Dim's Write Stuff

This week’s round up of inspiring Christmas ideas covers even more titles, some non-fiction that entrance and enhance both a child’s knowledge and imagination. All will make elegant and welcome additions to any Christmas stocking. Searching for Cicadas Part nonfiction and part narrative, Searching for Cicadas is an inviting story of a boy and his grandfather and their summertime excursion to go cicada-watching and is part of the Nature Storybooks series. It’s a lyrical tale warmly illustrated reflecting Aussie bush landscapes and close up encounters with one of the most intriguing of our bush insect characters. Prose is interspersed with detailed fact about a number of cicada species and their fascinating habits and lifecycles. Title: Searching For Cicadas Author: Lesley Gibbes Illustrator: Judy Watson Publisher: Walker Books, $26.99 Publication Date: August 2019 Format: Hardback ISBN: 9781922244420 For ages: 4 - 9 Type: Non Fiction Picture Book Buy the B...

Any wildebeest will tell you that the Key to Survival is Adaptation . Eat or be eaten, prey or be preyed upon. But how exactly does this translate to writing and in particular children's writing? And how does adaption lead to success? Let's have a brief search through the savannah for the answers... 1. Adapt your hunting and housekeeping requirements to the bare basics. Pretty soon your family will Adapt to the idea that the floor of their den looks far better with dust than without. Teach them how to hunt their own wildebeest and encourage them to watch Masterchef more. 2. Adapt with the times. Study the herd. Recognise and acknowledge trends. You don't have to follow them and write what every one else is writing. Far better not to. But by astute listening, reading and watching you will soon be able to figure out what (still) works, sells and more importantly is favoured by readers. One of my favourite methods is to stand quietly in the children's section of an...