Peter and the Whimper-Whineys by Sherrill S Cannon

This fun, rhyming book deals with whining & crying and bad manners in a positive way. It helps children hear the annoying sound of whining, & decide not to be a Whimper-Whiney

$13.00

Paperback

A friend and fellow author wrote in her blog about “outside-the-box” thinking.  I responded that I tend to just jump inside and outside at will.  A few further thoughts about “inside-vs-outside-the-box” thinking and creativity... I'm pretty liberal in my views - being "thoughtful of others" and "love thy neighbor" and "read directions and follow the rules" as credos - and I really don't like being labeled (hence the political view of "Independent Democrat" and the idea of “agree to disagree”.)  But I find that I seem to prefer traditional views of art, poetry, music etc.  I like the structure and the challenge of creating poetry that puts feelings into words within the rhyme and meter of a sonnet, for instance - although at the same time, sometimes I change the sonnet construction around as well – and occasionally just create my own rhyme and meter scheme!  That's what I mean about "inside-and-outside-the-box" thinking... (That and my use of a poem titled “Short Story” as an entry in the Red Room short story contest!) My children’s books are all written in anapestic tetrameter (which sometimes gets me into an argument when an editor wants to change something) and are based on encouraging good manners and caring about others.  My next book, The Magic Word (2011) is all about the importance of saying “Please” and “Thank You”. The newest one, which is now with my agent, is My Finger-Paint Print which deals with this “inside-vs-outside-the-box” philosophy a little.  A child paints a finger-paint print which ends up in an art-gallery and no one (including the artist) is quite sure what it represents!  One of the messages applies the “Emperor’s New Clothes” concept – if you don’t know what something is, even though you aren’t sure you really like it, if all the authorities are exclaiming about how great it is, you agree...because you don’t want to feel that you are ignorant or unable to understand something.  The other, of course, is that there are no set standards or proper interpretations for creativity!