Tag: writing helps

Book Review and Author Interviews, Writing tips

Analyzing for layers–PICK A PINE TREE by Patricia Toht

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Even though its the middle of November, I’m in a Christmasy mood!  So I chose a sparkly, new Christmas book fresh off of the library shelf and decided to analyze it for the layers that Julie Hedlund talked about in her FB video.

Here is a picture of the cover–isn’t it cute?

Interestingly enough, this book has a unique STRUCTURE in that it is a rhyming poem about the setting up of a Christmas tree, so it does not have much on the layers of PLOT and CHARACTER, but instead it is very strong in HEART, LANGUAGE, AND PACING.

In fact, I’m pretty sure HEART is the reason I chose it!  I’m drawn to those little Hallmark-y places where you can cut down your own Christmas tree as a family, sip some cocoa or cider, and then go home and have a special family night of decorating.  I identified with the description of each step in the process, and my heart does a big “Awww, so sweet!” because of the warm feelings doing this activity evokes each year.  It is a fun, family time!

I call the layer of LANGUAGE “word choice”.  Patricia Toht has this layer down pat! Even the title “Pick a Pine Tree” is poetic.  I love the phrase in the book “hang them all in little nooks” because that perfectly describes how we look for the perfect little spot to nestle in our special ornaments.

Other vivid/specific word choices that paint pictures:  
spiky needle clumps, 
snug and sturdy
bundle it upon your sled, 
piney scent, 
thirsty tree, 
bulging boxes, 
rusty tins, 
pointy tips, 
candle clips, 
trinkets, 
lacy snowflakes, 
silver drips

She does a nice job with PACING.  There is just the right amount of text on a page.  And many times the page ends with “but wait,” “next,” “it’s a…,” Which leads you to the next page.

As I mentioned, this was a book that paints the picture of decorating the tree–not an action driven or conflict driven PLOT.

As for CHARACTER, there is one main family, but there are many other people depicted.  There is not one main character in this book.

The RULE OF THREE is in there, but more subtle.  I found these three’s:

one with spiky needle clumps, scaly bark, or sappy bumps.
Lift, bundle, and bring it home
Golden star, velvet bow, angel dressed in flowing robes
I loved the details in the ILLUSTRATIONS, and I notice something new with each reading.  
For example: 
-the red thermos by the tree salesman in the chair at the tree lot,
-the texturizing of the trees,
-the netting on the tree that dad holds while mom trims the trunk,
-the white kitty hiding in the tree,
-the welcoming light from the house as they invite their friends in for a decorating day,
-(and on last page) Santa’s sleigh on the roof and Santa in the living room

As you read, you can hear the VOICE in the story that builds and builds to the crescendo:

“It’s a CHRISTMAS TREE” 
“Merry Christmas , one and all”

Finally, the THEME is not stated (of course) but I would say it is the joy that comes from family and togetherness at the holidays.

If you read this picture book, look for these layers!  I would love to hear other examples that you find! And great job Patricia Toht and her illustrator Jarvis on a beautiful Christmas book!
Author life, Writing tips

Layers–Julie Hedlund’s list of layers in picture books and link to FB live seminar

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Social media–gotta love it.

I was able to tune into a Facebook Live chat with Julie Hedlund about layers in picture books.  She had some fantastic information.  I shared it to my Facebook page if you are interested, or you can find it at the PB Summit Facebook page.  I also have a link to Julie’s FB Page because her page offers some more fabulous tricks of the trade that I think are helpful to any picture book writer.

Julie Hedlund Facebook

PB Summit Facebook

My Facebook Page

The layers she talked about were:
1.  Plot
2. Character
3. Heart
4. Rule of Three
5. Pacing
6. Illustrations
7. Voice
8. Structure
9. Language
10. Theme

What a great list!

I loved how she gave example texts and talked about how they exemplified each layer.  

So, for my next challenge, I am going to:

1. Check out some picture books and analyze for layering.

2. Revise my own manuscripts with these layers in mind.

I’ll let you know my progress! (Stay tuned!)

Thanks, Julie at PB Summit for a great FB Live post!

Book Review and Author Interviews, Writing tips

Interview with Laura Sassi about GOODNIGHT, MANGER and other AUTHOR INSIGHTS

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Book Trailer Link

So excited to have Laura Sassi here today to tell us about her holiday-themed title, GOODNIGHT, MANGER.   


 Laura, thank you so much for joining us!  I would love to hear how you came up with the idea for GOODNIGHT, MANGER! 


