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Welcome! We are six children's book authors with a wide range (and many years) of experience teaching writing to children, teens, and adults. Here, we share our unique perspective as writing teachers who are also working writers. Our regular features include writing exercises (our "Writing Workouts"), teaching tips, author interviews, book reviews, and answers to your "Ask the Teaching Authors" questions.
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Last week, Jeanne Marie kicked off Children's Book Week by introducing our series of posts about beloved children's books we've lost and miss. Before I share my own lost-book story, I want to congratulate the winners of the Sixth Annual Children's Choice Book Awards. According to this press release, over 1,000,000 votes were cast! How cool is that? You can see the list of finalists and winners here.
Now my lost-book story is nowhere near as intriguing as April's. (If you haven't read her post yet, go do so now. I'll wait.) My story starts some years back, when I created a new one-day workshop for College of DuPage called "Writing for Children and Young Adults: From Goodnight Moon to Harry Potter," designed to introduce students to the field of writing for children and teens. As part of the class, I planned to give an overview of the "ages and stages" of children's literature, sharing examples of a variety of genres and formats, classics and contemporary works.
Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon was one of my son's favorite picture books as a child, especially at bedtime. We read the marvelously lyrical, calming text so many times that I memorized it. But when I went to prepare for the class, I couldn't find our copy anywhere. It wasn't in my son's bookcase (he was away at college); it wasn't in his closet; it wasn't in my office. I finally gave up and borrowed a copy from the public library to use in my class.
I taught the class multiple times, and each time I looked for our copy of Goodnight Moon. No luck. Finally, my husband reminded me that I had packed away some of my son's books and baby things in a box that sits in the attic of our garage. Not wanting to ask my husband to drag out the box, I bought a used, paperback copy of Goodnight Moon for class. If my son eventually has children of his own, we'll get that box down from the attic. When we do, I'm hoping to find that it contains not only Goodnight Moon, but also another Margaret Wise Brown/Clement Hurd classic I've been missing for many years--The Runaway Bunny, the story of "a bunny's imaginary game of hide-and-seek and the lovingly steadfast mother who finds him every time." As a first-time mom, reading that book to my son was my way of saying that I would always be there for him. But even now I'm not sure who found the book more comforting, my son or me.
By the way, in case any of you who live in the Chicago area are interested, I'll be teaching my workshop "
Writing for Children and Young Adults: From Goodnight Moon to Harry Potter" at College of DuPage again this summer. See
my website for details. And I'm thinking it may be time to update the class name, perhaps to "
Writing for Children and Young Adults: From Goodnight Moon to Hunger Games." Or if you have any other suggestions, let me know. :-)
And don't forget to enter our current giveaway for a chance to win an autographed copy of Nancy Cavanaugh's debut novel for middle-graders,
This Journal Belongs to Ratchet (Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky). See Esther's
Student Success Story interview with Nancy for details.
When you're done, head on over to
Jama's Alphabet Soup for
today's Poetry Friday round-up.
Happy writing!
Carmela
Now you –
and/or - your students - can write a Success
Story, thanks to the Revision Tips our Monday Student Success Story
Interviewee, children’s book author Nancy J. Cavanaugh, shares in today’s
Wednesday Writing Workout!
Thanks, Nancy, for introducing our readers to ThePlot Whisperer, Martha Alderson.
Let’s hear it for that prefix “re”!
Esther Hershenhorn
* * * * * * *
My main character Ratchet knows a lot about engines,
and I know just a little bit too. The
way I learned about engines was by taking them apart. Taking something apart is a really great way
to learn how it works. It’s also a great
way to figure out what’s wrong with something when it doesn’t work. When you bring your car to a mechanic, you
don’t expect him to open the hood and just stare at the engine. You expect him to get out his tools and start
taking things apart. It’s really the
same way with writing. It’s called
revision, and it gets messy. When you
finish a draft, your first inclination is to love it and to think it’s
perfect. It feels so rewarding to have
that clean copy in your hands, and it looks so good! But, the reality is, if you want to make it
better and take it to the next level, it’s got to get messy all over
again.
Martha Alderson’s Blockbuster Plots and The Plot Whisperer provide me a lot of direction when I am taking apart
a manuscript. In her books and DVDs,
Martha uses a plot planner and a scene tracker.
Very simply put, it’s a method of taking apart your story by listing
each scene. Putting your story into this
format allows you to get your head around the whole thing at one time. Listing your scenes this way enables you to
determine whether each scene works within itself and to determine whether each
scene works within the overall plot. Taking
apart your manuscript his way also helps you clarify which parts of the overall
plot are not working or what parts are missing altogether. (Martha’s books and DVDs give detailed
instructions on how to create the scene tracker and plot planner. Check out Martha’s website to learn more.
At first, Martha’s method seemed much too tedious
and time consuming. I didn’t want to take
apart my manuscript piece by piece after I had worked so hard to write it, but
when I finally got tired of my story not working, I decided to give it a
try. I did my own version of Martha’s
scene tracker and plot planner, but I used her basic format to find what was
missing in my plot and make my story stronger.
It took a lot of work, a lot of time, and made a big mess of my
manuscript; but if I hadn’t taken things apart in this way, I never would’ve
been able to see what was really wrong with my story and why it wasn’t
working.
My advice? Find
a revision method that works for you, and take the time to do it because when
it comes to revision there really are no shortcuts. Taking apart your story is necessary, and
that takes time and gets messy, but when you put in the time and clean up the
mess, your story will run like a race car.
# # #
When
I first read Nancy’s manuscripts, some 19 years ago, I knew instantly: she was the Real Thing, ripe
with talent, original stories and a unique voice. Her teaching experience showed through, too,
helping her target the right format for the right story for the right reader.
Nancy
also evinced Passion, with a capital P, and enough Perseverance to serve three
children’s book writers no matter where they were in their careers.
Editors
and agents as well as writing kin agreed, offering the necessary encouragement,
revision suggestions and interest to keep Nancy keepin’ on.
Today
she’s represented by Holly Root of the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency; Kirkus
starred This Journal Belongs to Ratchet; and Sourcebooks
just bought her second middle grade
novel! She also contributes to the group
blog of the debut authors of 2013 – the Lucky 13’s.
A
Student Success Story indeed.
As for Ratchet's "Student Success Story," she
spends her days fixing cars with her dad in the garage, living in a world of spark plugs, pistons, and crankshafts –not exactly normal for
an eleven-year-old girl. Even with the odds stacked against her, Ratchet endeavors to change her
life and realizes her skill as a mechanic might just be the path to her first
friend. But in the process, she alienates her father and discovers a secret she
wishes she never knew. She finds a way to, not only accept the truth she
discovers, but also accept herself and her dad.
As
I wrote in a blurb for Sourcebooks, “Readers will fall in love with
eleven-year-old Rachel, nick-named Ratchet by her car mechanic-environmentalist
Dad, as she writes from her Life in her Home School Language Arts Journal, wanting
to repair what’s broken, needing to replace the missing parts, so her very own
engine can run true and on course.
Ratchet’s journal proves a user-friendly Instruction Manual for readers
– and especially writers – eager to discover the wonder of their own life
stories.”
I’ve
been sharing this original story in this original format with teachers and
Young Authors since I received my ARC from Nancy in February. All love the book – and Ratchet - as much as
I do.
Be
sure to enter our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway for AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF This Journal Belongs to Ratchet.
Include a shout-out for your Favorite Car – real, imagined,
long-ago, present, fictional, cinematic, even longed-for. The deadline to enter is June 3. See contest details following the interview below.
And, also be sure to check back in two days for Nancy J.
Cavanaugh’s Wednesday Writing Workout!
Thank you, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Children’s Book Author (!), for sharing your Writer's Journey, yourself and This Journal Belongs to Ratchet with our TeachingAuthors readers.
Esther
Hershenhorn
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We first worked together privately in the early 90’s when
you were just beginning “your race to the finish line,” on two picture books
that still remain in my heart and on
my brain’s Hard Drive. Do you recall
what you were hoping to learn – and – what you indeed took away – about
writing, the Children’s Book World, publishing - so you could keep on writing?
I was hoping to take my writing to the
next level, so my questions were: Do I
have all the essential parts of the story?
And, what will make my story marketable?
Two things I remember learning from you:
1. not to miss opportunities – opportunities to develop my characters,
opportunities to add layers to my story, opportunities to add emotion to the
overall plot; 2. to dig deep and find
out what my story was REALLY about – not just on the surface, not just what was
happening, but what “life thing” the story was really about.
I’ve always considered your classroom teaching experiences
That Extra Something that bolstered both your writing and the stories you chose
to tell. Please share how your teaching
impacted, influenced and inspired your writing?
As a teacher, and then later as a
librarian, I got to read SO many books aloud to students, and I had the
opportunity to see what young people were reading and what they liked
best. That’s sort of the obvious way in
which my school experience helped my writing, but something not quite so
obvious is the impact of the repetition of certain stories over the years. There are many books which I read over and
over throughout the years, and as I did this, I was learning the patterns of
language that we find in stories. These
patterns were practically becoming engrained in my DNA. The understanding of what “story” really is
was becoming part of my soul. I believe
that understanding of story is always at work in me now as I write.
