The Jazzy series is about a little girl named Jazzy and the adventures she gets into. These picture books are meant for young children, perhaps those learning to read, and have bright illustrations which help move the story forward.

In Jazzy and Puppy we learn that Jazzy is a little quirky because she has a cat named Puppy. And Puppy follows Jazzy everywhere, until one day Jazzy can’t find Puppy, which makes her sad. Jazzy is much happier when she finds Puppy and learns that Puppy has had kittens!

In Jazzy Gets a Dog we find that not only does Jazzy have a cat named Puppy, but that she had two birds, Kit and Kat, and a goldfish named Goldie. But Jazzy wants a puppy to add to her menagerie. So she asks her mom and dad and they finally agree, so Jazzy gets a little white puppy who tugged on her dress and licked her face. The puppy is named Snowflake.

In Jazzy’s Lovely Christmas Jazzy is excited about Christmas and when she hears her mother talk about buying gifts for the people she loves, Jazzy wants to buy gifts for her loved ones, her pets. Jazzy has saved up five dollars, and she and her mother go to the pet store. Then Jazzy is sad because everything she wanted to buy is too expensive. Then her mother asks if she wants to help take care of her pets, so she cleans the birdcage and feeds her pets and gives them fresh water. Her mother then explains she is giving them the best gift of all, the gift of love.

Through the series, Ms. Ishani’s illustrations increase in vibrancy. I like bright colorful books for kids and find them appealing. Jazzy and Puppy starts the series and the colors are muted, but depict the action well. With each successive book the illustrations become stronger and more confident. While I love the illustrations Jazzy’s Lovely Christmas there are more words on the page and the words are bigger, so if you are looking for a book for beginning readers, this book requires more advanced reading skills. To check out these books and see whether they are the right gift for the children in your life:

Preview the books on Amazon.com

With writing for children the specific target audience within the children’s arena must be defined in advance. Is the book meant to be a beginning reader book, is it for children who don’t read yet, or is the book targeted for the early middle reader or advanced middle reader? Each one of those categories within children’s books is very specific as to the requirements. The age range for the target can be as limited as one year. For example, a book can be written for the second grade reader. The target audience determines the range of unique words which should be used, the number of syllables of those words on average, as well as the total word count range.

With books aimed at adults, there is a little more lattitude as to target audience. Genres can be combined or crossed and there is more flexibility for experimentation with plot development, point of view, and tense.  Since books for children are necessarily written for developing readers, the rules must be closely adhered to in order not to lose or overwhelm your readers.

So how do you know what the rules are? The internet is a vast repository of information and a few searches will provide an overwhelming amount of detail to read through and digest. One good resource which I have found is Suite101.com under the writing and publishing section. You will find articles for all types of writing which can be used by the novice and experienced writer alike. In particular, there is a series of articles written by Jennifer Jensen which cover the basic rules for the different levels of writing for children and have links to more specific information about those categories, so this is a very good place to start.

Once you have digested the rules for the target audience you are writing for, the next step is to study other books in the target group. By analyzing what works and what doesn’t in the books which have been written for your target audience, you will gain a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t in your own work. This actually applies to writing in general and not just writing for children. Find a hundred books (or more) written for your target audience and read them. Use of the public library helps offset out of pocket expense for this phase.  Then choose the top ten out of those you have read to conduct an in depth analysis of the contents.

In order to thoroughly analyze the books you have selected as being the best in the category, you will need your own copy of these books, either in hard copy or digital format. My own personal preference is to have something in digital format so I can more readily conduct word count or phrase count analysis without having to resort to a manual bean counting method. I also don’t like to mark up hard copy books, but have no such qualms about highlighting, bolding, or adding notes to a digital copy. Determine in advance what writing techniques you will be looking for, so the same criteria applies for all books you are studying. Some of the things to keep in mind are:

• Good opening lines
• Good usage of telling and not showing
• Usage of metaphors and similies – which worked and which didn’t
• Realistic dialogue
• Verb usage – active vs. passive
• What senses are used in the book?
• How is the plot constructed?
• How do the characters develop throughout the book?

When you run across a passage which you feel is awkward or could be written better, take a few moments and rewrite it. This will help to solidfy in your own mind what didn’t work and why. In addition to this, for picture books, retype the words for the picture books and read through story without the pictures. Does the story flow? Is it easily understood? These are but a few ideas to help focus your thoughts and ultimately improve your own work. Writing for children can be very rewarding as you watch the delight in the face of your readers as they turn the pages, but it also can be very hard to get just right.

