SNAIL MAIL AUTHOR LETTERS

Hello lovelies. 

Many of you are home with kids due to the current world health pandemic. {That is a sentence I never thought I'd write. }

But here we are, facing fear with courage and creativity. And in that light, I would like to offer some ideas. 

I got to homeschool my kids for four sweet years. 

During that time, we enjoyed heaps of knee-deep creative learning. 

In case it helps anyone who suddenly has a houseful, 

I thought I'd share some favorite creative learning projects with you over the next few days.

SNAIL MAIL AUTHOR LETTER PROJECT

One of our favorites was when we tried to write 100 letters to children's book authors & illustrators. Life jumped in and we only managed about 35 or 40 letters, but many authors wrote back & won fans for life! 

Some authors sent bookmarks and "swag." 
Some drew the kids beautiful pictures. 


Thank you Nina Laden!Thank you, Dana Sullivan!

Our very dear Kim Baker sent my girl Winnie a PICKLE t-shirt. Swoon!
 Rayna received a package from author-illustrator Evan Turk that had two of his books in it!
 

  This project incorporates:

• LITERACY (read an author's book)
• CRITICAL THINKING (What questions do you have for the author or illustrator after reading it? What do you wonder about? What connections do you have with the author or book that you can share?)
• RESEARCH (google author & hunt down a mailing address - or mail to the author c/o the publisher address)
• WRITING (How to write a letter is a helpful thing to learn! We always did a rough draft, edits, final draft)
• ART (I always had the kids add an illustration inspired by the author's book)

Stay tuned for more homebound learning ideas over the next few days!

HOW TO MAKE A PICTURE BOOK DUMMY

12 Easy-Peasy Writing Secrets, or How to Find Ideas

I get to talk with 4th graders this week about writing. 

As they especially want to know where writers get their ideas, 

I thought I should make a list. 

I decided to share it with you, too. 

This isn't the quantitative, end-all list of idea-catchers, mind you

because, as all writers know, ideas can be found....

• 1. At the bottom of the dryer
• 2. In snatches of conversation 
• 3. In the waiting room at the doctor's office 
• 4. Under the couch, next to the monster's eyeball
• 5. Inside a pair of Seven League Boots
• 6. Buried under the witch's bones in the graveyard
• 7. In a fistful of stolen pirate gold
• 8. In the pocket of the Wrong Coat at the Lost & Found
• 9. Behind a secret staircase in the old castle
• 10. In the next chapter after the final chapter of the last book you read

Of course, this list goes on 

and on

and on...

Writer friends, where do you find your ideas?

Any special plants or potions or special tricks

 that keep your ears and eyes 

ready for your next idea?

Teachers, you are welcome to use this freebie printable as a teaching resource.  Feel free to share links to this page. 

To use this resource, just drag the image to your desktop and print. 

Thank you for keeping this original content credited to its creator.  Cheers!

Let Sleeping Bears Lie, and Sneak Peeks

It's not exactly sleeping bears, -not much sleeping at all, really, 

but I am discovering that the road to illustrating picture books  

involves much burrowing away in caves.

A bit like hibernating. 

The good news is that sometimes 

when writers and illustrators hibernate, 

they have magical news to share.

I am a sucker for fairy tales. 

In 7th grade, I won a poetry contest. 

With my prize - a gift certificate to a local bookstore -

I bought two of the largest collections of fairy tales I could find. 

I devoured those books. I breathed in those stories

and longed to make my own. 

And now my life has come full circle. 

I'm thrilled to tell you that I get to illustrate Lynn Parrish Sutton's story

ONCE UPON A TIMELY

with Kane Miller books. 

What magic!

A huge thanks to Molly O'Neill and Root Literary for helping make this happen. 

Thanks to all of my friends and mentors who have encouraged me along the way.

And thank you to the bookstore, the poetry contest, the teachers 

who coaxed me to read and write and make art... 

Where would we be without the very special magic of having someone believe in us?

Here are a few sneak peeks...

Happy dance!

Sometimes dreams draw close enough to touch.

This is mine. 

Making books. 

I think I've whispered that dream to you, my friends. 

Maybe a few times. 

Over the past two years, I've been working as a paraeducator at an elementary school

while feverishly pursuing illustration and writing in all the extra corners, 

loving on my wildebeests,

and sometimes catching up on dishes.

