Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers 2013

Holly and I spent a week out of the last two summers at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers WIFYR (rhymes with Swiffer) conference held in beautiful Sandy, UT. We recommend this conference and give it 6 starts out of 5. However, Holly will not be attending this year. She is now the president of the local girls youth organization for our church and will be away camping with them during the same week as WIFYR. She is bummed she will not be able to attend this year, but super excited to be working with girls ages 12-18. I am hoping to attend a few workshops in the afternoon, but may be running a summer reading camp. For sure we both plan to attend in the future.

Holly and Cari’s top ten list of reasons to attend WIFYR for 2013

1. No kids allowed (yes, we do love our kids)
2. Entertainment (the authors sing to you on the last day and it has something to do with Carol Lynch William’s not so secret desire to be a Western Country singer) and prizes on the last day
3. Network with other writers/artists
4. Get critiques by a published author and fellow writers in your writing workshop
5. Book signings by your favorite author/teacher such as Matthew Kirby, Mette Ivie Harrison, Ann Cannon and more.
6. Get a peak into current publishing trends
7. Agents: Ammi-Joan Paquette & Steven Fraser
8. Editor Alyson Heller Editor from Aladdin Books
9. New mini-workshops for those who can’t do the the full day or week option
10. Carol Lynch Williams -If no one else was there but Carol, you would still be so happy you came. Cari took her class year and she is not only a gifted author, but a skilled teacher (Cari is a teacher educator so take her word for it).

Hurry and go sign up- early bird registration ends April 30, 2013. Here is a link to the WIFYR website.

Princess April Morning Glory by Letitia Fairbanks

I love fairy tales, and old things, so what could be better than an old fairy tale brought to life once again? Princess April Morning-Glory by Letitia Fairbanks is full of beautiful hand calligraphy and watercolor illustrations. It’s like an illuminated manuscript resurrected from the Hollywood vaults. It is clear to see why it remained unprintable for so many years- especially since the original is produced on hand-made paper with silver and gold leaf!

It’s books like this that make me glad for the benefits of self-publishing. I know a lot of questionable things get published through self publishing, but I know at least one little princess (besides me) who was spell-bound by this long-undiscovered treasure. I borrowed my neighbor’s daughter and read the story to her along with my son. My 3yo kept talking about the different pictures in the beginning pages although he eventually grew quite wiggly before the story was over. However, my neighbor’s daughter didn’t move a muscle. Princess stories are definitely more poplar among the female folk I know. I would love to see pictures of the original in person, since they had gold and silver foil and were done on handmade paper (the original must be even more of a treasure than this reproduction). Check out the book trailer at the Princess April Morning Glory site to see some of the interior artwork and get a sneak preview of the story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

**I received an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this book for review, at no cost to me. The opinions are my own.

Princess April Morning-Glory by Letitia Fairbanks is full of beautiful hand calligraphy and watercolor illustrations. It’s like an illuminated manuscript resurrected from the Hollywood vaults. It is clear to see why it remained unprintable for so many years- especially since the original is produced on hand made paper with silver and gold leaf!

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