Two Kids and a living Legend Make a Historical Discovery
The people of Satartia are proud of their one claim to fame: Eli, the gigantic catfish who lives in the Yazoo River. Two kids, Timmy and Tori, had saved Eli from a fisherman by leading him downriver, but fish have an amazing ability to return home, and Eli returns a few months later. The kids are delighted to see Eli again and spend nearly every waking moment with him. When Eli disappears one day, Timmy and Tori find him wedged between some logs and free him. Little do they know, Eli has inadvertently solved a 300-year-old mystery and discovered a big piece of Mississippi’s lost history. And when university researchers descend on the Yazoo River, Eli proves to be the hero the people of Satartia have always known him to be!
Daniel E Brown is fortunate to have a fine, loving wife, two children who are better than he deserves, and grandchildren who are always worthy of an ice-cream cone when they come to visit. He has been a lifelong storyteller, in speaking engagements across the United States, and “on air” as a radio talk show host in Orlando, Florida. Daniel is also the author of Eli – Pride of the Yazoo River, Mr. Chance Collins, and Second House from the Corner.
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In a lush green garden, behind the family home, a stone frog sits at attention. He has been in this yard for many years, content to just watch, to guard all he can see. One day he is brought to life by the magical kiss of a young girl and the soft whispers of her sister and her friend. He comes alive and plays in the yard until the magic disappears and he goes back to his life of guarding. They have a shared secret now and he knows his life has changed forever—and that freedom will come another day. The Sentinel Frog is a modern fairy tale reminiscent of The Velveteen Rabbit—where kindness and love can create miracles!
Bonnie Chiantera is a retired Elementary Educator. After years of teaching and reading thousands of picture books to her students, she decided to write her own. The Sentinel Frog is her second book and will not be her last. She lives on Cape Cod with her yellow Lab Brady and enjoys reading, writing, and family celebrations. She is a volunteer for Hearts and Paws Comfort/Therapy Dogs. About the Artist: Margaret Moretti is self-taught and was asked to participate in a Healing Arts Workshop. Years later, she picked up her brushes and watercolor paints and has been painting for pleasure since. Her paintings range from landscape, wildlife, and still life to childhood memories that dance in her head. Look for her wit, sense of humor, and a hidden message in all her works.
We all have fond memories of the books we read as children, whether in school or at home. They shaped our imagination, our curiosity, our sense of wonder. But how do we decide which ones are the greatest of all time?
That’s the question posed to BBC Culture this year, who contacted hundreds of experts in children’s books from around the world, including authors, illustrators, editors, publishers, academics, librarians, writers and readers. They were asked to vote for their favorite children’s books, from picture books to novels, from classics to contemporary works.
The result is the following 100 titles, spanning more than a century of children’s literature. Some books are widely known and loved, others are more obscure or surprising. Some are old favorites while others are recent discoveries. Some are serious and profound, others are funny and whimsical.
But they all have one thing in common: they are great children’s books that have stood the test of time and continue to delight and inspire readers of all ages.
Is your favorite children’s book on the list? Let us know in the comments.
