new posts in all blogs
Viewing Blog: SACRED DIRT, Most Recent at Top
Results 1 - 25 of 105
A writer and illustrator tries to find joy in the daily grit, connect with other writers, read books, manage four children and find out where she's put the phone today.
Statistics for SACRED DIRT
Number of Readers that added this blog to their MyJacketFlap: 14
Do you remember when you thought you might be able to fly,
if you just jumped high enough?
Do you remember when anything was possible?
On Monday, I helped at a young writer's conference.
I was surrounded with small writers
belly-full pleased with their writing,
oblivious to that dreaded taskmaster Revision,
unconcerned about snagging a publishing deal,
purely finding joy in their words.
All that youthful buoyancy
made me want to climb out of my writing slump
and grow some wings!
How do we as writers return
to that weightless pleasure in our words
without losing
the wisdom earned
from critiques and rejection slips,
writing groups and how-to books...
How do we find both our feet AND our wings?
As soon as we returned from our very long day,
the girls embarked on a writing project:
to send letters
to 100 authors and illustrators
of some of their favorite books.
Think we can do it?
If you're an author or illustrator friend and a crooked little envelope comes to you,
would you be kind and write back?
Please!
We have two hopeful writers, who think anything is possible.
In Need of Some Snail Mail?
Leave us a comment, and we'll put you on our snail letter list - whether you're published or not.
Happy writing!
Books: 
A Letter to Amy - Ezra Jack Keats
The Gardener, by Sarah Stewart, ill. by David Small
Toot and Puddle - Holly Hobbie
Click, Clack, Moo! Cows That Type - by Doreen Cronin, ill. by Betsy Lewin
Mailing May, by Michael O. Tunnell, ill. by Ted Rand
By:
Faith Pray,
on 3/6/2013
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
imagination,
art,
artists,
good books,
crafty,
great books,
artsy,
crafty kids,
writing,
kid play,
Add a tag
Some children are raised by wolves.
Others, by creatives.
And really, is there a difference?
Sometimes, the lines between "creative" and "fur-brained" blur.
And that's the beauty of it.
To be a creative,
you get to strap on your courage boots every day
and write,
paint,
parent,
sew, stitch, cook - whatever your bent -
and be prepared
for surprises.
Surprises like tears and paper wadding.
Snapping pencils.
Earnest screwdrivering until the cabinet doors fall off.
(Thank you for that, my wildebeests.)
Havoc.
Howling at the moon.
Eating paint.
raised-by-wolves days,
and sometimes, gleams of brilliance.
Have I mentioned this book?
"The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, the Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood and illustrated by Jon Klassen
(the Caldecott 2013 doublescoop!)
I love this book! I am in a happy swoon.
Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie meets Alexander McCall Smith, only with heaps of originality and humor. Well done, Maryrose Wood. Wow. wow. wow.
More wolf-ishness we love:
[For the record, and in case any great-grandmothers are concerned:
dry ice is considered dangerous in some contexts.
As such, it should probably not be given to toddlers...however, the children in these pictures were skillfully trained stunt-models, posing as children, and obediently avoided actually touching the ice.]
By:
Faith Pray,
on 2/27/2013
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
recycled,
Margaret Bloom,
crafty projects,
freebies,
contests,
giveaway,
crafty,
good books,
ancient Greece,
great books,
recycling,
crafty kids,
homegrown learning,
kid play,
Add a tag
I am Icharus.
Except instead of wax and feathers,
I'm patched together with glitter glue,
writing morsels and
cups of hot tea.
Struck by a blaze of new story lightning,
I'm going down.
That's a good thing, right?
...Right?
Muttering at walls, scribbling
"Words are my wings!" on sticky notes,
covered in ink smudges,
I'm delightedly doomed.
But not too doomed
to help with peg dolls.
Indeed!
And Ancient Greek peggies at that.
Athena, patron of wisdom, and arts and crafts!
She's an owl lady.
Aphrodite, patron of love.
Posiedon. Sea guy. And that's his trident.
Hera, wife of Zeus, patron of marriage.
Peacock lady.
Also compared to a cow in some circles.
Now you know.
Parthenon?
Ruler. Cardboard. Scissors. Tape. White glue.
And now for the drum-roll, please...
we'd like to announce a winner!
A hearty thanks to all of you who entered
Margaret Bloom's
Making Peg Dolls giveaway,
and thank you to
Margaret for the fantastic blog tour.
Our winner is...
Barb Davis-Pyles. Congratulations, Barb!
I hope you will all go out and find this beautiful book.
You are going to LOVE it.
And did you know SACRED DIRT has a
facebook page?
"Like it" to get posts on the beautiful mess of artsy writing,
daily dirt, and parenting sent directly to your facebook feed.
Ancient Greece on the page:
Greek Myths For Young Children, by Heather Amery, ill. Linda Edwards
Explore Ancient Greece!
Greek Myths - Ann Turnbull, ill. by Sarah Young
A Gift From Zeus - Jeanne Steig, ill. by William Steig
The Adventures of Odysseus, by Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden, ill. by Christina Balit
Aesop's Fables - Lisbeth Zwerger
It begins just like the other days.
Almost.
Hanging up the washing.
Nubby and bare,
naked as day.
Wishing.
All pegs have wishes, but Jane wishes most, and longest.
For color, aliveness, adventure
beyond the laundry line.
