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Crocodaddy survived his first book signing on Saturday and is now on a blog book tour sponsored by KidzBookBuzz! Thank you to Sally Apokedak for arranging the tour, as well as a sincere thanks to all her marvelous, dedicated bloggers. I would also like to thank my publisher, Sterling Children's Books, which got behind the tour and shipped out a collection of review copies.
Visit these blogs for reviews, interviews, craft projects and giveaways. (Yes, giveaways! Jump in!)
How cute is this?! My son's girlfriend made this adorable cake over the weekend to celebrate my first CROCODADDY book signing, which was held at the Isle of Wight County Museum -- blissfully sheltered from the day's heat and humidity. I spent a couple of minutes putting up a sandwich board outside, so my hair had completely wilted before I managed to get set up the table at 9am.
We scheduled it for the same time as the "Mother's Day Farmer's Market," right next door to the museum. I love having a summer farmer's market within walking distance of my house. Wait, that was a confusing sentence. I don't live at the museum. I live a couple of blocks from there. I can look over the hill and see the museum from my backdoor. Crocodaddy's really, truly, official birthday seems to have slid around, so I'm not sure what date, exactly, counts as his birthday. All the Barnes & Noble stores seem to have put it out early, as soon as they received their shipments, which I am happy about, of course! My friends have been sending me photos from around the country of B&N Croc sightings. So sweet of them!
Anyhow, Croc is now officially in the building AND he's on a blog book tour. Visit Kidzbookbuzz for interviews, reviews and giveaways over the next 3 days. (Monday, May 11, thru Wednesday, May 13.) Kim Norman
3 Comments on Happy Birthday to Crocodaddy!, last added: 5/23/2009
I love this book, Kim! It's a beautiful combination of art and text, and I wish I'd done it. Congratulations on its debut. I hope you sell a zillion. :)
My newest book, CROCODADDY is now in Barnes & Noble stores nationwide. Yahoo! (Or maybe I should say it's making a splash nationwide.)
To prove it's nationwide, my good friend Shelli snapped a photo of it in her local Austin, TX store. How cute is that? I hope the store employees didn't think she was doing some sort of industrial espionage for Books-a-Million.
Next week will be crazy busy. I've got two out of state school visits, (one in N.C. and one in Maryland) and a book launch/signing at the Isle of Wight Museum on Saturday, May 9th. Looking forward to all of it, of course. It's a morning signing, (9am to noon), to coincide with the farmers' market, I've invited family for lunch after the signing. I'm hoping for nice weather because I'd like to serve lunch outside in my "garden room." (Translation: a lovely, rosy spot under my pecan tree.)
Then I've got a blog book tour sponsored by Kidsbookbuzz, which I'm looking forward, too, also. I'm grateful to the owner of the website, Sally Apokedak, for arranging the tour.
So raise a glass of green Croco-cola for the birth of Crocodaddy!
(This article first appeared in the online magazine www.kidmagwriters.com)
"I enjoyed your poem. You show great facility with iambic tetrameter."
My first response to the above quote from a Carus editor was, "Ah, shucks."
My second was... "Huh?"
I'm a Grandma Moses poet. Like that late-blooming primitive painter, I am self-taught. I once had an art teacher who stated that a true primitive painter is best left untaught. Too much information about composition and perspective, he said, might squelch a true primitive's natural flair. I'm probably the same way with my poetry writing. Or maybe I'm just too lazy to learn.
Either way, I write by the seat of my pants. I've never formally studied poetry except for a few moments in junior high and English 101 in college. Don't know a tetrameter from a tetrahedron; a spondee from a sponge cake. It's not that I haven't tried. I own a wonderful book, a 40-year-old high school textbook called LYRIC VERSE, edited by Edward Rakow. He keeps explaining spondees --and anapests and dactyls--- and I keep forgetting them. (Like the rules to cribbage, which my brother has explained to me at least 6 times.)
I compose mostly rhymed, metered poetry, which we all know is not held in high regard in certain academic circles. A poetry judge once told me that my work was better categorized as "light verse." Some might even call it doggerel.
Whaddevah. Kids don't care about labels. They just like solid, fun, rhythmic poetry.
Oops... I mean verse.
While I'm not heavily schooled in the NAMES of poetic forms, I have read a lot and learned by example. Often I'll encounter a poem, admire its particular rhythms, and borrow that beat to write a poem of my own.
In A TREASURY OF THE FAMILIAR, (Ralph L. Woods, MacMillan, 1943) a dusty old favorite inherited from my father, I came across "Burial of Sir John Moore" by Charles Wolfe. The poem begins this way:
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, as his corse to the rampart we hurried; Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot O'er the grave where our hero we buried.
The poem continues in this plodding, dirge-like rhythm, which I found contagious. I was inspired to write a poem of my own, entitled "The Burial of Barnaby Briar." Here are the first three stanzas:
It was merciless midnight on All Hallows Eve, In the murk of the mud and the mire, that we hammered the lid on the coffin that hid the body of Barnaby Briar.
And the rain never slacked on our suffering backs as his coffin we grudgingly carried. Not a star was in sight on that horrible night that Barnaby Briar was buried.
All ‘round were the sounds of the creatures of night, like the tune of a funeral choir, while dark in our pockets the gold nuggets clanked that we’d stolen from Barnaby Briar.
I think I've caught the tone of the earlier poem, thanks to that borrowed meter.
One talent is handy to a pants-seat poet: innate rhythm. When I was a kid, I thought I was just weird. I always wanted to clap along to music on the opposite beat from the -- let's admit it -- mostly white people around me. Anybody remember those circus TV shows in the 60s hosted by Don Ameche? Once, I asked my piano teacher what was wrong with me. Why did I always want to clap on the beat BETWEEN the claps of those European circus audiences?
