Help C. T. Martin's Pet Parrot!

Our pet parrot has been sick.  Please help!  Click on the go fund me report below:

https://www.gofundme.com/mozarts-medical-fund

Children's Literature Workshop

In October 2010, I had the privilege of attending a Children's Literature Workshop run by the Highlights Foundation.

About fifteen writers from all over the United States assembled together to hear from executives, editors, and authors that work with Highlights for Kids Magazine or with the Boyds Mills Press.  It was a busy weekend full of encouragement and specific knowledge on how to thrive in children's literature within today's unique environment.

A special thanks to editors Kim Griswell, Larry Rosler, and Joelle DuJardin; and to the President of Boyds Mills Press, Clay Winters; and also a very special thank you to authors Lindsay Barrett George and Jan Cheripko.

Highlights Foundation Workshop

I Love New York!

New York - such a vibrant, exciting city!  After being away for over 10 years, I took a week long trip there last month.

For pictures of my trip, please see my mystery blog at:  C. T. Martin's Trip to NY City

Great Non-Fiction From the Discovery Kids Series

Last week, we broached the importance of including good non-fiction books in your child's monthly reading routine at home.  Doing so can help foster a love of learning in your child about such topics, apart from the classroom.  Now, let's highlight two non-fiction books from the Discovery Kids Series.  

The book, The Human Body (2009), is divided into seven parts.  It covers skin, bones, lungs, the heart, food and digestion, the brain, and the senses.  The sentence structure is simple, the explanations are brief and clear.  As you would expect, the book has plenty of pictures that should capture a child's interest, but they are well chosen and pertinent to each topic.

An effective feature in the book is the Discovery Facts box.  It contains facts that even adults may not be aware of.  Here's an example under the section on Bones, "There are about 5 1/2 pounds of marrow in an adult's body.  The bone marrow produces more than 3 million new blood cells every second!"

In Ocean World (2008), a similar format is followed.  The topics include beaches and shores, coral reefs, open oceans, and polar waters.  The pictures in this book are spectacular, not only within the pages of the book, but also on the stickers inside.  There are many breathtaking images of various ocean life.  You can really make things fun with your child by having them draw pictures of the sea life and posting them on the refrigerator or your own blog!

Sea Butterfly

If you think that this book covers only the ordinary sea life that you are accustomed to, think again.  It goes far beyond seals, orcas, and polar bears.  One fascinating creature discussed is the Sea Butterfly - ever heard of it?  Me neither.  They are beautiful and is just one of the very exotic creatures discussed in Ocean World.

An interesting tidbit from one of the Did you know? boxes in this book is about the walrus.  When it becomes overheated it turns pink in color.  This is because its hot blood flows close to the surface of the skin so as to cool the body down.

Other very useful features in both books are a full color pull out poster, a set of stickers, several short quizzes, and an easy to use index for kids too.  Even in our 21st century world of electronics and video, stickers are still fun for kids and a great way to validate your child's success in learning.  As a reward for finishing all of the activities in this book, you could take your child to visit your local aquarium.

Do yourself a favor and place these two books on your shelf or check them out from your library.  I promise, they will fire your child's imagination and yours too!

From Odds and Ends...

A Poem


This year my parents celebrated 32 years of marriage.  I wrote a simple, short poem in honor of those two beautiful people.  I hope that you enjoy the poem as much as they did.

Love


is passionate and much more than romance,


it is a treasure when you stick loyally together,


surrounded by your loving family,


that will never forget your importance.


Love repairs you when you break down,


and makes your heart whole.


It will be especially beautiful when blessings overtake you,


and your love lasts forever.

Balancing Fiction With Non-Fiction

There's nothing like a good fiction story to stir a child's imagination.  When a child discovers the joy of reading, it's often by way of a story that is introduced by the words, "once upon a time..." or another clever hook.  I still remember with great fondness one of the first stories that I read as a child - The Little Engine That Could.  Today's list of famous fiction for kids (and us adults too) seems endless, from The 39 Clues, to Harry Potter, to the Diary of a Whimpy Kid.

However, in all of the excitement to expose our kids to the wonder of fairy tales and myths, we sometimes forget just how wonderful well written non-fiction can be for our children.  Since they get plenty of non-fiction in school, we might be inclined to neglect that part of our children's reading repertoire.  I believe that if we leave all of the discussions of science, biology, and the like, solely to those times when a child is in school, they may associate such learning only with the challenge of making a grade, instead of appreciating the beauty of such information in of itself.

Therefore, I suggest that we commit to exposing our kids to more animals, oceans, stars, planets, math, art, music, and creativity.  This will help them to contemplate the wonders of what they can see and accomplish in the real world.  Next month I'll review a few such recommended books for children.

Coming in 2011...A New Young Adult Novel by C. T. Martin

No One Said Anything is a story about seventeen year old Jonathan who is trying to make sense of all the advice he’s been getting from adults during his senior year in high school. He struggles with the conflicting messages of kindness, giving, and helping others, while at the same time observing hypocrisy and an epidemic of indifference plaguing the attitudes of his community.

While dealing with these issues, Jonathan and other students at Covina High School observes how deeply depressed their Math Instructor Bill Lopardo, has become since his divorce. The students express their concerns to parents and counselors at the school, but everyone keeps using the excuse that Mr. Lopardo’s family problems was none of their business. Although Mr. Lopardo has many friends, most of them do not put enough effort into preventing a tragedy that will shatter the lives of many others on that fateful Christmas day. The lessons that the community learns come at a high price, but are not fully realized until Jonathan comes to grips with his own journey into adulthood and responsibility.

