I’m taking my cue for my Poetry Friday post today from my daughter.  She came home very excited about a book she encountered at school called The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base (Stoddart, 1988).  Get it out of the library for me, she pined and so I did.  The copy was well-worn and tattered, obviously a book enjoyed by many.  A truly interactive book, The Eleventh Hour, in rhyming quatrains, sets out a mystery for the reader to solve through clues found on each of the elaborately illustrated pages.  Horace, the elephant has turned eleven, and has invited all his friends to a birthday gathering at his estate.  There will be a tremendous feast to be served at the eleventh hour — however, while the guests spend the day doing various activities, someone consumes the entire banquet, leaving nothing but crumbs for the hungry guests at 11:00.  Who has eaten all the goodies?  You the reader, must find out by deciphering all the clues found on each page.  A key at the back will help you if you are really stumped.

My daughter and I spent a Saturday afternoon together with this book, trying to figure out the clues.  It was tough, but fun!  Similar to his earlier Animalia which my daughter also enjoyed, this book is all about looking closely and in that way, reminded me a little of Anno Mitsumasa’s picture books.  If you and your child like a real good puzzle and figuring out clues, then this is the book for you.  And the rhymes aren’t all that bad either!

Poetry Friday this week is hosted by Sara at Read Write Believe.

Add a Comment

A couple of weeks ago Sally wrote a Books at Bedtime post about Mitsumasa Anno‘s Animals, which sent me back to my collection of his books. Among them, I have another book with a very similar title: The Animals – a book of selected poems by Michio Mado, who is perhaps Japan’s best know poet for children. The poems here have been translated by the Empress Michiko of Japan, and are beautifully presented on gold pages, Japanese on the left, English on the right, with a frieze of animals created my Anno running along the bottom.

Each poem breathes from its double-page spread, and gives the reader thinking space. The book was published by Margaret K. McElderry, who died recently – and it is a testimony to the wonderful work she did in unerringly bringing beautiful picture books into being.

My copy of The Animals was once a library book and one of its previous young readers felt passionately enough about one of the poems to draw around its title on the Contents page very carefully with a felt tip pen. So that is the poem I will share with you today.

Butterflies

Butterflies close their wings
When they go to sleep.
They are so small,
In nobody’s way.
Yet they fold themselves
In half
Modestly…

And this lovely one, “A Dog Walks”, about trying to work out how a dog moves its legs when its walking:

How about tying
On each leg a bell,
Each with a different sound?

ChiRin
KoRon
KaRan
PoRon

Then shallI know?

I wonder?

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Sara Lewis Holmes at Read Write Believe – head on over.

Add a Comment

Hi Sara, thanks for stopping by. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Hi Shelli, I'm the author of two middle grade novels, LETTERS FROM RAPUNZEL, which is about a real girl who writes letters as if she were Rapunzel locked in a tower, and OPERATION YES, which was released last fall from Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic.

OPERATION YES has little green army men on the cover, and yes, it's about military families, but it was also recently named as one of Booklist's Top Ten Arts Books for 2009. I'm tickled that I managed to write a book about two important influences in my life: being part of an Air Force family and my secret history as a high school theater geek.

A lot of authors do blogs but your blog seems to focuses more on Poetry, which is a great blog niche. Was that a conscious decision or did it just evolve?

I jumped into the blog world on a Poetry Friday with a post called Enter (in which I confessed to my fear of that awful exam word: "begin.") Poetry continues to be one of my favorite ways to enter into and connect with the larger online community. Anyone can play! Poetry is a language; when we speak it, it's hard to stay solitary.

On a related note, I was surprised to learn that my Poetry Friday posts helped confirm my editor's interest in acquiring Operation Yes---even though the book is not poetry. She wrote about the decision process at Scholastic's On Our Minds blog; it's a fantastic window into how editors might look at an author's online presence.

Speaking of online, a coupe months ago, you and your editor, Cheryl Klein, did a live twitter chat together. How did you come up with the idea ?

Cheryl was active on Twitter before I was. She inspired me to open an account and try the crazy thing, and then to go one step further and attempt a chat in real time. Both of us thought the improvisational theater angle of Operation Yes was a great fit for t

Display Comments Add a Comment

#8 in the Poetry Potluck Series, celebrating National Poetry Month 2010.

             
             Note Hershey syrup can biscuit cutter. ☺

I don't know about you, but there's nothing that warms my heart more than the sight of boys in the kitchen. 

