I'm continuing my Chicken by Chicken series. I am writing about my real challenges in hopes that my story will help you find your way.
This week I will chat about a glitch in the software of my brain. Along with the whole blind-in-one-eye thing, the anxiety thing, the depression thing, daily, I face dyslexia.
What is that like?
I have a hard time distinguishing left from right. I leave articles out of sentences. I repeat letters in words. I leave letters out of words. I skip words. I don't put words in the right order. I flip bs, ds, ps, and qs. I love lists, but I really hate numbered lists. I thank God that we don't have to look up stuff in dictionaries manually any more! Also, I'm am freaking brilliant with math as long as calculation is not necessary.
I think you get it--glitch in that brain. .
I have hundreds of "work arounds" for this problem. I read my writing backwards. (Ah, yes, reading backwards or forward, right side up or upside down makes little difference to me.) I change fonts. I change the size of fonts. I change the color of fonts. I only copy edit 5 or 6 words at a time. For math, I'm horrible at calculation but amazing at estimation. I solve every problem until I get the same answer three times.
ADVICE: If you are older, be sure to find some expert on dyslexia to offer you new ideas to deal with your glitches.
Dyslexia makes some easy things very difficult to me. I have found it is useful to work with the problem and not against it. I am full of stories. Here are some facts. My stories have to be stronger than the average story because I have to get readers to look past the fact this writing needs "more editing than most." So be it. I'd pit my imagination against, the best grammar any day. I also am one tenacious soul.
In the end, dylexia has brought me some wonderful gifts. The best one is empathy. I love chatting to kids with reading and writing problems. Reading is not about the AR points you can rack up. Writing isn't about the grammar. Reading is about finding a secret door into new worlds. And writing is about expressing ideas that only you can express. I can seriously say, "Don't let a string of teachers slapping Fs on your papers stop you from opening secret doors or sharing your ideas."
A deep truth--we are all hopelessly flawed. Everyone has glitches in their software. We are having to deal with "work arounds." If you are full of stories, do your best work and know that is enough regardless of the challenges you face.
For fun check out my Chickens video. If you would like the book, CHICKENS DO NOT TAKE OVER HALLOWEEN, check it out here.
And now a doodle:
Here is a quote for your pocket.
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Keller
I don't remember a lot about kindergarten. I was in the "morning class" when three hours was all that educators thought five-year-olds could handle.
My teacher, Mrs. Palmer, looked exactly like "Dear Abby" in the newspaper. I was fire drill captain, or as I proudly told my parents, "If the school burns down, I'm the first one out." I tackled Jimmy R., my kindergarten crush, in the classroom playhouse and kissed him. (It was a decade or two before that happened again.)
I nearly flunked kindergarten. In addition to such skills as using scissors "responsibly," counting to ten, and reciting the alphabet without singing it, you had to be able to tie your shoes. I tried and tried all year until it occurred to a neighbor that Mom being left-handed and me being right handed made a difference. She had a left handed son who couldn't tie his shoes either. Moms swapped kids, and both of us skinned out of kindergarten with a day to spare. Talk about academic pressure.
Because kindergarten was so unmemorable for me, I looked forward to going through it with my own daughter, Lily. Boy had things changed! Kids wore Velcro strapped sneakers. They were supposed to count to 20 and know the alphabet BEFORE kindergarten. Lily had been in a Bangkok pre-school that was about learning through exploring rather than memorizing. Lily's kindergarten teacher was a Sweet Young Thing whose worst admonition was "someone is not being considerate." Her classroom was a mass of pinatas and Chinese dragon kites and African violets. Lily was proud to be named "Class Gardener" and "Permanent Paper Passer Outer." Sweet Young Thing figured out that Lily was ADHD and at her best when she was "helping" It must have been a long day for both of them because by then, kindergarten was a full school day. However, Lily and her teacher had a mutual admiration society, even if Lily couldn't
quite manage numbers and letters...at least not in their correct order.