Little does she know that today is the day.
Today the wind is listening.
It twists into a great spiral,
knocking the orderly yard to pieces.
A folding chair barrels across the green.
The chickens gawp, the dog haroops.
Wind whips like a sandblast
and all in one great whoosh, down comes the line!
Socks!
Pegs!
Helter-skelter, shilly-shally, willy-nilly, down!
And Jane, the wooden wisher, is free.
Free!
Free to don paint and petals,
 |
| from Making Peg Dolls, by Margaret Bloom |
her owling self,
 |
| from Making Peg Dolls, by Margaret Bloom |
her fairy face.
It doesn't take much time.
Jane and the family find their secret selves:
Greek gods!
See, there's Jane in her purple hair.
She's waiting for wings.
She's changed her name to Athena.
Her coming-out party is next week.
Adventure awaits!
Making Peg Dolls, by Margaret Bloom is here!
Margaret is the creative genius mother of
Wish Baby,
There are umpteen reasons we love this book:
Margaret's illustrations tucked in and around the text.
Tiny peg bears.
 |
| from Making Peg Dolls by Margaret Bloom |
Can you say darling? Oh my nubs!
 |
from Making Peg Dolls by Margaret Bloom
|
Fairy tale dollies.
Owl peggies.
Amazon has already sold out. Yes, this book is THAT hot.
I packed a Peg Doll Get-Well-Kit for Pip's recovery.
Bliss!
Paint!
Why don't we do this every day?
I had no idea how joyful and addicting it would be.
The thing that amazes me about
Making Peg Dollsis how Margaret has made this process accessible
to adults and kids of all sizes.
We are smitten. Absolutely smitten with this book.
I am convinced you will be, too!
And I have a copy of Making Peg Dolls to give away!
It's simple: Just leave a comment.
You'll be entered in the drawing.
I'll announce the winner next Wednesday.
Exciting!
Entries end at midnight on Tuesday, February 26.
Thank you, Margaret!
By:
Faith Pray,
on 2/10/2013
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
valentines,
kids,
good books,
kids and surgery,
great books,
crafty kids,
writing,
homegrown learning,
kid play,
Add a tag
Here we go again!
Tomorrow is the big day.
Tonsils out!
I'm reading about the hero's journey lately -
the road a character takes
to become changed in a story
- a.k.a the story arc.
Writing and life are so linked, don't you think?
We're all on a journey.
We face monsters, magic, trials, portals every day - they just look a little different in real life.
Tests, school, work, laundry...
Pip's monster this week is tonsils.
We're trying to equip her with happy times,
to sustain her on the road of liquid food and couch time.
So we took her ice skating.
And experimented with pennies.
and made some copper valentines.
Did you know salt and vinegar can make some pretty impressive green crystals?
Then it was time for invisible ink, made of baking soda and water.
and purple cabbage juice to reveal our secret messages.
Very spy-like.
To go with the spy theme, I'm making her a book treasure hunt.
Like the book
geo-caching we did last year when Winnie said goodbye to her tonsils.
  |
| Sticky note clues hidden in favorite books: "The Nutcracker" ill. by Maurice Sendak, "The 5,000 Year-Old Puzzle," ill. by Melissa Sweet | | |
|
And speaking of books,
Margaret Bloom's "Making Peg Dolls" book giveaway is coming to my blog soon!
Stay tuned!
Happy, healthy hearts to you!
Sick days, valentines, and writers' journeys:
By:
Faith Pray,
on 2/4/2013
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
crafty gifts,
birthdays,
wish baby,
Margaret Bloom,
good books,
kids and surgery,
great books,
freebies,
giveaway,
dolls,
picture books,
Add a tag
We like to ring in Groundhog Day
with high style over here.
He sees his shadow, he doesn't see his shadow,
either way we get balloons
because Sugar Snack is four!
Bring on the sweets and sprinkles.
Sugar high!
I'm thinking of changing his name to "Cheeks."
Everyone likes a party.
Even small sewn friends.
Happy day, Cheeks.
And speaking of happy days,
Happy book birthday to Margaret Bloom of
We Bloom Here.
"Making Peg Dolls" is a gorgeous book.
I can't wait to rave all about it.
And I will!
I get to be part of Margaret's
blog tour, which starts today.
Margaret will be giving away a copy of "Making Peg Dolls"
to one of my lucky readers this month.
Stay tuned for giveaway details.
You can also visit Margaret as she tours the blog-globe.
Giveaways and surprises, oh my!
February 4th:
The Crafty CrowFebruary 5th:
The Magic OnionsFebruary 6th:
The ToymakerFebruary 7th:
CleanFebruary 8th:
Anna BranfordFebruary 11th:
Red Bird CraftsFebruary 12th:
Art is a WayFebruary 13th:
Softearth's WorldFebruary 14th:
Chocolate EyesFebruary 15th:
Rhythm and RhymeFebruary 18th:
Wild Faerie CapsFebruary 19th:
Sacred DirtI'm the caboose!
It's going to be brilliant.
Hooray, Margaret!
and in other news, goodbye Pip's tonsils...
That's our next adventure.
I'll let you know how we do.
