Read, Write, Repeat.

If you’re looking for a really great chapter book, check out How Oliver Olson Changed the World (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2009) by Claudia Mills.

Mills is a veteran author with picture books and early readers to her credit. And everything she writes is good. But her chapter books are my absolute favorites.

In a genre often dominated by gimmicky, serialized books, Mills writes warm, heartfelt stories about kids who aren’t superheroes, aliens or fairies. Often, her main characters aren’t even especially precocious. 

Instead, they confront challenges kids their age might actually face and find ways to overcome them.

Take Oliver Olson. He’s studying the planets in school and wants to attend the special sleepover where everyone will be able to look through a real telescope. But his parents are overprotective and don’t want him to go. He might get sick! Or forget to brush his teeth! To make matters worse, they insist on “helping” him complete his diorama of the solar system and suggesting ideas for him to submit to a school contest.

Crystal sits next to Oliver at school. She wants him to work with her on the diorama and help convince the class that Pluto should still be considered a planet. And she thinks Oliver ought to enter his own idea in the school closet.

Will Oliver listen to Crystal, his parents or himself? And will he get to attend the sleepover? Let’s ask Anneka.

Today’s reviewer: Anneka

Age: 8.5

I like: Anything princess. Barbie dolls. My karate class.

This book was about: How Oliver Olson builds a diorama of the planets for his class.

The best part was when: Every time Oliver and Crystal made a new Pluto, something happened to it.

I laughed when: Oliver’s dad wanted to use the biggest box for the diorama, and Oliver was glad they didn’t have a refrigerator box or a moving van.

I was worried when: Crystal said she wanted to be Oliver’s partner for the diorama, because I knew Oliver’s parents wouldn’t want him to.

I was surprised when: Pluto number three disappeared.

This book taught me: It’s not bad to work with someone else. Kids shouldn’t be afraid to give ideas. They might be good.

Other kids reading this book should watch for: The funny parts.

Three words that describe this book are: “Good.” “Funny.” “Diorama.”

My favorite line or phrase in this book is: “Where were Crystal’s dogs when he needed them?”

You should read this book because: It’s very fun and interesting.

Thanks Anneka!

If you want to know more about Claudia Mills — and you really should — you can visit her Web site. If you want proof that Anneka and I aren’t the only people who loved Oliver, you can read this review.

You also can check out some other nifty books Claudia Mills has written:

• The Totally Made Up Civil-War Diary of Amanda MacLeish.
• Being Teddy Roosevelt.
• Ziggy’s Blue-Ribbon Day.
• The Gus and Grandpa series.

If you like animal picture books, chances are you’re familiar with the work of Leslie Helakoski.

The Michigan author and illustrator has several award-winning picture books with more on the way.

She joins Read, Write, Repeat today to share her thoughts on picture book writing.

I’ve heard several picture book authors say chickens are intrinsically funny. You have three books featuring chickens — Big Chickens, Big Chickens Fly the Coop and Big Chickens Go to Town. Do you think this is true? Why?
Speaking as a recovering chicken myself, I find chickens funny. They have those round bodies balancing on spindly legs and feet. And they have small wings that are enough to get them off the ground but not to really fly. They jump high if they are scared or bothered and squawk their heads off. I can envision chickens doing all kinds of silly things.

You also have a book about a cow, Fair Cow (Marshall Cavendish, August 2010) and another about a sheep Woolbur. What do you like about animal main characters?
I think the reason farm animals work so well in picture books is because most children recognize these animals easily and can, on some level, see the relevance of having a chicken be chicken. We’ve all seen how skittish chickens can be and when we play with words that echo those characteristics, kids get it.

I like to have some truth about the animal characteristics come through. In Fair Cow, there is a reason I have a cow going to the state fair. Cows do go to the state fair and they do get all spiffied up to get there. It wouldn’t be funny if it were a glam animal like a poodle going to the beauty parlor, but it’s funny with a cow because they don’t fit and kids get that kind of contrast.

What do you think is the secret to a good picture book?
Who the bleep knows? There are always some books that do very well in the market that I don’t get at all. So I can only conclude that I don’t know anything.

I think the best writers write what appeals to them and somehow that authenticity comes through for the readers. Authors need to connect with their readers. Once a child can connect, he is not a passive participant and starts making observations, comparisons etc. Then they want to read the story again.

It is what I want to do with adult novels too — relate to the characters somehow. In all books I read (picture book through adult) I, first of all, want a good story. If it makes me laugh, I’m really hooked. If it also makes me admire the way the writer is telling the story, or the language he or she is using — THAT’S the trifecta. But first, tell me a good story.

The best ones, for me, portray a deeper truth hiding underneath the silliness.

