Hi guys! Great to see some stories already for DiveBomb and Biggy! These are only our storybeginnings, so don't be afraid to add more details and slow your story down a little. It can be longer--and you're going to have help with that!


If you posted your story as a comment under my post "Mission #6," PLEASE make a new post and copy and paste your story to your own post.  Here's why:

Today's Mission:

• Log in to our KidBlog site by clicking on the SHARE tab.
• Read at least TWO other Kid Authors' DiveBomb stories.
• Leave a comment. In your comment, I want you to write at least two new sentences to add onto their story.

THIS IS IMPORTANT!!! Make sure you look to see if there anybody else has leftcomments under the story. If they have, read the comments and then add more to the story.  We are building off of each story with our comments.  Does that make sense?

For example:

• Noah writes a story on his post.
• Gabby writes a comment (more story) on Noah's post.
• Shalom writes a comment that keeps Noah and Gabby's story going.
• Adrienne writes a comment that keeps Noah, Gabby, and Shalom's story going.

Sometimes we might have two people leave comments at the same time, but we will figure that out when it happens.
We are just trying this to see if it works, so hopefully tomorrow we will have a few longer stories that we have started writing together.  :-)

Remember, some of your Kid Author friends may be younger or older than you are, or may not have as much writing experience as you, so be kind to each other.  This should be a fun time!

It's with a little bit of nervousness that I introduce our villain:

• Biggy
• Male
• Garden Gnome, DiveBomb’s little brother
• 799 years old
• He has rainbow colored hair, white goggles and black clothes
• He can go underground and just pop his head up anywhere.
• His bad habit is having a bad temper.
• He lives underground, under a nice little lawn with his roommate, a mole named Diggy. He lives in front of a nice little house owned by a nice little old lady named Petunia
• He thinks he wants DiveBombs powers of flying, granting wishes, and becoming invisible. But in the end he finds out that powers is not what he really wants, and maybe, just maybe Biggy is good underneath all that bad.

• Biggy is actually a really nice troll, but he's really grumpy because he's very lonely.

Biggy is a combination of all of your villain suggestions, so well done! I hope you enjoy writing about DiveBomb and Biggy (and Diggy, too!).
Now I'm going to tell you what it is DiveBomb wants, which is what Biggy is trying to stop:
DiveBomb likes to fly, but he gets airsick sometimes (maybe from sneezing at the dust in the air) andhe would like to be able to rest on the ground. Every time he lands on the ground, Biggy always shows up and tries tosteal DiveBomb's powers.

Your mission for today is:

• Start a New Post, and share with Students.
• Write a few sentences (or paragraph) to start our story about Divebomb and Biggy. I want to see where you guys think the story begins, and then we will go from there.  :-)

I will check your stories later tomorrow afternoon and give you your next mission then.
Oh, and look at my DiveBomb picture.  Not colorful, but I didn't have anything to color with at my grandparents' house.  I think he's missing a cape or something....

I'm loving the stories your family and friends told you! Did you have fun talking to them about when they were younger? You might want to try it again sometime.  :-)

Today's Mission:

• Log in to our KidBlog site by clicking on the SHARE tab.
• Find the "Mission #5" post.
• Let's try something different. Think of something DiveBomb really wants or wants to do. This can be as simple as a glass of water, or it can be more difficult, like world peace. Reply to this post and let me know what your idea is.
• Draw a picture of what DiveBomb the Flying Garden Gnome looks like and send me a picture. This can be a selfie, a scan, or an e-mail. You can even send me an actual picture to my post office box. E-mail me or send a response through the CONTACT form for my P.O. Box address.

That's it!  We'll pick the villain soon, but not today!  You can keep sending me villain ideas using the "Meet My Villain" form if you want.

Let's take a break from thinking about our story--we'll get back to it on Monday. Instead, here's your mission:

• Talk to someone older than you who you trust: a parent, grandparents, aunt, family friend. Ask them to tell you about when they were a kid.  Maybe they have a funny story they can share? Or ask about something you've always wanted to know about them.
• Write a new post on the KidBlog site (go to the SHARE tab and log in). Share what you learned with us, if you want (I suggest not using his or her name, or using a made-up name). If you don't want to share, or they don't want you to, that's okay.

The idea here is to get us thinking about talking and sharing with other people. We all have stories. You might even find that two people remember the same thing in completely different ways (this happens to my grandparents a lot!)
In talking to others--especially your older family members or family friends--it might spark your ideas for things to write about. You never know!