"Because you've got rhythm," he said.
Then he explained the importance of the 2nd and 4th beat BETWEEN the plodding 1st and 3rd beats of a 4/4 song. You can hear clearly in rock songs. There's the drummer, hammering out that 2nd & 4th beat, between the stronger downbeats. (At least, I THINK the 1st & 3rd beats are called the downbeats. See? I told you I was unschooled.)
When I'm not stealing the rhythms of poets long dead, I enjoy writing within the constraints of specific poetic forms such as sonnets or limericks. Just another type of borrowing, I guess. For me, it's easier to grasp a form by studying an actual poem than by reading the spelled-out rules.
Read a few sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and you begin to naturally fall into that 10 syllable iambic beat: AcCUSEme NOT, beSEECH thee, THAT i WEAR Too CALM and SAD a FACE in FRONT of THINE;
As a lark, I knocked out the following sonnet on a dare. The assignment, from one of my critique group members, was to write a sonnet comparing poems to essays. Thus:
Shall I compare an Essay to a Verse? by Kim Norman
A poem can be short and to the point, while essays often drag on endlessly. And essays often teachers disappoint, but poems merely kill them by degree.
A poem may have rhythm, rhyme or meter, while essays are most often writ in prose. Although a poem's lyrics may be sweeter, an essay often causes sweet repose.
A poem holds surprises like a prism, obscuring deep emotions in a veil, while essayists are prone to plagiarism and other crimes that lead you straight to jail.
So I will pen a poem now and then instead of writing essays from the "Pen."
I'll admit I broke a few rules. Because of female end-rhymes (rhymes that end in an unstressed syllable) a few lines in the above sonnet have eleven rather than the requisite ten syllables. It does conform to the 14 line, A-B-A-B rules, (3 quatrains & an ending couplet.) Since nobody reads this stuff, who's going to complain?
Do a few internet searches and you'll find a wealth of information about poetic forms. They're a great way to stretch your lyrical ligaments. Find something you like, read it a few times, then try one for yourself.
Happy borrowing!
###
Kim Norman is the author of JACK OF ALL TAILS, (Dutton, 2007) CROCODADDY, (Sterling, May 2009) I KNOW A WEE PIGGY, (Dutton, 2010) and TEN ON THE SLED, (Sterling, 2010
She writes (and borrows) in southeastern Virginia. www.kimnorman.com
0 Comments on Perils of a Pants-Seat Poet as of 1/1/1900
Kim, I write poetry, both rhymed and unrhymed and am a fairly new writer of children's stories. I think your suggestion to use another poem as a model is a good one, but in my experience those who don't have a good ear for meter have a hard time with this.
I play the flute and the piccolo and studied music for many years, and I'm convinced that is a big piece of why I have a good ear for meter.
I also generate most of my own rhymes (I have an altorithm) and rarely resort to a rhyming dictionary. I do make heavy use of a thesaurus -- I use the one at http://www.dictionary.com
I think you're right that an innate sense of rhythm makes it a LOT easier to write marketable verse. (It's also true that studying music helps -- although the best musicians probably come to it with a lot of innate ability, too.)
I used to use a thesaurus more than I do now. I found that -- because I love words so much -- the vocabulary level of the piece would get too high for children's writing. So now I rely more frequently on simple rhymes I can compose in my own head... with the occasional trip to rhymezone.com
Kim that was a great article. I was totally able to relate. I grew up reading A A Milne's 'When we were very young and now we are six' have never had a poetry lesson in my life but still seem to be able to write publishable rhyming poetry so thanks for sharing. I don't feel like such a fraud now!
Oh yes, Milne! I have all his volumes of children's poetry and cherish them. I got a little choked up, when I sold my first book, to realize I was being published by the American publisher of Pooh. My absolute favorite when I was a kid. My mom threatened to throw the book away, she got so sick of reading it to me!
Today I was reminded of a card game I created years ago as writing prompts for my two sons. It took some digging through files from my old Mac, but I found and updated them today.
It's not really a game so much as a collection of 80 illustrated cards which act as writing prompts -- a tweak of the old WHO-WHAT-WHERE-WHEN-WHY rules. I've substituted "with what" (with what object) for "why," to introduce some concrete props to help add layers to the stories.
I created 11 sheets total in PDF format. I also included one sheet of blank cards, in case anyone is inspired to write/drawn their own.
If you're looking for boy-friendly writing prompts, these may prove helpful. My sons were the prime age when Pokemon cards were king. They couldn't get enough of cards in all forms. We also created some cool mythology cards which I may dig up sometime, too.
If you're interested in downloading the cards, (it's a free download), CLICK HERE.
0 Comments on Play my 5W writing card game! as of 1/1/1900
Here's a photo of a funky little jacket I created from three 2nd-hand jean jackets. This is the back of the jacket, which is basically all that's left. I cut off the front and glued down the collar to make it more lightweight to transport.
I keep meaning to decorate the pockets with stitching or glitter paint, but haven't gotten around to it. Besides, then it would lose its cool "Fonzie" attitude and look more like dorky decorated denim from a 1970s craft magazine. The one effort I made in decorative edging was to pull a few fibers from the edge of the pockets for a frayed look. Come to think of it, I also laundered the pockets after cutting and fraying them, for the same purpose. It does define the edges rather nicely.
I use the jacket for a variety of poetry activities during school visits, all loosely grouped under the title "POCKET POEMS." For one such activity, I print up a bunch of 5-line poems, (you'll find lots about those, including variations, with a quick Google search), cut them up into individual lines, then insert all 1st lines into the top left pocket, all the 2nd lines into top right, and so on. Then I allow students to pull out the lines, one by one, so we end up with a scrambled poem for them to read aloud. Some can be quite funny.