1 Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak, 1963) 2 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865) 3 Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren, 1945) 4 The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1943) 5 The Hobbit (JRR Tolkien, 1937) 6 Northern Lights (Philip Pullman, 1995) 7 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis, 1950) 8 Winnie-the-Pooh (AA Milne and EH Shepard, 1926) 9 Charlotte’s Web (EB White and Garth Williams, 1952) 10 Matilda (Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, 1988) 11 Anne of Green Gables (LM Montgomery, 1908) 12 Fairy Tales (Hans Christian Andersen, 1827) 13 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (JK Rowling, 1997) 14 The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle, 1969) 15 The Dark is Rising (Susan Cooper, 1973) 16 The Arrival (Shaun Tan, 2006) 17 Little Women (Louisa May Alcott, 1868) 18 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl, 1964) 19 Heidi (Johanna Spyri, 1880) 20 Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd, 1947) 21 The Adventures of Pinocchio (Carlo Collodi, 1883) 22 A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K Le Guin, 1968) 23 Moominland Midwinter (Tove Jansson, 1957) 24 I Want My Hat Back (Jon Klassen, 2011) 25 The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1911) 26 Duck, Death and the Tulip (Wolf Erlbruch, 2007) 27 The Brothers Lionheart (Astrid Lindgren, 1973) 28 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (JK Rowling, 1999) 29 Brown Girl Dreaming (Jacqueline Woodson, 2014) 30 The Three Robbers (Tomi Ungerer, 1961) 31 The Snowy Day (Ezra Jack Keats, 1962) 32 The Tiger Who Came to Tea (Judith Kerr, 1968) 33 Howl’s Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones, 1986) 34 A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle, 1962) 35 Watership Down (Richard Adams, 1972) 36 Tom’s Midnight Garden (Philippa Pearce, 1958) 37 Grimm’s Fairy Tales (Brothers Grimm, 1812) 38 The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Beatrix Potter, 1902) 39 The Railway Children (Edith Nesbit, 1906) 40 Noughts and Crosses (Malorie Blackman, 2001) 41 The BFG (Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, 1982) 42 Rules of Summer (Shaun Tan, 2013) 43 Momo (Michael Ende, 1973) 44 The Story of Ferdinand (Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, 1936) 45 The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien, 1954) 46 The Owl Service (Alan Garner, 1967) 47 Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter (Astrid Lindgren, 1981) 48 The Neverending Story (Michael Ende, 1979) 49 The Panchatantra (Anonymous / folk, -200) 50 Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883) 51 Mary Poppins (PL Travers, 1934) 52 Ballet Shoes (Noel Streafield, 1936) 53 So Much! (Trish Cooke and Helen Oxenbury, 1994) 54 We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, 1989) 55 The Adventures of Cipollino (Gianni Rodari, 1951) 56 The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein, 1964) 57 The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, 1999) 58 Julián Is a Mermaid (Jessica Love, 2018) 59 Comet in Moominland (Tove Jansson, 1946) 60 Finn Family Moomintroll (Tove Jansson, 1948) 61 The Witches (Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, 1983) 62 A Bear Called Paddington (Michael Bond, 1958) 63 The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame, 1908) 64 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Mildred D Taylor, 1977) 65 Karlsson-on-the-Roof (Astrid Lindgren, 1955) 66 The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer, 1961) 67 The Cat in the Hat (Dr Seuss, 1957) 68 The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Kate DiCamillo and Bagram Ibatoulline, 2006) 69 Peter and Wendy (JM Barrie, 1911) 70 One Thousand and One Nights (Anonymous / folk) 71 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler (EL Konigsburg, 1967) 72 When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Judith Kerr, 1971) 73 Shum bola (G’afur G’ulоm, 1936) 73 Ernest and Celestine (Gabrielle Vincent, 1981) 75 A Kind of Spark (Elle McNicoll, 2020) 76 Little Nicholas (René Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempé, 1959) 77 Black Beauty (Anna Sewell, 1877) 78 Daddy-Long-Legs (Jean Webster, 1912) 79 No Kiss for Mother (Tomi Ungerer, 1973) 80 My Family and Other Animals (Gerald Durrell, 1956) 81 Jacob Have I Loved (Katherine Paterson, 1980) 81 The Lorax (Dr Seuss, 1971) 83 Fairy Tales / The Tales of Mother Goose (Charles Perrault, 1697) 84 The Moomins and the Great Flood (Tove Jansson, 1945) 85 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L Frank Baum, 1900) 86 Just William (Richmal Crompton, 1922) 87 The Twits (Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, 1980) 87 The Mouse and His Child (Russell Hoban, 1967) 87 Out of My Mind (Sharon M Draper, 2010) 87 Moominvalley in November (Tove Jansson, 1970) 87 Little House in the Big Woods (Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1932) 92 Danny the Champion of the World (Roald Dahl, 1975) 93 The Snowman (Raymond Briggs, 1978) 94 Wave (Suzy Lee, 2008) 95 The Black Brothers (Lisa Tetzner, 1940) 96 The Velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams, 1921) 97 The Bad Beginning (Lemony Snicket, 1999) 98 The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman, 2008) 99 American Born Chinese (Gene Luen Yang and Lark Pien, 2006) 100 Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Salman Rushdie, 1990)
If you are one of the many writers around the world looking to finish your children’s book, this week is for you. Children’s Book Week is May 1-7 and is a time where many authors find the inspiration they need to finish their book.
Writing a book for children never grows old because there are SO many possibilities! And nowadays, children’s books are more popular than ever, with more lucky parents spending more time with their children. Children’s books are shorter and quicker to write and edit! They are easier and faster to publish. They are simpler to market and promote. And they are more popular than ever! So, if you’ve never fancied yourself a children’s book author . . .
