3 Reasons Why Picture Books Are More Than Just Words and Pictures

Picture Books depart magic and wisdom to children all over the world every day, but they are so much more than a literacy tool. They are a gift to all of us; those who read them as well as those who write them.

1. When you read a picture book, you are seen.

Reading a book is sharing a story with a stranger. You might be in the arms of someone you love, but from another town or even another country, a storyteller is opening up your eyes and in turn, looking to you for your response. It happens without fanfare. It sees past the face you put on over your real one. There might me hints at secrets that you hide but understand. There might be a look in the characters eyes that mirrors your own. It could be something as simple as a truth you had always considered but never been brave enough to say out loud.

This storyteller sees you. There is somebody out there who gets it—it being you.

2. When you read a picture book, you learn.

The degree to which readers feel comfortable expressing their views is never more evident than when reading a picture book. Children are able not only to put their ideas out for public inspection on the cognitive worktable, but they also respond to and challenge their peers ideas. These interactions with one another suggest a high level of cognitive engagement in that children are listening to and responding to not only the story, but to another and making thoughtful contributions. Additionally, the evidence suggests that the comprehension process stimulated by predicting, relating and questioning that occurs provides guidelines about how to talk about issues children feel strongly about and what to say in order to participate and share their own views.

3.When you read a picture book, you are loved.

As a picture book author, this innate love seems to be a given for me, but it is overlooked by so many readers. It is no just the words or pictures we are sharing, it is the hours of creative angst, self doubt, compromise and negotiation. It is the tears between the pages, the laughter trapped between the blank spaces and the overwhelming need to share and share again with perfect strangers those parts of us that sometimes we don't let even those you know us best see.  A picture book is love in one of it's more basic forms. It is a gift we give freely and with the hopes that the reader will feel the love we poured into it just for them.

If you would like to share what gift picture books have given you and your family, please feel free to comment or contact me, I would love to hear your stories.

www.michelleworthington.com

Engaging Children Through Reading to be Critical Thinkers

Engagement through reading occurs when caregivers can help children by using interpretive tools to select, connect and organise information int he text to construct real meaningful interpretations of their own lives. The context of reading and the culture of literacy on a family and social level can also influence engagement. Reading with your child, not to your child, is important on a cognitive, metacognitive and motivational level. Children who have been engaged in reading from a young age do better academically and are more attentive students. During organic engagement, attention and mental processes are focused on the book and the learner is completely absorbed in the task of reading and in a state of flow. Although a child may be looking directly at the pages in a book and may appear to be engaged, they may only be going through the motions. Engaging your child during reading means sustained and personal commitment to create understanding.

 

Children are more likely to be engaged in reading when they believe they are capable of understanding, when it is interesting and when they feel it is important to them. This is why, as I have mentioned before in my previous blogs, that engaging children with reading books must come after they have a firm grasp of the relevance of words and communication in their day to day lives. This will help them to self regulate their attention and effort, relate new information to existing knowledge and monitor their own comprehension, making them more likely to have the physical and mental ability to hold their attention long enough to be successful readers.  It also makes it easier for them to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information, link familiar knowledge to incoming information and organise sequences from the story, making them critical and creative thinkers.

 

In order for engagement in reading to occur, caregivers must provide instructional conditions that support it. A family culture that provides for child interaction and caregiver modelling of cognitive processes promotes the notion of reading as a transactional process where meaning occurs as the child’s expectations and experiences are in transaction and content of the text. Reading should be viewed as an interpretive process rather than as an exercise in listening and sitting still. Children should be encouraged to use strategic comprehension processes such as predicting, relating to prior knowledge and asking questions about the text in a reader-response collaborative discussion.

 

Too often, children’s experience of human interaction emerges as an unpredictable negotiation between being an individual and being asked to fit in with the expectations of others. They are asked to be passive participants in their learning. To engage children in reading, a more active stance is required. Children should be encouraged to use their own individual interactions with the text as they attempt to make sense of it so they can craft their own interpretations. As caregivers model interpretive tools, children become accustomed to seeing them used to derive a meaning from the text and develops an inherent reflexivity in its use as a tool to nurture engagement.