The jacket is tremendously sturdy and easy to carry. I transport it, rolled up, in a shoulder bag where it takes up very little room.
None of the pockets are buttoned in this picture, but those great little metal buttons are all there, and I do button them shut for transport. Keeps the snippets from falling out!
The pockets are simply glued on with craft glue. I asked a friend if I could borrow her sewing machine, and she said, "Sure, but glue would probably work just as well." She was right, clever girl! I hate sewing. Duct tape and glue are my preferred sewing media.
The jacket is just another way to add interest to information, even the most mundane. Kids love discovering what's hidden behind that next mysterious "door."
Great idea Kim! I'd love to see you doing this on your videos.
You mean you don't want to Bedazzle it?
Oh, I sent you a private email last week - did you get it? I was having trouble with my email server - don't use my yahoo email anymore - use this one: [email protected]
Just for fun, here's a video I created for my "Storytime Boogie," a song I wrote and often perform for younger students during my school visits. "The Storytime Boogie" promotes bedtime reading. I think it's a lot of fun, if I do say so myself!
Or, you can view my performance of the song at Coventry Elementary School in Yorktown, Virginia, back in the fall of 2008. Click HERE to view that video.
So, in case you've ever wondered what amateur thespians do with their time after a show closes...
We just wrapped up our fall production of LI'L ABNER. I was in the cast as a sweet young thing a couple of decades ago, but decided to sit this one out, while my son enjoyed some stage time instead. I did paint the set, though, as well as creating a big statue of "Jubilation T. Cornpone."
So naturally, yesterday I pull into my driveway after running errands and what do I find decorating my mailbox garden? Well, the photo above will illustrate. Those theater pranksters!
After enjoying a good laugh, my son and I printed up a sign (right), which we tacked to the side, put the statue on a borrowed dolly and rolled it up the street to the house of another cast member, where we removed the dolly wheels. Hey, transporting it to its next spot is HIS problem. (big wicked grin)
The one with the church in the background is my yard; the blue house is the next victim.
And finally, after all these years of painting flats that were lost to the world as soon as the next show was mounted, (with no photos to record the work), this time I took my digital camera and photographed the flats. I've uploaded the "Dogpatch" flat below, which is 32 feet wide, so I had to photograph it in 3 shots, then photoshop them together.
For Dogpatch, I went for as cartoony an effect as I could manage. These flats are 12 feet tall. The head of a 6 foot tall man comes to about the bottom of that little gray house in the middle. So for more than half the square footage, I had to paint from a hydraulic lift to reach above my puny 6 foot reach. Thank goodness for that new hydraulic lift. I don't think my knees could have stood that honking big ladder the theater used to own -- not to mention that moving the darned thing was like dragging around a dead giraffe. I got pretty good at steering & parking that lift in tight quarters near the paint room.
0 Comments on After the curtain falls... as of 1/1/1900
Ah thanks, Sandy! I paint with 4 and 8 inch rollers as much as possible. I've gotten pretty good at it. I can even contour things with those rollers, like shading the edges of things.
LOL! You all are a hoot! What a sight - seeing you and your son heaving that thing up the street! Wow! Kim, love the painting job - great work - it really goes so well with the theme. I'm out of town for a week but had to stop and visit my favorite author. ;)
I wanted to pop in here and let you know I'm thinking of you. As you know, it is the busiest time of year for every one and I'm hard to catch. I'm preparing for the science class for tomorrow and then decorating all weekend - next will be pulling out all my recipes. I have decided to give up teaching the science class in the New Year as it is a bit of a drive and a lot of work to put together due to the budget. Hopefully, I'll be more active with my online buddies.
With the book giveaway concluding at the end of this month (Nov 08) I think it's a good idea to give the contest one more plug. Honest, folks, it looks as though not that many folks are entered in the contest yet, (not the thousands I'd hoped), but what's bad for me (not being famous -- boo hoo!) is good for you -- because it increases your odds of winning!
But there's not much time left, so the Thanksgiving holiday is the perfect time for teachers to take a few minutes to enter. See details in the repost below:
Hi all, I'm excited to share information about a book giveaway I'm involved with through TheApple, an educator's website. The contest runs thru the entire month of November, 2008. The winner must be a teacher or homeschooler, so FORWARD THIS LINK TO ALL THE TEACHERS YOU KNOW!
Here's official blurb from TheApple: TheApple is proud to host a book contest with author Kim Norman. Come on over to TheApple to learn about "The Perfect Author Visit," then take a little quiz for a chance to win 35 autographed copies of her book, JACK OF ALL TAILS. Click HERE for info on how to participate.
(Kim Norman popping into the official blurb to let you know I have never received even the tiniest bit of spam as a result of registering on the site many months ago.)
TheApple is a community by and for educators. Registration is free! TheApple offers a huge library of resources written by educators on how to manage a class, work with parents, teach special needs, and utilize technology to name a few. Browse lesson plans, news, videos, career quizzes or join a group.
I enjoyed a terrific visit to Coventry Elementary in Yorktown, VA, last week. What a great school! Here's a video of the kids singing along with my "Storytime Boogie." I love it when they know the song in advance. (I always send a CD in advance of my visit.) But even if they don't know it, they're still bouncing and bobbing to the music in no time.
In this video, it's cute the way all the heads are swaying to the lullaby at the beginning of the song, then start bopping when the music speeds up.