Sorry this is a little late. YouTube was giving me a liiiiiittle bit of trouble. I think the 3pm EST time might not work the best for me... so maybe just promising to get it to you as soon as I can is better!  :-)
Thank you for sharing all of your character ideas with me. There were some great characters on my list. I decided to go through and make my own character--but he is from your suggestions.

DiveBomb the flying garden gnome 
He's 800 years old and lives forever.
Always wears blue.  He has pink and blue hair.
He has the power to fly, grant wishes, and become invisible.
He is allergic to dust.
He lives in a cave that rests on a cloud in the sky.
He has an annoying little brother who is always causing him trouble.

If you don't know what a garden gnome is, here ya go:

Here we are, day #1 of the Kid Author Project!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I know I'm not supposed to use that many exclamation marks, but we've been waiting a long time to get this thing going, haven't we?


Today's mission, MISSION #1 is:

• Click on the SHARE tab to log in to our KidBlog site
• Find the post "MISSION #1"
• Reply to that post, telling me who your favorite fictional character is and why you like them so much. Your favorite character can be from a book, movie, or TV show. If they came out of someone's brain, it counts. They don't even have to be the good guy or the main character in the book, movie, or TV show. I just want to know who you like and why.

VERY IMPORTANT!  Everyone who replies to the "MISSION #1" post on the KidBlog site before tomorrow morning (Wednesday) at 9 a.m EST will be entered in a giveaway to win a super-secret prize.  I will pick a winner tomorrow after 9 a.m. Don't miss out!


Later on today I will send out an e-mail with more program info, so make sure you check for that.  :-)  If you have any questions about the program or the website, reply here and let me know or send me an e-mail at sunnyhendersonwrites@gmail.com .


Talk you you all soon!  

Today's Pre-Mission Mission:
CONNECT!

• Go to our KidBlog site by clicking on the SHARE tab, then log in
  
• Leave a comment on another Kid Author's post.
• Check your posts for any comments others have left for you--and comment back if you have something to say. It's always nice to say, "Thank you for the comment," even if you don't have anything else to say.
• Catch up on any Pre-Mission Missions you've missed, if you want to. 

Good luck to the Kid Authors who are showing at the livestock show this week! Can't wait to have you back and ready to write with us next week.
ALSO--I've got a new helper for the Kid Authors program. I can't tell you her name yet because she's a Secret Agent, but you'll get to meet her very, very soon.  
Loved your stories about saving the world with the object to your left! And those of you who sent me drawings of what makes you happy, you made ME happy! Thank you for sharing with us--that's what makes this a fun project!


*No Pre-Mission Mission tomorrow (Friday). Enjoy your Friday or share a story with us! 

Hey Kid Authors!  No video today because I've been working and working out this morning and I look scaaaary!

Today's Pre-Mission Mission:

• Look to your left.
• Pick an item (anything. Mine would probably be a glass of Diet Pepsi) on the left side of your room.
• Write a short story* about how you would save the world ONLY using that item to your left.
• Log in to our KidBlog site by clicking on the SHARE tab.
• Post your story as a "New Post" and use "Pre-Mission Mission 6" as the category. Share with classmates!
• Go ahead and read what your classmates have to say, and comment if you have something nice to say

*By "short story," I mean 2-3 sentences--the first thing that comes to your mind. Don't think too hard about it, and don't worry if it's not perfect. You can write more if you want, but this isn't supposed to be hard.

Talk to you soon, Kid Authors!

So sorry this is late! I had some technical difficulties with my drawing program, so I missed my usual 3pm EST post time. My bad!

For this Pre-Mission Mission, I want you to:

• Go to our KidBlog site by clicking on the SHARE tab.
• Log in to your account.
• Draw a picture of something that makes you happy
• Share it with us

If you know how to post your picture in a blog post, do that. You can also e-mail it to me, if that's easier. If you don't know how to get your picture onto your computer--that's okay. Just reply here and tell me what you drew about.

​And now here's my happy picture:

​Horses make me happy!

Now start a new post on our KidBlog site and let's see your happy pictures. Make sure to use the category "Pre-Mission Mission 5" and share with your classmates.  :-)

Want to join us? There's still time! Register HERE.

Today's Pre-Mission Mission

• From here, click on the SHARE tab and go to our KidBlog site.
• Sign into the KidBlog site.
• Make a "New Post" and tell us what your favorite book is.
• Choose Category "Pre-Mission Mission 4."
• Publish it.
• Choose to share with Classmates (unless there is some reason you would not like to share with the whole group. This is a good way to find other Kid Authors who like the same books you do!)