Children’s Books – Page 2 – PAMELA JANE

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More Reivews of LITTLE GOBLINS TEN

“There’s a Book” review– “The illustrations are fantastic, so it’s easy to see how they would be drawn to each of the characters… it’s nice to see a picture book with beautiful illustrations that are still a little spooky, but not frightening. Little Goblins Ten was yet another Pamela Jane hit in our home and I’m positive it will continue to be…you may even catch a child or two mouthing the words right along with you. This is the perfect book for the spooky Halloween season with little ones who look forward to not only the candy, but the chance to be excited about counting and cackling like a witch!”“The Road to Here” review – I could tell you what a wonderful book this is and how much I enjoyed it but for a proper review I needed a child. So I borrowed my neighbor’s four year old granddaughter for a reading. As I read the story she laughed and giggled and pointed … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

LITTLE GOBLINS TEN Gets a Starred Review from Kirkus

I was thrilled to get a starred review from Kirkus for LITTLE GOBLINS TEN. I hope this classic rhyme will mean as much to all the little goblins out there as it did to me when I was a child. *LITTLE GOBLINS TEN by Pamela Jane Illustrator: Manning, Jane Review Date: August 1, 2011 Publisher:Harper/HarperCollins Numerous titles interpreting “Over in the Meadow” have been published, but trust the team of Jane and Manning to conjure up an impressive new vision in time for Halloween. Set in a fantastical land dominated by watery blues, greens and grays and punctuated by warm reds and yellows, Manning’s tale presents ethereal ghosts, country-bumpkin werewolves, parading mummies, screeching witches, happy bats and boogieing skeletons that readers will instantly want to have as friends. The preschool set should find comfort in seeing how loving … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Just the Words

We’re proud of the books we write, but at a recent school visit, I discovered that maybe it’s not that impressive a thing after all. After all, it’s just words. My Power Point slide show was over. The lights in the school auditorium came back on. The kids stretched their legs. I turned off the projector, and glanced at the clock. It had been only been a half hour but I was still under the spell of the past evoked by my slides – the ballet doll my Aunt Ruth sent me for Christmas that inspired my first children’s book, the farm house in Bucks County where I began to write it, the beautiful cover of Noelle of the Nutcracker. It was time for questions and answers. “Does your hand get tired when you color?” asked a little girl in blue leggings sitting in the front row. “Well, actually I don’t draw the pictures for my books,” said, with a … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Kids Ask the Greatest Questions

Recently, A VAMPIRE IS COMING TO DINNER! 10 RULES TO FOLLOW was reviewed on http://www.theresabook.com/ and I was asked twenty questions by a three-year-old (who had just a little help from his mom!) The questions were great and so much fun. Here are a few of my favorites:Do you use crayons or paint?Crayons. I love the way they smell.I thought vampires were mean, the one in your book isn’t. Why?In A VAMPIRE IS COMING TO DINNER, the illustrator and I are having fun with the vampire, so he isn’t a mean one. In fact, you might end up feeling a little sorry for him at the end when he just wants to take a nap!Did your dad ever blow anything up at your house?My dad was a scientist, but as far as I know he never blew anything up at our house or at his laboratory either. He did discover a medicine called Polymyxin, however (Neosporin) but he only got $1.00 … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Do a Blog tour, Go on Vacation and wear Comfy Clothes all at the Same Time!

One of the benefits of a blog tour is that you don’t have to leave home (or change out of your comfortable clothes) right? But recently, when my family and I took a long-awaited trip to visit old friends in Ashland, Oregon, I actually got to meet reviewer Marya Jansen-Gruber, the editor of Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Review in person at her lovely home in Ashland. It was just a coincidence that after she’d agreed to review my book on her website, I discovered she lived in Ashland. So I got to go on vacation, meet a wonderful children’s book reviewer, personally hand her a copy of my new book, and wear comfortable clothes all at the same time. That’s the kind of blog tour I can go for! You can read Marya’s review of A VAMPIRE IS COMING TO DINNER! at http://www.lookingglassreview.com/books/current/board-and-novelty. … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

