To give the Chinese proverb in its entirety, ‘Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come’ – and to extend the metaphor (or revert it … Continue reading ...
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/6/2014
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Interview, Poetry Friday, Book Giveaway, Children's Authors Network, Myra Cohn Livingston, April Halprin Wayland, Janet S.Wong, Joan Bransfield Graham, shape poems, Wednesday Writing Workout, Krysten Brooker, Add a tag
And now onto Poetry Friday, which is hosted by Carol, of,
interestingly enough, Carol's Corner. Thanks for hosting, Carol!
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In January, when her latest book of poetry--The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices, illustrated by Krysten Brooker--was published, TeachingAuthors was proud to be part of Joan's blog tour. At our stop of her tour she offered a Wednesday Writing Workout called the Olympic Writing Challenge.
Today, Joan has agreed to be tied to a spit and grilled with our tough TeachingAuthor interview questions. She has also been kind enough to offer an autographed copy of The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices to one of our lucky readers. (Here's Miss Rumphius' fabulous interview with Joan to whet your appetite for this book.)
This book giveaway runs from midnight, June 6 to the end of the day on June 21, 2014. See below for entry details.
As I reported in January, Joan is an award-winning poet who can't STOP writing poetry. She has files and piles of poems, which have been featured in anthologies, magazines, textbooks, and on CDs. She likes to think "outside the page" because poetry is "everywhere." Her books SPLISH SPLASH and FLICKER FLASH--shape poems about water and light--were both chosen as School Library Journal Best Books of the Year and NCTE Notables, among many other honors, and have been described as "ingenious," "wonderfully evocative," and "stunningly delicious." She loves photography, art, traveling and lives not-too-far from me in Los Angeles, CA.
Spending a day in the life of a school is an honor and a joy. Each school has its own personality. Between assemblies at one school, a teacher came up to me with a little boy and told me he had come to the school speaking no English and also had developmental problems. After my presentation, he went back to the classroom, picked up my book, and was singing the words he was so excited. He wanted to give me a hug to thank me. That's why we write, isn't it? To open the world for ourselves . . . and others.
Now it's time for you to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Joan's The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options specified. If you choose the "comment" option, share a comment to TODAY'S blog post telling us what you'll do with the book should you win: save it for yourself or give it away? And please include your name in your comment, if it's not obvious from your comment "identity." (If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com. )
The giveaway ends on June 21st.
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 8/23/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Interview, Poetry Friday, Book Giveaway, Sonya Sones, novels in verse, Teaching writing, Myra Cohn Livingston, teen poetry, writing poetry, April Halprin Wayland, Teacher Tip, Add a tag
I lied. Sonya doesn't need to see the dentist--her teeth are gleaming! Say hello to my long-time friend, critique buddy, fab author and poet, Sonya Sones:
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When it was Sonya's turn to host, she surprised us by hiring a drummer who gave each of us a drum and taught us different rhythms for an hour! An unforgettable way to instruct and inspire.
She continues to inspire me, always thinking of new ways of telling a story. I'll never forget the day Sonya said she'd decided to write a novel in verse with an unreliable narrator. I was lucky to witness the unfolding of what became To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story).
Here's a bit of what School Library Journal says about this book:
"Sones captures the ache of first love. Readers may find themselves laughing, crying, and wanting to believe the unreliable, well-developed narrator. Excerpts may make for a stepping stone to William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Like Shakespeare’s play, this title lends itself to discussion about healthy relationships, setting limits, defining oneself, and evaluating what is real. Fast paced and great for reluctant readers.”
Sonya! Welcome to TeachingAuthors' humble abode! How did you officially become a TeachingAuthor?
I officially became a teaching author the day I volunteered to teach a poetry writing workshop to my son’s fourth grade class. I gave each student a donut and told them they couldn’t eat it until they gave me a simile to describe it. The rest is history.
Besides bringing donuts, what's one piece of advice you have for teachers?
Make poetry fun! Don’t only expose your students to classic poetry. I teach workshops to middle-schoolers and high-schoolers, and I find that they respond with more enthusiasm to current poetry. There’s a very funny poem by Billy Collins called “Introduction to Poetry,” about tying a poem to a chair and trying to beat a confession out of it, that might be a good place to start. There’s another one called “Pearl” by Dorianne Laux, which is a fabulous portrait of Janice Joplin. Try reading that poem to them and challenging them to write a poem about their own favorite musician. And there’s a great very short love poem by Eve Merriam called “New Love.”
Don’t force students to memorize and analyze. If you choose the right poems, your students will feel the words washing over them like a cool ocean breeze on a broiling hot day. Your goal should be to teach them how to love poetry, not how to “understand” it.
Whoops. Was that more than one piece of advice?
Who's counting? Please tell us the Cinderella story of how you sold your first book.
I didn’t sell my first book. Or my second book. Or my third. That was when I decided to enroll in a poetry class at UCLA extension taught by the brilliant Myra Cohn Livingston. She set me on the path to writing Stop Pretending. I finished it just before the annual SCBWI conference in Century City and brought my manuscript with me. There, I attended a presentation by a very young agent (he was only 24 years old!) named Steven Malk who gave a speech about why you should have an agent if you wrote or illustrated for kids. Then halfway through the speech, he switched over to talking about why that agent should be him. He was so persuasive that after his talk 75 authors ran up to him to ask for his business card. But I hung back, not wanting to crowd him.
Later that day, however, I found myself in the lobby, and there he was, standing all by himself. Even so, a friend had to convince me to go up and talk to him. But I finally did and I said, “I wrote a book about what happened when my big sister was sent to a mental hospital, it’s written in verse, it’s sort of edgy, and I was wondering if I could send it to you.” He said, “Okay.” And that was it. A twenty second conversation. I mailed it to him on Wednesday. He called me on Friday to tell me how much he liked it. And by the following Wednesday he had a bidding war going. That week remains one of the most astonishing and exhilarating times of my entire life.
I love that story. And now I've learned that To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story) is also available as an audiobook in CDs and MP3, narrated by Kate Rudd, who also narrated John Greene's The Fault in Our Stars.
I want your life!
What's on the horizon for you?