Reviewed by Phoenix, the miniature long-haired dachshund princess of LK Gardner-Griffie, author of YA novel, Misfit McCabe.

I am so excited because this is the first book review that I get to write. Finally a chance to put my paw to something worthwhile. This opportunity came about because a German Shepherd, Celina Star published a book called, How To Become a Mail Carrier Puppy and Mama said that I would have the opportunity to do the review, since both the author and I are German canines. I have been taking careful notes along the way as I watch my Mama read and review other books, and I know that I’m ready for this challenge.

How To Become a Mail Carrier Puppy is the second book by Celina Star, the first being a little longer piece called Paw Prints on the Road which is full of travels around the world. In the prologue to Paw Prints on the Road there is an explanation given regarding the editing of the work, or to be more accurate, lack of editing.

The Reader might like to know why this book was never edited. I do believe that my true inner feelings; my thoughts which come into my mind and all my emotions at the time of writing should be represented and voiced in this little book. No one can take your words of your heart and make them better.
No correct English, grammar, pronunciation can equal what a heart is telling you to write down on a little white piece of paper and transform it into a book of thoughts and joy.

Phoenix Reading

How To Become a Mail Carrier Puppy is a book that made me smile as I read it. The pictures are cheerful and illustrate the action in the story quite well. The writing was very tongue in cheek and made me chuckle behind my paw at times. For example, when filling out the application to become a mail carrier puppy, Celina had the following to say:

When the question came about “RACE”, I wrote down: “FAST”. I was a little confused about the question of being a Caucasian, African American, or Asian. Being of tan, brown and black color, and having a white star on my chest, and…. I can narrow my eyes to make them slanted, I wrote down : “a little bit of everything”.

I especially like how this pokes fun at the human propensity to define people. Like it matters what ethnicity people are. We judge others by where they’ve been and who they’ve been associating with, and, yes, that is the reason we sniff each other. Of course, I shouldn’t be quite so harsh, people are not dogs and just don’t know any better.

Actually, the puppy in the book reminded me very much of my own puppy, Elsa. Especially when she helped the elderly lady with the walker slowly slide down to the ground so she could read her letter. I would send Elsa off to become a mail carrier puppy, but I don’t think she’s tall enough to reach to post boxes. It sure would enhance my nap time if she were to go off to work every day to deliver mail, and come home all tired out. Maybe she wouldn’t try to wrestle with me so much.

I was happy to see Celina include some photos, especially the one with her stuffed canine double. I also have a stuffed dachshund double, but it is fatter than I am (I am really quite petite). Celina’s smile is very nice, don’t you think.

Frogs Boy Scout by Joshua Smith

Frog’s Boy Scout
and other books

Written and illustrated by Joshua Smith

Copyright 2008-2009

Paperback editions $9.95 and up
Artwork/Ebooks .99-$1.99

Here at the LL Book Review, we have reviewed a wide variety of books in a little over a year. Fiction, non-fiction, children’s and young adult, memoirs, and mysteries, to philosophical tomes that give us a new way of thinking. One thing all of the books reviewed have in common is they are all written by authors who believe in their work enough to pursue the hard road of self-publishing. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying the path of traditional publishing is an easy one, because it is not, but it is different than the path of self-publishing. I’m not going to provide the battling viewpoints of the self-published vs. traditionally published debate at this time either. However, I am going to talk about one of the areas where self-publishing, using a POD service such as Lulu.com has traditional publishing houses beat. They publish anything. If you would like to publish a book, you can. There is an immediacy to the process that traditional publishing will never match, and there is a great deal of satisfaction that the authors feel from being able to hold a bound copy of their work in their hands.

I am sure this the case with author Joshua Smith. Joshua is an eight year old, who definitely works on his craft as a writer. He also illustrates all of his books. With the loving support of his parents, Joshua has written, illustrated, and published 24 children’s books via Lulu.com. That, in and of itself, is an amazing feat. It makes me feel like I may have started late in life because I only started writing my first, never to see the light of day, book at the age of nine. Some of the books are Joshua’s versions of existing tales such as Jack in the Beanstalk or Charlotte’s Web, and others are his own original work. In addition to the 24 books, Joshua has several art pieces which he has published as download files. He has a bold color sense and the happiness of the pieces leaps off the page.

