Monday, February 1, 2016

It's Time to Stop! Look! Listen with Miranda Paul PLUS A Give*Away!

Stop! Look! Listen!
Three tips for writing interactive picture books
By Miranda Paul

Teachers are always instructing students to stop, look, and listen — to stay safe, to gather information, to be in tune with their senses. These three actions are also sound advice to children’s writers.

Some of my favorite picture books are successful because they invite engagement and interaction. Parents and teachers love these books. Why? The author has done the hard work for them, so they can easily hold the attention of youngsters. In essence, you’ve made your audience the star of the show.



Engagement was high priority for me while working on WHOSE HANDS ARE THESE?, my new guessing game book about community helpers. The result? Teachers and students are interacting with the text and having fun.



If you’re working on a picture book, I encourage you to “Stop, look, and listen!” These three tips will help you write more engaging, interactive picture books.

1.      STOP – Is there a place (or places) in your manuscript where the text stops, pauses, or slows down so that a reader might anticipate what’s coming next? Punctuation, cliffhangers, and clever page turns can all work together to engage your reader.

2.      LOOK – Have you left room for visual clues? A lot of newer writers tend to overwrite. Instead, let illustrations tell half of the story in a picture book. And once the book comes out, don’t be surprised if children notice things in the illustrations before grown-ups. (Super kudos to illustrator Luciana Navarro Powell for sneaking in narrative subplots into the pictures!)


1.       


(Caption: In this image, Luciana has linked four other community occupations to the mechanic shop. Can you find the connections to the rest of the book?)

2.      LISTEN – Does your story have playful or rhythmic language that’s easy to memorize or fun to repeat? Picture books certainly don’t have to rhyme, but as you’re writing, it’s important to read your work aloud again and again, and have others read it to you.

Stop, look, and listen for yourself – here’s the lively book trailer for WHOSE HANDS ARETHESE?


Miranda Paul is the award-winning children's author of Water is Water, One PlasticBag, and Whose Hands Are These? Her books have been named to several "Best of" lists and are being translated into multiple languages. Miranda is a frequent presenter at schools and libraries. One of her bravest moments involved reciting poetry inside a crocodile pit. (Yikes!) Miranda's forthcoming 2016 titles include Trainbots and 10 Little Ninjas. Learn more at www.mirandapaul.com.

A NOTE FROM LYNNE MARIE: Miranda is one of the fabulous, talented critique group friends I have made on my path to publication. I am excited and pleased to be able to see her achieving the success she has always deserved. 

Here's something that's exciting for YOU. To celebrate her February 1st Book Birthday, Miranda will be giving a free copy of Whose Hands Are These? to one of the lucky readers who comments here. A name will be drawn on Monday, February 29, 2016. Good Luck! 

50 comments:

  1. Great advice, Miranda! It's so much fun to write and read interactive picture books. Thanks for reminding us of the tools to use when creating them and thank you, Lynne Marie, for sharing this :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are very welcome! It was so fabulous to have Miranda here. We were in a critique group before I stopped writing in 2011 and I must say her success is well-deserved!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for sharing Miranda and her beautiful books with us. I'm looking forward to reading her latest!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations, Miranda! And thanks for sharing a bit of your process and the giveaway. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on the book release, Miranda! I love Water is Water so much and recommend it constantly to anyone who will listen, so I'm eager to check out this one, too. And I now officially want to go back to my own manuscripts and give 'em the ole STOP / LOOK / LISTEN once over to put your great advice to work. Thanks for this excellent article, Lynne Marie!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations! I am a big fan of your work,and a grateful recipient of all you do to support your fellow writers-especially those just starting out. This is great advice.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love the title of your Book "Whose hands are these?" What a clever way to introduce the concept to a child of all the people in their neighborhood. Really look forward to reading it. Thank you for the reminder of the element of surprise. I think this may just be what my book draft is needing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations on your new book. Your advice for writing interactive picture books is very helpful. Thanks. Looking forward to reading Whose Hands Are These?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats on the book release! Great tips!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yay! This book is so much fun!!! And I love your tips.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Miranda's tips are well-received and easy to remember. Her book trailer would make anyone want to get this book. Wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The book trailer is all thanks to illustrator Luciana Navarro Powell!