Do you have a process you follow to write your books?
Most of my stories have come about from a visual image. Something I see or hear will bring an image into my head that I get a kick out of … like a cow under a hair dryer, or a sheep with colorful wool on his body. Sometimes I will draw what I envision and that gets me thinking more about the story and character. Then I will start playing with a way to tell the story.

Straight narrative doesn’t usually work for me, and I have to find a way in. But I’ll often start with really bad narrative and jotting down all the thoughts that come to me. At some point in my rambling, I’ll find myself writing a line that is right somehow, and I’ll think, “That’s a good line” and leap on it.

I think it’s like sculpting a big wad of clay. I keep scraping junk off and shaping until I get something pleasing.

What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
The best part is when the vague idea I have for a story comes together with the writing. I’ve found a few lines or paragraphs that are working and going somewhere. It is still very rough but I get the feeling there is gold in there, and if I keep digging, I’ll find a way to get it out.

I also like the tweaking near the end when just changing a word here and there brings more spark to the language or laughs to the reader. It’s always amazing to me how many ways there are to say the same thing. I don’t want to say how long this process takes — I can be very, very picky about getting a line right.

Your chicken books have been illustrated by Henry Cole. What does he bring to your words? Have you gotten to know him at all?
Henry’s silliness is perfect for the Big Chicken books. His paintings bring character to each one of the birds that the text does not and that is part of why it works. For me, the chickens were modeled after myself and my siblings, and we have all identified ourselves in the illustrations.

I think kids recognize some of themselves in the fearful birds, who are so obviously doing what they themselves would do.

I LOVE Henry Cole!! We met after the first Big Chicken book won the Michigan Reads award for 2007. We started laughing together almost immediately. When I called Henry to say that I wanted to place the third chicken book, Big Chickens Go to Town, in New Orleans, he was 
all for it. We planned a trip to Louisiana with our editor to plan out where the chickens would go. I grew up in Louisiana and go whenever I can to visit family. It was a wonderful trip, and Henry met all of the original chickens (my siblings).

We hope to work on another book together. I’m playing with a manuscript that would be perfect for him as illustrator. Henry’s up for it, but we still have to convince an editor. 

What are you working on now?
I have three different stories in the works at different stages. One is about winters up north and one is about alligators down south. The third is in verse and about a dog. I’m also working on some of the illustrations for the alligator story as I’d like to illustrate that one.

What else would you like to add?
Thank you!

Leslie has a wonderful Web site where you can learn more about her and her books. And if you’d like to learn more about Henry Cole, his site is here.

If you want Molly O’Neill, assistant editor at Katherine Tegen Books, to fall in love with your manuscript, send her something fresh and original with a distinctive voice.

Molly shared her thoughts at the spring luncheon for the Wisconsin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She shared a lot of great information, but here are some quotes from her that really hit home with me.

FRESH IDEAS

• This is the most common thing editors and agents say they want. We seek to be carried away, believing the world the book has created.
• What people like is shaped by their own set of experiences and views of the world. It’s nonscientific. It doesn’t follow a checklist.

VOICE

• Voice is the indefinable heart of the a story. It makes it feel alive.
  
• The voice of someone we care about is memorable. Even if they’re not real except in the pages of a book.

CHARACTERS

• If characters are fully drawn, they make us feel we would recognize them if they walked up to us on the street.
  
• Everyone knows a kid like Jack in Sharon Creech’s “Love that Dog.” Teachers have had kids like him in their classes.

PLOT

• Surprise me. Be smarter than me. I love it when writers solve problems in ways I never would have thought of.
  
• Every story has two plots — the actions the characters take and the emotional journey they go on behind the scenes. If both plots aren’t there, the story can seem thin.

SETTING

• If the setting is done well, you know that place the author is describing even if you’ve never been in that particular small town.
  
• Don’t just tell me we’re in Milwaukee. Help me feel the cold wind blowing off the lake. Help me smell the yeast from the breweries.

ONCE SHE’S IN LOVE

• A book’s potential starts building before it’s acquired when a passionate editor or agent says, “Read this. I haven’t been as excited about anything in a long time.”
  
• On books I love, I see the author’s vision, and I know mine can be coupled with it to make an even better book.

ON SUBMITTING

• When you submit a manuscript, you’re asking for a reaction. And that’s all it is. It’s not a validation of your skill or permission for you to be a creator of art. You’re saying, “Here. I made this. Can you see it too?” You want an editor who can see what you see and be a passionate advocate for it.

ON REVISION

• You must refine. Take out anything predictable. Take out anything nonessential.

DISAPPOINTING BUT TRUE FACTS

• When I love a book, I ask myself, “Who else will love it? Will enough other people love it and be drawn to it to make it succeed? If not, I can’t publish it, even if I love it. It wouldn’t be fair to me or the author.
  