A lot of traveling! Simon and Schuster is sending me on a book tour: Chicago, D.C., Miami, San Francisco, Menlo Park, Pasadena, Ontario, Raleigh and Phoenix. Then, in October, I’ll be going to Hong Kong where I’ve been invited by Hong Kong Baptist University to participate in an International Writer’s Workshop for a month. I’ve never been to that part of the world, and I’m very much looking forward to this grand adventure. And wherever I go, I will be scanning the horizon for stories…
Oh my gosh! I'm exhausted just reading your itinerary! I know you'll meet interesting folks on the way!
And finally, since it's Poetry Friday in the Kidlitosphere, please share a poem!
This is the first poem from To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story):
They Tell Me There Was an Accident
by Sonya Sones
Though I can’t
remember it happening.
Here’s what I do remember:
I remember climbing into a limo
with my little brother Will to visit our mom
on the set of her latest film.
It smelled
like someone had been
smoking pot in there.
Or maybe drinking champagne.
Or throwing up.
Or all three.
Sort of like
our living room
after one of Mom’s all-night parties.
I remember
rolling down the window
for some breathable air
while Will bounced around,
like he always does
when we’re in a limo,
telling me
one goofy knock-knock joke
after another.
I remember turning onto Sunset Boulevard,
and seeing a massive billboard
of a guy wearing nothing but jeans—
his fly unzipped
just low enough
to make me look twice.
Will saw it too.
He grinned at me and lisped through the gap
where his baby teeth used to be, “Thex thells!”
Sex sells?
How does a seven-year-old even know that?
I was just about to ask him—
but I never got the chance.
poem © 2013 Sonya Sones. All rights reserved
Newsflash: Sonya's own three-book box set of trade paperbacks, The Sonya Sones Collection, will be released the same day To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story) comes out. Sonya's comment: "Wow...a new boxed set...now Calvin Klein and I both have collections."
Visit her at SonyaSones.com, follow her on Twitter, and for goodness sake friend her on FaceBook!
Thank you for offering our readers a chance to win a copy of your new book (details below) and thanks for stopping by, Sonya!
And now, for the Book Giveaway details:
We use Rafflecopter. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, you may want to read their info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and/or the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.
To enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story) log into Rafflecopter below (via either Facebook or an email address). You'll see that we've provided three different options for entering the giveaway--you can pick one or up to all three. The more options you choose, the greater your chances of winning. While we haven't made it a requirement, we hope that everyone will pick the first option--subscribing to the TeachingAuthors blog.
If you're already a TeachingAuthors subscriber, you still need to click on that button and tell us how you follow our blog, which will give you THREE entries in the giveaway! (If you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to enter.)
As it says in the "Terms and Conditions," this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. You must be 18 or older to enter. And please note: email addresses will only be used to contact winners. The giveaway will run from now through August 29, 2013.
If you have any questions about the giveaway, feel free to email us at teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.
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merrily posted by April Halprin Wayland and her dog, Eli...who wish you a Happy New Year and shyly remind you about April's award-winning book, New Year at the Pier--a Rosh Hashanah Story
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 2/22/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, poem, books about writing, Monkey, craft books, Myra Cohn Livingston, jealousy, April Halprin Wayland, books about teaching, poetry prompt, writer's bookshelf, Add a tag
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I'm continuing the TeachingAuthors thread we're calling Books We Recommend On Writing which Esther began, reverently offering M.B. Goffstein's A Writer...(which I, too, have on a golden altar in my bookshelf!) On Poetry Friday, Carmela continued with her top three books on the art and craft of writing poetry, and then Mary Ann offered her favorite one or two books in three categories: Inspirational Books, Craft Books and Craft Books for Kids. Jill gave us three writing books packed with great information and inspiration, while Jeanne Marie focused on books about plotting...and one on writing "Hit Lit."
I'm going to recommend one of Monkey and my favorite books on writing poetry, POEM-MAKING ~ Ways to Begin Writing Poetry by Myra Cohn Livingston.
We like it because it's written for a ten year old--just about my level. For more on this book, read Elaine Magliaro's really excellent review of it on The Wild Rose Reader--I couldn't review it any better.
Myra Cohn Livingston was the "Mother of Us All," as Janet Wong writes. She was Poetry Mentor/Mother to me, Janet, Ann Whitford Paul, Sonya Sones, Hope Anita Smith, Alice Shertle, Kristine O’Connell George, Deborah Chandra, Madeleine Comora, Joan Bransfield Graham, Tony Johnston, Monica Gunning, Karen B. Winnick, Anita Wintz, Ruth Lercher Bornstein and many, many other children's poets (Who am I missing? Let me know!).
I have previously talked about two books I require in classes I teach through the UCLA Writers Program. One of the books is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, about which several TeachingAuthors have waxed poetic in the past.
Here's a poem from that blog post inspired by Lamott's chapter on jealousy:
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poem (c) 2013 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 10/7/2011
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry forms, April Halprin Wayland, poetry exercise, writing fears, Janet S.Wong, Sylvia Vardell, Poetry Friday, first drafts, Fear, Myra Cohn Livingston, Add a tag
And now to today's TeachingAuthors topic of the week. After five terrific posts on First Drafts: Quieting the Internal Critic, it's my turn to wrap up this topic--for now. Just so you know, my internal critic is going nuts right this very minute because I am writing something that someone is going to actually read.
Like JoAnn, I enjoy first drafts. Mostly. First drafts aren't promising anyone anything. First drafts are splashing around, figuring stuff out. First drafts are swirling paint onto the page to see if I can convey what was dancing in my brain last night.
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 7/29/2011
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: brainstorming, Myra Cohn Livingston, Writing Workout, Lesson Plan, April Halprin Wayland, poetry prompt, Poetry Friday, Summer, Book Giveaway, Add a tag
I am writing this as we wait in the airport for our return flight from our summer vacation in...Fiji! The best part of this time away from our real lives was the incredible beauty...and slooooowing down. No internet. No texting. No telephone. No multitasking. I woke up and made my bed without turning on NPR. I poured hot water over ground coffee beans without simultaneously calling my mother to see how she was feeling.
I'm embarrassed to say that at first it was hard to have fun, even though, intellectually, I knew that lying on the deck of Bruce Balan's trimaran was fun...snorkeling was fun, being with my family was fun.
It took a few days to wipe the seriousness, the purposefulness, the To-Do list from my brain. And then, one day, I was there. I was snorkeling in turquoise water over neon tetras and parrot fish and all the fish you see in those wonder-filled tanks at the pet store. I was hiking to the waterfall slides on a red dirt trail. I was biting into an orange paw paw (papaya), or a passion fruit, or a soursop (which looks like a prickly green dinosaur egg and tastes heavenly--sort of strawberry-pineapple-sour-citrus-creamy-banana-y.)
