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Saturday Spotlight!
Today we spotlighting Rita Emmett's
Farkle Shark, You Are Not Stupid!
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You Are Not Stupid from Rita Emmett
Rita Emmett's
Farkle Shark, You Are Not Stupid!
“Everyone is a genius. But if a fish is judged by how well it climbs trees, it will live its entire life feeling stupid”.
This quote, attributed to Albert Einstein, is the theme of Farkle Shark, You Are Not Stupid.
Farkle Shark is feeling blue. His big sister Sparkle Shark criticizes the way he talks. When she hears that Big Bully Boy calls him stupid because he can’t climb trees, she’s astonished and asks if all the other sharks can climb. Once she discovers that everyone else in the class is a monkey, she teaches Farkle an important life lesson: “Everybody is smart about something. But nobody is smart about everything”.
Her advice, followed by a wild adventure, results in Farkle becoming a hero, which changes his attitude … and his life.
The story is fun and filled with humor. Children and adults will love Farkle Shark and Sparkle Shark and the lessons they teach through their story. If children grew up focusing on their strengths instead of weaknesses as well as accepting their limitations and embracing their potential, wouldn’t they finally understand that they are geniuses?
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Tell us about Farkle Shark You Are Not Stupid.
Farkle Shark is feeling terrible. His big sister Sparkle Shark keeps criticizing the goofy expressions he uses and Big Bully Boy has everyone calling Farkle stupid because he can’t climb trees. Hearing this,Sparkle is astonished that the other sharks climb trees but Farkle explains he’s the only shark in the class. All the others are monkeys.
As big sisters are prone to do, she now comes to his aid to teach him that “Everybody is smart about something but nobody is smart about everything”. As she tries to cheer him up, they begin an adventure where Farkle Shark becomes a hero.
When the monkeys call themselves stupid because they can’t do what Farkle can, he shares Sparkle’s teaching with them. The fighting melts away, friendships begin and Farkle Shark no longer feels terrible.
What initially inspired you to write Farkle Shark You Are Not Stupid?
One of my very favorite quotes, attributed to Einstein, is: Everyone is a genius.
But if a fish is judged by how well it climbs a tree, it will live its entire life feeling stupid.
Haven’t we all met children who are not doing well in school but when they talk about trains or dinosaurs or computers or whatever they are interested in, they are brilliant. I wish every child could hear, understand and believe this quote. And although many already do, I wish EVERY parent and teacher, especially Special Ed teachers would share with children this idea of focusing on your strengths, not weaknesses.
So in an effort to share this quote with others, I wrote Farkle Shark You Are Not Stupid.
Tell us little about the characters in Farkle Shark You Are Not Stupid.
They all evolve in ways that children can understand. Sparkle teases and puts down her brother, but when she finds out he’s being bullied, she gives him help and support on several levels. Big Bully Boy who has everyone calling Farkle stupid, goes from being mean to helpless to sincerely admiring Farkle. And of course Farkle goes from believing he is stupid to understanding that we need to focus on our strengths, not weaknesses.
One more thing, it turns out that little kids love saying Farkle Shark and Sparkle Shark. Who knew?
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Learning how to tell a story with a beginning, middle and end, with strong message, believable dialog and likeable characters as well as meaningful conflict and resolution --- all in less than 800 words. (I’ve never written any fiction in my life. Am a best-selling self-help author.)
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
The way the beginning evolved. This is my first picture book. I needed to set the scene, so I wrote the text, then was taught “to imagine the illustrations for it”. My first five pages would be 2 sharks. Boring.
So I had the younger brother, Farkle Shark, start using goofy expressions and big sister Sparkle Shark criticizing them and asking him to visualize how his sayings would look. That resulted in a cloud above their heads where the illustrator created charming visuals. Also it created a bit of sibling conflict (which many children relate to), and set us up for Farkle to feel stupid.
The boring text --- once I learned to “imagine the illustration” --- turned into a fun and funny part of the book.
What are your future project(s)?