• If I were to acquire just one book from each of you, it could be more books than I might publish in my entire career. It’s hard to be one of the few books that makes it. But I applaud you for trying.

If you want to learn more about Molly, you can visit her blog or follow her on Twitter (@molly_oneill).

Thanks to everyone from the Wisconsin chapter who organized and staffed the event!

From its bright pink cover to its cupcake recipes inside, It’s Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder (Aladdin, 2010) is frankly … appetizing.

The book tells the story of Isabel, whose mother decides to turn an empty laundromat into a chariming cupcake shop. Isabel wants the idea to work. After all, her mom is a good baker. 

But, Isabel’s mom lacks gumption — she’s abandonded other ideas before when they didn’t immediately work out.

Isabel helps her mom get the laundromat ready. But she has dreams of her own. Isabel wants to travel, but her mom is afraid to fly so her family never leaves Oregon. That doesn’t deter Isabel. She tries earning travel money by baby-sitting, but that doesn’t work out. Then, she hears about a recipe contest for kids. The winners get an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City.

Isabel’s mother encourages her to enter a cupcake recipe to promote the new shop. Isabel wants to support her mother, who’s now having doubts about whether the shop can succeed, but she also has a recipe idea of her own.

Which will she enter? And could she win?

Let’s check in with today’s guest reviewer, Abby! 

Reviewer first name: Abby

Age: 9

I like: Macaroni and cheese, tennis, bowling, reading and swimming.

This book was about: A girl named Isabel Browning and what happens when her mom opens up a cupcake shop called “It’s Raining Cupcakes.”

The best part was when: I found out that Isabel got to go to New York City with her mom.

I laughed when: Sophie put the hair gel in Isabel’s hair. It made it stand on end.

I was worried when: Mrs. Canova came by, and Logan and Lucas were left by the pool while Isabel went to get a book.

I was surprised that: Isabel’s mom submitted the chocolate tart recipe for Isabel.

This book taught me: You don’t have to go anywhere else to have fun.You can have fun right where you are.

Other kids reading this book should watch for: The special relationship between Isabel and her mom.

Three words that best describe this book are: Interesting, funny, and tasty!

My favorite line or phrase in the book is: “Isabel, this is Julia from Baker’s Best magazine. I’m so glad you answered the phone. I’m calling to let you know that you are one of our finalists for the baking contest you entered last month!”

You should read this book because: It is cute, funny and suspenseful all at the same time! 

Thanks, Abby!

This book has already generated a bit of buzz on the Internet. One blogger shared how she incorporated the book into a great gift for a pre-teen girl and others have included pictures of cupcakes they baked. And an Etsy crafter has created a necklace inspired by the book.

And, of course, you can visit author Lisa Schroeder’s Web site.

Happy reading, baking and eating!

Arbor Day is a holiday that flies under the radar.

There aren’t racks of Arbor Day greeting cards in the stores. Businesses don’t close.

In fact, most people go about their daily business without a second thought. Even people who are familiar with the holiday may just know it has something to do with trees.

That’s part of the reason Kathryn O. Galbraith wrote Arbor Day Square (Peachtree, 2010).

The book, which was provided by the publisher for this review, is a fictionalized account of what the first Arbor Day in Nebraska in 1872 might have been like.

Katie and her father, who move West for land, help build a town out of nothing on the prairie and then decide the town needs trees. They plant one in memory of Katie’s mom and watch it grow along with the town.

Here’s what Ellie had to say:

Reviewer: Ellie

Age: 7

I like: Irish dance, soccer, drawing, playing with my friends and candy. 

This book was about: People traveling to a new land. They were building  their new town and they thought they were missing something – trees. So they planted some little trees and celebrated.

The best part was when: The little girl planted a tree for her mom. 

I was worried when: I thought the trees weren’t going to grow. 

I was surprised that: The trees grew after a while.

This book taught me: How Arbor Day started.

Other kids reading this book should watch for: When the little girl named Katie grows up and has a baby named Megan Anne.

Three words that best describe this book are: “Trees,” “children” and “holiday.”

My favorite line or phrase in the book is: “Papa and Katie spread their blanket next to Mama’s tree.”

You should read this book because: It teaches you about Arbor Day.

Thanks, Ellie!

Along with the warm-hearted story, the book has a page of facts about how Arbor Day started in Nebraska and spread throughout the United States with a shout-out to founder J. Sterling Morton.

You can learn more about author Kathryn O. Galbraith by visiting her Web site.

You can learn more about illustrator Cyd Moore by visiting her Web site.

If you’re interested in seeing more cool books about trees, see Paul’s review of The Busy Tree and Jaiden’s review of A Tree for Emmy.

And you can learn more about Arbor Day — including the exact day it’s held in your state — by visiting The National Arbor Day Foundation.