This is a song I wrote a few years ago with a different title and lyrics. But when I started doing school visits, I rewrote it as "The Storytime Boogie," a song which encourages bedtime reading. I also created a music video of the song which you can view on YouTube, HERE. And, of course, you can visit my website by clicking my name below.
Hi all, I'm excited to share information about a book giveaway I'm involved with through TheApple, an educator's website. The contest runs thru the entire month of November, 2008. All you do is read an article I wrote called "The Perfect Author Visit," take an easy quiz about it, and those who get 100% on the quiz will be entered into a drawing to win 35 autographed books. The winner must be a teacher, so if you're not one, be sure to FORWARD THIS LINK TO ALL THE TEACHERS YOU KNOW!
(I asked, and this does include homeschoolers. Verification of teacher or homeschooler status will be required ONLY of the winner, similar to the type you provide for educator discounts.)
Here's official blurb from TheApple: TheApple is proud to host a book contest with author Kim Norman. Come on over to TheApple to learn about "The Perfect Author Visit," then take a little quiz for a chance to win 35 autographed copies of her book, JACK OF ALL TAILS. Click HERE for info on how to participate.
(Kim Norman popping into the official blurb to let you know I have never received even the tiniest bit of spam as a result of registering on the site many months ago.)
TheApple is a community by and for educators. Registration is free! TheApple offers a huge library of resources written by educators on how to manage a class, work with parents, teach special needs, and utilize technology to name a few. Browse lesson plans, news, videos, career quizzes or join a group.
"TheApple is Facebook for Educators!" -Rebecca, member of TheApple.com
Sometimes 2 hours in the bathroom can produce a GOOD thing, like this little mural I painted, based loosely on an area of the marsh near which I often walk in the morning. The actual painting isn't this yellow. I don't know why the photo came out so yellow. Camera struggling to deal with the poor light in the room, I guess.
Here's info I shared with my critique group about painting it, as we discussed things like the no-no of using pure black for shadows versus "whatever was available in the theater paint room" where I acquired my mural-painting skills.
One member asked, "...a new sideline?" to which I replied:
Nah, an old sideline. I've painted faux this & that's in people's homes & businesses many times in the past but it was never my favorite pastime. I'm just not that crazy about painting. Maybe because of that, combined with my experience with painting 32" by 16" flats, I'm unusually fast because I work with rollers in wallpaint instead of brushes in tube paint. I usually pour 3 or 4 colors into two separate paint trays and work with a roller in each hand and a couple of sponge brushes clutched in my knuckles -- kind of like Terri's six-shooter cowgirl, only with rollers -- the short, 3 or 4-inch wide kind. You have to work fast with those wall acrylics, while it's still wet, which is why I work all the colors at once... until they start to blend too much in the pan. I do not want colors to blend in the pan. I want 2 to 4 distinct colors which blend visually on the wall. Otherwise, with these dull wall colors--as opposed to bright tube paints--the whole thing turns to mud.
(Which is where pure black or white can sometimes save a deadly dull backdrop with values which are all too similar. A few pops of pure black and pure white, for contrast, can often bring it back to life. My theater "paintings" are for viewing from 20 to 60 feet away, under various colored lights, so having one's heart set on a color looking the same as you envisioned, once someone has screwed with the lights, will result in disappointment.) As Joe suggests, I would never use pure black on a real painting, but on theater sets it's often the best choice for achieving quick contrast. My other objective being, of course, not to make it a full-time job. I really dislike painting theater sets. It's lonely and boring and I hate climbing ladders. I'm in love with this new hydraulic lift "car" the theater just bought, but I still have to hoist my ample ass 4 feet up onto the platform a dozen times at each paint session. Good exercise, but not the most fun.
When the colors blend too much in the pans, I grab a new pan or two. No washing up until I know the whole flat is done. Since I've painted a thousand variations of marsh fading to several lines of trees, this was an especially easy one to do without a lot of advance planning.
Something else I've learned about set painting is that if it looks great at arm's length (or maybe 3 or 4 feet away) it will look like crap from an audience seat. Well maybe not crap, but disappointing, at least. You'll think, "Why did I put in all that detail that nobody can see?" Often, sponges--which I did use in this tiny mural--look too muted on a big flat. From a distance, (the audience view), it all blends and becomes bland. You can't see that nice texture.
I think I may have told you all about this one:
A dozen years ago, when Collin was about 8, I was painting a nude for a western show. Can't even remember the name of the show. The producer gave me about a 6 or 7 piece of "lew-on" to paint the image on. (I have no idea how to spell that, but that's what all the producers call it -- basically it's like cheap pieces of paneling.) The only place big enough to lay a 7 foot wide piece of lew-on was in my living room. So I painted away, using whatever colors I had at hand. In the dim light of my living room everything looked okay, but I discovered that in the right light, she looked a little greenish.
But that didn't bother Collin, my little critic. He came into the room when I was mostly done with the body, still working on her face -- which had taken on a hispanic look but was still very unfinished. Collin looked at the painting and said thoughtfully, "Her face is kind of funny... but her breasts are just right."
ROFL! Colin is priceless! So, glad you scrapped this memory of him. He'll appreciate it later. :0 Great job on the painting, Kim! Sooooo relaxing. Yes, the lighting of the bathroom caused the yellow tint. If you don't have photo shop - feel free to send me the pic and I'll take the yellow out.
Kim, I rec'd the books and love them! Thank you so much! Brenden and Alex think it's so cool that mom is friends with a real life author. The fact that you added the personal touch really got them. Thanks so much and I can't wait to give one to Conner. I left information about this on my site with links to your sites.
Hi Kathy! Glad you like my perty bathroom picture. You should come see it!