I devoured a mystery series, gobbling each book like potato chips. I wrote a poem each day, as always.
So let's keep summer's sense of fun in our writing. Let's pass it on to our students. I'm teaching my summer class at UCLA Extension again. It's the one I call my no-homework-for-the-students-no-homework-for-the-teacher class...but its official title is: The Children's Picture Book Writers' Bag of Tricks: A Six-Week Workshop. The key to this class is to create writing games and prompts which get these adult students out of their chairs, doing spirited hands-on activities before they settle down to write.
WRITING WORKOUT ~ Here's an ice-breaker writing exercise I use in the first class.
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/4/2010
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, books about writing, Myra Cohn Livingston, poem a day challenge, Writing Workout, April Halprin Wayland, books about teaching, poetry exercise, UCLA Extension, Add a tag
Writing Workout
The poet William Stafford wrote a poem every morning all of his life. Since taking the National Poetry Month Challenge to write a poem a day for the month of April, I'm continuing, inspired by the book, Early Morning--Remembering my Father, William Stafford by Kim Stafford.
Today part of a sentence Stafford wrote inspired me: "At a certain sound today I hear Father turn onto the gravel drive at supper time..." It reminded me of our dog, Eli, sleeping on his couch in the upstairs bedroom as I write.
1 Comments on We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Posting....to ask for more writing exercise ideas!, last added: 6/4/2010
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 5/7/2010
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, National Poetry Month, Myra Cohn Livingston, children's poems, Writing Workout, April Halprin Wayland, Add a tag
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 2/26/2010
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Janet S.Wong, Joan Bransfield Graham, Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge, Poetry Friday, Writing Exercises, Sonya Sones, Myra Cohn Livingston, Ann Whitford Paul, April Halprin Wayland, Alice Schertle, Add a tag
I wanted to change my universe. I wanted the playfulness back in teaching. So I proposed a new class. It was accepted and I'll be teaching it this summer (yippee!). Here’s a draft of the course description:
Chockful of short and longer in-class writing exercises, this workshop is designed especially for children's picture book writers. By focusing on recurring subjects such as Tell the Truth, Less is More, Quote-Unquote, and The Power of Observation, you have the time and creative space to delve into a range of fresh approaches to these universal themes as you engage in stimulating writing exercises and constructive give-and-take with your instructor and peers. In addition to inspiring new work and points of view on it, this workshop loosens up your tight fists, unwrinkles your worried brow, and reminds you how satisfying and fun writing can be. All writing and critiquing is performed in class; students are given the opportunity to read their work aloud if they wish. Enrollment limit: 20 students
NO HOMEWORK for me OR for the students! Doesn't that sound great?
Each of the six classes is three hours long, so I’m collecting fun, inspiring writing exercises.
Of course there are wonderful books that include all sorts of writing exercises. Among them: Ann Whitford Paul's terrific WRITING PICTURE BOOKS (s 6 Comments on Question Poems for Poetry Friday, last added: 3/1/2010
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By: Marjorie Coughlan,
on 5/13/2015
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/6/2014
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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.
Howdy, Campers!
Before we get to Poetry Friday, before you enter our newest book giveaway to win a new spanking-new poetry book, I'm thrilled to announce the winner of an autographed copy of Debbie Dadey's Treasure in Trident City (Aladdin).
(Here's Carmela's guest TeachingAuthor Interview with the Debbie.)
And the winner is...drum roll, please...Catherine A!
Congratulations, Catherine!
And now onto Poetry Friday, which is hosted by Carol, of,
interestingly enough, Carol's Corner. Thanks for hosting, Carol!
And today, we're lucky ducks. Why? Because my dear friend, poet
Joan Bransfield Graham, is stopping by for a glass of iced tea! Here she comes now ~ um...looks like I'd better bring a trough of tea....
The effervescent, inventive and truly original author and poet,
Joan Bransfield Graham.
Joan Bransfield Graham.
In January, when her latest book of poetry--The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices, illustrated by Krysten Brooker--was published, TeachingAuthors was proud to be part of Joan's blog tour. At our stop of her tour she offered a Wednesday Writing Workout called the Olympic Writing Challenge.
Today, Joan has agreed to be tied to a spit and grilled with our tough TeachingAuthor interview questions. She has also been kind enough to offer an autographed copy of The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices to one of our lucky readers. (Here's Miss Rumphius' fabulous interview with Joan to whet your appetite for this book.)
This book giveaway runs from midnight, June 6 to the end of the day on June 21, 2014. See below for entry details.
As I reported in January, Joan is an award-winning poet who can't STOP writing poetry. She has files and piles of poems, which have been featured in anthologies, magazines, textbooks, and on CDs. She likes to think "outside the page" because poetry is "everywhere." Her books SPLISH SPLASH and FLICKER FLASH--shape poems about water and light--were both chosen as School Library Journal Best Books of the Year and NCTE Notables, among many other honors, and have been described as "ingenious," "wonderfully evocative," and "stunningly delicious." She loves photography, art, traveling and lives not-too-far from me in Los Angeles, CA.
Celebrating its 20th Birthday!
Celebrating its 15th Birthday!
So, Joan, how did you officially become a TeachingAuthor?
I officially became a TeachingAuthor when my teacher brain and my writer brain merged! My favorite part about teaching was helping students leap beyond knowledge into creativity, to use their imaginations to see the world in new ways.
What's a common problem/question that your students have and how do you address it?
"Does a poem have to rhyme?" Of course not. I tell students rhyme can be like a wild horse that wants to take you in the wrong direction. You have to be in charge of your poem and guide it; don't throw in any word just to make it rhyme. Expressing what you want to say is the most important thing--use the form that works best.
Lately, I've been surprised when students haven't been able to tell me what a poetry "anthology" is. The word anthology comes from the Greek word "anthologia," a "flower gathering." Isn't that a great way to think of it . . . a bouquet of voices rather than poems from only one writer.
Lately, I've been surprised when students haven't been able to tell me what a poetry "anthology" is. The word anthology comes from the Greek word "anthologia," a "flower gathering." Isn't that a great way to think of it . . . a bouquet of voices rather than poems from only one writer.