What kept you going all these years so you could indeed
cross your much-desired Finish Line?
Wonderful writing friends.
Enriching experiences (researching
topics, attending meetings, conferences, workshops, and retreats)
The satisfaction of always having
something to strive for
Small successes along the way (having
articles and short stories published in magazines and books)
How did Ratchet’s story come to be – and – why did you
choose a home-schooled student’s journal as her storytelling vehicle?
The idea started with a character, and
her name was always Ratchet. My ideas
usually start that way, and then I let my imagination dream up what the
character’s issues are and what her story might be. I chose Homeschooling for Ratchet because it
seemed to be the best way to isolate her.
Also, because of her father, it made sense that he wouldn’t want her to
go to school in mainstream society. The
idea of writing through the assignments in Ratchet’s journal came to me in the
very beginning, but it took a lot of figuring out along the way in order to
tell the whole story in this format.
What about the revision process for This Journal Belongs to Ratchet? How did your agent Holly Root and
your Sourcebooks editor Aubrey Poole help you fine-tune the manuscript to earn
a prized Kirkus-starred review.
My agent Holly is a wonderful editor
and always has helpful suggestions before we send something out, but I had
already done a great deal of revising before sending it to Holly, so we didn’t
really have to do much – just a few tweaks here and there. When my editor Aubrey read Ratchet, though she loved the character
and the story, she asked for revisions even before Sourcebooks acquired
it. She gave me some specific direction as
to what she was looking for and thankfully I was able to deliver. After Sourcebooks bought the manuscript,
Aubrey and I did two more rounds of revisions, and I absolutely loved it
because she’s a fabulous editor. She
always had an amazing vision for what the book could be, and she guided me so
that my writing would get there. I also
have to add here that Aubrey worked hard to get just the right cover and
artwork for Ratchet, and I think that
has really made this book stand out and become something special – so much more
than I ever imagined.
Finally, can you let us in on your next book, also to be published by Sourcebooks? :-)
My next book will be coming in Fall
2014 and will be another alternative format.
The entire story is told in lists, letters, and writing assignments, in
which a girl named Abigail uses her language arts class’s Friendly Letter
Project to cope with the worst school year ever – and in the process turns it
into the best year ever.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
And now, for the giveaway details:
Our
blogiversary giveaway was such a success that we're again using
Rafflecopter to run this giveaway. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, you may want to read their info on
how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and/or the
difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.
To enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of
This Journal Belongs to Ratchet (Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky) log into Rafflecopter
below (via either Facebook or an email address). You'll see that we've provided
three different options for entering the giveaway--you can
pick one or up to all three. The more options you choose, the greater your chances of winning. While we haven't made it a requirement, we hope that everyone will pick the first option--subscribing to the
TeachingAuthors blog. If you're already a
TeachingAuthors subscriber, you still need to click on that button and
tell us how you follow our blog, which will give you THREE entries in the giveaway! (If you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to enter.)
As it says in the "Terms and Conditions," this giveaway is
open to U.S. residents only. You must be 18 or older to enter. And please note: email addresses will only be used to contact winners. The giveaway will run from now through June 3, 2013. Winners will be notified June 4, 2013.
If you have any questions about the giveaway, feel free to email us at teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.
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By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 5/16/2013
Blog:
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Howdy, Campers!
And Happy
Children's Book Week!
Jeanne Marie introduced our current topic:
In honor of Children’s Book Week, share the title of
the book we wish we still had or are sorry we loaned (and never got back) or
one we (god forbid) threw away.
Heavens to Betsy! The search for my cherished book turned into a detective story.
The first thing I did was to ask God...errr...Google for the title of the book about a surprise birthday party for an old woman named Lisette. Bello, her dog, directs the other animals while Lizette is at the market--he tells the goats to get apples, the ducks to get candles, etc. He and Lisette's two cats (Molly and...Ruly?) bake a bundt cake that burns on top, so they put powdered sugar on it at the last minute to hide the burned part.
But who was the marvelous author/illustrator and what was the name of the book????
In the course of my search, I found a site called Old Children's Books which has a page called "Looking for a Book?"
I searched and searched and searched...with binoculars, with a flashlight, with a light on my miner's helmet...
(me...but my search was not as grim as pictured)
Finally, I remembered that at the end of the book was a little kitten. And I remembered that the author/illustrator wrote another book about him. In fact, the cat's name was the title of the other book. So if I could just remember the name of the cat...it was...Pitchie!
But I couldn't find a book called Pitchie. Or Pitchy. Stumbling down the corridors of the internet, bumping into walls, I finally found the other book! It was called PITSCHI (published in 1948). I now knew the name of the author/illustrator: Hans Fischer. Which meant I was close to finding the book I was actually looking for!
But first, let's take a detour. Click here to enjoy Hans Fischer's fantastic lithographs in Pitschi "the kitten who always wanted to be something else. A sad story, but one which ends well."
All the same characters are in the book I have been looking for...and now I can plug in Hans' name and come up with THE BOOK--right?
Yes! On Worldcat.org I found it--The Birthday: a Merry Tale with Many Pictures (1954)! Worldcat summarizes the story: "In a clearing in the forest lived old Lisette with her animals. On
her seventy-sixth birthday, Lisette went off to the village, and while
she was gone the animals prepared a wonderful birthday surprise for her."
This is the book from my childhood that still makes my heart sing.
With all the searching, I learned a few things about my
good friend Hans from
Children's Books and Their Creators, edited by
Anita Silvey. He was Swiss, he lived from 1909-1958 (only 49 years?). And he studied under the artist
Paul Klee who taught him how to use color. No wonder I fell in love with Fischer's style--I love Klee!
Klee said,
"It is not my task to reproduce appearances...for that there is the photographic plate. I want to reach the heart."
And isn't that what we want from books we read...and those we create? (Actually, I wouldn't mind if large corporations took that as their company motto...)
Legendary editor Margaret McElderry discovered his work, bought the US rights to Pitschi, and went on to publish his other books, including The Birthday.
So here's my song to Hans Fischer and The Birthday.
SEARCHING FOR A BOOK
by April Halprin Wayland
What's the title?
Can't remember.
And the plot?
It was so tender…
Why is this your favorite book?
It lit a spark, it fanned an ember…
The book was in her skin, her cells,
she turned each page and oh! the smell…
At every page
I looked and listened,
the little kitten on a mission,
delicately, in pastel.
He was drawn and he was written
to cast a purring lifetime spell.
What's the title?
Can't remember.
And the plot?
It was so tender…
Why is this your favorite book?
It lit a spark, it fanned an ember…
poem & drawing © 2013 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved
What's the book you wish you still owned? Why not write a poem about it?
Remember that our blogiversary contest runs through May 19th--there's still time to be a winner!
See
Carmela's post for all the details.
by April Halprin Wayland, who is grateful that you've read to the end ~ :-)
Today’s
Wednesday Writing Workout comes from Holly Thompson, a fellow TeachingAuthor, just in time to
celebrate yesterday’s Delacorte/Random House release of her second young adult
novel in verse, The Languge Inside.
The novel tells
the story of Emma Karas “who was raised in Japan; it’s the country she calls
home. But when her mother is diagnosed
with breast cancer, Emma’s family moves to a town outside Lowell,
Massachusetts, to stay with Emma’s grandmother while
her mom undergoes treatment.
Emma feels out of place in the United States. She begins to have migraines, and
longs to be back in Japan. At her grandmother's urging, she volunteers in a
long-term care center to help Zena, a patient with locked-in syndrome, write
down her poems. There, Emma meets Samnang, another volunteer, who assists
elderly Cambodian refugees. Weekly visits to the care center, Zena's poems,
dance, and noodle soup bring Emma and Samnang closer, until Emma must make a
painful choice: stay in Massachusetts, or return home early to Japan.”
The starred School Library Journal review called the
novel “a sensitive and compelling read that will inspire teens to contemplate
how they can make a difference.”
Kirkus described the novel as “an artistic picture of
devastation, fragility, bonds and choices.”
The Horn Book Magazine remarked that “readers will finish
the book knowing that, like Zena, the Cambodian refugees, and the tsunami
victims, Emma has the strength to ‘a hundred times fall down / a hundred and
one times get up.’”
-330+-+Holly+Thompson.jpg)
Many
TeachingAuthors readers met Holly in 2011 when my March 16 Student Success Story
interview celebrated the release of her first
young adult novel in verse, Orchards.
Orchards went on to win the APALA Asian/Pacific
American Award for Literature.
Raised in Massachusetts,
Holly earned a B.A. in biology from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. in
English (concentration creative writing/fiction) from New York University’s
Creative Writing Program. A longtime resident of Japan, Holly teaches creative
writing at Yokohama City University and also serves as Regional Advisor for the
Japan Chapter of SCBWI. Holly’s fiction
often relates to Japan and Asia.
