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Welcome to the 2016 Cybils Speculative Reader! As a first run reader for the Cybils, I'll be briefly introducing you to the books on the list, giving you a mostly unbiased look at some of the plot.Enjoy! While some girls are horse-crazy from the... Read the rest of this post
December is full of holidays, but I'll bet you didn't know Dewey Decimal Day was one of them! Yes, December 10 is Dewey Decimal Day, the birthday of Melvil Dewey (1851-1931), the inventor of the Dewey Decimal system of library classification, the most widely used system in the world since 1876. Time to celebrate with this poem by Liz Steinglass from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations:
And you'll find these Take 5 activities for this poem in The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations too:
And for more poems about libraries, books, and reading, look for my list in The Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists. Here's an excerpt:
Poems about Libraries, Books, and Reading
- Alarcón, Francisco X. 1999. “Books” from Angels Ride Bikes: And Other Fall Poems/ Los Angeles Andan en Bicicleta: Y Otros Poemas de Otoño. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press.
- Appelt, Kathi. 1997. “Javier” from Just People and Paper/Pen/Poem: A Young Writer’s Way to Begin. Spring, TX: Absey & Co.
- Bagert, Brod. 1999. “Library-Gold” from Rainbows, Head Lice and Pea-Green Tile; Poems in the Voice of the Classroom Teacher. Gainesville, FL: Maupin House.
- Dakos, Kalli. 2003. “When the Librarian Reads to Us” from Put Your Eyes Up Here: And Other School Poems. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Frost, Helen. 2003. “Do Not Leave Children Unattended” from Keesha’s House. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
- George, Kristine O’Connell. 2002. “School Librarian” from Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems. New York: Clarion Books.
- Giovanni, Nikki. 1971. “ten years old” from Spin a Soft Black Song. New York: Hill & Wang.
- Glenn, Mel. 2000. “Eddie Sabinsky” from Split Image. New York: HarperCollins.
- Greenfield. Eloise. 2006. “At the Library” from The Friendly Four. New York: HarperCollins.
- Grimes, Nikki. 1997. “At the Library” from It’s Raining Laughter. New York: Dial.
- Grimes, Nikki. 1998. “42nd Street Library” form Jazmin’s Notebook. New York: Dial.
- Gunning, Monica. 2004. “The Library” from America, My New Home. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
- Herrick, Steven. 2004. “Lord of the Lounge” from The Simple Gift. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Hopkins, Ellen. 2006. “See, the Library” from burned. New York: McElderry.
- Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 2000. “Good Books, Good Times” from Good Books, Good Times! New York: HarperTrophy.
- Katz, Alan. 2001. “Give Me a Break” from Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs. New York: Scholastic.
- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2005. “Please Bury Me in the Library” and “Necessary Gardens” from Please Bury Me in the Library. San Diego, Harcourt.
- Lewis, J. Patrick. 1999. “Read… Think… Dream” from: The Bookworm's Feast: A Potluck of Poems. New York: Dial.
- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. “#66 The Hippopotabus,” “#174 The Librarian,” “#116 Library Fine,” and “#89 New York Public Library” from Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year. New York: Little, Brown.
- Lewis, J. Patrick. 2009. “Librarian” from The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse. New York: Simon & Schuster/Atheneum.
- Livingston, Myra Cohn. 1994. “Quiet” in Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. April Bubbles Chocolate; An ABC of Poetry. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Lottridge, Celia Barker. 2002. “Anna Marie’s Library Book and What Happened’ in Pearson, Deborah. Ed. When I Went to the Library. Toronto: Groundwood Books.
- McLoughland, Beverly. 1990. “Surprise” in Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 1990. Good Books, Good Times! New York: HarperTrophy.
- Medina, Jane. 1999. “The Library Card” from My Name is Jorge on Both Sides of the River: Poems. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.
- Merriam, Eve. 1998. “Reach for a Book” in Rich, Mary Perrotta, Ed. 1998. Book Poems: Poems from National Children’s Book Week, 1959-1998. New York: Children’s Book Council.
- Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1998. “Because of Libraries We Can Say These Things” from Fuel. Rochester, NY: BOA Editions.
- Nye, Naomi Shihab. 2005. “The List” from A Maze Me; Poems for Girls. New York: Greenwillow.
- Prelutsky, Jack. 2006. “It’s Library Time” from What a Day It Was at School! New York: Greenwillow.
- Sidman, Joyce. “This Book” from: http://www.joycesidman.com/bookmark.html
- Silverstein, Shel. 1981. “Overdues” from A Light in the Attic. New York: HarperCollins.
