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Follow the Money by Loreen Leedy is being used in Vermont's statewide financial literacy program. http://bit.ly/bHwSTs
Artwork from several of Loreen Leedy's picture books will be included in The Storymaker's Art, and exhibit of illustrations by eight artists at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. http://www.thestorymakersart.com/
Gretchen Woelfle will be on hand to sign books at Breakfast With the Authors, sponsored by the Santa Barbara County Education Office on October 9, in Santa Barbara, CA.
From Susan E. Goodman: My new Step into Reading book, Monster Trucks!, was just published September 28th by Random House. For my other writing news, check my blog post this month, on October 11th. Other news that doesn't really belong here...I'm going to Paris this month for two weeks!
Deborah Heiligman will be speaking at the Rutgers One on One Plus Conference, October 16. http://www.ruccl.org/One-on-One_Plus_Conference.html and at the New York State English Teachers Conference October 21-22.
Vicki Cobb has been awarded a CILC Pinnacle Award Honorable Mention in recognition of outstanding videoconferencing programs. She was one of only three individuals (and the only author) who won either the Award or Honorable Mention. The overwhelming majority of recipients is museums, zoos and other educational institutions. The awards are based solely on a performance rating.The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (www.CILC.org), is the leading agency for providing videoconferencing services for education.
Vicki Cobb is now an official blogger for Education Update, a print and online FREE newspaper that reaches 100,000 educators. Check out the other bloggers. Her mission is to let the world know about us.
From Jan Greenberg: Thanks to Steve at WindingOak, my new website is launched. Please check it out. Jangreenbergsandrajordan.com October 1 and 3, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is performing Appalachian Spring with images from my new book Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring. My co-author Sandra Jordan, the illustrator Brian Floca, and editor Neal Porter are coming in and we are doing a panel discussion for the St. Louis Public Library on Saturday, October 2. A narration of the book with images and music will be performed by the St. Louis Symphony on November 10 and 16 for the Young People's Concerts.
Now Available href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_g-Bp2wiurbI/TKiMXtWg5yI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/AUn40S4uG-s/s1600/martha.jpg">
Tanya Lee Stone's newest nonfiction book, The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie will launch soon and its first two reviews are both Stars! School Library Journal wrote, "The author maintains her signature research style and accessible informational voice." Kirkus: "Sibert Medalist Stone tantalizes." The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie is part biography--both of the doll and of her inventor, Ruth Handler--and part exploration of the cultural phenomenon that is Barbie.
0 Comments on I.N.K. News for October as of 1/1/1900
When Linda, our I.N.K. guru, gave me my day assignment and it was September 21, I knew I would have to write about my grandfather. You know how certain dates (and even, for some of us, telephone numbers) are written in your memory with indelible ink? September 21 was my Grandpa’s birthday. His phone number: 432-6202.
I hope you will indulge me and let me tell you about him. I think it relates to what we are all trying to do here.
My grandpa, Hyman Rockmaker, was a lawyer. He was the kind of lawyer who fought for the underdog, defended people for little money if he had to, and was known and loved all over town. You couldn’t walk down the street in Allentown with him without someone coming over to thank him, shake his hand, give him a hug and kiss. When I was a teenager (and a budding feminist) I was offended that he called all the women, “Honey.” Wasn’t that horribly sexist? I knew Gramps valued everyone; he didn’t have a sexist (or racist) bone in his body; this Honey thing didn’t make sense. After a while I realized that he called the men “Honey,” too. I pass this on for those of you who like Hy (and his granddaughter) have a hard time pulling up names. A useful tool, Honey.
Grandpa always rooted for the underdog, not just in his law practice, but in his life, and especially in sports. I was reminded of this by my cousin Monroe. We grew up watching Grandpa root for the Phillies, listening to the game on the radio, smoking his cigar. I still love the smell of cigar smoke (an anomaly, I know) and without realizing it, root for the underdog. Just recently, watching the US Open men’s final, I found myself rooting for Djokovic even though in a previous match I rooted against him. I didn’t know why. Nadal is cuter (this is a requirement, right?) and is even from Majorca, a place I love. When Monroe reminded me about Gramps and the underdog, I realized this is such a big part of who I am, I don't even think about it. When I pick subjects to write about I try to write about the underdog, the underappreciated, the unknown, or the untold story.
Grandpa loved to walk. He walked to and from work every day, probably a mile. Even into his eighties. This made a big impression on all of us. I walk everywhere I can, bringing a notebook with me because I get many of my book ideas, and solve many book problems, while I'm walking (also while in the shower). My brother, who is now closing in on the age at which I start to remember Gramps, walks a lot too. He actually walks to spin class, teaches it, and then walks back. Can you say, overachiever? Did that come from Grandpa, Phil?
Grandpa gave me the love of the underdog, the love of walking (so did my dad), the love of Halls cough drops and the smell of eucalyptus, and card games. He also gave me his ability to multitask. Back then we called it “ants in the pants.” Thankfully he didn’t give me the penchant for going through red lights because he didn’t have the patience to wait any more. (Yeah, it was fun being a passenger in his car.)
Grandpa's living room was lined with bookcases; it was my most frequented library growing up. There was always a book I wanted to read. (And also always a dish of candy.)
But the biggest thing he gave me were his last words, and what preceded them. My grandfather always made me feel like I could do anything, that I was the most special person in the world, or at least in his world, and since he had such a big world, that meant everything.
Grandpa wrote me letters when I was at camp, and each letter made me feel as if he was letting me in on something, that something being his greatness, his ability to live life with gusto, with honesty, with a mission to right wrongs. In person and in his letters he made me believe that I could conquer all. Every child should have someone who does that for her. And I say her because in
11 Comments on Attend to Your Work, last added: 9/24/2010
How wonderful that you have these precious memories of a very special man. You are right, "Attend you your work." can have many meanings. When I hear it, it reminds me of Jane Yolen's BIC--butt in chair.
What a heartfelt post. I am inclined to side with the underdog too, especially when a person or wildlife does not have the means to speak up for themselves.
I just absolutely loved this post. My parents have moved close to me, so they can be part of my daughters' lives, and I hope my daughters have the same connection to my father that you had to your grandfather. And by the way, my mother bought my daughters Charles and Emma for Christmas, and they loved it, although they wept as they read.
In championing the underdog, he helped create a family of overdogs. (If that's not a word, it should be.) "Attend to your work" is almost regal and the fact that it resonated with you at the tumultuous age of 18 is impressive. Thanks for sharing this.
Here are a few key insights and habits these great writers shared:
Susan Campbell Bartoletti starts her research in libraries, and has six times as many library cards as credit cards. These libraries have databases and other sources you can't find anywhere else. But she also travels to the places she's writing about, and even spent time at a Ku Klux Klan rally.
She has a secret for knowing when to stop researching: "When the facts begin to repeat themselves, that's when I know it's time to begin writing." (Sometimes research can be a sophisticated form of procrastination.)
Deborah Heiligman: Almost all of her sources are primary. She read Darwin's autobiography and a two-volume set of letters from Emma's family. A line in one of Emma's letters made her cry. "I knew I was hooked. I got absolutely passionately attached to both Charles and Emma."
Tanya Lee Stone calls extreme research "detective work." You have to let go of not knowing what you're going to find and whether it's going to fit into the story you're going to tell. Before she started researching ALMOST ASTRONAUTS, she kept coming across obscure mentions of women who almost became astronauts and got interested; tracking down the women was a big challenge. She interviews lots of people to enhance her baseline research. You want to learn all you can before you interview people, though.
Elizabeth Partridge spoke about connecting with an editor. With nonfiction, you generally send a cover letter, a sample chapter, and an outline. Crafting that forces you to get some clarity on the research you've done (even if your book changes as it's written and polished). She's also used photographs to engage an editor's imagination.
0 Comments on Nonfiction Panel: The Rock Stars of Nonfiction, Part 1 as of 1/1/1900
BIG laugh in the room when Deborah Heiligman agrees with the point of checking back with your interviewees and letting them read your manuscript to check it... for Charles and Emma Darwin!
Ken Wright is asking great substantive questions, and we're all learning a ton.
Here are the website links (and some great quotes from the session) for these amazing, passionate and so articulate nonfiction authors:
"Almost Astronauts started out as a picturebook!... Trust yourself and ask yourself "What is the story I need to tell." (Rather than focusing on the kind of book you think it's going to be.)
