Linnie's Corner

linnieslittlebooks.com - Bringing smiles to little faces

Linnie's Corner

Linda Hales: Posted on October-08-11 12:42 PM

As a new children’s book author, I decided to establish an on-site blog to enable meaningful communication between ourselves. Starting out, I thought I would keep it simple and engage your thoughts on four levels – so here goes!

It would mean a lot to me to know your opinion on what factors define an EXCELLENT children’s book for the young reader – let’s say between 3 and 7 years of age.
Secondly, what social values do you hope that your child will derive from reading short stories?
And, how important is it for your child to experience age appropriate day or bedtime stories?
What information would you like to see on this website that will enable a shared experience with your child?

My sincere aim is to build a strong sharing experience for all who participate. Please look for a new blog piece at this location every week!

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16 Comments to Linnie's Corner:

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Nathan Waldman on October-09-11 11:22 PM

Linda, Your website is amazing! all the best to you

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Jim McIntyre on October-11-11 7:44 AM

Linda: Thank you for Sunshine, I'll make you smile. I got this for my 2 Granddaughters who loved it. (I did too) The book provides a simple message for all to follow. Congratulations on your web site and I wish you continued success in the future writing as you positively impact others.

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Christine Murchison on October-11-11 10:53 AM

Way to go Linda. I hope you write many more Little Books. I will pass this website on to people I know who would/should be interested in reading your books. Love ya!

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Linda Hales on October-11-11 12:14 PM

Thanks for your wonderful comments everyone. I am encouraged by your kindness.

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Leigh Bonnet on October-20-11 3:18 PM

Congrats, Linda and all the very best with your first 2 children's books and website too! I enjoyed reading both "Sunshine, I'll make you smile" and "Andy-Roo" and will be giving them to 2 relatives' families in Whitby at Christmas (one family has 3 young boys and both parents are teachers!) After reading your questions, I remembered back to when I bought and read a lot of kids books to my daughter, my 2 nieces and many of Wendy's young friends too. The story was always the key to my interest in buying the book, plus the graphics which enhanced the story and desire to re-read it many times! I believe kids books that have a message or life lesson are more worthwhile to find and read to young readers. Kids are very smart from an early age and often pick up a hidden message before some adults realize it's there! A story that delivers these well can give parents and kids an enjoyable feeling when thinking of being compassionate to others or learning how to make friends by being yourself (ie. we all have something special to be proud of!) I definitely think age-appropriate stories are the best for young kids to start with. Also movies, games and t.v. shows since lots of young kids are exposed to content that's not good for them due to having older siblings or parents who may want to rush through their early childhood stage. The books for early readers need to have imaginative and inspiring material that's fun to read over and over again! As far as themes for your website, I would like to see some discussion of current topics which parents might be dealing with in raising a young child in today's "media saturated" society. I think because there's so many licensed characters pushed at kids from infancy on, it's very important to have books like yours with original characters to read about and inspire our young kids. I like your characters, Sunshine and Andy-roo very much and look forward to their future adventures and the life lessons that you weave into the stories so well!

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Linda Hales on October-20-11 4:05 PM

Greatest thanks and appreciation Leigh! Your post was so insighful and helpful to me in establishing future direction. It also helps me to know that I am on the right track and that I delivered according to my mission. Methinks you are my #1 fan! Linda

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Holly Stover on November-06-11 8:09 AM

Hi Linda, Your books look very interesting. I was definitely pulled in to want to read more. My girls are all grown up but I do have grandchildren. I think I will start with Sunshine.

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	Linda Hales on November-06-11 9:43 AM Hi Holly! I really appreciate your post and hope you like my books. If they succeed as I want them to, I will quickly release the next two Sunshine, which are already written. I checked your website last night and love your animation and it was good to see your talent expressed in so many genres! Pls let me know how your grandchildren like my stories.

Marilyn Marcoux on December-20-11 9:46 AM

Linda - I just visited your site and viewed your books - I will definitely be ordering them for my 2 grandbabies! (well, grand, grand niece & nephew) You are truly an inspiration to so many people and your courage and insight are amazing! I tip my hat to you! I am proud to be your friend and wish you all the success you deserve!

