*Early, early chapter book (like Amelia Bedelia), realistic fiction
*6-year-old girl as main character
*Rating: Well, I’m in love with the character, Katie Woo–this is just one book in a series. Young girls will eat these up and want more and more. Love the illustrations, too!

Short, short summary:

In Katie Woo: Moving Day, Katie is moving to a new house, but she is worried about leaving her old house. She writes a note to the new girl who will have her room, and then she goes with her parents to her new abode. She is a bit worried about the “whirlpool” and especially the “sunken living room”–what if she falls in and can’t get out? Once she’s there, she starts to adjust and eventually feels right at home. This is a “chapter book” but there are pictures on every page–PERFECT for first or second graders who want a step-up from a picture book.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Well, here’s a book where I didn’t have to do much brainstorming to show you how to use it because the authors/publisher did it for me! Love this. In the back of the book, there are discussion questions and writing prompts to use with kids. For example, one of the questions to discuss is: Do you think it would be fun to move? Why or why not? One of the writing prompts is: Make a list of ten words that describe your home. The activities are built right in!

2. And there’s more. In the back of the book, there’s also a step-by-step art activity to go with something that happens to Katie Woo in the story. She notices a bird’s nest outside her window, and the art activity is to create a next with a brown bag, glue, and dried leaves, grass, and flowers. This is an activity that kids would probably need help with–especially the part where you change the bag into a nest shape, but it’s a cute activity.

3. For those of you at home or doing this in a school with computer lab free time, it turns out that Katie Woo is ONLINE. (Who would have thought?) So you can go to www.capstonekids.com and click on the picture of Katie Woo. Once you do this, you will be taken to her section of the site where you watch short videos, learn more about her and her friends, and download color and activity sheets.

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Continuing with my Wednesday 6 +1 traits of writing lessons to go with my book, Finding My Place, today I’m going to talk about a lesson in sentence fluency, using Finding My Place.

One of the writing skills you teach with sentence fluency is having sentences of different lengths that start with different words when you are writing a section of your story. When you vary your sentences like this, the overall voice sounds more natural and the writing tends to flow better. The point is to study a published work like my book to see how a professional author uses this skill. Then talk to kids about it and show them how they can do this in their own writing also.

Pick any chapter in the book, such as chapter 23, “Missing Ma.” Read a section out loud to children. Next show them the section and ask them to write down the first word of each sentence. Ask them to notice how the first word varies. It can be repeated, but it is not always the same word. Also ask students to count how many words are in each sentence. They will notice that some sentences are long and some are short. (You can also talk to students about how during times of action or excitement, authors tend to use shorter sentences.) Finally talk about the different styles of sentences. Some start with phrases, others are subject/verb, and so on.

Once you’ve studied the book, then talk to students about looking for these types of things in their own writing–if it seems too much for your students, then choose one–such as varying sentence beginnings.

For more information on Finding My Place, please go to http://margodill.com/blog/ .

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Yesterday when I posted on Facebook for WOW! and on my Editor 911 page about The Oscars, we got fewer responses than I figured we would, and many of them were negative. It turns out everyone doesn’t love this night as much as I do–I confess I like the Hollywood glam, I like to see the people we see on the silver screen interacting with other people, and I like the emotion of the winners. I do realize that these people are being awarded for pretending to be other people and for a life that is already rich and full of rewards. But I still love it.

When I realized I wanted to write about The Academy Awards on my blog today, instead of a book, I realized that you can use the awards with kids/teens/other adults, just like you can a book. You can use some of the stories from last night to inspire others to follow their dreams, to reach for the stars, and to persevere through anything. There are two stories/award winners in particular that I feel share this theme, and their stories are below.

• Winner of Best Documentary: The winner of the Best Documentary category last night (Feb. 24, 2013) was Searching for Sugar Man about a Detroit singer-songwriter, Rodriguez, who was popular in South Africa in the 1970s (never popular in the U. S.). The singer has a strange but true story–I won’t get into that here–but what’s interesting about this film is that the director, Malik Bendjelloul, ran out of money before he finished shooting the documentary. So, instead of trying to borrow more or do a Kickstarter campaign, he downloaded a $1.99 app on to his smartphone and shot the scenes he needed on his phone! Now that’s resourceful! That’s persevering; and last night, his spirit paid off because THE MOVIE WON AN OSCAR! To read the full story and share with your middle school/high school/college students and or children, go to this link: http://news.doddleme.com/equipment/director-runs-out-of-money-turns-to-iphone-to-finish-oscar-film/
• Best Documentary Short: This moment brought tears to my eyes last night, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one! The filmmakers who won this category for the documentary, “Inocente,” brought the subject, a 19-year-old Latino girl, of their film on stage with them. The woman (whom I believe was one of the directors) who accepted the award also had tears in her eyes and said that the girl was homeless a year ago, and now she was here in front of all of these people because of her art. That caught my interest–how about you? Art is powerful, just like music, and this girl’s passion is obviously going to change her life. On Huffington Post.com, an article states: “The documentary follows the life of Mexican-born, 15-year-old Inocente Izucar, an artist living San Diego, California, who with brilliant colors and unique pieces uses art to rise from her challenging reality and pursue her dreams of becoming a professional painter.” Now Inocente is 19 and has been given a chance to display her art and make an income. The website Nonprofit Quarterly has more of the story because of the nonprofit organization, Shine Global, which is dedicated to end abuse and exploitation of children around the world through film, made the documentary. For more info on this important subject and to see why the arts are important and we should encourage our children to do them, go to this link: http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/21847-nonprofit-produced-film-inocente-wins-oscar.html

Sure, it was fun last night to see Ben Affleck and George Clooney on stage accepting for Argo (an excellent film in my opinion) and to see one of my favorite, beautiful actresses, Jennifer Lawrence, win best actress. I thought Seth MacFarlane was funny most of the time, and of course, loved to see Jennifer Hudson belting out her famous song from Dreamgirls.

However, the stories that will stick with me from here on out are the two I mentioned above. I hope they touch you, too; and I hope you can find a way to share them with the young people in your life!

Don’t forget the middle-grade novel I am holding a contest to giveaway until March 1. Check out the super easy contest here.

