Posted by: admin in Books
There are times when I realize that parenting is the hardest job that any of us take on. It is also the most rewarding and fun activity also. I did not realize the time and patience that is required to help a child to adulthood. There are the years of infancy and preschool when there are constant care needs as well as supervision for safety. Once they begin to learn there is the constant need to challenge their minds to insure they do not get bored or frustrated with learning. This is done through reading, playing games and coming up with activities that challenge them to use their imaginations. The things that are needed to develop a well adjusted child seem endless.
My two children are very different from each other. My son likes to finish one thing before he goes onto the next. He is very neat and precise in everything that he does. If he starts something and needs to leave it before it is finished he is very deliberate in how he puts it away. He also loves to read. When he was in fourth grade he would bring home different books on science, animals and geology. I was amazed at how much he loved to learn; however I was concerned that he was too serious. One day I asked him if only liked non fiction books. He asked me what I meant by non fiction books. I told him that there were many books that were made up that people read for entertainment. These were books that described fantasies and make believe. He said he did not think he would like these kinds of books.
My daughter on the other hand loves to read anything and everything about fantasy. She has a rich make believe life including dressing up and pretending that she is one of the characters in the books she reads. She has a difficult time completing her work at school, not because she does not understand it, but because she is distracted so easily. She thinks non fiction books are boring because they rarely have the action in them that she seems to crave. I told my husband one day that I wish that we could some how blend the two of them. They both seem to have the extremes of their personalities rather than a nice combination. Our hope is that they will learn from each other. Our son needs to be less serious and our daughter needs to get better focused.
Tags:
books science,
entertainment books,
non fiction books
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Whether you’ve just caught the gardening bug or have taught generations of fellow gardeners how to plow and harvest, you probably have scoped out the dozens of gardening magazines on the rack more than once. Established gardeners have their favorites delivered to their street or virtual mailbox.
If you’re new to this satisfying hobby, you may have no idea of the breadth and wealth of information just waiting for your perusal. From weekend planting projects to detailed instructions on grafting cactuses, gardening magazines offer information that covers everything you want to know to make your garden grow. Some offer general knowledge, others emphasize how-to topics while yet another focuses on organic gardening. So how do you go about choosing a few magazines that will best help you achieve your goals?
What first sparked your interest in gardening? Maybe your neighbor’s bountiful vegetable garden, neatly laid out in terraced redwood boxes got you thinking. Perhaps you just purchased a new home that definitely needs some landscaping to replace the plain dirt and cement vista seen from the living room and street. If you have a single goal you’d be happy to complete this spring or summer, what would it be?
Let’s say you’d be delighted to grow a few of your favorite vegetables and herbs, but your space is confined to a small patio or balcony. There are gardening magazines that specialize in small gardens. To do a through investigation before actual planting, you should check out the organically oriented gardening magazines. Hydroponic growing may also suit your situation.
What you need to do is browse the selection of topics available both on the newsstand and online. Many gardening magazines appear in print and on the web. Gardening websites have archives of past issues and feature articles, free for your reading pleasure and education.
Now your problem is to focus - unless you have time to burn, try to focus on the information you need this year. Experienced gardeners advise the beginner to start small and build on that accomplishment. This approach makes it far more likely you’ll complete your first project with enjoyment and satisfaction. Next year you’ll be prepared to tackle more.
Once you’ve checked out a sizable sample of available gardening magazines, you’ll find several that appeal to your sense of style and that contain relevant content. However, once you’ve got one project successfully under your gardener’s belt, your list of favorites may grow exponentially. There’s no telling what may happen to your magazine budget!
Tags:
fellow gardeners,
gardening magazines,
organic gardening,
vegetable garden
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Posted by: admin in Books
Writing illustrated children’s books is a pretty tough way to make a living. A lot of people assume that it is an easy life because the books are so simple. In a sense it’s true. Anyone can write a children’s book. It takes a good author to write a good children’s book because it takes a good author to write a good book period, but writing for kids is still a lot less work than writing for adults. The industry, however, is cutthroat. There are so many people who can churn out kids books that the competition can be brutal and crushing. Having your books discovered by a good publisher is almost impossible. You need good contacts, a good agent, and most of all you need to get your books illustrated by an excellent artist.
Illustrating books is a tough sell. A lot of artists turn down requests by people wanting to have their books illustrated without even considering them. You see, the chance of “making it” from the work you do on a kids book is slim to none. Thousands of authors out there want to get their books illustrated, and few of them are willing to part with the money it requires. Most writers wants to hire illustrators on spec. This means that the illustrator only gets a commission if the book gets picked up. Only a tiny proportion of children’s books get published, and of those very few are financially successful. It is no wonder there are so few book illustrators for hire.
Rather than looking for authors who wants to get a book illustrated, most artists will actually go to the company themselves. Many book publishers will hire artists and assign them to new authors. This is the best way for a book illustrator to make a living. Unfortunately, there is no similar offer for authors. Just because you are a good writer doesn’t mean that a company will want to hire you. Unless you can successfully pitch your idea, you will not be picked up. No one hires writers purely for their craft. Without that marketable idea and the right pitch, they will never get their books illustrated unless they want to part with a lot of money out of pocket. The only solution is to go to the book publishers who will assign you an artist if they like your book. These publishers, unfortunately, are very difficult to get picked up by.
Tags:
book illustrator,
book illustrators,
book publishers,
books illustrated,
kids book,
kids books
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