and annually volunteers teaching English in developing countries. She and her husband actively grandparent 5 wonderful kids.

Robin has published seven library resource collections of creative ideas for library story times, and more than 20 Bible story books for children.