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*Nonfiction picture book about the U.S. presidents’ mothers for upper elementary
*Mothers as main topics in the book
*Rating: I adore this book, First Mothers written by Beverly Gherman. The language is perfect for kids–she took a difficult subject & did a wonderful job with it! The illustrations by Julie Downing are even better–there’s even some humor, which makes a book like this more appealing to kids!

Short, short summary:

First Mothers is a look at every single president’s mother from George Washington to Barack Obama. The author tells vital statistics such as birth, death, marriage date, and date she gave birth to the president. Each mother is also given a title, such as George Washington’s mother, which is The FIRST First Mother, Ida Stover Eisenhower, which is The Pacifist Mother, and Barbara Pierce Bush, The Outspoken Mother. There are also paragraphs about each mother with details about what she liked to do, how she raised her children, how she met the president’s father, and more. For example, on the page about President Grant’s mother, Hannah Simpson Grant, the author tells how she was shy and didn’t even attend her son’s presidential inauguration or brag about him when he went to West Point or became the general of the Union Army. The illustration of her shows a woman sewing and a speech bubble that says, “It’s not right to brag, but Ulysses was a good boy.” Children and adults will get a kick out of this book. I found it fascinating!

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Have each student choose a First Mother to research further OR research a bit about her son, and see if there’s any connection to the son’s interests/way he was president and her description in the book. Since these research projects could be enormous, ask students to focus on certain aspects, such as: Did the mother have a job outside the home? What were her hobbies? What did her other children do? Where did she live her life?

2. The illustrations in this book (by Julie Downing) are fantastic! I really recommend going through the book and just looking and studying the illustrations. Towards the end, some of the first mothers reappear and make comments–on Barack Obama’s mom’s page, the first mothers from the 18th and 20th century say, “Is she wearing pants?” HA! On Bill Clinton’s mom’s page, the older first mothers ask, “What did she do to her hair?” Bill Clinton’s mom had a white streak through it, kind of like a skunk. . .Sometimes, as teachers/parents, we don’t take the time to look at illustrations. You don’t want to do that with this book.

3. The very last page of this book has a first mother standing there with a speech bubble, which says: “So, if you want to be president, listen to your mother.” Use this as a writing prompt with students. Ask them to think of advice they’ve heard from a female role model that could help them to one day be president. An example would be, “Mind your manners.” “Do your homework before you play.” “Read every day.”

Don’t forget, I have an exciting giveaway going on! It’s for a middle-grade (8 to 12) Christian fiction novel titled, A Cat Named Mouse: The Miracle of Answered Prayer. Go here to enter the giveaway.

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Here’s a simple word choice lesson you can do with kids while reading FINDING MY PLACE: ONE GIRL’S STRENGTH AT VICKSBURG or really any historical fiction book. Word choice is one of the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing.

One thing about the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing that I love is that these are the terms that professional writers use–from voice to word choice. So, when talking to kids about word choice, using a published book, you can say: “Authors have to make decisions about word choice all the time. Here’s this author’s story.”

When I wrote Finding My Place, it was very hard for me to write from a 13-year-old girl’s point of view during THE CIVIL WAR. I remembered being 13, so it was easy for me to get feelings down. But I kept using contemporary words. My critique group would say, “I don’t think people used the word OKAY or STUPID in 1863 like they do today. That doesn’t sound natural.” My word choice was off, and it messed with the authenticity of my book. So, I had to find words that did make sense during 1863, such as Anna calling James, “a loon,” or saying, “all right” instead of “okay.” I also tried to put a little Southern flavor in my dialogue through word choice instead of writing out how they might have talked. For example, Mrs. Franklin uses “y’all” and the kids refer to the Union Soldiers as “Blue Bellies” and “Yankees.”

Another thing that I had trouble with in dealing with word choice is using the words bomb and shell. First of all, I had to find ways not to repeat bomb or shell a million times during the periods in my book when the characters were experiencing being bombed. And people would argue with me that Vicksburg citizens wouldn’t have said, “BOMB!” Luckily, I read a diary from a woman who lived during 1863, and she used the words “shell” and “bomb” in her entries.

What you can do with children to discuss word choice in a mini-lesson is: pick a line or two out of the book–this can be done in any chapter and with any character and even with narrative. CHANGE some of the word choices to inappropriate ones and see how children think and work to improve the word choice. Then share the original lines from the book with them.

As I said, this can be done with any historical fiction book or really any book with strong word choice. Children LOVE to correct you or the author, and will work hard to find words that are unique and specific in this exercise.

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I have a special book to share with you today for chapter book/middle-grade readers (ages 8 to 12 or so) titled, A Cat Named Mouse: The Miracle of Answered Prayer. This book is inspirational or Christian fiction for kids with a heavy emphasis on prayer and Bible verses. It would be perfect for a homeschool family or group, parent/child book club, or a Christian school. Parents who are wanting to introduce or emphasize how prayer is answered and how Bible verses can be applied to our lives would also find this book helpful for their children to read or to read with their children. It has several illustrations. AND THE BEST NEWS OF ALL: I HAVE A COPY TO GIVEAWAY! IF you would like to enter the giveaway, please go below to the Rafflecopter form and do the tasks that you are interested in doing. Each task you do gives you more entries into the giveaway contest, which closes at the end of February. I’m using the Rafflecopter system because it is an easy way to keep track of entries! Thanks for trying it out with me.

A Cat Named Mouse: The Miracle of Unanswered Prayer is. . .

*A chapter book/young middle-grade realistic, inspirational fiction (based on a true story) for kids ages 8 to 12
*12-year-old girl as the main character (and a cat named Mouse!)
*Rating: A Cat Named Mouse is an enjoyable and fast read, perfect for a parent to read with a child. This book is important to discuss with children–there are a lot of Christian concepts and ideas!

Short, short summary: After being introduced to Annie and her family and their cats (as well as some neat practices they have such as their TALK UP tradition), Mouse, one of their cats, goes missing when a large animal tears down a window screen, scaring the cat who likes to sleep on the windowsill. The cat either falls out the window or jumps out the open window and goes missing. During this time, Annie and her family come up with many different ideas to get the cat back–one of them being prayer, another discussing how God has a plan. They also make signs and look for the cat. So, since it’s a children’s book, you can probably figure out what happens in the end–but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone! Annie is a wonderful main character with very loving parents.