Sugar Snack's birthday books:
I, Crocodile, by Fred Marcellino
Little Tug, by Stephen Savage
Alphabet City, by Stephen T. Johnson
Shortcut, by David Macaulay
In the Town All Year Round by Rotraut Susanne Berner
By:
Faith Pray,
on 1/25/2013
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
valentines,
kids,
art,
scribbles,
valentine coloring pages,
freebies,
kid crafts,
hearts,
giveaway,
free printables,
Add a tag
Here's a new batch of Valentine freebies, just for you.
Drag to your desktop and print, willy-nilly.
Add a page of Valentines to color, for your crayon-happy crew.
Enjoy!
This is original art, by me.
It's free for your own personal or classroom use,
but not to be resold.
If you're sharing this, please credit me and/or link this page as the original source.
Thanks for the respect!
By:
Faith Pray,
on 1/16/2013
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
crafty gifts,
play,
great books,
revisions,
portals,
gifts,
writing advice,
writing,
homegrown learning,
gifts for kids,
kid play,
Add a tag
Because everyone needs a reason to hide secret notes...
I made a mail kit.
It's our Narnian Lamppost.
Our Portal.
Our place where the real world transforms into the magical one.
See, Pip and Winnie haven't exactly been excited
about writing time.
They moan and whinge when it's time
to pull out notebook and pen.
But now they have a reason to write.
All manner of small letters, notices and lists
have been appearing in the mailbox, begging for a reader.
Secret message makers, word lovers in the making, I hope.
And if we're not so concerned with punctuation just yet,
still Something is being kindled,
and that Something is what we're going for -
getting so lost in play so that the unseen world
shines brighter within us,
and the ordinary world shines brighter on our return...
This is what I want for myself, too.
To take more time to play
with my words, with art, with the kids
without focusing on how much I get done.
I have a choice every day -
wear myself out trying to blast through my goals,
or find the sweet spots and savor.
Relish the revision.
(thank you Gail Carson Levine and
Molly Blaisell for your great advice.)
and
if you need a reason to play with your words,
or an incentive for young heel-dragging-writers,
may I suggest a mail box?
Our kit is compiled of:
A domed box (thrift store find)
Denim.
Felt.
Mod podge.
Ribbon.
A cardboard swing arm fastened with a nut and bolt.
I added a mail sack, felt envelopes and flannel stamps
plus a thick stack of paper
for good measure.
My dad's old mail carrier hat tops the cake.
Any mail today?
Books of Note:
The Dove's Letter by Keith Baker
The Jolly Postman, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small
Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie
Letters from Father Christmas - J.R.R. Tolkien
Love, Mouserella by David Ezra Stein
Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly - Gail Carson Levine
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
The Enchanted Chocolate Pot - Patricia C. Wrede, Caroline Stevermer
And an experiment.
I've been trying to set up some freebies for my small writer friends, so here is my first attempt to provide a download.
You are welcome to use this art as long as you credit the artist (Hey, that's me - Faith Pray!) and as long as you don't try to pass it off as your own work, or sell it (That would be illegal). If you are going to pin or webshare this, please credit me as the artist, and link back to this original post.
Thank you for the respect.
Who gives heavy, blunt instruments to toddlers for Christmas?
I'm pretty sure this is what inspired "The Lord of the Flies."
My
Making-Merry-on-the-MiniGeoboard Kits are a hit.
And as far as homemade gifts go, how simple is this?
A block of sanded wood.
A bag of screws and nails.
Yarn and rubber bands.
All packaged up and ready to be assembled.
We wrapped a hammer and screwdriver kit for Sugar Snack, too.
He's in Fix-It Heaven,
stomping around the house,
adjusting all the screws.
I keep waiting for the doors to fall off
with the next
ACHOOO!
I don't know how safe a gift of nails
and screws is for the preschool crew.
I've tried to remind them to keep the sharp points
away from mouths, noses and electrical openings,
but you never know.
It helps to have ample adult supervision
when you're dealing with all those hammers.
So, let's just have a proviso here:
For crafty, writing, or artsy tips,
visit me with gleeful abandon.
For safe parenting tips,
go to
someone else.
Happy New Year, my friends!
May it be gloriously rich in the simple joys
and surprisingly glad in all the rest.
Books:
Tools by Taro Miura
Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann (Safety tips AND cuteness)
By:
Faith Pray,
on 12/19/2012
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kids,
perspective,
good books,
crafty,
great books,
parenting,
Christmas books,
thankfulness,
christmas,
picture books,
holidays,
Add a tag
We take Christmas as we find it.
Big or little. Rich or poor.
Our December began with a broken car.
Growing kids bursting out of their coats and socks and shoes.
And a skinnier piggy bank.
So we're doing homemade this Christmas.
And humble, homemade gifts won't hurt us a bit.
In light of so much sorrow around us this year,
all we have is gratitude.
The messes don't matter.
I am unspeakably thankful for these eight small hands,
alive and healthy,
for the joyful chaos that surrounds them,
for my imperfect, half-finished jumble,
the light, the squeals, the squabbles.
The egg carton bells.
Popsicle stick snowflakes.
Trying on wreaths as hats.
What matters is already surrounding us.
Love encircles us,
wraps us in glowing strands,
and though it doesn't magically take away the sorrows
of our broken world,
Love is the thing that will mend us.
It anchors us when winds and sorrows come.
Smooths out the wrinkles in our weary, bleary furrows.
Makes us small candles to give courage in the dark.
Simple, homespun gifts may not be sophisticated,
fancy, or exactly on everyone's wish list,
but they are offerings of love.
and I'm okay with that.