If you have any other ideas on why you agree that reading is an integral part of developing critical and creative thinkers, I would love you to contact me or comment below.

www.michelleworthington.com

Top 5 Tips for Building your Child's Vocabulary

Vocabulary is extremely important to a child's literacy development. especially if they struggle to communicate. Having a broader range and understanding of what words mean and do can help even the most reluctant reader and speaker into exploring the benefits of a wide knowledge of language. Most people make the mistake of thinking that reading to them and getting them to read aloud is the first place to start, but this is in fact the end goal. When children see the purpose and priority behind where words fit in their day to day lives, they are more responsive to engaging with literacy activities that foster a love of reading.

1. Use Rich Oral Language

Children learn to speak through listening to and engaging in talk. Young children whose parents use high level, rich, meaningful conversations when not only speaking to their children, but also speaking to each other, will give the best chance of absorbing a higher vocabulary and reading achievement.

2. Use Broader Concept Words

When talking about a particular subject, instead of trying to teach words individually, use groups of words in sets that are conceptually related. For example, when speaking about a farm, use words related to life on farm, different families of animals and how those concepts relate to their day to day life.

3. Introduce New Words

By relating new words to words that children already know helps to not only expand the word in context, but helps them find congruent ways to figure out the meaning of words. Use the word they already know, like 'funny' and then add a different word in the same sentence like 'hilarious' to introduce a new word. When this is encountered repeatedly and diversely through meaningful activities, conversations and texts, the new words become part of the child's world.

4. Make It Relatable

There are so many fun and engaging ways to draw attention to the words all around us. Playing with words through songs, humour and raising consciousness can be empowering for children. They can feel like they are developing a sense of understanding and power over the part of themselves that communicates with others which can be incredibly powerful.

5. Have Fun With Words

Words should be cherished, nurtured, celebrated and loved. If children can see how much fun you have playing around with words, they will be more motivated to take the initiative and seek out opportunities to engage with them throughout the day. When children are self motivated, they learn faster and foster a life long love of reading. Reading to them and having them reading aloud is most beneficial when they have achieved this level of understanding. Then the real fun begins...forming a lasting bond with your child through sensory storytelling and amazing, empowering, encouraging picture books.

If you have any other tips you would like to share, please don't hesitate to contact me.

https://www.facebook.com/michelleworthington.author

Top 5 Tips to get ASD kids reading.

Here are my top 5 tips to encourage young ASD children to fall in love with reading.

1.Let them pick what to read. Our local libraries love us. We almost always leave with 10 children's books. It works for us because it allows Tom to have a choice of what he wants to read based on whatever new obsession he has t hat week. I love the idea of teaching children to choose books on their own, regardless of their reading level. I love anything that encourages independence and I work with whatever motivated Tom to pick up that book, even if it is way above his comprehension level. Books are about so much more than words and pictures. They are about forming connections

2. Focus on sight words. Do everything you can to make them fun and playful but don't worry too much if they aren't picking it up straight away. This is a long term strategy for reading that needs to start early, way before they walk into a classroom. The more letters and words they recognise, the easier reading will be. It's not rocket science, it's repetition.

3. Make books available at play time, not just bedtime. We have books everywhere at our place. We keep them in in the playroom, in the kids’ bedroom and in the car. Bedtime is a lovely time to share stories but it is more about the senso ry stimulation they receive from being close to you than a learning experience. ASD kids respond well to using books as part of extending their play time by integrating literacy into their daily routine.


4. Read aloud. Even if it seems like they aren't listening, part of their brain is responding to the sounds of your voice. Varied tone, intonation and volume are important. Most importantly of all, it doesn’t have to be from a book. Read the paper, read the cereal packet, read the instructions on the packet meal for dinner. Get older siblings, grandparents or anyone who is willing to read aloud and then initiate a conversation with them about what they are reading. This encourages critical and creative thinking and associates books as a valued resource to facilitate easy conversation and connection with others.



5. Let them see you reading. ASD kids can be visual creatures who love to mimic others. If they see you reading, they a re more likely to do the same. Talk to them about what you are reading. Find a word they might recognise. Read varied books, magazines and online articles so they can see you use reading and books in your everyday life as an adult and they will grow to understand that even though reading might be difficult now, it will be a skill they will need when they get older so they will be more encouraged to stick with it.

If you would like to contact me, I would love to hear your top tips.

