Children's Books on Different Kinds of Families

I was recently asked if I knew of any good children's books to help someone who is a single mom explain to her five year old son that his family is normal... That was a good question! There are so many different kinds of families and many adults don't know how to explain this to their children. Many children live in what the world thinks of as a "normal" family with a mom and a dad but more and more this is not the case, that doesn't mean that other families are not normal just that they are different but still normal.

Surprisingly there are few books written about families that are not the mom, dad and child scenario family. Most of the family books that are available have that scenario and don't seem to have room for any other family organizations, that leaves some adults and children wondering where to turn for the same literary comfort that is abundantly out there for the mom, dad and child scenario family. I was really astonished at the lack of books for young children on this subject, we have had several generations now of single parents dealing with all the issues that have to be dealt with. Oh there are lots of books for adults but the children are somehow left out of the mix.

The following books are among the few I found that might be helpful, but the list is short for a reason, there just aren't many books out there on the subject, especially for single parents.

• The Family Book by Todd Parr
• We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families by Todd Parr
• Who's in a Family? By Robert Skutch
• All Families Are Special by Norma Simon
• Do I Have a Daddy? A Story About a Single-Parent Child by Jeanne Warren Lindsay

I promised the person who asked me about a book for her friend that I would write a book for young children who were in the single parent situation like her friend's little boy, (I do have a bit of experience on the subject). Even though I usually write fantasy adventure or science fiction for middle grade or young adults I will give this my best efforts soon. It is a difficult subject for us adults to broach and trying to explain it so that children can understand is not easy... then again maybe it's easier for them to understand than it is for us grownups, we seem to complicate things way more than they need to be.

Julie L. Worthington is a writer of fantasy adventure and science-fiction middle-grade and young adult books along with short stories. She is passionate about children's literature both old and new. To find out more or to read some of her work go to http://www.julieworthington.com

The Top 5 Children's Books on the American Revolution

I love history! It is sad these days when children say they hate history, "It's boring". I believe it's because they get bogged down in trying to memorize dates and lose sight of the people and adventures that happened all throughout history.

History is exciting! If we begin teaching our children when they are young they will learn to appreciate the wonderful stories and the exciting adventures that happened in history. There were so many regular people who became heroes and so many time periods to learn about. In this article I am going to focus on the Revolutionary time period. There are many different ways to get young people interested in this time period, the people were on a quest to explore the new country they had come to and determine how they wanted this new country to be. The people found great courage, and laid a foundation for a great country to be formed.

Even if we have our young readers read fiction based on different times in history it can help them appreciate what it was like in that particular time and how the people might have lived. The following is a short list of books I think children will enjoy reading about the Revolutionary time period. Some are factual and some are fiction with factual basis. All are fun to read and not "boring."

• The American Revolution by Bruce Blivin Jr.
• Felicity by American Girl Series
• Letters For Freedom: The American Revolution by Douglas M. Rife
• George vs. George by Rosalyn Schanzer
• Heroes and Heroines of the American Revolution by Peter F. Copeland

You will be able to find many more books for children to read with a little research, I hope we can instill in the young readers a love of history through literature.

I find that when I write my love of history is always evident. There is always some aspect of history in each book I have written and most of the short stories as well. I try to show the adventure and excitement of history and hopefully pique the interest of my readers to learn more about what was happening in that time period. For instance the book I am writing now has a great amount of time travel in it and I love doing the research for each place in time my characters go! One destination will of course be the Revolutionary time period where they will meet interesting people and have an exciting adventure!

Julie L. Worthington is a writer of fantasy adventure and science-fiction middle-grade and young adult books along with short stories. She is passionate about children's literature both old and new. To find out more or to read some of her work go to http://www.julieworthington.com

Children's Books As Christmas Presents

I love Christmas! I would have Christmas all year long if I could somehow get away with it. So of course I spend much time thinking about what gifts I might get or make for my friends and family. Whether you are a young reader or not, children's books make great gifts, they are easy to wrap and they always have a wonderful adventure to give to the recipient. When you give a book to a young reader make sure they know just how special the book is to you, which will help them be excited about the new adventure that is ahead for them. In other words tell them the story of how you became acquainted with the book yourself.