If You’re Thinking of Writing for Children…

…the rewards are sometimes beyond what even you can imagine. Last week I received an email from a graduate student in Texas. “I’m a 25-year old grad student,” she wrote, “my parents are selling the house I grew up in, and I’ve been asked to ‘clean out’ all my childhood books to give away…I came across my worn copy of your book Just Plain Penny and started reading it again immediately. Right away, memories of a long, hot summer spent reading that book over and over came to me. I remember how much I loved to pretend to be Penny and wished I had bright red hair and freckles. What’s more – I realized I still love the book and plan to keep it…I just wanted to write and say how much I still enjoy our book – almost 20 years after I first received it!” We had just moved to a farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

Publishers Weekly Review of A VAMPIRE IS COMING TO DINNER!

A Vampire Is Coming to Dinner! 10 Rules to FollowPamela Jane, illus. by Pedro Rodriguez, Price Stern Sloan, $7.99 (16p) ISBN 978-0-8431-9964-2After a Nosferatu-like vampire announces an unexpected visit to a boy’s house…what follows is a list of rules… which appear on flaps within antique golden picture frames. Kids will delight in lifting each flap to reveal retro-styled spreads in which the boy outwits the vampire at every turn–welcoming him with spotlights, candles, and lamps (“Make sure all the lights are off”) …the book is a ghoulishly good time. Ages 3–up. (Aug.) … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

I Didn’t Know Vampires Were In – Honest!

Now that I’m due to have a vampire book out in August (fun, not scary, for 3-7 years olds) everyone keeps telling me how timely my book is, because vampires are “in”. I’m really excited about that but when I conceived of the book and later, when I wrote it, (pre-TWILIGHT) I had no idea that vampires were so popular.The book began, as noted in an earlier blog, with a game I used to play with my daughter when she was little. “Tickle me, Mommy,” she used to say, when she got home from school. “Please?”So we played the vampire game. I’d tell her a vampire was coming to dinner and she ought to be a good host and, well, let him have something to eat. Or drink. And she’d do her best to keep me from tickling her neck. Many years later, and gradually, the idea of A VAMPIRE IS COMING TO DINNER grew out of that game. Now … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

The Stories Find Us

PENNY Story and pictures by Marjorie Torrey (Howell, Soskin, Publishers, 1944) The books you read when you’re a child and the world is vivid and fresh make a lasting impression (as do the films; I never recovered from seeing “Titanic” – the 1953 version which was amazingly good, although there were no spectacular special effects.) When I was three or four, I had a picture book about a princess with pink high heels and I never forgot that shade of pink. Even now when I see that particular hue, I think of the princess with the pink high heels. Like hundreds of other kids, I wanted to go to OZ; I wanted a closely-knit family like Betsy in the Betsy-Tacy books; I wanted to find a penny that would grant my wishes – even half a wish, like the kids in Edward Eager’s Half Magic. In 1972, when I was a young adult, my house burned down and I lost … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

More Funny Rejections

The recent rains in Rhode Island flooded the basement of a friend of mine who lives there. Somehow she managed to escape the surging waters, overflowing streams, and flooded roads surrounding her farm, and drive down to visit me in Pennsylvania. When I asked her if she wanted to go out to dinner, she said, “No, let’s just stay home and laugh about my basement.” My friend wasn’t being facetious. She just has the ability to laugh at things that don’t go her way. I guess that’s why I like to laugh at rejections. It’s good therapy in a tough world, and some of them really are funny. You can read about my funniest rejections, but last night I got to thinking up more. I once had twelve picture book manuscripts rejected in one hour, by telephone. That’s an average of one rejection every five minutes – an all-time record! I’ve had manuscripts accepted in three days and others after … Read on

Pamela Jane is the author of over thirty books from board books to memoir. She is also a writing coach, freelance writer, and public speaker. Learn more about her by booking a school visit, perusing her blog, or reading her memoir, An Incredible Talent for Existing: A Writer's Story.

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