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Linda Hales on December-20-11 11:31 AM

Hi Marilyn! So good to receive your wonderful comments. My site is only two months old but it is turning out to be tremendously enjoyable and an inspiration to get those next books completed. Please check in every so often as I will be adding a new piece every few weeks. Please let me know how your grandbabies like my stories!

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Jennifer Seeley on February-11-12 9:56 PM

Linda - just checked out your website (finally) what an awesome concept. You've not only written two wonderful books for children, but have given their parents an open forum for thoughts, ideas and input. You should be very proud of all you've done here! My kids are grown, but with their friends now expanding into families of their own what would be a more wonderful baby shower gift then one of your books! Maybe you could suggest on your site specific book stores where your books could be found? All the best in your future books as you are NOT a lady to sit still for too long! All the best!

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	Linda Hales on February-11-12 11:19 PM Hi Jenn! Many thanks for your kind comments. I am so glad that you like the site and my books and I will definitely take your suggestions into account as I continue to upgrade my site. Again - thanks so much. Linda

Sharen Benyik on February-28-12 9:26 PM

Hi Linda, First off, I so appreciate your dedication to getting good childrens books into the market. I hope that my answers to your original questions will provide some feedback that may be beneficial to your noble quest. An excellent childrens book, from the perspective of a mom of a 3 year old boy, must be visually and literally engaging and educational. I find Alex's hunger for information he gleans from the world insatiable at his age. Stories that are multi-dimentional, and have multi-level complexities built in, that he can absorb more and more of with repeated reading, are the ones he goes back to time and again. By the way, he is a 30 book a night kid if you had the time, so we have lots of feedback from him! For us, we truly are grateful for the life we are blessed with and it is very important for use that Alex have a perspective of the "world", not just his fairly affluent and blessed Canadian existence. Having the experience to see different ways of life through books, which I believe are a vehicle that can transport an imagination like no other, would be very beneficial I think. Since Alex reads every night, and several times during the day, it is very important that he is taking in the level and amount of information a 3 year old has the ability to handle. This is challenging as there is a fine balance to be found in what may be interesting to him and what is appropriate for him. One of the most exciting things that has happened recently is the introduction of a Kobo Vox to our household which means access to a different format for reading books- digitally. Our son is very drawn to this kind of media so perhaps you can explore those options for your children's books. Linda, we are so very proud of all you are doing and we know your true heart is behind this venture. We are so grateful to have known you and to have you as a part of our lives. We pray for continued blessing for all the great work you are doing! On behalf of Steve, Alex and myself, keep up the great works! Sharen

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	Linda on February-28-12 9:57 PM Many many thanks for your kind and well thought out comments Sharen! Alex is indeed a very fortunate little boy - especially for having such wonderful parents and the opportunities you are providing him with. Knowing you, Alex will be exposed to less fortunate circumstances to see the difficulties that others have to cope with in life. It will help to shape him as an empathetic child with noble goals in life. I follow you on FB and keep up with his photos (and your wonderful cakes of course)and look forward to continued contact for many years to come.

Lori Foroozandeh on August-29-12 5:52 PM

I think our children need their summer break. It gives them breathing time, a time to look forward to being with their friends and away from school for a while. Could you imagine if jobs didn't offer vacations, then what would we have to motivate us from year to year....Just my thoughts. Some parents might want to eliminate summer break so they don't have to spend time with their children more than they already do, but for most of us I hope we look forward to it as a bonding time period to get to know our kids better. Just my two cents.

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Linda Hales on August-29-12 10:13 PM

Hi Lori - such a pleasant surprise to see you on my blog. I admit that I am well overdue for posting a new one but so happy that this one is still relevant and receiving comments. I am truly on your page when it comes to summer breaks for kids. Let them be kids for as long as we can keep them that way. Besides, even as teenagers, summer break is a good thing because many kids must work and earn money during that 2 months, all of which prepares them well for their adulthood. Again - many thanks for dropping by.

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