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| Bouquets at the Davis, CA Farmer's Market |
Recently in an assembly, before we were going to do a poem together in sign language, I asked, "What is sign language?" A kindergarten child said, "Using your hands to communicate." Wow.
What one piece of advice do you have for teachers?
Share and enjoy poetry with your students across the curriculum--it fits everywhere! Do poems in "call and response" so that everyone can participate, be part of the poem.
Tell us about one particular school visit which stays with you.
Spending a day in the life of a school is an honor and a joy. Each school has its own personality. Between assemblies at one school, a teacher came up to me with a little boy and told me he had come to the school speaking no English and also had developmental problems. After my presentation, he went back to the classroom, picked up my book, and was singing the words he was so excited. He wanted to give me a hug to thank me. That's why we write, isn't it? To open the world for ourselves . . . and others.
And what's next on the horizon for you?
I've just had an incredibly busy May in California, which took me down to San Ysidro, up to Bakersfield for their amazing week-long Young Author Fair, down to San Clemente, and, on May 16, to my daughter Aimee's graduation from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
June 28 - 30 I'm headed to ALA in Las Vegas, where I'll be reading in the Poetry Blast. I have lots of poems due to come out in anthologies--April and I have been "flowers" in many of the same anthologies--at various times and many projects in the works. On Oct. 25 I'll be doing a Spotlight presentation at the SCBWI CenCal Writers' Day at California Lutheran University. March 7, 2015 you'll find me in Teaching Author mode conducting a workshop--REV YOUR POETRY POWER: Poetic Forms, Voices, and Choices.
June 28 - 30 I'm headed to ALA in Las Vegas, where I'll be reading in the Poetry Blast. I have lots of poems due to come out in anthologies--April and I have been "flowers" in many of the same anthologies--at various times and many projects in the works. On Oct. 25 I'll be doing a Spotlight presentation at the SCBWI CenCal Writers' Day at California Lutheran University. March 7, 2015 you'll find me in Teaching Author mode conducting a workshop--REV YOUR POETRY POWER: Poetic Forms, Voices, and Choices.
And finally, since it's Poetry Friday in the Kidlitosphere, do you have a poem you'd like to share with our readers?
I'm torn about which poem to share. I've been having so much fun with my "Conductor" poem from THE POEM THAT WILL NOT END. I pass out my ocean drum, rain sticks, wooden frogs, thunder stick, and we have an environmental symphony. Those who don't have an instrument are part of the "wind chorus." I direct all this--"Conductor" is an Italian sonnet--with my large pencil baton as I read the poem.
But I think I'll share my haiku:
But I think I'll share my haiku:
Footprints
Smooth patch of white snow,
stretched out before watchful eyes--
an invitation!
poem © 2014 JoanBransfield Graham. All rights reserved
I say to students, "The next time you look at a blank sheet of white paper, think of it as a freshly-fallen field of snow, just waiting for the footprints that only you can make."
 |
| from morguefile.com |
My character Ryan O'Brian writes because he has to, he has a "Fever" (Can you hear Peggy Lee singing?). Thanks, April, for this opportunity to connect with kindred "fevered" spirits.
Thank YOU, Joan--and g'bye! (Readers, be sure to enter below for a chance to win Joan's newest book!)
Joan with her trusty camera. Behind her is one of her many fans.
Now it's time for you to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Joan's The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options specified. If you choose the "comment" option, share a comment to TODAY'S blog post telling us what you'll do with the book should you win: save it for yourself or give it away? And please include your name in your comment, if it's not obvious from your comment "identity." (If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com. )
The giveaway ends on June 21st.
P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address. Email subscribers: if you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to access the entry form.
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0 Comments on Interview with Poet Joan Bransfield Graham and Book Giveaway for Joan's New Book--Happy Poetry Friday! as of 6/6/2014 4:39:00 AM
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 8/23/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Interview, Poetry Friday, Book Giveaway, Sonya Sones, novels in verse, Teaching writing, Myra Cohn Livingston, teen poetry, writing poetry, April Halprin Wayland, Teacher Tip, Add a tag
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Howdy, Campers! Betsy H. is hosting Poetry Friday today at I Think in Poems. Thank you, Betsy!
At the end of this post are:
1) the details of today's Book Giveaway of an autographed book by verse novelist Sonya Sones;
2) one of Sonya's deliciously enigmatic poems.
However, if you came here to meet Sonya and learn all about her newest YA novel, I'm sorry to say you'll be disappointed. Sonya just called--she had a dental appointment and couldn't be here today.
Exclusive photo of Sonya Sones and her dentist.
I lied. Sonya doesn't need to see the dentist--her teeth are gleaming! Say hello to my long-time friend, critique buddy, fab author and poet, Sonya Sones:
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photo by Ava Tramer
Her novels-in-verse include: Stop Pretending, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, (great title!), What My Mother Doesn’t Know (one of the top 100 most challenged books of the decade) and its companion, What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know.
Sonya has graciously agreed to reveal the very first poem in her book that isn't even out yet and YOU, Campers, will be among the very first readers of this poem! Her newest book, To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story) (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers), comes out on August 27 and is full of lies.
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Sonya has graciously agreed to reveal the very first poem in her book that isn't even out yet and YOU, Campers, will be among the very first readers of this poem! Her newest book, To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story) (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers), comes out on August 27 and is full of lies.
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Sonya is an original in the best sense of the word. She and I met in poet Myra Cohn Livingston's Master Class. When Myra died, her students hosted classes at our homes, teaching each other the fine points of poetry.
When it was Sonya's turn to host, she surprised us by hiring a drummer who gave each of us a drum and taught us different rhythms for an hour! An unforgettable way to instruct and inspire.
Here's a bit of what School Library Journal says about this book:
"Sones captures the ache of first love. Readers may find themselves laughing, crying, and wanting to believe the unreliable, well-developed narrator. Excerpts may make for a stepping stone to William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Like Shakespeare’s play, this title lends itself to discussion about healthy relationships, setting limits, defining oneself, and evaluating what is real. Fast paced and great for reluctant readers.”
Sonya! Welcome to TeachingAuthors' humble abode! How did you officially become a TeachingAuthor?