You can also write a little message inside the book for them and that will make the gift even more special, it will also give them the feeling that you are sharing something special together. There are so many children's books to choose from, books with Christmas themes, cherished books from your childhood, newish books you have read recently or a book you have never read before that you can both read together for the first time. There are also many different ways to give a book such as an e-book, an audio book, or the traditional paper back or hard cover books, whatever you think the young reader in your life will enjoy the most.
Below are some Christmas themed suggestions to get you started:

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
• 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore
• Samantha (American Girl) by multiple authors
• Norman Rockwell's Christmas Book: Revised and Updated by Norman Rockwell
• The Christmas Dinner: A Play for Reading or Acting by Shepherd Knapp
• Christmas in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Shulz
• Christmas Books by Charles Dickens
• The Nutcracker Ballet: A Book, Theater, and Paper Doll Fold Out Play Set by Mara Conlon & Jo Gershman

A few years ago for Christmas my son gave me a leather-bound edition of Huckleberry Finn! I loved it! Children's literature is for everyone who loves a great story written by a great story teller. I would encourage you to share the wonderful world of children's books with those you love whether they are young readers or not. So get to know your young reader or find out what your friends and family members loved to read as children then go shopping and yes a used book is allowed to be given as a gift, some books are out of print and that's the only way you can get them. I believe with enough time, effort and thought you can find a book for everyone one on your Christmas list.

Julie L. Worthington is a writer of fantasy adventure and science-fiction middle-grade and young adult books along with short stories. She is passionate about children's literature both old and new. To find out more or to read some of her work go to http://www.julieworthington.com

Fairy Tales and Fables Part 2

As I stated in a previous article for generations children have experienced fairy tales which have not only entertained but have taught good manners, respect, life, imagination and much more. Although our young readers of today know about a few that have been made into movies I have found that if you mention The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Anderson they won't know what you are talking about or they may think you are talking about Dorothy's ruby slippers. Or what about The Fisherman and His Wife by the Brothers Grimm which teaches children (or adults) not to be greedy if they know it exist.

Every country or society has fairy tales and fables children (or adults) can enjoy and learn from Hans Christian Anderson who was from Denmark and the Brothers Grimm who were from Germany but we have writers and story tellers from everywhere that have wonderful stories to tell, there is Childe Rowland by Joseph Jacobs of England, Aurore and Aimee by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumount of France, Uncle Remus' Tar Baby by Joel Chandler Harris from America. I would highly recommend all three of these stories for your young readers!

The following is a short list of some more of the stories that I hope don't get forgotten along with their wonderful creators that I hope don't get forgotten either:

The Brothers Grimm
• The Blue Light
• The Clever Little Tailor
• The Donkey

Hans Christian Anderson
• The Little Match Girl
• The Nightingale
• The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Aesop
• The Honest Woodcutter
• The North Wind and the Sun
• The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
• The Oak and the Reed
• The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

Joseph Jacobs
• Catskin
• The Buried Moon
• The Brown Bear of Green Glen
• Jack and the Bean Stalk
• Molly Whuppie
• The Three Little Pigs

In this selection there are some that I hope will be recognized and some new ones that even I hadn't read before! That was really fun to find the new/old stories that held the wonder and excitement of the fairy tale or fable. I hope you have fun reconnecting or learning about them for the first time and sharing them with your young readers. I enjoy researching old stories and love learning about what might have been forgotten and then sharing it with others. I have even found myself incorporating this research into my writing I guess that's what story tellers do...

Julie L. Worthington is a writer of fantasy adventure and science-fiction middle-grade and young adult books along with short stories. She is passionate about children's literature both old and new. To find out more or to read some of her work go to http://www.julieworthington.com

Children's Literature: Fairy Tales and Fables

For generations children have experienced fairy tales. These fairy tales have been stories that have been used to teach lessons on good manners, respect, life, imagination and much more. Our young readers of today can probably recognize some of the wonderful fairy tales of the past but I'm afraid a lot of them are being left out of today's reading experiences. They will recognize The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson, Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie and Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi because Walt Disney loved fairy tales and wanted to share them with the children of his generation and the children of generations to come. There are so many more fairy tales that he didn't get around to and may be lost to our young readers if we don't remind them that these wonderful stories, who seem like old friends to me, are out there. J. K. Rowling even made up fairy tales for her famous Harry Potter series which are very reminiscent of the cherished old stories that we need to revisit.

