Tag Archives: dragons books for children

10 Captivating Fantasy Books For Young Readers

Featured

Posted on by

Readers of all ages love fantasy, but kids are especially likely to get hooked on this fantastic genre, where imagination runs wild, magic is real, and the world is inhabited by strange and beautiful creatures. The ten captivating books listed here allow young readers to escape to new worlds, where they can experience amazing adventures. https://wiki.ezvid.com/m/10-captivating-fantasy-books-for-young-readers-J7iRlnKs8VQYg

10 Captivating Fantasy Books For Young Readers

TitleAuthor
1.Charis: Journey to Pandora’s JarNicole Y. Walters
2.Sir Princess PetraDiane Mae Robinson
3.The Hob and the DeermanPat Walsh
4.Fog IslandTomi Ungerer
5.There May Be a CastlePiers Torday
6.Mabel Gray and the Wizard Who Swallowed the SunClayton Smith
7.DreamwoodHeather Mackey
8.The Secret Life of Daisy FitzjohnTania Unsworth
9.Bad MagicPseudonymous Bosch
10.The Mad Wolf’s DaughterDiane Magras

Fun Activities For Young Fantasy Fans

How to Encourage Kids to Read

A great way to start is to get a bookshelf for your child’s room. If they have access to their own collection of books, it’ll be easy for them to read at their own pace. And if they’re looking at the shelf everyday, reading will always be on their mind. It’s also important to give your kids a comfortable place to sit. This can be anything from a rocking chair to a couch to a dedicated reading nook. If they have a space that’s just for them, it makes reading time all the more special. As they grow, your young ones will start to read more challenging books with words they don’t know. Encourage them to look up unfamiliar terms in the dictionary so they can expand their vocabulary. Finally, if you’re having trouble getting your kid interested in books in the first place, try bridging the gap between visual media and literature with graphic novels.

What is Fantasy?

In Depth

No genre can capture the imagination quite like fantasy, where readers are invited to envision impossible worlds, daring heroes, and strange creatures living in the land of myth and legend. There’s a reason why so many speculative stories spellbind young readers with their tales of misfits, outcasts, and kids with untapped stores of tremendous bravery.

For young readers on the lookout for adventure, here, in no particular order, are some stunningly imaginative books that will bring out the magic in everyday life.

In the #1 spot is “Charis: Journey to Pandora’s Jar” by Nicole Y. Walters. Charis has been waiting all her life for a chance to show her stuff. Now, it’s up to the hyper-imaginative thirteen-year-old to save the world by visiting Pandora’s Jar, the place where demons and kind spirits dwell. The catch? She’s only got five days to release the spirit of Hope from the jar before mankind is officially doomed forever. With the help of a few trusty deities and her best friend Gabe, Charis has to summon up all her courage to set things right.

She’s only got five days to release the spirit of Hope from the jar before mankind is officially doomed forever.

At #2, we have Diane Mae Robinson’s “Sir Princess Petra.” Even Princesses get bored of being pampered sometimes. In this series, nine-year-old Petra decides that she wants to become a knight. But even though she’s got courage and cunning to spare, knighthood comes with its own set of pressures and obstacles, like having to silence a dragon and visit the spooky Forest of Doom. If she can overcome a few kooky quests, she’ll find her true place in the kingdom.

At #3 is “The Hob and the Deerman” by Pat Walsh. Crowfield Abbey is a peculiar place. It’s a portal, of sorts, between the world we know and the Otherworld, a place where demons, boggarts, and all kinds of creatures freely roam. When Walter, a “hob” spirit, returns to find everything in disarray, he knows he needs to take action to help put all the troubled spirits in the abbey to rest. But it will take a lot of help, and a lot of courage, to cross paths with the Deerman of the forest and live to tell the tale.