Make poetry fun! Don’t only expose your students to classic poetry. I teach workshops to middle-schoolers and high-schoolers, and I find that they respond with more enthusiasm to current poetry. There’s a very funny poem by Billy Collins called “Introduction to Poetry,” about tying a poem to a chair and trying to beat a confession out of it, that might be a good place to start. There’s another one called “Pearl” by Dorianne Laux, which is a fabulous portrait of Janice Joplin. Try reading that poem to them and challenging them to write a poem about their own favorite musician. And there’s a great very short love poem by Eve Merriam called “New Love.”
Don’t force students to memorize and analyze. If you choose the right poems, your students will feel the words washing over them like a cool ocean breeze on a broiling hot day. Your goal should be to teach them how to love poetry, not how to “understand” it.
Whoops. Was that more than one piece of advice?
Sonya crossing her eyes with the Book Café Club
at La Salle Academy in Providence, RI
at La Salle Academy in Providence, RI
Who's counting? Please tell us the Cinderella story of how you sold your first book.
I didn’t sell my first book. Or my second book. Or my third. That was when I decided to enroll in a poetry class at UCLA extension taught by the brilliant Myra Cohn Livingston. She set me on the path to writing Stop Pretending. I finished it just before the annual SCBWI conference in Century City and brought my manuscript with me. There, I attended a presentation by a very young agent (he was only 24 years old!) named Steven Malk who gave a speech about why you should have an agent if you wrote or illustrated for kids. Then halfway through the speech, he switched over to talking about why that agent should be him. He was so persuasive that after his talk 75 authors ran up to him to ask for his business card. But I hung back, not wanting to crowd him.
Later that day, however, I found myself in the lobby, and there he was, standing all by himself. Even so, a friend had to convince me to go up and talk to him. But I finally did and I said, “I wrote a book about what happened when my big sister was sent to a mental hospital, it’s written in verse, it’s sort of edgy, and I was wondering if I could send it to you.” He said, “Okay.” And that was it. A twenty second conversation. I mailed it to him on Wednesday. He called me on Friday to tell me how much he liked it. And by the following Wednesday he had a bidding war going. That week remains one of the most astonishing and exhilarating times of my entire life.
I love that story. And now I've learned that To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story) is also available as an audiobook in CDs and MP3, narrated by Kate Rudd, who also narrated John Greene's The Fault in Our Stars.
I want your life!
A lot of traveling! Simon and Schuster is sending me on a book tour: Chicago, D.C., Miami, San Francisco, Menlo Park, Pasadena, Ontario, Raleigh and Phoenix. Then, in October, I’ll be going to Hong Kong where I’ve been invited by Hong Kong Baptist University to participate in an International Writer’s Workshop for a month. I’ve never been to that part of the world, and I’m very much looking forward to this grand adventure. And wherever I go, I will be scanning the horizon for stories…
Oh my gosh! I'm exhausted just reading your itinerary! I know you'll meet interesting folks on the way!
Sonya, meeting a fan.
photo by Ava Tramer
photo by Ava Tramer
And finally, since it's Poetry Friday in the Kidlitosphere, please share a poem!
This is the first poem from To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story):
They Tell Me There Was an Accident
by Sonya Sones
Though I can’t
remember it happening.
Here’s what I do remember:
I remember climbing into a limo
with my little brother Will to visit our mom
on the set of her latest film.
It smelled
like someone had been
smoking pot in there.
Or maybe drinking champagne.
Or throwing up.
Or all three.
Sort of like
our living room
after one of Mom’s all-night parties.
I remember
rolling down the window
for some breathable air
while Will bounced around,
like he always does
when we’re in a limo,
telling me
one goofy knock-knock joke
after another.
I remember turning onto Sunset Boulevard,
and seeing a massive billboard
of a guy wearing nothing but jeans—
his fly unzipped
just low enough
to make me look twice.
Will saw it too.
He grinned at me and lisped through the gap
where his baby teeth used to be, “Thex thells!”
Sex sells?
How does a seven-year-old even know that?
I was just about to ask him—
but I never got the chance.
poem © 2013 Sonya Sones. All rights reserved
Thank you for offering our readers a chance to win a copy of your new book (details below) and thanks for stopping by, Sonya!
And now, for the Book Giveaway details:
We use Rafflecopter. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, you may want to read their info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and/or the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.
To enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of To Be Perfectly Honest (A Novel Based on an Untrue Story) log into Rafflecopter below (via either Facebook or an email address). You'll see that we've provided three different options for entering the giveaway--you can pick one or up to all three. The more options you choose, the greater your chances of winning. While we haven't made it a requirement, we hope that everyone will pick the first option--subscribing to the TeachingAuthors blog.
If you're already a TeachingAuthors subscriber, you still need to click on that button and tell us how you follow our blog, which will give you THREE entries in the giveaway! (If you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to enter.)
As it says in the "Terms and Conditions," this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. You must be 18 or older to enter. And please note: email addresses will only be used to contact winners. The giveaway will run from now through August 29, 2013.
If you have any questions about the giveaway, feel free to email us at teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
merrily posted by April Halprin Wayland and her dog, Eli...who wish you a Happy New Year and shyly remind you about April's award-winning book, New Year at the Pier--a Rosh Hashanah Story
19 Comments on Unreliable Narrator: Verse Novelist Sonya Sones is Lying! Autographed Book Giveaway AND Poetry Friday!, last added: 9/3/2013
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 2/22/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, poem, books about writing, Monkey, craft books, Myra Cohn Livingston, jealousy, April Halprin Wayland, books about teaching, poetry prompt, writer's bookshelf, Add a tag
.
Howdy Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday!
PF is hosted by Sheri Doyle this week--thanks, Sheri! Poetry Friday hosting can be a big job, folks, so make sure you help Sheri put away the chairs and stack the dishes before you leave.
I'm going to recommend one of Monkey and my favorite books on writing poetry, POEM-MAKING ~ Ways to Begin Writing Poetry by Myra Cohn Livingston.
Myra Cohn Livingston was the "Mother of Us All," as Janet Wong writes. She was Poetry Mentor/Mother to me, Janet, Ann Whitford Paul, Sonya Sones, Hope Anita Smith, Alice Shertle, Kristine O’Connell George, Deborah Chandra, Madeleine Comora, Joan Bransfield Graham, Tony Johnston, Monica Gunning, Karen B. Winnick, Anita Wintz, Ruth Lercher Bornstein and many, many other children's poets (Who am I missing? Let me know!).