In promoting Lily to first grade, Sweet Young Thing took into account that Lily had spent two years of pre-school and half of kindergarten in a "foreign" environment. She was promoted to the ominously named "transitional" first grade, kids who weren't "reading ready." I didn't give it a lot of thought. Neither did Lily. She knew she would sail through school, watering violets and passing out papers. What could go wrong?
I picked Lily up that first day of first grade. She didn't say anything, but I figured she was pooped out, getting used to a new teacher and classmates.
At home, I unlocked the front door and went in the house, knowing Lily was straggling behind me.
Slam! went the front door. We don't slam doors in our house. Ever. I turned to see Lily fling her red backpack across the room, narrowly missing me. She slumped against the door, crossed her arms, pushed out her lower lip and announced in a voice that I'm sure the neighbors heard. "That's it! I'm never going back! I hate my teacher and there's only one other girl in my class and there's only one recess and the kindergarten kids got lunch first and ate all the chocolate ice cream. I hate vanilla! First grade stinks!"
Suddenly, I flashbacked to my first day of first grade, telling my mother that if school was going to be this boring, I wasn't going to college. I remembered my teacher, a troll (henceforth known as Mrs. Troll)who was about to retire after forty-something years of first graders. A woman who yelled a lot, slammed her fist on your desk if she thought you weren't paying attention, and when all else failed, used what I later learned was
guilt as a motivator.
"You are thankless, spoiled children," she'd shrill. "I work and work to teach you to(fill in the blank) but you
just won't learn! What is
wrong with you?" She didn't know? We were terrified of her. She yelled if we got the wrong answer, yelled if we asked a question.
I made her mad the first day of school when she said "Now when you can read this big book" (a giant sized version of a pre-primer prominently displayed next to the teacher's desk) you can have your very own book. You let me know when you think you're ready."
I raised my hand. I had taught myself to read from billboards and TV ads before kindergarten. And while I was sure the words "mouthwash" and "rest area next exit, clean restrooms" weren't in that big book, I had filled in my vocabulary with what are now called "Dolch words").
"I didn't mean,
now." Mrs. Troll squinted at her seating chart. "Mary Ann. I meant after you know how to read."
"But I know how to read now," I insisted. As an adult who has been a teacher, I can sort of understand her exasperation. Five minutes into the school year and she already been challenged by the likes of me.
"Fine, then," she said in an-I-dare-you-voice. "Come on up and read for us." She stood behind the book, simpering, waiting for me to fail.
I didn't fail. Dick and Jane were a snore as literature but I read all 32 pages of it without a mistake. Now Mrs. Troll was really mad, because she didn't
have any primers. She hadn't counted on anyone learning to read in the first month, let alone first day. She sent me to the office to requisition my first reader, six weeks early. Although I pride myself on remembering the most insignificant details of my childhood, the rest of first grade disappeared in the mists of trauma.
Now it was happening again with my own child. As the Mom part of my brain registered Lily's outrage, the writer part thought
First Grade Stinks. What a great title for a picture book! As I explained to Lily that not only would she be going back to school tomorrow and the next day and the next for twelve years (it was a little early to spring college on her) My own first grade disappointments melded with Lily's. I started listing my possible plot points.
The year never got any better for Lily. I grew alarmed when Lily announced at the end of the first week that five kids had been "flunked back" to kindergarten. I immediately showed up for a teacher's conference. The teacher (aka Mrs. First Grade) was perhaps my age, but looked older. Much, much older. She had surgery three times that school year (the only days Lily arrived home happy) so I tried to cut her some slack. But Mrs. First Grade affirmed that yes indeed she had just demoted five kids back to kindergarten "because I could tell they weren't going to cut it." (After a week?) She left no doubt that Lily would be joining them if she would "stop being lazy." I already knew that Lily was dyslexic so I asked about special ed testing. "Oh we don't do that until the student has flunked first grade and kindergarten." What? A classroom of eight-year-old first graders? My sympathy was wearing thin.