- Soto, Gary. 1992. “Ode To My Library” from Neighborhood Odes. San Diego: Harcourt.
- Worth, Valerie. 1994. “Library” from All the Small Poems and Fourteen More. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
- Zimmer, Tracie Vaughn. 2009. “Librarian” from Steady Hands: Poems About Work. New York: Clarion.
Based on: Vardell, Sylvia M. (2006). A place for poetry: Celebrating the library in poetry. Children and Libraries. 4, (2), 35-41 and Vardell, S. M. (2007). Everyday poetry: Celebrating Children’s Book Week with book-themed poetry. Book Links. 17, (2), 14-15.
Also look for the following poetry books:
- Rich, Mary Perrotta. Ed. 1998. Book Poems: Poems from National Children’s Book Week, 1959-1998. New York: Children’s Book Council.
- Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 2004. Wonderful Words: Poems about Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Ed. 2011. I am the Book. Holiday House.
- Salas, Laura Purdie. 2011. BookSpeak!. Ill. by Josee Bisaillon. Clarion.
Jone is hosting our Poetry Friday gathering this week, so don't forget to check out those posts over at Check it Out!
Although I had several pre-scheduled interviews at
YALLfest (with
Jonathan Stroud,
Dhonielle Clayton, and next week's guest), I was also able to catch on-the-fly interviews with some of the YALLFest participants. Between panels and signings and catching up with friends, they all had hectic schedules, so I truly appreciate that they indulged me and my silly questions.
Here's what I asked:
What real-life adventure would you most like to go on?
What fictional adventure would you most like to crash?
Besides storytelling, what skill(s) would you contribute to the group on an adventure quest?
As a writer, what do you think is your strongest skill? And do you have any tips for getting better at it?And then if they had time, I gave them some markers and a paper with "YA Books = " and had them get creative for their picture.
Today's featured victims are authors
Carrie Ryan,
C. Alexander London,
Alex Gino, and an editor from Tor Books -
Diana Pho.
Moo. Sharon Creech. 2016. 288 pages. [Source: Library book]
First sentence: The truth is, she was ornery and stubborn, wouldn't listen to anybody, and selfish beyond selfish, and filthy, caked with mud and dust, and moody: you'd better watch it or she'd knock you flat.
Premise/plot: When their parents decide to move from the big city to a small town in Maine, Reena and Luke have big adjustments to make. For better or worse, their mom volunteers them to help out a prickly neighbor, Mrs. Falala. At first this means bringing her library books. Then it means taking care of her cow, ZORA. Reena ends up agreeing, somehow, to SHOW the cow at a fair. The book is written--for the most part--in verse.
My thoughts: This book had some potential, in my opinion. But for me, it was "ruined," by the blank verse. I don't mind verse novels if the verse is spectacular and it makes sense for it to be written in verse instead of prose. There are some authors who have mastered this: they have a way with words, with phrases, with building images. What they write is lyrical and deserves the title of poetry. This was just prose masquerading as poetry.
If it had been prose, I think I would have connected more with the characters and the story. I did like the idea of liking this one. Essentially it is the story of two children struggle to connect with an ornery and "mean" neighbor lady, slowly but surely coming to like and respect her. And the two do have to learn a LOT about farm life and taking care of cows. And by working hard and working towards a goal, they do end up growing and stretching as characters.
© 2016 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
In my memoir
All Growed Up, it’s 1982 and I leave my hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland for the first time in my life to begin a ‘coming of age’ adventure of learning as an eighteen year old student at university. One particular chapter of the book serves up the flavours of traditional Irish food. In
Go Wild in the Country I tell the story of my first visit to my new girlfriend’s house in a small rural village in the middle of Northern Ireland. I meet the lovely Lesley’s mother who is very warm, friendly and hospitable and more importantly, a legend in her own kitchen. However, like every good Irish Mammy when it comes to offering the best of food to a guest, she cannot take no for an answer. The repercussions are most embarrassing!