I've put in late nights and early mornings, 

repeatedly fallen asleep 

with pencil in hand, 

and enjoyed a tumult of emotions 

while scrabbling between jobs and family, 

art and laundry. 

 And here it is. 

This wisp-ish dream has come close enough to touch. 

To folks who don't know me, it might seem like it all happened in a flash. 

Like I said, 

"Guess what? I want to make books!" 

"I got an agent!"

"I am going to have a book!"

But you know. 

It's been years. 

Fruitful in so many ways. 

Fruitful in some really hard things! 

And fruitful in thankfulness

and learning to savor the small beauties in life. 

Fruitful in trying to spread love like seeds. 

Fruitful in hunting for the sacred in the dirt.  

In being thankful for each day 

my family and I get to be healthy and alive. 

But still, years. 

It has been so long 

I started to think my dream would stay wishy, 

and that would have been okay, too.

But here it is! It's real!

I'm reveling in this strange and unfamiliar thrill

of having my bright dream come near. 

I am going to be a picture book author and illustrator. 

 I have so many thanks to all of you who have helped me reach for the stars.

Thanks to my teachers, my friends, my crew of writers and illustrators, my family.

And thank you to Molly O'Neill and Root Literary for believing in me. 

To Maria Modugno at Random House for believing in this story. 

Here's to dreams, my friends!

new news

I'm so thrilled to share my news with you:

I'm now represented by Molly O'Neill at Root Literary.

Here's to all the words ahead -

The scribbles, sketches, 

 fresh pages,

new chapters,

erasers.

Here's to exuberance -

all those story seeds wishing their way into the world 

- and to hope.

If you're interested, I'd love to show you my new website:

faithpraybooks.com

I'll still tend this blog when I can, 

still share my lovely finds

 of life and books and story-making, 

wildebeest-wrangling, life-learning, and looking for joy in the daily dirt.

Thank you for supporting and encouraging and connecting with me

through the past eight years. 

Thank you.

Here's to our adventures ahead!  

Conference snippets, and ducks

As promised, here are gems from the SCBWI-WWA Spring conference (that's the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Western Washington division, in case you wanted to know).

Ducks... in the pool!
That's the way we do conferences in the Pacific Northwest.

Celebrity sightings!
Author-illustrator Dana Sullivan and the wildebeests showed off some of his book magic.

Richard Jesse Watson encouraged us to question our characters:
           What do they do for fun? What do they think about marmalade? Do they like chickens?
           What would they be like in dinosaur times?

Sketch notes.

Maybe perseverance is worth it. - Patricia Hruby Powell

The writing process is really about revision. - Stephanie Pitts

I'm thankful for the reminder this weekend that writers are more aptly called rewriters.

 

Don't be afraid to do a bad job. Just jump in and do it! - Laurie Ann Thompson 

Sometimes I mire down, stuck so hard looking for the perfect story.  

I love this permission from author Laurie Ann Thompson to loosen up.

I was smitten with Sarah Stewart and David Small, the author and illustrator team behind the books The Gardener, The Library, The Friend, The Journey. Both Sarah and David are so gracious, their words stirring and deep.

Kazu Kibuishi, creator of The Amulet books, got into writing 

because a high school teacher believed in him.

Thanks to a teacher's words- "You can DO this! You can be a writer!"
he got serious about making stories.

It just goes to show you that words
can transform the entire course of a life!
Yay for teachers! Yay for words!

Speaking of encouragement, I got to enter a juried portfolio show.
 
Gorgeous portfolios!
 
Stunning illustrations!
 
And here's one surprise that blew me away:

{quote from the SCBWI WWA Chinook blog:

A jury of faculty judges reviewed all of the portfolios for our 2017 SCBWI Western Washington Juried Portfolio Show.

           Booster Award winner: Faith Pray
           2nd runner up: Margaux Meganck
           1st runner up: Alexander Mostov
           Grand Prize winner: Tracy Subisak    }


What a gift!
I'm so thankful for this honor.
Wow.


I am thankful to the lovely SCBWI Western Washington circle
of illustrators and authors.

What a dazzle of people!
I'm inspired by their diligence and heart.

Books!

The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken
Bloom by Doreen Cronin, ill. by David Small Digger and Daisy Plant a Garden by Dana J. Sullivan
Be a Changemaker! by Laurie Ann Thompson
Pickle by Kim Baker
Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi