I just finished editing Jewel of the Sea. The chapters are in draft on Wattpad and I just need to consolidate and format them into a manuscript. So, I decided I should take part in PitMad.
I joined the PitMad Challenge Facebook group hosted by Kathy Ver Eecke. For the week leading up to PitMad, Kathy set daily challenges to help us with developing our pitches for the event. It really helped.
I got some likes but they were by other writers that were being supportive and I don’t think they realised what it meant. All thought I didn’t get any real requests, I did make a ton of connections. Twitter kept freaking out with all the activity and kept checking I wasn’t a robot due to the unusual activity. In just a few hours of starting I had 200+ new followers.
Here is my Twitter Moment created to highlight my experience of #PitMad June 2019.
This review is based on board books I bought for my son. I have borrowed similar books from the library but these are my own.
Board books have thick cardboard pages throughout making them very hardy. Don’t give them to a teething baby because they can turn the cardboard to pulp! These books are great to enable your little one to build confidence in books and turning the pages.
Guess How Much I Love You
Author: Sam McBratney
Illustrator: Anita Jeram
This story is a classic and an excellent bedtime read. Little hare is coming up with ways to express how much he/she loves big hare. Big hare keeps coming up with something bigger. It’s where the saying ”I love you to the moon… And back” comes from.
No Matter What
Author: Debi Gliori
If you’ve had a tough day with your little one, this is a great story about how ’no matter what’ you always love them. It’s also ideal for parents that can’t always be with their child as the last page has a beautiful message about wherever you are, you still love them.
Peace At Last
Author: Jill Murphy
This story follows Mr Bear trying to get to sleep but everywhere is noisy. My son loved the different sounds in the story and joined in with the repetitive ”Oh no, I can’t stand THIS!”
The Snail and the Whale/Room on the Broom (box set)
Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler
This set contains two Julia Donaldson books and would make a great gift for a child. Her stories have a great rhyme which children enjoy hearing and a good story.
This book follows a snail that tours the world with a whale. There are some beautiful images illustrating how vast the world is and the different climates of different countries. When the whale gets beached, the snail saves the day – teaching that no matter how small you are, you can make a difference.
This story follows a witch that keeps dropping her things from her broom. As she hunts for her belongings she makes new friends who join her on the broom. These friends save her when she gets into trouble with a dragon who’d like to eat her with chips. She then makes a truly magnificent broom to accommodate them all.
*****
Have you read any of these? Is there a board book that you think I need to add to my collection – I’d love to hear your recommendations.
It is a day to encourage children’s reading. Events are held across the UK to encourage children to talk about books such as dressing up as their favourite character. Many kids receive a voucher to get a sponsored book for £1 or £1 off a book of their choice.
Many publishers and other sponsors will host competitions so it is worth checking social media. Last year, I won the box set of “Percy Jackson” by Rick Riordan from Write Children’s Books For Children who ran hourly competitions on Twitter!
This year, my son has chosen to be “The Jolly Postman” by Janet & Allan Ahlberg. He loves the books which are interactive and every other page is an envelope with a letter inside (or card, puzzle or mini book, etc). Plus, he has a red bike – very cool to a 4-year-old!
Both books were bought by Noah’s aunty Hev (you can follow her blog “This Pug Can” by clicking here). No prizes for guessing which was for his birthday and which was for Christmas.
After role play in his (Postman Pat) costume as the Jolly Postman, we got warm inside with blankets, wotsits and the books themselves. Usually, we read these at bedtime but today we had time to do the puzzle and play the board game.
I also feel I need to say a big thank you to Asda. The costume sold out online. Other stores had a similar one for an extra £10 and someone was selling Asda’s costume on Amazon for twice the price! Asda tweeted back to help track down a costume for Noah. In the store, staff retrieved it from the warehouse and Noah changed his mind! He now wanted to be a lion from “How to Hide a Lion!” by Helen Stephens. We began leaving the store and he changed his mind again and did want to be the Jolly Postman. The staff returned to the warehouse to get it again. They were so helpful and friendly and didn’t complain once about the interchangeable mind of a preschool diva.
Have a jolly World Book Day
I hope you have a jolly world book day and I would love to hear about what books you have been enjoying or the characters your child dressed up as today.