Because love goes deeper than wish lists.
Christmas began with a gift
wrapped in old clothes and straw.
A humble gift.
A love gift.
Love to you, my friends.
Love.
Connecticut. Haiti. Japan.
Rwanda. Middle East.
Love to you.
Picture Books We're Enjoying this Week:
The Christmas Tapestry- Patricia Polacco
Christmas in the Barn- Margaret Wise Brown, Barbara Cooney
A Child is Born - Elizabeth Winthrop, Charles Mikolaycak
Gleam and Glow - Eve Bunting, Peter Sylvada
Christmas with the Mousekins - Maggie Smith
The Little House Christmas - Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garth Williams
One Wintry Night - Ruth Bell Graham, Richard Jesse Watson
The Joy of A Peanuts Christmas - Charles Schultz
By:
Faith Pray,
on 12/12/2012
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
crafty hows,
gifts,
advent,
Christmas books,
christmas,
gifts for kids,
crafty,
felt,
great books,
owls,
kid crafts,
crafty kids,
kid play,
good books,
Add a tag
We made ornaments this week...for the birds.
Because they ate all our cherries this year?
Because they pecked holes in the eaves
and made attic nests?
Heh.
But then we went birding.
A day's adventure into the wet, into the wind,
unconnected
from my technical world,
no busy busy, no run arounds, no errand hopping,
just listening.
Squinting into far off brambles.
Surprisingly, I connected. With the herons in the tree.
With the brown-headed eagle, the sparrows, the finches.
Like the time we stumbled on a barn owl and we lingered there, watching,
till the sky turned shadowy.
Or the day we pulled over the car to observe scores of starlings bathe in muddy puddles.
Maybe it's just the act of stopping
in the midst of a life that whirls
-watching birds go about their day,
breathing in a piney forest,
feeling rain pelt and pummel -
Maybe that's what slows me down.
wakes me up.
brings me peace.
And peace is what we all need this time of year.
So we made gifts for the birds.
I never thought I'd buy lard.
Or thistle seeds, for that matter.
Who needs more thistles? Birds, I guess.
So we squished together birdseed "cookies,"
threaded cheerios onto pipe cleaners
and bent them into hearts.
Where did Birdy's cheerios go?
The big kids strung popcorn, nuts and apples into garlands.
I cut up felt and old jeans and t-shirts into bird-ish shapes
for ornaments and pins.
It was a good project for little sewists.
And then we gathered our bounty
and strung it up
in the climbing tree.
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
- and wild and sweet
- The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
- Had rolled along
- The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
- A voice, a chime,
- A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
- "For hate is strong,
- And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
- The Wrong shall fail,
- The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Peace to you, my friends...
peace that lifts,
peace with wings.
And some beauteous books to warm your winter!
The Birds of Bethlehem - Tomie dePaola
Night Tree - Eve Bunting, Ted Rand
The Candle in the Forest - compiled by Joe L. Wheeler
Uncle Vova's Tree - Patricia Polacco
The Trees of the Dancing Goats - Patricia Polacco
The Birds' Christmas Carol - Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Mitten - Barbara McClintock
The Mitten - Jan Brett
The Money We'll Save - Brock Cole
Owl Babies - Martin Waddell, Patrick Benson
Owl Moon - Jane Yolen, John Schoenherr
No Two Alike - Keith Baker
Ever been to an Art and Craft Fair?
Crocheted dishcloths. Knitted hats.
Potholders. Handmade glories.
and art...
It was my first time hawking wares
in a mixed crowd.
Sweet folks!
And a tiny bit painful to stand around thinking,
"Over here! Over here! Pick me!"
Whew! The card sets sold out fast.
I'm considering putting them in the Etsy shop...
because everybody needs "Type Happy"cards, don't they?
And new originals -
they'll be up on Etsy, too.
So, this is why things have been silent
on the blog front...
oh, yeah, and because of work on
the new manuscript!
I'll be back soon
with some of our wintery, holiday projects.
In the meantime,
Type Happy!
Check out my artist/writer pal
Kjersten Anna Hayes's Craft Fair Crash Course
here.
Good stuff, Kjersten!
Some of our latest great reads:
Our thankful project:
Sticky sticks
Paper leaves
Hole punchers
Leaves on trees
And words.
To remember
why we have it so good.
NOW the party can start....
Thankful!
For laughs.
For cheeks.
For kisses.
For great books, art, nature.
For peace bringers.
For friends and kindreds.
Happy Thankful Day, friends.
And whether, my artsy allies,
my parent pals,
my bloggy belles,
whether
you are waltzing in your glory days
or mired in your daily dirt,
in spiky heels or holey socks,
with a wealth of words or a stuttering muse,
regardless of where you stand on your map,
I wish you joy and great thrills
of contentment.
Books of Thanks and Hope:
Brother Sun, Sister Moon -
by Katherine Paterson, illustrated (in stunning papercuts, no less!) by Pamela Dalton
Let the Whole Earth Sing Praise - Tomie dePaola
Train to Somewhere - Eve Bunting, ill. by Ronald Himler
The Dog Who Belonged to No One - Amy Hest, ill. by Amy Bates
Apple - Nikki McClure
Hope for Haiti - Jesse Joshua Watson (Buying this book helps kids in Haiti, too!)
Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt;
poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.
- Leonardo da Vinci
Paint!
