Hi Everyone,

We are celebrating alphabet soup's 4th birthday by moving to Wordpress.

For a number of reasons, not the least of which are LJ's ongoing technical problems and vulnerability to hacker attacks, we felt it was time for a change and a fresh start.

Please stop by to say hello so I know you've found us, bookmark the site, update your blog rolls and/or add Jama's Alphabet Soup to your readers. We promise more of our usual mischief and look forward to having you join us at the table often.

For those of you on LiveJournal, I've created a feed so you can view my posts on your Friends Page: alphasoup2 .

Thanks for your continuing support!

*The new blog's URL is jamarattigan (dot) com -- easy to remember, easy to find!

   
                  

The sun is shining, a nice breeze is blowing, and Colin Firth summer fun is calling!

Going to take some time off from regular posting for a few weeks to pursue some new foodie adventures, tackle my just-for-fun TBR pile, and do a little blog housekeeping. I want to get all my letters in a row, since I always feel so much better when my kitchen is spit spot!

Meanwhile, I wish you many happy summer days, whether you're on vacation or staycation. Ahhhhh -- time for barbecue, fruit smoothies, potato salad, and corn on the cob. Enjoy these long, lazy days, have a spectacular Fourth of July weekend, and I'll see you in August!



**Dorothy Whidden illustrations from The Alphabet That Was Good to Eat written by Louise Price Bell (Harter Publishing, 1932). (Crossett Library Bennington College flickr photostream.)

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

      

Roll out the purple carpet, pass the poetry and the pizza: the one and only Lee Bennett Hopkins is here!

For years and years, I'd see the name "Lee Bennett Hopkins" on dozens and dozens of book covers as poet, author and anthologist, but never once imagined one day I'd have the pleasure of welcoming him to my blog. No one, in the history of children's literature, has compiled more poetry anthologies than he has (100+ to date), and I'm certain most everyone -- whether poet, author, educator, librarian, editor, publisher or reader -- agrees that no one else has done as much to nurture, support and promote children's poetry with such full-hearted enthusiasm and tenacity. 

He's won numerous awards and honors as author and anthologist, such as the Christopher Award, Golden Kite Honor, and NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, and has established two awards: the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and the Lee Bennett Hopkins/IRA Promising Poet Award.


TheCookingPhotographer/flickr

But apart from his long list of accomplishments and accolades, he's also someone who likes the color purple and a good pizza, and who, in his heart of hearts, truly believes that poetry is absolutely essential for all children, both at home and in the classroom. Bring books and children together, and teach them to love reading. I'm so honored to have Lee visit alphabet soup to tell us a little about the art of compiling anthologies and to share a few tidbits about the three books he's published so far this year:

I Am the Book (Holiday House, 2011), a collection of 13 exuberant poems celebrating the magic of reading with whimsical illustrations by Colombian artist Yayo,

Dizzy Dinosaurs: Silly Dino Poems (HarperCollins, 2011), 19 humorous poems selected especially for the beginning reader with vibrant cartoony illustrations by Barry Gott, and

Hear My Prayer (Zonderkidz, 2011), a selection of 13 simple verses on a variety of universal themes with illustrations by Gigi Moore.

Help yourself to a slice of pizza and enjoy my chat with Lee!

Jama: In previous interviews, you’ve stated that when creating an anthology, you begin with a theme and then select appropriate poems (some newly commissioned, some previously published). Which part of the overall process do you enjoy the most and why? 

Lee: I enjoy both, actually. It is always refreshing to go back and read the masters; I’ve reread, for example, the works of Sandburg and Hughes a zillion times. I also love working with contemporary poets, some of whom have never been published before. It gives writers a chance to be heard. Many times their work is reprinted in a variety of ways. It

1. It's always a good day when you have pancakes for breakfast (and lunch, and dinner) ☺. My pancakes of choice remain Orangette's Oatmeal Pancakes, a recipe she adapted from the pancakes served at the Inn at Fordhook Farm in Pennsylvania. Since I first mentioned Mollie's oatmeal pancakes here, we've made them at least six times, and it's become our favorite breakfast to serve houseguests. We haven't mashed in any blueberries yet; they're delicious without them. And as Mollie says, they are great the next day and the next . . . they freeze well, too.