"If you don't have a point of view, why are you telling the story?"
(Moral: stay flexible to what you discover - even if it diverges from your proposal.)
"Everything I put in the book has to be in service to the main story you want to tell" (like for Charles and Emma, even for the details of the ship voyage, the ones she included all resonated to the love story that was the story she wanted to tell!)
Tells the story of how she was contracted to write a book on American involvement in World War II, and how it ended up being a book about Hitler Youth instead! Which was her Newbury Honor nonfiction book "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow."
She also related going down to Arkansas to visit the KKK today as research for her upcoming historical nonfiction on the KKK - and how that helped bring the story to life.
And to finish, Deborah Heligman paraphrased a beautiful quote from Isaac Bashevitz Singer:
Is it a story?
Does is have a beginning, middle and end?
Is it a story that needs to be told?
Is it a story that only I can tell?
0 Comments on Nonfiction Panel: The Rock Stars of Nonfiction, part 2 as of 1/1/1900
Ken Wright moderating, and left to right: Tanya Lee Stone, Elizabeth Partridge, Deborah Heiligman, and Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Early this Sunday Morning we have something worth getting up for... the Narrative Non Fiction is hot Hot HOT panel with multi-award winning author for her nonfiction titles Susan Campbell Bartoletti, National Book Award Finalist for "Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith" Deborah Heiligman, Golden Kite winning author Elizabeth Partridge, multi-award winning author (with an upcoming "The Good, The Bad, and The Barbie: A History of the Doll and her impact on Culture) Tanya Lee Stone and it's moderated by Writers House agent (with a passion for nonfiction) Ken Wright!
As Lin is saying in her introduction, it's a genre that's finally getting it's moment in the spotlight.
Ohh - the panel's about to start!
0 Comments on Why Narrative Nonfiction is Hotter Than Ever: The "Rock Stars" of Nonfiction as of 1/1/1900
With all the celebrities fearlessly (?) baring their souls in public, I thought I’d try a few confessions of my own. I’ve been inspired by Deb Heiligmann’s post in February about the way she meets deadlines and how she writes in fear. The truth is that my process is completely different from hers. One’s job as a writer is to willy-nilly get words down. It’s every writer’s job to figure out how to make themselves write. My guess is that there are no formulas here. Each writer has to figure it out for herself.
First, I don’t write in a bubble as Deb does. I can be easily interrupted. In fact, I welcome it. (I am psychologically unsuited to the solitary nature of writing. I love interacting with people. Perhaps becoming a writer is my way of facing my fear of being alone.) When I first started writing, while my kids were very small, I noticed that they were wherever I was. My first desk was in the corner of my bedroom. So all three of us were in that corner of the bedroom. When we moved to a larger apartment, I put my desk in the family room with a screen separating it from the television. Sometimes neighbor kids were in my apartment and it was not uncommon to have six little boys running around. I wrote through it all. (I do have a very strong ability to focus and can turn it on and off like a switch.)
I had a lot of preconceptions about professional writers in those days. I disciplined myself to sit down at my desk every day, like I believed the pros did. And I sat there painfully waiting for words to come. Every once in a while I would get up and look in the refrigerator or flop down on my bed. Sometimes sitting at my desk was pure torture.
At some point I made an amazing discovery. My brain works whether or not I’m sitting at my desk! So I’ve learned to treat my brain like the computer it is. A deadline is an instruction. I tell my brain when to have the thing done. Research is input. I read, interview people, track down leads, try experiments. I’m always thinking. In fact, I wake up each day with new ideas. Some kind of pressure builds inside me until I feel compelled to sit down at my keyboard and start writing. When I need to pause I segue into a game or two or even many of Solitaire. (Yes, I’m dependent on Solitaire, but it’s not your ordinary Solitaire; I play La Belle Lucie.) I call it a “sorbet for the brain.” It causes me to disengage and let those little synaptic links in my white matter do their work. Whenever I’ve had my say for the day I go do something else without guilt. Some days I might only write a sentence or two. Some days I can do several thousand words. I don’t worry about it. I’ve learned that just because I write something in white heat doesn’t mean it’s good. And, on the other hand, if it comes like blood from a stone, it doesn’t mean anyone can tell. Once it’s down, I revisit it many times over the next week or so, always finding ways to make it stronger. It’s amazing what your brain perceives long after you think your work as good as it will be.
I welcome deadlines because they gave me a time to shoot for. Often I set my own with my publishers and I somehow know just how much time I need and give myself an extra margin to be safe. I don’t like working under pressure so I never procrastinate and start as soon as I am certain that a project is real. Most, if not all, of my assignments have been turned in early. I have good time management skills (I don’t clean and cook as little as possible) and by now know myself well enough not to sweat about getting assignments done in time.
Some writers have trouble letting go of their work. Not me. I know when I’ve done my best and that just has to be good enough. I’m not a perfectionist; I’m not compulsive; I’m just a writer that turns stuff
Loreen Leedy is one of over 50 authors that will appear at the University of Central Florida’s inaugural Book Festival on Saturday, April 17 on the UCF campus. She will participate in the Adventures in Children's Books author panel at 10:30 am and will sign books immediately afterwards. For more information, please visit this web site:
http://education.ucf.edu/bookfest/
Rosalyn Schanzer, Dorothy Hinshaw Patent and Vicki Cobb are launching the videoconferencing division of INK Think Tank (INK Link: Authors on Call) with a webinar on April 21. This highly-entertaining free webinar for professional development for teachers is being Spotlighted by CILC.org, one of the most prominent marketplaces for videoconferencing in the educational arena. The title of the webinar is "Award-Winning Nonfiction Authors in Your Classroom." http://cilc.org/c/community/spotlights.aspx
Deborah Heiligman will be on a panel at the Los Angeles Festival of Books on Saturday, April 24, at 10:30: Fact vs. Fiction: Storytelling in Young Adult Nonfiction with Elizabeth Partridge and Stephanie Hemphill, moderated by Jonathan Hunt. She will also be speaking about Charles and Emma at the Santa Monica Library on Sunday, April 25, at 3:00 with a reading by Rosalyn Landor, who performed the audio book.
From Susan Kuklin: I’m participating in PEN’s World Voices Festival of International Literature this year. The festival runs from April 26 – May 2. Here is the blurb about the panel I will be moderating.
War and the Novel
When: Saturday, May 1 Where: Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York City What time: 12:30–2 p.m.
With Bernardo Atxaga, Filip Florian, Assaf Gavron, and Atiq Rahimi; moderated by Susan Kuklin
Free and open to the public. No reservations.
Cheryl Harness signs copies of her book, They're Off! at the Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph, MO, on Saturday, April 3, 2010, 150th anniversary of the launching of the Pony Express. Wahoo!
From David Schwartz: Where Else In the Wild? More Camouflaged Creatures Concealed and Revealed (the sequel to Where In the Wild? Camouflaged Creatures Concealed and Revealed) has been published and has received the following "awards":
Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Choices 2010 National Science Foundation Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12
and is already about to come out in Korean...
0 Comments on I.N.K. News for April as of 1/1/1900
“Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognized. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines, whatever they do.” -- Ada Lovelace Day website
Augusta Ada King, the Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852) wrote the first computer programs, which were used by the Analytical Engine invented by Charles Babbage.
Ada Lovelace Day celebrates the legacy of a lone woman scientist in a field of men. -- and does so, in part, through across-the-board blogging about women in the sciences.
The first Ada Lovelace Day, March 24, 2009, generated hundreds of blogs worldwide, as well as attention on Facebook and in the media.
I decided to sign up on behalf of I.N.K. to blog about women scientists on this day and soon found out that 1,110 other bloggers signed up, as well.
It’s Monday morning, and I’m putting the finishing touches on my Ada Lovelace blog when I find this article in the New York Times: “Bias Called Persistent Hurdle for Women in Sciences”. Tamar Lewin describes the American Association of University Women’s report, "Why So Few?" on the gains that women have made in the sciences, and the issues that still get in their way. Thirty years ago, among high schoolers scoring 700 or more on their math SATs, boys outnumbered girls 13 to 1. The ratio has dropped to 3 to 1, but that’s still proof of chopped sides.
