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Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday! (the link to this week's PF host is below.)
First: welcome, welcome to our newest TeachingAuthor, Carla! I am in awe of your writer's journey, Carla, because when I learned that we would be discussing non-fiction, my legs trembled and my palms grew cold and damp. Unlike you and Mary Ann, in her wonderful first salvo on this topic, I am not, by nature, a researcher. I am NOT a "Just the facts, M'am."
 |
| Jack Webb as Joe Friday in Dragnet, from Wikipedia |
But... is this really true?
Well...I DO tell my
students that real details bring fiction to life, and have them listen to the following
short audioclip from StoryCorps. Talk about bringing a subject to life! The details Laura Greenberg shares with her daughter are priceless--not to mention hilarious.
Still, I struggled to write poems for
The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science (
Pomelo Books). By "struggled" I mean I read science articles and wrote tons of stinky poems about rocks, astronauts, materials science, the expiration dates on seed packages,electricity, science experiments...and on and on and on.
But...I
dread gettting facts wrong--my worst nightmare. (Confession:
writing these blog posts scares the bejeebers out of me.)
In fiction, I can fly my fairy-self to Planet Bodiddley and make up all the materials science by myself. But if I have to convey facts? And then somehow bake them into a tasty poetry pie? I get tied up in knots. My writing becomes stiff as a board. I'm afraid of...
But finally I stumbled on this fascinating fact, in a review of
The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman:"The water coming out of your kitchen tap is four billion years old and might well have been sipped by a Tyrannosaurus rex."
Wow. Think of the water you drink. Think of the water you
take a BATH in!!!! Ten versions of "Space Bathtub" later (with considerable coaching from the ever-patient anthologists,
Janet Wong and
Sylvia Vardell) this fact became a poem for kindergartners:
OLD WATER
by April Halprin Wayland
I am having a soak in the tub.
Mom is giving my neck a strong scrub.
Water sloshes against the sides.
H2O's seeping into my eyes.
The wet stuff running down my face?
She says it came from outer space!
The water washing between my toes
was born a billion years ago.
from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Science(c) 2014 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved
If you're a K-5th grade teacher, this book is so immediately useful, you'll cry with relief when you open it. Trust me. For details, and to watch under-two minute videos of poets (Bobbi Katz, Kristy Dempsey, Mary Lee Hahn, Susan Blackaby, Buffy Silverman, Linda Sue Park and me) reciting our science poems from this anthology, go to Renee LaTulippe's
No Water River. Again, trust me. (A little foreshadowing: Pomelo Books' newest anthology,
Celebrations! comes just in time for Poetry Month this year--stay tuned!)
Here's a terrific vimeo of "Old Water" produced by
Christopher Alello:
posted safely and scientifically by April Halprin Wayland wearing safety goggles
Happy Friday! As I promised on Wednesday, today I'm bringing you an author who turned a close encounter with nature into a joyful and educational picture book. That author is Lisa Morlock.
Lisa works as a writer and educator in Urbandale, Iowa....She has taught middle school through college language arts classes, worked as a secondary administrator, and written and edited for Perfection Learning Corporation and Meredith Corporation. She has led writing workshops with TAG students and teacher workshops on the nature-literacy connection, as well as guesting for whole-school visit author programs. In addition, Lisa currently serves as the Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI-Iowa.
Lisa's picture book, her first, is
Track that Scat! (Sleeping Bear Press, 2012). From the publisher:
When Finn and her dog Skeeter set out on a hike to cure their restless feet, they literally take a step into nature. A big gooey step...right into scat (also known as poop). And just like the animal it comes from, scat comes in all shapes and sizes. Scat, along with foot or paw tracks, can tell a lot about the creature who produced it.
As Finn's hike takes her further into the woods, she happens along some scat and tracks from a variety of woodland creatures.
Pairing punchy rhyme with science writing, Lisa Morlock has created the perfect nature guide, providing detailed descriptions of the prints, diets, and behaviors of the animals that Finn and Skeeter encounter along their hike. Watch your step!
School Library Journal said about the book: "If the need arises to teach children how to identify wild animal scat, start with this picture book . . . The large spreads are inviting, and the dog, a basset hound, is cute, cute, cute, and the gross factor is likely to draw kids in."
IndieBound.org included the book on their
Spring 2012 Kids' Indie Next List.
Track that Scat! is like two books in one. Younger readers/listeners will giggle through the bouncy rhyming story, and older ones will enjoy the nonfiction info in Lisa's conversational sidebars. A winning combination! Speaking of winning, YOU can win a signed copy of the book! Details at the end of this post.
Lisa was kind enough to answer a few questions for us. (Added bonus: art by the book's illustrator, Carrie Anne Bradshaw)
What made you want to write a nature story, and Track that Scat! in particular?
As a family we spend a lot of time outdoors. Children love exploring and getting dirty and being free – all the things that happen outside.
I wrote Track that Scat! after my son and his friend managed to find a big flock of geese sitting on a pond. Once the geese saw two boys running their way, they took flight. Geese poop up to a third of their body weight per day, so guess what was left behind....