At #4 is Tomi Ungerer’s “Fog Island.” No one ever returns from Fog Island. It’s a place shrouded in mystery, a place that Finn and Cara have been warned against visiting. But when the two siblings disobey their father and head for the far-off island, they’re in for more than they bargained for. Is the ancient place just a pile of ruins? Or is there a deeper mystery lurking, something that only the mercurial Fog Man can unlock?

But when the two siblings disobey their father and head for the far-off island, they’re in for more than they bargained for.

For #5 we have “There May Be a Castle” by Piers Torday. Eleven-year-old Mouse knows he shouldn’t have survived the car crash when he was thrown from the vehicle during a Christmas Eve drive to his grandparents’ house. He woke totally fine, but in a world he barely recognized. With the help of a magical sheep and a sardonic talking horse, he’ll need to find his way to the castle if he wants to regain entry to his own life. That is, if this place everyone speaks of is more than the stuff of legend.

Coming in at #6 is Clayton Smith’s “Mabel Gray and the Wizard Who Swallowed the Sun.” The people of Brightsbane have had a rough time ever since the eternal night started. After a wizard took away the daytime from the land, he decided he needed to come back to steal a book of magic spells that holds the key to the township’s total destruction. Luckily, a spirited orphan named Mabel is going to set things right.

If she can summon up the courage to deal with a series of fantastical creatures and hair-raising quests, she might find a way to break her hometown’s terrible curse forever.

If she can summon up the courage to deal with a series of fantastical creatures and hair-raising quests, she might find a way to break her hometown’s terrible curse forever.

At #7 is Heather Mackey’s “Dreamwood.” Runaway Lucy has a fair amount of experience with supernatural forces. Her father is an expert on the subject, and she’s on a quest to find him and bring him back so she doesn’t have to go to that dreadful boarding school anymore. The problem is, her father isn’t where she thought he’d be. Could it be that the enchanted forest of Dreamwood proved too powerful a match for him? There’s only one way to find out: by heading into the heart of the living grove, no matter the consequences.

Coming in at #8 is “The Secret Life of Daisy Fitzjohn” by Tania Unsworth. Some might call Daisy’s life unusual: her best friends are a talking rat and a ghost, and she lives in an old estate that’s slowly falling apart. When her mother leaves on a strange expedition and doesn’t return, Daisy knows she can’t hide within the walls of Brightwood Hall any longer. She’ll have to do what it takes to save her home and keep her family together, with only the help of her eclectic sidekicks to guide her.

At #9 we find Pseudonymous Bosch’s “Bad Magic.” Clay knows there’s no such thing as magic. He’s seen a million sleight-of-hand shows and he knows they’re just tricks. That said, there are a few things happening at Earth Ranch that he can’t explain. Clay was supposed to be sent to the rehabilitation camp to be “scared straight.” But there’s more at work here than a few obstacle courses and hikes. For one thing, he’s having conversations with llamas.

For one thing, he’s having conversations with llamas.

For another, he may or may not have just seen a ghost. If there’s magic on Earth Ranch, Clay needs to make sure it’s not the deadly kind. If he can make it off the volcanic island without causing an explosion, he’ll count himself lucky.

Finally, at #10, is “The Mad Wolf’s Daughter” by Diane Magras. When Drest’s family of male warriors is taken captive, she finds herself in a unique position. All her life, her father and brothers took care of her. Now, she’s got to free her kin with the help of a witch, a soft-spoken knight, and her own fierce courage. With a mysterious bandit out to get her and her sense of independence growing by the day, Drest will find herself taking chances, slaying personal demons, and doing things she never dreamed herself capable of.

https://wiki.ezvid.com/m/10-chttps://wiki.ezvid.com/m/10-captivating-fantasy-books-for-young-readers-J7iRlnKs8VQYgaptivating-fantasy-books-for-young-readers-J7iRlnKs8VQYg

Writing For Children -Finding Your Child Voice

Posted on by

Writing Tip

When writing children literature, finding your own child voice is the only way to create realistic characters, believable dialogue, and succinct narrative that will grab your reader’s attention and keep them involved in your story.

My writing students often ask me: So how does a writer find their child voice?