So what do I do with this book?

1. It’s important to discuss the concepts with children that are presented in the book. One of the main things to focus on is that Annie and her parents use prayer to help find Mouse, but they don’t just sit by and hope God finds the cat. They are proactive also. Asking children to respond in a journal after reading a section will give them a chance to reflect on what happened before the discussion.

2. This is a great book to compare a personal story to what happens in the story. Children can either discuss something their family prayed for and the prayer was answered or a time something important to them was lost and then found with God’s help. If they think about this time in their own lives, they will understand the feelings Annie is having, too.

3. If you are reading this post between Feb. 18, 2013 and Feb. 28, 2013, then enter the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win a copy. (United States and/or Canada mailing addresses only please) If you have any problems, leave a comment or e-mail me at margo (at) margodill.com. Depending on your Internet browser, you may have to click the blue underlined words that say: RAFFLECOPTER in order to see the form and enter the contest! Remember if you enter a comment, make sure you check the box in the RAFFLECOPTER FORM, so you are entered to win. EVERYBODY who checks the free entry gets two free entries into the contest without having to do anything else.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Roses are Red, Your Feet Really Stink is one of my favorite Valentine books–especially when I was teaching. I read it to my class every year! Diana deGroat illustrated and wrote the book–such a talent. Here’s a summary of the story: “When Gilbert writes two not-so-nice valentines to his classmates, his prank quickly turns into pandemonium. But there’s always time for a change of heart on Valentine’s Day. This warm and funny book about a favorite holiday also provides a subtle message about forgiveness and being a good friend. Ages 5 up.” Besides using this book around Valentine’s Day, you can also use it to talk to children about how words can hurt and how to be a good friend. An activity you can do with this book is to exchange names among classmates and have students write a “nice” Valentine to the student whose name they received. You can talk to them about finding specific things, instead of general things, like, “I really like how you always help me with my math problems.” or “You are so good at kickball–you always kick a homerun.” Students can write their messages and decorate them before passing them out.

The Yuckiest, Stinkiest, Best Valentine Ever written by Illinois author Brenda Ferber and illustrated by Tedd Arnold is a new picture book that is a real treat! If you are familiar with Tedd Arnold (Parts), then you know he is an illustrative genius. Brenda is a wonderful writer, and the two together make a terrific team. Here’s a summary of the story: “Leon has a crush. A secret crush. A dreamy crush. A let-her-cut-in-line-at-the-water-fountain-crush. And he’s made the perfect valentine. But the valentine has other ideas. ‘Love is yucky, kid! Valentine’s Day is all about candy!’ The card yells before leaping out the window and running away, leaving Leon to chase it across town, collecting interested kids along the way. Saying ‘I love you’ has never been so yucky or so sweet.” Brenda provides all sorts of resources on her blog for how to USE her book. She has a Q and A with her about things like why she wrote the book, how she named her character, and more. She also has an ACTIVITY KIT you can download for free (love this!). You can find all of this at this link: http://www.brendaferber.com/yuckiest-stinkiest-best-valentine-ever.php

Here’s a link to both books on Amazon! Have fun this Valentine’s Day and hug someone you love!

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Today, I have a few things to share with you about Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg: a story about my recent “book tour” , a story from someone who bought the book, and a quick lesson on VOICE, one of the 6 + 1 traits of writing–so let’s go!

Going On a Book Tour
Last week, my good friend, who is just like a mother-in-law to me (that’s a story for another post!), Pamela Anderson from Columbia, MO invited me to stay at her house with my two-year-old and speak to her COSMO group (diabetes research) and Pachyderms (the first club ever in the U.S.) and then organized a breakfast for me of old friends–all to promote my book. My husband came, too, and the trip was a huge success! I was worried about my talk because I was used to speaking to either groups of writers, teachers, or kids; but I tied the story of taking 11 years for my book to be published (FIVE after I signed the contract) to never giving up and following your dreams. People seemed to really relate to it, even if they weren’t writers because when I finished talking, there was actually a line to buy a copy of my book! I met the most interesting and nice people–one woman was almost 90-years-old and had been researching her family on the Trail of Tears for over 30 years. Her determination and spirit made my trip. The breakfast with old friends was so great, and my two-year-old came to that–I was a little worried about this, as she is not in the “patient” stage. But even she was so good and ATE, too. (You mothers of toddlers know what an accomplishment this is.)

I am so thankful to Pamela Anderson (the retired air traffic controller, not the actress) for organizing AND my husband Rick and my good, good friend Michelle Pfeiffer (I swear–I have a friend named Pamela Anderson and Michelle Pfeiffer–both married last names!) for helping me with KB!

A Cool, Heartwarming Story
My mom’s friend, Bobette, bought a book for her grandson, Gavin. He is in fifth grade. My mom and Bobette have been friends for longer than I’ve been alive (not telling you how long that is!); and I’ve met Gavin before, but he lives in a different state–so I don’t know him well. Anyway, as the sweet kid that he is, he took my book to his fifth grade teacher and said that he HAD to read if for independent reading because this was written by a family friend. The teacher was reluctant–this is understandable because she has NO IDEA who I am–but agreed to read the book to see what she thought. (What an awesome teacher!) After she finished reading it, she agreed Gavin could read it, and even better–she put my book on her reading list. WOW! Thank you!

A Lesson in Voice: 6 + 1 Traits of Writing

This is a quick lesson you can do with ANY book, not just Finding My Place. But it works better with novel length books.

1. Once you and your students have read at least half of the book, they should be familiar with the main characters’ voices. For example, in Finding My Place, students should be able to recognize Anna, Sara, James, Mrs. Franklin, and possibly Dr. Franklin and Stuart, too.

2. Review what VOICE is. This is such a hard concept for children to understand–there is an overall voice to the book, which is Anna’s in FMP, but then each character also has their own voice. Voice is the way the words sound together, and authors have their own distinct voice. For example, you can easily tell the difference between my book and one written by Mark Twain! (HA!)

3. Each student should have a piece of paper, numbered 1-10. You, the teacher (or students can take turns doing it to) or parent, read a line or two from FMP–it could be Anna’s narrative or dialogue OR dialogue from one of the main characters. Then ask students to write down whose VOICE they think that is.