 

2. Do you remember when Kevin Slattery declared May, Bob Dylan Month? And he ran his "Three for Free Giveaway" with copies of Ain't Gonna Hang No Pixel (his first Picture Book for Big Kids) as the prize? Eeeeee! I was one of the winners!

 

This 16-page pop phenomenon parody, inspired by Dylan's infamous decision to go electric in 1965, offers a tantalizing cross-section of Kevin's unique digital art. Movers and shakers Billie Holiday, Edgar Allan Poe, Paul McCartney (*swoon*), Marilyn Monroe, Jack Kerouac, Emily Dickinson, Alfred Hitchcock, and of course, Dylan -- are portrayed as never before. Kevin loves to mix things up and surprise you with unexpected juxtapositions: there's a beautiful pink and yellow floral Billie as well as a funky cartoony Hitchcock making quite the television appearance (or should I say, "emergence"?). Wish you had your own copy? Click here for more details about this book as well as the second book in Kevin's Picture Books for Big Kids series, Emily Comes to My House!

3. Big thanks to Zoe Toft at Playing by the Book for presenting alphabet soup with the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award!
 
   

We truly appreciate this honor and are proud to be recognized along with these other blogs:

Kat Cooks the Books
Reading, Writing and Recipes
Storytelling, cooking and kids!
Children’s Books for Grown Ups – look out for Natasha’s Bookish Bites!
Maison Cupcake
The Tea Box

Check out Zoe's list of books about sweets and baking th

Put on your bibs and lick your chops -- it's fresh veggie time!

Serving up a little of summer's bounty today in celebration of all that is green, purple, red, orange and yellow. Nothing better than the crunch of a carrot, the juicy ooze of a garden ripe tomato, the fresh snap of a sassy bean. A quick perusal of vegetable books at my library revealed a surprising number of varieties who took great pride in their ability to amaze and delight. Some call attention to themselves just by being BIG, while others excel at showmanship. Veggie vaudeville? Lima bean monsters? Whoever said vegetables were boring? 

Lots to nibble and chew on here. Have fun eating your veggies!


 
RAH, RAH, RADISHES!: A VEGETABLE CHANT by April Pulley Sayre (Beach Lane Books, 2011). Get ready to root for rutabagas and fall for fennel. This rollicking trip to the farmer's market will have you cheering in the stands and bouncing for beets. Over 40 different vegetable varieties are celebrated with gorgeous color photographs and a heaping bushel of simple a-peeling rhymes. Familiar friends like carrots, cucumbers and beans are tossed around with not-so-common types like kohlrabi, Swiss chard and bok choy to entice curious munchkins. A wondrous mix of colors, shapes and textures makes this feast irresistibly delectable, and there are seven kinds of peppers to spice things up (bell, banana, cayenne, poblano, habanero, jalapeño, and serrano). An Authors Note defines "vegetables," suggests ways to learn about new ones and touts the importance of incorporating different colored veggies for a healthy diet. Never seen such ravishing radishes, and what a fabulous read aloud!
   

THE ENORMOUS CARROT by Vladimir Vagin (Scholastic Press, 1998). So, Floyd and Daisy Rabbit plant a garden one spring and with their careful tending, everything comes up beautifully. One day they notice a huge carrot growing out of the ground and when they try to pick it, it won't budge. Soon, one friend after another drops by -- a cow, goat, hen, dog and cat, and they all heave and ho and ho and heave to no avail. Finally, Lester the mouse offers to help, but he is told he is too small. He helps anyway and that stubborn carrot finally COMES OUT. Nothing to do but throw a gigantic carrot feast for everyone. The double page spread showing all the animals eating carrot soup, carrot cake, carrot pie, carrot cookies and carrot ice cream is worth the price of admission. Based on a Russian folktale, this story's a great way to stress the importance of teamwork, and of course, who could resist the novelty and wonder of such a big carrot?