It wore out altogether when Mrs. First Grade informed in February to tell me she was flunking Lily for the year because "she won't do her board work." I snapped. "You do realize she can't read, right?" Well, no apparently she didn't. Lily had kept her secret by having the teaching assistant read to her when the teacher wasn't looking. Then Lily, having memorized the story in one hearing, would recite it for the teacher, word perfect, right down to the timing of the page turns. I told the teacher to hand her a random book and ask her to read right then and there. Teacher called me back in ten minutes. "She can't read! I guess she's dyslexic!" You think, person with twenty-five years of teaching "transitional" children? I couldn't finish writing
First Grade Stinks fast enough.
However, fiction and real life rarely turn out the same. In
First Grade Stinks, the main character, Haley, realizes that although the two grades and teachers are entirely different, first grade would bring her the ultimate reward of
learning to read on her own! Haley learns to appreciate her new, less flamboyant teacher.
In real life, Lily hated everything about first grade except for physical education and art. She never did learn to read that year but was promoted to second grade anyway. We changed school systems. She tested into special education in second grade, where she stayed until she graduated from high school (in the college prep track and with a high B average.) Reading will always be a challenge for her but she has developed a repertoire of coping mechanisms. She is in college now, Guess what her major is. Go ahead. Guess. Pre-K special ed!
"After all," she says, "I've had years and years of thinking how I would teach things differently."
I guess Lily's first grade didn't stink entirely.
Posted by Mary Ann Rodman
Red Squirrel, a new imprint from Barrington Stoke, is dedicated to creating exciting picture books.
Fair Enough.
But what makes them sit especially tall on the bookshelf is that as well as superb storytelling and inventive illustrations, these picture books contain lots of dyslexia friendly features so that grown-ups with dyslexia can also experience the joy of reading aloud to the kids in their lives.
One of their first offerings, All I said Was, written by former children’s laureate, Michael Morpurgo and illustrated by Ross Collins is a cautionary tale about the dangers of wish fulfilment.
Have you ever been reading a book and then fallen into a reverie imagining yourself as the character you’re reading about?
This is exactly what happens in All I said Was, and as a consequence – with the help of just a little magic, a boy and a bird swap places.
The boy-turned-bird is delighted. “This flying lark is amazing. I wan to to be a bird all my life.”
The bird-turned-boy is also pleased as punch: He discovers the joy of being able to read.
But is bird-life really all it’s cracked up to be? And can the magic ever be undone?
A quietly funny celebration of the power of a good book to transport us anywhere – safely – this is lovely story, told clearly and concisely. Its theme makes it particulars appropriate for opening a new venture which will hopefully enable more families to enjoy more stories.
Collins’ characterization and visual humour are especially strong (I particularly like his farmer and pigs). The illustrator also has the final say with a brilliant twist in the tale once Morpurgo’s words are complete. It’s a brilliantly satisfying, slightly naughty and rather funny end to a super book.
This is a book that could be enjoyed for so may different reasons – whether you’re looking for a prime example of illustrations doing so much to enrich a written text, a book celebrating how books can bring our imagination to life, or simply a funny story to share at bedtime – whether or not you yourself sometimes struggle with the written word.
All I can say is: Hurrah for Red Squirrel and their broadening of what it means for picture books to be inclusive.
Both M and J said they too would love to experience flying like a bird. The nearest I could offer them was the joy of flying…. a kite, made to look like a bird. Ah well, us parents, we can only try our best 
We cut out very rough bird shapes from old plastic bags which we decorated with permanent pens. Once the feathers, beaks and eyes were in place we attached thin doweling to our birds. I used this commercial product as a starting point, cross referencing it with these instructions for making a diamond kite to come up with All-I-Said-Was-Kites Mark 1.
We each made one kite and then imagined us swapping places with the birds as we flew them.