Joshua, with the help of his father, requested a review of his books about Charlie Smart, the frog. Frogs just happen to be one of Joshua’s passions, so it is natural that one of his favorite characters to write about is a frog. I had the pleasure of sampling three of Joshua’s frog books, Frog Goes to the Circus, Frog Has a Super Hero, and Frog’s Boy Scout. In reading these books, it is clear that Joshua takes his muse from his own life experiences and then uses those experiences with the character of Charlie Smart. In Frog Has a Super Hero, the artwork is primarily pencil sketches, whereas, Frog Goes to the Circus and Frog’s Boy Scout are very colorful. Joshua’s work is improving as he gets older, and whether he stays with illustrated books or starts working on longer pieces, I think his dedication to writing is clear. My favorite piece of those I read was Frog’s Boy Scout, because I felt that Joshua’s artwork was becoming a little more detailed and complex and the story line had challenges that Charlie Smart had to overcome.

I would like to see Joshua progress from hand writing his stories in pencil to having them typed, and to work with his parents and teachers, both of whom it is clear support him in his endeavors, to do some editing. As he hones his skills as both a writer and an illustrator, I’m sure he will continue to write stories to entertain and delight his siblings, as well as those around him.

1. First, tell us a little about who you are and how you became an artist.

I think that most professional artists will tell you that the talent that they have is inborn, and unless they fight their natural inclinations they end up doing what they were always meant to do. That’s the way it was with me, and, through additional schooling in high school and college, I fine-tuned my artistic abilities to the point where I could make a living by creating artwork professionally. I spent a long time in the field of advertising, but in the last 6 years I’ve gotten back to what I’ve always loved to do, and that’s illustrate children’s books. When I’m not illustrating, I enjoy spending my time with my wife and our two young children. My kids have been quite instrumental in a number of ways to whatever success that I’ve had illustrating children’s books. When they were younger I read children’s picture books to them every night before bed, which exposed me to the work of other illustrators. They’ve also acted as character models in some of the books that I’ve illustrated, and through day-to-day experience they allow me to see first hand into the mind of a child, which is the group that I’m creating children’s books for in the first place.

2. Tell us about the services you offer for authors.

I supply authors with illustrations for their children’s stories. These illustrations are created specifically for their story and are based not only upon the words in the story, but direct input from the author as to what the author had envisioned the illustrations to look like. The end result is that the author has illustrations for their story that are exactly what they had envisioned or, in the author’s own words, even better.

3. Do you have a one time service fee the author pays up front or do you expect to collect royalties over time? What does your fee entail?

All illustrations are created on a work-for-hire basis and are priced on a set price per illustration. Once all the illustrations have been completed and approved by the author, they are mailed to the author on CD. The author then takes this CD of illustrations and packages it along with their book manuscript and mails it to their chosen publisher. There is a section on my website that describes the different publishing methods available to the author so that they can choose the method that would work best for them.

4. How many books have you illustrated? Do you work on other projects as well or just books?

I’ve personally illustrated over 25 children’s books and have overseen the artwork production of over 80 additional children’s books by the illustrators that work for me. The complete list of all the books is on the “Children’s Books” page of my website, with all the books being created by self-publishing authors like your readers. Also, over the years I’ve illustrated for advertising campaigns/products that have required children’s book style illustrations.

5. Your website has an excellent sample page of the different styles of artwork you offer. Describe some of those to us and what types of books use the different styles.

There isn’t really a “type” of book that uses any particular style. The selection of an illustration style is usually based upon an author’s style preference for their story. Some authors prefer an airbrushed style, some prefer a charcoal style, some prefer a very simplified cartoon style, while others prefer a realistic style. In my opinion, I offer illustration styles to suit just about every author’s taste.

6. Although different stories have different needs for illustrations, is there a more favored selection of illustration type among those that you offer?

Most authors that I work with prefer a cartoon (for lack of a better word) style, that is why the majority of styles on my website are in that vein.

7. How many illustrators work with you?

Currently, I have 16 wonderful illustrators that I work with. Being an illustrator myself (I’m style #9 on my website) allows me to be the perfect liaison between authors and my illustrators. I understand the “language” that both sides speak.

8. What is the best selling children’s book that has been illustrated by MikeMotz.com? Do you have a favorite book, or series of books that have been illustrated?