 

BRAVE POTATOES by Toby Speed and Barry Root (Putnam, 2000). When all's quiet at the County Fair, a bunch of prize potat

It’s always fun and exciting when something you’ve read sparks your imagination and makes you want to learn more.  

That’s what happened when I read Carrie Jones’s new picture book biography about Civil War nurse and spy Sarah Emma Edmonds. When I studied American history in Hawai’i eons ago, I learned a lot of names and dates that I couldn’t really relate to. I certainly never dreamed that one day I’d live near a real battlefield site, meet people who like to don period garb to participate in battle re-enactments, and be steeped in heady historical richness that would actually mean something. 

I had heard of female Confederate spies, but knew very little about the ones spying for the Union army. Sarah Emma Edmonds Was a Great Pretender (Carolrhoda Books, 2011) is a provocative introduction to the feisty Canadian teenager who fled her home country, assumed the identity of a man (calling herself Frank Thompson), and then served in the Second Michigan Infantry, first as a field nurse and then as a spy under the command of Major General George B. McClellan. 


Sarah Edmonds in female and male garb.

Jones’s tightly woven narrative emphasizes Edmonds’s skill as a master of disguise. An adventurer at heart, Edmonds was motivated by a deep sense of patriotism to her adopted country because she was able to forge a new life, far away from her abusive father who hated that she was a girl and who tried to force her into an arranged marriage.

Steely, brave, clever and highly adaptable to whatever circumstances came her way, Edmonds assumed various guises, as an African American male slave, an Irish peddler woman, and a black laundress. She infiltrated enemy lines many times and returned with valuable information for the Union army. When she contracted malaria, she chose to recuperate in a private hospital in Illinois to avoid blowing her cover. After learning that she was listed as a deserter, she reclaimed her identity as a woman and returned to nursing, with no one the wiser. 

Further reading revealed that much, if not most, of Sarah’s exploits took place on Virginia soil. She participated in both the First and Second Battles of Bull Run, The Peninsula Campaign, Vicksburg, Fredericksburg, Antietam, Williamsburg and Yorktown in her various capacities as field nurse, postmaster and spy. When I read that she nursed wounded soldiers at an army hospital in the Old Stone Church in Centreville, I had to see the place for myself. I’ve lived in Virginia for 30 years and might never have heard about the church (only 10 minutes away) if I hadn’t read Carrie’s book. 


Old Stone Church circa 1860's (Library of Congress photo).

The Old Stone Church was first built by Methodists in 1854, and used as a hospital by both the Union and Confe

     


My dad, now 96, continues to amaze us. We feel so blessed to have him in our lives. He recently joined Facebook, where he shares lots of food pictures (must run in the family ☺), jokes, short videos, words of inspiration every Sunday, and whatever amuses or fascinates him in the news.

We wish him and all the other dads out there a Happy Father's Day, and special ((Hugs)) to those of you who might be missing your dads.

James Paul McCartney and his father James "Jim" McCartney at age 64.


Tomorrow is Sir Paul's birthday and Sunday is Father's Day -- what better time to feature a song Paul wrote with his dad in mind?

"When I'm Sixty Four" has always been one of my favorites. Whenever I hear it, I feel a little 'goofy-happy,' probably because of its rooty-toot rhythm and slightly mocking tone. Ah, those bouncy clarinets! You may know that Jim McCartney had a big influence on Paul's musical upbringing. Self taught on the piano and trumpet, Jim played in ragtime and jazz bands in Liverpool during the twenties and thirties. He encouraged Paul to take music lessons and taught him to sing harmony.
 