Maple Seeds!
Cheese boxes!
Did you know that besides his famed Mona Lisa,
Leonardo da Vinci laid claim to
water walking shoes,
ball bearings,
a robot,
and a telescope?
Clever man, that Leonardo.
His flight machines got us thinking...
What about homemade helicopters?
You know those round cheese boxes?
The ones that nest shiny triangles of cheese?
They make a perfect home
for flying seed games.
We painted our boxes with acrylic and gel medium.
And tucked in fall poems for good measure.
A fun holiday gift for your flighty friends.
Or your seedy ones.
And books! We have books!
A Seed is Sleepy - Diana Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long
Leonardo and the Flying Boy - Laurence Anholt
Leonardo Beautiful Genius - Robert Byrd
Leonardo's Notebooks - Leonardo da Vinci
And here's one stunner
that celebrates not so much seeds or invention,
but the bittersweetness of time, and change...
House Held Up by Trees - Ted Kooser, ill. by Jon Klassen
...which reminds me of another fascinating
and compelling read :
Wildwood - Colin Melloy, illustrated by Carson Ellis
Happy reading!
Happy writing!
Happy flying!
It's United Nations Day.
Flags would be nice.
Meals from around the world.
Folk dancing.
Music.
We didn't get that far.
We spun the globe and colored pictures of continents.
Every tree starts with a seed, right?
My grandmother Elsie was a great oak of political consciousness.
She lived and breathed for the United Nations,
for women, for equal rights,
for the poor, for education.
Her legacy stands true and straight before me,
waving its branches:
Be brave! Help others! Stand up for what's right!
Women couldn't vote when my grandmother was little.
Which amazes me.
It's such a simple and essential thing
to have a voice, to be counted!
I'm grateful for the
whole forests of women and men before me
who fought
for me and my girls,
for our rights, for our vote,
for changes that have made this world better.
And here we are!
Voting day is around the corner.
Regardless of how it all turns out,
it's a beautiful gift
to have a voice that counts.
Some books that we love:
Grace for President - Kelly di Pucchio, illustrated by LeUyen Pham,
Ruby Mae Has Something to Say - David Small,
Imogene's Last Stand - Candace Fleming
How to Make and Apple Pie and see the world - Marjorie Priceman
...and here's a great game for future world changers:
"I Never Forget a Face" matching game, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
By:
Faith Pray,
on 10/4/2012
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
treasure,
play,
great books,
research,
writing tips,
kid crafts,
crafty kids,
homegrown learning,
Egypt,
kid play,
Add a tag
Peanut shell sacrcopha-guys.
Yes, I know.
We're nuts.
I like to think of research as
permission to plunge overboard,
to get lost in your story world
in order to find it.
Some people tape maps to the walls
and wear fuzzy Russian hats.
Others swear by magazine clippings.
Hungarian folk music.
Books on fly fishing.
French chocolate.
We wear pipe cleaner headdresses.
What's your research quirk? 
Can you tell what we're into these days?
It helps that King Tut's treasure is only a ferry ride away.
We said our howdies to the Pharaohs
and hopped home, hot about Egypt.
I buried old pottery shards for a "Dig."
Kids + Dirt = Heaven!
When I was sixteen, my parents took us to Egypt.
Valley of the Kings, pyramids and the Sphinx
all did their dazzling best.
And then there was this old dump,
littered with broken scraps.
At the time, mum and dad seemed so very un-cool
sifting through that Egyptian dump,
selecting a few shards to bring home.
But who's my mummy now?
Oh yeah!
There has never been such excitement in our backyard.
My fake gold necklace
came in handy
as the crowning discovery.
Treasure!
Hieroglyphs + Clay = Name cartouches!
Sarcophagi:
Our wee coffins
are nothing more than
peanut shells, paint,
and gold pens for a little extra pizazz.
That's it in a nutshell.
So many great books to share with you! The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle - Claudia Logan, Melissa Sweet
Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile - Tomie dePaola
The Egyptian Cinderella - Shirley Climo, Ruth Heller
The Secret Room - Uri Shulevitz
Zekmet, the Stone Carver - Mary Stoltz, Deborah Nourse Lattimore
How the Sphinx Got to the Museum - Jessie Hartland
The Three Princes - Eric A. Kimmel, Leonard Everett Fisher
One City, Two Brothers - Chris Smith, Aurelia Fronty
Exodus - Brian Wildsmith
I, Crocodile - Frank Marcellino
The Shipwrecked Sailor - Tamara Bower
The Jewel Fish of Karnak - Graeme Base
How do you fuel your creative kindling?
With dragons, of course!
Janet Lee Carey, author of Dragonswood
is working shop with thirsty writers this Sunday, September 15
at the Poulsbo library.
I'm going!
How's that to fuel my story sparks?
I've gushed over Dragonswood and Dragon's Keep
before.
They are among my top fantasy novels.
Janet writes compelling, wholly satisfying tales
so skillfully woven that I want to re-read them
as soon as I finish.
Northwest writers: if you're in the area, come join me
at this
Field's End event!
Who doesn't need such a creative boost?
After a whirlwind of crazed schoolishness,
I know I do!
Last night was writing night.
I finally sat alone with my manuscript, pen in hand,
distractions tucked away,
ready to blow through with a masterful fury.
But instead of mastery,
I just sat staring into the trees,
letting the wind rush past me
and all my pieces.
