The 2012 Picture Book Oscars

And the awards go to...


BEST MALE CHARACTER

Big Mean Mike in BIG MEAN MIKE





BEST FEMALE CHARACTER

Goldilocks in GOLDILOCKS AND JUST ONE BEAR

 



BEST MALE SUPPORTING CHARACTER

The dinosaur from Norway in GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS

 


BEST FEMALE SUPPORTING CHARACTER

Gran in ME WANT PET





BEST CHARACTER IN A NON-SPEAKING ROLE

The carrots in CREEPY CARROTS!
 




BEST FULL CAST ENSEMBLE

Davy, Petey, Mike, Stu, Mickey, Carl, Pip, Ralph, Tate, Lenny, Gil, Ned, & Bob in ANOTHER BROTHER

 


BEST FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

Dog in DOG IN CHARGE





BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

THIS MOOSE BELONGS TO ME




And finally....

BEST PICTURE BOOK

BOY + BOT

Happy 2013!

Wow, I haven't blogged since the summer!

Here are the last four months
in a nutshell:

SEPTEMBER

Book Launch

OCTOBER

Hurricane Sandy

NOVEMBER

Atlantis

DECEMBER

Holidays

And there you have it.

See you in May.

 (just kidding :)

Move Over Avengers!

Move over avengers!

There are some new super heroes in town!   

The Three Ninja Pigs

If you see a wolf in your area, just call 1-800-555-KIYA!

In stores, September, 27th.

What's Orange and Crunchy and ...Coming for You!

Huge congrats to Aaron Reynolds whose cute, quirky CREEPY CARROTS just hit #7 on the NY Times bestseller list.  This clever story, with fabulous art by Peter Brown, is a must-have in any picture book collection.

And lucky for you, I accidentally pre-ordered it twice!  So I am giving away a copy.  Just "like" my Facebook author page:  Corey Rosen Schwartz- PB Ninja.   Leave me a comment there and you are entered.

I'm a Crammer

Last year, I challenged myself to read 52 books in 52 weeks.  Some time in late August, I realized I had only read 11 books.  So I put the pedal to the metal.  In the end, I reached about 43.  I was short of my goal, but I had a good final stretch there.

In 2012, I signed up for Julie Hedlund's 12 x 12-  write 12 picture books in twelve months.  Well, we are more than halfway through the year, and I am at... uh, let me see here... um, that would be zero.  (Okay, my writing partner would argue that we have one very rough first draft. but I don't like it enough to count it)

Can I still do it?  It's possible.  I wrote many a term paper in the wee hours of the morning.

 But then again, there was no Internet in 1986.

The Meter Maids are on Patrol (+ Giveaway!)

A few weeks ago, Tiffany and I gave an SCBWI workshop called Meter Maids: Sparkling Rhyme, Every Time.  

Based on the awesome feedback and interest we got from that event, we've decided to start a blog called, The Meter Maids.   The blog will include all sorts of insider tips and tricks of how to write great rhymes, citing loads of examples, so you can see techniques in action.

In celebration of our launch, everyone who follows us and leaves a comment will be automatically entered to win a signed arc of Tiffany's debut picture book, THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN! 

The best way to become a good rhymer is to read GREAT rhyme!  Tiffany is a master of techniques such as internal rhyme.  Just take a look at her first stanza!

Monsters are a  spooky bunch-

a scary, hairy group.

They run in packs, leave giant tracks, 

and dine on eyeball soup.

Adorable, huh?

Little Red is Alive and Well

A few years ago, I was at a conference, and I overheard someone in the bathroom tell her friend, "I just had my one-on-one and the agent told me that the fractured fairy tale market is completely flooded."   He had basically told that fractured fairy tales were no longer selling.  But what he was really saying was "Fractured fairy aren't selling...  unless they are kick-ass awesome!"

I am not the only one who sold a Little Red  spin off this month.   Tara Lazar just sold Little Red Gliding Hood to Heidi Kilgras at Random House.

And she wouldn't have had the idea if I hadn't come up with the title during PiBoIdMo 2010.

And I would never have written GOLDI ROCKS AND THE THREE BEARS or NINJA RED if it hadn't been for Tara's PiBoIDMo 2009!

Tara and I definitely have a symbiotic thing going here.

But my real point is...  there is always room in the market for something if it is GOOD.