My answer to students is this: Before you can find your child voice, you must think like a child. To think like a child, you must play like a child, even if it is only in your mind.

Seems like a relatively simple thing to do, right?  But as adults, we often let go of (or lose completely) our childlike attitudes and behaviors; tuck them away in a memory box.

So, open the box. Remember. Put on a costume and dance around the room, go to a park and cruise down the slide, visit a classroom, read children’s literature, or hang out with some kids and just observe. Soon enough, your own childhood memories will come flooding back about what it was like to be that age–what was important, what wasn’t important, how you acted and how you talked, what the world sounded like, felt like, and tasted like.

Once your own inner child is awakened, you will be able to immerse yourself into your child character’s head with more freedom, and your writing will be filled with pizzazz.

Another exercise I have my students do to get into child-mode thinking is to look at things, people, situations and emotions; write down all the different ways to express it with originality. Then, break the sentences down again and again until the emotions and situations are expressed simply, with the innocence of a child’s heart.

Here are some examples of my child voice that I’ve used in my own stories:

Excited:  He felt as if a herd of jumping bugs were doing cartwheels in his stomach.

Sad: My heart fell sideways and stayed lying down all day.

Descriptive dialogue: “I’m sure grandma can fly. See that flapping skin under her arms? Those are her after-dark wings.”

Descriptive narrative: The wind pricked and jabbed him, becoming so mean with all its yelling and howling that Tom decided the wind wasn’t worth playing with any longer.

So, if find yourself dancing and twirling around the kitchen, doing cartwheels across the yard, or finger painting like a four-year-old, and somebody comes along to tell you that you are acting immature, take it as a compliment and start writing.

 

Diane Mae Robinson is the international multi-award-winning author of the children’s fantasy/adventure series, The Pen Pieyu Adventures.  The author is also an artist, art teacher, editor of children books, and a writing instructor.

Author’s website: www.dragonsbook.com

Amazon author’s page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B007DKO8SK

 

Free Grade 4 Teacher’s Lesson Plan

Posted on by

Free Teacher’s Lesson Plan (Elementary, Grade 4, Language Arts) Available From Multi-Award Winning Children’s Book Author Diane Mae Robinson

The author’s award-winning work Sir Princess Petra (book #1 in The Pen Pieyu Adventures  multi-award winning series) teaches children valuable life lessons through engaging fiction. The no-cost teacher’s lesson plan was developed by an elementary school teacher. The general outcome of the lesson plan: students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to explore thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences.

Sir Princess Petra features surprising plot twists and turns, brilliant flashes of humor, zany characters and is rooted in timeless values that shine through the charismatic main character. It is written in the tradition of C. S. Lewis and is reminiscent of ‘Shrek’. Reviewers have labeled the award winning book a ‘fantasy adventure that is sure to become a timeless classic.’

Teachers/Librarians page link:  http://www.dragonsbook.com/teachers-librarians.html
Lesson plan link: http://www.dragonsbook.com/Sir_Princess_Petra’s_Lesson_Plan.pdf

Read the reviews and purchase the book: https://www.amazon.com/Sir-Princess-Petra-Pieyu-Adventures/dp/1613462646/

Read about the reviews about the series: https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00YW7K0I4/

“In writing children’s literature,” Robinson stated, “I strive to engage the young reader in a fun and interesting way through the adventures of my characters. It is also important to me that the moral lessons about kindness, acceptance, understanding, and believing in oneself, are brought out through my character’s actions.”

Reviewers on Goodreads stated, ‘This is a book that should be in lots of classrooms. I think it is a good book to help children understand that everything is not as it first seems.’ Another reviewer stated, ‘Cloaked in a fantasy work of knights, kings, and dragons that will engulf children into the story, the moral lessons imparted are refreshingly neither preachy nor boring. Petra’s breath of fresh air personality makes her an exceptional role model for children to admire and to imitate in the real situations of fear, new people, challenges, and goals in their own lives.”