There are two main Irish foodstuffs involved in this unfortunate incident, one sweet and one savoury. The sweets are the typical fare baked in every self-respecting kitchen in Northern Ireland and produced alongside a nice cup of tea on all occasions. A ‘pavlova’ is an egg and sugar based dish, a monumental meringue smothered in fresh cream. Meanwhile ‘caramel squares’ are biscuit based square shaped cookies with a delightful layer of caramel and chocolate on top. Here’s what happened when I entered my girlfriend’s mother’s kitchen:
She placed one of her Himalayan pavlovas in the middle of the table and my mouth watered instantly. Then she surrounded the pavlova with a series of smaller plates containing geometrically perfect caramel squares, freshly baked fruit scones with butter and jam and a plate of chocolate biscuits from a good tin…The supply of food continued all day long:
‘Have another piece of pavlova,’ said Mummy‘No, thank you, I think I’m full up now,’ I replied.Silence.‘Och sure go on, you would, you could, you should’ said Mummy.‘Okay, thanks, you’ve persuaded me, please,’ I responded with the utmost courtesy.‘Now, have another scone, Tony,’ said Mummy.‘Oh no, thank you, really I couldn’t, I’m full up now. It’s all so lovely, thank you.’ ‘Och, none of that, you will, you can, you should, sure you’re a growing boy,’ said Mummy, clearly not expecting ‘No’ for an answer. All of this food was delicious and I enjoyed being spoilt in this way, but I wondered if I would be permitted to stop eating before all the plates were empty.The savoury dish that features in this chapter of my book is the iconic Northern Ireland breakfast, known locally as an Ulster Fry. As the name suggests this is a hot fried breakfast, not known for its health benefits. In fact an Ulster Fry is also known locally as ‘a heart attack on a plate.’ The dish consists of fried eggs, sausages, bacon, black pudding and mushrooms. An essential element of the Ulster Fry is the addition of two distinctive Irish breads, soda and potato farls, fried of course. This large breakfast plate is usually completed with a dollop of tomato ketchup or HP Brown Sauce. Normally, it’s a very satisfying breakfast on the weekend, but on this occasion it was simply too much to handle!
I sat down amid the activity and cooking and frying smells but all of a sudden I began to feel sick. I was surrounded by the makings of the perfect Ulster Fry, a massive feast of meat and enough fried bread to empty a shelf in the Ormo Mini Shop but probably due to my over indulgences the day before a wave of nausea began to overwhelm me.‘I feel a bit sick,’ I whispered to Lesley, who looked most concerned.‘You have to eat Mummy’s fry, she’s been preparing for it all week,’ she whispered back, our conversation masked only by the sudden sizzling of mushrooms being added to the frying pan. I attempted to take deep breaths to subdue the nausea but every deep inhalation was accompanied by the odour of fried meat and mushrooms and by this stage of my condition the smell was sickening rather than appetising. Lesley observed me closely, clearly aware of the potential disaster unfolding in her own kitchen. She could see that my face had turned a whiter shade of pale and realised that an intervention was going to be necessary.‘Tony’s not feeling well,’ said Lesley, much to my relief.Mummy looked over her bifocals with a mixture of shock and disappointment, as the frying fat spat at me from beneath the eggs.‘Och, sure you’re alright now. You just need a good fry and you’ll be fine.’‘Sorry, I think I need to lie down,’ I confessed, ‘and then I’ll be okay thanks for a fry, please, if that‘s ok.’Mummy, Daddy and Lesley cast glances at each other from various workstations across the kitchen. I was embarrassed. To fart explosively at the kitchen table would not have been worse. Mummy looked hurt, as if her cooking was making me sick and Lesley looked concerned about Mummy and Daddy went outside for a smoke.‘Sure, you would, you could, you should just try a wee plate,’ persisted Mummy and she proceeded to set down a plate of sausage, bacon and egg in front of me.Of course, you have to read the book to find out what happened next, but I’ll give you a clue – everything went in the wrong direction!
Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Tony!
You can find Tony here:
I usually offer up a preamble before I jump into my reviews, but today's poetry title needs no introduction because Shel Silverstein needs no introduction. What is special about this particular edition is that it contains twelve new poems!
Falling UpShel Silverstein
Poetry
For ages 6 to 8
HarperCollins, 2015, 978-0-06-232133-6
Poets have been writing nonsense and funny poems for children for many years, and have given their readers amusing characters and wonderful stories in verse to read over and over. A.A. Milne, Edward Lear, and many others have delighted young readers with their comical writings, but it has to be said that one of the most famous and well-loved humorous poets is Shel Silverstein. He left behind him a wonderful collection of poems for young readers, poems that children and their grownups have been enjoying ever since they came out in print.
On the pages of this book young readers will meet a colorful collection of characters who often have very bizarre adventures. For example, there is a little boy who, when he tripped over a shoelace, fell up instead of down. He floated up into the sky and the experience would surely have been amazing except for the fact that he got so dizzy and sick to his stomach that he “threw down.”
Then there are poems that capture moments in a child’s life that are very familiar. In Diving Board we meet a boy who has made sure that the diving board is “nice and straight” and that is can “stand the weight.” He has verified that it “bounces right,” and that his toes “can get a grip.” The only thing left to do is to dive, but we cannot help thinking that perhaps that is the one thing he won’t do.