4. After revealing the correct answers, discuss with students how they knew that Mrs. Franklin said what she did or that it was Anna speaking–what is different about the VOICE?

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This is a book I am EXTREMELY excited to tell you about for several reasons. . .

• I helped to edit this book in its beginning stages in 2009, as part of my Editor 911 business.
• It is a terrific HISTORICAL FICTION book for upper middle grade/tween/younger YA audience by a delightful author.
• Ice Cube Press is a wonderful small publisher that also published DIVORCE GIRL (see my post:http://margodill.com/blog/2012/07/30/the-divorce-girl-blog-tour-and-giveaway-ya-or-adult/ ) which is one of the best books I read last year!
• You can use this book to teach history AND writing lessons such as voice. There are TERRIFIC voices throughout this book.

*Historical fiction, upper-middle grade/tween/younger YA (set during the Orphan Train days)
*Three main characters: a street-smart boy, an older sister, and a younger sister–all three have chapters in their voice
*Rating: Well, is it appropriate to give a rating to a book you helped to edit? For the Love of Pete is a very well-written book with an interesting story/adventure that will appeal to both boys and girls–perfect for the classroom and/or home school setting!

Short, short summary:

The book starts out with a bang! Iris and her sister Rosie have to flee their New York tenement when their mother is murdered. This puts them out on the street, where they meet a “street rat”, Pete (love this character!). The three come to rely on each other and become friends. When they are put on the Orphan Train and taken to Iowa, they hope to stay together–but adults have different ideas about where the children should be and with whom. However, you can’t squash a child’s spirit or determination, and Pete, Iris, and Rosie work hard to get back together again.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Compare a nonfiction book, such as Orphan Train Rider: One Boy’s True Story by Andrea Warren, to Ethel Barker’s book. What makes For the Love of Pete historical fiction? What true facts can you learn from it about the Orphan Train? Can you tell the author did research to make the characters experience the same things as the actual boys on the Orphan Train? (The back of the book does have a small section on the Orphan Train with a photo of boys living on the street.)

2. As mentioned, this book is told in three different voices–Pete, Rosie, and Iris. Ethel Barker does an amazing job with each voice, and this is a perfect example of voice to use with a six plus one traits lesson. You can read a bit of each chapter to the students, and without looking, they can tell you which character is speaking. Which voice do they hear? What makes that voice unique? Is it word choice? Sentence fluency? Which voice do they like best? Have a discussion about voice using this book as a starting point (since it has such a strong voice!).

3. This is also a great book to study characters, motivation, and feelings. Each character has their own motivation throughout the story (and it changes a bit as the characters develop). For example, ask students what is Pete’s motivation in the beginning of the book for helping the sisters. How does he follow through on this? Why does this motivation fit his character? As for feelings, how does Iris feel toward the end of the book? (Sad and determined) Why?

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* Concept book (ABCs) for preschoolers through first graders
*Peas as the main characters
*Rating: LMNO Peas is a cute book, going through the ABCs with the peas doing different jobs is clever. Some of the jobs were a little strange, and I wanted more of a play on the LMNO Peas idea, but my 2-year-old loved it–that’s whom it’s for anyway!

Short, Short summary: Keith Baker has created little peas characters who have all sorts of jobs throughout this ABC book. For example, the first two pages state: “Acrobats, artists, and astronauts in space, builders, bathers, and bikers in a race.” Each letter of the alphabet is written in large, colorful font, and the peas use the letters as ramps, buildings, and more–the letters become a “stage” for the peas. This is a popular book if you haven’t heard of it before. There’s a sequel with numbers titled, 1-2-3-Peas, and it got all kinds of starred reviews! You can look inside both these books on Amazon. Use the link right here. . .

So what do I do with this book?

1. Come up with other professions that the PEAS could do starting with that letter that weren’t mentioned in the book. Ask students to create an illustration for that letter and word, in a similar style to Keith Baker’s.

2. Which pea (job, profession, hobby) does your child or your students relate to the best? What do they want to be when they grow up? Do they see your job in the book? Do they know what each job is? This is a great book for a career week/career day and to start talking about jobs/careers.

3. Each pea is different! Just like each child and grown-up are different. How are the peas different? How are they the same? Ask children if they are fond of any certain pea. Have fun with this concept while talking to students about how each of us being different helps the world to go around!

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I am currently creating a short guide (PDF or Word) that shows how you can use my book, Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg (ages 9 to 12) in 6 + 1 Traits of Writing lessons. The guide will be free for the teachers at any workshops I do at schools and if a teacher/home school parent buys a copy of my book. To give a little preview, I thought I would show an excerpt of each trait on the next few Wednesdays. So, here we go. . .

IDEA is one of the 6 + 1 traits of writing. It is important to start with a good idea when you write because it makes it easier for the words to flow and more interesting for the reader. Usually the first idea we come up with is not our best idea. We need to dig deeper to find a unique idea. You can do this with brainstorming, word webs, free writing, talking to a friend, or even research. For example with my book, I wanted to write about the Civil War for kids, but there are already a ton of books out there about the Civil War. SO, I had to dig deeper, and I did some research. Then, I decided to tell a story from the Confederate viewpoint, make the main character a citizen and a girl instead of a solider/drummer and a boy, and I set it during one specific battle that had extremely interesting elements, such as the citizens living in caves to protect themselves from the Yankees’ bombs.

In Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg, Anna, my 13-year-old main character, loves to write. She writes about events that happen in her daily life, poems, fiction stories, and letters. In one section toward the end of the book (page 134, chapter 21), Michael, Anna’s older brother, asks her to tell a story she has written. At first, she doesn’t want to because she doesn’t think it is a very good idea. Then when she does tell it, she realizes she never really ended the story. She started with the premise of a selfish orphan living with an elderly woman, who delivers food to his room. One day the food stops coming, and the orphan gets angry. He must leave his room to investigate.

Michael asks her what happened, and Anna replies, “Yes, she had a heart attack. I never really finished the story.”

Here’s where you can use the IDEA trait with your students and this premise. Give them 10 minutes to brainstorm an ending to Anna’s story. Give them a few questions to think about: What could have happened to the elderly lady? What did the orphan do next? Does the elderly lady necessarily have to be deceased? Could she be teaching the orphan a lesson? And so on.