Congratulations,
Holly, on yet another successful book!
And, thank you
for sharing your expertise with our TeachingAuthors readers – who happen to
have only until Sunday, May 19 to enter our TeachingAuthors Blogiversary
Giveaway!
Click here to
enter – if you haven’t already – the raffle to win one of 4 $25 Anderson’s
Bookshop Gift Certificates.
Esther
Hershenhorn
. . . . . . . .
Holly Thompson’s Wednesday Writing
Workout: Poetry with a Plot
When I do author
school visits, I love to introduce students to narrative poems and narrative
verse and get them started on writing their own. You can write and/or teach
this type of poetry, too – poetry I call “Poetry with a Plot.”
Beforehand:
1. Gather some
narrative poems—poems that tell a story—to share with students. Examples are
Gary Soto’s “Oranges,” Jeffrey Harrison’s “Our Other Sister,”
Naomi Shihab Nye’s “My Father and theFig Tree,” and “Fifteen”
or “Traveling Through The Dark,” by William Stafford, and my poem “Cod” (published in PoetryFriday Anthology Middle School)
2. Also gather
some verse novels. Select one scene to share with students. Choose a scene that
has a fairly clear beginning, middle and end. Chapter 22, Visitors, of my novel Orchards
is an example of a scene in verse with
a clear plot arc.
3. Create a list
of situations to share with students. Here are a few examples of some
situations that I like to use:
a mistake
a decision
a first time
a last time
a betrayal
an encounter
an argument
a mix-up
a lie
With the students:
1. Read the
narrative poems aloud. For each narrative poem, ask students to react. Ask:
What lines or stanzas do you like? Why? What is the mini plot of the poem—what
happens in this poem? Then have them look at the structure and style of the
poem. Ask: Do the structure and style help create the narrative? How?
2. Read aloud a
scene from a verse novel. Ask students to react. Ask: What lines or stanzas do
you like? What lines move you? What lines are powerful? Where did your breath
catch? Where did the pace pick up or slow down? Why? What is the basic plot arc
of the scene? Did any action happen off the page? How did the writer structure
the scene and create tension—with repetition, white space, short lines, long
lines, particular images, or sounds and rhythms?
3. Next, give
students your list of situations. Have students brainstorm examples of the
various types of situations. Students will then choose one type of situation
from which to create a narrative poem or scene in verse. Point out, for
example, that “Oranges” can be considered a first time poem; “Our Other Sister”
a lie poem; “Fifteen” and “Traveling Through the Dark” decision poems; and
“Cod” a betrayal poem. Chapter 22 in Orchards
might be considered an encounter scene. Tell students they can start from a
true situation, or partially fictionalize a situation, or veer away from actual
truth to completely fictionalize a situation.
4. After
students create first drafts of their narrative poems or scenes, have them work
at revising, individually and in peer workshops, checking for the narrative
arc, details, poetic elements, line breaks and spacing.
5. Finally when
students have polished their work, have students read, perform, create
multimedia presentations, publish in zines or submit their narrative poems or
scenes in verse to school magazines.
Be prepared to
be amazed! Good luck and let me know if you try this approach to introducing
narrative poems and and narrative verse.
# # #
In the Ford household, we've celebrated three birthdays, one First Communion, and Mother's Day (happy, happy!) all within the last month. Heaven forbid we should rest on our laurels, so let's keep the party going with
Children's Book Week!
In our next series of posts, the Teaching Authors are planning to share titles of beloved childhood books that have sadly been lost to the ages (loaned, tossed, or otherwise lost). This is a timely topic for me, as my newly minted eight-year-old asked me last week for new reading suggestions. We trekked together to the attic, where my childhood books are stored. As an Army brat with at least 25 moves under my belt, I possess very few relics of my childhood -- toys, treasures, clothes, memorabilia. But books, I was smart enough to schlep and save.
I've got
Charlie Brown's Super Book of Questions and Answers and the complete Bobbsey Twins (which, alas, I do not feel I can share with my daughter today, what with Dinah and Sam and Flossie, her father's "little fat fairy" (goodness!)). However,I pulled together a pile of about 12 books, old and new, that I think she will love. I also did a quick and painful assessment of what I thought I had that I do not:
The Moffatts series by Eleanor Estes
Figgs and Phantoms and
The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues by Ellen Raskin
Most of the All-of-A-Kind family series
Anything by E.B. White (!)
And, for when my daughter is older:
Waiting for Johnny Miracle by Alice Bach
A House Like a Lotus by Madeleine L'Engle
I am thankful that old and/or out-of-print books are now typically available on the Internet, though I suspect some of these will be hard to find. I plan to get these books into my daughter's hands or die trying.
Happy Children's Book Week (and month and year) to all! And if you haven't already done so, it's not too late to enter our
Blogiversary Contest to win one of four gift certificates to Anderson's Bookstore. Happy Book Buying to All! --Jeanne Marie
My ideal independent bookstore carries only children's books. A bell above the door tinkles musically each time a customer enters. Strategically placed twinkle lights lend a dreamy, wonderland quality to the bright, colorful interior. The staff is warm and welcoming and brilliant at pairing you with exactly the book you need. Cubby bookcases line the walls. Inside, new releases mingle with classics, and all are placed face out, of course. Displays throughout the store are artistic and irresistible. I can picture it so clearly . . . because it's The Shop Around the Corner from the movie, You've Got Mail.
If that store existed nearby, I'd work there for free. Oh, I'd earn a paycheck; the money just wouldn't make it home.
I don't have an indie in my hometown, but I wish I had one like Des Moines' Beaverdale Books. My DM author friends hold their book launches there, and owner Alice is a gem who's pretty much game for anything. I was able to attend Sharelle Byars Moranville's launch for The Hop last spring. Sharelle's friends brought in cheese and crackers, grapes, chocolates, a sweets tray, wine for the adults and, for the kids in attendance (since The Hop has gardening/environmental elements), cups of gummy worms in Oreo "dirt." Dozens of people showed up to share Sharelle's moment and hear her read from her adorable book. The joint was jumping!
My town has a Barnes & Noble and a (new) Books a Million. Luckily for area authors, those stores have friendly staffs, especially Barnes & Noble, where Asst. Mgr. Paul Ziebarth makes this B&N feel more like an indie than a big box store. Paul bends over backwards to make book signings successful. He knocks himself out for our SCBWI-Iowa conference booksales, too, always with a smile and cheerful attitude that makes us feel like there's nowhere he'd rather be. Thanks, Paul, for making authors feel wanted and welcome! I know it isn't that way everywhere.
There's still time to enter our blogiversary contest to win one of four gift certificates to Anderson's Bookstore!
Happy Mother's Day!
Jill Esbaum
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 5/8/2013
Blog:
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Howdy, Campers!
Before we get to today's Wednesday Writing Workout, I wanted to share author and bookseller Elizabeth Bluemle's latest post on her Publishers Weekly blog, ShelfTalker. It moved me. It's called "The Best Author Letter Ever."
Yes, Virginia, we--authors and teachers--can change a child's life. Here ~ in case you need to dry your eyes:
And now, on to today's
Wednesday Writing Workout! But first some background:
Last month I was fortunate to participate in the beautifully organized
Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival in Hattiesburg, Mississippi...
April Halprin Wayland, Robyn Hood Black, and Irene Latham
play with food poems for their panel,
“Take Five! Create Fun with The Poetry Friday Anthology"
photo by Beck McDowell
...where I met the wonderful
Beck McDowell,
Author Beck McDowell
...author of the eerily timely novel,
This is Not a Drill (Penguin), published just a few weeks before Sandyhook.
Beck gives us today's
NEWSPAPER STORY STARTERS
1) Give this exercise about 20 minutes.
2) Divide the class into groups of two or three.
3) Let them choose newspapers and magazines from a stack you've brought in.
4) Their job will be to select a news article and make up their own story using the article as a starting point. They'll add characters, twists, etc. to create an even more engaging story.
4) Each group elects a spokesperson. The spokesperson shares a two-to-three minute synopsis of the "story" they've outlined, beginning with what the article actually said so everyone knows their starting point and how the group changed it.
Beck says, "...
you're demonstrating where ideas come from and how a real event can trigger a story idea that's ultimately totally different from the original."
Thank you, Beck!
Monkey combs his favorite paper for story ideas
P.S: My
Writing Picture Books for Children class in the UCLA Extension Writers Program (which I've taught since 1999) started this week. I hope to use the newspaper exercise in class this quarter. Let me
know how it works! And if you have any suggestions on how to make it more effective, my students will be most grateful--
please take a moment to scribble a comment!
Finally, don't forget: there's still time to enter our blogiversary
giveaway for a chance to win one of four $25 gift cards to Anderson's
Bookshops.
See this post for details.