The following is a short list of some of the stories that I hope don't get forgotten along with their wonderful creators that I hope don't get forgotten either:

The Brothers Grimm

• The Elves and the Shoemaker

• The Town Musicians of Bremen

• The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Hans Christian Anderson

• The Most Incredible Thing

• Thumbelina

• The Ugly Duckling

• The Princess and the Pea

Aesop

• The Boy Who Cried Wolf

• The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

• The Tortoise and the Hare

• The Ant and the Grasshopper

• The Lion and the Mouse

These wonderful writers told stories that helped nurture honesty, courage, hard work, self esteem and imagination. There are some writers or story tellers who have been forgotten such as the writer or story teller who created the story of The Little Red Hen which is one of my very favorites, all we know now about this story is that it began in Russia. I hope we can share and remember the great fairy tales we have with our young readers and help them to learn to love and appreciate the wonderful literature that is available to them. I have little tip for those who have a kindle or some other kind of e-reader, most of the fairy tales, fables, and folk tales can downloaded for free. I hope you have fun reconnecting with these old friends and sharing them with your young readers.

Julie L. Worthington is a writer of fantasy adventure and science-fiction middle-grade and young adult books along with short stories. She is passionate about children's literature both old and new. To find out more or to read some of her work go to http://www.julieworthington.com

7 Books to Ignite a Love of Reading in Your Boy!

What books can we give our boys to teach them to love reading at a young age? What holds their interest and sparks a love of reading and knowledge? As a parent, you wonder what you can do to entice your boy to read, and not to fight them just to pick up a book. After months of trial and error with different genres, writing styles, and subjects, I found seven books that will spark a boy's interest and keep it.

1. The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

George and Harold are two elementary school boys who love to draw and make up stories, so they decide to make comics for themselves. They are about a character they make up called Captain Underpants, who later becomes their principal! The series promotes creativity and encourages kids to draw or write their own comics. The unique and easy to follow writing style of the author insures that your boy will not become bored or frustrated by trying to figure out big words. The pictures throughout the book are fun and ensure that your boy will spend hours laughing over this book and will want to read it again and again. And luckily, there are more novels in this series!

2. Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot by Dav Pilkey

Since we enjoyed this author's writing style so much, we decided to try this series to see if the author's writing had the same endearing qualities, and we were not disappointed. With monsters from space, robots, and silly words and phrases, your boy will enjoy every minute in the pages of this book. There are no complicated or large words, and there are pictures on every page. As is consistent with the author's style, the book encourages art by providing instructions on how to draw the characters at the end of every book in the series!

3. The Stink Adventures by Megan McDonald

This series has differing themes throughout, such as space travel, gigantic jawbreakers, stinky shoes, and treasure hunts. This author also writes the Judy Moody series, and the main character, Stink, is Judy's younger brother. The books are easy to read and follow, with great jokes and silly situations that will keep your boy highly entertained, and excited for the next book. The pictures are detailed and just as entertaining as the story, and some books even have color pictures. This is a fun entertaining series that your boy will want more of.

4. Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger by Kevin Bolger

This book is a hilarious read. The book is full of silly and gross names that have boys hooting with delight, such as: the story takes place in the Kingdom of Armpit, a knight is named Sir Bedwetter, and Sir Fartsalot is hard of hearing, so he always hears what someone says incorrectly and creates great jokes. The book is filled with colorful characters and an entertaining style of writing, so your boy always wants to read more. This book is also fun to read together, as you will enjoy the jokes as much as your child.