Writer Waiting captures another familiar situation to perfection. A child sits in front of a computer, a wonderful device that can do so many things that a writer does not need a “writing tutor.” The computer can spell and punctuate, “edit and select,” “copy and correct.” The one thing that it cannot do is figure out what you should write about.
The cartoon style illustrations that accompany the poems in this book often add a great deal to the writing, and in some cases they provide a visual punchline that readers will thoroughly enjoy.
This wonderful special edition volume includes twelve poems that were not included in the original 1996 copy of this title. The author’s family very kindly agreed to share these poems and their accompanying drawings with readers, and what a gift they have given us.
My effort to respond creatively to the news of the world continues; you can read about how Mary Lee started it all here. You're invited to scroll down to the previous week's minimalist commentaries --and of course, you're invited to join in. It wasn't clear to me at first, but the tiny discipline of having to craft a response rather than just banging the steering wheel and yelling has been empowering.
And from yesterday:
12.8
gold star winks out
leaving a long bright trail
greatness in orbit
Joining in this project are all the brave women below; I hope they will pardon me when, during the week, all I can manage is to Like their Tweeted haiku. It's good to work alongside you all!
Mary Lee Hahn at Poetrepository
Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche
Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
Buffy Silverman at Buffy's Blog
Jone Rush MacCulloch at DeoWriter
Diane Mayr, posted on Thursdays at Random Noodling
Julie Johnson at Raising Readers and Writers
Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink
Carol Wilcox at Carol's Corner
Our hostess with the postest is Jone at Check It Out. She reminds us that haiku fits nicely on a postcard. And now, in other news...
I was delighted to join
Jacqueline Jules,
Marty Rhodes Figley and
Laura Murray on Dec. 1st for a holiday book launch at One More Page in Arlington, VA (what a delightful place). Here we are, festive and fierce with a bunch of fun books for holiday giving and receiving. Each book you see earns its place on the bookshelf, but if I may reveal all my biases:
every home with children needs a copy of One Minute till Bedtime!
Dana's post on the power of demonstration writing is one of my favorites. Writers love to see their teachers write, and teachers have a terrific platform for instructing using this technique. 
By:
Monica Gupta,
on 12/9/2016
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The post Dear Parents Your Kind Attention Please appeared first on Monica Gupta.
Leaping for joy with her ribbon dance skills is polar bear Yuk Tuk, champion gymnast from
Woodland Nutcracker.
In a year full of remarkable animated features, one of the most sublime and original ones is about to launch.
The post The One-Man Masterpiece ‘The Girl Without Hands’ Will Debut in French Theaters Next Week appeared first on Cartoon Brew.
Sometimes I talk about how books with illustrators from countries other than America get a bum rap because there are so few awards that they can win. And this isn’t untrue, but there are a couple lists that give them their due. There’s the New York Times Best Illustrated list, and the Society of Illustrators show with all the awards inherent therein. There’s the Batchelder Award (sorta) and all those Best of the Year lists the review journals put out.
Pity then the picture book reprint. There is no award for a reprint. No best of list will tend to display such books. They are often lovely, but they rarely go viral. Perhaps there will be a crew of stalwart fans that cheer such a book’s reappearance, but no one ever gets rich off of picture book reprints.
Today, I sing the praises of those reprints. I’ve seen a lot of them this year, and these are the standouts. A truly lovely creation, each and every one. Your bookshelves will be richer for having them.
2016 Picture Book Reprints
The Brownstone by Paula Scher, ill. Stan Mack
I’m so pleased that this book comes first alphabetically on today’s list. I was completely unaware of the existence of this book, to say nothing of Paula Scher or Stan Mack, until it was reprinted. It’s marvelous! Each denizen of an apartment bugs another one, so they keep switching apartments around like mad. It’s basically a lower stakes version of the old fox/chicken/bag of grain riddle. Did I mention it was charming? It’s charming.
Colors by John J. Reiss
I’m switching it up. I put one of the Reiss reprints in the reprinted board book selection. Now I’m putting this one into the reprinted picture book section. Fair’s fair, and all the books in this series are lovely and deserving of praise.
Do You Hear What I Hear? by Helen Borten
Add this one to your collection of picture books about the five senses. Borten tackles sound in this book through a variety of creative methods. Though this book came out in the 1960s, it still feels pretty darn fresh when you read it through.
Fletcher and Zenobia by Victoria Chess and Edward Gorey, ill. Victoria Chess
No, your eyes do not deceive you. That’s Victoria Chess pairing with Edward Gorey. What a duo! I was a huge fan of Chess back in the day. Remember Slugs? No. Wait. Don’t remember Slugs. That thing was unnerving. Remember the piranha one instead. I love her work and to see her with a Gorey plot (and a sweet one at that) is just icing on the cake.