Website
www.michelleworthington.com

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/michelleworthington.author

YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/user/mworthingtonauthor

3 Reasons Why Art Matters with MyDeal.com.au

3 Reasons Art is Great for Kids

Thank you so much to MyDeal.com.au for sharing my tips on the importance of reading to kids. Check out their blog for more great reasons on why Art is Great for Kids.

https://www.mydeal.com.au/blog/post/3-reasons-art-is-great-for-kids

Fairy Belle reads The Wheelchair Adventure

Have your picture book reviewed by a real life book fairy!

If you would like to have your children's picture book reviewed by Fairy Belle,

contact her at www.michelleworthington.com for more details

Michelle Worthington Author: Gender Roles in Fairytales

Share Your Story Podcast: Why Book Marketing Doesn't Work

https://soundcloud.com/michelle-worthington-62705262/why-book-marketing-doesnt-work

The Wheelchair Adventure: a story by non-verbal kids with a lot to say

The Wheelchair Adventure by Emma, Lachlan, Michael & Sam. "One perfectly ordinary day, four friends arrive at school and are transported on an amazing, extra-ordinary trip to all their favourite places, doing what they love to do best. Where will they turn up next on their wheelchair adventure?" A picture book created by the non-verbal, visually impaired students themselves by using auditory partner assisted scanning with their communication books during a series of interactive lessons with me. Working with Sam, Lachlan, Michael and Emma on this book has truly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my publishing career. To see how generous and patient they were with me and how much fun they had being listened to, as well as having Wally Lewis come to the book launch...it was the highlight of their school year.

Narbethong State Special School most graciously allowed me to be the author in residence in 2016. I got the opportunity to work with all the students in the school, with various levels of visual, mental and communicative impairment and design an author program that would most suit their needs and be of the most benefit to their current curriculum. Not to mention, it was so much fun. Copies of The Wheelchair Adventure are now available by request from me in Braille and all proceeds go back to the school to assist with their fundraising.

You can see what fun we had at the book launch by following this link: http://bit.ly/2h8eMVX
I would like to offer my services for 2017 to do any author visits to your special school with storytelling to the younger grades and possibly work with the older students on making their own published picture book. If the students write and create a picture book, it can be used for fundraising for the school with all proceeds of sales forwarded directly to them. The kids have a great time too and are able to call themselves published authors.

A huge thanks to my team who make it all possible. Giuseppe Poli for the illustrations and Julieann Wallace from Lilly Pilly Publishing for making the magic happen of turning words and pictures into a published book. Can't wait to give more children a chance to have their voices heard in 2017.

The Wheelchair Adventure is available now.
http://www.lillypillypublishing.com/_p/prd22/4578322021/product/the-wheelchair-adventure

Making the Most of an Author Facebook Fan Page

Creating a Facebook fan page is an amazing way to promote your book, build awareness for your message, gather support for your book launch, or to advertise in a number of other ways. Creating a Facebook Fan page helps in building a following in no time at all. 

1. Ask fans to post their reviews of your book on your Facebook page

When fans post on a Facebook fan page, they do it in the same way they would post on your personal profile, commenting by typing in the text boxes and pressing "Enter" to display their comment. You can then engage with fans by commenting on their posts, so they are seen by more than the people within your own following.

2. Target who sees your posts

The truly amazing thing about Facebook advertising is that you can target your demographic. This will impact the number of people who will see the advert and also how much it will cost you. You need to decide on country, city, gender, age range, likes and dislikes and you can go down into further splits. As you change the demographics, you’ll see how many people the advert could be shown too. The more specific you can be, the better your chances an ad will have an impact.

3. Engage with your fans

The key to a successful Facebook page is to consistently update your page. You can decide on the frequency – at a minimum you want to post something new once a week. Your posts can be simple: something that inspired you (a picture, a quote, an interaction); an upcoming event you are holding; an update on the new book you are writing; a news article that you found interesting. Being consistent is more important than posting for the sake of posting. Think about what you are trying to achieve with each post.

My Brother Tom a finalist in the International Book Excellence Awards

So proud that My Brother Tom by Michelle Worthington and Ann-Marie Finn was a finalist in the Book Excellence Awards

My Brother Tom is a picture book for older siblings of a baby born prematurely and who is in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to facilitate discussion with caregivers and help them understand what is going on. Royalties from the sale of My Brother Tom go to Life's Little Treasures Foundation with helps families in Australia who are affected by premature birth.