Additional activities which could work well alongside reading All I said Was include:
Reading another be-careful-what-you-wish-for tale, for example, The Fish who could Wish by John Bush, illustrated by Korky Paul.
Making a set of beautiful paper wings like we did here, when reading Flyaway Katie by Polly Dunbar.
Chasing pigeons. I don’t know a child who doesn’t love chasing pigeons!
Photo: Owen Jell
Music that goes well with All I said Was and the playing it induced in us includes:
Let’s Go Fly a Kite – from the film of Mary Poppins
Keep The Park Clean For The Pigeons – from Sesame Stree
Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra
If you could swap places with a character in a children’s book, which character would you swap places with (bearing in mind whoever you swapped with would take your place in your family/classroom/library….)?
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of All I said Was from the publisher.
The Wild Book Margarita Engle
Homework Fear
The teacher at school
smiles, but she's too busy
to give me extra help,
so later, at home,
Mama tries to teach me.
She reminds me
to go oh-so-slowly
and take my time.
There is no hurry.
THe heavy book
will not rise up
and fly away.
When I scramble the sneaky letters
b and d, or the even trickier ones
r and l, Mama helps me learn
how to picture
the sep--a--rate
parts
of each mys--te--ri--ous
syl--la--ble.
Still, it's not easy
to go so
ss--ll--oo--ww--ll--yy.
S l o w l y.
SLOWLY!
I have to keep
warning myself
over and over
that whenever I try
to read too quickly,
my clumsy patience
flips over
and tumbles,
then falls...
Why?
Wwhhyyyy?
WHY?
¡Ay!
The doctor hisses Fefa's diagnosis like a curse-- word blindness*. She'll never read, or write. It's why she hates school so much, why the other kids taunt her when she has to read OUT LOUD.
But Fefa's mother has the heart of poet and doesn't accept the prognosis. She gives Fefa a blank book (one of the most terrifying things Fefa has seen) for her to fill with words as she gets them, slowly.
Fefa deals with the bullying and taunts of her classmates and siblings and slowly fills her book and slowly learns to detangle the letters.
Y'all know I'm a huge Engle fan. I'm most familiar with her YA stuff, but this one is more middle grade. There's a lot less politics and history**, as the main focus is Fefa's struggle with the written word. It's based on Engle's own grandmother and the stories she told of her own struggle with dyslexia.
Of course, one of the things that I like so much about Engle is how she weaves stories around Cuban history, so this wasn't my favorite one of hers. Also, there's only one narrator, while I'm used to her work being told in multiple voices. THAT SAID, it's still really good.
I like how Engle works with free verse and structure in this one to really capture Fefa's voice, especially when sounding words out and trying to figure out syllables. It's one that younger readers will enjoy and will cause them to seek out more of her work.
Today's Poetry Friday Round-up is over at... A Teaching Life. Be sure to check it out!
*Apparently, this is actually what they used to call dyslexia.
**Although it is set in 1912 Cuba and there is still some historical drama, it's just not the focus like it is in her other work.
Book Provided by... my local library
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5 Stars Sometimes I feel bad when I am in school. ………………..–Knees Louis the Third is in the fourth grade. He is a typical boy with bright, alert eyes and a kid-style smirk for a smile. Louis likes school—sometimes. School is not easy for Louis. He has a “mixed-up brain” that often sees things differently [...]
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Welcome Back to Kid Lit Reviews After last thirty days of wildly romping through April from A to Z, I needed to take a little rest. No kidding, my pinky finger on my writing hand went numb. The finger was totally and completely numb from the tip to the edge of the hand. Now that [...]