Would you just look at these two adorable bakers? Don't you just want to reach into the picture, give them a big hug and pinch their cheeks? I've been in cute overload mode ever since Sara sent me photos of her husband, Mike, and now-college-age son, Wade, making biscuits together.



The recipe comes from a cookbook Sara and Mike received as a wedding gift, called Dining with Pioneers. It seems especially fitting for this "pioneer" family, who has lived and traveled to many states and countries. Perhaps this family biscuit tradition helped them feel at home no matter where they went. Just recently, Sara mentioned Mike was making biscuits on a Sunday morning. Sigh. Don't you wish he'd come over to your house?


 Cutest rolling pin boy ever.

BISCUITS

The book, a wedding gift
from 1984, wishes us "many hours
of pleasure" and admonishes us

"eggs should be at least three days
old before using in cakes." It opens,
natural as pie, to Ann's Angel Biscuits;

the paper gritty with dried flour dust;
the ochre glue of the binding visible
where the spine has cracked flat

to this page. The oven is set to 450.
Yeast -- granular, fine as brown seeds -- floats
on 2 Tablespoons of warmed tap water;

I think of woman and man and what begins
over and over from seed and water 
while rough sugar blends into the slippery

whiteness of self-rising flour; molded
together with Crisco -- gussied up lard,
silvery salve stored in lidded tubs;

then buttermilk, if we have some, exotic
in a green carton, beaming with wholesome rectitude.
Roll out immediately; orders the recipe, although

it should say: gently, with a dusting of flour
to cushion you. Nothing about how to shape it,
but we know: with the smooth halo of a juice glass,

or (if you've saved it all these years) by the open
cylinder mouth of a burnished Hershey syrup can
rescued, measured sweetness, from a brownie box.

Bake until risen, freckled, and puffed
by sugar and grease and heat to row upon row
of circular, layered towers; a city of biscuits on a tray.

The cookbook is called Dining with Pioneers,
and perhaps we do, we makers of biscuits,
we seekers of pleasure, we homesteading angels.

© 2010 Sara Lewis Holmes. All rights reserved. 

♥ A perfect biscuit = a perfect poem. ♥

I love so many of Sara's poetic ingredients: the exotic buttermilk with "wholesome rectitude," the "gussied up lard," the idea of a dusting of flour to cush

Add a Comment

There you enter not only your own original thoughts, (which, a hundred to one, are few and insignificant) but such of other men as you think fit to make your own, by entering them there."

I have a beautiful journal I bought years ago -- blue velvet, a crimson and silver ribbon running around the middle, gilded pages big and thick and waiting for something important. Last week, I figured out its purpose. It's my Commonplace book. Already I've transcribed Johnathan Swift's quote above, a hymn that reminds me of my days teaching at my dear Episcopal school, and  quotes about living an intentional life.

Here's where I tell you about the giveaway:

The lovely journal pictured above is for one of you readers to unkeep your own Commonplace Book.
 In order to enter, leave a comment about what you might include in your own Commonplace Book. That's it. No need to be an official Follower (though, of course, that would be nice!). You international friends may enter, too.

The contest closes Friday, 6:00 PM CST. I'll us

Display Comments Add a Comment

            

Had a lovely time at Sara Lewis Holmes's booksigning yesterday at Hooray for Books in Alexandria, Virginia. It was a gorgeous day -- warm and sunny, in the 60's, and lots of folks strolled in to meet and congratulate Sara on the publication of her second middle grade novel, Operation Yes (Scholastic, 2009), which, BTW, was just named one of Booklist's Top Ten Art Books for Youth!


Sara signing books for my contest winners, Marjorie Light and Jeannine Atkins.

Of course Cornelius came along (he has a big crush on Sara). Happily, there were a lot of little green men about for him to play with.


Above is the awesome book Sara's agent (Tina Wexler) made from LGM photos.

Sara gave an interesting presentation about the genesis of the book, referring to a tack board full of newspaper clippings, drawings, and notes. These bits and pieces of inspiration, along with high school memories of memorizing Shakespeare, a real-life incident of little green men, and of course, first-hand experience with the kinds of challenges kids in military families face, all served as fodder for her imagination.

       

Audience members were given lines to read at Sara's cue.

She then read a chapter from the book, during which time something you don't normally see in a bookstore happened -- Sara dropped to the floor (in tight jeans and heels no less), effortlessly breezed through ten push-ups, then jumped back up and continued reading without missing a beat. She wasn't even out of breath. Aren't you impressed? Now there's one beautifully toned, fit writer -- a fine specimen of athletic prowess. Yes! I want her to be my bodyguard. ☺



Meanwhile, Cornelius was busy checking the bookshelves for more copies of Operation Yes.