No story mastery.
But the space, the air!
The silence!
It was exactly what I needed.
To get me right first.
Do you ever de-fuzz?
It's the kind of work that doesn't count on your timecard,
but still matters!
Apart from our writing, our desires,
our hankerings to be published,
our accomplishments, our parenting,
our quirks and our failings,
we are all the same.
We are all people who need Love and Shelter
and Bread and Breath.
If you are ever busy, frantic, worried, overloaded,
or just stuck in your story,
try taking it down a notch.
Find a quiet place and de-fuzz.
Do something that doesn't "count" on your timecard.
Twirl. Stomp. Laugh.
Take off your socks and shoes. Wiggle your toes.
Paint with water.
Stretch out on the grass.
Watch clouds. Watch stars. Watch people.
Start a sketch notebook, a Favorite Words List, a Myths List,
a Sayings List, a Thankfulness List.
Breathe.
Play with dragons!
Treasure awaits.
A few fiery tales:
The Deliverers of Their Country - E. Nesbit, Lisbeth Zwerger
The Knight and the Dragon - Tomie dePaola
The Reluctant Dragon - Kenneth Grahame, Inga Moore
Saint George and the Dragon - Margaret Hodges, Trina Schart Hyman
My Father's Dragon - Ruth Stiles Gannet
Talking To Dragons - Patricia Wrede (ill. Trina Schart Hyman)
Dealing With Dragons - Patricia Wrede (ill. Trina Schart Hyman)
What do sharp new pencils, pigs, and a gym ball have in common?
Call it a surprise twist in the plot,
a hopeful story arc...
One that involves less free time while we learn the ropes
but hopefully more flexibility in the long run.
Pip and Winnie are trying a new school setup:
a public school / home school mix.
Today was our first day.
It felt like the first day of a tricky job.
Do you know that feeling?
The feeling that you might possibly be drowning after only minutes on the job?
(You don't print directly onto the blue paper. Don't you know the difference between a codicil and an amendment? You need fresh flower powder. Freeze-dried coffee. Powdered creamer...)
That was me today.
It should have been great.
We're home all the time!
But somehow, I crammed all my expectations
into one small day's window.
I even had a list written up on the wall - our day's assignments.
The first fifteen minutes were bliss.
And then it all began to unravel:
Pip asking over and over when we could go to the library,
Winnie crying over the math game where you throw the little pigs and count them,
Sugar Snack bouncing the gym ball at everyone,
sneaking off with the camera,
and me wondering who was going to make me some coffee
if I was down here doing MATH! Quelle horreur!
 |
| "Gym Ball" - by Sugar Snack |
I love perspective.
The day is now folded away.
The moon is up, warm and embracing.
And I'm here, peeling off my layers.
Thinking about how sometimes I take a great wad of expectations that would probably fill a year or a lifetime and I stuff it into a summer, a holiday,
or one small first day
when really,
all that's needed is joy for the moment,
patience,
and a lot of love.
Tomorrow, we'll try it home style.
We'll aim to get some learning done,
but this time we'll add a generous dose of
breathing room.
 |
| "Uniforms" |
|
A sweet book about breathing room:
Little Bird, by Germano Zullo, illustrated by Albertine
By:
Faith Pray,
on 8/31/2012
Blog:
SACRED DIRT
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
dressing up,
birthdays,
good books,
great books,
parenting,
gifts,
costumes,
cake books,
gifts for kids,
failure,
parties,
Add a tag
Birthdays for one small Two
and two big Sevens
all in one whippy whirlwind of a week.
Whew!
With such a mouthful of birthdays,
we partied nice and mellow...
except for... the big girl cakes...
Uh.
A few words to the wise:
Betty Crocker
invented cake mix for a reason.
The reason?
She had twins plus two toddlers
and could not juggle kids and kitchen.
My attempt turned out two overly dense
six-layer rainbow pink berry chocolate cakes
with floppy, sloppy frosting...
sound yummy?
hmmmm.
I have learned from my mistakes.
From now on, I will stick to wordy, artsy things
and leave baking to the Big Whisks
and their foodie blogs.
Goodbye, high rise glorious
skittle skat roarious.
It's cupcakes from now on.
Five days later, Birdy's birthday began
with a houseful of pink balloons.
Heaven!
What else does a newly two need?
A frilly dress-up,
a home-sewn crown
fuzzy old chenille in a soft new quilt,
giggles
and some really easy cupcakes from a stress-free mama
and a
Yummy Cake Books:
The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious
High Pie Angel Food Cake - Nancy Willard, Richard Jesse Watson
The Woman Who Flummoxed the Fairies - Heather Forest, Susan Gaber
Round is a Mooncake - Roseanne Thong, Grace Lin
Clever Jack Takes the Cake - Candace Fleming, G. Brian Karas
Mud is Cake - Pam Munoz Ryan
Thunder Cake - Patricia Polacco
Moon Cake - Frank Asch
Babycakes - Karma Wilson, Sam Williams
The Fairy Tale Cake - Mark Sperring, Jonathan Langley
What are your favorite yummy books?
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to
remain an artist once we grow up.”
- Picasso
Every kid can climb to the clouds, fly with fish,
rule the world and tame dragons.
So when does that invincibility cape wear off?
I think it turns tail somewhere between
"pay the bills"and "eat your dinner,"
"thinner thighs" and that persistent inner critic that yelps
to rise above the roost.
