PiBoIDMo 2013: I'm cute...you can't eat me!

As with most of my ideas, this one blossomed from a conversation I was having with the boys as we drove home from school one afternoon. They are the target audience, after all. This is what got me thinking...




D: Did you know that D - in my class - is a vegetarian? I didn't know that. I just learned that today.
R: I don't think there are any vegetarians in my class.
C: How do you know that D is a vegetarian?
D: We were talking about it at lunch. So, she's a vegetarian. And B is a pescetarian. Do you know what a pescetarian is?
R: Yes, it's someone who eats fish. Right, Mom?!? Isn't 'pesce' fish?
C: Yes!
R: I remember that from my Italian picture dictionary.
C: Woohoo.
R: I can understand a vegetarian. They just don't eat animals. But why be a pescetarian? Why not just be an omnivore?
D: I know the answer, I know! B told me she's a pescetarian because she doesn't eat cute animals.
R: What?
D: You know...pigs have cute faces. Cows have cute faces. But fish...well, she says that fish aren't cute.
R: I think fish are cute!
D: Well, I think that broccoli is cute...and I still eat it.

"I'm cute...you can't eat me!"

Not quite sure where the story will go, but I like the idea of 'cute' being in the eye of the eater.

PiBoIdMo 2013: Day 2 - The Girl with the Yellow Bucket

This year three of our best friends - a mom and two girls - are spending the year in Lynge, Denmark.

The elder daughter, who is the same age as my eldest, is keeping a blog and wrote a post about her sister discovering chestnuts. There, chestnuts are so abundant, she can collect them to her heart's content, picking them from all her neighbor's trees.

I've been dreaming of chestnuts since I read the post. Today, at the market, I grudgingly paid $8.99 for a pound of chestnuts and thought about the photo of her sitting atop Mt. Stella. So, I decided to jot down some ideas about her. Her neighbors call her 'the girl with the yellow bucket.'

Uno's Garden {PiBoIdMo 2013 Reading}

In answer to a challenge put out by Tracey M. Cox, I am making my way through some of my family's favorite picture books. Today we re-read...

Uno's Garden 

by Graeme Base

Art collides with math and a message about the environmental effect of urban sprawl on different creatures in this gorgeous book by Graeme Base. My boys always giggled about the fanciful names for Base's animals: the Moopaloops, the Lumpybums, and - of course - the Snortlepig. While the demise of the animals is horrifyingly real, Base leaves the reader with hope that perhaps...things will get better.

Back to Reading Picture Books + The Rainbow Goblins {PiBoIdMo 2013)

Last month, when I chaperoned R's (6th grade) class to the Authors and Ideas Festival, one of the things that stuck in my mind: if you want to create writers, you need to foster readers. Makes perfect sense to me!

So, not only am I participating in PiBoIdMo 2013, I am going to go back to reading picture books...at least for this month. No, this wasn't my idea; it was a challenge put out by Tracey M. Cox. But I'll take it! These are not necessarily books that go along with my chosen focus this month - ideas about picture books that get kids to eat fruits and vegetables - but they are books that I enjoy or that my boys have enjoyed.

The Rainbow Goblins 

by Ul de Rico

The Rainbow Goblins was one of my favorite picture books as a child. I don't really remember why. I just remember being mesmerized by the paintings. The book went out of print. But, around the time that I became a mom for the first time, it came back. And since I couldn't get my mom to part with her copy; I snagged up three or four copies of the new version.

The goblins are twisted, diabolical, and downright creepy , but - hey! - they're the villains. The story is riveting and the illustrations vibrant. As the seven goblins prey on rainbows, drinking in the colors till their bellies almost pop, the roots of trees and flowers overhead and hatch a plan to thwart the goblins' hunt. Spoiler alert: the goblins do not catch the rainbow and we have the teleological reason why rainbows never touch the ground.

If you haven't read this book, you should!

PiBoIdMo 2013: Day 1 - Title Brainstorm

Today, we heard from Tammi Sauer who wrote this post to kick off PiBoIdMo.

Your Homework Should You Choose To Accept It: Brainstorm at least five titles. That’s it. No need to know the nitty-gritty of what is to follow. Just jot down those titles and maybe, just maybe, a story will sneak up on you.

Granted, I haven't done any research to see if these books are in existence already, or not. But this is what came to my mind:

1. An Edible Alphabet

2. Munching though the Rainbow

3. Farmer Johnny's Foggy Crops

4. Lettuce Talk Greens

5. Leafy Lies - It's All Spinach!

Extra Credit (because I am a true blue nerd who loves extra credit opportunities): Go to the bookstore and jot down the titles of the books you see. Perhaps one of those titles will be the perfect trigger to help you come up with your next big idea.

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child

The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola

Barnyard Banter by Denise Flemming

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington

Maple Syrup Season by Ann Purmell

Pre-Event Brainstorm {PiBoIdMo 2013}

Tonight I cracked the cover on a new journal, one that is dedicated to my PiBoIdMo 2013 ideas and inspiration. And I put pen to paper.

So far I have three ideas in the works; and they are all focused on the same theme: getting kids to eat fruits and vegetables. I am a food writer, after all; you can see my usual work at With a Pen & a Lens. I'm just going to spend the month thinking about conveying the same ideas to a new - and much younger - audience.

PiBoIdMo 2013 - I'm In!

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that though I love writing - and get paid to write! - and I am a parent, I don't often write for kids. Ever. Really.

I write notes to my kids, but I don't think of kids as a target audience for things that interest me: food sustainability, environmental issues, whiskey, wine, and coffee. Yes...believe it or not I just spent a month researching and writing an article about coffee. My kids listen to me ramble on about why we need to eat one way and not another, why I choose to buy chickens from one farm and not another. And I cart them along with me on research trips to visit beekeepers and learn how to roast coffee. But I don't usually think that other kids would enjoy these topics.

However, inspired by a good friend and her pledge to join the PiBoIdMo: Picture Book Idea Month - November 2013, I decided to take the plunge and see if I can complete the 30-day writing challenge and come up with daily ideas about how to write books for kids about important things such as eating fruits and vegetables. We'll see...stay tuned.

Thanks for the nudge P...like I need anything else on my plate this month!