Music was central in the McCartney household -- they listened to the radio and Jim's 78 rpm records, and of course, Jim played popular dance hall tunes on the upright piano (which Paul, reputedly, still owns). Paul's granddad Joe was also musical. An opera lover who was more of a traditionalist, he played the double bass and tuba.  



Paul wrote the melody for "When I'm Sixty Four" with Jim's encouragement when he was just 16. When the Beatles were still the Quarrymen, the song was a "stand-in number" when the amps weren't working or the electricity went off. It wasn't until Jim turned 64 in 1966 that Paul decided to revise and record what would become the first completed cut for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, widely regarded as one of the most important and influential rock albums in popular music. When Paul himself turned 64, his children sang the song to him as a birthday present.

When I first heard the song as a teenager, 64 seemed positively ancient. Now, not so much . . . ☺.



♥ Full lyrics here.

♥ Jone has the Roundup today at Check it Out. Dance on over and enjoy all the cool poems being shared around the blogosphere this week. 

   

Happy 69th Birthday, Sir Paul, and Happy Father's Day weekend to all!

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

#4 in an eclectic collection of notable noshes to whet your appetite and brighten your day.


ed ed/flickr


  Fave writer soups: Truman Capote (Gumbo), Willa Cather (Vegetable), Bob Dylan (Split Pea), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Vegetable), George Bernard Shaw (Vegetable), William Makepeace Thackery (Bouillabaisse). Source: soupsong.com.

♥ More Tasty Tidbits here.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphbet soup. All rights reserved. 

            
            Charlie, overwrought with excitement.

Well, flap my jowls and tickle my ears! 

Have you ever seen a more lovable dog? Yep, it's Charlie, easily the most famous basset hound in America. He lives with Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman herself, and his new picture book, Charlie the Ranch Dog (HarperCollins, 2011), has been on the New York Times Bestseller List for the past 6 weeks! Doggone awesome!
 

Is that bacon I smell on his breath?

Anyway, just in case you're not familiar with the book (where on the wide prairie have you been?), it chronicles a typical day on the cattle ranch from Charlie's point of view. Along with his best friend Suzie (a spunky Jack Russell terrier), he gets up too early every morning and works so hard (wink, wink) fixing fences, gardening, keeping cows and other critters in check, fishing, and rounding up cattle.

A dog this busy certainly deserves oodles of bacon a good meal and endless naps a little rest now and then just to keep his strength up. Why, if not for Charlie's steady vigilance, Daisy the cow could have destroyed the garden! Personally, I happen to admire those who've perfected the fine art of napping and bacon nipping, and I know exactly how Charlie feels: a dog's work is never done. ☺

Recently, Ree blogged about the experience of writing about Charlie (her first children's book), and I thought it would be fun to get the illustrator's side of the story. Of course I'm talking about the brilliant and talented award-winning author/illustrator Diane deGroat, who's visited with us before, and is known far and wide for the 120+ books she's illustrated (most notably her beloved self-illustrated Gilbert series). 

            

I sent Diane a few questions and she came back with some right chewy answers and lots of photos. She's done an outstanding job with the pictures in this book, and I think you'll enjoy learning more about how she created them. How did she manage to perfectly capture Charlie's ranch-roving, bacon-loving ways, and extend Ree's trademark wry humor? Grab a biscuit, tap your boot heels together, sit and stay. Roll over if you like, but do read on. (No need to beg.)

Congratulations on the great success of Charlie and the Ranch Dog! How did you get this gig, and what did you like most about doing it?

It's true that when one door closes, another opens. I had just learned that my Gilbert series at HarperCollins was ending. I anticipated using this time to work on a proposal for a whole new series when I received an email (from a different Harper department) asking me if I'd be interested in submitting some art samples f

#32 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.


MsBlueSky/flickr

Liff (lif) n. A common object or experience for which no word yet exists.