First of all, thanks so much for having me on your blog, Mindy. It’s wonderful to chat with a fellow Zonderkidz author. Christmastime is a favorite season at our house and I love to decorate in anticipation and that what’s led to my moment of inspiration.  One the centerpieces of our Christmas decor is a little plastic nativity set. It’s plastic because, when my children were little, I wanted them to be able to interact with the figures and really get a hands-on sense of the story of the birth of Christ. Well, one day, I overheard my daughter playing with the little Baby Jesus.  She was gently carrying him around the house saying things like, “Baby Jesus crying. It’s okay, Baby.”  As I watched, she gently fed him with an imaginary bottle. Then, she sang him a lullaby until he stopped crying. Finally, she placed him ever so softly back in the manger.  Before listening to this tender play, I’d never thought of Baby Jesus as ever crying. After all, we rarely see him crying in the Christmas cards we send and he doesn’t even sniffle in the carols we sing, but he was human (and God) and so he must have cried. And that’s how I got the idea for the story.


What a beautiful image of your sweet daughter.  My kids loved to play with our nativity sets, too.  I can easily picture them doing things like that even though it has been a few (just a few ha ha) years since they were that little. 


2.  You seem to have a special way with word choice and rhyme.  Are there any techniques you use that help you to choose “just the right word?”



Well, I’ve used this analogy before, but it’s a good one, so I’ll share it again. Writing in verse is a lot like knitting. To flow smoothly and be pleasing to the ear, the piece must have a consistent form both for the rhythm and for the rhyme.  My poems and stories in verse tend to follow an AABB or ABAB rhyme scheme and I’ve used a variety of meters. The important thing is not so much which pattern I choose for the rhythm and rhyme, but sticking with it. As with knitting, the fun comes in finding creative ways to express myself within that structure.  This is where “choosing just the right word” comes into play.  Sometimes, I’ll spend pages and pages, or even a whole notebook, playing with words for a story in progess. And I as think about word choice, I’m thinking about so much more than just the rhyme.  Each word I choose must, in its own way, push the story forward – either via plot or character development. I make it a rule never  to use a word just because it rhymes.  That’s not good enough. It also has to be the best word possible that makes sense for the story.  Done right, writing in verse enhances a story – making it extra pleasing to young ears.  My technique for this:  many, many rounds of revision.  =)


Revision is definitely key for any author!  I like the idea of selecting the word that not only rhymes but pushes the story forward.  Very insightful.

3. I also noticed that you have developed some arts and crafts and extension activities to go along with GOODNIGHT, MANGER.  Can you tell us about them? 


Oh yes!  Reading GOODNIGHT, MANGER is just the beginning – the conversation starter, so to speak, to what the Christmas story is all about – that God sent his son in precious human form, to be the Savior of the world.  And that, just like each of us, Jesus, too, was once a baby who felt all the things we feel and who even cried – and what joy this brings to know that He can relate to each and every one of us on this very human level.  I have several extension activities perfect for little ones on my blog. 

  Extension activities  (From Laura’s blog)

You can find more ideas at my guest appearance on Noelle Kirchner, The Ministering Mom’s website.

The Ministering Mom’s Website

8 activities to teach little ones about the Nativity


 Sounds very helpful for new moms. I loved nurturing my own children along in their faith through activities like this.  What wonderful resources.  Thanks for sharing them!  

4. What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

In addition to writing daily and being involved in critique group (which I highly recommend), my biggest recommendation for serious writers hoping to publish a book traditionally would be to seek agent representation. I’m convinced that it was that, coupled with many, many hours of writing and improving my craft, that landed me my first book contract. And even with an agent, landing that first contract took well over a year. Especially nowadays, when the competition is so intense and so many of the large publishing houses are closed to un-agented submissions, I think seeking representation of a good agent is crucial. Other than that, my biggest word of advice for aspiring picture book authors is to be patient. Keep honing your craft and don’t be in a rush to send your manuscripts off. Let them settle and then revisit them at regular intervals, allowing them to improve with age.


That’s great advice.  It is hard to be patient, but being a writer takes lots of patience!

5. What has been the most rewarding part of publishing children’s books? 

This is a hard question, Mindy!  It’s rewarding on so many levels.  First, it’s just such a joy for me to write. And that in and of itself is a wonderful reward. I’m very easy to please – just give me a pen and a scrap of paper and I’m happy as can be!   It’s also a rewarding, yet humbling, feeling to know that the story you wrote so carefully and poured all your heart and soul into, is now out there for children to read and enjoy with their families. I would also add that I am LOVING this post-publication stage where I get to go to schools and libraries and bookstores and share my stories and interact with my readers. I’ve always loved writing and I’ve always loved interacting with kids and now I’m getting to do both.  