I have previously talked about two books I require in classes I teach through the UCLA Writers Program. One of the books is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, about which several TeachingAuthors have waxed poetic in the past.
Here's a poem from that blog post inspired by Lamott's chapter on jealousy:
ANYTHING I CAN DO YOU CAN DO BETTER
or
CAN OF WORMS
by April Halprin Wayland
Varda once told us
we were all cans on a shelf.
.
.
Cans of chili, kidney beans, split pea soup.
I decided that I was a can of apricot halves.
She said that the shelf was only one can deep
but that it stretched out forever
.
.
so there’s always room
for one more.
“You don’t have to be afraid that adding another can
means
there isn’t enough room for you,”she said.
.
.
“You can even help a new can
onto the shelf next to you.”
.
.
And she never talked
about jealousy again.
.
poem (c) 2013 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.
My brilliant teacher Barbara Bottner taught me to write about my greatest fear...because chances are, we all share it.
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Monkey is writing about his fear
of writing something stupid in a blog post.
of writing something stupid in a blog post.
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 10/7/2011
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry forms, April Halprin Wayland, poetry exercise, writing fears, Janet S.Wong, Sylvia Vardell, Poetry Friday, first drafts, Fear, Myra Cohn Livingston, Add a tag
~
Howdy Campers and happy Poetry Friday! Today's poem and Writing Workout--a poetry prompt--are below.
Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Mary Ann Scheuer
over at Great Kid Books. Thanks, Mary Ann!
over at Great Kid Books. Thanks, Mary Ann!
Before we begin today's dance around the campfire, I have an exciting announcement: professor and author Sylvia Vardell and poet and author Janet Wong have done it again! Just in time for Teen Read Week (Oct. 16-22 this year) they've edited another affordable and fabulous ebook anthology called P*Tag, this one for teens--which you can read even if you don't have an ereader!
While the 30 poems in Poetry Tag Time,
their first anthology, are for young readers,
the 30 photo-illustrated poems in P*Tag,
their newest anthology, are for teens.
their first anthology, are for young readers,
the 30 photo-illustrated poems in P*Tag,
their newest anthology, are for teens.
~
(Yes, I have poems in both anthologies--but that's not why I'm jumping up and down about these two books--they are brilliant and original and poetry tag is a game you can play with other poets and your students!)
And now to today's TeachingAuthors topic of the week. After five terrific posts on First Drafts: Quieting the Internal Critic, it's my turn to wrap up this topic--for now. Just so you know, my internal critic is going nuts right this very minute because I am writing something that someone is going to actually read.
Like JoAnn, I enjoy first drafts. Mostly. First drafts aren't promising anyone anything. First drafts are splashing around, figuring stuff out. First drafts are swirling paint onto the page to see if I can convey what was dancing in my brain last night.
And like Jeanne Marie, I am good at starting and not so good a
12 Comments on Talkin' back to your first draft...and Happy Poetry Friday!, last added: 10/9/2011
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 7/29/2011
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: brainstorming, Myra Cohn Livingston, Writing Workout, Lesson Plan, April Halprin Wayland, poetry prompt, Poetry Friday, Summer, Book Giveaway, Add a tag
x
Happy Poetry Friday--see my poem and poetry exercise below!
Today's Poetry Friday is hosted by Kate Coombs at Book Aunt
~ thanks, Kate!
I am writing this as we wait in the airport for our return flight from our summer vacation in...Fiji! The best part of this time away from our real lives was the incredible beauty...and slooooowing down. No internet. No texting. No telephone. No multitasking. I woke up and made my bed without turning on NPR. I poured hot water over ground coffee beans without simultaneously calling my mother to see how she was feeling.
I'm embarrassed to say that at first it was hard to have fun, even though, intellectually, I knew that lying on the deck of Bruce Balan's trimaran was fun...snorkeling was fun, being with my family was fun.
It took a few days to wipe the seriousness, the purposefulness, the To-Do list from my brain. And then, one day, I was there. I was snorkeling in turquoise water over neon tetras and parrot fish and all the fish you see in those wonder-filled tanks at the pet store. I was hiking to the waterfall slides on a red dirt trail. I was biting into an orange paw paw (papaya), or a passion fruit, or a soursop (which looks like a prickly green dinosaur egg and tastes heavenly--sort of strawberry-pineapple-sour-citrus-creamy-banana-y.)
A man biting into a yummy soursop.
I devoured a mystery series, gobbling each book like potato chips. I wrote a poem each day, as always.
So let's keep summer's sense of fun in our writing. Let's pass it on to our students. I'm teaching my summer class at UCLA Extension again. It's the one I call my no-homework-for-the-students-no-homework-for-the-teacher class...but its official title is: The Children's Picture Book Writers' Bag of Tricks: A Six-Week Workshop. The key to this class is to create writing games and prompts which get these adult students out of their chairs, doing spirited hands-on activities before they settle down to write.
WRITING WORKOUT ~ Here's an ice-breaker writing exercise I use in the first class.
- Collect keys. Keys of all kinds—house keys, hotel card keys, skeleton keys, car keys, skate keys (remember those?), boat keys, storage shed keys, jewelry box and diary keys.
- If you're a teacher and don't have a stash of keys, ask eac
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/4/2010
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, books about writing, Myra Cohn Livingston, poem a day challenge, Writing Workout, April Halprin Wayland, books about teaching, poetry exercise, UCLA Extension, Add a tag
Happy Poetry Friday! Poem and Writing Workout below.
Our blog topic is reading as a writer. I'm going to modify it and list some books I'm currently reading as a writing teacher.
You may remember that after ten years as instructor with the UCLA Extension Writers Program, I'm teaching a brand-spanking-new class this summer.
My vision is to make this class as playful as the theater games class I took years ago. No matter how tired my friend Steve and I were after a day in the corporate world, we couldn't wait to get to class.
What was so special about it that energized us? We were moving or we were mediating, we were reacting to smells or blindfolded, we were hugging or we were chasing each other, we turned into gorillas or bananas.
I want my picture book students to be equally energized. I want them out of their desks with exercises that get them stretching, walking, laughing, observing, closing their eyes, tasting, singing, crying, playing group games. I'll be covering such topics as point of view, dialogue, rewriting, publishing and more. Here are a few of the books I'm using:
- Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge
- Unjournaling--Daily Writing Exercises that are Not Personal, Not Introspective, Not Boring by Dawn DiPrince and Cheryl Miller Thurston
- Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg
- Naming the World--and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer edited by Bret Anthony Johnston
Many of you offered terrific writing exercises in the comments section of my February post. Got any more? I'm looking for the writing exercise that gets you up and moving or playing a game or using a prop. An exercise that's physical or emotional or spiritual. Can you share one writing exercise that you love, either as a writer or as a writing teacher? What have you learned from it?