Copies of My Brother Tom are available through their website

https://lifeslittletreasures.org.au/

Why Social Media for Authors only works if it's "Social".

Just posting on Facebook won't help you sell more books. There is no hard and fast rule that says the more you are online, the more people will become part of your community. When, when and how you post on social media is about more than quantity. It's about making a connection.

There is only one 'Do'...Have Fun!

If you are not enjoying spending your precious time marketing online, your readers probably aren't enjoying the experience either. Are you frustrated because you are not getting enough sales for your efforts? Then stop, because you are doing it not only for the wrong reasons, but you are posting the wrong content, at the wrong time, in the wrong way. If you were your audience, how would you feel about what you are posting? Is it fun, engaging and helpful? Be yourself. Only 30% of what you post should be about sales and marketing, the rest should be building a community of like-minded people who share common ground, so share what you feel comfortable. You need to be consistent, like a morning paper, that people can read over a cup of coffee at their own leisure, but there every day with a new snippet of information. When you have established your communities trust, then you can start planting that ground with the seeds that you are a trusted source of information. Once that has grown, you can start to harvest the crops that you have planted in the form of book sales, in an organic way. It takes time so you might as well enjoy the ride.


The 'Don'ts'

Don't post about your books every day.

Don't join every book group on Facebook and spam them with marketing.

Don't be negative

Don't worry if it feels like no one is listening

Don't post anything that could come back to haunt you

Don't post anything you wouldn't want your granny to read

Don't underestimate the power of social media

Talk soon
x Michelle

Book to Blog at Queensland Writers Centre

 

 

Book To Blog

 

 

 

http://www.cayliejeffery.com.au/

 

http://ebookrevolution.com.au/

 

http://www.stylingyou.com.au/

 

Last night, I had the amazing opportunity to attend a Queensland Writers Centre Workshop conducted by Emily Craven, Caylie Jeffery and Nikki Parkinson about how to turn blogs into books. That's not the reason I went. I have already published to books but I have come to the realisation that I am missing out on connecting with the people who love my books because I am not blogging regulary, or at all since I have had Tom. With my upcoming role as chairperson at GenreCon about a social media presence, I thought I better walk the walk if I am going to talk the talk.

 

Caylie talked about writing from a place of authenticity and I really connected with that. As an independent publisher of Bedtime Stories for Busy Mothers, she talked about independent publishers needed to provide quality products in order to be taken seriously and I totally agree. One thing she said really hit home. "There is not enough time to wait to be discovered." This is the blessing of social media. She also talked about finding an editor who knows what you are writing about to edit your work and this hit close to home after a bad experience at the beginning of my career. Her journey has changed so much since I met her in 2012 and I love that she is now teaching others how to start their own journey to find their authentic voice. There are still big things to come from Caylie.

 

Emily has always been a person that I admire. She is a natural teacher and has the cleverest way of thinking outside the square and applying it to her writing. She made it so clear that I have a long way to go with my blogging, with most popular blogs taking over three years to gather enough community to support it and for it to grow organically. I like how she made me feel like I am a trusted source of information, although I am the first to admit I don't have all the answers, and that people who like my books will be willing to invest in me. People find me all different ways, for different reasons and at different times in their writing journey. I want to be more accessible. I want to find more ways to connect.

 

 

I had never met Nikki before but I instantly loved her energy and willingness to share the secrets to her success. She talked about being willing to transition creatively throughout your career and look for opportunities to make money from activities around your writing to sustain a profitable business. Who knew there were blogging conferences? I really want to go to one so I am determined to commit to consistently writing my blog so I feel worthy enough to go. She has such a strong sense of community with her readers and that is what I am trying to develop. She also made a great point in saying you can't tell people how to follow you, you just need to be available for them to find. And, she made me want to swallow a teaspoon of cement and stop making excuses why I cant find the time to blog. My business as a writer is important to me and I have never been afraid to do what it takes to be successful.

 

On the way home I was looking at my old YouTube videos that I started when I had made the decision to really concentrate on my writing and become a successful author. Here is one from January 2013. 

 

 

I have changed sooo much since then, but my drive and determination are still as strong.

 

 

So my commitment to you is that I will blog Monday to Friday, giving you tips and lessons about getting your writing published, sharing what I am doing and where I am up to in my journey. If there is anything you would like to hear about in particular, please don't hesitate to contact me. I really appreciate your support.

 

 

x Michelle