Am sending around to agents a picture book on procrastination and am halfway through another Farkle book for kids who feel weird because there is something different about them.. I’ve had best selling self-help books for adults on procrastination, clutter and stress. After this next picture book, I’m going back to writing my self-help books
Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers about this book/series?
Haven’t we all met children who are not doing well in school but when they talk about trains or dinosaurs or computers or whatever they are interested in, they are brilliant. I wish every child could hear, understand and believe this quote. And although many already do, I wish EVERY parent and teacher, especially Special Ed teachers would share with children this idea of focusing on your strengths, not weaknesses.
So in an effort to share this quote with others, I wrote Farkle Shark You Are Not Stupid.
Tell us little about the characters in Farkle Shark You Are Not Stupid.
They all evolve in ways that children can understand. Sparkle teases and puts down her brother, but when she finds out he’s being bullied, she gives him help and support on several levels. Big Bully Boy who has everyone calling Farkle stupid, goes from being mean to helpless to sincerely admiring Farkle. And of course Farkle goes from believing he is stupid to understanding that we need to focus on our strengths, not weaknesses.
One more thing, it turns out that little kids love saying Farkle Shark and Sparkle Shark. Who knew?
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Learning how to tell a story with a beginning, middle and end, with strong message, believable dialog and likeable characters as well as meaningful conflict and resolution --- all in less than 800 words. (I’ve never written any fiction in my life. Am a best-selling self-help author.)
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
The way the beginning evolved. This is my first picture book. I needed to set the scene, so I wrote the text, then was taught “to imagine the illustrations for it”. My first five pages would be 2 sharks. Boring.
So I had the younger brother, Farkle Shark, start using goofy expressions and big sister Sparkle Shark criticizing them and asking him to visualize how his sayings would look. That resulted in a cloud above their heads where the illustrator created charming visuals. Also it created a bit of sibling conflict (which many children relate to), and set us up for Farkle to feel stupid.
The boring text --- once I learned to “imagine the illustration” --- turned into a fun and funny part of the book.
What are your future project(s)?
Am sending around to agents a picture book on procrastination and am halfway through another Farkle book for kids who feel weird because there is something different about them.. I’ve had best selling self-help books for adults on procrastination, clutter and stress. After this next picture book, I’m going back to writing my self-help books
Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers about this book/series?
Like many authors, I felt called to write a different genre, and fought it for two years. Finally I began doing homework on writing picture books. Totally different from anything I’ve ever written before. The learning has been a fun and enjoyable journey. Now “it’s out of my system” and I’m eager to get back to my “real books”. If you are called to try something totally out of your ability, I say go for it. You’ll not regret it.
Sparkle Shark put on her teaching face and brought out her underwater board and
wrote:
Everyone is smart about something
but nobody is smart about everything.
“Just because you can’t do what they do --- does NOT mean you’re stupid.”
Rita Emmett is a best-selling author of several books including The Procrastinator's Handbook and The Clutter-Busting Handbook. Her books are published in 32 countries and have sold over 310,000 copies world wide.
She wrote her first picture book, Farkle Shark, You Are Not Stupid because she knows tons of children who might NOT be smart in school but they are geniuses when they talk about trains or insects or they can fix things or they have determination to stick to a hard job or they can make people laugh. Yet often --- because someone bullied them or made fun of them --- they are convinced that they are stupid.
Rita based this book on an Einstein quote: "Everyone is a genius.But if a fish is judged by how well it climbs a tree, it will live its entire life feeling stupid". She hopes that this book will ignite in children the understanding that everyone is a genius.
Twice Rita rode mules to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back. This has nothing to do with her book. She just wanted you to know that.
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My daughter is doing a co-op placement with a third grade class this semester, and she comes home each day amazed with these kids! She sees that they are individuals as to which subjects they triumph in, or which ones they struggle with and she tries to find ways to help them overcome those struggles! What a fantastic book with a great message!
ReplyDeleteI love the theme of this book. Such an important message!
ReplyDelete