Let’s look at six things to keep in mind when writing and publishing children’s books:
Mind your length. As any preschool teacher or children’s librarian can confirm, reading with children is most enjoyable for both parties when the book contains just enough text to carry the story without exhausting a child’s attention.
Pick a timely subject. Picture books are more likely to be picked up by parents, teachers, and librarians on the prowl if they tackle topics these adults want to prepare their children to face. So, take advantage! Talk about a perfect time to write about the “boogey monster” or “having cooties”!
Don’t dumb it down. You heard right—baby talk doesn’t carry as compelling of a story as a book that treats its younger audiences with a rich vocabulary and age-appropriate but sophisticated sentence structures. Kids learning to read are much more accepting of new information than when they become kids who are reading to learn.
Voice morals carefully and cleverly. Few will argue against picture books as excellent tools for teaching sound decision-making skills. Still, most of these success stories find clever, quiet ways to do so without alienating readers by being too “preachy.” Use subtle metaphors for more significant issues (ahem, like boogey monsters and cooties, for example).
Think about those end materials! Many of today’s best picture books include a few pages at the end, which contain notes for adults on how to best use the book to teach young readers a skill or an idea.
Humor them! Children have a keen sense of humor and often embrace farce and comedy with zeal and a hearty squeal. While the story itself can’t always be humorous, more often than not, the illustrations can be.
At Outskirts Press, we are here to support you during every stage of the publishing process, whether you’re using our One-Click Publishing suite to publish your next children’s book or if you need custom-drawn, full-color illustrations. In addition, we offer a comprehensive list of services that we hope you’ll take advantage of as you work to translate your vision to the page! Your kids, grandkids, and even their friends and family will thank you!
Let our experienced publishing consultants help you realize your publishing dreams.
If you are one of the many writers around the world finding themselves stuck at home with more time to write, you may be one of the many children’s book authors who started writing a new book for kids last week in celebration of Children’s Book Week (May 2–8).
Well, Children’s Book Week may be over, but writing a book for children never grows old because there are SO many possibilities! And nowadays, children’s books are more popular than ever, with more lucky parents spending more time with their children.
Children’s books are shorter and quicker to write and edit! They are easier and faster to publish. They are simpler to market and promote. And they are more popular than ever! So, if you’ve never fancied yourself a children’s book author . . . maybe it’s time to rethink that.
Let’s look at six things to keep in mind when writing and publishing children’s books:
Mind your length. As any preschool teacher or children’s librarian can confirm, reading with children is most enjoyable for both parties when the book in question contains just enough text to carry the story along without exhausting a child’s attention.
Pick a timely subject. Picture books are more likely to be picked up by parents, teachers, and librarians on the prowl if they tackle topics these adults want to prepare their children to face. Take advantage! Talk about a perfect time to write about the “boogy monster” or “having cooties”!
Don’t dumb it down. You heard right—baby talk doesn’t carry as compelling of a story as a book that treats its younger audiences with a rich vocabulary and age-appropriate but sophisticated sentence structures. Kids who are learning to read are much more accepting of new information than when they become kids who are reading to learn.
Voice morals carefully and cleverly. Few will argue against picture books as excellent tools for teaching sound decision-making skills, but most of these success stories find clever, quiet ways to do so without alienating readers by being too “preachy.” Use subtle metaphors for more significant issues (ahem, like boogy monsters and cooties, for example).
Think about those end materials! Many of today’s best picture books include a few pages at the end, which include notes for adults on how to best use the book to teach a skill or an idea to young readers. Hint: this is especially useful to parents grappling with becoming educators due to stay-home directives.
Humor them! Children have a keen sense of humor and often embrace farce and comedy with zeal and a hearty squeal. While the story itself can’t always be humorous, more often than not, the illustrations can be.
At Outskirts Press, we are here to support you during every stage of the publishing process, whether you’re using our One-Click Publishing suite to publish your next children’s book or if you need custom-drawn, full-color illustrations. In addition, we offer a comprehensive list of services that we hope you’ll take advantage of as you work to translate your vision to the page! Your kids, grandkids, and even their friends and family will thank you!