The boys' shoes were covered in green goose scat. That's when I realized it: kids love poop talk and aninals. There's so much to learn from tracks and scat.
Also, more and more research supports a nature-literacy-mental health connection, so I do like to see kids get outdoors.
From the book:
Finn lands upon a hollow log
And yells, "Come on!" to that old dog.
Five-toed tracks, like handprints–see?
A messy pile beneath the tree.
A den! Her hound plays show-and-smell–
dry leaves, fish bones, a walnut shell.
With one tromp-stomp
Finn's foot goes splat.
Oh no!
Right into ...
... raccoon scat!
What made you decide to write the story in rhyme?
I love rhyming stories. And good rhyming stories make great read-alouds! They're fun, kids anticipate words, and the repetition allows for participation.
As a past teacher, I look for stories that combine factual tidbits in a fun, fictional storyline. The characters pull kids in, but there's an added educational benefit that stays with them.
Where there any challenges between acceptance and publication?
After the story was accepted and edited, the publisher wanted to hear it in 3rd person rather than 1st person. At first, I didn't see how it could work, but changing the point of view made it much stronger. I'm so glad for the suggestion.
Another surprise was a character change. My son, Will, and his buddy, Jaden, were muses for the story. When the artwork came back, the main character was a girl. They were nine at the time and quiet disappointed with the pigtails.
What are you working on now?
I am working on another Finn and Skeeter story, a biography, a middle grade novel, and scads of other tales.
--------------------
Something to look forward to! Thanks for the interview, Lisa, and THANKS, too, for donating a signed copy of Track that Scat!
Jill Esbaum
To win
Track that Scat!, enter our contest below through Rafflecopter. If you aren't sure how it works, read
this. And click
here to learn the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. signing in with your e-mail address.
Choose one option for entering, or more (if you want to increase your odds of winning). The giveaway will run through Friday, September 6th. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I've enjoyed reading my fellow Teaching Authors' current series of posts about turning "life into art." Of course, as Mary Ann indicates, nearly all of us get our ideas from some event we've experienced in life, even though some of us (not I) might be more inclined to use them in the context of a dystopian novel set on Mars in the year 3013.
I recently attended a writing conference where author Erica Bauermeister was the inspiring keynote speaker. She told us that her first manuscript was a memoir. It received positive feedback from editors but was not, ultimately, published because (to paraphrase) no one wants to read the non-dysfunctional real-life story of someone who's not famous. However, an editor asked her to pitch something else, and she ultimately embarked on a project that became two books: 500 Great Books for Women and Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. Reading hundreds of novels for those projects was a terrific education, Bauermeister says. However, by the time she had completed this gargantuan task, she was nearly 50 when she wrote her first novel -- which was promptly published and became a bestseller. She said that she is convinced that she was not ready to write fiction until she had done a certain amount of living -- in her case, raising children, moving to Italy -- and that bits of those stories were scattered throughout her fictional characters' lives.
I have done a ton of "living" in this last decade since marrying and having children. It has also, not coincidentally been the least productive writing decade of my life. Juggling three jobs and two kids is getting easier as they are now entering first and third grade (and I just sent them off a few mintues ago for day #1). I remember when we were at Vermont College and JoAnn Early Macken's children were young. The constant theme of her writing then was time (or the lack thereof). Ah, how I can relate!
And so I have determined that it's time to take back a little time for myself so that I can write about the experiences I've now had the privilege of seeing through my children's eyes. Instead of writing ABOUT writing, I'm going to just write.
This isn't exactly a "goodbye post" (for one thing, I have one more blog post to write), but more like a "see you soon." It has been great getting to know all of you through Teaching Authors over these past four years.
I wish everyone a wonderful school year and a happy, productive writing year, too! --Jeanne Marie
***
Also, don't forget--time is running out to enter our giveaway for a chance to win one of two copies of Esther's terrific new board book, Txtng Mama Txtng Baby. See her blog post for details. 
Last week, when Esther introduced her brand new baby board book, Txtng Mama Txtng Baby (which you can still enter our drawing to win!), she explained how the book was inspired by her yet-to-be born grandson. As a follow-up, the other TeachingAuthors are sharing our own examples of how real life has inspired our stories. On Monday, Mary Ann talked about how the ideas for several of her books came from things that happened to her, her daughter, or family friends.
I've blogged before about how my novel, Rosa, Sola, was based on personal experiences, experiences I'd never considered writing about until I was working on my MFA at Vermont College. I don't want to bore our long-time readers by repeating that story. (If don't know it, you can read this blog post from 2010.) Instead, I'd like to share a bit about the inspiration for the first children's short story I ever had published, which appeared in the August 1999 issue of Pockets magazine.
I've talked before
about why I think Pockets is a great market.
One of the reasons is that
their theme list is posted online, along with submission deadlines. That theme list inspired me to write a story specifically for them.