I'm guessing there are an infinite number of liffs floating free in the world, just hoping someone exceedingly clever will chance along and name them. Two clever someones, Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, compiled the first humorous dictionary of liffs back in 1983: The Meaning of Liff, followed by a revised and expanded edition, The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990). Along with these "no name" objects, feelings and situations, Adams and Lloyd also noted "thousands of spare words which spend their time doing nothing but loafing about on signposts pointing at places."

   

Words like Dunfish, Jeffers, Knaptoft, Ranfurly. They were real places, but who ever heard of them? Better yet, who'd ever think of visiting them? Why not match these place names with a needy liff?

Our job, as we see it, is to get these words down off the signposts and into the mouths of babes and sucklings and so on, where they can start earning their keep in everyday conversation and make a more positive contribution to society.

Thought you might enjoy a Sampler Platter of Liff Lunchables, à la Adams and Lloyd. All but a couple are food related; I've added a few extras to compensate ☺. Nibble on them, maybe give them a good chew (you're bound to chuckle). There's plenty to go around!

ABINGER (n.)
One who washes up everything except the frying pan, the cheese grater and the saucepan which the chocolate sauce has been made in.

BECCLES (pl. n.)
The small bone buttons placed in bacon sandwiches by unemployed guerrilla dentists.

CROMARTY (n.)
The brittle sludge which clings to the top of ketchup bottles and plastic tomatoes in nasty cafes.

DUDDO (n.)
The most deformed potato in any given collection of potatoes.

EPPING (participial vb.)
The futile movements of forefingers and eyebrows used when failing to attract the attention of waiters and barmen.

FINUGE (vb.)
In any division of foodstuffs equally between several people, to give yourself the extra slice left over.

GOOSNARGH (n.)
Something left over from preparing or eating a meal, which you store in the fridge despite the fact that you know full well you will never ever use it.

HENSTRIDGE (n.)
The dried yellow substance found between the prongs of forks in restaurants.

INIGONISH (adj.)
Descriptive of the expression on the face of a dinner party guest which is meant to indicate hug

1photos.com


This week I've been dipping into Maya Angelou's latest cookbook,
Great Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart (Random House, 2010). 

Inspired by her recent weight loss (35 pounds), the book features her favorite time-tested recipes and personal anecdotes. Her guiding philosophy is to frequently eat small portions of really tasty, savory food throughout the day, rather than obsess over counting calories or seeking "diet recipes."

     

In the section entitled, "Cooking Vegetarian with Courage I," she includes a satirical poem she wrote back in 1983, a kind of "self defense" prompted by a visit to Ye Olde Health Food Diner in Los Angeles. Although basically carnivorous, one day she craved broccoli and steamed rice. After placing her order, she took out a pack of cigarettes and was surprised when the waitress immediately chastized her for being a smoker. 

She looked around at the pale, pitiful customers in the diner and asked the waitress whether they were newcomers, hoping to "get better." The waitress assured her they were vegetarians who had been eating there for years, to which Maya replied, "Don't ever tell anyone that these people have been coming here for years, and are still looking no better than they do now."


I love seaweed salad! (Sifu Renka/flickr)


THE HEALTH-FOOD DINER
by Maya Angelou

No sprouted wheat and soya shoots
And Brussels in a cake,
Carrot straw and spinach raw,
(Today, I need a steak).

Not thick brown rice and rice pilau
Or mushrooms creamed on toast,
Turnips mashed and parsnips hashed,
(I'm dreaming of a roast).

Health-food folks around the world
Are thinned by anxious zeal,
They look for help in seafood kelp
(I count on breaded veal).

No smoking signs, raw mustard greens,
Zucchini by the ton,
Uncooked kale and bodies frail
Are sure to make me run

to

Loins of pork and chicken thighs
And standing rib, so prime,
Pork chops brown and fresh ground round
(I crave them all the time).

Irish stews and boiled corned beef
and hot dogs by the scores,
or any place that saves a space
For smoking carnivores.

Copyright © Maya Angelou. All rights reserved.