“This wasn’t a robbery. Nothing valuable was taken. Someone doesn’t want us to reach the contest.” The first book of The Scheming Lemurs series, and the tale that introduces Mister Lemur to the world. Mister Lemur and his closest friends must overcome a conniving rival-and their own self doubt-to compete in Madagascar’s most-prestigious contest. The book features Mister Lemur’s award-winning storytelling, as well as links to free videos and bonus educational content on The Scheming Lemurs’ website. Grades 3-5.
Now that I’ve got your attention, you see how I hooked you in. You’re interested, engaged in the book or the story, maybe even worried! Is our character ok..?
You will never find out, unless you live through every word on every page.
Every single good book has an opening that starts out with a BANG!
Boom! Onomatopoeia!
Gotta have a HOOK!
Gotta have a HOOK
“Wait, stop!” cried mom. Use dialogue!
Gotta have a HOOK.
Gotta have a HOOK
The next thing that I knew – transitional phrase!
Gotta have a HOOK!
Gotta have a HOOK!
Boom Shakalaka! Oh My!
Gotta have a HOOK!
Gotta have a HOOK!
Here are a few tips you can use to hook your audience:
You can start with a word that is used for a sound, like “zip,” “zoom,” “splat,” “smash,” or “wham.”
It’s called an onomatopoeia. Use it on your reader.
The excitement will grab their attention quickly and they will be in the palm of your hand.
Here is another way, hook your reader by opening with dialogue. That’s using quotation marks to begin with something that a character says.
A transitional phrase is another way to keep your reader hooked, a sentence that keeps your story flowing that often has words like “next,” “last,” or “then.”
My best friend Numbat came to me wanting to share about his summer.
We had been on vacation many weeks and I knew he’d have stories to tell me… about who he’d met, what he’d seen… when he went to where he had gone… why he left… how he traveled each way.
When I asked him, “So what did you do over break?” He replied, “I just hung out at home.”
Could you please elaborate?
Who, What, Where, Why, When, How?
You’ve got to explain a little more…
Close your eyes and recount!
Paint me a picture with your words.
Words paint a picture.
He stopped to think and squint his eyes, and then he opened them wide and smiled. He said, “My brother, mom and dad and I got to see a real crocodile!”
It turned out he had boarded a plane and flew down to Miami Florida to visit his uncle and his aunt that he hadn’t seen in something like seven years!
Then he said, “Oh yeah, and we went to a zoo…”
Could you please elaborate?
Who, What, Where, Why, When, How?
You’ve got to explain a little more…
Close your eyes and recount!
Paint me a picture with your words.
Words paint a picture.
“So I went to Zoo Miami. It was so cool. We saw elephants, crocodiles, otters, baboons… believe or not, I stood three feet away from two very large hippos who started to play… their bodies were massive, their jaws like shovels. We saw black rhinos, electric eels, and a toad. We saw flamingos, koalas, tigers (my favorites!)… um… I guess that’s pretty much it.”