Despite increasing numbers of women receiving doctorates in science, math, and computer science, women don’t represent a parallel percentage of workers or tenured faculty in those fields. The AAUW report focused more on factors that can make a difference in the accomplishments of women and girls -- such as learning that ability can grow with effort -- than on differences in innate ability between the sexes. Researchers found that cultural bias -- an underlying impression that women can’t cut the mustard -- had considerable impact. This bias takes root in any who feel themselves to be on shaky ground, as evidenced by a dramatic difference in performance between groups told that men and women have equal abilities in math and science and those told that men are stronger in these areas.
Many I.N.K. writers have devoted their
0 Comments on Ada Lovelace Day at I.N.K. as of 3/23/2010 4:33:00 PM
I promised to follow up on my Oh Wow notes post and my MODEST PROPOSAL post about how to separate the research piece from the writing piece when working with children. As many people pointed out, the tips I've given are really insider tips--we professional writers work this way, or variations of this way.
So I'm going to surprise you with this suggestion, I bet, but I did hint at it. When you are ready to have your kids write up something based on their research, tell them to put away their notes. Or better yet, HIDE THEIR NOTES!
I said, HIDE THE NOTES!!!
When I sit down to write a first draft of a book, I hide my own notes. I know I can always go back and check on the facts that I don't remember, so I put a little tk if I don't remember, say, a birthdate, or a place, or even a sequence of events. (That stands for to come. Why is it a K? I don't know! O.K., I had to go look it up. Here's what Media Bistro says: TK: A place marker used in drafts of an article to indicate missing information. It's short for tokum, which is the intentional misspelling of "to come," as in "more info to come.")
The idea is this: the meat of the story, the things that made you go OH WOW will stick with you, and you will pour that out in a first draft. And you (or they) will do it in your (their) own words! In their own words. Not copying from a source. [Bells ring, fireworks go off, teachers sigh with happiness....]
You're skeptical that kids will remember enough, aren't you? Start short and small, and start with topics they're already familiar with just as we did in my modest proposal. AND here's another idea: have them TELL it, not write it. Depending on your set-up if you're a teacher in a classroom, and depending on the atmosphere of the class, you can have each child stand up and tell a few things about her topic, just from memory. Or you could divide them into pairs or groups. If the kids are old enough, have one person in the pair or group write down what the researcher says aloud.
If you're doing this at home with one or two kids, it's easy. Have them just tell you all the things they remember and you can write it down in their words.
If you have a tape recorder use that.
The idea, to repeat myself, is that what you remember is the juicy stuff. That's what you want kids to write down. That's what people want to read, isn't it?
If your situation is such that you can't have the kids say it aloud, have them write down what they remember. That's the first draft. The second draft is going back to the notes and putting in the tks and other things that they (or you) think should be there.
Do NOT make a list of things that must be there, though. Or at least don't make a long list. If it's about someONE, sure, say they should include birth date and death date. But that's it. The idea here is to get kids away from copying things from books, from writing things in other people's words or voices.
0 Comments on Another Modest Proposal On Doing Research with Kids as of 1/1/1900
Last Friday on my own blog (yes my own blog) I wrote a post about writing through fear. I talked about Charles Darwin and how he worked and wrote through fear. How we all do. I wrote about my husband waking up every morning for at least a year and writing through fear. I wrote that he was sending the galleys for his book back that very day. Then on Twitter (yes, on Twitter) I tweeted that the messenger had come fifteen minutes early and my husband, needing every nanosecond he could get, had sent the messenger away and asked him to come back at the appointed time. My husband then moved his butt and his galleys down to the lobby of our building and worked on a bench down there to get in every change he could before that book was pried from his hands. I manged to say this in 140 characters or less, by the way:
messenger came for galleys early. husband chased him away. now he's in the lobby working!.
Someone tweeted back: lol! that's hilarious!!! i can just see the reality tv series-I'm serious!!!
And it got me thinking. What would a reality TV series about writers look like. Pretty awful, right? I quickly tweeted her back:
who would watch a reality tv series about writers? maybe only other writers & shrinks.
Wouldn't it be incredibly boring and annoying? The camera sweeps the room: it is littered with books and papers and old coffee cups and plates of apple cores and crusts. You hear click click click and sigh sigh sigh and groan groan groan. The camera comes to a stop and focuses in on a writer at desk. <> (A friend on deadline recently confessed to me that she hasn't showered in days. NOT someone on I.N.K.). Holy cow. Is that really what we look like when we're writing? YUP. Not very appealing is it?
Not very interesting, either, is it? At least in the old days you could show a writer tearing a piece of paper out of the typewriter, crumpling it up and throwing it into an already overflowing trash can. Now you'd just see the writer hitting delete. And delete. And delete.
But without the dirty visuals, isn't that sort of what we're doing here? We're giving others an inside view of the writing life. And I hope we're doing it in a way that is helpful, fun, educational, and interesting. I know I find other people's posts very interesting.
The other day Barbara Kerley whined about her deadline. (She took at least one shower, I happen to know.) Susan Goodman shared with us the pleasure of writing a book and the pain of when it goes out of print. We've all shared the ins and outs of writing and research, and will continue to do so. I.N.K.: The Reality Show. You heard it here first. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret: if there were<
10 Comments on Writers at Work: A Reality Show?, last added: 2/19/2010
I love the idea of a reality show! Count me in! --Susan, who wants to brag, er, she means add, that her grandbabies are 10 1/2-month-old twins, one of each, and so far they have not given her one idea for a new picture book, and so on Mondays she's hard at work on a story that she's had to think up herself
Great tips! I'm glad my tweet played a roll in inspiring this post! That was fun, and now it's come around full circle, since now I have some new tips to work with plus I'm ecstatic to have found I.N.K.!
Just this morning I decided I was going to check emails & update SM sites in the first 1.5 hours of work, but now I've exceeded the time limit by 1 hour! I think the tip on writing your goals BEFORE turning firing up the laptop is key, and I, too, just recently learned to use the shut-down mode!! ;) BOL 2 U!
Great--and entertaining--post, Deborah! Editors struggle with time management too, and whenever I can create a "bubble" and focus completely on a single project, the work goes much more smoothly.
I couldn't possibly do all those good things you recommend, but I DO write monthly writing goals. (At first I'd plan 5x more than I could ever accomplish. Now I'm more reasonable.) To keep me honest I send them to my writing group at the beginning of the month, and report back at the end of the month, as in DONE, IN PROGRESS, NOT EVEN STARTED. Bubbles, goals. they are all just gimmicks to trick us into keeping butt in chair. whatever works.....
If you are gonna have a reality show for writers, than I demand one for Illustrators (and their shrinks) as well! We are like Ginger Rogers, we work every bit as hard as the writers....but we do it backwards and in high heels! ;-)
I don't know if it's too late for people to be reading comments, but Elizabeth Bluemle, one of the PW bloggers just wrote about a hilarious (and frightening) computer program to help writers keep working. Check it out: http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/ShelfTalker_A_Children_s_Bookseller_s_Blog/30891-Write_or_Die_and_Freedom.php?nid=2286&source=link&rid=17224578
Meanwhile, let's all make a pact that if our reality show wins an Emmy, we go up to the podium in our work clothes--sweats and/or flannel bunny pajamas.
Please continue to look for additions to Karen Romano Young's series, Science Fair Winners, from National Geographic. These little books are full of science project ideas (NOT only experiments!) for middle schoolers. The first book, Bug Science, is going gangbusters, and Crime Scene Science is out now, too. Coming in March: Junkyard Science, all about trash, energy, going green, and -- everybody's favorite topic -- decomposition. Book 4, Family Science (experiments on your brothers and sisters) is due in May. Visit www.karenromanoyoung.com to see the Bug Science trailer and more.
CHARLES AND EMMA: THE DARWINS' LEAP OF FAITH was the winner of the first YALSA-ALA Prize for Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction. It also received a Printz Honor and was a Best Book for Young Adults.
Vicki Cobb's Your Body Battles a Cold has been named an Honor Book in the Science – Grades K-6 category of the Society of School Librarians International 2009 Book Awards.
Ink Think Tank. is pleased to announce a new partnership with Mackin Educational Resources. The FREE database on http://www.inkthinktank.com/, which features all of the I.N.K. bloggers current books in print, will be linked to Mackin so that users can fulfill book orders in a one-stop shopping experience. Database searchers will be able to click into Mackin’s personalized service to educators, which reaches more than 20,000 school librarians, teachers and administrators around the globe. The connection will go live later this month. If you are a registered user, you will be prompted to update your profile before gaining access to search the database. This is part of the process of linking our database to theirs. We are very gratified by their support and interest in the books by I.N.K. authors.