The Happy Hunter by Roger Duvoisin
I guess it’s fairly safe to say that we don’t see quite as much bandying about of guns in picture book these days. Fortunately, this particular hunter is more enamored of the act of having a gun than actually using it in any way. This was a good Duvoisin that I never really saw. Nice to see him coming back in print.
The Marzipan Pig by Russell Hoban
I think I actually physically squealed with delight when I saw that this was coming out this year. Way back in 2004 I would run film strips (yep, FILM strips) in the Jefferson Market Branch of NYPL. I could request these films from the Performing Arts Library of NYPL (by typing little carbons on a typewriter, but that’s another story) and my favorite one to request was The Marzipan Pig. You can’t find it on YouTube but you can see some of it on Fandor, so enjoy. I tended to play it around Valentine’s Day, thereby ensuring that a bunch of young adults are now wandering this Earth wondering why they have this strange memory of a film with a pig and an owl and a taxicab. So happy to see the book, at least, is back in print.
The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffman, ill. Lisbeth Zwerger
It’s a lovely one, really. I had to have at least one Zwerger on my list this year and I decided to go with this one because besides the Maurice Sendak one it’s the only illustrated version I’ve seen of the original story by E.T.A. Hoffman. Tis the season.
Roland the Minstrel Pig by William Steig
A good year for pigs, no? It’s hard to believe that this was William Steig’s first picture book. Harder still to believe that he wrote it when he was sixty-one.
Sam and Emma by Donald Nelsen, ill. Edward Gorey
What’s better than one reprinted Edward Gorey? TWO reprinted Edward Goreys! I knew that this particular book was a bit of a cult hit and that Sam and Emma fans abound. What I didn’t know was that it would feel quite so much like the Houndsley and Catina series by James Howe. It’s actually a rather remarkable little book in that it attempts to show that our perceptions and expectations may not always be accurate when dealing with other people.
Tomi Ungerer: A Treasury of Eight Books by Tomi Ungerer
Though I was a little surprised to find that The Beast of Monsieur Racine was not included in this collection, all told I was happy with the selection. You’ve got a nice mix of old classics and newer works. They all have this feeling peculiar to Ungerer and no one else. It’s nice to see him having his Renaissance while he’s still alive.
The Toy Brother by William Steig
This one had a lot of similarities to Steig’s later work Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Spells going awry and the possibility that you’ll now be stuck in the form you’ve accidentally just made for yourself for all eternity. It’s a mighty interesting book. There’s a reason I have multiple Steigs on this list.
What Can I Be? by Ann Rand, ill. Ingrid Fiksdahl King
The cover. Need I say more?
Interested in the other upcoming lists of this month? Here’s the schedule so that you can keep checking back:
December 1 – Board Books
December 2 – Board Book Adaptations
December 3 – Nursery Rhymes
December 4 – Picture Book Readalouds
December 5 – Rhyming Picture Books
December 6 – Alphabet Books
December 7 – Funny Picture Books
December 8 – Calde-Nots
December 9 – Picture Book Reprints
December 10 – Math Picture Books
December 11 – Bilingual Books
December 12 – International Imports
December 13 – Books with a Message
December 14 – Fabulous Photography
December 15 – Fairy Tales / Folktales
December 16 – Oddest Books of the Year
December 17 – Older Picture Books
December 18 – Easy Books
December 19 – Early Chapter Books
December 20 – Graphic Novels
December 21 – Poetry
December 22 – Fictionalized Nonfiction
December 23 – American History
December 24 – Science & Nature Books
December 25 – Transcendent Holiday Titles
December 26 – Unique Biographies
December 27 – Nonfiction Picture Books
December 28 – Nonfiction Chapter Books
December 29 – Novel Reprints
December 30 – Novels
December 31 – Picture Books
Today I have not one but three books to share with you! Check out The Never Veil Series by Amy McNulty.
In a village of masked men, each man is compelled to love only one woman and to follow the commands of his “goddess” without question. A woman may reject the only man who will love her if she pleases, but she will be alone forever. A man must stay masked until his goddess returns his love—and if she can’t or won’t, he remains masked forever.
Seventeen-year-old Noll’s childhood friends have paired off and her closest companion, Jurij, found his goddess in Noll’s own sister. Desperate to find a way to break this ancient spell, Noll instead discovers why no man has ever chosen her. She is in fact the goddess of the mysterious lord of the village, a man who refuses to let Noll have her right as a woman to spurn him.
Thus begins a dangerous game between the choice of woman and the magic of man. The stakes are no less than freedom and happiness, life and death—and neither Noll nor the veiled lord is willing to lose.
