Writing for Children and Teens: A Crash Course  (How to Write, Revise, and Publish a Kid’s or Teen Book with Children’s Book Publishers)
Pivotal Publishing
Nonfiction ReferenceÂ
Nowhere will you find a more comprehensive, current, and detailed writing course designed specifically for writing children’s and teen books, written by an author who is in the field today. Writing for Children and Teens: A Crash Course is a ten-step course that relays all the nitty-gritty details of the business, beginning with how to evaluate your book idea all the way to pitching your book to editors and agents.
Within each step, you’ll find clear and specific information covering topics such as the children’s book market, manuscript format, revision tips, finding the right agent or publisher, submission etiquette, and common faux pas to avoid. This book will even tell you what kind of paper you should use and exactly how you should write your letters to editors and agents.
Bonus materials include templates for all of your submission needs as well as examples of real-life editorial letters sent to authors from editors today. You will get a complete inside peek to the children’s fiction writing market for those who want to write picture books, easy readers, chapter books, and middle grade or teen novels.
(Summary from Amazon.com)
Bike On, Bear!
Aladdin Books
Picture Book (Ages 4 to 8)
Bear can do everything—except ride a bike. Discover how he overcomes his two-wheeled challenge in this irresistibly adorable picture book!
Bear can do almost anything. His one-paw pawstand is perfection. He can solve the trickiest of equations. He can even out-build a brigade of beavers. But the one thing Bear can’t do? Ride a bike.
Bear tries everything to help him learn: library books, training wheels and super-cheers from his fellow animal friends. But all of those fail to get poor Bear on two wheels.The situation is looking unbearable—but an unexpected mishap might be just the thing that propels Bear to bike on!
(Summary from Amazon.com)
Wooby & Peep: A Story of Unlikely Friendship
Sterling Children’s Books
Picture Book (Ages 4 to 8)
Opposites attract and become fast friends in this quirky, funny picture book.
Wooby lives in a nice, quiet neighborhood where everyone minds his own business. And he likes it that way. Then noisy, energetic Peep moves next door with her banging and smashing and crashing. She even gives a “wild†PARTY! At first, shy Wooby is beside himself—until he realizes that he and Peep have more in common than he ever imagined. Hilarious comic-book panels throughout add fun and joy to this unique story.
(Summary from Amazon.com)
I Took the Dare: 1 Book. 1 Social Experiment. 18 Young Writers.
Pivotal Publishing
Anthology
Inspired by a social experiment/writing contest created by children’s book author Cynthea Liu, eighteen young writers in grades 2-7 take a dare to better themselves for seven days, then write about it. The stories range from the warm to the wise to the sublimely hilarious. In this wonderfully charming and inspiring anthology, readers get a glimpse into tween minds as they struggle with issues like sibling rivalry, self-esteem, bullying, friendship, and many more. For educators, this little book serves as a great jumping off point for character education or units concerning the personal essay. Not only will students relate to the stories, they’ll walk away inspired to write with the beautiful voices they already possess. Maybe they’ll even think of their own dares and write about it. Information on how young writers can be included in future volumes of this anthology is also provided.
(Summary from Amazon.com)
Paris Pan Takes the Dare
Putnam Juvenille
Middle Grade Novel (Grades 4 to 7)
So what if it’s a rite of passage for every seventh-grade girl in town to spend a night in the woods? Paris Pan only just moved here, the woods are super creepy, and she has enough weirdness to deal with in her own family. Finding out a girl died mysteriously years ago while on the Dare—right near Paris’s new house, no less—is bad enough, but the unmistakably ghost-like noises coming out of the broken-down shed at the edge of the Pans’ property? Definite deal breaker.
All Paris wants is to make friends, try to fit in, and not have to deal with a dead girl. But everyone has to take the Dare, and the new girl’s turn is up…
(Summary from Amazon.com)
The Great Call of China (S.A.S.S.)
Penguin Young Readers Group
Young Adult Novel (Grades 7 and up)
Chinese-born Cece was adopted when she was two years old by her American parents. Living in Texas, she’s bored of her ho-hum high school and dull job. So when she learns about the S.A.S.S. program to Xi’an, China, she jumps at the chance. She’ll be able to learn about her passion—anthropology—and it will give her the opportunity to explore her roots. But when she arrives, she receives quite a culture shock. And the closer she comes to finding out about her birth parents, the more apprehensive she gets. Enter Will, the cute guy she first meets on the plane. He and Cece really connect during the program. But can he help her get accustomed to a culture she should already know about, or will she leave China without the answers she’s been looking for?
(Summary from Amazon.com)