Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Kid's Korner - Guest post by Shelly Nicholson and Giveaway!

Do you have a “terrible two” living in your home? Does your child do crazy things that make you want to pull the last strand of your hair (that is now gray from stress) out?

Don’t scream!
Don’t cry!
Don’t medicate!

Take a deep breath. Write it down in a journal. Someday you will think it’s all very funny. I know from experience.

My son, Jacob (who will be eight years old next month) could have at one time been a character double for Dennis the Menace meets Curious George. After rearing two “calmer” sons (who are now 13 and 11), Jacob’s naughtiness startled me! I thought maybe something went amiss in the womb. Did I drink too much caffeine? Did my craving for spearmint gumdrop leaves inject too much sugar into baby Jacob’s system? Was this child part monkey—the missing link, perhaps? I couldn’t tell. His “terrible twos” continued into the “terrifying threes,” the “frightful fours” and the “fearful fives.”

Today, however, *sigh of relief*, Jacob’s teachers tell me he is the “best behaved student in the classroom, with a very funny sense of humor.”

I would describe him as such myself. Now Jacob is a sweet, caring kid, well behaved, polite (most times, lol), with a great sense of humor whom everybody loves! Unlike my other three children, though, he is still quite the daredevil. He’s not much of a team sports kind of kid. He’s more of an X-Games kind of kid. From snowboarding, to skiing, to BMXing and skateboarding, he loves it all. He tells me that when he grows up, he will be a rock star who rides a BMX bike in the X-Games (oh, and I forgot to mention, a builder on the side).

Thanks to my mischievous little funny guy, at the age of 35, I have a head full of gray hairs that I cover up every 6 weeks with a bottle of dye and lots of stories to write!

So many people ask me how I get my ideas for stories. I have to say, “Because my children inspire me.” And they really do!

In my two books Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time-Out Chair and A Stinky Surprise for Jake the Snake, I used lots of ideas from my kids. Jacob really did swing from the dining room chandelier. My daughter Halie loves the color pink. My oldest son really did have a pet lizard (although it didn’t really drowned in chocolate sauce J). My middle son’s favorite meal is spaghetti and meatballs, and I always thought it would be fun to give birth to twins! (Well, maybe not twin Jacobs!)

If you are an aspiring writer, get ideas from the world around you! Go to a quite place: a park, a lake, a forest, a corner of your house. Take a walk. Observe the surroundings. Listen to the sounds. Open up your imagination. Write in a journal. Create a blog. Write about everyday occurrences. In my stories, I want to get children interested in reading through realistic characters and laugh-out-loud humor. But I’d also like to instill a valuable lesson into my story. I hope that my “Jake the Snake” books will do just that. I hope that children everywhere will be able to relate to my characters!

Kristi, thank you for hosting me on your blog. I had so much fun visiting! You can learn about me, my books and the adventures of “Jake the Snake” at www.booksbyshelly.com

Have a great day! Happy reading! And happy writing!

J Shelly Nicholson


Thank you Shelly for spending time at Books and Needlepoint today! Having a 4 year old Jake myself - can't wait to introduce him to these books!

Shelly has graciously agreed to give away a copy of her first book - Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time-Out Chair! All you need to do is visit her site
Books by Shelly and come back and tell me something you learned! Sign her guest book while you are there and tell
her Kristi sent you and I will give you an extra entry! Please leave an email address so I can reach you! Continental U.S. Only. This giveaway will end Sept 14th.




14 comments:

Bridget said...

What a great book series! Just posted on Win A Book. No need to enter me, Kristi!

Wendi said...

To Shelly: (I tried to sign your guest book, but can't get the verification code to work. . . tried at least a dozen times - so here is what I wrote!)

Hi Shelly! I'm visiting from your guest post on Kristi's Books and Needlepoint blog. I loved your post - as the mother of a 2 year old, I sat there for a moment thinking of all the funny (and hair-pulling) things that have happened recently. . . opening the door to his nursery and finding the air and him COVERED in baby powder. . . same in the kitchen, only it was flour the next time (the pantry door handle got a baby proof handle that night!) - he thought it looked neat when he grabbed handfulls and threw it up in the air. . . He loves to climb on things, hide, and RUN! LOL - Your books sound great!

Take care ~ Wendi

Wendi said...

Great guest post Kristi! I visited Shelly's site, but can't get the guestbook to work. I enjoyed browsing her site, and especially liked the coloring page she has available - my son LOVES to color (although he doesn't stay inside the lines) :). I'd love the chance to win a new book to read with him.

Wendi
wbarker at hotmail.com

Sheila Deeth said...

I don't have little kids anymore, but I loved this article. I told mine they were going through the tiresome threes after the terrible twos. You start running out of adjectives by nineteen, but then they leave...

Edna said...

I went to the site of Shelly's and there were so much to see and do there for a child, I looked the site over and have the icon on my desktop for my little 4 year old grandson when he comes down. Please enter me into the drawing for these books.

mamat2730(at)charter(dot)net

KR said...

I teach kindergarten. I loved the coloring pages.

mj.coward[at]gmail.com

KR said...

I signed the guestbook!

mj.coward[at]gmail.com

Shelly Nicholson said...

To Wendi B. I'm so sorry you couldn't sign my guest book. I'm not sure what happened. Others have signed today. So is the world of computers, I suppose. It's fun having a two year old :) Enjoy it. Everytime I see one, I get toddler fever as all my babies are growing up and leaving me for kindergarten and junior high school :( Two year olds, so much more fun than teen year olds :)

catss99 said...

I learned that the author has also written "arithmetic wars"

amanda
catss99@yahoo.com

catss99 said...

I signed the guestbook!
amanda
catss99@yahoo.com

Debs Desk said...

I would love to share this with my grandson. I learned that Shelly loves to ski and cook. I tried to sign guest book but could not get past the code. Please include me in your giveaway.
Thanks
Debbie
debdesk9(at)verizon.net

apple blossom said...

I learned that Shelly has been a published author since 2007. Would love to win this book. I love children's books.
I signed her guest book also.

Thanks

ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com

Cherie J said...

My 2 year old and 6 year old would probably love this book. I loved the coloring pages at Shelly's site and I was impressed where it said in Shelly's bio that one of the things she enjoys besides writing is skiing. I am petrified to try skiing so I admire anyone who actually says they enjoy it. I also signed the guestbook and told her you sent me.

cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com

Shelly Nicholson said...

Hi Cherie...Skiing is so much fun! You shouldn't be scared. It's as easy as learning to ride a bike :)

Thank you everybody for visiting my website and signing my guestbook and congratulations Abi for winning my book! I hope you enjoy!

--Shelly

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