How can we return to that brave, boundless sky of imagination?
It helps to give reality a shush
from time to time,
and let the muse sing.
How do you dream when life is crowded with reality?
Over here, we play.
Not much weeding in our summer "garden."
Just some good old crayon dirt.
Grass paint.
Water.
Sky.
A big black thing.
Sugar Snack had so much fun he painted holes through his paper.
We talked about painting what we see with our eyes -
shapes, colors, lines -
and then painting what we feel...
"Boingy"
"Happy"
"Flying"
To draw you must close your eyes and sing
- Pablo Picasso
Our "garden" is inspired by this clever find:
The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larson,
illustrated by Irene Luxbacher.
More Expressive Picture Books We Love:
Happy - Mies Van Hoot
Picasso and the Girl With a Ponytail - Laurence Anholt
My Many Colored Days - Dr. Seuss, ill. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
Paris in the Spring with Picasso - Joan Yolleck, ill. by Marjorie Priceman
And now here is my secret, a very simple secret;
it is only with the heart that one can see rightly,
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Writing and parenting.
It's like sticking a monster knot under a
magnifying glass.
I see the glowy summer threads: road trip,
happy cousins,
ice cream shop,
book binges,
lightning storm pajama party.
Those snaggled inky threads are my
writing huddles,
snatches of corner-swept minutes,
scratches of manuscripts
sent and re-sent.
The loopy jumble is the rest:
Dust. Dirt. Chaos.
Wadded-up socks.
"Don't spit on your sister."
Fingerprinty windows.
"Don't chew your shoes."
I have no idea how to bring my crazy,
wordy, artsy, noisy,
kid-rich world into balance,
how to un-tug this muddle of snarled thread.
And then... I look at it without the magnifying glass
and it almost makes sense...
like a tapestry I've been studying on the wrong side,
or paint daubs too, too close.
Sometimes our knots are holding things together.
Sometimes the knots are the balance.
This life,
this funny, dirty,
lovely shambles is mine.
Every minute of it.
Whether published or not,
well-groomed
or a bit tattered on the edges.
So here's my advice, writer mamas and papas.
Put the magnifying glass down.
Don't worry about the peanut butter smudges or the dog hair
or the piles of paper.
Write on.
Enjoy the burnt toast and the sacred dirt.
Write on, busy bees.
Write on.
This is the good life.
Our summer road trip books:
Ramona the Brave - Beverly Cleary
Ellen Tebbits - Beverly Cleary
Toot and Puddle - Holly Hobbie
Journeycake Ho! - Ruth Sawyer, illustrated by Robert McCloskey
Fast Food - Saxton Freymann, Joost Elffers
The Magic Half -Annie Barrows, illustrated by
The Diamond of Drury Lane - Julia Golding
Mercy Watson to the Rescue - Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
Check out some rich words on summer writing and parenting over at Words A Day blog.
Writing is easy.
- the Pray twins, age 5
Sure it's easy....
In fact, I'm pretty certain there are like seven people in all of history who have turned out flawless novels in a week.
Plus there's the stream-of-consciousness Beatniks.
And Beethoven and the composer guys.
So, there you have it -
The most effective approach to writing:
Go be some crazy genius person.
Brilliant people aside, there are the rest of us.
The writers who love words, but can't find the easy button.
"Aren't you finished writing that novel yet, Mommy?"
- the Pray twins, age 6
Ahem. Nope. Not finished yet.
In fact, I'm at another fog bank in my revision,
so I thought I'd hop over here and share a few highlights
from my session with the Teen Writers' Group.
How to Make Friends With Words and Onions
It helps if you...
1. Like words.
2. Read. A lot.
3. Write. A lot. Every day is really good.
4. Make some wordy friends.
Critique groups are great. Teen Writer groups are fantastic.
So are friends who will read your work and give you honest, helpful feedback.
5. Get used to peeling onions.
The thing is, non-Beatnik writers have discovered something clever.
Writing is really about rewriting:
peeling layers of story down to its essence.
Both onions and revising make you cry a little bit.
Onions for obvious reasons.
Revising?
somebody didn't like my story! Boohoo. 
this is taking way too long! Boohoo.my inner critic is throwing onions at me! Boohoo!
Hang on... this isn't an apple?
Disclaimer: I didn't say writers should EAT the onions.
That would kind of mess up the "Making Wordy Friends" part.
6. Use your lifelines.
Here's a list of links for my teen writer friends:
Teen Ink
Writing Resources for Teens
Opportunities for teen writers
Young Writers' Critique Boards
Spilling Ink
Meg Cabot - on Writing
Mem Fox - on Writing
Cassandra Clare's Tips for Teen Writers
Sid Fleischman's Writing Tips
Avi's Six Secrets to Good Writing
Holly Black - Writing Help
Laini Taylor's Blog
So, there you go.
You're golden.
Oh, you clever, clever teen writers!
You've got a lifetime of great words ahead of you.
I look forward to reading your books someday.
Onions and other Soup Vegetables in Literature:
Holes - Louis Sachar
Spuds - Karen Hesse, Wendy Watson
The Turnip - Pierr Morgan
Stone Soup - Marcia Brown
LMNOPeas - Keith Baker
Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato - Tomie de Paola
If you had four wishes,
for what
would you
wish?
world peace?
fortune and glory?
a book deal?
a nap?