      Delete
  13. Great advice-- we have heard it since childhood, but I never thought about applying it to picture book writing,

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you everyone for stopping by to visit Miranda at My Word Playground! Your presence is truly appreciated, as is Miranda's!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love all your books Miranda. Thanks for the great advice today!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congratulations! I can't wait to get my hands on this. Thank you for sharing such great advice.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great book! I have read and reviewed on our kidlit blog GROG. http://groggorg.blogspot.com/2015/12/whose-hands-are-these-by-miranda-paul.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing that link. Everyone—if you haven't yet visited the GROG, please do!

      Delete
  18. Looks great! And I can use in storytime.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Congratulations on your newest book, Miranda! And thanks for the great advice!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Congratulations, Miranda :) Thank you for the tips to stop, look, and listen. I'll be applying those to my current mss. I'm going to get my copy of your new book. It's been exciting to see its debut! Thank you, Lynne Marie for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank you for the tips! The book looks amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love the cover, and am really intrigued about the guessing game aspect of this book. My daughters love guessing game books and we will hunt this down and get our guessing game on!

    ReplyDelete
  23. To everyone — thank you for stopping by to leave a comment. I invite you all to read Lynne Marie's wonderful picture book, HEDGEHOG GOES TO KINDERGARTEN. It's a great example of pacing, delightful verbs, and a sweet ending to a relatable problem many kids face. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Happy Book Birthday, Miranda. I look forward to reading Whose Hands are These soon. And thank you, for the reminder to Stop. Look. Listen. Wonderful advice!

    ReplyDelete
  25. That's amazing! Thanks for sharing. Stop, look, listen IS such sound advice. This is a perfect book for NC - 3rd grade!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks for the great tips! And congrats on the new release!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Congratulations, Miranda! And thank you so much...you gave us a mini workshop in just a couple of paragraphs...that is impressive. I especially love tip #1...must remember to do this in my stories. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Congratulations, Miranda! And happy book birthday! I'm holding Whose Hands Are These, and I can't wait to read it to pieces!!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Congratulations on your new book, and thanks for the advice!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I love Water is Water and Whose Hands are These sounds great, too.

    thanks for the advice :-)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thank you, Miranda. What a simple, easy to remember lesson-Stop! Look! Listen! Love it. (and your trailer too)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Great things to keep in mind for all my pbs! Can't wait to read Whose Hands...!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks Miranda! Looking forward to having your book in my school counseling library.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Miranda, I enjoyed both 1 Plastic Bag and Water is Water and will read Whose Hands Are These? I'll reread my MS and apply Stop,Look, and Listen.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Congratulations and thanks, Miranda! You've done an amazing job with your books. Great blog post, too!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Stop, look, and listen is a great way to keep the tools at hand when writing. Thank you for this great advice and congratulations on your new book!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Awesome book. I just got my library copy but would love to own a copy for my granddaughters!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Wonderful advice that I need to remember! Thanks, Miranda, and congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Great advice Miranda! Thanks for hosting Lynne Marie!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Congratulations! Great advice, always good to be reminded of important tools that can help to make a good picture book great.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Congrats! Looks terrific! Can't wait to read WHOSE HANDS ARE THESE.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Congratulations! Thanks for an engaging post - stop, look, listen - easy to remember!

    ReplyDelete
  43. Great blog and great advice! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Congratulations and thanks for the helpful tips. Looking forward to reading "Whose Hands are These?"

    ReplyDelete
  45. Rosie Pova is the winner of our Book Giveaway! Rosie Pova, please e-mail me at LiterallyLynneMarie@Gmail.com with your address so that Miranda can send your book! Enjoy and thanks for visiting My Word Playground!

    ReplyDelete