Ellen Deery Freeman has just won a 1st Place EVVY Award for her most recent book, Just George, published by Outskirts Press in December 2015. Her next book, Duke (Plus One) will be published soon. Will it also be nominated for a coveted EVVY Award? We’re keeping our fingers crossed!
Ellen Freeman is a retired public-school science teacher who has always loved animals. In fact, she has rescued many over the years, including a Pileated Woodpecker, several Mocking Birds, baby possums, and even a baby deer! Her classroom always housed live animals, including snakes. In 2005 she moved into her Grandmother’s 100-year-old home, fulfilling her lifelong dream of living in the country where she can enjoy nature to its fullest. She lives there with her husband, Buddy, and two rescue dogs, Duke and George. Ellen is donating ten percent of the profit from the book sales of Just George to the current management of the Hampton County Animal Shelter in Varnville, South Carolina.
In honor of World Animal Remembrance Month all September long, Outskirts Press has donated $1000 to the Dumb Friends League at this link and invites other animal lovers to join us. In the meantime, we had an opportunity to ask Ellen Freeman a few questions about her award-winning book, its sequel, and her love for animals:
OP: Your story, Just George, is heart-wrenching as well as heart-warming. How long did it take you to write your story?
EDF: I am not sure how long the writing of Just George took, but probably in the range of six to eight months. Because it is a true story, the writing consisted of remembering and describing the events of his first year after being rescued and correlating the pictures with the script….which was possibly the most difficult part!
OP: You’ve rescued a baby deer? Tell us about that…?
EDF: I did, indeed, rescue a baby deer, but that’s one chapter in the sequel to Just George, entitled Duke (Plus One), and you need to read it!
OP: What advice would you give to someone who discovers an injured animal in need of rescuing?
EDF: In Just George I stressed a strong warning to children when it comes to sick or injured animals and told them to NEVER attempt to help, but to CALL AN ADULT and let them take care of the situation!
OP: How can others help in the support of animals?
EDF: Buying a copy of Just George and the soon-to-be-published sequel, Duke (Plus One) is one quick way you can help homeless animals, because 10% of my profit from every book sold goes to the Hampton County Animal Shelter in Varnville, S. C.
OP: Any additional books about animals in your future?
EDF: Yes! Duke (Plus One) will be published in the next few weeks. It is the true story of Duke’s life, as told by Duke, and if you’ve read Just George, you can probably guess who the “plus one” is! I hope that everyone reading this will get a copy of Duke (Plus One), and of Just George if you haven’t already. Both are books that will be enjoyed by animal lovers from the school-age child to senior adults!
OP: We’ll have to read them both! Thank you, Ellen.
Everyone likes a good make-over story. We’re all addicted to home improvement shows and look forward to seeing a newly designed home after the construction dust settles. We can’t wait to see a woman walk through a curtain, her hair freshly styled and wearing a dress she never thought she could. Even kids love seeing an old car on the road with a fresh paint job and new interior.
Outskirts Press has decided to join the makeover movement.
Now, if you haven’t yet published with Outskirts Press, you will see a fresh new look when you click on www.outskirtspress.com.
A user-friendly site that is easily viewed on tablets and mobile devices
New & improved one-click publishing suites that include everything you need
New & improved customizable packages that let you to make your book your way
We realized that if we were going to upgrade our look, we needed to upgrade your publishing process as well. While many people get excited about publishing a book, it can be daunting to wear all the hats of a writer, editor, graphic artist, book formatter, distributor, marketing expert, and royalty accountant all at the same time.
Now our One-Click publishing take care of everything for you. These all-inclusive packages include:
Original Custom Cover Design (with 2 unique concepts to choose from)
Enhanced Interior Book Formatting
Professional Cover Text Refinement for your back cover
Professional Copyediting
Expedited Service
Amazon Kindle E-Book Edition
Free Author’s Copies
Exclusive Marketing Guides designed to kick start your book promotion
A Personal Marketing Assistant
…as well as many other features.
You’ll always have a personal publishing professional to help you every step of the way.
We are so excited about the New & Improved Outskirts Press that this week we are inviting all non-fiction writers to experience our brand new One-Click Non-Fiction publishing package for an introductory offer of $500 off the normal price.
This means that while other writers are spinning their wheels trying to do everything by themselves, all you need to do is enter code Save500Aug16 at checkout and have an entire team behind you, working toward the success of your book…while you relax and enjoy your discount.
So what are you waiting for? Millions of people are looking for your book right now.
