Do students reflect the personality of their teacher?

During a recent school visit I made a very interesting observation.

I was in the process of setting up for my presentation in the school media center. About 5 minutes before the designated starting time the third grade class arrived, led by their student teacher. Their classroom teacher was nowhere in sight. The children were seated and my presentation began. During my presentations I ask a lot of questions, always encouraging interaction and engaging the students. It didn’t take me long to realize that most of the children in this class, with unpleasant frowns on their faces, didn’t particularly want to be engaged. The answers to my questions tended toward the negative and, when asked to create their own fairy ideas for a story, many of the children contributed ideas such as the Robber Fairy, the Toy Fairy (steals toys) and other mean-spirited fairies. I should mention here that this particular school is in a rather upscale suburban neighborhood.

Twenty minutes into the presentation the children finally seemed to relax and we were having a nice discussion. Then the classroom teacher appeared. No surprise – she had the same negative expression on her face that the children had had when they entered the room. In fact, the first words out of her mouth were, “Sara, stop talking. Jason, put that pencil away.” She proceeded to sit, arms crossed, staring into space while I went on with my presentation. Is this why the children acted the way they did?

When this class left the media center and the next class arrived, I watched carefully. These children entered the room smiling, accompanied by their teacher who was also smiling. This presentation proved to be one of the most enjoyable I have ever had. Not only did the children have lots of creative ideas, but the teacher even raised her hand a few times and offered her own creative story ideas. The children and the teacher all had the same positive attitudes. The ideas this class offered for their fairy stories were kind fairies such as the rainbow fairy, the snow fairy and the messy desk fairy. In retrospect, the teacher of this class looked and acted as much as Mary Poppins as anyone I have ever met. What lucky kids!
L
ooking at these two examples, coming from the same school on the same day, I have to wonder - is this a coincidence or do teachers have this much influence on the personalities of our children?

Bobbie Hinman
http://bestfairybooks.com

Have Hobbies Vanished?

Have Hobbies Vanished?

Oh, no! I just asked a group of third graders about their hobbies (hoping some would say “reading”), but they didn’t know what I was talking about! Really! Is it that kids don’t have hobbies these days or that they simply call them something other than hobbies? Either way, hobbies (or whatever you call them) are not what they used to be. I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s when almost every neighborhood had an actual “hobby shop”. These little shops were always packed with goodies such as gimp, balsa wood and paint-by-number kits. They were places where the owners actually knew all of the neighborhood children.

Without getting too sentimental. do you remember when children actually did things after school? They played ball, took walks, roller skated, built forts, did arts and crafts, learned to knit, collected bugs, read books! Now they sit, electronic equipment in hand, and they twitter, send instant messages and chat on facebook. Ok, I guess I am old, but maybe I have lived to be old by being active, having hobbies and actually doing things. I’m fearful that the next generation will be plagued by weight problems, shrinking grey matter, giant thumbs and carpal tunnel problems.

C’mon parents, get you kids up and doing something. How about an hour of computer for every hour of exercise? How about an hour of Wii after an hour of reading? How about family games in place of TV during the week? How about bowling? Photography? How about talking to each other? How about a hobby?

Bobbie Hinman
http://bestfairybooks.com

Have You Ever Wondered How an Audio Book is Created?

Have you ever wondered how an audio book is created? I have. While I was writing my first children’s book, I often thought about the interactive books with tapes that I used to listen to with my own children. What if I could create a CD to accompany my book? Of course I could! To make a long story very short, I’ve put together the basic steps I followed in creating the CD for my first book. It worked out so well that I also created CDs for my second, third and (just recently) fourth books.

• First, plan the entire content of the CD. For a children’s book, the story narration is the key element. Also, a song would be nice. And background music. How about some interesting sound effects?

• Write the entire script including every word and every pause. Decide who will read the story. Most people prefer to hear the author reading the story, so be prepared to practice, practice, practice.

• Locate a reputable sound studio and meet with the audio engineer to work out the details. How long will it take to record? Will he/she adjust the sound levels and timing, add the sound effects, delete any unwanted sounds and create the finished product? Be aware that it’s not as easy as simply strolling into the studio, reading your book and waltzing out with a CD in your hand.

• What music will you use? Music is protected by copyright laws, so you will need to write your own words. You may be able to use the tunes from old nursery rhymes that are now in the “public domain.” Just be sure to do the research on the song you choose to make sure it’s available.

• Who will sing the song? Finding musicians was relatively easy even though I live in a small town. I called music schools and local bands and was amazed at how many talented people live nearby.

• Be prepared for a lot of fine tuning at the end. This is where the audio engineer can provide the same “magic” that a graphic designer provides for illustrations.

The process was a real exercise in creativity and quite a learning experience! And I can’t wait to do it again! By the way, how do you like my “non-union” chorus of grandchildren and friends?

Bobbie Hinman
http://bestfairybooks.com

Writing a Children's Book - The Illustrations are Complete. What's the Next Step?

OK. So, you have written a children's book. You have hired an illustrator and worked diligently with this person to make sure your pictures match - and enhance - your written words. Now you have a beautiful set of pictures, however your project still does not resemble a book. What's the next step?

