Hi, I’m Charlemagne the Fish^TM!

Voting Update

Yay!!! My book came in THIRD in the ABC's Children's Picture Book Competition held in September, 2007, a contest where readers were able to vote on-line for their favorite book out of the 12 competition finalists in an international picture book contest. The contest was quite exciting, and I got to go to many schools where my book's author read my book to the children and then I was able to interact with the children. Also during the contest my web site was greatly expanded. Coming in THIRD shows that my book has a lot of potential and the author Diana Patton is going to increase her efforts to get it published.

CONTEST BACKGROUND

Writer/illustrator Diana Wilkoc Patton is a watercolor artist and watercolor teacher. For the past 2 ½ years she's been working really hard on writing and illustrating children's picture books. The children's picture book business is extremely competitive; only one in 4,000 picture books are ever published. In fact, most of the large publishers don’t want to even see an artist's work unless it's presented by an agent, and the reputable agents don't want to represent authors unless they have a publishing track record.

The ABC's Children's Picture Book Competition, now finishing its third year and starting its fourth year, seeks to help fledgling authors. Each year they judge hundreds of manuscripts and narrow the field down to ten finalists. In 2007 the entries were so good, they decided to have twelve finalists. The first prize winner's book is published. It's a great prize! The catch is, the company doing the competition figured the fledgling authors were in the real world and in the real world nothing comes without promotion. SO THE WINNER is CHOSEN BY THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF ONLINE VOTES OVER A TWO WEEK PERIOD!

WHY CHARLEMAGNE

When asked why she wrote Charlemagne to the Rescue, Author/Illustrator Diana Patton said:

"Charlemagne was written because of my love for children and fishes. It is my hope that children will identify with Charlemagne and they might realize that in caring for others and acting for others' good, one is not only 'brave' but one can gain in self-esteem. Charlemagne forgets himself and his fears in helping his friends and by so doing, helps himself as well."

"Charlemagne also realizes that just because there is change, just because there is something new, it is not bad. New can be as good as the old, or even better. Children might identify with this situation whether it has to do with a new home, a new school, or even a new sibling or parent."

"Charlemagne can be read at school as a starting point for several subjects or discussions. With publication ( some time!) a Study Guide is available."