While dragon books are one of the most popular segments of fantasy fiction and children’s books in today’s marketplace, in these fantasy fiction books, Robinson uses the dragon books concept as the background to teaching young people traditional values. Ms. Robinson’s highly praised work demonstrates that dragon books can be something much more than just books about dragons.

Sign up for the author’s newsletter for information about contests, giveaways, and new releases and receive your free Sir Princess Petra coloring book: https://dragonsbook.com/subscribe/

Currently, the author is running a coloring contest for kids through adults. Contest details: http://dragonsbook.com/blog/2016/11/05/coloring-contest-with-cool-prizes-all-ages/

Or just visit the For Kid’s Page for some fun facts about the characters: https://dragonsbook.com/for-kids/

 

For more information about my multi-award winning dragon books for children: www.dragonsbook.com

 

 

 

Author Interview at No Wasted Ink

Posted on by

Re-blog from No Wasted Ink, interview by Wendy Van Camp http://nowastedink.com/2014/10/22/author-interview-diane-m-robinson/

Diane may be a self-proclaimed delusional fantasy writer, but she takes the craft of writing well seriously. Her goal is to leave something original and fun in the minds of her readers. I think she has hit that goal out of the ballpark with this interview. I’m pleased to welcome Diane to No Wasted Ink.

Author Diane M. RobinsonHello Wendy and readers of No Wasted Ink. My name is Diane Mae Robinson; I am a children’s fantasy/adventure chapter book author who lives in an out-of-the way magical forest in central Alberta, Canada. Yep, magical forest: gnomes, elves, dragons, castles, all of it. People who know me say I am somewhat delusional—ummm, aren’t all fantasy writers?

Besides being a writer I have other

jobs, which pay for the upkeep of the magical forest: dental office manager, art teacher, and writing instructor. In this magical forest, I live in a small castle-type house, which my husband and I designed and built by ourselves several years ago. The forest is also home to my five horses and four dogs. Through the years living here, I have worked on building many wonderful medieval-type flower gardens and stone pathways, filled with sculptures of magical creatures that I have made. These gardens surrounded by the forest is where I get my inspiration for writing fantasy.

When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing around the age of eight–well after I had learned to read and, by then, had read every children’s book in the small town library—when I decided to make up plays and perform them for the neighborhood kids. The only other volunteer in my plays was my younger sister, which was good and bad—the themes of the plays were medieval; my sister would not act the part of the prince unless she was allowed to wear her cowboy duds. So, as I was the princess being rescued by my handsome prince (aka cowboy), the plays were performed to a live audience of five until a particular day when chaos struck. My prince had a simple task—jump from the roof of the house and rescue me where I was tied to a tree by the evil villain. The prince (aka cowboy) jumped, broke her arm, my mom heard the racket, I was untied by mom, sister went to hospital, sister got home from hospital, I asked her: “Why didn’t you just use your cape?” Mom banned me from ever making up plays again. When sister forgave me, I wrote more plays that she agreed to be the prince (aka cowboy) in. So, what else to do but bring my merry band of play watchers deeper into the forest and out of prying eyes.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I have considered myself a writer ever since I started writing plays at age eight: I write, I create, I am a writer.

Can you share a little about your current book with us?

I am currently working on book three of my fantasy/adventure series, Sir Princess Petra’s Mission–The Pen Pieyu Adventures. Book one, Sir Princess Petra,—The Pen Pieyu Adventures, was published in 2012 and has since won three major book awards. Book two, Sir Princess Petra’s Talent—The Pen Pieyu Adventures, was released in Sept. 2013. I am also working on a grammar book for elementary grades; this book has a medieval theme and the characters from my series are in this book also.

What inspired you to write this book?

I’ve always preferred fantasy stories and movies over all other genres. So, once the characters of this series started invading my head several years ago, they became so real to me that I had no choice but to write about their adventures. Often, I just feel like the writer while they tell me what is going to happen.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I am definitely a character-driven writer over a plot-driven writer. Plot is very important in children’s books, but if kids can feel and see the adventures through my characters. to me, all is won. I have an out-of-the box sense of humor and this comes out in my characters and their situations.