And after you've entered, take five minutes and do a free write. Remember to breathe...and to write for the fun of it ~
picture of Monkey and drawing of dancer by April Halprin Wayland.
posted by April Halprin Wayland 
I grew up in a world devoid of bookstores. That's pretty amazing considering a good chunk of my childhood was spent in suburban Chicago. "Buying books meant" the offerings of the Scholastic and Weekly Reader Book Clubs. I still own those now-crumbling, 35 cent paperbacks and yellowing, cheesy board-bound books. A bookstore was something I saw only in the Loop...the book department of Marshall Field's and the Doubleday bookstore. My mother managed to convince me that the bookstores were like museums...you could look, but you couldn't buy.
We moved when I was ten. Bye-bye, Marshall Field's, bye-bye Doubleday. There were no bookstores at all in Jackson, Mississippi, unless you count a few that catered to a particular political bent. Certainly nothing for children.
In high school I found a second-hand paperback store near my house, which specialized in other kids' discarded Scholastic Paperbacks, and Grace Livingston Hill romances. I never left empty handed. Still, I imagined that somewhere, people must be buying real books. New books. Books that didn't smell like other people's houses, with the occasional gum wrapper bookmark.
Then, while home on a college break, my dad told me that there was an actual bookstore in town. Not a glorified newsstand, like the so-called "mall bookstore" but a real, live bookstore with hard covers and paperbacks...all new. So off we went to this new place with the odd name of Lemuria, located in a converted apartment in an office complex on the Pearl River. A flight of stairs and voila... an ordinary two bedroom apartment..awash in books. Books in the bathroom. Books stacked on the floor and on the kitchen countertops. It didn't matter that it was hard finding some order in this chaos...it was books! I came back every chance I got.
Nirvana. I learned that Lemuria's name came from a lost continent, home to an advanced civilization. The Lemurians developed a system of writing and recorded their thoughts. Most appropriate, I thought. An hour or so spent at Lemuria was an hour in another, better world. A temple of books, and I devoted worshipper.
Before long, the store moved out of the apartment and into splendid quarters in a boutique-y shopping center closer to my house. Decorative leaded glass, autographed pictures by authors, both famous and notso-famous on the walls. Deep leather chairs. Paneled walls and check out desks. It was what I imagined a bookstore in San Francisco might look like. (I had never been to a bookstore in San Francisco.)
Ten years later, Lemuria moved to larger and even more elegant digs in the Banner Hall building, across the highway from it's former home. The autographed pictures multiplied. A separate children's bookstore, rare books room and separate building for the online store were added. There seemed to be a new expansions every time I came home and checked in.
It is said that if you sit long enough at a Paris cafe, you will see everyone you know. Lemuria is like that. Whenever I visited, I'd grab a stack of books and sit in one of those deep leather club chairs, grazing on books and grooving with whatever funky music was on the store system. Sometimes I would see hometown authors Eudora Welty or Willie Morris in neighboring club chairs. No one bothered them. Unless there was a book signing, authors were customers like everyone else and no one bothered them.
When my first book, Yankee Girl, was published in 2004, I achieved my own lifetime fantasy of having a book signing at Lemuria. This entitled me to place my own autographed picture on their wall of fame. (Last time I checked, it was next to the sales desk in Oz, the children's store.) And like the Parisian cafe, it seemed that everyone I ever knew turned out for the occasion. High school friends. My childhood Sunday School teachers. Former students. SCBWI buddies. Even though I was an unknown first-time author, the staff at Lemuria treated me as if I were John Grisham (who always has the first book signing of his latest book at Lemuria.)
Lemuria rambles, with rooms added here and there, as extra space in the building became available. No matter how many bookcases they add (and they go up a good fifteen feet in the air), there are still books stacked on the floor, the window ledges, and yes...the bathroom. The staff consider themselves "booksellers" and not mere clerks, keeping track of where the stock is located. They are all bibliophiles of the first order and always have something to say about your own book selection. A typical remark is
"So you are getting this book. It's really good. Have you read (the author's) first book? Same characters."
I have always thought that bookstores are like churches....if you have a problem, and sit there long enough, you will either find a solution, or at least feel peaceful. The air is infused with something special. I defy you to find that same aura in a Big Box Chain Book Store (and yes, Jackson does have one.)
It's not too late to sign up for our Fourth Blogiversary. See this post for details. See this post for details.
As for me, I am ready to drop everything for a seven hour road trip to Lemuria!
Posted by Mary Ann Rodman
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 5/3/2013
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This will be a short post because I'm busy preparing to attend the SCBWI
Wild, Wild Midwest Conference. In fact, I've written this post in advance and scheduled it to publish right about the time I'll be hitting the road. :-)
For those of you unfamiliar with
SCBWI, it stands for the
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the premier organization for those interested in writing and/or illustrating for children. SCBWI holds
two national conventions every year., The summer conference, held in Los Angeles, will be
Aug. 2-5 this year, and the winter conference, held in New York, will be Feb. 21-23, 2014. (
Click here to see photos from last year's winter conference.) I've never been able to attend either of these events, except virtually, via the
official SCBWI conference blog, so I'm especially excited to participate in this weekend's Midwest conference. I'm hoping it will be the first of many.
Speaking of SCBWI, congratulations to all the winners of the SCBWI Crystal Kite Member Choice awards, which were announced this week. If you're not familiar with this award, you can see the list of winners
on the SCBWI website and read about how they were chosen. And for more children's publishing news, be sure to check out
the official SCBWI blog.
In other good news, I've found a new home for the
Girls Write! summer camps I taught at the Hinsdale Center for the Arts for nine years. (Sadly,
HCA closed last year due to lack of funding.) The camps will now be held at the
Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook, Illinois. If you know any budding girl writers who live in the area, please help spread the word. The camp for girls entering grades 4-5 will meet June 24-June 28, 9:30 am–noon and for those entering grades 6-8 will meet July 15-July 19, 9:30 am–noon. For details, see the right sidebar
on this page of my website.
Finally, don't forget: there's still time to enter our blogiversary giveaway for a chance to win one of four $25 gift cards to Anderson's Bookshops.
See this post for details.
After you've entered, hop on over to
Elizabeth Steinglass's blog for this week's Poetry Friday round-up.
Happy writing!
Carmela
Hello, all!
First things first: If you haven't yet entered to win in our 4 x 4 Blogiversary Celebration, go! Do! Who wouldn't love selecting a few FREE books from one of our favorite indies?
Secondly, wasn't
yesterday's Progressive Poem a blast? Thanks, April! A tough act to follow, for sure, but it's Wednesday, and that means it's time for a workout.
This week I've tapped one of my favorite teaching authors, novelist Sharelle (pronounced like Cheryl) Byars Moranville. Sharelle holds a Ph.D. in English and has taught as an adjunct professor at various colleges and universities. She's also a regular workshop leader at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Workshop. Here she is, prepared for warmer temperatures:
Sharelle's beautifully-crafted novels include the award-winning Over the River, The Purple Ribbon, A Higher Geometry, The Snows, and her latest, The Hop (Kirkus: "an enchanting adventure.") I'm a great admirer of Sharelle's writing, which is filled with powerful sensory details and layers of emotion that go straight to a reader's heart.
Here's a backstory exercise Sharelle uses with her writing students – and for her own stories, as well.
- Diagram the important places in the story. For example, the main character's house. Show the layout, the directional orientation (for the cast of light, breeze through the house, etc.) Think about the view from each window.
- Furnish the house. Think about the furnishings and what those reveal about backstory, character, and conflict.
- Pick a particular item in the house – a keychain, a coffee mug, a knick-knack, a lamp, a toothbrush – and use it as a prompt for exploring backstory, character, and conflict. Use it to create a scene between two characters.
- Pick an item in the house that will become a motif in the story – i.e., invested with an emotional content, like the backpack in Susan Patron's The Higher Power of Lucky or the pearls in Kimberly Willis Holt's When Zachary Beaver Came to Town.
Happy writing!
Jill Esbaum
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 4/30/2013
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Howdy Campers!
Remember to enter to win in our 4 x 4 Blogiversary Celebration!
Today I have the absolute honor and (as Esther would say) knee-buckling responsibility to write the last line of 2013's
Progressive Poem. Yay! And yikes!
The brainchild of
Irene Latham,
this Progressive Poem has been moving from blog to blog, growing poet
by poet, for 29 days until it's come here for one final line. For the
poem and a list of contributing poets, see below.
.
At the end of a
month posting
rough drafts of poems about dogs, I think you could say
that this, too, is a rough draft. As Laura Puride Salas says, it's
poetry improv. Yes, and a poetry game. It's been fascinating to
read the process of those who've proceeded me.
When I got the line by
Denise Mortensen,
it's such a great line, I thought I should just write THE END. Then I
could talk about how a poet needs to know when to quit and when a good
line's a good ending. That would be funny. If only I had the courage!
But I don't. So off we go!
Here
is the list of the poets who each contributed a line (in this space, some appear to be a line and then some, but they are all really one line each), and below their
names is the (yikes!) finished poem. Take a bow, poets!
.
DAY/LINE + POET
P.T.