Our wishes arrived
via surprise winged delivery
from the talented Margaret Bloom,
creator of
wish baby.
"Whee! Wee wishies!
Pink twins...a blue...a yellow -
that's four...one for each of us!"
Squeals ensued!
They are SMITTEN!
The genie behind the wish baby magic is
Margaret Bloom - a mother, writer and artist.
Her blog,
We Bloom Here is one of my creative haunts.
From picture book-inspired projects,
to lanterns, fairy gardens, kid play and poetry,
Margaret's original cleverness shines through every post.
M. Bloom is currently knee-deep in a blog-hosted puppet swap, where participants create and exchange sets of homemade puppets based on children's books.
She is a great candidate for such a swap, with 16 years of puppet building and performance experience under her belt. Wowzie! All that, and a Masters in Counseling Psychology, too!
Thank you, M. Bloom, for our wee wishies!
Sugar Snack keeps cracking up over them.
We have been tucking our new friends into life corners
to see where they feel at home...
Petal faerie enjoyed my tea...
... and Blue is snug amongst the books.
Houses of popsicle sticks and yarn are pretty cushy
and Blue and Buttercup revel in a glorious bouquet from my friend Anna's garden...
All in all, it has been a week of happy surprises:
Fresh flowers,
four wee wishes,
and four kids summer-struck
making a wild rumpus...
bliss!
I guess there's not much else to wish for.
Books with tiny inspiration:
Tom Thumb- Richard Jesse Watson
Thumbeline - Hans Christian Anderson, ill. by Lisbeth Zwerger
The Rainbabies - Laura Kraus Melmed, ill. by Jim LaMarche
The Hinky Pink - Megan McDonald, ill. by Brian Floca
George Shrinks - William Joyce
The Tub People - Pam Conrad, ill. by Richard Egielski
The Borrowers - Mary Norton, ill. by Michael Hague
Secrets from the Dollhouse - Ann Turner, ill. by Paul Colon
On Monday it rained a little bit,
but we said "happy summer" anyway,
doled out umbrella pencils to our friends
and flower bookmarks to our teacher
with blooming "school's out" smiles.
We shuffled out next morning in pajamas and slippers,
un-hurried,
no school bell,
content with our pancakes.
Not to fret!
In all the summer revelry, I didn't forget our
DEVINE INTERVENTION book giveaway
contest!
Congratulations, Dawn Simon!
You won! I'll zip you a message soon.
Thank you,
Martha Brockenbrough, for writing and gifting us with this excellent book!
More excitement this week: speaking to the
Port Townsend Library Teen Writers' group.
Thank you, PT Library for the opportunity!
Look at those smiley faces.
Thanks, guys.
And thanks to those of you who let me take pictures of your shoes
and for humoring me
with all the talk about books and words
and what to do with the voices in our heads,
about showing up to write
every day, rain or shine.
It was a delight to hang out with you.
I'll share more of my notes on our talk later this month.
In the meantime, happy writing,
and happy summer, rain or shine!
Summer!
The kids are home!
They're reading like vultures
(Do vultures read?)
and I want to join them.
Here's the hitch: I just devoured two great novels
and now I have nothing to read.
If I was a book vulture, I'd be in a dry riverbed
of bookless hurt.
I'm casting about for good fantasy,
clever magic, and delicious mysteries...
and I need your help!
What are your recommendations for my summer book binge?And while you think about your favorite reads,
let me tell you about my latest:
"Devine Intervention" by
Martha Brockenbrough.
"Devine Intervention" is hard to explain in a simple sentence. On the surface, it's a witty YA modern fantasy novel about an inept guardian angel and the girl he messes up on, but it's so much more than that. It's this incredibly surprising story of humor and earthiness, humility and teen hormones, acceptance and second chances. I finished it two weeks ago, but it's still echoing.
I'm not at all surprised that it's earned rave reviews in Kirkus and the L.A. Times, or that the movie rights have already been snatched up.
I've already dished about
your chance to win a free copy. That contest is up Sunday, so you still have time to enter.
The second book I want to gush over is "
Dragonswood"by
Janet Lee Carey.
I absolutely loved "
Dragon's Keep," the first book in the Wilde Island Chronicles.
The second book,
"Dragonswood," is just as captivating.
It's about Tess, a blacksmith's fiery daughter who trespasses in the forbidden Dragonswood, is tried for witchcraft, and must escape and right her world. Dragonswood is addicting and dark, with themes layered and deep. Kirkus called it "a fairy tale for those who have given up on believing them, but still yearn for happily ever after."
I highly recommend it!
Happy reads
to you
until we meet again....
View Next 25 Posts
Funny, I have been wondering a lot lately about whether some of my "anything is possible" dreams are actually impossible. But I keep returning to the thought that "impossible" things happen every single day of the year. So I, for one, plan to keep jumping. I hope you do, too. Because I know we'll have lots to talk about when we're both up there flying around!
You KNOW I'd write back!!! (but will my note be delivered via that special home-grown mailbox (featured here way back when in mid-January)?
xo
"How do we find both our feet AND our wings?" You nailed it, Faith. Like Barb, I'll keep jumping. :)
I know many small authors who would love letters from their old friends and would be happy to write back via snail mail. You know where we are. Linda Morris
Faith, what a lovely project to do with the children. I shall have to do this too.