Highlights for Children: Short Story Review

"The Bunch of Bananas"
I recently read a short story in Highlights for Children magazine. To summarize, it was about 2 monkeys named "Mingo" and "Bingo" who needed to bring bananas home to their mother. On the way back to "Mom", Mingo passed the bananas to Bingo to take home because he was distracted by a friend who wanted to play, then Bingo saw a rabbit and passed them off to the rabbit to take home, because he had also been distracted by a friend that encouraged him to play. To make a long story short, the rabbit passed it off to a rhino, but the rhino didn't hear or see the rabbit say, "take these to Bingo's Mom", as we discover later. The rhino only saw someone had left the bananas there. So Mingo comes home and asks Bingo where the bananas are, and Bingo asks the rabbbit, and the rabbit says the rhino was supposed to bring the bananas. The rhino comes and the rabbit asks where the bananas are. The rhino states that he ate them! Rhino says, "I never saw or heard you. They made a great snack!" At the end Mingo and Bingo are sent back to the store for another bunch of bananas-but!! this time they come straight home!

My review: I believe this children's story is appealing due to the characters being animals, the rhyming of the brothers, "Mingo" and "Bingo"-rhymes seem to attract children's attention, and the lesson that it teaches at the end through example of learning something the hard way, before learning to do the right thing.
As I learnt from studying some children's writing material, this story has a beginning, middle, end, characters' point of view, a conflict, rising action, climax, and resoulution to the conflict. I also believe in children's books, there is usually a moral, value, or lesson that is learned, which is very nicely evident in this story at the end.
What I learnt from reading this story was that when reading children's stories, you can hear and see a pattern to it, like the rhyming, the interesting way a point is made, the accountability of the characters by resolving a problem, and the point of view spoken from someone a child would like relating to, for instance in this story, the animals.
I'm reviewing children's writing on my blog, because I have a strong interest in it, but more important, I want my blog to help others who aspire to become a children's writer, step by step, the way I'm still learning it.

Magazine Review: Getting Published at Age 50

Hi. I recently read an aritcle in "Writer's Digest" that gave tips on how to get published when advancing into your later years.
Many famous authors were listed as getting published at age 50 or even later. I believe one such person was the author of "The Little Prince." It stated she was 50 before that particular work was published.
An Indian author was also listed as writing a particular work and not getting published till 60, and even more suprising, one work he had written was published when he turned 94.
Further on, various tips were given on how to approach publishing at this later age. Adding humor, it said not to tell your publisher how wonderful you were in World War II. Secondly, don't give the person who you want to publish your work the idea that you have only one big novel or book to write and then your'e set for 10 years or so.
In addition, it expressed to take rejection gracefully-and stating that many authors' first book was rejected, and that more mature authors have created an impression among publishers that they know what they're doing. So, be open to constructive criticism.
In summary, the article very clearly conveyed the message that there is a positivie outlook for writers of all age, even if they are mature in their years.
So, keep writing!, and always be hopeful and confident. -R.Kapitan

Posted by Rome at 1:45 PM 0 comments

Here's an Interesting Article for Children's Writers

Pat McCarthy and I are both members of the Children's Writers Coaching Club at the National Writing for Children Center. Pat is the author of over a dozen books for children. Read this article from Pat and learn how to write articles for children's magazines.

Eight Easy Steps to Writing an Article for Children
by children's author, Pat McCarthy

Have you thought about writing an article for a children’s magazine? Maybe you have an idea, but you’re not sure how to go about it. Here are some tips.

Step One. Choose a topic. It should be something that many children will be interested in. But it should also be something you know about or are interested in learning more about. Animals, sports, famous people, science and how-to articles are all popular choices..

Step Two. Narrow your topic. Concentrate on just one aspect of it. I wanted to write an article about birds. I’d just returned from Florida, so I decided to concentrate on the birds I saw in one place, Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge. This was still too broad a topic, so I honed in on how different birds there eat. The article, “Dinner at Ding Darling,” was published by Children’s Digest.

Step Three. Research your article. Use both online resources and books and articles. Editors like a mix of print and Internet sources in a bibliography. Look for interesting little tidbits that will appeal to kids. Find facts with wow appeal and yuck appeal. Kids like the amazing as well as the gross.

Step Four. Organize your research. Jot down the main points you want to make, then go through your notes and plug them into your outline. It doesn’t have to be a formal outline. It just needs to get your thoughts in order. I love outlines. Once my outline is done, the article seems to almost write itself.

Step Five. Write the article. Decide what age you are writing for, then try to keep your writing on that level. Don’t talk down to kids but try to use words that age child would know and understand. Keep your sentences simple and fairly short. Use short paragraphs. Children are intimidated by large blocks of type.

Step Six. Revise and edit your article. To make sure it flows smoothly, read it aloud to yourself. That will enable you to notice the rhythm and to find repeated words. Be very sure there are no errors in spelling or grammar.

Step Seven. Research the markets. Get a copy of Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market or research children’s publishers online. Make sure your article is the right length, for the right age, and on a topic the magazine uses.

Step Eight. Submit your article. Then get busy writing another one.

Sound simple? Try it! With a little work and practice, you can be successful at writing articles for children.

Pat McCarthy is an instructor for the Institute of Children's Literature and the author of over a dozen books for children. Learn more about her books at her blog, http://www.PatMcCarthysAuthorBlog.blogspot.com If you have a question about writing for children, e-mail Pat at patmcbirder@woh.rr.com. More resources for children's writers will soon be up on her blog.

Hi, Suzanne!

Hi!, well, I finally got my pic up!-now you know who I am!
Anyway, glad you can see me now.


Rosemary.

Hi, I'm Rosemary -herer is my pic, finally!!

My Photo is Now Up!

I'm writing 2 blogs today, to make up for yesterday - I missed writing on here yesterday and I'd like to keep this a daily activity.


I am sincerely thoroughly enjoying learning about how to write for children. I have to go now to return some library books, but I'll be back tomorrow. Thanks for visiting!

Welcome to My New Blog

Hello.

I'm currently working on a children's book about Fred and Freckles, his dog.
I'm trying to come up with a problem (conflict), resolution, and how Fred is different at the end of the story.

I enjoy revising because you can see your improvements. Writing can be alot of fun-the process of it.

Talk to you tomorrow!-Rome/Rosemary.