Yes, Moira and I were a hoot yesterday as the Drama Queens. I think it went very well and I do think our making fools of ourselves earlier in the day, handing out the little fliers, did make a difference, bringing more people to our session.
I'm kicking myself that I forgot to bring a camera to take our picture. We looked so cute in our plastic crowns. Har har!
A couple of photos taken outside my grandparents' farmhouse where we vacation in Maine nearly every summer. These were taken in August of 2008. Already seems like a long time ago.
I've seen talk lately about book trailers, author trailers, you-name-it trailers. Here's a trailer I created a few months ago, a little "Author Visit Show-and-Tell"...
Made it myself in that cool iMovie program on my Mac. Kind of fun being a pretend director. And here's the song with which I often close my younger elementaryschool author programs, "The Storytime Boogie," which promotes bedtime reading:
Awesome, Kim! Soooooooo proud of you! I'll remind the group to get over here and check out your YouTube production. I wish you could come here for an author visit - I'd be the one cheering and possibly embarrassing you. ;)
Have a fun vacation getting your feet wet! Lots to talk about when you get back.
Great promotional tool, Kim. You are "out there" in more ways than one! Pure entertainment, with a side of education. They'll never know what hit 'em...
Author Toni Buzzeo (Maine) steps in to share the first post in a new series I'm calling THE PERFECT AUTHOR VISIT. The series is featured on my companion website, AUTHOR VISITS BY STATE, a state-by-state listing of children's book authors & illustrators who visit schools to do presentations. (The site now has nearly 400 listings!)
The first few posts in the series will describe perfect visits from the author's perspective. We'll hear from Dr. Fred Bortz, (Pennsylvania); Alex Flinn, (Florida); Rukhsana Kahn,(Canada); Marianne Mitchell, (Colorado); and Jane Yolen, (New York). Later, I hope to add similar posts from an educator's perspective. Here's Toni:
This visit happened in New York state in April. It was so wonderful, so much like the visits I used to have at my school when I was the host and when NCLB hadn't darkened the door of the educational landscape.
What an amazing school and an amazing day in this era of "No Child Left Behind." When I told them how rare it was to find a school that felt it had this sort of time for author visit preparations, the principal and the librarian were astounded. They'd always done it this way and say they always will. A year long focus on literacy and learning via an indepth author study! Woooohoooo! Everything Jane Kurtz and I espoused in TERRIFIC CONNECTIONS!
So everybody, here is another component to a perfect author visit: Be sure you're following Toni Buzzeo or Jane Kurtz. LOL! (Because my Hampton, Virginia visit following Toni's visit last year went well, too.) Obviously, Jane & Toni are good leaders, encouraging a reading of their how-to book, TERRIFIC CONNECTIONS, before they come.
Coincidentally, at a school I visited a few weeks ago, Jane Kurtz had been there the year before. So at my "Follow-Jane-Kurtz" visit, the principal sat in on both presentations. That has never, ever happened before. Sometimes the principals don't even pop in to meet me. (Generally, I've found that visits go better when they do. That seems to indicate a higher level of involvement from the whole staff, although I understand that sometimes schedules don't allow time for the principal to get away from his/her obligations.) Also at this school, the book sale & signing was very organized, and they had sold more books in advance than any school the whole year.
So, thanks to Toni and Jane, I had a near perfect visit, too! If you'd like to see my author visit video, click HERE. It will give you an idea of my presentation style. I generally like to close my presentations for the younger students with "The Storytime Boogie," a song that encourages bedtime reading. Music video of "The Storytime Boogie" HERE.
You're a hoot! Move closer to me, we'd be best friends. Love the way you write. Can't wait to slow down from camping so that I can read all your stuff.
Oh yay! Always glad to add a new BFF to my life, even if she's a FABFF (far-away best friend forever.) Hey, I just made up an acronym! Hope you had a good time on the camping trip.
Oh yay! Always glad to add a new BFF to my life, even if she's a FABFF (far-away best friend forever.) Hey, I just made up an acronym! Hope you had a good time on the camping trip.
Author Toni Buzzeo (Maine) steps in to share the first post in a new series I'm calling THE PERFECT AUTHOR VISIT. The first few posts in the series will describe perfect visits from the author's perspective. We'll hear from Dr. Fred Bortz, (Pennsylvania); Alex Flinn, (Florida); Rukhsana Kahn,(Canada); Marianne Mitchell, (Colorado);and Jane Yolen, (New York). Later, I hope to add similar posts from an educator's perspective. Here's Toni:
This visit happened in New York state in April. It was so wonderful, so much like the visits I used to have at my school when I was the host and when NCLB hadn't darkened the door of the educational landscape.
What an amazing school and an amazing day in this era of "No Child Left Behind." When I told them how rare it was to find a school that felt it had this sort of time for author visit preparations, the principal and the librarian were astounded. They'd always done it this way and say they always will. A year long focus on literacy and learning via an indepth author study! Woooohoooo! Everything Jane Kurtz and I espoused in TERRIFIC CONNECTIONS!
So everybody, here is another component to a perfect author visit: Be sure you're following Toni Buzzeo or Jane Kurtz. LOL! (Because my Hampton, Virginia visit following Toni visit last year went well, too.) Obviously, Jane & Toni are good leaders, encouraging a reading of their how-to book, TERRIFIC CONNECTIONS, before they come.
Coincidentally, at a school I visited a few weeks ago, Jane Kurtz had been there the year before. So at my "Follow-Jane-Kurtz" visit, the principal sat in on both presentations. That has never, ever happened before. Sometimes the principals don't even pop in to meet me. (Generally, I've found that visits go better when they do. That seems to indicate a higher level of involvement from the whole staff, although I understand that sometimes schedules don't allow time for the principal to get away from his/her obligations.)