1 Comments on I.N.K. News for February, last added: 2/1/2010
I guess Tanya Lee Stone was too busy organizing Kindling Words (a fantastic writers' retreat) to get in her news, but her book Almost Astronauts got the Sibert Medal from ALA, was a YALSA nonfiction finalist, and an Orbis Pictus Honor. I think I have this right... I might have missed something. Anyway, kudos to Tanya!
There are now two nonfiction awards-- The Sibert award is for children and then YALSA (the division of ALA that deals with teens) has a new nonfiction award (rather boringly called the "YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award").
Both winners are books I've read and haven't reviewed yet! How's that for luck?
But, can I just say I'm gutted that The Frog Scientist didn't get any love?
(This book was also shortlisted for the YALSA award)
This is the story of the women who wanted to be astronauts in the early days of the American Space Program. At that time, a woman pilot was an idea that didn't sit well with many people, let alone a woman astronaut. But, some women tried and proved they were better suited than men for the job.
But, in the end, the groundbreaking women who tried, failed to get into space. It wasn't until 1983 that the US sent its first woman into space. Even then, she was a Mission Specialist, not a pilot. It wasn't until 1999 that the US had its first woman commander of a space shuttle.
With a lot of cultural history thrown in, this book focuses not only on women in flight and space, but also on the role of women in society in the last fifty years. The end looks at why there still aren't that many women in space. Part of the problem is lack of women going into science and engineering and possibilities why.
There has been a lot of talk about how this is history that's trying to make a point. See, for instance, Liz's excellent post. I don't have a big problem with that. Most history books (and this gets truer the older the intended audience is) have an agenda or point of view. Personally, I like a more blatant point of view, because it's easier to then think about what's not getting said to prove the point. This is a very good teaching moment for children in evaluating sources and knowing that just because a source has a point of view doesn't mean it's not valid.
Overall, this was very interesting and an enjoyable read. It's also very well documented, with a further reading list, extensive bibliography, source notes, and index.
I read this for the Cybils and would have been on my personal short list if I were allowed 10 books instead of 5.
Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybils consideration.
Very often when I go into schools teachers tell me that they have problems with kids doing research. Two of the most common complaints are:
1.Their students want to use only the internet. 2.They copy sentences directly from their sources when writing up their reports.
I'm sure these two complaints are no surprise to anyone who works or lives with kids. I have a modest proposal for something to try, either in a classroom or at home. It is a kind of follow up to my last post about "Oh Wow" notes.
When you first have kids do research, separate the research piece from the writing piece. Get them used to good research methods first. Here's a simple plan:
Assignment One: Have each child research something they already know about, and love, but want to know more about. (For this assignment it's really o.k. if the kid who adores engines and knows a lot about them wants to do engines. Don't fight it.) Help your kids narrow down the topics so they're not too general, like dinosaurs, to one kind of dinosaur, but not so specific that it will be difficult to get information. You want to help them make this easy and fun. Tell your students to find three to five OH WOW facts about their topic. Not basic facts, like birth or death date, or size (unless it's a wow), but cool facts that make them really sit up and say, "Oh Wow" or "Cool." Feel free to give these kinds of facts your own name. (Holy Camoly facts or You've Got to be Kidding Me facts...) But here's the rule: They have to use three different kinds of sources and find at least one fact from each source. Here are sources (feel free to add or modify): 1.The internet (you might want to set your own parameters here) 2.A hard copy encyclopedia or other reference book (like an atlas, almanac or dictionary) 3.A non-fiction book written for children 4.A person who knows something about the topic (an expert, or you could count a teacher or a parent or a friend, even--a classmate is good. Joe knows all about cars, so I am going to ask him to tell me something cool about how a hybrid runs). 5.A documentary. 6.A primary source (mostly for older kids, though if they are writing about, say, a favorite food, they could look at Dad's recipe for his very special blueberry pecan pancakes).
After each child has found the three to five cool facts, it is sharing time. Go around the room, and have them tell their classmates and you (or members of the family or homechooling group) what they found out. Aloud.
Repeat this assignment again if you feel like they didn't quite get it, didn't use three different kinds of sources, or didn't find cool enough facts.
Assignment Two: Same as above, but this time they should choose something they think is interesting but don't know very much about. Maybe a little. Or they know about one kind of dinosaur, but want to know about another. Or car. Or dog breed. Or children's book author.
Rinse and repeat if necessary.
Assignment Three: Same as previous two, but this time something they know nothing about, but are interested in. They are going to research to learn about a completely new topic now. But this topic has to be something that they really do want to know about. Feel free to help them, but let them choose. (Or have the illusion of choosing.)
Assignment Four: Assign them topics. You can be challenging to some of the kids who you think have got it down, and easier on some of the others and have them follow the same protocol.
I hope those of you who do this will either comment on the blog and let us know how it goes, or email me directly at [email protected]. I will share the results in a future post AND i
11 Comments on A Modest Proposal (For Doing Research with Kids), last added: 1/20/2010
Wonderful suggestions, Deb. I'm passing this on to Josh, who is teaching in Phila. at a charter school and mentions difficulty getting his kids to do real research.
Oh, then you'll love this. My 5th grader had an assignment that was reading the textbook on the computer (because they don't send the textbooks home) and then filling in the phrases on a worksheet where the prompts were exactly from the text! Every indication showed me that we were supposed to copy the text onto the worksheet.
Such a terrible lesson and a huge waste of time. And even dumber when I look at it in context of this complaint about research.
Assigning kids research papers to write is way too big a bite. I LOVE how you're breaking it up into smaller steps. Finding a "Wow! makes research personal and the student now has some ownership of the material and it is this ownership that will ultimately wean the student away from the source material so that the writing is original, not plaigerized.
I love this post and think these are great ways to motivate kids to do research. But after I read it I had to blink! I realized that as authors, these are exactly the methods we use when we write our books; we find something we're extremely curious about and check out every single one of the angles you mentioned just like a detective. It's so much fun that maybe a few new writers will be born and give us some competition.
These are wonderful suggestions. I used to teach high school social studies and I wish I'd tried this technique with my students, most of whom still struggled with research. Now I'm a homeschool mom and I'm planning to give finding "Oh Wow!" facts a try soon.
These are wonderful suggestions. Can't wait to share them with teachers. And, once again, congratulations for winning the YALSA Award and the Prinz Honor. Now, that's a WOW!
I'm enjoying your modesty here. I've spent the past couple of days trying to reform middle school teachers who want to go straight into the 5 page research paper.
About: Charles Darwin had faith in science; his wife, Emma Wedgwood, had faith in religion. Despite having opposite beliefs on the role of God in science as well as life after death, the two married and had a long, happy marriage of mutual support and love. How?
The Good: I adored this book! I love the look at real people in history, even it always makes historical fiction that much harder to read.
Darwin's research and writing process is presented in a way that makes sense to the non-scientist.
Darwin and Wedgwood (as well as their family and friends) left so much written documentation behind (books, journals, letters, notes) that Heiligman never guesses to thought process or motivation, footnoting the source for each he/she said/thought.
Because "how real people really lived" intrigues me (as opposed to "all Victorians thought and did thusly") I was especially interested in the details of housekeeping, in the most literal sense of the word. Here was not just a marriage full of love and respect; here, too, was a family that was warm, affectionate, supportive.
And I loved the message -- people can disagree and yet still love and respect each other. Darwin believed that God played no role in natural selection or evolution; Wedgwood (religious but not a literalist in her belief) disagreed. While they argued the point, it did not control their lives, their love, or their relationship. The trust was such that Wedgwood read and edited Darwin's work, noting what needed to be clearer to a nonscientific reader or more persuasive in supporting his arguments.
The good thing about a nonfiction book for young adults is that they are usually shorter than adult nonfiction. The bad thing is they are usually shorter than adult nonfiction. Often, in Charles and Emma, I was wanting more; more information on the family and friends of the Darwins. All those cousins, intermarrying! And all the rather impressive members of the Darwin/Wedgwood family. More information on the children. A modern theoretical diagnosis on what illnesses Darwin and his daughter Annie suffered from. What, if anything, they thought about social issues going on around them.