How did you come up with the title of this book?

The characters woke me up in the middle of the night, dictated their names, told me the places, declared their situations, and yes, even forced me on the titles of the books. Does this ever happen to other writers? Just curious.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

The main character of this series, Sir Princess Petra, is a princess whose greatest accomplishment is becoming a knight. She accomplishes this through kindness, understanding, and acceptance of others; all to the dismay of her father, the king, who thinks knights have to be big and mean and nasty.

Are experiences in this book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

All my characters and situations in the stories are purely fictional—made up in my delusional (or so I’m told) mind.

What authors have most influenced your life? What about them do you find inspiring?

I’ve been reading C.S. Lewis for years. His stories influence me by the way the reader can totally get lost in his fantasy world. Lemony Snicket influences me with his sharp wit and humor, and the bizarre situations of his stories. Both of these writers inspire me to write engaging stories for children that leave a mark, have good values, and are fun to read.

If you had to choose, is there a writer would you consider a mentor? Why?

I think anybody that writes a great story is a mentor because they instill in us, other writers, the need to write well.

Who designed the cover of your book? Why did you select this illustrator?

The cover designer and illustrator, Samantha Kickingbird, was selected by the publisher as she works there. I had no choice in the matter and didn’t see the first illustrations until well into the set-up stages of the books. I couldn’t have asked for a better illustrator for this series.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

As I tell my writing students: If you love to write, learn to write well. Don’t be in a hurry to publish. Re-write and edit, and then do it again and again until you have nearly created perfection before submitting your manuscript to publishers. My first book was rejected 27 times over a 9 year period before I finally received a traditional publishing contract. And my 2nd book was well on it’s way to receiving numerous 5 star reviews before I acquired a literary agent. It takes patience, perseverance, and the art of writing well before you have a book that you can be proud of.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Write from your heart, with passion and imagination, and you will breath life into your stories.

Diane Mae Robinson
From a magical forest, near St. Paul, Alberta, Canada

Diane Mae Robinson
From a magical forest, near St. Paul, Alberta, Canada

FACEBOOK

GOOGLE+

TWITTER
LINKEDIN
BLOG
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

Cover Artist: Samantha Kickingbird
Publisher: Tate Publishing, LLC

AMAZON BOOK ONE
AMAZON BOOK TWO

BARNES & NOBLE BOOK ONE
BARNES & NOBLE BOOK TWO

ABE BOOKS 1
ABE BOOKS 2

For more information about Diane Mae Robinson and her multi-award winning dragon books for children: www.dragonsbook.com

Award-winning Children’s Book Three Time Finalist in International Awards Contest

Posted on by

 

Button Images

Award winning author Diane Mae Robinson has announced that “Sir Princess Petra’s Talent” is a finalist in three categories in the Readers Favorite International Book Awards

Sir Princess Petra's Talent - The Pen Pieyu Adventures

Sir Princess Petra’s Talent – The Pen Pieyu Adventures

Award-winning children's book author, Diane Mae Robinson

Award-winning children’s book author, Diane Mae Robinson

Button Images

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Children’s Book Author Diane Mae Robinson Is Finalist In Three Categories In Readers Favorite Awards

Robinson’s multi-award winning books, ‘Sir Princess Petra’, and the second book in the series, ‘Sir Princess Petra’s Talent’, teach children valuable life lessons through engaging fiction