Winner of The Romance Reviews' Summer 2016 Readers' Choice Award in Young Adult Romance.
For the first time in a thousand years, the men in Noll’s village possess the freedom to love whom they will. In order to give each man the chance to fully explore his feelings, the lord of the village decrees all marriages null and void until both spouses declare their love for one another and their desire to wed again. What many women think will be a simple matter becomes a source of village-wide tension as most men decide to leave their families and responsibilities behind.
Rejected by the lord and ashamed of her part in the village’s history, Noll withdraws from her family and lives life as an independent woodcarver. This changes when her sister accuses her of hiding her former husband Jurij from her—and when Jurij eventually does ask to move in. Determined not to make the same mistakes, Noll decides to support her male friends through their new emotional experiences, but she’s soon caught up in a darker plot than she ever dared imagine possible from the men she thought she knew so well. And the lord for whom she still has feelings may be hiding the most frightening truth of them all.
Men can love, but they can also hate. Noll knows too well that the men in her village have adjusted poorly to the freedom of their hearts, but she hopes to bring peace back to her community. With the lord’s return, Noll feels confident that together, they can work to settle down the villagers, but in his rebirth, he remembers only one thing about her: that she caused the curse that tortured him for a millennium in the first place.
Determined to start anew, Noll must accept that, romantically, she and the lord are better without one another, but she’ll need his help to uncover what’s really behind all of the suffering in her village. Escorted to a land beyond the mountains, Noll uncovers the truth about her village and the strange occurrences in which she’s had a hand. When someone who loves her discovers the same things and betrays her, Noll feels powerless to stop her village’s fate. By learning to forgive and seek forgiveness, Noll finally understands true love of a free heart—along with true sacrifice.
Or get all three books together here. Amy McNulty is a freelance writer and editor from Wisconsin with an honors degree in English. She was first published in a national scholarly journal (The Concord Review) while in high school and currently writes professionally about everything from business marketing to anime. In her down time, you can find her crafting stories with dastardly villains and antiheroes set in fantastical medieval settings.
I only see in neon.
The post ‘Fault Lines’ by Mandy Wong appeared first on Cartoon Brew.
It's dark by 5 pm. The longest night of the year is only two weeks away. Here are some great books about nightime.
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen won the Caldecott award for the illustrations by John Schoenherr. This is a quiet look at a winter night and the beauties of nature. A father shares the night with his daughter as they hope to see an owl.
Bear Snores On Karma Wilson. Animals find their way into Bear's cave making more and more noise. When Bear finally wakes up and wants t join the ensuing party, his friends are fast asleep.
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. When a boy invites his snowman into his home, the snowman takes the boy on a night flight over the countryside. This wordless book has been turned into a popular animated short. View the full 1982 version of the film with an intro by David Bowie by clicking above.
Once you have the premise, the antagonist, the friends, foes, and overall story problem. It is time to break it down into layers. By coming up with at least ten scene ideas for each conflict layer, you can keep the plot moving forward in satisfying curves and twists, keeping the verbal camera on the move.
Layer One: External Conflict
What is the main story problem that all of your characters are dealing with?
These conflicts will test the protagonist’s courage, nerves, and determination.
List at least ten things that will happen to escalate this conflict: snags in the plan, unexpected discoveries, increasing levels of threat, and arrange them in an order that will make the most impact with the final scene being the resolution.
(Examples: finds gun, interviews suspect, confronts best friend, goes on date, looks for answer, can’t find someone).
At each step is the protagonist moving toward or away from the goal?
Layer two: Antagonist Conflict
How will the protagonist and antagonist face off? Use these scenes to reveal how they will pursue and evade or influence one another.
These conflicts will test the protagonist’s knowledge, ingenuity, and strength.
They are battles of will and wit. If the story involves multiple points of view and the antagonist is one of them, these scenes would be written following his or her point of view. All of the conflicts lead to the climactic confrontation with the protagonist.
List ten ideas.
Is the protagonist moving toward or away from his goal?
If these scenes follow the antagonist's POV, is he moving toward or away from his goal?
Layer three: Interpersonal Conflicts
How will the protagonist be affected by his friends and foes?
These conflicts will test the protagonist’s friendships, and loyalties.
Friends and foes can be used in any combination of scenes that fit with your story line. Make a list of Interpersonal Conflicts and who they will be with. Remember, not all are negative. There can be positive encounters.
List ten ideas.
Which friend or foe is involved? Are they helping or hindering?
The fourth layer: Internal Conflict
These scenes test the protagonist's will to continue the fight.