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Last weekend I had the opportunity to view HBOs Journey Into Dyslexia, directed by Alan and Susan Raymond. The free viewing took place at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch (SFPL) and was sponsored by the Northern CaliforniaBranch of the International Dyslexia Association (NCBIDA). Video Verite is the website for the films of Alan and Susan Raymond. There are lots of educational resource links on the site, notably Parents Education Network, SAFE Voices, LDOnLine.org, and of course NCBIDA. What I found so moving about this 77 minute documentary was the story of world-famous micro sculpture and dyslexic Willard Wigan. As a child growing up in England, he was made to feel like nothing. One teacher in particular held him up to his classmates as an example of failure. He found meaning in the very smallest of things and his work is created in the eye of a needle. He slowed his body down so that he can sculpt the micro sized objects between heart beats, in one-and-a-half seconds. Check out the camels in the eye of a needle. His work is so small to view it properly one needs to use a microscope.
NCBIDA has a recommended list of books for parents, educators and students, you might want to check out here. LDOnLine.org also recommends a few as does GreatSchools.org.
Graphic from cbbc Newsround pictures.
... as a dyslexicby Sally Poyton, Guest BloggerNotes from the Slushpile attempts to make some sense out of the mad scramble for a publishing deal. As the newest slushpile guinea pig, I'm going to attempt to take you all with me... This is the second in new series Surviving the Slushpile, where we'll highlight some of the highs and lows of the slushpile journey.Sally Poyton is knee-deep in the
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Parents Education Network is sponsoring the third annual EdRev at AT&T Park on Saturday, April 16. You won’t want to miss this fabulous event. I wrote about it last year. If nothing else, you get to go on the field of the World Champions San Francisco Giants! A few highlights:
- In an exclusive video address, 2010 World Champions San Francisco Giants center fielder Andrés Torres will discuss his own experiences with ADHD and welcome attendees to EdRev 2011 with a message of inspiration and empowerment. Go Andrés!
- Dr. L. Todd Rose, Co-Chair of the Mind, Brain, and Education Institute at Harvard will speak of his research on learning–that variability in learning is normal (and valuable), and learning depends on the fit between student and the context. In this keynote address at EdRev 2011, Dr. Rose will combine personal reflections on his journey with a fascinating glimpse into the revolution in learning that is just around the corner.
- DJ and live entertainment
- Live graffiti demonstration
- Skateboarding demonstration
- Giants Field activities
- Student Art Show
- lots of exhibits for students, parents, and teachers
Free registration for students and teachers! Come on down, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
What happened to the old-fashioned
2-D side-scrolling games?
(from my trusty computer Guru Kim Komando)
They were a ton of fun to play. And they were safe for the whole family to play. Unfortunately, 3-D games seemed to kill them off. However, thanks primarily to mobile gaming platforms, 2-D games are back. The graphics are better than ever. And there are some impressive game play options.
FROGATTO
is a particularly cute new game.
You control a cute frog on his fun adventures. There are coins to collect and enemies to defeat. The game play borrows from many classic games like Super Mario and Kirby. But it has some modern techniques like wall-jumping. Hitting the Escape key brings up the settings panel. This lets you change the controls. You can also turn off the music if you like. It is portable, which means it doesn't need to be installed. This can cause a false positive with some anti-virus programs. Don't worry, though. The program is virus-free. The game also sends anonymous data back to the developer's servers. This helps them refine the game. Your firewall should alert you to this, but you can block this with no repercussions.
Enjoy Good, Old-fashioned Family Fun - Again!************************
SOON
In Bookstores and Amazon 
Read this rhyming book to a dyslectic child.
If Hor
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Laura Renner,
on 9/21/2009
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Theresa Breslin wrote this book based on real experiences from when a group of prisoners attempted to break out of Alcatraz in the late 1940s. The story is told from the point of view of Marty King, a young, simple man who wants to grow tomatoes in the warm sun of Mexico and somehow manages to get into bad situations that ultimately land him in Alcatraz. Because he is small, some other prisoners convince him (as if he really had a choice) to help prepare for a break out by crawling through an air vent and making an imprint of a key on a bar of soap. Without ruining the story, Marty shares his insights into the legendary prisoners at Alcatraz and his own life.