The poet William Stafford wrote a poem every morning all of his life. Since taking the National Poetry Month Challenge to write a poem a day for the month of April, I'm continuing, inspired by the book, Early Morning--Remembering my Father, William Stafford by Kim Stafford.
Today part of a sentence Stafford wrote inspired me: "At a certain sound today I hear Father turn onto the gravel drive at supper time..." It reminded me of our dog, Eli, sleeping on his couch in the upstairs bedroom as I write.
1 Comments on We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Posting....to ask for more writing exercise ideas!, last added: 6/4/2010
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 5/7/2010
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, National Poetry Month, Myra Cohn Livingston, children's poems, Writing Workout, April Halprin Wayland, Add a tag
xxxx
Howdy! Happy Poetry Friday! Today's poem and your Poetry Writing Workout are below.
But hold on...there’s A LOT going on this week, including National Picture Book Writing Week, Mother’s Day, and Teacher Appreciation Week!
And I’ll bet there’s a mother reading this who's also a teacher and is writing a picture book a day for a week. So, Triple Threat, if you’re out there, we want to hear from you (but not until you’ve written today’s picture book!)
I can relate to those who are writing a picture book a day for a week. I took the National Poetry Month Challenge this year, writing a poem a day (many are birthday poems) for the month of April. I'm not sure if I'd call that a challenge...or insanity.
But is was life-changing. If you want to know why, you can read all my poems (or if the mere idea of reading all thirty poems exhausts you as much as it does me, just read the last poem, the one posted closest to the top.)
WRITING WORKOUT ~ writing a Zeno poem
I learned about Zeno poems from Greg Pincus’ fabulous blog, GottaBook. Greg learned about it from The Miss Rumphius Effect,
who interviewed J.Patrick Lewis, the inventor of Zeno poems. According to Pat, a Zeno is a 10-line verse form with a repeating syllable count of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1. The rhyme scheme is abcdefdghd.
Here's how I wrote a Zeno:
A) Pick a topic. I wanted to write about teachers and why I appreciated them.
B) Spill memories about this topic on paper. I wrote about Mr. Campman, my 10th grade biology teacher; about my father—how no question was a bad question, how he was always engaged and focused when taking about science with me; about my mother—how she helped me learn a violin piece and coached me for the Shakespeare competition; about my poetry teacher, Myra Cohn Livingston—how we rose to meet her very high expectations; about Professor Willis, who on a dare, taught all of Western Civilization in one quarter—the best college class I ever took.
C) Choose one of the memories.
D) Decide on the one-syllable word on which you’d like your poem to end.
E) List at least three one-syllable words which rhyme with the word you chose above and which could somehow be related to your subject. Find the rhymes by using your noodle, opening up a handy rhyming dictionary or using this one online.
F) Review the structure of a Zeno. It helped me to write out the pattern this way (the numbers indicate how many syllables, “A” indicates the same rhyme):
8
4
2
1
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 2/26/2010
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Janet S.Wong, Joan Bransfield Graham, Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge, Poetry Friday, Writing Exercises, Sonya Sones, Myra Cohn Livingston, Ann Whitford Paul, April Halprin Wayland, Alice Schertle, Add a tag
Dear Followers of Teaching Authors,
Happy Poetry Friday!
I need your help.
I have been an instructor with UCLA Extension's Writing Program for ten years. I adore teaching there, love the students, love the challenges. Following the example of master teacher Myra Cohn Livingston (with whom I studied for twelve years), I am a big believer in homework for adult learners. Lots of it. I've found that the more work they do and the less dancing-on-a-table-top-in-the-front-of the-classroom I do, the better the teacher they think I am.
In Myra's Master Class, we basically shoved the rest of our lives aside for ten weeks to write poetry for children. Myra taught so many now well-known children's poets, I call her the Johnny Appleseed of children's poetry. My classmates including Monica Gunning, Janet S.Wong, Alice Schertle, Ann Whitford Paul, Tony Johnston, Joan Bransfield Graham, Madeleine Comora, Ruth Lercher Bornstein, Sonya Sones and many others.
Sometimes, though, critiquing each student's story every week wears me down. (Can you relate?) It's a fine line between thoroughly critiquing each story in order to help the author get it into shape...and spending more time critiquing it than the author spent writing it.
I don't know how you teachers with six classes a day, thirty students per class do it. I think you may be magicians.
I wanted to change my universe. I wanted the playfulness back in teaching. So I proposed a new class. It was accepted and I'll be teaching it this summer (yippee!). Here’s a draft of the course description:
Chockful of short and longer in-class writing exercises, this workshop is designed especially for children's picture book writers. By focusing on recurring subjects such as Tell the Truth, Less is More, Quote-Unquote, and The Power of Observation, you have the time and creative space to delve into a range of fresh approaches to these universal themes as you engage in stimulating writing exercises and constructive give-and-take with your instructor and peers. In addition to inspiring new work and points of view on it, this workshop loosens up your tight fists, unwrinkles your worried brow, and reminds you how satisfying and fun writing can be. All writing and critiquing is performed in class; students are given the opportunity to read their work aloud if they wish. Enrollment limit: 20 students
NO HOMEWORK for me OR for the students! Doesn't that sound great?
Each of the six classes is three hours long, so I’m collecting fun, inspiring writing exercises.
Of course there are wonderful books that include all sorts of writing exercises. Among them: Ann Whitford Paul's terrific WRITING PICTURE BOOKS (s 6 Comments on Question Poems for Poetry Friday, last added: 3/1/2010
By: Aline Pereira,
on 10/30/2009
Blog: PaperTigers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Halloween Poems, Holidays and Festivals: Halloween, Robin May, Stephen Gammell, Halloween, Poetry Friday, Eventful World, Myra Cohn Livingston, Add a tag
Halloween is tomorrow and for a good portion of the English speaking world, the event will be celebrated with children dressing up for trick-or-treating and adults going in costume to parties. According to Robin May’s Holidays and Festivals: Halloween, Halloween had its origins in northern Celtic Europe — Britain, Ireland and northern France in particular. The festival has long been associated with witches, the dead, ghosts and mischief much as it still is today. It predates as well as precedes the Christian holy days of All Saints’ and All Souls, together known as Hallow Tide.