[DATE, 2014, St. Paul, Alberta, Canada] Award winning Canadian author Diane Mae Robinson’s latest children’s book, ‘Sir Princess Petra’s Talent’ has achieved finalist status in three separate categories in the 2014 Readers Favorite International Book Award Contest. She placed in the Children’s Fantasy SciFi, Children’s Grades K to 3rd and Children’s Grades 4th to 6th.“I am pleased,” Robinson stated, “to share this honor with notable authors such asJimCarrey and many other very talentedandwell known children’s book authors.”Robinson ‘s highly praised, multi-award winning children’s book, ‘Sir Princess Petra’, the first in thePenPieyu series,iswritteninthe tradition of C. S. Lewis and is reminiscent of ‘Shrek’. Reviewers have labeled the award winning book a ‘fantasy adventure that is sure to become a timeless classic.’’Sir Princess Petra’ took an Honorable Mention award in the 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Awards for Children Grade K – 3rd.Robinsonwas honored with two major awards for the book.Shewas awarded the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artists Award for Children’s Book Author and took 2nd place in the Purple Dragonfly Book awards for Children’s Chapter Book.’Sir Princess Petra’s Talent’ has garnered multiple 5 star reviews and even more praise from Midwest Book Review and Readers Favorite.Robinson is currently at work on the third book in the series, ‘Sir Princess Petra’s Mission’. She is also writing an easy-to-understand grammar book for elementary children, ‘Grammar for Kids and Dragons’. The book deals with elementary grades grammar lessons in a humorous medieval tone.Robinson uses the dragon books concept as the background to teaching young people traditional values. Ms. Robinson’s highly praised work demonstrates that dragon books can be something much more than fantasy tales.

Diane Mae Robinson is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at robinsond@mscnet.ca. More information, including reviews, information for teachers and librarians, a downloadable lesson plan and a special children’s section is available at her website. Both books are currently available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

About Diane Mae Robinson:

Diane Mae Robinson has a journalism diploma from the Schools of Montreal, and an advanced diploma from the Institute of Children’s Literature in Connecticut. She is a writing instructor/tutor for the Children’s Writing Course at the Creative Writing Institute. She is also an artist, writing tutor and teaches acrylic and watercolor art to children. She lives with her husband, Allen, in a small hilltop castle near St. Paul, Alberta.  They have four dogs and three horses, along with a forest inhabited by gnomes, fairies, a princess, and a dragon. This magical forest is where Diane creates her characters and gets the inspiration for her stories.

Contact  and more information about Diane’s multi-award winning dragon books for children series:

Diane Mae Robinson
http://www.dragonsbook.com
robinsond@mcsnet.ca

Teachers/Librarians page link:  http://www.dragonsbook.com/teachers-librarians.html
Lesson plan link: http://www.dragonsbook.com/Sir_Princess_Petra’s_Lesson_Plan.pdf

– See more at: http://www.freepublicitygroup.com/release_diane_robinson_dragons_book_aug_114.html#sthash.vrC9NADd.dpuf

Children’s Book Author receives N.Y. Agent Contract

Posted on by
Button Images

Award winning author Diane Mae Robinson has announced that she has contracted with Gotham Artists Agency of New York. Robinson is the author of ‘Sir Princess Petra’ and ‘Sir Princess Petra’s Talent’.  

Button Images        2012-07-13 08.28.52

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Award Winning Children’s Book Author Diane Mae Robinson Announces New York Agency Contract

Robinson awards include the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artists Award for Children’s Book Author and took 2nd Place in the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards for ‘Sir Princess Petra’, the first book in the Pen Pieyu series