Mmmmmm! Trish made brownies again!


And he got to meet Sara's husband, the ever famous Mike Holmes. Cornelius was thrilled and proud to pose with a real-live Air Force fighter pilot!


As always, a nice event at this wonderful indie bookstore. With all the friendly people, loads of great books to read, and an endless supply of brownies, one could just about live there. Congratulations again, Sara. I'm sure your book is inspiring lots of readers to think about their lives a little differently, and to definitely say YES! 


To Sara's right is the board containing some of the things that inspired Operation Yes.

If you haven't gotten your copy yet, order one from your nearest indie bookstore! ☺

Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

Add a Comment

          


Cornelius loves loves loves Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes!

He likes Bo and Gari and their way cool teacher Miss Loupe, but most of all, he loves all the little green army men! They came spilling out of the story and have invaded the alphabet soup kitchen.
 
Whether they are busy with breakfast maneuvers,


steadfastly guarding the marmalade,


checking out the Great Pumpkin,


securing giant egg cups,


or hurling raisins instead of grenades,


these guys know where the action is. 


Cornelius wants everyone to read this inspiring, important story and experience the joy of LGAM too, so we are sponsoring a little giveaway.



You may have heard that Sara will be signing books at Hooray For Books in Alexandria, Virginia, on Sunday, November 8th,
from 1-2 p.m. To share the love with those of you who won't be able to attend, we're giving away two signed, personalized copies. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment at this post, telling us who your favorite teacher was/is (real or fictional), and why. If you mention this giveaway on your blog, FB, Twitter, etc., you can earn extra entries (just tell us about it in the comments). *If you're shy about commenting, just send me an email: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot com).

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: Thursday, November 5, 2009 (midnight EST), U.S. residents only, please.



For more about Operation Yes, visit this special website. There's a terrific Teacher's Guide available now. Fabulous book for classroom use, great gift choice for your favorite middle grade readers!

For more details about Sara's booksigning, click here. She's donating a dollar for every book sold to Musicorps!! Yay!



So, who's the coolest teacher on the planet?

Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved. 

Add a Comment

I couldn't wait to read Operation Yes, a new middle-grade novel from Sara Lewis Holmes. I was excited for many reasons: 1. I loved her first book, Letters from Rapunzel. It had real heart. 2. I know Sara online and enjoy her writing and her worldview immensely. 3. I enjoy improv. In fact, I went to see an improv show at ComedySportz right after reading this book, and I left wanting to take improv lessons again (improv lessons--doesn't that sound like an oxymoron!). I knew improv somehow figured into the plot of Operation Yes, and I couldn't wait to see how. In fact, I also love the book Improv Wisdom, which I'm 99% sure Sara recommended in the first place. 4. I grew up in Orlando near the Navy base, and my best friend's dad was retired military. I often went on base--attended church there, ate lunch there, etc. It's a cool setting, and one I've never seen featured in a kids' novel. And when I read the book, it was all that I hoped for and more. I won't give away the plot, but here are a few things I love about what this book is about:

1. It's about saying yes even when life sucks. 

2. It's about the power of one person to make a difference, to change other people's lives, by connecting, joining, playing off of each other.

3. Bad things happen. This book acknowledges that, trusts kids with this knowledge (which they already have, anyway), and tells a story about what a particular few kids do with that knowledge.

4. It's about the amazing things can happen when someone is willing to say "Yes, and..." (a major tenet of improv comedy). It's about taking what life hands you and choosing to create a great life anyway.

5. It's also about the power of the plan. I love to plan, and the whole dichotomy of improv and planning in this book drew me in totally.

6. It's a dang good story. I'm drawing out the themes/philosophy of the book. And they resonated with me. But most of all, it's the story of Bo, a boy living on base, his cousin Gari, who comes to stay with Bo's family while her single-parent mom is deployed overseas, and their teacher, Miss Loupe--the most unusual teacher they've ever had (and, oh, how I would have loved to have had Miss Loupe for a teacher!). I wanted to know what happened to all of them and how they would possibly solve their big problems. And with humor, realism, and suspense, Holmes moves all their stories briskly forward to a conclusion that feels just right. I'm so glad I won a copy of this book from Sara! It was on my to read list anyway, of course. But the autograph from Sara, the personal connection I felt while reading it, that's what the book is all about.

I nominated Operation Yes for the Cybils, and  I hope you'll head over there and start nominating some books you loved this past year too.