A New Book for Young Readers!

Why The Mouse Chose The House by C. T. Martin

Mike's parents don't know about his new little friend - a mouse named Seb! Read their hilarious story of how mice came to choose people's homes as a place to live.

Children's fiction. Ages 7 and older. 36 pages. Full color glossy softcover, with black and white original illustrations inside.

To purchase Why The Mouse Chose The House click here!

Host Your Own Writing Contest

A friend of mine who works in marketing for a bookstore in Katy, Texas (Katy Budget Books - great place to visit if you're in the Houston area) approached me the other day, asking for advice on how to get more participation in the monthly poetry reading night held at the store. Immediately I suggested a poetry or short story writing contest, as this is a fun, easy way to get people excited about writing as well as reading.

If you attend groups like this, try organizing one yourself and let us know how things went!

Here are a few suggestions:

1) Focus attention on local talent and reward top participants. You could have a first, second, third place prize and two honorable mentions. The authors should be invited to read their winning entries. Parents are more apt to support and promote participation in things like this if they know that their child will have some kind of official recognition for their efforts.

2) Advertise on your web site, to patrons at the store with flyers, and through email. In addition to the prizes and honorable mentions, you could host a store raffle for the same night, where an additional coupon is available, along with signed copies of books by local authors.

3) The contest should be held in conjunction with a specially advertised store sale for the same day. That way you'd attract more patrons, and they would find out about the poetry or short story night and be more interested with its focus on charity and a contest.

4) All the entry fees from the contest should go to a well known charity such as the March of Dimes (https://www.marchofdimes.com/howtohelp/donate_online.asp) or UNICEF (see http://www.unicefusa.org/donate/). Be sure to appoint a responsible person to care for this and follow up with them to ensure all donations are promptly submitted.

5) The entry fee for the writing contest could be something reasonable like $10. The store would put up the prize money itself for the poems, which should be minimal ($35 cash prize for 1st, $25 gift card to the store for 2nd, and 50% discount off book purchases for 3rd; and of course the two honorable mentions cost you nothing; the raffle costs only the cost of the tickets, which can be printed on a computer with colored paper).

6) Definitely have clearly spelled out contest rules, such as what kind of content is prohibited and have a specific theme for the contest.

7) Also, to really get more attention and participation approach local schools. In fact, the entry fees could be donated to a local school in lieu of a charity. Ask some of the school staff to be judges. Make sure that the deadline for entries is at least a week before the award ceremony to allow enough time for the judges to get together and decide which entries will be awarded.

8) The raffle should be after the award ceremony to make sure that people get a chance to see what is going on with the contest. People will not leave if they know they might have a chance at winning something later on.

If you have other ideas, please post them here on the blog!

CT

Encourage Children to Read

I was visiting some friends over the weekend and was amazed to find out how little their children were reading. My friend has two boys, ages seven and nine. From the moment I hit the door they were both busy wearing out two video game controllers. I asked what was planned for the next day and was told how much they were looking forward to a movie (Monster vs. Aliens). Of course, there is nothing wrong with kids watching movies or getting that pixel high from video games, but it's no secret that the reading level of many youths and adults is not where it should be, not to mention the level of interest in written media.

So, since we're competing with all of this electronic entertainment, how can parents get kids more interested in reading? Can reading be presented in a way that isn't a complete bore?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Let your child know how excited you are to read. You are their greatest role model. If they see you reading, over time your example may have a good effect. Let them understand that you loved that movie you saw, but that you loved the book even more. Tell them why, and put some enthusiasm in your voice when you do.

2. Before allowing your child to view a movie that has a book version that's readable for their age, tell them they must read the book with you first. (A great example of this is, Charlie and the Chocolate factory by Roald Dahl). Make it fun as if it were a movie night. Reading night can also include popcorn and sweets! Then after your child actually sees the movie, encourage him/her to voice which one was better. For example you could ask: If you could only hear the words in the movie, with no sounds or visual effects, would it have been better than the book? Why or why not?

3. Alternately you could have a family read around night. Begin by reading a page in a book that seems interesting to your child. Pass the book to the next person. Each member of the family reads a page of the story and tries to animate the story by the way they read out loud. Eventually, the kids will be competing to see who can read in the most entertaining way.

4. Have an artistic night where the children can draw, paint, or sculpt the various characters and scenes from the story. Combine with reading night or do it as a stand alone.

5. Reward your child with a theme dinner. For example, if they just finished reading James and the Giant Peach, then you could do a theme dinner featuring foods and ideas from the book. Kick it up a notch by making it a costume party.

Don't stop there. This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are dozens of other ways to generate a buzz around books! Once you start brainstorming ideas, they will keep coming and coming.

CT

New Website Update

If you've been keeping up with the evolution of my web site, you'll notice that it has gone from a one page place holder to a real site with pages. Not that there is complete content yet, not by far. However, it is an improvement. Already, the new pages placed on the site have been completely overhauled and expanded by twice the size. The makeover should be ready for publishing in approximately ten days.

I am extremely excited about being able to offer my material on the web and hope you will enjoy it. During the web site makeover, I decided to separate my children and teen works from the rest of my repertoire. The second site is still in the bare bones stages and will take a little more time to complete. However, before the end of the month I promise to have significant reading available on both sites. The web addresses are listed below.

CT

www.ctmartinauthor.com

www.ctmartinauthor.net