Because I read this is 2010, it's on my favorite books read in 2010 list. Even tho it's a 2009 title.
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It occurred to me that PBS or the BBC should consider doing a Darwin-Wedgewood drama series. There is so much historical material available and so many fascinating facets of Darwin's work and relationships to explore.
I loved the bits about the children. It was so nice to see a (real!) Victorian family with kids running all over the place and jumping on the furniture.
I loved the bits about the kids as well - it very much made Darwin a more human figure to me; someone I could relate to better.
I often wondered about their marriage though and most books on him (for kids or adults) focus so much on the Beagle and not on his homelife when he was working on the book. I learned a lot from this book which is saying something - I think I've read a dozen books on Darwin to date so finding something new is great.
I do wish they had released that Paul Bettany Darwin movie over here, "Creation". It sounded great. (Supposedly there was too much anti evolution sentiment in the US. UGH)
I've been eager to read this book and your review only makes me more so. The only problem is that it would be a hard sell at my school. I cannot seem to get my students interested in biography. I've worked on weeding out the truly boring ones, but the only time they venture into the biography section is when they need something for research.
Have never heard of this book but, as this sort of thing is going on in our own marriage I'm totally thrilled to hear about it! Thanks for the review, I can't wait to pick it up! Wish they'd do a more detailed version for adults!
Fran & Sarah, a PBS/BBC production of the Darwin/Wedgewoods would be made of awesome.
Jennie, it's so great to read how real families were not like the stereotypes. In so many ways, the Darwins didn't fit any "all Victorians are x....". It's why I love nonfiction.
Colleen, I hope the Bettany film gets released here.
Paige, biographies are definately not for all kids, so I think its about matching the books with the small group of kids who will love it. The teen appeal here, I think, is the tension of the marriage with these two having what would seem a huge divide between them, only not. "Imagine being in love with someone who disagrees with you about the most fundamental things in the world...what would you do?" Teens are sorting out relationships, etc.
Vivian & Kidsbookjunkie, after you've read it, let me know what you think.
Carlie, the good thing about YA NF is that I can finish it in a few days, as opposed to adult nonfiction which is twice the length with smaller font. The bad thing is I get to the end of the book and want more... more about educating their children, more about the love they had for each other, more about family and friends (some wikipedia searches revealed some stories of friends/families that an adult book would surely address).
Melissa, I hope you enjoy it! I especially like how the author really balances the viewpoints of Charles & Emma and respects both. And thanks for the link from your blog!
Congratulations to our bloggers Deborah Heiligman(Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith) and Steve Jenkins (Down, Down, Down. A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea) for their selection as one of the eight titles chosen by the New York Times as the most Notable Children's Book of 2009!
Here are some recommendations for other excellent children's nonfiction. Tis the season to buy nonfiction!
From Marfe Ferguson Delano:
Fabulous Fishes, written and illustrated by Susan Stockdale. (2008, Peachtree Press, $15.95 hardcover) This charming picture book features simple rhyming text ("Shiny fish / spiny fish/ fish that hitch a ride") and bold, colorful pictures that introduce kids to all sorts of fishes. A spread at the back of the book gives more information about the fish included in the book.
Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg & Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth, illustrated by Susan L. Roth. (2009, Dial Books for Young Readers, $16.99) I enjoyed Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea, but I love the way Susan Roth retells this true story through the eyes of the Pakistani children. Her stunning paper-and-fabric collages take my breath away.
From Gretchen Woelfle:
Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal sports the longest title and the most stunning cover I’ve seen this season. Gregory Christie’s monochromatic close-up headshot of Reeves is riveting. Christie continues with atmospheric endpapers and many full-page paintings which fit this monumental subject. Vaunda Micheaux Nelson’s colloquial text is also a perfect fit for a man who lived a most dramatic life. Slave, runaway slave, sharpshooter, and wily master of disguise, he became the first African American U.S. Deputy Marshal and served for thirty-two years. Nelson recounts several wily nonviolent captures by Reeves who brought more than 3000 outlaws, including his own son, to justice. The only quibble I have with this exciting story is the opening scene. Though Reeves killed only fourteen men out of 3000, Nelson opens with a thrilling but deadly confrontation with one of the fourteen victims. As an old peacenik, I would have preferred to see him outsmart rather than outshoot his man in the opening pages.
From Rosalyn Schanzer:
I first began my extensive collection of children’s books when I was a young illustrator and well before I began to write books on my own, so I used to select each book based solely upon the quality of the illustrations. One of my favorite early choices was the nonfiction book Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions. This Caldecott Award Winner was fir
1 Comments on I.N.K. book recommendations, last added: 12/8/2009
We authors write about what we're interested in and want to learn more about. We write to make a point or to share a passion. We write for ourselves, for the child inside of us. But that doesn't mean we don't have our audience in mind as we research and write our books. When I write a book, I write for the child inside me who is the age of my intended audience. I also always keep in mind the adults who will be reading my book to a young child, or handing my book to an older child or teenager. Writing is, after all, communication. And you want to make sure you are communicating in such a way that your reader will listen, absorb, learn, and perhaps even change.
When Charles Darwin was working on his great book, The Origin of Species, whose 150th anniversary is next week, November 24, he had his audience in mind at all times--which made him hold off on publishing for decades. He knew that his theory of evolution by natural selection was going to rock the English religious boat, and he was not someone who wanted to rock any boats at all (least of all one he was on--prone to seasickness as he was). But he had an idea he believed in and wanted to share. So he did two things when he wrote the book: He worked very hard to make his argument airtight. And he wrote it in a tone that would not offend. Because not only did he have his audience in mind at all times, he had the perfect representative of a good part of his audience right there on the sofa next to him. His wife Emma.
Emma Wedgwood Darwin was extremely intelligent and well-read, and she was also religious. She was just the reader who might have trouble going down the path with Charles. He knew that if he could make his argument airtight enough, Emma (and the audience she represented) just might be able to set aside her reservations about the religious implications. And if he wrote his book the way he spoke--respectfully and politely, with his audience's feelings in mind--perhaps he would not offend. If you look at The Origin of Species I think you will see what I mean. It is a beautifully-written book, well-argued, polite, and intimate in a way. You feel as if he's talking to you. He even has a chapter called "Difficulties with the Theory" stemming from Emma's questions after reading an early draft. "A great assumption!" she wrote in the margins next to his description of the development of the eye.
I wrote CHARLES AND EMMA for the tween/teen that I was, and still am inside. Back when I was just realizing there was a world outside of my small one, I wanted desperately to read about people and their life stories. I felt sure I could find answers in this way. I was obsessed with the big questions of religion and death and love and meaning. I still am. I believe most children of a certain age are also. And I think many adults as well. Like Charles, I also did not want to offend; but I wanted to tell the truth. I hope I struck that balance.
When I write my books for younger kids, like HONEYBEES, for example, I write for my younger self, or for that third grade boy in the second row in my assembly who needs me to grab his attention. The one who will perk up when he hears how a honeybee passes the nectar she has gathered to the bee who will store it in the beehive. She regurgitates it into the other bee's mouth! Boy did I have my audience in mind when I shrieked upon reading that fact. O.K., I thought it was exceedingly cool and gross (in a good way), too.
Barbara Kerley's book, What To Do About Alice?, won the 2009 Washington State/Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award in the picture book category. The book is illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, a Seattle resident.
Gretchen Woelfle will speak on Reading and Writing nonfiction: A Study in Serendipity at the California School Library Association Conference in Ontario, CA on Friday November 20. She will also sign books at the Author and Illustrator Brunch on Sunday, November 22.
From Deborah Heiligman: CHARLES AND EMMA: THE DARWINS' LEAP OF FAITH is a Finalist for the National Book Award. Award ceremony is Novemer 18 when the winner will be announced. But I am thrilled to have my book be a finalist.
Helen's Eyes: A Photobiography of Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's Teacher by Marfé Ferguson Delano was named a 2009 Jefferson Cup Honor Book. Presented by the Virginia Library Association, the Jefferson Cup is an award that honors biographies, historical fiction, and American history books for children.
Sue Macy will be signing copies of her new book, Bylines: A Photobiography of Nellie Bly, on Friday, November 6, at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) conference in Charlotte. Stop by the National Geographic booth from 3:30 to 4:30 to pick up a book and say hi. And don't forget to mention you heard about it on I.N.K.!