These scenes explore the personal dilemma of the protagonist that will lead to the point of change. He can do this through internal dialogue or dialogue with someone acting as his foil.
This is where you reveal the event that happened in the past and how it changed him. This is him dealing with the death of his partner, the loss of his wife, the child he didn’t save. These scenes can show him struggling with a habit or addiction or an ailing parent or wife.
This often culminates in the section after the climax, where we find out if the protagonist is going to live happily ever after. It can also culminate just prior to the climax. That does not mean other characters cannot be in these scenes or that he is not doing anything. It means his thoughts, reactions and actions illustrate the dilemma that is driving him toward his point of change.
List ten ideas. Is the protagonist solving or complicating his dilemma?
Now arrange the conflicts in the order that work best for your story. Try not to stack too many scenes of any one type together. Keep the flow steady.
For more about how to craft plots using conflict check out, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of conflict available in print and e-book and check out the free tools and information about the series on my website.
Synopsis: This is another one I acquired and got signed at the KidLitCon in Wichita a couple of months ago—and I got to meet and hang with the author as a fun bonus! Interesting aside—James Kennedy is founder of the really awesome 90-Second... Read the rest of this post
mechanica_01 from Lachlan Creagh on Vimeo.
I love these little magnets, they're not very strong though....fun to play for an hour anyway
Don't miss this unique opportunity to pitch your animation project at the world's biggest animation event.
The post Call For Pitches: Present Your Animation Project At Annecy 2017 appeared first on Cartoon Brew.
A bit wild and woolly because I'd had a glass or two of wine and finding it difficult to care about anything.
Couldn't determine if model was Loretta or loreena
..... anyway I've drawn her before- twice I think.
By: Marissa Wasseluk,
on 12/8/2016
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Many members of our community of educators have told us that digital learning is crucial in their programs and classrooms. That’s why we’re thrilled to partner with companies and organizations focused on creating and curating quality digital content to bring interactive reading, math games, critical thinking, writing practice and more to under-served children.
Here are a few of our favorite digital education tools:
1. Reading Rainbow Skybrary
Do you remember reading books with LeVar Burton while watching Reading Rainbow® on TV? The Skybrary® platform picks up where the beloved children’s television series left off, bringing its mission of comprehension and intellectual engagement into the Digital Age. By infusing digital books with purposeful interactivity, engaging narration by master storytellers, and paired with delightful videos hosted by LeVar Burton, Skybrary® captures the magic of the original show while helping children find relevance and understand context in their reading.
Skybrary® is a carefully curated, ever expanding interactive library of digital books and video explorations designed to engage young readers and foster a lifelong love of learning.
Members of the First Book community of educators can purchase two classroom subscriptions to Skybrary School for the price of one. Click here to find out more.
2. Words with Friends EDU
Our partners, Zynga, developed Words With Friends EDU to bring the fun of Words With Friends into the classroom. The Words With Friends EDU platform provides a safe environment for students learn new words as they play with their classmates. As they play, teachers and parents can track students’ progress using custom teacher dashboards.
Discover this free learning tool here.
3. Homer
With hundreds of hours of reading lessons, a vast library of stories and songs, and endless virtual field trips, Homer gives your program a boost of confidence and creativity! The Homer Learn-to-Read program was developed by teachers and literacy experts, built on Harvard and Stanford studies, and backed by Gold Standard research. Use of the platform has shown to increase reading scores by 74%!
Click here to learn more about Homer Learn-to-Read Program.
4. Open Ebooks
Developed through the White House ConnectED initiative to reach children from from low-income families, Open Ebooks is a free app that grants access to a digital library of thousands of popular and award-winning children’s and YA eBooks.
Allowing kids of all ages and their caregivers to instantly download up to 10 eBooks at a time to their mobile digital devices, Open eBooks makes it possible for educators and librarians to actively teach digital literacy, encourage family engagement, and share the love of reading through millions of mobile devices already in the hands of young people and their families.
You must be registered with First Book to use this app. If you are not yet registered with First Book, click here.
To learn more and request access codes to download Open Ebooks, click here.
5. Speakaboos
Speakaboos is a digital storybook platform that motivates children to read, explore, and discover stories they love based on their interests. With a catalog of over 200 interactive stories that feature a mix of read-along word highlighting, narration, and animation to enhance vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluency, Speakaboos cultivates literacy and language learning skills for children from preschool to third grade.
Thanks to our partnership with the creators of this innovative digital tool, a one-year subscription of Speakaboos is available members of the First Book community of educators for free.
To learn more about Speakaboos and start your free subscription, click here.
For further information about these digital learning tools and to explore more digital learning resources, visit the First Book Marketplace.