5. Goosebumps by R.L. Stine

I enjoyed these books when I was in elementary school so I thought I would try reading them with my boy. He loves them so much that we have worn out copies and had to buy new ones. With scary but unique ideas such as invisibility gone wrong, haunted houses, scary monsters, and aliens, there is a novel in this series for every boy. If you want an easier read for your boy, the Goosebumps Horrorland series uses less large words than the Goosebumps series, and follows along, but has some interesting maps and stories to catch a boy attention and keep it, even before they can read the larger, harder-to-read series!

6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This series is easy to read and set up much like a comic book and diary. There are tons of pictures filled with as many jokes and descriptions as the actual story. This series addresses situations boys find themselves placed in with a witty outlook and realistic resolutions, by engaging boys with a character just like they are. As the character deals with everyday situations with sarcasm and humor, boys are sucked into the books and can't put them down!

7. My Weird School Days Series by Dan Gutman

Who didn't wish that their teacher really was an alien or crazy? This series takes those thoughts to the maximum with crazy teachers that do silly things, to super-smart teachers that are computers posing as people, to lunch ladies writing secret messages in mashed potatoes. The amusing situations and play-on-words keep boys anxious to read more, and laughing out loud. The books are filled with real facts that are delivered in a stimulating and easy to read way that helps kids remember them, but not realize that they are learning too!

Shi Belcher is a stay at home mom and an avid reader. She enjoys all genres of literature and reading childrens' books with her son. She enjoys expanding her book collection and believes that books are meant to be shared with others. She particularly enjoys the science-fiction, fantasy, romance, and classic books.

Check out her book recommendation blog at http://www.shisbookshelf.blogspot.com

4 Tips For Writing Fantasy Stories

Do you feel overwhelmed because you never know how to come up with an opening line to your fantasy book? Most people feel a writer's block when they start writing their story because they do not know how to start.

Here are four step-by-step approaches or categories to get you started and focused on your writing.

1. Create A Character

2. Create The Setting

3. Create A Conflict

4. Create A Solution-Ending

I just finished reviewing a fantastic juvenile fiction series called The Kelmar Trilogy by Laura Sepesi. Fantasy is highly imaginative writing. For example, one can read about animals talking with one another, expressing emotions and wearing real clothes. Fantasy can be set in medieval times with castles and dragons, wizards and knights. Or the story can be set in the future.

So, when you begin to write your fantasy story, you will need to come up with a name for your character. Keep in mind that you will want to choose an exciting name and not just "dragon" but rather, "dragon-lord." This is what we call a compound word, taking two separate words joined together to form a new word, like "candlestick."

At this point, you will want to create details of your character from his or her size, characteristics, color, appearance, and descriptive titles to your character. For example, Dubious the dark-knight or Phoebe, the good-fairy of Seaguard Cove have soft or hard sounds to their name.

Once you've established the main characters and sub-characters of your story and have included a variety of dragons, dwarfs, ladies and lords, it's time to move on to the setting.

Will you start with the Great Fortress of Camden, surrounded in an enchanting forest? Perhaps the wise queen of Goshen lives in the High Tower of Gadzar. Whatever setting you choose, you will have lots of scene changes to create from barren deserts and empty plains to evil fortresses and radiant cities.

The next hearty step of your story outline will be the meat-and-potatoes part. Will the dark forces pose traps, plots and schemes to force their opponent in battle? Will monsters arise, sorcerers cast spells and a witch uses an invisibility cloak to lead a surprise attack to defeat their enemies? Yes, more descriptive writing occurs here to develop a real page-turner story.

My favorite and final point in writing a fantasy story is to provide an ending that hopefully pleases everyone but after all, it is your story and you probably will choose a predictable ending, like good triumphs over evil, but then, maybe not.

I personally like to read about the Good Lady Diana being rescued by her favorite, Great Knight Nicholas, from the treacherous and barbarous William Zardk, along with his companion, the dangerous Dragon Dunzabar. To be taken to Nicholas' enchanted castle to meet his father, the Kindly King, and to begin a new life atop a pinnacle of rock, overlooking a lush valley would be a great ending, and indeed another sequel to a marvelous, new beginning.

For more reviews and writing tips, visit my website and online market place at http://barefootbooks-ladyd.blogspot.com/