From Jan Greenberg: Christo and Jeanne-Claude Through The Gates and Beyond is on Booklist's Top Art Books of 2009 list. I will be at NCTE on November 20 in Philadelphia signing Side by Side at Abrams booth 1:30-2:15pm and attending the Notables awards for Language Arts session at 2:30. Hope to meet some of you there.
0 Comments on I.N.K. News for November as of 1/1/1900
If you've been reading our INK blog lately, then you'll know that our theme for October has been using our books in the classroom. I was planning to write about using biographies, focusing on one of my own books, Helen's Eyes, perhaps, or Genius. But a couple of days ago Gretchen Woelfle wrote on this topic, so I thought I'd tackle something else, if I could come up with a new idea. Suddenly I had a craving for chocolate (not unusual), which made me think of Halloween, which reminded me of this past Monday. And then I knew what to write about.
On Monday mornings I teach level 4 ESL (English as a second language) to a class of 20 adults for a wonderful program called "New Neighbors" in Alexandria, Virginia. Most of the students come from Spanish-speaking countries, but Ethiopia, India, and Sudan are also represented in the class. I'm a first-time teacher, and I'm a volunteer, not a professional. Before every class I have to teach myself the subject of the day. This Monday's topic: the present perfect tense. Piece of cake, right? Hah! Thank goodness for the teacher's guide.
Anyway, toward the end of class on Monday, I pulled out a children's book to share with the students. "This book," I told them, "was written by a friend of mine. It's about Halloween, which is coming up on Saturday." As we paged through the book, students peppered me with questions. "What is the pumpkin with light inside it called?" "How do you make a jack-o'-lantern?" A photograph of a dog in a funny costume sparked lots of laughter and comments, including "I have made a rooster costume for my daughter." A picture of a brightly decorated home brought "I have bought pumpkin lights to hang up." (Note the use in both sentences of the present perfect tense!)
It was our best class so far, thanks in great part to this wonderful nonfiction children's book, Celebrate Halloween by Deborah Heiligman. It's part of her Holidays Around the World series. (Full disclosure: Not only is Deborah a friend of mine, I was her editor for several of these terrific books, including this one.) Aimed primarily at younger kids, these books can work with audiences of all ages (as I learned on Monday), thanks to their simple yet satisfying text, fabulous photographs, and extensive back matter.
I can't promise that the Holidays Around the World series will teach your students the present perfect tense, but I can confidently predict that students—whether they hail from India or Indiana—will enjoy these books and learn a lot from them. And remember, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas are just around the corner. Check out our new INK THINK TANK database to find books about these holidays!
2 Comments on Boo! Celebrate Halloween, last added: 10/31/2009
Marfé: What a great idea for your ESL class -- using Deb's book to teach them about American culture as well as English. (I lived in England long ago and though I knew the language (sort of), my English Culture 101 took the form of working in a pub for three months.)
Those books were designed to be multicultural, so it's great that they work in an ESL setting. I hope the folks at National Geographic are reading this. There's a great idea for a new marketing avenue here.
National Books Award Finalists Named (and I'm back from vacation)...
After a six days of vacation in New York, I was not excited about the prospect of weeding through my email inbox. (It was bursting.) After a few hours of wading through, I was rewarded with today's Publishers Lunch featuring the National Book Award finalists. In case you haven't seen the list, here are the 2009 National Books Awards Finalists for the Young People's Literature caegory:
Special shout out to Laini Taylor, who is a 2010 CWIM contributor along with her husband Jim Di Bartolo, illustrator of Lips Touch. (Check out his amazing cover art below along with the other NBA finalist books.)
Vicki Cobb is speaking on Tuesday at the University of Kentucky School of Education. Her topic is "Science That's Fun to Read and Teach." Her audience is elemmentary education students as well as interested faculty and area teachers and librarians.
Rosalyn Schanzer will be talking about her book WHAT DARWIN SAW; THE JOURNEY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD at George Mason University’s enormous Fall for the Book festival in the Greater Washington D.C. area. It’s free and open to the public. Here’s the schedule and site information about her presentation:
What Darwin Saw: The Journey That Changed the World Sunday, September 20 from 2 to 3 P.M. Prince George’s Memorial Library Hyattsville Branch 6530 Adelphi Rd. Hyattsville, MD 20782 301-985-4690
From Deborah Heiligman: Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith has been named to:Booklist's Top 10 Romances for Youth and Booklist's Top 10 Biographies for Youth
Melissa Stewart will be speaking at the New England Reading Association Conference in Warwick, RI, on September 25 and the New England Environmental Education Association Conference in Ivoryton, CT on September 27.
Booklist Webinar: The Scoop on Series Nonfiction: Best Uses, Best Practices, and Best New Books for Fall September 22, 3PM-4pm cST Need help engaging reluctant readers, promoting reading success, and keeping your library relevant in this era of accountability? Attend "The Scoop on Series Nonfiction" Webinar and come away with a wealth of information and ideas for enhancing your collection and engaging young readers with series nonfiction. Booklist youth editors will moderate as four top series nonfiction publishers—Lerner Publications, ABDO Publishing Company, Norwood House Press, and Cherry Lake Publishing—share their expertise and introduce a selection of their fall titles. Webinar participants will also get a sneak peek at Booklist's October 1 Series Nonfiction Spotlight, including a focus on a new trend: series nonfiction and early literacy. Reserve your seat today!
0 Comments on I.N.K. News for September as of 9/14/2009 8:45:00 AM
I went to a Catholic wedding recently. I’m Jewish, and I’ve gone to many weddings in my life, Jewish and Christian, but this was only my second Catholic wedding. The first was when my beloved fourth grade teacher got married at the end of the year. (She is the teacher, by the way, who affirmed my love of books by, among other things, having a bathtub in the classroom for us to read in—-dry and dressed, of course.) I remember only a few things about Miss Ryan’s wedding: it was in a huge cathedral and I sat in the back. Miss Ryan looked beautiful. When I saw her afterward she said to me, "Are you surprised to see your teacher as a bride?" I shook my head no, even though I knew that was not the right answer. She looked like a princess every day. (I have confirmed this fact with former classmates.)
Anyway, to get back on topic (see, teachers, what a huge influence you have on us kids!)--I am fascinated by religion—I majored in religious studies in college, I wrote a series of books for National Geographic “Holidays Around the World,” and I wrote about the religious differences between Charles and Emma Darwin.So maybe that’s why as I sat in the beautiful service, I knew I had to get more information. Or maybe it’s that I write non-fiction books for kids as a living, and I’m always wool gathering, always looking for the truth. So last Saturday I came as a happy friend of the mother of the groom, but I was also there, apparently, as a researcher. What was much of the assembled saying in response to the priest? What was the priest saying to himself over the wine while the soloist sang?What is that altar for, as opposed to that one? I watched as people went up for Communion and I wondered why some took the cracker from the priest’s hand and others had him put it directly into their mouths. When the service was over, and everyone else filed out, I got my husband (who writes non-fiction for grown-ups) and a (lapsed Catholic) friend to go up to the priest with me. To say we interviewed him would be stretching it. We didn’t pull out tape recorders or notebooks, though we had notebooks with us, as we always do, and I was tempted. We asked him lots of questions, which he answered willingly and with enthusiasm. (I forgot to ask him about the communion cracker taking. I will have to look that up. Or maybe someone here will tell me first.) We talked to him for a good twenty minutes, which really enhanced the experience for me. I don’t know if I will ever use this in a book, or where I will go with it, but I am so glad I asked the questions. The priest was glad, too.
When you write non-fiction, it’s very hard to turn off the need to know. And why should we? You can never tell when something might spark an idea for a book, or fit into the one you’re writing, or might write years later, or end up as deep background for something else. When I went to Down House in 1999 I didn’t know I was going to write a book on Charles and Emma Darwin. But I loved what I was seeing and so I took notes, took mental and actual snapshots, asked questions of the tour guides, and bought a great book from the gift shop. Because I had that non-fiction writer's head on that day, I had a leg up when I sat down to write Charles and Emma years later.
But to be honest, I almost always have that head on. I take notes when I go to museums, when I see something of particular interest on a street corner, or in the country. I questions of everyone I meet: scientists, painters, architects, doctors, lawyers, plumbers, cab drivers, chefs. It turns out Charles Darwin posed questions to many different people while he was figuring out his idea of evolution by natural selection. He thought it best to go right to the experts: farmers, pigeon fanciers, his hairdresser, his friends who gardened, Emma, his children, the vicar in Downe. He wrote their answers in his notebooks and used them later as examples in his argument. I'm no Charles Darwin, but if it was good enough for him, it's good enough for me. And you.