Every author dreams of generating revenue from their life’s passion – writing. But did you know you could win $1,500 just by self-publishing your book? It’s true! Your high-quality work (and our help) could net you a nice bit of cash in our Best Book of the Year contest.
Every year, Outskirts Press recognizes the best book we publish with our annual Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award, which pits just three finalists against each other in a public poll on the Outskirts Press Self-Publishing News blog. Here’s how it works:
Authors who order the Diamond or Pearl publishing package and are published in 2015 are automatically entered for consideration.
Outskirts Press production and marketing teams and executive staff hand-select up to 5% of the books we publish over the course of the year for consideration. These titles are nominated by us for the Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Awards, held in Denver each summer.
Books that win EVVY awards will be considered for Best Book of the Year. Contenders will be chosen as finalists, and will receive promotion in Outskirts Press newsletters and social media channels.
Readers of the SelfPublishingNews.com blog will determine the Best Book of the Year winner in a public vote.
You hold your fate in your hands: Publish now, promote shamelessly, and be ready for consideration for the Best Book of the Year – and possibly $1,500 – in 2015!
RECEIVE 10% OFF OUR TWO MOST POPULAR PACKAGES!
Save 10% instantly when you choose to publish with our industry-leading Diamond publishing service or our full-color Pearl publishing service.
I am very happy that Outskirts Press exists. My cover design is incredibly professional. As soon as I show my children’s book to someone they become overjoyed. The color, the illustrations, and the book itself is so admired.
L. Gina Davis attended York College in 1997, where she studied child psychology. She is the author of a poem entitled “Sweetheart,” featured in Moonlight Wishes, a collection of poems published in 1996 with the National Library of Poetry. She is happily married with three children and lives in Queens, New York.
In this fast-paced, riveting tale, we meet a cranky old witch named Lolita who delights in being miserable. When she hears the laughter and witnesses the fun and merriment the children are having at the playground, she is furious. With the help of her loyal cat Bufu, Lolita comes up with a scheme to transform herself into a beautiful queen to lure the happy children away from the playground-and put an end to the joyful noise once and for all! Humorous and entertaining, Ooh Lolita also carries an important reminder for children about the dangers of putting their trust in strangers-even a strange and beautiful queen who asks for help to find a lost pet.
With vivid imaginations and a natural sense of adventure, children revel in creating their own make-believe worlds. Now, you can encourage the joy of childhood discovery with a gift that plays upon these creative inclinations — and satisfy your own desire to become a self-publishing author! How? With a fully illustrated Custom Children’s Book from Outskirts Press.
This beautifully illustrated, 28-page children’s book is already written and awaiting only a few vital details from you. Simply choose a book for a girl or a boy, select the ethnicity of the characters, then provide the names of the child you wish to cast as the main character and the two supporting characters. Finally, add your own title and byline, and your custom book is ready to go. It’s that simple!
The best part is that within just a few keyboard clicks a precious keepsake is available for the whole family to enjoy. Friends and relatives of your little literary star can buy their own fully illustrated paperback or electronic copy of your book, and you can collect royalties on each copy you sell.
Want an simple, affordable children’s gift that will be cherished for years to come? Get started on your Custom Children’s Book from Outskirts Press today!
Outskirts Press, the fastest-growing full-service self-publishing and book marketing company, is pleased to announce its top ten best-selling titles for February 2014, according to combined data from Ingram Book Wholesalers and Outskirts Press Direct via http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore. These authors have likely created a solid book marketing strategy and put it into motion either by themselves or with the help of a Personal Marketing Assistant.
In alphabetical order, the top ten best-selling books in self-publishing during the month of February 2014 were:
Congratulations to our best-selling authors for the month of February 2014!
How can you get your book on the bestseller list? While we can’t make any guarantees on sales success, many of our most successful authors invest time and money in marketing themselves and their book. Authors who are in need of a marketing boost often turn to a Personal Marketing Assistant for help.
All of these books (and other Outskirts Press titles) are available from all major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells, Books A Million, and others, plus conveniently from the Outskirts Press Direct bookstore at http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore for discounts ranging from 10% – 55%.
Are you ready to put a book promotion strategy in place for your self-published book?
I am very happy that Outskirts Press exists. My cover design is incredibly professional. As soon as I show my children’s book to someone they become overjoyed. The color, the illustrations, and the book itself is so admired.