North Americans celebrate the event with trick-or-treating. Children dress up and venture out into the neighborhood to gather candy by calling out “Trick or Treat” at people’s doors. Having grown up in Canada, I have very fond memories of going out trick-or-treating and now enjoy accompanying my children. What has been specially memorable for my family growing up was introducing the holiday to Japanese kids who were experiencing the event for the first time.
Of course, this being Poetry Friday, I wondered if there might be any poetry books on the event as it is celebrated here. Sure enough, at my local library I found Halloween Poems selected by Myra Cohn Livingston, illustrated by Stephen Gammell. There are a lot of wonderful poems here about witches and skeletons, ghosts and jack-o-lanterns. I liked the wry poem “Trick or Treating at Age Eight” where the little boy narrator comes to the conclusion that the only thing to fear on Halloween night are “the boys/a few years older/with legs a little longer,/hooting up and down the neighborhood/who chase me all the way home.” And then there is the slightly spooky poem “We Three” where the little trick-or-treaters find an unexpected fourth in their group. Gammell’s illustrations, accompanying the text, have an appropriately macabre comic feel to them — a little weird, but not too scary. Halloween Poems makes for a delightful celebration of the season in poetry.
This week’s Poetry Friday host is Jennie at Biblio File.
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By: Aline Pereira,
on 4/19/2008
Blog: PaperTigers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Poetry, Wild Rose Reader, Cloudscome, Janet S. Wong, Miss Rumphius Effect, Myra Cohn Livingston, Writing and Ruminating, Add a tag
Poet Janet Wong’s energy and dynamism really struck me when I interviewed her for our current issue on the main PaperTigers site and these qualities really come through in her recent interview with Elaine at Wild Rose Reader. It focuses on “her experience as a student in a master class on poetry taught by the late Myra Cohn Livingston, one of America’s foremost children’s poets and anthologists” – as well as being a great read itself, the comments that follow on from the interview have kept the discussion going…
Not only that, but Janet and Elaine have also invited readers of the interview to write their own poems including the words ring, drum and blanket, as this used to be one of Myra’s homework assignments. You can still join in – and if you need inspiration, you can read Janet and Elaine’s own offerings; there’s a great poem called Dragon Boat Festival by Diane Davis; and Cloudscome, Miss Rumphius Effect and Writing and Ruminating have all taken the challenge in wonderful and very different directions too.
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By: Just One More Book!!,
on 10/9/2007
Blog: Just One More Book Children's Book Podcast (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: review, Podcast, Community, Family, Ages 4-8, Formal, Courage, Fairy tales and legends, Picture book, Girl, Resilience, Beautiful, Appreciation, childrens book, History, Ages 9-12, Hope, Freedom, Realistic, Poetry, Perseverence, acceptance, china, Thinking/Attitude, silk, Culture/Traditions, Deborah Noyes, khotan, Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China, sericulture, Sophie Blackall, Add a tag
Author: Deborah Noyes
Illustrator: Sophie Blackall
Published: 2007 Candlewick Press (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0763624004 Chapters.ca Amazon.com
Delicately depicted in mint, peach and red, this beautifully worded legend shares the solitary heartbreak and secret unraveling of a young girl who shines light into her own uncertain future.
Tags:childrens book, china, Deborah Noyes, khotan, Podcast, Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China, review, sericulture, silk, Sophie Blackallchildrens book, china, Deborah Noyes, khotan, Podcast, Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China, review, sericulture, silk, Sophie Blackall
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Dear April - such exuberance! Thank you. And thanks to Sonya. Very excited about her new book. xo
What a FABULOUS post, April! And thank you, Sonya, for this terrific interview and poem. I can hardly wait to read your new book!
Dear Irene and Carmela ~ Thank you! If it's a fabulous post it's because Sonya is great material!
Love the little details about donut similes and drummers teaching rhythms!
Wonderful and informative interview! Loved getting to know more about Sonya!
Oh I read Sonya's Stop Pretending before I went to Highlights Foundation. Loved it. Will need to get her new book. Oh, that you were in that Master Class....I would have loved it.Thanks for a great interview.
Wonderful interview, April and Sonya! Makes me want to be in that living room listening to drums, and to read Sonya's new book.
Awesome interview!! I did an intensive with Sonya last year at the SCBWI LA conference and it was amazing! She's one of a kind - that's for sure!
Love verse novels, and excited to hear about this new one and the older ones. Great interview & so wonderful you both worked with Myra Cohn Livingston. I love her book!
Such a fun post, what great stories you have. Thanks for that and for the giveaway too. I'd like to win the book for myself, I'm intrigued to read a full-length piece from Sonya. Thanks again.
Gang ~ I'm so glad you enjoyed reading about Sonya and those drummers and more!
Hi there April, what a fabulous interview. I love novels in verse, but haven't read any of Sonya's works yet. Will try to find her books here in Singapore. :) I hope she enjoys Hong Kong! :)
I have been working on a verse novel and find this post so encouraging. Can I meet you, Sonya? While I am entering the giveaway and crossing my fingers, I will also put your books on my wish list.
This fantastic interview reminds me of when I heard Sonya speak -- her radiant creativity and generosity shine through. So much to ponder from this one post. I love her books, though they often squeeze my heart a bit harder than the humor would lead me to anticipate! Thanks, April!
Love this interview and love that there is a Sonya Sones book give-away! Thank you!
Really enjoyed reading about Sonya and her upcoming book. Love, love, love the donut activity, too! Thanks!
Thank you for this terrific post with Sonya Sones-- love everything I've ever read of hers, and this poem is certainly no exception! Also really liked her advice to teachers.
Dear April and all the lovely folks who posted comments here,
I didn't see these until just now.
WOW! What lovely and kind remarks...
If April ever asks if she can interview you: say YES!
April, you are an interviewing wizardess. I love all the little touches you added - the links to the poems I mentioned, the funny dentist lie, and the donut pictures.
Thanks sooo much for having me!
xx,
Sonya
P.S.
I'm going on a book tour for TO BE PERFECLTY HONEST. Please stop by and say hello.
Here's where I'll be:
http://www.sonyasones.com/wp/events/