The first element that stuck out to me was Breslin’s use of structure in this story. We first meet Marty after he’s in Alcatraz and subsequently learn how he grew up with his Ma in Chicago and, in between, how he gets bullied into the escape party and how he got into Alcatraz to begin with. The next element Breslin exceeds it that her use of voice. We can picture Marty as he speaks, through the way he speaks, as well as Marty’s cohorts and fellow prisoners. We sense who they are simply through their dialogue. Because of these two elements, Breslin presents an entertaining and highly impactful story in slightly more than 80 pages.
Now this book is not bilingual and we do not carry it at bububooks (yet). However, we wanted to share it with you because not only is Theresa Breslin an amazing author, but also because the publisher of this particular book is special to us. They are known as Barrington Stoke and are located in Great Britain. Barrington Stoke uses its own font and paper that are designed to help dyslexic people read. The font, with its “a”s and “g”s shaped more like how we write them rather than type them, is also useful to English Language Learners who may need to reconcile the difference between handwritten English letters and typed English letters. Further, Barrington Stoke uses readers as consultants on titles before they’re published. If you’re interested in becoming a consultant, email them at [email protected] or visit www.barringtonstoke.co.uk.
For more information on Theresa Breslin and her work, please visit: http://www.theresabreslin.co.uk/
Guest Blogger Dale Brown is the Manager of LD OnLine, a website designed to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities. LD OnLine features expert advice on learning disabilities and ADHD and a library of research-based information on learning disabilities. Dale is also a well-known author in the learning disability world and her work includes Job Hunting for the So-Called Handicapped as well as hundreds of articles.
Books are on my gift list and as I do my holiday shopping, memories of my own first book flood my mind.
I have severe learning disabilities—and had a hard time reading at school. At home, my Mom would read to me while I spoke the words out loud and pretended to read. She would point to the words, and show me the letters and sounds. Mostly we just read.
My parents were always reading, providing a good model for me and doing things at home long before research suggested ways parents can help their children with reading. I noticed that they valued books and enjoyed them. So, I wanted my OWN book. One I could take to my OWN bed and look at the pictures and “read” it.
I didn’t think I would get a book of my own, because money was tight in our house. One day my Dad came home. He had a bag. In the bag were several wrapped gifts. “I don’t know how I did it, Dale,” he said, “but I think you’ll like this.” I tore open the paper and six books fell out!!! My favorite—the one I consider my “first book”—was Ann Can Fly, a book about a girl whose father finally allows her to sit on his lap and “fly” a plane. I wore those books out—they fell apart from my “reading.”
Books generate a lot of magic for the reader, but teaching reading and learning how to read takes real work. For some children with dyslexia or other learning disabilities, reading is even more challenging.
It was a challenge for me and my early reading experiences have definitely influenced me as manager of LD OnLine. Just as much as First Book wants to give a child that magical experience of book ownership, LD OnLine (and our sister projects Reading Rockets and AdLit.org) want to be there at the critical time that a parent, teacher or person wants information to teach the right way and help give a child the skills needed to enjoy the magic of books.
I hope you have many magic moments in 2009!
Simon Rose writes the perfect books for reluctant readers, especially boys. I wish that he’d been writing books when my oldest son was between the ages of 9 and 13. My oldest has dyslexia, and he needed books that were not only well-written but exciting and fast-paced. And books that did not “talk down”. Simon Rose writes such books.
The Emerald Curse is the exciting adventure story of a boy who must rescue his grandfather from the very world his grandfather created in comic books. The illustrations by Cynthia Nugent are graphic novel like and perfect for the story. There is a magical pen with a cursed emerald in it, hybrid animals such as Wolfbats to scare the bejeebers out of you, superheroes that save their comic world and rebels who fight for it. I do recommend it for the older reader, though, as there is violence in it. But that is why I like it so much, not for the violence but because it is a story for the older kid but in a compact easy-to-digest package (115 pages).
