HTWAPB: Category, Category, Category!

At the insistence of several of my peers, I've decided to do a series entitled How to Write a Picture Book (HTWAPB)!

The first thing you need to do is decide to write a picture book. Now you have to decide something very important. There are basically three very common types of picture books. First, extremely simple ones for very young readers, usually ones meant to teach something, that sometimes follow a simple plot with little to no details i.e.

(1) "A is for apple, B is for bread; C is for Cutie Cat curled up on the bed."
Or:

(2) "1 bag of flour, 2 cups of sugar, 3 eggs, 4 sticks of butter . . . count, count, count, you made a cake!

Then, there are more "advanced" books, often with "cute" or "cartoony" illustrations, that follow a basic plot with many details that kids can easily connect with i.e., It was Elmo's birthday! Everyone was very excited. Elmo wondered what present he would get. The day started out beautifully. The sunlight streamed in from the window. Oh boy! thought Elmo. Mama Monster came in with a big birthday cake. “Happy birthday, little Monster,” she said. [etc.etc.]

Finally, there are the very advanced picture books, often with much more serious artwork, that usually tell a serious, very advanced plot and use the pictures as a means to express powerful images. These advanced ones are the ones you see about historic events, heritages (like the famous African-American “flying” picture books), and things like that.

But there’s an additional fourth category that is not so common. This fourth category consists of poetry picture books. These tend to fall somewhere between the second and third categories. Then is the fifth category of nonsense or novelty books. Nonsense books are silly (meant in a complimentary way, of course)rhyming books like those by Theodore Geisel, which usually fall between the first and second categories, and novelty books are those with “tricks,” like holographic pages, shiny stickers, coloring pages included, etc., that also typically fall between the first and second categories. From these five categories, one would first choose which one to do. Then the proper subject matter can be chosen.

First, you could pick between the first three categories, then maybe also add one of the last two. Theoretically, The Cat in the Hat is a Category 2 Nonsense Book (or Category 1, depending on how you look at it).

What category are you looking to put your book in?



~Nicole Izmaylov

Nicole Izmaylov has a Storybook Reading Session for children!

Nicole is working away at leading the youths of today to move toward goals. Her latest achievements of literary awards are posted on the web site at www.futureword.net.

In these pictures it is evident that Nicole is playing a defining role in the lives of some very young pupils.

These pictures were taken during a Storybook Session where Nicole took the lead to read to the children. She not only read her own book, but other books as well. Afterward, Nicole assisted the teacher in leading the group to sing and dance.

Cynthia Brian: A Stellar Inspiration for Nicole Izmaylov

Valleys and mountains lie silent in the early hours, swallowed in a sea of shadows. The door of the farmhouse whispers open; it shuts as softly. The small girl goes about her morning chores, feet bare by choice, padding softly on the grass and dirt, checking on the chickens and the sheep and the tractor, thinking of the fruit she will pick later that day. And all the while a rim of light grows against the horizon, gathering first in the low gaps between hills, rising till it overflows, until finally it floods higher and washes the sky with day. Just then, she pauses for a moment and turns her head towards the sun. And her bright eyes grow wide with eagerness as she smiles and kneels to tend her garden.

“Say yes to life,” is the recipe for success that has always guided Cynthia Brian, a farm girl turned New York Times best-selling author and television/radio personality. Born in Napa Valley in Northern California as the eldest of five children, this “Renaissance woman of the new millennium” has dedicated herself to making waves of change in pursuit of her lifelong mission of serving others and globally enhancing the quality of life for all people. “Recognizing . . . our differences are our greatest strengths,” says Brian.

True to her dogma, she has recently written Be the Star You Are! for Teens, a novel concerning teen empowerment in a century when young people are torn between parental rules and restrictions and cultural messages about beauty, wealth, sexuality, and other critical issues.

In many schools and universities, students understand what it means to be pushed to the limits of their abilities. “Young people are especially pressured to live up to their parents’ expectations and society’s expectations,” says Brian. In the midst of a struggle to achieve perfect scores and excel in every subject, we become one-sided and lose our abilities to be well-rounded individuals. Instead of perfection, Brian praises an ideology based on accentuating the positives in life. “My philosophy,” she says, “has always been to strive for excellence. There is no perfection. And if we live by that motto, we are going to be comfortable with ourselves.”

Be the Star You Are! for Teens encourages young people to bring out their inner light and explore creative expression while remaining true to themselves. The collection of stories, intentionally divided into very short chapters that are easy to read in only a few minutes, are all true tales told from the hearts of teens discovering the gifts of acceptance, communication, faith, healing, love, understanding, and many others.

In compiling the collection of tales, Cynthia Brian had to choose from many stories submitted by contributors. The ones that ultimately made it into the book were all very different, although they shared one common theme. “[Each] story has some kind of positive outcome or a lesson or an exercise [we] can learn from,” she says, something that is particularly important in a century when young people are too often pressured to perform beyond their immediate means.

Constant failure can lead teens to depression and to abandoning their goals and dreams. “Many people live their lives with a negative viewpoint . . . [and] believe that nothing good will ever happen to [them],” Brian notes. Instead, she hopes to teach her readers to live their lives with the belief that no dream is unattainable. “Everything is possible,” she reminds us. “If we are willing to work hard enough and hang in there long enough, we can achieve anything we want in life.”

In addition, many teens struggle with their perceptions of a culture that anticipates nothing short of perfection. Be the Star You Are! for Teens seeks to challenge that notion. After all, Brian believes, although it is important to always do your best, no one is perfect. “I am very imperfect. I make tons of mistakes,” she says with a laugh, adding, “I say failure is fertilizer. I’m a gardener. I put failures on the compost pile and use them as lessons. Everything in life is a lesson as well as a blessing.”

In learning from our mistakes lies the key insight of Cynthia Brian’s novel. As we journey throughout our lives, we will be faced with risks. If we never dare go out on the limb, we will never discover the true meaning of who we are. “If we take no risks, we will never gain anything,” Brian encourages. “Are we going to fall flat on our faces? Are we going to embarrass ourselves? Are we going to make mistakes? Yes, yes, yes! But the more mistakes [we] make, the more successful we will be.”

Young people will always be encouraged to reach greater heights. But the real challenge in today’s century is striking a balance between expectations and one’s true self. “The important message for students is to find your passion, to find your purpose,” Cynthia Brian fondly shares. “When you find your passion and you find your purpose, you find your life. And the way you find that life is by being the star you are. Dig deep into your heart and your soul. Discover what makes you tick. And don’t be afraid to go out there and be different because being different is being a superstar. That’s what makes us shine.”

~Article by Michelle Izmaylov