StoryMakers with Valerie Bolling RIDE, ROLL, RUN TIME FOR FUN

On StoryMakers Valerie Bolling, author of the new rhyming picture book, RIDE, ROLL, RUN: TIME FOR FUN!, joins us from her home in Connecticut.

This is a book that celebrates outdoor play and having fun in the fresh air! Valerie chats with Rocco about the activities shown in the book, as well as the ones she likes to do to stay active. Get a peek at some of RIDE, ROLL, RUN’s stunning illustrations by Sabrena Khadija of kids enjoying play. Finally, Valerie and Rocco create some rhyming phrases about activities they like to do.

Kids! Think about activities YOU like to do when you come home from school. Can you create a rhyming sentence or two about that game or activity? Share your rhymes with us in the comments below. Don’t worry! Rhyming is easy — even if our rhyme is a little cheesy!

About the Book

• A joyful, rhyming picture book that is an ode to community and outdoor play •

Pedal, pump.
Speed bump!
Ride, roll, run.
Friends and fun!

This energetic picture book celebrates community and friendship, following children as they play their way through their vibrant neighborhood. Author and educator Valerie Bolling’s rhyming text makes for an exciting read-aloud and is paired with stunning illustrations by Sabrena Khadija.

About Valerie Bolling
When I was four, my grandmother taught me how to write. I loved the feel of the pencil in my hand as I made marks on the paper. I took special care to write each letter of the alphabet as beautifully as I could. In first grade, I began to write “poetry” in black and white marbled composition books. Applying the most recent phonics lessons I created simple rhymes, like: There is a cat. It sat on a mat. It caught a rat. Is it ironic then that my debut picture book is a series of rhyming stanzas? ​

So how did I become a picture book author? Inspired by a visit from my nieces in December 2016, I wrote two stories in which each of them was the protagonist. Shortly after, I decided to pursue becoming a published author. I contacted people I believed could be helpful resources – and they were – and I wrote and wrote and wrote. And revised even more. In June of 2017, I started writing query letters to agents and editors and began to participate in Twitter pitches. In a June 2018 #PBPitch, Let’s Dance! was “liked” by Jes Negrón, an editor at Boyds Mills & Kane, and less than two weeks later, I received the news that my book had been accepted for publication!

​In addition to writing picture books, I have written a Monthly Memo for teachers that I published on Twitter, and I have been published in The National Writing Project’s Quarterly and NESCBWI News. A poem I wrote was published in Cricket Media’s Babybug Magazine.

 

Sponsored by  ABRAMS BOOKS
CONNECT with Valerie Bolling
Website | Twitter | Instagram

 

 

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