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1) I’ve read/ seen a lot of children’s books titled things like Kenny the Koala and such and I never realized how those books were all the same in a way. Anything with a title like that is generally not the best.
2) I liked how she mentioned to not talk down to kids. I work with children on the weekends as a swim instructor and I’m always surprised by how much they understand. Initially when I started teaching I was constantly trying to “dumb” down my speech but after a session of it I realized that I really didn’t have to do that cus kids comprehend a lot bore than we might think they will.
3) “simple doesn’t mean simplistic”. It’s similar to my second point but just the reminder that to be a children’s book doesn’t mean you have to dumb down your book at the expense of detail. Kids will understand the details and internalize them. Leaving them out just makes the book boring for the child reading it.

Question: how do you formulate your children’s books? Do you work it the same way as a novel would be? (ie. exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution?) or is there a different way to write a children’s book?

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Three things that resonated with me
—to always find an agent and not to self-publish books because you lose a lot of money

—reading should change the reader, thus have emotional impact

—character is the most important part of the story

One question
--Has she ever been upset with the illustrations that were given to her story?

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Three things that resonated with me from Mem Fox are:

1. To write from experience in order to achieve connections to your audience based on a mutual understanding of said experience and the feelings you put out, and on genuine authenticity.

2. To keep it short and sweet. Follow the 500 word rule. If a picture book is over 500 words, there is probably too much content or extra detail, and a lot that can be cut out. Often, the beginning is what can usually be omitted. Following, it is important to read your work aloud, over and over again.

3. (From the DO’s and DO NOT’S): DO NOT write down to children. You don’t have to treat a child audience as if they are not clever, rather, you should do the opposite.

One thing I would like to challenge is Mem’s suggestion of doing something else besides writing for a few years if under the age of 23 to gain “life experience”. While I understand the sentiment, I think it is very possible to create something genuine and relatable for children, or for your peers at a young age.

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3 things that resonated
- “in order to write you had to have lived” because it emphasizes making the writing realistic. (Write about experiences, emotions, etc..)
- “DO ensure your story makes an emotional impact: the reading should change the reader“ because it emphasizes making the reader get involved and feel something.
- “DO NOT use alliterative names or titles, such as Izzie the Ice Cube, Kenny the Koala or Tommy the Tired Teddy. Use names, which reveal something of the character.“ We always thought that alliterative names would be catchy

1 Question
- how did you create your do and don’t list

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3 things that resonated with me:
- write from personal experience it'll help the reader connect more with your writing
- reading a lot will improve your writing by expanding your vocabulary
- write in total silence and read your drafts aloud
Question:
How do you differentiate between parts of your writing that are essential and parts you should cut out?

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Three things that resonated with us:
1. Don't get ahead of yourself in writing when you're young; use that time to live (i.e. experience things), read, learn, etc.
2. "Remember that you are creating music"
3. Picturesque imagery is fine for novels but in children's books, the plot points are very important.
One question we have:
Does it eventually get a lot easier to discern between the positive "simple" and the negative "simplistic", or is it a constant process of perspective-changing?

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3 things that resonated
- don't rhyme
- keep it under 500 words
- don't over explain

1 question
- is it hard to acquire an agent?

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THREE things that really resonated with you:
1.  Write from the compost of your own life, feelings, experiences, hopes, joys, disappointments, and so on.
2. DO NOT write to teach.
3.  DO become familiar with the nature of rhythm in exquisite prose or poetry by reading it aloud: Understanding brevity, rhythm, and cadence in prose will keep rejections at bay.

ONE question:
how long would it take to find a publishing company that wants to work with you

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- Be original, don’t copy ideas or structures
- The secret to good writing is re-writing
- don’t write down to reader
- rhythm is important in writing

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-read books in the same genre as the book you're trying to write.
-make sure the writing is rhythmic
-dont let the rejections get to you
-come up with titles that reveal something about the character
-simple doesn't mean simplistic
-make sure to respect the publisher and illustrator working with you

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Five tips that I found useful/resonated with me are:

1. DO NOT write things like: he gasped, she spluttered, etc. Use the word ‘said’. The gasping and spluttering, etc., should be obvious from the situation, if the writing is effective.-The reason I found this tip useful because I did not know this before because I did not know this before. I also believe the reason why this is useful is because the writing for children’s stories are probably meant to more simple and descriptive, while at the same time to not complicate how character talks.

2. DO NOT write a picaresque story merely filled with one episode after another, with no tension or problem or resolution.- I found this tip useful because I remember that a lot of kids books that were well liked back when i was in elementary school were stories with a conflict or a problem to solve.                                                                                                                                                              3. DO be original: try not to copy the ideas or structures of recent well-known books.-This tip resonated with me because I feel like sometimes I unintentionally copy elements from other stories.

4.DO ’show’ and do not ‘tell’: try to reveal action and character through what the characters say and do.-The reason this resonated with me is because I feel I tell too much, ratehr than show in my stories.

5.DO NOT use alliterative names or titles, such as Izzie the Ice Cube, Kenny the Koala or Tommy the Tired Teddy. Use names, which reveal something of the character.-This tip resonated with me because I used to think alliterative names or titles for childrens books was preffered, but i now see that it seems better to use names that reveal soemthing about the character.

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Do:
Read shakespeare
Solve a problem
Under 500 words
Re-write stuffs
Be humble

DONT
use complex words
write to teach
write dream stories
write about inanimate objects
swear

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(my 12 year struggle with electro-swing ukuleles)
-Do ensure your story makes an emotional impact; the reading should change the reader
-Do write with narrative tension; solve a problem
-Do constantly re-read drafts aloud during the drafting process: hearing is one way of perceiving what's  wrong in the text, especially in regard to rhythm
-Do not write down to children
-Do mot forget that simple does not seem simplistic

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Extra tips:
Do's
-Know your audience
-Appropriate language
-Conflicts and Obstacles
-Don't stop believing
-Positive ending

-Don'ts:
-Do not swear
-Do not add death
-Do not give a bad or negative ending
-Don't stop believing