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

"Theatre is the art of saying yes." ~ from Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes.


Blue Angels in delta formation, MC Base, Hawai'i, 2007.


"Off we go into the wild blue yonder
Climbing high into the sun . . . "

Yes, yes, yes!!

At this very moment, we're flying high and soaring to new heights, because today is official pub day for Operation Yes, by the one and only Sara Lewis Holmes! 

     
       OPERATION YES by Sara Lewis Holmes
        (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009), Ages 9-12, 256 pp.

*adjusts goggles and does happy dance in flight suit*

Yes, that Sara -- whose first novel, Letters from Rapunzel, impressed me so much back in 2007, that I simply had to write and tell her, even though I'm usually much too shy to contact perfect strangers. That led to me reading her amazing blog, Read*Write*Believe, where she sometimes features her exquisite poetry. *swoon* Such talent! I was so inspired by what she was doing that I summoned up the courage to start my own blog. Since she encouraged and supported me from day one, you can see why I am especially thrilled to be able to celebrate her second middle grade novel right here on alphabet soup.

Can't. wait. to. read. it.

Operation Yes takes place at a dilapidated school adjoining an Air Force Base in Reform, North Carolina, where an unconventional, first-year teacher named Miss Loupe introduces her sixth grade class to the wonders of improvisational theatre. She has created a taped rectangle on the floor at the front of the classroom, a make-shift stage, because "art needs a frame," and, "art is arranging objects to create beauty." In this taped space, the class discovers what can happen when given the chance to say yes.


Cornelius reprises his role as Private Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Maneuvers."
 
One of the students is trouble maker Bo Whaley, who finds it difficult trying to live up to the standards expected of a Colonel/Base Commander's son. Surprisingly enough, under Miss Loupe's tutelage Bo is able to avoid trouble and excel at something. Add to the mix Bo's angry and troubled cousin, Gari, who grudgingly moves in with them after her mother is deployed to Iraq. 

Miss Loupe herself is from a military family, and knows all too well what it's like to constantly have to move, change schools and deal with the loneliness and anxiety of being separated from loved ones. She is able to inspire her students to "embrace life's possibilities through the arts." But after her brother is reported missing in Afghanistan, even she succumbs to the strain. Working as a team, the students of Room 208 implement the transformational power of YES and devise a plan to help Miss Loupe and improve conditions at their school.

  
    An F-15E Strike Eagle flies over the mountains and high desert of Afghanistan. 
    (photo source: Seymour Johnson AFB Media Gallery.) 

Early readers have been loving Operation Yes. Richie Partington of Library Thing says, "Through Bo and his schoolmates, we get a real sense of what it is to have to change homes and schools every couple of years. Author Sara Lewis Holmes -- herself, the wife of an Air Force pilot -- does a great job of showing us what this sort of childhood might be like."

Shelf Elf hopes the book will receive a lot of hoopla because, "What this book says about courage, creativity, family ties, war and education is complex and thought-provoking . . . I am sure it will make people think about how it takes courage and integrity to fight for what you believe in, whether you are serving your country or serving your community or family or students."

Kirkus found the book "lively" and "funny," and likes how the focus is not on the "larger questions of war and peace," but what it might be like for kids of American military families who have to deal with the consequences every day. Books for young readers addressing this topic are few and far between -- bravo to Sara for helping to meet this need with her uplifting story. This just in: Operation Yes has been named to the Autumn 2009 Kids' Indie Next List! How cool is that?!


Classic warbirds (F-86, F-4, F-15, A-10), fly in diamond formation just for Sara!
(photo by divemasterking2000.)

Let's head to the mess hall pronto and slurp up some delicious jet fuel celebration soup (green army men securing the perimeter). If the spirit moves you, feel free to leave your cockpits and recite some Shakespeare while wing balancing, or engage in some happy aerobatics (tailslides, loops, spins) in Sara's honor. Embrace all the possibilities -- the sky's the limit!


Today's Special: Four Star Soldiers Soup (seasoned with courage, resilience, and imagination). Especially good to offset life's daily battles.

Say yes to dessert: camo cupcakes and fighter jet cookies:

photo by lyonskatwork.


photo by whimsical.whisk.

Plan A: Fly on over to your local indie to score your copy of Operation Yes, or order online.

Plan B: Visit the special Operation Yes website, which has its own blog, videos, cool photos, and fun activities, like, How to Make a Star from a Straw Wrapper :)! Sara has planned some giveaways, contests and surprises in the next few weeks, so check back often.