I don’t keep track of sales numbers for books unless an author decides to send me those numbers. As someone that works-for-hire those sales numbers don’t really effect me, and let’s not forget that while most people that I speak to believe that a book’s illustrations is the most important factor in the success of a children’s book, that’s simply not true. The book illustrations are very important but no more so than the way a book is promoted. You can have a beautifully illustrated children’s book, but if it’s not properly promoted then no one will ever learn of it, which would result in poor sales for the book. Since there might be a client or two of mine reading this interview, I’d have to say that my personal favorite of the books that I’ve illustrated is the one that I just finished as a gift for my daughter’s tenth birthday, in which she stars as Alice in Wonderland.

9. Do you offer layout advice for the placement of the words for the print ready artwork?

A big part of creating an illustration is designing where the text will be placed either in or around an illustration. For instance, if the author would like to have one or more full-bleed double page spreads (one illustration that “spreads” across two facing pages of the book right to the very edge of the page) in their book then the text has to fall on top of the illustration, which now makes it a very important element in the design of that illustration. In these situations I supply direction to the individual that is creating the print-ready artwork to let them know where to place the text.

10. Any tips or suggestions for authors who might be considering you for an upcoming project?

Please read the “Publishing Methods” and “Project Steps” sections of my website (www.mikemotz.com). The Publishing Methods section has been written in simple layperson’s terms explaining the publishing methods that are available to the self-publishing author. The Project Steps section describes the step-by-step process of how the illustrations are created for your book. Most of my clients are first-time authors, so I have a lot of experience answering questions, but the more questions that I can have answered on my website the better. Authors that contact me after reviewing the information on my website find that they are less intimidated because they have some education to the process of getting their book produced. In fact, once the illustrations for their book begin they quickly forget that they were ever intimidated at all because they’re having too much fun watching the illustrations come to life and seeing their dream become a reality.

Max & Huber

I’ve always been a fan of giving books as gifts during the holidays.  An “orphan tree” at work, where you pick paper ornaments off the tree displaying a list of items wanted by a child in a local orphanage or care facility and purchase the items as a donation, has given me the opportunity to buy books for a child in need for about the past four years at work.  Luckily, my niece also likes to read and books are often on her wish list as well.  I say this because my most recent Lulu find, a book called Max & Huber by Dale Kilgore, would make the perfect gift for a young reader.

Max & Huber is the story of a child named Max and his magic thinking cap which he calls Huber.  Many years ago, important words were put into word chests and hidden around the world.  Max discovers Huber in one of the chests and upon placing the hat on his head, the two set out on a magical journey to free the letters and create and explore words.  In one chest, all of the letters are jumbled up.  As Max and Huber unscramble the letters and create words they come across the actual items they’ve created from the words, like a boat or an apple or a leaf.

At 34 pages, Max & Huber is a very simple story and also very educational for kids who are just learning to spell and relate words to actual objects.  I could easily see this book as part of a grade school teacher’s curriculum.  Kids will also be excited about the 3D animation that accompanies every page.  The illustrations are amazing and make this book worthy of some type of award!

When Max and Huber open the first word chest, the “wordy mess” of letters float around at the top of the page.  I found myself trying to create words of my own from them, which would be another great activity for children.  As the two friends create words the letters fall away, so it becomes and even greater challenge to create words of your own out of the letters that are left.  It reminded me of when I was in school and teachers would have us hunt for a long word in the dictionary.  Then, the teacher would write one of the words on the chalk board and we’d have a contest to see who could create the most words out of that one word.  The longer the word the better like ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM!

If teachers wanted to use the book in their classroom, or your little relatives also become a fan of Max and Huber, then Dale Kilgore has also created three posters to go along with the book.  The posters are available in an 8×10 size starting at $6.99 or an 11×14 size for $11.99, and they reflect the same brilliant artwork displayed in the book.  Using Lulu’s customization process, you can even buy the poster in a black or oak colored frame.  There’s a fourth poster available as a free download.

Based on the fun website created to promote the book, www.huberm.com, I’d say we can look forward to much more from Dale Kilgore, and hopefully more of Max and Huber.  I’d love to  see online spelling games added to the website to make it more interactive.  There’s a $2.00 savings off the book now through December 25th, so take advantage of this sale.  You will not be disappointed!  Max & Huber is one of the best illustrated and educational kid’s books I’ve come across lately.