After the 10-minute brainstorm session, have students discuss their ideas with a partner. Then have a class discussion, where you make a list of the different ideas.

When concluding the lesson, talk to students about a fiction story they have written and ask them to think about their ending. Are they satisfied with it? Could they use these techniques to come up with an alternate (and perhaps better!) ending? Work on these new endings during the next writing period.

For more information on FINDING MY PLACE and to read an excerpt, please go to this link: http://margodill.com/blog/finding-my-place/

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So, today is my birthday, and this post will be short in order to celebrate properly with a playdate at the train store with my daughter and another friend and her son and then a homemade dinner at my mom’s house with spaghetti and meatballs! Can’t wait. SO I wanted to tell you about some things to help your writing and to see your dream of getting published. . .

I gave a talk at Saturday Writers last week about writing and everything you need to know, you learned in elementary school. This talk covers the 6 plus 1 traits of writing and how to apply them to your WIP as a writer. My wonderful friend and blogger, Donna Volkenannt, attended the meeting and re-wrote what she learned from it. I thought you might enjoy the write-up. So, here is the link: http://donnasbookpub.blogspot.com/2013/01/writing-is-elementary-with-margo-dill.html

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Hippo and Gorilla are two loveable characters, (remember The Odd Couple?) who face problems children will be all too familiar with–things like crashing model airplanes (Airplanes), eating too many donuts (Donuts), and a rainy day birthday (Bathroom Beach) . Illustrator and author Bryan Langdo has created cute, humorous picture books for children. But what makes these different than the thousands of picture books at your library?

These are made for your e-readers! Right now, they are best for an iPod Touch or iPhone or iPad with the program iBooks. I didn’t have this (my iPod Touch is a 2nd generation–I can’t get iBooks on it, oh my!), and so Bryan sent them to me for my Kindle and then the MP3 files, so I could listen to the wonderful readings of the stories by Billy Bob Thompson (he does great voices for Hippo and Gorilla!). I listened to them at Panera Bread, and I found myself giggling out loud. What are the people around me thinking?

Okay, so as a preschool/kindergarten/first grade teacher or parent, what should you know about these cute books and how you can use them with children?

1. Brian and I exchanged a few e-mails, and here is what he said, “The bells and whistles are basically the audio narration, sound effects, incidental music, and read-along feature.” (Kids will LOVE this–my daughter at 2 loves ANYTHING on the iPod Touch or Kindle. She actually says this sentence, “I need the iPod Touch.” I’m not sure if I should be proud? )

2. Here’s what Brian said about his own series (and by the way, I COMPLETELY agree with him!): “I’m hoping to share with you and your readers my new series of early readers titled Hippo & Gorilla. It’s about two best friends who are total opposites. Hippo is a great friend, but he has a tendency to make bad decisions. He breaks things, he eats too much, and he makes big messes. Gorilla, however, doesn’t do enough of those things. Together, they make a great team!

These eBooks for young readers explore the joys—and the pitfalls—of friendship, using simple vocabulary and sentence structure. Each book contains audio narration along with original music and sound effects. They’re available for iPad, Kindle, and Nook.”

3. GET HIPPO AND GORILLA IN DONUTS FOR FREE! Go to this link. This will only work if you have access to iBooks on your iPad or other Apple device. But here’s the link if you are lucky to have one of these: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/donuts/id585686738?mt=11

4. There are 5 individual books about Hippo and Gorilla. One is free as stated above, and the others are only 99 cents (again, right now for Apple devices). All 5 stories can be purchased together for $1.99!

5. These are the perfect books to start important conversations with our little ones–in the classroom or at home. You can ask questions like: Was Hippo a good friend? Should Gorilla fly his airplane again? What else could Hippo and Gorilla do on Gorilla’s birthday? How can Gorilla and Hippo compromise? and more.

6. Bryan has a website and blog for you to check out more details. You can see these at: http://www.hippoandgorilla.com OR http://www.hippoandgorilla.blogspot.com/ .

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments–Bryan can stop by and answer them!

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I recently received two thank you notes–one in a roundabout sort of way–from children about my book, Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg. I thought I would share them here. These are my first ones from kids, and so I’m super excited! I am not changing spelling and or punctuation when re-typing, and I am not sharing names .

This one is from my friend, Becky, who bought the book for her niece. . .

Dear Aunt Becky and Uncle Ron, Thank you for the Book “Finding My Place” I Loved it! Love, G

This one is from a friend of my mom’s (and mine!) that goes to her church. The friend bought the book for her granddaughter.

Dear Miss Dill, I really, really loved your book. I learned lots of stuff like people had to live in caves. My mom and grandma and I really think it was a really good book. It was a really intresting book. Thank you for signing my book. I am going to share your book with my class. Your friend, M. R.

There is not a sweeter thing than notes like this from kids. It brings a huge smile to my face. I am busy scheduling school visits and writing conferences. If you are interested, you can find information at http://www.margodill.com and click on “Speaker Information.” To find out about Finding My Place, where to buy it, and an excerpt, please see: http://margodill.com/blog/finding-my-place.

photo found on Flickr.com by woodleywonderworks

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When I found out WOW! Women on Writing was hosting a blog tour for Sola Olu, the author of The Summer Called Angel, I knew I wanted to be a part. One reason is because this blog is about children’s books AND about books and people who help women and children around the world–after all women hold up HALF THE SKY! But the other reason is because the subject of preemies and NICUs are close to my heart after I had my daughter at 33 weeks, and she spent a month in the NICU.

Sola’s book is excellent. You will be captivated by her story of how she had her daughter, Angel, at 28 weeks due to a severe case of preeclampsia. Angel was a very sick, baby girl, who had to have multiple surgeries and procedures, who spent time in two different NICUs, and who didn’t get to come home until the seventh month of her life. Sola shares the story of she and her husband and their little daughter fighting for her life with honesty and grace. She does not sugarcoat the bad times–the times when she thought she was going to lose her daughter, the times when she didn’t want to go to the NICU any more, the times when she and her husband had a difference of opinion.