Plan C: For more about Sara and her books, check out her official website and Read*Write*Believe blog.

Plan D: Read these online reviews: Shelf Elf, Library Thing, Thoughts of Joy, and this wonderful article/interview at Everyday Learning Magazine.

Plan E: All of the above.


Shakesbear and friends say YES to Sara's new book!

More Soup of the Day posts here.

Over and out!

Copyright © 2009 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.
 

Add a Comment

It's here!

Sara Lewis Holmes's new book, Operation Yes

Add a Comment

I saved this blog entry by Sara Lewis Holmes because I thought it was so well written and I totally GET it.

I find it so strange and fascinating when something happens while we are writing that is totally unexpected.

And even more fun is when the unexpected thing is annoying - stops your story in its tracks - messes up your plans.

It's like this little cosmic Writing Fairy swooping down to throw dust on your story and at first you get all mad and say "Stop that, you're messing up my story"....

....but then you end up saying, "Gee, thanks, you made my story better!"

Example:

In The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis, the two main characters (Popeye and Elvis, duh) have been trying and trying and trying to convince Starletta to show them the place where dead dogs live. (I can't explain that, you just have to read the story. And trust me, no dogs are killed in this book.)

She FINALLY tells them that she will show them on Wednesday.

They can hardly wait.

Wednesday comes and they dash over to Starletta's. (Note: the "wings" referred to in the passage are these scruffy butterfly wings that Starletta wears.)


Popeye followed Elvis to the backyard and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Starletta hopping down the porch steps, wings aflapping.

Elvis didn’t waste a minute. “Today’s Wednesday,” he said. “Show us the dead dogs.”

Starletta looked him square in the eye and said, “No.”


Now - when I wrote that, I was totally, completely unprepared for Starletta to say no!!

I had PLANNED for her to show them.

But she just up and said that!

I was so shocked.

It stopped me dead in my tracks.

I'm sitting at my desk and thinking, "Well, NOW what do I do?"

My Writing Fairy had tossed that dust down there onto my paper and completely caught me off guard.

Isn't that strange and fun and fascinating?

AND - the best part is that, naturally, it made the story better because the reader wasn't expecting that to happen either - so I'm keeping 'em guessing.

Ha!

Display Comments Add a Comment

  
        

Here are some random tidbits for your picnic basket:

First, thank you thank you thank you to Tarie of Into the Wardrobe for awarding alphabet soup a 2008 Brilliante Weblog Premio! I am humbled and honored to be mentioned in the same list as Just One More Book, Brooklyn Arden, and Bloomabilities.

Have you read Marjorie Coughlan's fabulous interview with Jen Robinson over at papertigers.org? Lots of insight and inspiration, with Jen explaining why books, reading, and literacy mean so much to her and what she hopes to accomplish with her fabulous blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page. I am totally blown away by her commitment and dedication.

Make sure to read this post about writing YA by tadmack at Finding Wonderland. You probably know there is a lot of discussion going on in the kidlit blogosphere right now about the stigma YA literature seems to carry in the publishing world. Many bloggers are responding to a recent New York Times article by Margo Rabb, "I'm Y.A., and I'm O.K.," including LJ's Little Willow (slayground) and David Lubar (davidlubar).

Colleen Mondor is rounding up other reactions and opinions at Chasing Ray. She has also designated this week as a time for everyone to post about any issues or concerns they have about children's and young adult publishing, so check back every day for updates.

Interesting discussion about verse novels in the comments of this recent Poetry Friday post by Sara Lewis Holmes (Read*Write*Believe). I especially liked David Elzey's comment, written from the POV of a 13-year-old boy. 

Have a great week!

Add a Comment

The best writing advice is so simple that I have to say it over and over again. It's so simple that I have to repeat it when other people say it. It's so simple that I have to beat it into my skull every busy busy week like the week I'm stuck in right now.

Here it is, again. We are writers. Therefore, we must be sitting at our writing desks writing absolutely every chance we get.

Gordon Hurd will set you straight with this inspiring post about this very subject. He mentions a book that we must all track down soon. Dig it, dig it:

"no matter how much you want to stop writing after that first good sentence or page or scene, keep going. Stay in the room even though your coffee is cold. Stay in the room even though the phone is ringing. Stay in the room to write your first draft."

He's paraphrasing the writing handbook, Ron Carlson Writes a Story. The book was written by author and creative writing teacher Ron Carlson. It's easy enough to say "Stay at your writing table," but much harder to do.

How do you convince yourself to keep writing after a long long day?

 

Add a Comment