When I told my son I was working on this blog post, I said I thought it could be really helpful for teachers. They could tell their students that real authors ask questions wherever they go, and so should they. It’s a great way to learn. Aaron nodded, and said, in his 23-year-old understated way, “Some of us live our lives this way just because it’s fun.” Yup.
9 Comments on It's All Material: Finding the Truth Every Day, last added: 8/19/2009
Aaron is absolutely right. I would interview everyone on the subway if I could, and often do. My dream job is my shipboard research trips where I am on a ship for 3 weeks with captive subjects; my purpose is to find out everything I can about every one of them and everything they're doing, and to report back to central. Wha ha ha.
And I can answer the questions about Communion, if you want, as a funloving lapsed Catholic.
Good post! I also like the comment "live the question." I once had a fascinating plane ride with a guy who distributes chickens to be raised by farmers. Oh, and my favorite seatmate was a farrier who was flown in by wealthy folks to diagnose their horses' gaits and fix them via horseshoes. The only time I keep myself from asking questions is in taxis on highways. I have discovered that some folks cannot talk and steer!
Pat Brisson said, on 8/18/2009 3:20:00 PM
I'm glad the wedding was so interesting for you. I'm sure the priest enjoyed his conversation with you.
Since I know you love to learn things, I will point out that the communion "cracker" is generally referred to as a wafer.
As He-Man used to say "Now you know - and knowing is half the battle!"
Pat Brisson said, on 8/18/2009 3:22:00 PM
I'm glad the wedding was so interesting for you. I'm sure the priest enjoyed his conversation with you.
Since I know you love to learn things, I will point out that the communion "cracker" is generally referred to as a wafer.
As He-Man used to say "Now you know - and knowing is half the battle!"
Sorry about the cracker/wafer mistake. My husband actually pointed it out and I forgot to correct it. So what is the answer to the question of why some people have it put in their mouths and others take it with their hands?
Mark Herr said, on 8/19/2009 8:20:00 AM
The answer has to do with the fear of cooties, I believe.
Great post! I find asking questions much more creative than answering them. "Live the question" is such a good phrase. It is to nonfiction writers what "in the bones" is to a dancer learning new steps. May we all use it?
Off to read in the bathtub. A great idea on a hot day.
It’s good to be nosy. When I say this in schools, there’s always one teacher who looks uncomfortable. He’d rather I’d use the word curious. (Yes, it is, for some reason, usually a he.)
But I am nosy. Always have been. Always will be. I am a people watcher, an eavesdropper. If I could get away with it, I’d read other people’s mail, ask strangers in the airport probing questions (o.k. I have done that once in a while).
I wish I knew all about you, yes, you reading this post.
I don’t know if my nosiness is a result of nature or nurture, but I can tell you either way I got it from my mom. Nosiness was my mother’s milk, and I am glad for it. It made me a writer, made me someone who loves, loves, loves to do research. It was one of my mother’s greatest gifts to me. (Though I did suffer from her nosiness as a teenager when she read my journal--just because I had left it out. Who knew THAT was a rule? I sure didn’t--until that day. Oy, what she found out. Don’t ask.)
Here are some of my most significant childhood memories:
*Sitting in a hotel lobby with Mom, watching the people, and talking about them. What’s his story? Hers? Are those two a couple? Where do you think they live? What do they do? What is with that hat?
*Sitting in the kitchen during family gatherings while the women cooked, making myself as invisible as possible so they would keep gossiping. On different occasions I learned: my cousin M. had set the cat’s tail on fire and his mother, Crazy Aunt B., had just laughed; my father’s cousin Hymie, whom I adored, hadn’t died of a heart attack but had jumped out of the window at 80 because he was bereft at losing his long-time love—whom he lived with! But wasn’t married to! (It’s mine; you can’t have it.) Sitting in the kitchen also gave me practical information, of course: how to separate eggs, roast a chicken, what hormones can do…
*Sitting half-way down the steps during one of my parents’ parties. Is that how grown-ups act when kids aren’t around? Why?
Writing fiction is about looking at people and asking what makes them tick. Writing biography is exactly the same, only you can’t make anything up. Writing all non-fiction is about asking questions you don’t have the answers to. So you have to do research to find out. For that all it takes is being nosy.
When you do research you ask yourself, “What do I know and what do I need to know?” At the beginning of a project, the answer to the first part of the question is (in increasing level of panic) “not much, next to nothing, certainly not enough!” and the answer to the second part is, “a whole lot, so much, everything!” But if you just let your natural nosiness work for you, finding out more is often easy—and always fun. It’s like a treasure hunt, with clue leading to clue. Really it's like sitting at that kitchen table, only you don’t have to be invisible. You get to ask the questions. You get to be nosy.
Being nosy has helped me when I’ve needed to overcome shyness to interview someone (no, I don’t ask inappropriate questions). Being nosy has kept me going through rough patches in writing. For example, when I couldn’t find the hook of, say, a biography, I just needed to delve deeper into my subject’s private life. Why didn’t Barbara McClintock get along with her mother? Because Mrs. McClintock gave Barbara away for months when she was a toddler!
Why did Charles and Emma have one more child even though she was so old to have a baby…Oh! I found a letter Charles wrote complaining that Emma was “neglecting him.”
Reading primary sources—letters, journals, diaries—is heaven to a nosy person. Reading primary sources is a fantastic way for a writer to get great material, unique insights, and, we hope, give the world valuable new information.
And it’s completely legitimate! And legal! And moral!
Unlike reading a person’s journal just because she left it lying around….
So. Be honest. How nosy are you?
11 Comments on It's Good to be Nosy, last added: 6/23/2009
I loved so much in this post! Of course the nosiness part (and, yes, I too have seen men squirm around the words "nosy" or "gossip," in the sense of that word that craves a hunger for detail. I loved how you showed the research process as one of asking and answering questions, while also opening it up as you do in this post. And poor Barbara McClintock. I hadn't known about her mom, and now I must go read...Thank you! Jeannine Atkins
Mark Herr said, on 6/16/2009 7:53:00 AM
Learning is really all about wanting to know more. But to me the best learning is when you view it as more fun than work. I'm nosy with an imagination, so I think that is why I prefer writing fiction, but I do admit facts do have such great stories to tell. I have been known to spend hours on Wikipedia bouncing from related link to related link.
Melissa, Thanks for asking about how it relates to CHARLES AND EMMA. I wrote that book using primary sources almost completely. I read a two-volume book of Emma and her family's letters. I read Charles's secret notebooks, and many of his letters (though not all 7,000 of them!). During the course of the research Emma's diaries were also published on line, and so I got to "snoop" in those, making connections between what Charles was working on and the brief notes she wrote in her datebook/diary. I also could look at what she wrote and what letters Charles wrote at the same time. It was a lot of puzzle pieces I put together--pieces of their private life and private thoughts. It was a dream!
I get to read other people's juicy personal letters and diaries all the time too when I do research, and I LOVE using this particular kind of primary source material so much that I regularly feature direct quotes in my artwork inside of talk balloons. Reading this amazing stuff is kinda like secretly taking the roof off of someone's house and peeking in. Besides, it's so much more fun that reading somebody's dry version of history. For example, instead of just writing that fresh water used to run out on ships during long voyages, I once used this quote: "The water is becoming BAD. I don't mind it much. I have a way of killing the bugs before drinking them."
I have to say that many friends/family members get annoyed at all my questions, but I can't help it. Finding those answers is why I love my job. I also love the idea that you can have the most obscure question in the world and there is someone somewhere who has spend his/her entire work life finding the answer to it. Now if only we can find her...
Anonymous said, on 6/16/2009 3:42:00 PM
This is Deborah. My friend Elvira Woodruff asked me to post this for her as she tried to post & it wouldn't let her. As you will see by her last two lines, I have not edited the comment at all.