If you have had a baby in the NICU, you will see yourself in her book. One thing that reminded me so much of my experience is when the doctors kept telling Sola and Chris that Angel was feisty. The doctors in the NICU in St. Louis would say the same exact thing to my husband and me, and they would always say it like they were so proud of how feisty she was–that made me proud, too. (And she is still that feisty today at 2!) The other thing that struck a chord with me is how often Sola called the NICU–I did the same thing all the time in the middle of the night AND how Sola and Chris just couldn’t wait for their little girl to poop. I remember asking nurses all the time. . .did KB poop yet?

In the back of the book, Sola shares some resources for pregnant women or for women who have a baby in the NICU. This is a great resource. She loves to hear your story if you had a baby in the NICU or if you are pregnant and on bed rest or anything really–she loves to help and listen. ANYONE who leaves a comment on this post will be entered to win either a print copy or e-copy of The Summer Called Angel. You can leave a question or a story or a well wish by Sunday, February 3 8:00 pm CST to be entered into the contest.

I was also lucky enough to interview Sola, and I asked her a few questions that may help high school/college writing teachers as well as writers wanting to write their own difficult stories–whatever those may be!

Margo: Welcome, Sola, thank you for taking the time to answer a few of my questions. Your story is so gripping and honest. How did it help you to write about this difficult time in your life?

Sola: It helped to heal. I love to write, and I’ve always been better at expressing my feelings by writing rather than speaking. I started writing at the hospital, even though it didn’t start out as a memoir. I guess it was therapeutic in some way.

Margo: That’s why your memoir is so honest and gripping–you were writing while you were living it! How did you deal with the emotions that had to arise while you were reliving these events (through your writing) with your preemie daughter?

Sola: Everything took time. Initially, I couldn’t talk about the details without

shedding tears, but gradually the pain lessened, and it was more wonder–how did we live through this? It didn’t help that I cry easily anyway. At the same time though because we stayed at the hospital for so long (two hospitals), I saw cases worse than mine, so I would always have that at the back of my mind to just be grateful it wasn’t worse, and that our outcome was good. Also because I stopped and started the book many times, I had my son as well; and by the time you have two kids, you’re too busy to mope. It was very difficult initially I won’t lie…even with the birth of my son. But with time, there’s healing.

Margo: I agree with the time factor. I have a terrible time writing about things that have just happened. It was even hard for me to write the Facebook updates while our daughter was in the NICU. Do you recommend women writing about hard times in their lives? Why or why not?

Sola: I would–it helps, at least it helped me; but for me, writing has always been my go-to remedy. It’s always been therapeutic. I remember as a teenager I would write to my parents when I had something difficult to discuss.

Margo: What are some good resources you can recommend for teenagers on up to adults for writing about their own lives and difficult events?

Sola: I belong to the National Association of Memoir Writers, and I love the resources they have to offer including webinars; but of course, there are more out there. There are a lot more resources out there on the Internet. My advice to myself for my next book is research, research, research, and more research.. .I think I can pass that along.

Margo: I’ve heard great things about NAMW, too. Thank you, Sola, for your honesty and sharing your story with families!

Don’t forget you could win a copy of this book by leaving a comment or question! Also, you can check out Sola’s book on Amazon.

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It has happened again–I forgot to blog yesterday. It always seems to happen when there’s a holiday weekend. Then I can’t keep track of what day it is. SO, I am going to combine two posts–the one about Finding My Place that was supposed to be yesterday will just be a quick post about a couple of speaking engagements I am doing–in case you would be interested in having me at your school or group. AND then I am going to share a really great article written by my friend, Carole Di Tosti, PhD about social networking sites for teachers.

• Speaking Engagements: I will be going a lot of places in February, but the three I wanted to point out are: Columbia, MO; Savannah, MO; and Wentzville, MO. In Columbia, I will be speaking to two community groups about writing a novel, researching historical fiction, and finishing a project to its end–the groups are COSMO (diabetes group) and Pachyderms. Both groups needed a speaker, and they are allowing me to sell copies of my book after I speak! So, if you need a speaker for your community group, let me know. Then in Savannah, I will be doing a workshop for TEACHERS! This is near and dear to my heart, and my topic is 6 traits of writing! I can’t wait to share ideas with teachers and help them figure out how to use the 6 traits in the classroom. I can come do professional development at your school, too! Then in Wentzville, I get to talk to fourth and fifth grade students, who are currently doing a unit on historical fiction. I love to share writing and my story with children, and I have many different programs that I can present. They are on my website, under SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, or I can send you a brochure if you e-mail me (margo@margodill (dot) com). In other words, I love speaking and can accommodate almost any group.
• Social Networks for Teachers: Have you ever been worried that your students and parents of your students would find you on Facebook or Twitter? Worrying about whether you should post certain things? Well, Carole solves these problems with a list of social networks for teachers/educators only. This is a must-read article for teachers and even children’s authors who are trying to reach teachers. Read here: http://technorati.com/social-media/article/teachers-social-networking-increases-with-the/ .

I hope you find this information useful! I am going to be featuring two great books next week, so stay tuned.

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Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! It’s been a super busy weekend, and so I decided this post was going to tell you about my favorite Martin Luther King Jr. activity! I hope however you are celebrating today that you are doing it with loved ones and remembering what this day is all about–fighting for what we believe in–fighting for equal rights for all people. (Maybe you are even watching President Barack Obama take the oath for the 2nd time!)

Here is a lesson that introduces Martin Luther King, Jr to the kids and also teaches voice, one of the six traits of writing. It also features the book written by Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sister, My Brother Martin. You can find the lesson plan at this link: http://margodill.com/blog/2010/01/13/wacky-wednesday-ideas-for-lesson-plans-for-martin-luther-king-jr-day/

If you have a great resource, link, book, or favorite lesson plan for Martin Luther King, Jr, please share it.

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I’m honored to receive the Sunshine Blog Award (love this name!) from Penelope Anne Cole who blogs at http://penelopeannecole.blogspot.com. I met the wonderfully nice and talented Penelope through Guardian Angel Publishing, where she has her book, Magical Matthew, published, and I will have a picture book published titled, Maggie Mae, Detective Extraordinaire, and the Case of the Missing Cookies. (And I found out recently that the very talented Jack Foster will be illustrating it. SUPER YAY!)