Now is the time to turn the pictures over to the graphic designer. Unfortunately, many authors eliminate this important step. I'm not sure if this is to save time or save money, however this step is crucial to the overall quality of the finished book. The graphic designer places the text on each page, coordinates the colors of the backgrounds, designs the extra pages (such as the copyright page and the end flaps) and "punches up" the colors of the illustrations if necessary. This is the person that ties up all the loose ends and presents the book to the printer in "camera ready" form. In many cases, this person also designs the cover.

It's important to work as closely with the designer as with the illustrator. They can really perform magic. For example, one of the children in my new book had a hand that just looked strange to me. No problem. My illustrious designer simply copied a hand from another child and replaced the one I didn't like. We were also able to test a number of end flap colors and overall color schemes with ease. (See photo)

So don't skimp here. This step is too crucial to eliminate.

The next step is finding the right printer. Stay tuned...

Bobbie Hinman
http://bestfairybooks.com

Create an Emotional Attachment - Read to Someone Today!

What makes children’s books memorable? Think back to your favorite childhood books. What type of stories did you like best? More importantly, how did they make you feel? Do you remember feeling happy, excited, surprised, or maybe even sad? Did rhyming books make you feel as though someone was singing to you? Did you feel excited by the books that had surprise endings?

Stories that create an emotional attachment always seem to be remembered the most. While part of this can be attributed to a good plot, interesting characters, and appealing illustrations, there is another important element that is hard to measure. If you were lucky enough to be read to as a child, a large part of your feelings were created by just sitting close to the person who was reading to you. Nothing can replace the warmth of a lap or that snuggle in bed while being read to by someone you love.

For me, the cherished memories are of my father reading The Saggy, Baggy Elephant and The Pokey Little Puppy to me over and over and over again. To this day, when I see these books on a bookstore shelf, I feel a calmness and sense of nostalgia wash over me.

Yes, I realize that the 21st century is here and yes, I know about the internet, e-books and the like. However, I hope people will still hold their kids, read to them and create the warm feelings and emotional attachment that will never fade away.

I hope that my own children's books will become childhood favorites for many children.

Bobbie Hinman(a sentimental grandmother who always has time for one more bedtime story) http://bestfairybooks.com

Why Can't I Leave Well Enough Alone?

Are you like me? Do you have to change everything? Why can’t I leave things the way they are?

I can’t buy a dress off the rack without wishing it had a different belt or collar. I have even purchased two outfits together because I liked part of one and a different part of the other. If I see a piece of jewelry I like, it always has the wrong color stone. When I buy a purse, I usually can’t help wishing that the handle was more like another purse – the one that I didn’t buy because the color was not quite right. When I’m looking for a new haircut, I always desire the front of one and the back of another. I wish our new van had been available with a different color interior. Choosing new carpeting for our house was made more difficult because I liked the colors from one company and the texture from a different one. This is the story of my life.

Eating out is one of my biggest challenges. I can’t seem to ever order from a menu without sounding exactly like Meg Ryan in the movie “When Harry Met Sally.” Yesterday my husband and I had lunch in a nice restaurant. A smiling waitress took my order, but she wasn’t smiling for long. I noticed that her expression was slowly changing into a fixed, teeth-gritting kind of look. I don’t think it was my imagination that she was looking at me as if I were speaking a strange language. Just because I ordered a sandwich with a different filling, different bread and different sauce than the one on the menu? I think it might have been after I asked to have the salad made with romaine lettuce instead of iceberg, feta cheese in place of the bleu cheese, the dressing on the side and no bacon or croutons, that she started looking like she was about to laugh (or maybe cry).

I turned to my husband (who is never surprised by anything I do) and asked him if he thinks I am a perfectionist. All he could do was smile.

Hmmm… Am I a perfectionist or simply a creative genius?

Bobbie http://bestfairybooks.com

The Results Are In - 350 People Showed Up!

On July 7th I blogged about the plans for my book launch party for The Belly Button Fairy. I received a number of emails from authors who thought I was going a bit too far and spending a bit too much. Today I'll tell you how it all turned out.

On Saturday, the day of the event, we(my husband, my illustrator and I) arrived at Barnes & Noble an hour before the event was to begin. We were delighted to see that little fairies had already begun to arrive. We had enlisted a few friends and some of our grandchildren as helpers. Together we covered the tables with sparkly tablecloths, assembled the give-aways, and set up the cakes, our book posters, the microphone and the illustrator's easel. In the meantime, the face painter and craft person were busy getting ready.

I had distributed approximately 1200 invitations, and a little more than 350 people showed up. If my math is correct, that's about 25%. Not bad. I'm not sure of the exact final book count, however there were well over 200 of my books sold that day. My illustrator (Mark Wayne Adams) and I signed books for 2-1/2 hours. I was so happy to have a sore hand! The kids were all happy. Their faces were painted, their tummies were filled with cake, and they were happily clasping the new wands they had made and the new books they had purchased. The parents were happy because the kids were happy (and busy).

Was it worth the time and dollars that it took to create this event? You be the judge.

Remember the movie line - "If you build it they will come?" My advice: "If you do the work they will come."

Fairy wishes,
Bobbie Hinman
http://bestfairybooks.com