BARNUM'S GREAT TRAVELING MUSEUM, MENAGERIE, CARAVAN, AND HIPPODROME*
by Thirty Poets on a mission in the Kidlitosphere...see list above
When you listen to your footsteps
the words become music and
the rhythm that you’re rapping gets your fingers tapping, too.
Your pen starts dancing across the page
a private pirouette, a solitary samba until
smiling, you’re beguiling as your love comes shining through.
Pause a moment in your dreaming, hear the whispers
of the words, one dancer to another, saying
Listen, that’s our cue! Mind your meter. Find your rhyme.
Ignore the trepidation while you jitterbug and jive.
Arm in arm, toe to toe, words begin to wiggle and flow
as your heart starts singing let your mind keep swinging
from life’s trapeze, like a clown on the breeze.
Swinging upside down, throw and catch new sounds–
Take a risk, try a trick; break a sweat: safety net?
Don’t check! You’re soaring and exploring,
dangle high, blood rush; spiral down, crowd hush–
limb-by-line-by-limb envision, pyramidic penned precision.
And if you should topple, if you should flop
if your meter takes a beating; your rhyme runs out of steam—
know this tumbling and fumbling is all part of the act,
so get up with a flourish. Your pencil’s still intact.
Snap those synapses! Feel the pulsing through your pen
Commit, measure by measure, to the coda’s cadence.
You've got them now--in the palm of your hand!
Finger by finger you’re reeling them in—
Big Top throng refrains from cheering, strains to hear the poem nearing…
Inky paws, uncaged, claw straw and sawdust
Until… CRACK! You’re in the center ring, mind unleashed, your words take wing--
they circle, soar, then light in the lap of an
open-mouthed child; the crowd goes wild.
* * * * * * *
* Barnum's circus was originally called "P.T. Barnum's Great Traveling
Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome,"
which is pretty much what
our poem is. ("Greatest Show on Earth" was
added later...that's us, too!)
It never hurts to join forces...
...ask all the thirsty pooches at the dog park!
Let's play some more!
Hey--where'd everybody go???
G'bye to Poetry Month 2013! See you next year!
Posted by April Halprin Wayland
What
better way to continue celebrating our 4 x 4 Blogiversary Celebration by
introducing our readers to the incomparable Pat Wroclawski, Bookseller
Extraordinaire to the 4th Power.
Sadly,
Pat left the world way too soon in March of 2005 but her Spirit lives on in the
countless individuals she touched – readers, writers, parents, teachers, me.
So
many times I finish a novel, or page through a picture book, or wonder at a
biography and think, “Oh, how Pat would have loved this book!”
I
knew of Pat long before I – boldly –
introduced myself to her. She’d managed
the Chestnut Court Book Shop in Winnetka for 15 years, then headed the Children’s
Department at Kroch’s and Brentano’s flagship store in Chicago before returning
to the renamed Bookstall at Chestnut Court as a consultant. (FYI: Kroch’s and Brentano’s was the largest
bookstore in Chicago and at one time the largest privately-owned bookstore chain
in the U.S. It closed in 1995.)
Everything
I’d heard about Pat proved true and then some.
Her
never-ending knowledge of children’s literature.
Her
impeccable taste in books.
Her
love of reading.
Her
respect for and interest in writers and illustrators.
Pat’s
passion for All Things Children's Book glowed from within.
The
Bookstall’s Children’s Book Section became an invaluable resource for me as I
traveled my Writer’s Plotline. The best
of the best lined the section’s shelves.
Of
course Pat herself proved the best resource of all.
She
cheered me on as I made my way, introducing me to esteemed authors and
illustrators, to books I should know, to opportunities that helped me grow as a
writer, and to the Association of Booksellers for Children, which Pat helped
found, now a part of ABA re-named the ABC Children’s Group and a most vital piece
of the Children’s Book World.
I shall always remain grateful for how warmly Pat welcomed and embraced my fellow
SCBWI-Illinois members.
She personally decorated the store’s windows and
greeted each and every guest.
And
she was there in the audience of Northern Illinois University’s March 1999
Children’s Literature Conference keeping me strong in my first-time-ever speaking presentation to 500 educators and librarians
(!)
Seeing
Pat’s smile undid my buckling knees.
Bookseller,
yes.
As
well as mentor, teacher, advocate, friend.
Pat
somehow made time too to help found in 1989 yet another important children’s
book organization, Winnetka’s and Northfield’s Alliance for Early Childhood -
“a
community collaboration that promotes the healthy growth and development of
children from birth age to eight by providing resources, programs, and support for
the parents and professionals who teach and care for them.”
For
years Pat wrote the organization’s monthly column “At Home with Books.” In the
Fall, 2005 issue, her daughter Margaret Wroclawski Griffen shared with readers
what her mother taught her about children’s books.
Titled
“Everything I Know About Children’s Books I Learned From My Mother,” this beautiful tribute keeps Pat’s Spirit alive.
The Margaret Wroclawski Memorial Collection now holds some
100 titles at the Winnetka/Northfield Public Library.
Like
the books they hand their readers, booksellers change lives too.
Especially
extraordinary ones, like my Pat Wroclawski.
Esther
Hershenhorn
P.S.
Don’t
forget to celebrate our 4th Blogiversary by entering our 4 x4
give-away! You can win one of 4 $25 gift
certificates to Anderson’s Bookshop! All
you need do is share the name of your favorite
independent bookstore, and maybe even bookseller.
Click
HERE for details.
.
Howdy, Campers!
We're jumping up and down and popping balloons, celebrating our Fourth
Blogiversary...and you're invited to join in the fun by entering to win
one of four gift certificates to a fab independent bookstore. Details?
Read all about it
here!
.
And it's Friday, so happy
Poetry-Friday-in-the-midst-of-
Poetry-Month! Thank you,
Laura Purdie Salas, for hosting PF today!
And now...on with the show:
In keeping with our
blogiversary celebration, we're talking about indie bookstores. Here's my riff:
I was a long-time active member of the Southern California Children's Booksellers Association (SCCBA), a feisty organization of indies who generously shared knowledge on how to run a bookstore among themselves and with those thinking about starting a children's bookstore. These newbies could have seen as their
competitors, but instead they were embraced as colleagues and became friends.
SCCBA was a leader among children's independent bookseller associations and in 1984 SCCBA was the midwife in the birthing of the national organization, American Booksellers for Children (ABC) (which has since
merged with the American Booksellers Association.)
SCCBA itself folded into the
Southern California Independent Booksellers Association just a few years ago. All this merging was hard for many of us, and sad, so sad...but SCIBA has proven itself to be a lively, engaged and strong non-profit trade association.
So which are my fav indies? Must I choose just one? A longtime favorite, just up the freeway from me, is
Children's Bookworld, founded in 1986 by Sharon Hearne, and still going strong.
I am still mourning
Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore, which closed in 2008.
BUT there's great news:
indies are making a comeback and I'm lucky to have not one but
two fabulous indies just a few miles from my home, both opened within the last few years:
and the absolutely wonderful
{pages}!
Here's my rough draft of a book poem in honor of indies today:
HOOKED ON A BOOK: (The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore By Benjamin Hale)
rough draft poem by April Halprin Wayland
I’m reading the autobiography
of a classically educated, erudite
chimpanzee.
I stay up too late reading it.
Rather than listen to NPR’s Morning Edition,
I prop the book against the fish bowl as I brush my teeth.
His story
sticks to the souls of my hiking shoes
as I clamber up a steep slope in Arizona.
While buying half a head of Napa cabbage at the farmers market,
I wonder what will happen to his owner, Lydia
and why he’s writing the book from a jail cell.
Through a dinner of grape tomatoes, Napa cabbage,
juicy chicken and roasted potatoes, baby turnips and
carrots,
it haunts me
like cookie dough ice cream
haunts me
from the freezer.
poem © 2013 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved
And remember to enter our
indie bookstore gift certificate giveaway!
I'm trying to remember to put my name at the end of these posts...this is important because those who subscribe don't see the byline which automatically posts our names for us. So...
tah-tah from April Halprin Wayland!
The end of the semester is nigh in the higher education realm (can we have a collective cheer?). As my classes approach the dreaded research essay, we spend a fair amount of time discussing the importance of using pathos, logos, and ethos in concert in persuasive writing. [I would argue that the same precept applies to writing fiction.]
I like to give my students an exercise to practice these techniques, using a subject with which they are already well acquainted. I ask them to write me a letter (another important skill for this generation of digital natives) describing what they feel their final semester grade should be. While their information needs to be fact-based (logos), students who may not be strong expository writers are often expert at applying these persuasive strategies. [On the other hand, last semester I had several students who tried to appeal to my sense of ethos with the contention that it was my duty to give every student at least a B. If their rhetorical purpose was to persuade me to grade more leniently, they achieved quite the opposite, as I subsequently took great care to explain.]