Also at this school, the book sale & signing was very organized, and they had sold more books in advance than any school the whole year.
So, thanks to Toni and Jane, I had a near perfect visit, too!
So I'm surfing blogs on my holiday weekend, seeing who's writing what about children's books, and I encounter a list that rankles me. It's posted by an about.com blogger under the heading "Recommended Authors and Illustrators." The final sentence of the recommendation says, "You will also find the names of some new authors and illustrators that I hope to see creating children's books for years to come."
Really! Let's see this list to spot those exciting new authors and illustrators... Okay, here's the list, as presented by this expert:
* Dr. Seuss * Maurice Sendak * Berenstain Bears and Their Creators * Beverly Cleary * Jerry Pinkney * Ezra Jack Keats * Mem Fox * Bill Peet * Cynthia Rylant
Hmmm. So, I'm guessing the expert must be referring to "newbie" Cynthia Rylant, who in her mid-50s, is a mere babe on this list of senior citizens, many of whom are no longer with us. Let's look at that list again:
* Dr. Seuss DEAD * Maurice Sendak -- EIGHTY YEARS OLD * Berenstain Bears and Their Creators-- DEAD and DEAD * Beverly Cleary -- NINETY YEARS OLD * Jerry Pinkney -- nearing 70 * Ezra Jack Keats -- DEAD * Mem Fox -- 60s, first book published 25 years ago * Bill Peet DEAD * Cynthia Rylant -- a mere child at 54 or so; first book published MORE than 25 years ago; longer ago than Mem Fox's first book.
So, no, I take that back. With her first book having gone to press more than a quarter century ago, I'd hardly call Cynthia Rylant an authorial spring chicken, either, although she is decades younger than some of the other authors & illustrators on this list.
Look, I just turned 50 myself, so I CERTAINLY wish all of these folks many more fruitful and creative years. And no doubt their work, these days, is of consistently high quality precisely BECAUSE they are so seasoned.
But sheesh. Where are the new talents on this list? It was published by a popular blog/website which comes up high in any search for info about children's books. Why can't we see some fresh names? Does Maurice Sendak REALLY need the publicity? Is Beverly Cleary even producing new work? (Loved LOVED her books as a child and enjoyed re-reading them to my kids 30 years later, but other good stuff has been written in those intervening decades. Many events in her then-contemporary books now make them period pieces.)
Sour grapes? Probably, a little. But I've got lots of friends who are producing brilliant new work, and I'd like to see THEIR names on the list, too.
On the upside, having passed the 50-year mark only days ago, I'm now feeling positively nubile. Or maybe that should be spelled "newbile."
Another problem is that list you cite is biased toward fiction. As a teller of true tales, I always wonder why my storytelling skill is less valuable just because I choose to share things that actually happened--or in the case of my more speculative work, such as Astrobiology, things that plausibly might happen or might be true.
Maybe what we need instead of "experts" are book critics like me to compile those lists.
Fortunately, I have been getting many of the newest titles in physics for the educated layperson. My further reading list is full of current titles because I am exposed to them. I even had a few galleys that were going to press at about the same time as my book. So my list included the classics, my own reference sources, and a wide variety of excellent, up-to-date sources.
Perhaps my own career path, which brought me to full-time writing at age 52, has taught me that being an expert requires you to keep current. Expertise requires a certain amount of experience, but also an enormous amount of work to stay abreast of the field.
You tell, 'em, Fred! And I'm sure glad you got into the biz full-time as a 52-yr-old baby.
Another frustrating thing about this list is that there are so few opportunities to see one's book promoted if you're not one of the icons or your book isn't brand new. There are plenty of lists of this year's hot and even not-so-hot titles, but once the next catalog comes out -- boom -- you're history.
Kim
Alex Flinn said, on 5/27/2008 5:29:00 AM
I wouldn't worry about it. I found the blog about which you are talking (put your quoted sentence into Google), and she doesn't seem like a big opinion-maker. Rather, she seems like she's a bit timid about recommending anything that hasn't already been recommended a thousand times before. I clicked on her summer reading recommendations and only found a bunch of other people's summer reading recommendations, for example. There are plenty of people out there who do read new authors.
I'm so proud to share this fabulous drawing Kevin O'Malley did for me! Long story, but the short version is, I bought an extra copy of GIMME CRACKED CORN & I WILL SHARE, a book he had dedicated to me. (I had helped with the title.) Scheduling complications kept him from being able to autograph it at the Va. State Reading Assoc. conference, so -- LUCKY ME! -- he did a drawing for me instead. How cool is that?!
I'm terrible about getting around to framing things, so I'm resolved to do that before it gets dusty, which happens with most of our family photos.
P.S. My "Author School Visits by State" website is growing by leaps and bounds! If you haven't checked it out yet, definitely stop by. Over 400 authors & illustrators are now listed nationwide, (Boy, that was a LOT of emails to answer!), and the site continues to grow every day. Click here: AUTHOR SCHOOL VISITS BY STATE!
0 Comments on Thanks, Kevin! as of 1/1/1900
e said, on 4/23/2008 12:24:00 PM
What a great giftie!!
Btw, TAG you're it!! I've tagged you for a fun game which you can read about here: http://dulemba.com/2008/04/ive-been-tagged.html :) e
One of my favorite creative activities, (you know -- when it looks like you're doin' nuthin' but you can defend it by saying, "Hey! I'm brainstorming!"), is leafing thru publisher catalogs looking at titles. Then, without reading the synopsis, I jot down ideas that the title generates. Often, my ideas are totally different from the actual book I'm looking at. I scribble those thoughts in the catalog margins with a big bold Sharpie marker, then go back and collect the ideas now and then, collecting them in an idea file.