The theme I chose to address was
discrimination. On reading that word, the first ideas that came to mind had to do with discrimination based on race or some other physical trait. But the magazine's theme description encouraged writers to think beyond the obvious forms of discrimination. That's when I turned to real life for inspiration.
At that time, my husband helped out with a ministry at our church that picked up surplus items from a local Hostess Foods thrift store to share with the needy. My husband's assignment was to bring the extra bread, fruit pies, and Twinkies to a nearby youth home/correctional facility. One day, the box of surplus food he picked up consisted almost entirely of Twinkies. When he carried the Twinkies into the youth home, one of the kids said, "Hey, look. It's the Twinkie Man!" That soon became my husband's nickname at the facility.
The children there began to look forward to my husband's visits. One day, as he dropped off another box of goodies, one of the boys in the home asked my husband to pray for him. When my husband came home and told me that, my heart went out to the boy. Before that request, I hadn't thought much about what it was like for the children in the facility. Part of me assumed that the kids sent there had to be "bad kids." For the first time, I realized that they were simply kids that had made bad choices. They were no different from my own son, who was around 10 years old at the time.
My son occasionally went with my husband to the Hostess thrift store to help him load up the food. Because of the correctional facility's rules, my son wasn't allowed to go into the facility with my husband. But I began to wonder: What if he
was allowed inside? What if he looked down on (in other words, discriminated against) the kids there and thought he was "better than they were." And what if a boy incarcerated there had surprised my son by asking
him for prayers?
The answers to those questions became the inspiration for my short story, which I called "The Twinkie Man." It's about a boy who helps his father make deliveries to a youth home and learns that the kids there are really no different than he is. I was happy and honored to have
Pockets magazine accept the story for publication. However, I was a bit disappointed when they changed the title to "The Cupcake Man." That just doesn't have the same ring to it.
J
The first paragraph of the published story reads:
They call my dad the Cupcake Man. It's not because he likes cupcakes. I've never even seen him eat one. He got the name because of his volunteer work.
(See what I mean about the title change--the third sentence would be more believable--and entertaining--if it was referring to Twinkies and not cupcakes!)
I want to emphasize that, even though I based this story on real-life events, I never would have written it at all if not for the theme idea and deadline set by
Pockets magazine. So I'm as grateful to the magazine editors as I am to my husband, the original "Twinkie Man," for inspiring my story. And, like Mary Ann, I continue to take note of interesting and unusual dialogue, characters, and settings I encounter that may help shape and inspire my fiction.
Don't forget--time is running out to enter our giveaway for a chance to win one of
two copies of Esther's terrific new board book,
Txtng Mama Txtng Baby. See
her blog post for details.
Happy writing!
Carmela
My novel, Mind Games, began, in its way, when I was in eighth grade. It began with my quest to prove for the sake of science (and my grade -- like Benjamin D. Lloyd, I was all about grades) that ESP does, in fact, exist. My project was successful to the extent that it won (I think) an honorable mention at the state science fair. But in the end, I neither proved nor disproved my hypothesis -- that
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The above title’s question is a variation of this week’s Ask the TeachingAuthors question,"What’s the connection between Life and Fiction?”My answer?Real Life works its way into our writing and words, invited or not, intentionally or otherwise.And how could it not? We’re reservoirs of life events, memories, emotions, collectors of people, places and things. Sometimes, Life serves up a story on a
posted by Carmela MartinoI have a busy week! This Wednesday and Thursday, I have the honor of being a visiting author in the Joliet, Illinois School District, as part of their "Reading Week" Celebration. I'll be speaking to groups of students in grades K-2 and 3-5 at four different schools. Should be fun!Then on Saturday, May 16, I'll be teaching "Turning Life into Fiction," a new all-day
What a great interview. Thanks for introducing us to this book, Jill. And thank you, Lisa, for sharing this excerpt with us. I especially love:
"Her hound plays show-and-smell" :-)
What gorgeous illustrations, too!
You're welcome, Carmela!
Great interview Jill!! I just love how Lisa's book is both entertaining and educational!
Jill, thanks for sharing this wonderful interview. Lisa's book is definitely one that my kids and I will enjoy as we hike our forested backyard. Love the rhymes in the excerpt you shared, too.
I agree that kids are such huge fans of anything delightfully-icky and gross. I am sure this book would be a huge hit. Thanks for sharing this! Lovely interview too.
Thanks, and you're welcome! Wish you all could win. :)
This sounds like a great book and a great subject for a book! I'd love to win an autographed copy. Thank you for the opportunity!
This book, Lisa could inspire those who aren't nature lovers to give it a try! Scootin' along on a scatty adventure. :D
Learning can be fun and this lovely rhyme book proves it. Great illustrations too!
Loved hearing for Lisa! Thanks Jill!
Students at our school are out in nature lots, so this book would be a great addition to our field books for the youngest students. Thanks for telling your story, Lisa!
Good luck, everybody!
This sounds like such an awesome book...wish I was still teaching 4th grade. It is right up their alley.
This sounds like such a fun and educational book! I love the idea!
What a great idea for a book.......love the non-fictional elements and the rhyming format!