I find that self-evaluative assignments tend to be quite valuable for students and for me, too. Those students who chafe at the strictures of an expository writing class often respond positively to an assignment that allows them an unaccustomed measure of creativity. I suspect I get a fair amount of fiction in these responses, as well. :)
Happy end of semester, one and all! And, if you haven't done so already, don't forget to enter our
Fourth Blogiversary Gift Card Giveaway for a chance to win some great summer reading material!
-- Jeanne Marie
This week we continue to celebrate our Fourth Blogiversary (the official date is today!) with our giveaway extravaganza.
From
Carmela's Friday post:
Today, I'm thrilled to announce an extra-special giveaway in honor of our FOURTH BLOGIVERSARY. To show our appreciation to our blog readers AND to one of our favorite independent booksellers, we'll be giving away FOUR $25 gift certificates to Anderson's Bookshops! And, as a bonus, Anderson's is generously offering our winners a 20% discount, which will help defray the shipping costs if you're unable to redeem your gift certificate in person.
If you haven't already done so, hop on over and read the
rest of her post for entry details as well as more information about our blog, Anderson's, and a terrific bonus poem from our very own April (who's also celebrating a birthday this week).
In follow-up to our ode to D.E.A.R. and Beverly Cleary, we Teaching Authors are discussing the great independent bookstores that play such a crucial role in getting the right books into the hands of the right readers. I will never forget my first visit to the
Tattered Cover in Denver. I was on a business trip, and I got no other business done on that day. [I owe a debt of gratitude to my patient boss, Stan Cohen.]
Here in exurban Maryland, we have nothing like the Tattered Cover or Anderson's. Washington has the great
Politics and Prose, but my visits to DC with kids at this point in life typically involve the Air and Space Museum, the National Mall, and a stroller.
If you ask me, the coolest and most accessible independent bookstore in my neck of the woods is
Turn the Page Bookstore, owned by the husband of local (and international) celebrity Nora Roberts. Roberts lives in rural Washington County and has singlehandedly turned the tiny town of Boonsboro into a Destination (with a capital D). Visitors from around the country flock to the bookstore for signings by a variety of authors and may stay overnight in Roberts's nearby bed and breakfast, stop by her gift shop, or have a meal at her son's taphouse.
In my job as an adjunct instructor at Hagerstown Community College, I am fortunate to be a part of the advisory committee for this summer's
Nora Roberts Writing Institute. Before a recent meeting at Dan's Taphouse, I slipped into Turn the Page for some speed shopping. Unlike the sprawling Tattered Cover, it's a tiny space, with a nook devoted to children's books, a coffee bar featuring a local roaster's brews, and a terrific assortment of popular fiction, with the literary book club du month selections shelved beside the "beach reads."
As someone who writes in what may certainly be considered marginalized genres (soap operas and children's books), I greatly appreciated the equalizing effect of this shelving method. As a child, I fell in love with reading because it was fun and transformative. There is much good writing in popular fiction, and I love the idea of celebrating the books people read because they
want to rather than the ones they feel they
have to. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Nora Roberts.
--Jeanne Marie
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 4/18/2013
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Today, I'm thrilled to announce an extra-special giveaway in honor of our FOURTH BLOGIVERSARY. To show our appreciation to our blog readers AND to one of our favorite independent booksellers, we'll be giving away FOUR $25 gift certificates to Anderson's Bookshops! And, as a bonus, Anderson's is generously offering our winners a 20% discount, which will help defray the shipping costs if you're unable to redeem your gift certificate in person.
In case you're not familiar with this family-owned company, in 2010, Anderson's celebrated their 135th year in business, with six generations of the family now working in their stores. Among their
many accolades, in 2011, Anderson's was named
Publisher's Weekly Bookstore of the Year. Anderson's has a long history of supporting teachers by providing educator resources like
mock Newbery contests, arranging author visits, and sponsoring special events such as their upcoming
Teacher Open House, where educators can learn about the best new releases for classroom use. And educators always receive a 20% discount off the
list price of books to be used in the classroom or library.
Anderson's also has a reputation for hosting wonderful (and numerous!) author signings, and for championing local authors. After many years of attending Anderson's marvelous author events, I was honored to have my first signing at the Naperville store when my novel,
Rosa, Sola, came out. That day, the Anderson's staff made me feel like a real star! I couldn't help getting a little teary-eyed as I addressed the crowd of family, friends, and fellow writers, telling them what a thrill it was to have my signing in the bookstore that felt like my second home.
If you're ever in the Chicago area, I encourage you to visit one of Anderson's stores. But even if a physical trip isn't possible, you can visit them virtually
via their website, where you can order print and
ebooks online. As you'll see below, the winners of our giveaway will have the option of using their gift certificates that way.
The
TeachingAuthors are fans not only of Anderson's, but of independent bookstores everywhere. For the next few weeks, we'll be sharing stories of our appreciation for independent booksellers. Meanwhile, I was pleasantly surprised by the encouraging news the
Salon article "Books Aren't Dead" had about both print books and independent bookstores:
". . . the Christian Science Monitor recently reported [you can read that article here], there are now many indications that a once-beleaguered portion of the bookselling landscape, independent bookstores, are enjoying a “quiet resurgence.” Sales are up this year; established stores, such as Brooklyn’s WORD, are doing well enough to expand and new stores are opening. Indies have been helped by the closure of the Borders chain and a campaign to remind their customers that if they want local bookstores to survive, they have to patronize them, even if that means paying a dollar or two more than they would on Amazon."
I confess, I'm one of those book buyers willing to pay "a dollar or two more" to support my local independent. I want to help ensure they'll still be around when I finally have another book signing. :-)
In addition to celebrating independent booksellers, we decided our blogiversary was a good time for a little spring
cleaning here on the
TeachingAuthors website. I've created two new pages,
which you can find links to under our logo at the top of the page:
Links and
Writing Workouts. The
Links page now contains all the
links that used to be in the sidebar, grouped under the following
headings:
- Websites of Note
- Children's/YA Lit Reading Lists
- Graduate
Programs in Writing for Children and Young Adults
- General Children's/YA
Lit Blogs
- Agent Blogs
- Author/Illustrator Blogs.
The
Writing Workouts page explains the history and evolution of our Writing
Workouts, and allows you to access all of them from one place. I've also
shortened the names of our resources pages to simply "
For Teachers,"
"
For Young Writers," and "
Visits." And I've updated our bios on the
About Us page. I hope you'll take time to explore
these revised pages and give us feedback on what you think of the
changes.
You may also notice a new button in the sidebar labeled "Follow this blog with bloglovin'." I recently learned that
Google will be retiring Google Reader on July 1, 2013, and I wanted to provide other options for those who currently read our posts via Reader.
Bloglovin' allows you to easily import all the blogs you currently follow with Google Reader. I've also seen positive reviews of the RSS service
Feedly (see, for example, this
recommendation in Jane Friedman's newsletter, Electric Speed), so I've included a Feedly link in the sidebar, too. You can read
a quick comparison of Bloglovin' vs. Feedly here.
If you don't already follow our blog, I'll hope you'll sign up to do so today via email, Bloglovin', Feedly, or one of the other options in our sidebar. (Hint--our blog subscribers automatically qualify for
FOUR entries in our blogiversary giveaway. See below for details.)
Before I explain how to enter the giveaway, I want to share a poem the AMAZING April Halprin Wayland wrote in honor of our blogiversary, which actually falls on Monday, Earth Day.
A Blooming Blogiversary
Sheaves of paper, leaves of prose
Typing wobbly rocky rows
Planting tender inkling seeds
Sowing words on glowing screens
Underground the spark is struck
Growing with some care and luck
First a shoot, then a sprout
Weeding all the adverbs out
Seedlings reaching toward the sun
Readers, writers we are one
Blooming in the blogisphere
Post by post, year by year
poem © 2013 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved
A special "thank you" to all the readers who have stuck with us here at
TeachingAuthors "post by post, year by year."
Now, for our Blogiversary Giveaway details:
As I said at the beginning of this post, in honor of our
Fourth Blogiversary, and to celebrate independent booksellers, we're giving away
FOUR $25 gift certificates to
Anderson's Bookshops!
Note: if you're unable to redeem your prize in person at one of Anderson's stores, you will be able to do so online. AND, you'll receive a 20% discount on your purchase!
Please bear with us as we try something new for this giveaway--we're using
Rafflecopter for the first time. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, you may want to read their info on
how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and/or the
difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.
Once you've logged into Rafflecopter below (via either Facebook or an email address) you'll see that we've provided
four different options for entering the giveaway--you can pick one or up to all four. The more options you choose, the greater your chances of winning. While we haven't made it a requirement, we hope that everyone will choose to subscribe to the
TeachingAuthors blog. If you're already a subscriber, to enter, you need only click on that option and then tell us how you follow our blog.
As it says in the "Terms and Conditions," this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. You must be 18 or older to enter. And please note: email addresses will
only be used to contact winners. The giveaway will run from now through the end of
Children's Book Week, on May 19. Winners will be notified May 20, 2013.
I hope that covers everything. But if you have any questions about the giveaway, feel free to email us at teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.