Of course then I've got to WRITE the darned thing. But it's still great to have a huge file of ideas to comb thru rather than wanting to write something but having no idea what to write ABOUT. (My new grammar rule: It's okay to end a sentence in a preposition as long as it's all caps.)
I've created a new website as a resource for educators, entitled Author School Visits BY STATE! There is no charge to be listed on the site, and I don't handle any bookings but my own. I'm just trying to offer a wide variety of authors & illustrators for educators to find in their own regions.
If you're an educator who has hired a great author or illustrator you don't see on my list, please email me and I'll add them under the state in which they reside.
kimnorman (insert @ sign) charter.net
Likewise, if you're a traditionally-published author or illustrator who does school visits, I'd like to add you to my list as well. (By traditionally-published, I'm not referring exclusively to large, New York publishers, or even ones that pay much in the way of advances, necessarily. I'm talking about regular royalties-paying publishers, no matter how small, who ask not a penny of their authors.)
I'd also appreciate a reciprocal link from the authors & illustrators who are listed, although that's not absolutely essential. The more websites & blogs that link to Author School Visits BY STATE, the higher its rankings will be, so it can do any of us some good!
0 Comments on Author school visits listed STATE BY STATE! as of 1/1/1900
Andy J Smith illustration said, on 3/6/2008 8:20:00 AM
Kim, I am writing on your blog because an email I sent to your charter address was bounced back to me. I found you through the Picture Book Artists Association list serve.
ANYWAY, I'm interested in doing more school visits in my area. I'd love to be listed on your blog. I'm an illustrator (five books) and author (one book and counting!) in Ipswich, MA.
My website is: http://www.AndyJSmithIllustration.com And my blog: http://sillydrawings.blogspot.com/
Thanks for your time. Good luck with all your writing in '08 -- I'm going to keep my eyes open for 'Jack Of All Tails'!
-Andy J Smith phone: (585) 613 - 6247
Marc Tyler Nobleman, Author of "Boys of Steel: The said, on 3/25/2008 1:46:00 PM
Kim,
Very generous of you to take on this task and devote real estate on your blog for it. Thanks so much.
Kakie said, on 3/28/2008 8:36:00 PM
Hi Kim, I would love to be added to your list. I write a series of books that use a cast of multicultural characters to educate kids about sports and outdoor exploration. Our web information is listed below.
Is that a great photo, or what? These are the wrists of 5th graders from Sedgefield Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. Yesterday I spoke to them about writing, touching on skills they can incorporate into their SOLs (Standards of Learning tests) which are coming up next week. Susan Quenville, Sedgefield's reading specialist, was a gracious hostess. I also enjoyed meeting other staff members as well as Principal Patricia Tilghman, who was warm and welcoming.
While I love the sweetness of younger students, I also like working with older students like this because we can really get into details. So we did my "Verbal-loons" activity, (lots of laughs there while -- I HOPE -- learning the importance of choosing exciting verbs). They also enjoyed a peek at my Evil Inner Editor, and then they created wrist bands with the initials "WCTW," which stands for "Writers Choose Their Words."
I first put together this lesson plan for John B. Cary Elementary in Hampton, Virginia, a couple of weeks ago. Blogged about that HERE. Librarian Mel Black says the slogan ("Writers Choose Their Words") seems to have really stuck with her students -- although it probably doesn't hurt that she has reinforced it since my visit, using her cool SmartBoard. Sedgefield has one, too. What a marvelous teaching device!
Recently, I've been discussing with writer friends about doing an author school visit with a large crowd. (Say, an auditorium full of 100-plus, even 200 kids.) So what's a children's book author to DO when faced with a large audience of eager students? Although I really enjoy the intimacy of a smaller group, most of my experience has been with larger groups, so I thought I'd toss out some advice about that:
First, you'll want to tell the school you won't do more than 30 minutes for the little guys. 45 minutes absolute MAX, but I've found that most hiring librarians agree with me that 30 minutes is enough for the little guys. We just plan longer, 45 to 60 min for the older kids. I've never had anyone insist, "Oh no. You MUST do the same amount of time for the K-Ones!"
Now, for the little kids, I have found that props and call-and-response work well... simple ones they can learn on the spot. And since Jack of All Tails is a book about pets, I make the talk more about pets than about writing. It's true that presenting to this sized group is a bit more like a performance, so for younger groups I close with "The Storytime Boogie." (That's a link to a music video of the song on YouTube.)
For props, I have a big bag from which I pull -- suspensefully, one-by-one -- stuffed animals. ("pets") Kids call out and guess what the next pet will be. We talk a bit as each animal emerges. Some of the toys are inappropriate "pets" such as crocodiles and bears. But that's just funny and we talk about what makes a good pet or not. There are always a few boys who raise their hands when I ask if anyone has a crocodile for a pet. Then we share a joke about that.
A couple of weeks ago, I presented to small groups at the Virginia Living Museum, so I handed out the pets for kids to hold as I pulled them from the bag. This seemed to really delight them. But that would probably only work with a smaller group. I've never tried it with large groups.
After the pet-bag, the stuffed animals do double duty for one of my call-and-response verses. At this point, we've read the book (on digital or overhead projector), so they know the plot. So I pick 4 kids from the audience to represent my main characters: Mom, Dad, Kristi & Eddie. I give each of them a stuffed animal to go with this rhyme:
Mom is a cat. Dad is a dog. Eddie's a lizard... I'll be a frog!