So, what is this blog award all about? This prize is given to “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.” As an award winner, here are some suggestions to follow for this award.

1. Thank the person who gave this award in the beginning part of a post about it. (CHECK!)
2. Answer the questions below about your favorite things. (SEE BELOW!)
3. Pass the award on to fabulous bloggers who bring sunshine into your life, link their blogs, and let them know you have awarded them in your post. (SEE BELOW!)

Favorite Things!

• Favorite color:
Yellow

Favorite animal: Dog

Favorite number: 26 (my daughter’s birthday!)

Favorite drink: Red wine (oh, favorite non-alcoholic drink? Diet coke)

Facebook or Twitter?: I can’t answer this–I love them both!

Your passions: Being a mom, writing, kindness to animals/children, teaching

Giving or getting presents: Giving, unless someone gives me money! HA!

Favorite day: Sunday

Favorite flowers: Brightly colored carnations and/or tulips

And I’m awarding the Sunshine Blog Award to. . . (drumroll, please!):

Becky Povich: Her blog, Humorist, Bliss Follower, Writer: Becky Povich, is exactly what this Sunshine Award is all about! Check it out if you haven’t!

Cathy C. Hall: Her blog is full of humor and great information–especially for children’s writers! You can check it out here.

Donna Volkenannt: I love the name of Donna’s blog, and she is truly an inspiration with an informative blog full of fun facts, info about her life–writing and personal, writing submission opportunities, and books! There’s something for everyone at Donna’s Book Pub!

Congrats to the winners! Have fun spreading the sunshine around.

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I would love to feature anyone on my blog who sends me a picture, either reading my book or holding my book! Teachers, I would love to feature your class–photos or drawings or both! E-mail photos to margo (at) margodill.com.

For more information about Finding My Place, please go to this link: http://margodill.com/blog/finding-my-place/.

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*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: Thanksgiving at Grandma’s is a cute story set on Thanksgiving about family, food, and fun! It’s a great introduction to the holiday, filled with lessons for children, but they won’t realize it . Michael F. Marino’s illustrations are perfect for the story. My two-year-old daughter LOVES the cover.

Short, short, summary:

Christopher and his mom are getting ready to go to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, and of course, he can’t find his shoes. Once he does, he is on the way with Ted E., and is excited to get to Grandma’s and see all his family. But when he is there, he is hungry, and he makes his way into the kitchen several times to smell the different foods and ask when they are going to eat. The cool thing about this is that he asks in rhyme, such as, “Yum, Yum, Grandma, please pass the rolls. I’m so hungry I could eat these bowls.” Then Grandma answers him back, “Don’t you worry little one. I’ll make sure you get some.” After many more of these encounters, it is finally time to eat. Once the family eats and everyone is ready to go, guess what? Christopher has a slight problem with his shoes again. . .

So, what do I do with this book?

1. This book can be used as an introduction to family customs and traditions at Thanksgiving. Read Nancy Olson’s story to the class, and then ask each child to think about what they do on Thanksgiving. After sharing time, each child can draw a picture and write a sentence. Make a class list about different traditions from the ones in the book.

2. The rhymes in this book make it super fun to read out loud to students. See if students can use the rhyming clues and illustrations to guess what Christopher is going to say. They can also start to repeat Grandma’s words, too. You can also ask them which words rhyme and if they could think of any other word that he could say that would also rhyme.

3. The end of the story is fun for kids–I don’t want to give it away completely here, but you can have kids write their own ending to the story or do it as a class story for younger children! Nancy leaves you with a question that you can answer together with kids!

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Dancing at the Shame Prom: Sharing the Stories that Kept Us Small
**Edited by Amy Ferris and Hollye Dexter
*Publisher: Seal Press
*Review by Margo L. Dill
*Part of WOW! Women On Writing blog tour

Dancing at the Shame Prom is a new, well-written, inspiring anthology from Seal Press, full of true stories from courageous women who are facing, through their writing, the shame that could hold them back from experiencing life to the fullest. Editors Amy Ferris and Hollye Dexter make this statement about shame in the introduction, “A destroyer of dreams, a pervasive darkness; an enabler. . .Aretha sang about it. . .Elizabeth Edwards wrote and spoke about it. . .Tiger Woods lied because of it. . .Oprah Winfrey did seventeen shows about it.”

The editors put together the anthology to encourage writers and readers to face shame and understand they are not alone—most people feel some shame. Ferris and Dexter found 25 women to share personal, heartbreaking, beautiful, and terrifying stories about shame, as well as sharing their own. When readers finish this book, they will feel inspired—to reach out to someone they may not have talked to in years, to get help for a problem they’ve been avoiding, or even just to go to their family and give them a great, big hug.

Readers will also have their faith restored in the power of well-written words—there’s not one story in this anthology that isn’t engaging or powerful. Some might resonate more with you personally than others, but the editors and writers did a terrific job with telling their stories.

So, what kind of shame stories did these writers share in their personal essays? The book begins with a story titled, “Thread by Thread,” by Lyena Strelkoff, the author of the one-woman autobiographical play, “Caterpillar Soup,” and the blog, “It’s Not About the Chair” (http://itsnotaboutthechair.com ). Her essay in the Shame Prom anthology is about her troubled childhood leading to a paralyzing accident in her early thirties that landed her in a wheelchair, which she wrote her award-winning play about. In spite of her success, she still struggles with feeling inadequate and wants readers “to gain greater compassion for themselves.”

Other stories in this book reveal shame caused by incest, drug use, divorce, affairs, poverty and more. The editors include a long list in the beginning starting with dropping out of school and ending with selling out. The editors themselves tackle difficult subjects: Dexter having a father who was in prison and having a mother who changed their name and said NEVER to speak about him, and Ferris whose parents fought and cussed and then she told a dirty joke to her entire elementary school class during show and tell.

The last essay was one of the most poignant in the book titled, “1329 Lynx Trail,” written by Samantha Dunn. Dunn explains that her mother was what people would refer to as a hoarder. Dunn stopped trying to help her mother clean up, and she moved away, inviting her mother, who was also an alcoholic, to come out to see her twice a year instead of ever going home. The address in the title is where her mother lived. This essay is a page-turner, leaving you wondering what is going to happen to mother and daughter, and what you would do if you were in the author’s place.