Good luck to everyone! And don't forget--it's
Poetry Friday. When you're done entering our giveaway, check out the Poetry Friday round-up over at
Live Your Poem.
Happy writing!
Carmela
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here in the South, there is an all purpose word that drives me nuts. The word? "Nice." Depending on the tone of voice, "That's nice" can mean something really wonderful, or truly venomous. It's a phrase that doesn't translate well in print. You have to hear the tone of voice that goes with the statement.
"Nice" is just an example of any number of words that sound perfectly fine spoken aloud, but are rendered meaningless on the page. Here are my Top Ten Useless Words in Writing. 1. Nice 2. Very
3. Cute 4. Sweet 5. OK 6. Cool 7. Good 8. Bad 9. Fun 10. Sad/happy (I cheated...that's really eleven words). There are a lot more, but these are the ones that show up the most often in my students' work, and the ones that set my teeth on edge.
All of these words work fine in conversation, both spoken and written. As descriptors, they leave a lot to be desired. They are junk food words. They just lounge around your writing, doing the least amount of work possible. So how do you get those words off the couch to carry their share of your writing?
For today's workout, I turn to one of my all-time favorite craft books, Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8 (2nd edition) by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi. This is an exercise that can be adapted for any age student, or for your own writing. For the purpose of today's lesson, I will pretend I am working with first or second graders.
1. Have the students to write a short description of a person. Let's say, little Courtney has chosen to describe her best friend, Emma. Here is what Courtney writes.
I like my best friend Emma. She is fun. We like the same things. (Uh oh...I just hit word number 12..."thing").
2. Ask Courtney to close her eyes. "Courtney," you say. "What makes Emma fun?" Closing the eyes is the important part of the exercise. For some reason, if you look a student in the eye and ask the same question, you will get a defensive "I dunno. She's just fun." (Subtext; what's wrong with you, Adult Person? Don't you understand the word fun?)
3. Hopefully, with her eyes closed, Courtney can see Emma doing fun things; she snorts when she laughs, she only eats the icing off her cupcake, she can do cartwheels. If Courtney really gets into her description, she may go on to describe fun things that she and Emma have done together; gone to Six Flags and gotten soaked on the Log Flume Ride, bake cupcakes (but only eat the icing), ice skate.
4. Now have Courtney re-write her description using some of her new fun details. Maybe it will read something like this:
Emma is my best friend. She snorts when she laughs, and that makes me laugh, too. We like doing the same things like ice skating and baking. Emma makes the best cupcakes, but she will only eat the icing. I don't mind, because I like to eat the leftover cake part.
5. Ask Courtney to compare her first and second versions of her description of Emma. Which one would make her want to know more about Emma (that is if she didn't already know Emma?) Cross your fingers that she picks version two.
In my writing workshops, I go so far as to forbid the use of the Deadly Twelve Do-Nothing Words, unless they are being said by a character in dialog. It can be a laborious task to get even older writers to give up their "comfort words". But after practice (lots of practice), one fine day your writers will discover that they have written a whole page without using any of the Deadly Twelve. They don't need their training wheel words any more.
Posted by Mary Ann Rodman
Back in October, I posted about the three elements – rhythm, rhyme, and story – that have to work together in character-driven rhyming picture books. In that post, I addressed getting a story's rhythm exactly right.
That leaves rhyme and story, so I thought I'd get back to those today. You all know how to rhyme, so I won't waste an entire post on the topic. Two things to keep in mind, though:
- Use proper syntax. If you have to twist a line for the sake of the end rhyme, find another way to get the thought across. Lines should read the way a person normally speaks.
- Talk "up" to your readers. Don't shy away from complicated words now and then if they fit the story, if kids will be able to glean meaning from context (and, most likely, an illustration), and especially if they're fun to say. In my Ste-e-e-e-eamboat A-Comin'!, which takes place in the 1800s, I rhymed songs and shouts with roustabouts; silk cravats with cowboy hats; and coffee, spoons with brass spittoons.
Rhyming stories have been my favorites since I was 5 or 6 years old (and was introduced to Horton).
Of the 16 books I've sold so far, 6 are rhyming picture books. So these days, I critique a lot of rhyming manuscripts – as a volunteer judge at
Rate Your Story, in private and conference crits, and in summer
workshops (note: my pb workshop is Aug. 2-4 this year). The number one problem with the stories I see is . . . well, the
stories. It's pefectly natural. We get so caught up in perfecting rhythm and rhyme that story takes a backseat. Because boy, once we get those rhyming lines working together, most of us would rather undergo a root canal than make changes.
But the same rules apply to a rhyming story to one written in prose. So, a checklist:
- Does my main character have a goal to reach or some kind of problem? Did I get to it right away? Does he solve it himself?
- Do things go WRONG?
- Did I include believable/necessary dialogue? (Yes, this is tougher to do in rhyming stories. You thought this would be easy?)
- Does every word of every line move the story forward and convey a precise meaning? This is a biggie. Go through your story line by line. Are any lines/stanzas merely restating in a different way information already given? Condense or cut.
- Have I used specific verbs, vivid language, fresh similes and metaphors, alliteration, onomatopoeia? (If you have fun, your reader will, too.)
- Is my word count as low as possible? (Little pitchers have big ears, yes, but they also have short attention spans.)
- Is my POV consistent? (Try to avoid 1st person in rhyming stories. It can be done, but it's extremely tough to do without sounding overly-contrived.)
- Has my MC shown growth or changed somehow by the end of the story? (And am I not hitting the reader over the head with it?)
When it comes to crafting rhyming stories, practice really does make perfect. Examine a variety of published rhyming picture books. To get a feel for meter, read them aloud. Type them out. Study their plot structure. Learn to recognize and correct problem areas in your own work.
One final tip that gets its own line and bold print:
- Embrace revision. (Because, truly, there's NEVER only one way to say something.)
And before you know it, you'll be on the track to publication. Note that I didn't call it a "fast track." This IS publishing.
Jill Esbaum
P.S. Remember to enter our
book giveaway for a chance to win Tamera Wissinger's delightful Gone Fishing!
When
it comes to celebrating Teen Technology, I feel Mary Ann’s and Jill’s pain.
I
don’t exactly qualify as a Teen.
(Click
HERE to see just which high school Reunion I’m attending this May.)
And,
this is the book I’m currently reading.
I
also boldly revealed my Inner Luddite in a post last March. (Click HERE.)
BUT…
I
sure do love to CLICK, then follow the links to CONNECT with all sorts of
wondrous People, Places and Things.
Oh,
the Possibilities!
Sigh.
Ah,
the Opportunities!
For
instance, there I was,
letting
my fingers stroll the Internet on behalf of a writer with a UK-suited book,
and
what did I come upon but
That’s
why I’m wishing you a belated Happy World Book Day!
This
site is ripe with new books, authors and curriculum connections for readers,
writers, teachers and librarians.
(And
yes, I found three, count ’em,
three publishing possibilities for my writer.)
Booklist
Editor Gillian Engberg sent me a lovely Quick Tips email, calling my attention
to
Writing Resources for the Common Core Classroom.
Clicking
and connecting I came upon a terrific timely
opportunity for Kiddos co-sponsored by DC Comics and Capstone – The “Be a Super Hero, Read!” Writing Contest. Running
through April 15, the Contest encourages kids in grades 3 through 6 to write
about a real-life superhero in their lives.
Click
HERE for the Rules.
And
speaking of writing Kiddos, how could I not
click on the Denver Post’s Next Gen, the online newspaper for youth-written
stories.
I’d
met several middle school reporters during my visit to the Colorado International Reading
Association Conference in February.
Click
HERE and connect to Collin Colaizzi and his write-up of author and Writing Guru
Ralph Fletcher’s talk on the importance of a Writer’s Notebook.
It
turns out that, despite my long-gone teenage years and my lack of Tech savvy,
my Inner Luddite and I have had One Swell
Time CLICKING and CONNECTING this past week, occasioning numerous opportunities
to showcase our gelasins.
(Click
HERE if you’re eager to learn last week’s A.Word.A.Day.)
Who
knows?
Maybe
someday soon I’ll be CLICKING and MANUFACTURING,
thanks to the opportunities and possibilities of Tech’s newest child, 3-D Printing!
(Oy!)
Happy Clicking and Connecting!
Esther
Hershenhorn
P.S.
Be sure to click
HERE to enter to win Tamera Wissinger’s Gone
Fishing: A Novel in Verse. You only have until 11 pm, Wednesday, March 13.
Anybody who has been in one of my workshops knows what a fanatic I am for the one-sentence synopsis. If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look at the title page of (almost) any book for kids. See the sentence that sums up the entire story? Not much to it, is there? Should be easy to write one, then, right? Um...
Sometimes called an elevator pitch – because if you find yourself in an elevator with an editor and s/he asks what you're working on, you don't want to ramble on like a doofus (she said from experience) – the one-sentence synopsis is also an excellent tool for keeping your story on track during the writing process.