The photos that I have seen of these events seem wonderful.  I hope I can attend one sometime! 

6. Finally, what’s next? Are there more picture books in the pipeline? 


2018 is an exciting year for me because I have two new books coming out. The first, which releases in March with Sterling Children’s Books, is called DIVA DELORES AND THE OPERA HOUSE MOUSE, about an opera-loving mouse who wants to help and the diva who thinks she deserves bigger help than a mouse. The second, which releases next December with Zonderkidz, is called LOVE IS KIND, about a little owl who searches for the perfect gift for his beloved grandmother and learns about love along the way. I can’t wait for these to release so I can share them with my readers.  

What fantastic news! You must be absolutely thrilled.  Congratulations.


Thanks for having me, Mindy!  It’s been so lovely. And I do hope that NEXT Christmas – when your book comes out – that you will join me at my blog so we can chat in celebration of your holiday release!


Yes, I would love to join you to share about my book when it comes out NEXT Christmas!!!

It has been wonderful having you visit my blog.  I admire and respect your work, and I wish you all the best!


P.S.  Laura will be running a Goodreads Giveaway of copy of the hardcover edition of GOODNIGHT, MANGER, signed by both author and illustrator which makes it extra special!

Check back to my blog for the link in the upcoming days…

Bio: Laura Sassi has a passion for telling stories in prose and rhyme.  Her picture books include  GOODNIGHT, MANGER (Zonderkidz, 2015), GOODNIGHT, ARK (Zonderkidz, 2014), DIVA DELORES AND THE OPERA HOUSE MOUSE (Sterling, 2018) and LOVE IS KIND (Zonderkidz, 2018). She lives in New Jersey with her husband, two children, and a black Cockapoo named Sophie. She is represented by Lara Perkins of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.


Other favorites by Laura Sassi

Book Review and Author Interviews, Writing tips

Mentor Text…What I learned from SCHOOL’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL by Adam Rex

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Mentor text demonstrating…POINT OF VIEW

Adam Rex takes a ho-hum subject, one that has been done and re-done, and done AGAIN, flips it on its head with a new point of view to create something wonderfully fantastic and VERY entertaining.

In this picture book, the “character” experiencing the first day of school is a newly built Frederick Douglass Elementary.  The school himself.  The school has interesting conversations with the janitor about what he is experiencing.  The fear of what it is going to be like, the insecurity…etc.

It also shows situations such as kids saying they “hate school”…which “makes the school sag a little.”  A little girl with freckles doesn’t want to come inside, so the school says to himself, “I must be awful.”

What I noticed about this is that Rex is actually touching on our human emotions and experiences.  Every reader can relate to how it feels to be hated or not included, but by having the school feel that way, it’s a fresh and unique way to explore that topic.  It gets us to think about filtering our words…how are we making others feel (in this case the school building which is whimsical and serious all at the same time) with our words.  And not once did Adam Rex say “we should be careful what we say to others, “or any preachy thing like that.  A very masterful way to get a message across to the reader.

Way to go, Adam Rex!  I loved your story of SCHOOL’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.  And thank you, PBSummit, for your wonderful suggestion of a mentor text.

Book Review and Author Interviews, Writing tips

Mentor Text…What I learned from A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE by Julia Donaldson

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I love this book!  Why?

WORD CHOICE!!!  WORD CHOICE!!  WORD CHOICE!!

This is a wonderful book showing us how to choose JUST THE RIGHT WORD in JUST THE RIGHT PLACE.  WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF REPETITION.

Words I love:

Squash 
Squeeze
fireside
grumble and grouse
my nose has a tickle
trod
titchy
implore
tapped out a jig
frolics and fiddle-de-dees
heavens alive
weeny for five

She is a master at rhyme–with just the right number of syllables.
Nothing is forced.
It’s just, plain, perfect!

Rhymes I love:

all by herself
jug on the shelf

grumble and grouse
room in my house

help me please
squash and a squeeze
no room to sneeze
goat’s got fleas
pig in the cupboard agrees
down on my knees

And then there’s the repetition.  She knows when to repeat and why to repeat.
Let me repeat...I love this book!

P.S. There is a lesson embedded–to be content with what you have–but it is not preachy–very natural!  So that is another take-away.  In your manuscript, don’t tell your lesson, trust that your reader will “get it” through your story.