[October 30, 2013, St. Paul, Alberta, Canada] Award winning Canadian author Diane Robinson has announced that she has contracted with Gotham Artists Agency of New York.“Signing with New York agent, James von Scholz at Gotham Artists Agency,” Robinson stated, “is an incredible boost to my writing career. My agent will work with me to bring my characters to larger audiences through foreign rights, animation, and toy licensing. It’s very exciting.”‘Sir Princess Petra’, the first in the series, features surprising plot twists and turns, brilliant flashes of humor, zany characters and is rooted in timeless values that shine through the charismatic main character. It is written in the tradition of C. S. Lewis and is reminiscent of ‘Shrek’. Reviewers have labeled the award winning book a ‘fantasy adventure that is sure to become a timeless classic.’The second book, ‘Sir Princess Petra’s Talent’ has already received a number of very favorable reviews. A recent review on Goodreads stated, ‘This is a book that should be in lots of classrooms. I think it is a good book to help children understand that everything is not as it first seems.’ Another reviewer stated, ‘Cloaked in a fantasy work of knights, kings, and dragons that will engulf children into the story, the moral lessons imparted are refreshingly neither preachy nor boring. Petra’s breath of fresh air personality makes her an exceptional role model for children to admire and to imitate in the real situations of fear, new people, challenges, and goals in their own lives.”Ms. Robinson also recently announced that ‘Sir Princess Petra’ took an Honorable Mention award in the 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Awards for Children Grade K – 3rd. This adds to the long list of awards for ‘Sir Princess Petra’.  Robinson was honored with two major awards for the first work. She was awarded the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artists Award for Children’s Book Author and took 2nd place in the Purple Dragonfly Book awards for Children’s Chapter Book.While dragon books are one of the most popular segments of fantasy fiction and children’s books in today’s marketplace, in these fantasy fiction books, Robinson uses the dragon books concept as the background to teaching young people traditional values. Ms. Robinson’s highly praised work demonstrates that dragon books can be something much more than dragon books.Diane Mae Robinson is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at robinsond@mscnet.ca. More information, including reviews, information for teachers and librarians and a special children’s section is available at her website. Both books are currently available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.About Diane Mae Robinson:

Diane Mae Robinson has a journalism diploma from the Schools of Montreal, and an advanced diploma from the Institute of Children’s Literature in Connecticut.  She is also an artist, writing tutor and teaches acrylic and watercolor art to children. She lives with her husband, Allen, in a small hilltop castle near St. Paul, Alberta.  They have four dogs and three horses, along with a forest inhabited by gnomes, fairies, a princess, and a dragon. This magical forest is where Diane creates her characters and gets the inspiration for her stories.

Contact:

Diane Mae Robinson
http://www.dragonsbook.com
robinsond@mcsnet.ca

For more reviews of Sir Princess Petra’s Talent, book 2 in this adventure kids book series go here:http://amzn.to/1584kko

– See more at: http://www.freepublicitygroup.com/release_diane_robinson_oct213.html#sthash.pl5cTgRt.dpuf

How to write dragon books for children

Posted on by

DRAGONS . . .very interesting creatures, and always up to stuff.

Snarls the dragon in Sir Princess Petra

I write children’s chapter books in the fantasy/adventure genre. But most important about writing fantasy kids books is that I write dragon books for children. My first book in this series is entitled,  Sir Princess Petra – The Pen Pieyu Adventures

Snarls, the dragon, is a secondary character in this series. And he is quite the character.

Even though Snarls is an imaginary creature, he still possesses important traits that any human character would possess. And possessing important traits is what makes any character whole and round.

When I start making the character outlines for a book, that character’s attributes and flaws, as well as personal appearance, have to be consistent.

Making characters whole and round is the most important thing you can do for your characters, and it starts with a notebook. Each character has their own segment, and as I think about characteristics for that character I write them all down.

For instance: Is the character mostly serious or goofy? Are they generally a good or bad character?   What things do they stand up for? What do they look like? And what are their likes and dislikes?

The list goes on and on, but the more characteristics I write for each character, the more real those characters become. And all the characters in my books must be real to me or they will not be real to my readers.

It is also important to note that not every characteristic will come out in the story, but when the writer knows their characters inside and out, it is easy to choose the what, when, and why that characters does or says something in the story.

Snarls, the dragon in my books, is therefore treated as any character in the book–and he has to pull his weight as an intriguing character.

So in order to write dragon books, or any fiction kids books, the characters must be real to the writer first. And the sky’s the limit as the writer mulls over what kind of characteristics the players will have.

For more information about my characters, go to: http://www.dragonsbook.com/for-kids.html and scroll down for the kid’s coloring book to download, and for info about Book One characters.