Oh, how many times my stories – especially my rhyming stories – go off in a direction I hadn't intended. When a story veers out of control, I know it's time to back up the truck and ask myself one simple question:
What is this story really about?
Crafting a one-sentence synopsis has saved my bacon time and again. It cuts to the heart of the story, clarifies your main character's motivation, and illuminates the path from a story's beginning to its end.
So give it a try. Write a one-sentence synopsis for your work in progress.
Include:
1. Your main character's name.
2. What it is s/he is struggling with.
3. What's at stake for your MC (if not readily apparent).
4. What s/he does to reach her goal or overcome the problem (if needed).
Here's an example from one of my 2014 books,
I Am Cow, Hear Me Moo! (Dial):
Nadine, a braggy cow, gets into hilarious trouble when, to save face, she's forced to lead her friends on a nighttime hike through the spooky woods.
That probably isn't what will be on the finished book's title page, but it's
my one-sentence synopsis of this story. It pretty much tells you everything you need to know in deciding whether to read it or replace it on the shelf.
If you care to, go ahead and put your synopsis into the comment section, I'd love to see what you're working on.
Good luck! And don't forget to enter our
giveaway for a chance to win Tamera Wissinger's Gone Fishin'. Hurry! Today's the last day.
Jill Esbaum
If, like me, you occasionally feel the need to spend a little time with the endearing, funny, innocent characters forever residing on Klickitat Street, please join me in a shout out:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEVERLY CLEARY!!!
You can read about this iconic American author here, on a HarperCollins site devoted to her and her books,
here, in an interview with Highlights for Children,
here, in an article by Jim Trelease,
and here, in The New York Times:
What an inspiration!
Not only is today Ms. Cleary's birthday, it is national Drop Everything And Read day. After Ms. Cleary mentioned D.E.A.R. in Ramona Quimby Age 8 in 1981, the practice spun out across the country faster than the wheels of Ralph Mouse's motorcycle. I first heard of D.E.A.R. when it was a daily event at my kids' elementary school. Oh, how they loved when their teachers stopped in the middle of another subject to shout, "Drop everything and read!" Oh, how I loved seeing every kid in school carrying a library book.
According to HarperCollins' website, D.E.A.R. is "a national month-long celebration of reading designed to remind folks of all ages to make reading a priority activity in their lives. Because, what's more fun(damental) than reading, really?"
Educators and parents, you'll want to visit the D.E.A.R. site, where you'll find "reading lists, activity ideas, digital assets, and other resources to get you started and keep you busy."
Also, be sure to check out the Ramona Journal, released just a few weeks ago. I would have LOVED this book when I was a kid. Okay, I'd love it now. I'll have to buy one for my great niece in order to get an in-depth look.
I'm off today to attend the SCBWI-Iowa spring conference to spend the weekend talking books. What could be better?
Jill Esbaum
.
Howdy, Campers!
Lucky you! It's time for another...
Today's WWW comes from
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, whose debut poetry collection,
Forest Has A Song illustrated by
Robbin Gourley, was just published by Clarion. I talked about it in my
April 5th post and included one of the poems.
Amy calls her project for Poetry Month 2013 "
Drawing Into Poems" and explains it this way:
Each day of this month, I will slow myself down, look closely at
something, draw it, and take notes around my drawing. I'll photograph
and share the drawing and notes here each day. From time-to-time, at
least on Fridays, I'll share a poem inspired by my drawings and notes.
The purpose of this project is to help me see more clearly and to help
me linger on images. My goal is not to become a great artist, but
rather to become more in tune with my sight, more deeply connected with
the world, more slow, more thoughtful.
Here is her first sketch and accompanying notes:
drawing (c) 2013 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. All rights reserved.
Isn't this cool? I'll bet you're salivating to begin your own drawing now, right? Right!
So, Campers,
Be Amy.
Slow down.
Go outside or look around the room.
Find an object.
Settle.
Breathe.
Sketch.
This process may or may not trigger a poem or a story...try it and see. Stay in the process, don't worry about the product.
Ready? Begin.
Let us know what you discover.
posted by April Halprin Wayland with a little bit of mischief
It's Children’s Book Week -- yay! Of course, we at Teaching Authors celebrate all year long, but this week is truly a coast-to-coast party. If you're a teacher or librarian, you may already be planning to stage a read-in, have a poster contest, or dress like a Hoo. Find more resources and tips
here.
In equally exciting news, students can vote for the Children’s Book Award. This is
the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by
young readers of all ages. Voting is open from 3/19—5/3/2013. Check out the
finalists, listed by
reader age group, and then tally your class
vote!
If you're a writer, you can
spread the word, too!
My daughter turned 8 yesterday, and the only thing she wanted for her birthday? Books! Thus, here's how the Fords heralded the start of Children's Book Week (along with the belated appearance of spring):
Charlotte's Web,
Phineas and Ferb, and a side of fruit salad. Bliss! - Jeanne Marie
I first met Beverly Cleary's memorable character Ramona Quimby as a supporting character in Henry and the Clubhouse where she all but stole the book. I was in graduate school before I discovered that after Cleary finished the Henry and Beezus series, she had gone on to give Ramona her own literary stage, where Henry and big sister Beezus were the background characters. The notion of D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) was something I would've loved in my childhood. I had to fashion my own notion of D.E.A.R. It was called Stick a Book in Your Lap and Look Like Your Paying Attention in Class. (OK, it isn't much of an acronym.) It did not make me popular with my teachers.
As a adult writers and teachers, we need to make time for our own D.E.A.R. I'm not talking about reading the latest (adult) best seller, or flipping through whatever literary dregs are in the doctor's waiting room. I am talking about reading the newest children's books that interest you. You know....the kind of book you want to write?
I assumed that writers, especially children's writers, are readers. However, I never gave much thought as to what they were reading until last month. I was teaching an adult Writing for Children's workshop and had brought in tons of books from my personal collection (not the books I wrote; the books I own) to use as examples of different styles of writing. I have a very expensive book buying habit, because for the last fifteen years I have either lived where there was no library, or very poor ones. Books have changed since we were kids, even if you are a lot younger than I am (which is probably almost everyone reading this.) Yes, there are classics, like Ramona and her friends who will never die.
The first Henry Huggins book was published in 1950, Charlotte's Web, 1952 A Wrinkle in Time 1962. These are timeless books although I sometimes wonder, given today's publishing climate if any of these three would be considered "commercial" enough to be published today.
But back to my workshop. My students devoured my books, then asked. "Where did you get these books? How did you even know about them?" These writers were mostly young mothers who read to their children....whatever happened to be on the display counter in the picture book section of the library. "These books aren't at (fill in the name of your local chain bookstore). How could I find them in the library, if I don't know they exist?"
Valid points. Chain bookstores, the only ones available to a good chunk of us, feature "sure sellers"...movie tie-ins, "celebrity" picture books, books that have become TV series or movies. A few of the books I brought were Newbery/Caldecott winners. Those are always front and center in bookstores and libraries, but for the rest of us hardworking, writers, just finding our books is a real challenge, let alone reading them. They are out there....it's just knowing where to look.
That's why I spend thirty minutes of my D.A.R.E. each week scouting out the newest books online. Where? Goodreads is one of my favorite places to see what other readers (and not professional reviewers) think of a book. (I do not know what affect it's recent acquisition by Amazon will have on this site, if any, but there are already thousands or reviews that have been written before this happened.)
I also like Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus is a subscription service with a pretty hefty price tag. Their selling point is that they preview books up to two months pre-publication, which is great if you are a book store and need to know two months in advance if you are going to order the book. If you are willing to wait a whole week after publication, you can read the review online, for free. Kirkus is issued biweekly, except for a week mid-summer and one the first of January.
You can also sign up for Publisher's Weekly online. Another print publication with a steep subscription price, you can get daily digests of articles, news as to what editor has been promoted, demoted or moved to another publisher. Thursdays is there special children's edition. All free.
There are tons of bloggers (including us!) who interview authors when they have a new book coming out. However, I would be amiss if I did not mention my favorite source of quality reading recommendations. That is Cooperative Children's Book Center located at the University of Wisconsin. In addition to interviews and news about programs and lectures (if you happen to live in Wisconsin), b they review a "Book of the Week." The BOW is always a recently published book the staff at CCBC think is outstanding. They don't waste their time on junk. You may not agree with all of their choices but you will read them knowing that their selection was carefully considered by a group of people whose only "agenda" is to expose the children's literature community to the widest and best range of the newest books.
So why are you still reading me Right now, drop everything and scout out your next lit of D.A.R.E. books.
Posted by Mary Ann Rodman
View Next 25 Posts
Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon was one of my son's favorite picture books as a child, especially at bedtime. We read the marvelously lyrical, calming text so many times that I memorized it. But when I went to prepare for the class, I couldn't find our copy anywhere. It wasn't in my son's bookcase (he was away at college); it wasn't in his closet; it wasn't in my office. I finally gave up and borrowed a copy from the public library to use in my class.
When you're done, head on over to Jama's Alphabet Soup for today's Poetry Friday round-up. 
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