And I have the "actors" hold up the animals at the appointed time, laying my hands on their heads to remind them. The audience recites it several times until they've got it down. (Of course, in the book, Kristi is never a frog, but I tell the kids, what the heck, it rhymes better than hamster!)
Once, I happened to coincidentally choose a learning disabled little girl to play Kristi, and it turned out she was visually impaired, too. The teachers were delighted I'd chosen her, since it was so good that she got a chance to touch the stuffed animal.
So mainly I'd say try to come up with things that will allow for feedback from your audience, (short of becoming chaos, of course!)
Oh, and speaking of chaos, two things:
Sometimes they DO get a little wound up as I'm pulling out the stuffed animals. To calm them down, I tell them that this or that animal gets scared by noise and they have to be verrrrry quiet when I pull out this next one.
And two: "The Storytime Boogie." starts with a quiet lullabye. I was once hired to present at some sort of evening Reading-Pajama-rama to kids who were tired and hyped up on cocoa & marshmallows. (!!!) It was an INCREDIBLY noisy hall with an TERRIBLE sound system. I almost gave up trying to get the noise level to manageable proportions. But when I started singing that lullabye, the place just fell into an incredible hush. Holy cow! So THAT'S why mothers have been singing lullabies for so many generations!!
My buddy Ruth Barshaw tagged me in this fun game. I SHOULD be working, (transmitting TWO Kidsville issues today, 48 pages total) and another one tomorrow. But it's perfect because I need a distraction!
1. In high school, I won 2nd place in a statewide poster contest. Got to go to a luncheon with the governor and everything!
2. I have pet issues (as all my books and manuscripts can attest) for a good reason. Over the years, besides the usual dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, fish and turtles, my family also had, at various times: -- an iguana --a squirrel --and a raccoon who lived in a closet on the 2nd floor. My father altered the ceiling below with a conveniently placed hole so the raccoon could hang down and wave at you.
Really.
3. Because of the various ages of the many foster children raised by my parents over the years, I can count myself as fitting into every birth order category.
4. I am a navy brat.
5. In the first play I ever did in my life, (Arsenic and Old Lace), I was cast opposite a man named Tim, who played my fiance'. About 6 or 7 years later, I married his brother. But the guy who reviewed the play continues to believe, despite being corrected every time I've seen in the past 20 years, that I married Tim.
I love the story about meeting your husband and the guy who still thinks you married his brother. Too funny.
Kim Bookwriter said, on 2/23/2008 11:05:00 AM
Yes, definitely counts! I love these little things. Such great microcosmic stories in each one. Thanks for sharing yours, Sara. Looking forward to hanging with you in just a few weeks!
Kim
M.F. Atkins said, on 2/24/2008 12:49:00 PM
Okay, I'm in. Here's mine. Thanks for taggin me! :0 http://marcieaf.blogspot.com/2008/02/5-random-things-about-me.html
Sandra Alonzo said, on 2/29/2008 2:50:00 PM
Hey Kim: Thanks for the tag. Your five things are fun!
So you've interacted with warm, fuzzy uncritical kindergarteners and 1st graders, had a lots of laughs with 2nd thru 4th graders, but now your fretting about interacting with 5th graders? Well sometimes it is a little like warming up a tough bar crowd, huh? LOL! Yeah, that's the cut-off point when they start worrying about being cool -- although sometimes the 5th graders aren't too bad while the 6th graders are hard. Seems like it's whoever are the upper classmen who are tough.
The way I handle that is, I don't generally have a Q & A time for the older ones, knowing they're all too bashful to come up with their own questions. What I DO do ("Tell me Dr. Frahnkensteen, what is it exactly that you DOOO do?" ) is... I ask THEM questions. And I have goodies (like foam stickers) as rewards for answers. So far, that has worked.
Bribery.
It's a GOOD thing.
And funny. Funny is good. It loosens them up. But it takes a while, I know.
But wait! You ask: What do I do to get them to interact with me in the FIRST PLACE, so they have a chance to WIN a sticker?!
Well, one thing that often gets their hands in the air is asking them to guess how long it took me to sell something. (Like the poem in the Meadowbrook anthology, which they bought after keeping it on file for 7 years. Everyone is always floored by that.)
I try to formulate questions that have them guessing things; dates, number of times rejected, number of revisions, number of revisions the artist did, number of years/months from acceptance to publication.
If I use a half-way big word, (like "protagonist" or "metaphor") I stop and ask if anyone can tell me what that word means.
If you DO get a question from a fairly quiet crowd, you can always turn it around and have them guess the answer. Like, if a kid asks you how much money you were paid, you can ask the crowd if they'd like to guess. (I wouldn't recommend that for the age question. LOL!)
I have a prop I often bring; my key jar, which is filled with a bunch of antique keys I found at my grandmother's house. I tell them I use it for inspiration. When I ask, usually someone in the crowd is clever enough to figure out how keys represent stories to me. Then I have them guess how many keys are in the jar. (231)
All these questions are just a way to break the ice. If you can get them actively participating in answering the questions YOU ask, they'll often start to open up and ask their own... if there's time.
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To prove it's nationwide, my good friend Shelli snapped a photo of it in her local Austin, TX store. How cute is that? I hope the store employees didn't think she was doing some sort of industrial espionage for Books-a-Million.
Congratulations, Kim!!! CROCODADDY is adorable!!! Running out to buy a few copies for my nephews and nieces . . .
Happy Book Birthday! And may it be a chompin' success!
I love this book, Kim! It's a beautiful combination of art and text, and I wish I'd done it.
Congratulations on its debut. I hope you sell a zillion. :)
Awww, thanks so much, ladies! It has been a birthday week -- both mine AND Crocodaddy's. (He is MUCH younger than I.)
;-)
Kim