The editors have put together a website also at http://www.theshameprom.com. It gives information about the book and authors, including reviews. There’s also an opportunity for readers to share their own stories about shame through a blog.

Shame is a subject that isn’t discussed much—except on talk shows– although we have all probably felt it at some point in our lives—some of us might still. Dancing at the Shame Prom celebrates brave women who are facing their shame and not letting it control their lives. In the meantime, they are also helping readers do the same.

I don’t have a copy to give away, but blogger Joanna Celeste does TOMORROW! So, if this sounds interesting to you, go to http://www.joannaceleste.com on 1/11 for your chance to win Dancing at the Shame Prom. If you don’t win it and you write/read nonfiction like this, I highly suggest this book. You won’t be sorry!

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Here are three history/social studies lessons you can teach with Finding My Place: One Girl’s Strength at Vicksburg (my middle-grade, historical fiction novel). For more info on the novel, visit this page.

• North VS South in the United States Civil War: Since the book takes place in Vicksburg, Mississippi, there are plenty of references to General Lee, General Grant, and the Yankees. You can use events in the book to start a discussion on the two sides of the war, what each side wanted, and tactics used by the North (as in trying to take Vicksburg to block Southern supplies going to the Gulf of Mexico). Although the book focuses on one city and one battle (a 47-day event!), it is an example of what happened all over the country during the Civil War.
• Slavery: In the novel, Anna and her family have slaves and so do some of the other families. The book addresses racism and prejudice toward the slaves. It talks about how slaves weren’t allowed in the caves with the white folks, and how the slaves were the ones building the caves. It addresses how some people believed slavery was wrong and how slaves were escaping to the North. It also shows how Southerners relied on slaves, which is often a topic that is not addressed.
• Daily Life During the 1860s: What was life like for people who lived in the 1860s? What did kids do for fun? How did they dress? What did they eat? How did they get around? Did they go to school? Because Finding My Place is historical fiction, the characters’ daily lives are on every page, and I researched this immensely!

If you’ve used this book in your classroom or home school, I would love to hear how you used it to teach children! Please leave a comment here, e-mail me at margo (at) margodill.com, or join my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/MargoDill.author.editor and leave a comment.

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*Chapter book, fantasy, for ages 7 to 9 (maybe 10)
*Young dragon as main character
*Rating: Dewi and the Seeds of Doom is a cute, humorous chapter book that kids will really enjoy–especially if they like dragons, adventure, and fantasy.

Short, short summary:

Dewi the dragon realizes something funny is going on at Castle Gloomsgor with Baron Doom when Dewi discovers a sick rat that just fell out of the sky. Eventually, he discovers that the Baron is doing some strange experiments with corn and has some evil plans to take over the farming industry and make a lot of money! With the help of Dewi’s toad friend, Jones, he tries to put an end to the experiments and the evil ways of Baron Doom. A quirky cast of characters rounds out this book, along with riddles kids will be repeating after they finish the last page.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Dewi uses deductive reasoning and problem solving techniques in this novel. How does he figure out where the rat came from? How does he decide to find out why the rat was sick? And so on. Discuss with students problem/solution story element, using this book. It is an easy one for students to see. There’s an overall problem of Baron Doom, but there are also several smaller problems that pop up along the way.

2. Jokes and riddles can actually help students with parts of speech and vocabulary. Often times a word that has more than one meaning will be used in a joke or there’s a play on words. In this chapter book, the characters often tell jokes. Ask students to explain why a riddle/joke is funny. What makes it funny? Can students try to write a similar joke?

3. Dewi and Jones are both very brave, but what other character traits do they possess? They are both very strong characters, but they are unique in their own way. Ask students to make a list of each of their character traits, how they are alike, how they are different, and what makes them great friends.

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It’s the New Year! You no doubt have made some resolutions or goals, or at the very least, thought about things you want to do differently in 2013. If forgiveness is one of the things on your list, then this is a book that can help you through that journey. (I would probably share this book with other adults–some of the stories might be too much for teens. As always, read it first and see what you think. It is intended for adults.) Lisa Gibson, the author and editor of Releasing the Chains: Timeless Wisdom on How to Forgive Anyone for Anything shares her story of forgiveness, some instruction on forgiveness and its importance, and others’ stories of forgiveness also. It’s like an anthology–and surely there’s at least one author you can relate to if forgiveness is on your list.

I found out about this book because my writing friend (who has an amazing story of forgiveness) Margaret Norton, author of When Ties Break, has a chapter in this book. Margaret writes about how she forgave her family after they basically “excommunicated” her immediately following her father’s death. Other stories of forgiveness in the book include a woman who was brutally raped and beaten (what an inspiring and honest story!), forgiving yourself (a common theme), and forgiving after losing a child. Some of these stories are tough to read. You may need to read how someone dealt with something that you are going through–this is the book for that. The authors write with honesty–sometimes breaking your heart.

For more information on Lisa Gibson and the book, please check out her website, The Peace and Prosperity Alliance: www.peaceandprosperityalliance.org/. To read some reviews and purchase the book, you can do so at the link:

Happy New Year! Is forgiveness on your list? If not, what is in store for 2013?

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I am happy to announce that my middle-grade historical fiction novel (pictured here) is now available for sale at an independent bookstore in St. Louis, Left Bank Books! I am absolutely thrilled that they have agreed to buy a couple copies to sell this winter. Even if you are not buying my book, I encourage you to support an awesome, St. Louis icon–Left Bank Books. If they sell these copies of Finding My Place, they will order more and continue to carry it, so tell your friends. Stop by for a visit, and buy a gift for an upcoming birthday or a teacher at a school! (I have so many ideas.

Left Bank Books has two locations in St. Louis–downtown and the Central West End. They bring all kinds of authors here for readings and book signings, and they do some writing workshops. They sell used and new books–children’s, teen’s, and adult’s. AND the CWE location even has a cat! For more information on Left Bank Books, please see their website here.

If you live outside of St. Louis in the state of Missouri or even the country or the world, don’t worry, you can still purchase from Left Bank Books at this link. If you search around at that link, you will also see that you can order other things for sale through Left Bank Books. Thanks for your support.

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