I met Simon Rose at the SCBWI-Michigan Fall Conference. He is especially witty and will keep you laughing if you get the chance to go to one of his workshops. He has a self-deprecating humor and is a history buff. But, most importantly, Simon Rose is one of those writers who is going after it and succeeding, despite doing it the non-traditional way. If you listen to Andrew Karre, the Flux editor, he will say if your book doesn’t sell so many in just a short time, it’s over for the book. And probably over for you, since your book didn’t sell. Who would want to publish you again? But, then there is Simon Rose whose books are growing in popularity over time.
And I predict his books will continue to sell and become more popular, not less.
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In the absence of knowledge of physical and cultural clues, communication between two species can be almost impossible.
Copic markers with Staedtler fineliner pen. 25cm x 11cm. Click to enlarge.
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This was a good topic for me. I'm always in a dilemma when shoe shopping and can never make up my mind which pair(s) to purchase. I definitely have a shoe addiction. So what shoes do I choose? ALL OF THEM of course!
I try to stretch myself, and get out of my illustration ruts -- i look for methods others use to give myself new ideas for how to do things. The below is an experiment in coloring in photoshop, this time using Channels. I used a pretty unfinished sketch to start with, but i kinda like the result. I used this tutorial as a base. Does anyone else have any good tutorials they've found useful, or other good tips?
fyi - here's the original pencil sketch
Feedback is welcome, of course!
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on 1/20/2008
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According to the website ReadingSuccessLab.com, Government statistics show 25 million Americans are functionally illiterate. The primary cause is dyslexia or one of its many variants.
Through their children’s book series, Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever, co-authors Lin Oliver and Henry Winkler share the struggles and triumphs of a resourceful elementary school student as he deals with the challenges that come with dyslexia. The stories are based on Henry Winkler’s own experiences with the disorder.
On this edition of Just One More Book, Mark speaks with actor, director, producer and author, Henry Winkler about becoming an author and his relationship with Hank Zipzer, his struggles with reading and learning, and what we can do to help our children.
Links to Hank Zipzer books:
This is episode 300 of Just One More Book!!
UPDATE: Click here to see the transcript of this interview.
Photo: American Library Association
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By:
Ellis Nadler,
on 1/10/2008
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Ellis Nadler's Sketchbook
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Dennett's Beard.
Lino cut 20cm x 25cm. Click to enlarge.
By:
Ellis Nadler,
on 11/28/2007
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Ellis Nadler's Sketchbook
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Eddo with gasper.
Biro 26cm x 18cm. Click to enlarge.
One of the most annoying things about wearing heels, in my opinion, is that you just cannot drive in them. Well, I can't (I do know people who do). This means keeping driving shoes in the car and having to change them every time you get in and out of the vehicle. That whole scenario is made even more annoying when you are wearing boots like these. All that zipping and unzipping. Especially when you are, say, at a retail park driving from outlet to outlet. Getting out at TopShop, Next and NewLook - zip and unzip. Then driving over to Marks and Spencers, Borders and Starbucks - off and on come the boots. Over to Tescos - zip unzip. The Range - zip unzip. Then back to the original park you started in - off and back on. Then, finally, Morrisons - zip and unzip. Annoying enough for you the driver but spare a thought for the poor passenger. Sorry Cla!
One of my early poems.
Litho print. 18cm x 26cm. Click to enlarge
Mrs. Cappezzio's family lived on a shoestring budget.
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I’d really like to know a little more about the dyslexia friendly features that this book uses–does the publisher have an explanatory site? Or could you describe a little? Thanks.
Amy, here are some details http://www.booktrust.org.uk/news-and-blogs/blogs/booktrust/719 but I’ve also asked Red Squirrel if they would get in touch to provide details.
I have recommended Barrington Stoke’s picture books to several friends with dyslexic children. It’s great that they support dyslexic readers (big and small).