Sneak Peak: At the S.E.A. Aquarium

If I haven't mentioned it already, I'm really thrilled with my revamped series of books with Epigram and I really love my illustrations. Here is a sneak peak of two of the Soefara Jafney's illustrations from At the S.E.A. Aquarium. I love them!!

Jeremy's Gems

Do you remember the Bill Cosby Show 'Kids Say the Darndest Things' ? Well, I would also say they do the darndest things and more. When my niece and nephews were younger they would always do and say things that would capture my imagination. Kids nowadays are a lot smarter than I used to be, that's for sure. (My 2 year old niece Ashley Flora [right] is a real fire cracker).

Read on and you'll see just what I mean.

When I was on a family holiday at a beach resort in Thailand  I spotted some bikini-clad babes basking in the sun (Well, obviously, it was a beach resort, right?). I observed from a distance. When Jeremy asked me what I was looking at, I pointed toward the beach beauties. With a shrug and a disapproving sigh, Jeremy said, "Yeah, they're pretty but when I'm a man, they'll be grandmas!"  He was only three years old at the time, believe it or not.

Aware of my family's perpetual quest to find a nice gal for me, he took it upon himself to play matchmaker on the flight home. With a glint in his eye and a cheeky grin, he attracted the attention of a flight attendant and asked,  "Do you have a boyfriend?"  My siblings chuckled uncontrollably knowing perfectly well where the direction of the conversation was headed. I slinked down in my seat and buried my face  in the in-flight sales magazine, hoping that this would blow over.

The aforementioned flight attendant was spoken for, but she invited him to the galley, and when he emerged beaming, his arms were overflowing with stuffed toys, coloring books and crayons. As he took his seat, he proudly declared: "She loves me!" Believe me, Jeremy's done a lot more classic things but I'm saving those stories for now.

So do your kids say or do the darndest things?

Writing for Kids

I've had some people ask me about the process of writing kids' books.  Well, I would say it is pretty much like a pregnancy. Yeah, what would I know about being pregnant, right? But think about it - you start by  conceiving the idea, then you get cravings during the gestation -for me it's usually potato chips or cheetos. Then you go through mood swings and finally you suffer intense labor pains  to bring your story into the world and without the benefit of a literary epidural!

So how do you figure out what kids like or want to read? It helps if you're around kids a lot so you can observe them - watch what they do, how they talk, what they talk about, and what they like to read or watch on TV. When you get signed to a publisher, a lot of your ideas may get thrown out the window. it's happened to me and others as well, but it's something you have to put up with if you want to see your story in print.

Having said that,  I believe that everyone has a story in them, be it a kids story or an adult one and it deserves to be shared in one form or another. So if you have any questions about writing for kids, please let me know and I'll try to answer them.

Poopsies

When I was just a baby my big brother lent me his one and only  teddy bear. In a show of gratitude, or maybe I was just being territorial, I promptly pooped all over it. That incident scarred my brother as it did his beloved teddy. And he has never let me forget about it!

Which brings me to today's topic -  poopsies. How many parents out there are having a hard time training their kids to go poopsies by themselves. I'm asking because my cousin Gaby  is in the midst of training her youngest to go potty by himself.  Is it harder to train a girl or a boy to go potty by themselves?

Are boys more possessive of their poopsies? I know that my nephews, one in particular, enjoyed giving me  blow-by-blow accounts of their poopsie movements. Maybe it's harder to train boys because they enjoy sharing the experience. I don't know. What do you think?

So please let me know what are your preferred methods of  potty training. What works, what doesn't? Is there a need for books about potty training? Talk to you soon. D

Kids and Kids' Books

Hi Everyone,

I'm David but please call me Dave.

Well, I was inspired to start writing kid's stories when I used to babysit my niece Sam and three nephews Sebastian, Jeremy, and Alexander when my their parents went on their weekly Friday night dates. With four kids under the age of six, Mom and Dad really needed their alone time.

Those marathon babysitting sessions were an experience -  a roller coaster of emotions - laughter, happiness, tears, temper tantrums and endless calls to Mom and Dad, pleading with them to come home ASAP!  Ok, truth be told I made most of those phone calls.

By bed time, this frazzled uncle, would read stacks of bedtime stories until  I lost my voice. That's when my two-and-a-half year old nephew Jeremy would snap: "What's wrong with your brain? Read faster!"

After having my intelligence questioned by a toddler, I decided to come up with a couple of short, and easy-to-read-aloud stories about the Sam and her brothers. I wrote about Sebastian's traumatic first school day - it was traumatic for all of us, believe you me. I wrote about Gramps having the Grumps, an all too common occurence. And I wrote about their cousins, a pair of monkeys my big sister adopted at the zoo. Yes, I am a monkey's uncle!

Well, the kids have grown from toddlers into tweens and teens, but I'm still writing about them.  They've given me a lot of material to work with.  I've recently set up a small publishing business, Bonnie Books and I hope to publish a series of quality children's picture books.  What kind children's picture books you would like to see?  Have your kids inspired you to write picture books? Would you like to know anything about picture book publishing?  I would love to hear from you. Thanks to Clayton Morris and Today In Social Media for the great advice.