The post 5 Digital Education Tools for Educators Serving Kids in Need appeared first on First Book Blog.
turkey_run from Lachlan Creagh on Vimeo.
And is running.
I think model will need to be modified or swapped out for a version with flappable wings so it can fly ingame.
Former Pixar artist Neth Nom explains why he used the game engine Unity to render his new short film.
The post The Animated Short ‘Sonder’ Chose An Unconventional Rendering Solution: Unity appeared first on Cartoon Brew.
By: Sue Bursztynski,
on 12/8/2016
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I get some strange requests. There are the freelance journalists who have come up with a novel way of making a living: they email you to offer a post on the topic of your choice, absolutely free - provided you let them slip in links to their sponsors. I delete those unanswered nowadays after putting something into my guidelines saying so. When I was answering I told them I don't advertise on this site, unless you count the promotion of great new books which I have read and loved. And occasionally I give a guest post to a probably self-published author who has taken the trouble to read my guidelines, without requiring a copy of the book, which I would then have to review, and what if I hated it? Besides, they're usually in the U.S. or Britain(mostly the U.S.) and postage costs are wicked! Everyone deserves a break. If the book sounds interesting I think perhaps it will interest my readers.
But I don't advertise accessories or furniture companies or any of the other stuff these journalists want to slip into my blog. This is a book (and sometimes movie) blog!
And there is another kind of inquirer who wants advertising. It's the kind who emails asking if you'll do a post on a theme that might interest their customers. It might be on an appropriate theme, but in the end, it's about promoting their business. And I don't do that. Ever. See above about the links to advertising sites. I even had to start moderating comments when I was getting a lot of spam comments that led back to advertising sites.
The last time I got an inquiry of the "would you post about this?" variety it was from an adventure travel company wanting a post about adventure. I said yes, but only as long as they understood I would not be linking to their web site or even mentioning their company. I suspect they didn't like that and I bet they never put in a link to my post on their web site. ;-)
This morning I got an inquiry from a business that hires out cars, wanting me to post about the vehicles of Harry Potter. I said no. I don't drive, so I have never fantasised about the flying Ford Anglia, and I don't promote businesses. I suppose I could have given them the same answer as I did the adventure travel company, but I just wasn't interested. And these people never follow my blog and rarely read the guidelines. If they do, they kind of hope I'll make an exception(and yes, I got that once or twice in an email too). This one could have worked out I like Harry Potter by the post on the side of the page, without ever reading the post itself, let alone any of the rest of the blog.
I suppose I'll have to rewrite my guidelines yet again, to make it clear what I do and don't post about, but it probably won't help. Sigh!
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From Muddy Colors: Cory Godbey talks about Charles Vess' new book Walking Through the Landscape of Faerie of which I was lucky enough to see some of the originals when Charles visited Hollins University last summer! 
By: Frances Tyrrell,
on 12/8/2016
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on 12/8/2016
By: Betsy Bird,
on 12/8/2016
Sometimes I talk about how books with illustrators from countries other than America get a bum rap because there are so few awards that they can win. And this isn’t untrue, but there are a couple lists that give them their due. There’s the New York Times Best Illustrated list, and the Society of Illustrators show with all the awards inherent therein. There’s the Batchelder Award (sorta) and all those Best of the Year lists the review journals put out.
By: bookkm,
on 12/8/2016
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By: Diana Hurwitz,
on 12/8/2016
I like the Library Mouse and the Library Lion, too. For that matter, I just like libraries.
We had this poem by Liz posted in our library. I'm not sure it's still there, but the librarians loved used it in their classes about how to use the library! Thanks for the list, too. There are many who make us appreciate those who ensure that books are available to all.
Wow! Fabulous post. You make me think and smile and love poetry every time I see your words. I hope I get to meet you some day. Consider yourself added to my bucket list ;)
Thank you so much for sharing my poem! I absolutely love libraries and librarians so I'm especially happy to have my Dewey Decimal Day poem in the Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations.
Hooray for librarians! Here's a Laura Purdee Salas poem for librarians (found the link in her post today):
http://laurasalas.com/heart-of-a-teacher/
Hey, friends, thanks so much for stopping by to comment. I wish I could figure out how to reply to each individual comment, but let me say a special thanks to you, Liz, for your marvelous poem! Since I teach future librarians, it's very special to me. Plus, it's so great to share the library love with ALL of you-- and learn about more library-themed poems like Laura's. Thanks for that tip, Mary Lee! And Linda, I hope our paths cross SOON and we can finally meet! I'm a big fan of you and your work too!
Wishing you all the happiest of holidays!
Sylvia