Great insight into what compels a writer to write. And so well put. I also loved how you shared your enthusiasm for the research. It's the same for writers of historical fiction. Research is usually my favorite part of the job. Once I was writing about a girl dreaming of escaping a London workhouse in the 19th century. I thought I'd have her at a window and looking out at the city, dreaming of her escape. But then I had the urge to dig a little deeper and get a little nosier. What were those workhouses really like? I did some more digging around and lo and behold came upon this little gem of information- There was so much disease in London in the early 1880's the notion went around that sunlight carried disease! So they actually whitewashed over all the workhouse windows in the city! Now when I write my girl's scene,the workhouse is much darker inside, and I have her use her fingernail to scrape away some of the paint from the window before she can look out. I'm sure readers just breezed over that little detail, but for me, I was high for a day on it! Sometimes I think we have much more fun writing these books of ours than readers can ever have reading them (on a good day, when we aren't biting nails and pulling out our hair). Thanks again for nailing the nosiness thing. And you weren't exaggerating. You are by far the nosiest person I know .Elvira Woodruff
Roz, who said that ("The water is becoming BAD. I don't mind it much. I have a way of killing the bugs before drinking them.")? What book of yours is it in?
Deb, the quote that says "...I have a way of killing the bugs before drinking them" came from my book GOLD FEVER; TALES FROM THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH, and it was written by a guy named Richard Lunt Hale. I found it at the Smithsonian's American History Museum library many moons ago along with a whole treasure trove of letters from people in clipper ships headed out of New York City to San Francisco via Cape Horn.
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0 Comments on A Stinky, Tinka Ditty: Fun Dog, Sun Dog as of 1/1/1900
My friend Pamela Curtis Swallow is writing a biography of her relative Ellen Swallow Richards. This is how our conversations go lately:
Me: Pam, could you please pass the salt? Pam: Salt comes from mines, Deb, and did you know that Ellen Swallow Richards was the first woman member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers?” Me: Really? Pam: Also Ellen was the first woman admitted to M.I.T. and did you know that she founded the first health food take-out restaurant and was the founder of Home Economics? Me: Pam? Pam: Deb, it all comes down to Ellen.
Pam is besotted. She talks about Ellen all the time. Did I mention she also giggles when she talks about Ellen sometimes? She is completely obsessed. And this is how it should be.
I have written four biographies and each time I fell in love. It wasn’t always love at first sight, and sometimes I had to fight to stay in love. But love it was. And being in love with your subject serves an author very well. Because when the road gets bumpy, love keeps you going.
My first love affair was with Barbara McClintock. I had heard of Barbara back when I was an editor at Scholastic News (See Karen Romano Young’s post of March 5, 2009). McClintock won the Nobel Prize for her discovery of jumping genes and we ran a photo of her holding up an ear of maize, the plant she worked with. A few years later, I was thinking about how much I loved biographies as a kid and I decided I wanted to write one about Barbara McClintock. She had won the Nobel Prize for work she had done three decades earlier and when she finally won, interviewers asked her, "Wasn’t it hard that nobody believed you for all these years?" She answered she knew she was right, and “it would all come out in the wash.” What kind of person believes in herself so much that she keeps on working despite the fact that nobody believes her? I had to write about her so I could find out what made her tick.
I read the first chapter of an adult biography of her, called A Feeling For the Organism by Evelyn Fox Keller, which gave some insight into McClintock as a person, and I was hooked. I wrote a proposal, got a contract, and then read the next chapters of Keller’s book and realized I couldn’t understand the science AT ALL. The short arm of chromosome number 9? What is a chromosome? Jumping genes? What is a gene? How do they work? I had barely taken any science since 9th grade biology. I wanted to give my advance money back. But of course I had already spent it on diapers and cheerios and printer ink. I had to write the book.
Besides, I was already in love, which was a very good thing because I stayed up late many nights giving myself a crash a crash course in genetics so I could write the book.
Love makes you do crazy things. Love made a telemarketer give me her rendition of Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” when I told her I was on a deadline writing a biography of John F. Kennedy. Love made me write a first draft of said book, High Hopes, in six weeks, as my editor begged me to. Love made me, the only girl who didn’t get into the sixth grade chorus, sing the lyrics to J.F.K.'s campaign song “High Hopes” with Tita Cahn (“Sing it with me, Deborah!”), widow of Sammy Cahn, so I could get permission to use the lyrics in the book. And love made me agree to write the book in the first place even though I knew I would find out things about John F. Kennedy I did not like. (O.K., love and a decent advance.)
So what do you do when you find out things about your person you don’t like? You take a deep breath and say, I am a biographer. I am not, actually, marrying the person. (Not that the people we marry are perfect, either.) You tell yourself that you are obliged to give a full portrait of your subject. And you want to. Within limits, when you are writing for kids.
Writing is all about choices. Did I write about J.F.K.'s extramarital affairs? No. Not only was it not relevant for kids, it was not an integral part of the story I was telling. Did I write about the fact that he and his family covered up his poor health so he could win the election? Yes, absolutely. It was an integral part of the story: his illness and the decision to cover it up shows who John F. Kennedy was. When kids read the book I hope they come away with a sense of the real person – a boy who grew up in a large family in the shadow of his older brother, and overcame illness to become President of the United States. I must admit I was glad I couldn’t write about the affairs.
Love can be hard. Love is hard when your subject dies. I spent many years thinking about, researching, and writing about Charles and Emma Darwin for Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith. And every time I read or wrote about Charles or Emma dying, I cried. As time went on my tears did not lessen. Because as time went on I was more deeply in love. By the time I was writing what would be my almost final draft, I started sobbing uncontrollably when Charles died. This moment coincided with our younger son packing to go to college. Everyone in my family knows I do not deal well with separation. Benjamin was only moving 13 blocks uptown, but he was moving out and we all knew things would change. So Benjamin assumed I was crying about him. He came into my office, patted me on the back, and said, “There, there, Mom, I’ll see you soon,” and I said, between sobs, “It’s not you. Charles Darwin died.” Benjamin has not yet forgiven me, and he’s a sophomore. My husband likes to tell the story that months later, when I got to Charles’s death again, this time in galleys (of my OWN book), I whispered to myself, “Maybe this time Charles won’t die.”
I wasn’t always in love with Charles Darwin, and I barely knew he had a wife. My husband sort of owned Darwin in our family. But one day he (husband, not Charles) said to me, “Did you know that Charles Darwin’s wife was religious? And they loved each other very much. She was upset that he would go to hell and they would be separated for eternity.” I fell in love with the subject immediately: marriage, science and religion, God, devotion, death… I knew I had a book to write. Now I just had to fall in love with Charles and Emma themselves. Primary sources were the way in. I read (and as the research went on, read and read again) a two-volume book called Emma Darwin: A Century of Family Letters. There is no surer way to love than through someone’s personal correspondence—assuming, of course, that person is wonderful and articulate and funny and kind and spunky and true and (oh, dear, stop me). I was in love with Emma.
Next I read Charles Darwin’s autobiography and then his journals, and letters, and the same thing happened. I fell in love with him, too. Irrevocably. How can you not love a man who writes in a private notebook, “But why does joy, & OTHER EMOTION make grown up people cry.—What is emotion?” while he’s thinking about the theory of evolution? And writes to Emma around the same time, “I long for the day when we shall enter the house together. How glorious it will be to see you seated by the fire of our own house.”
Darwin was “one of the true Good Guys of history,” as the woman who helped put together the Darwin show at the American Museum of Natural History said to me after my book was published. He was a terrific husband (and Emma deserved that!) and an attentive and loving father. Charles and Emma had a wonderful marriage, which was a profound influence on his work. When he finally wrote The Origin of Species, it was a different book than it would have been had he not been married to Emma. Although Charles Darwin saw wars in nature he also saw the beauty and--
“Deb?”
Sorry.
But I can't help it. I'm in love.
6 Comments on Falling In Love With Dead People, last added: 4/21/2009
Thanks for the funny and heartfelt post. I can't wait to read Charles and Emma after this, and alll the great reviews (my own current love is getting in the way of other reading, but summer is coming!)
You know, I had just returned Charles and Emma to the library when it become apparent that I didn't have the time right now to read it, but now I will wait a respectable amount of time before requesting it again. Thank you, Deb, for your light-hearted but sincere "confession" of a passionate author. I'm sure that passion and besottedness comes out in the text. I know just the person to share this with.
I loved learning about Emma Darwin, thought your book was very nicely done, Deborah. But I'm curious: what were the discussions surrounding the decision to have your husband, Jonathan Weiner, write the foreword? Did you or your editors see that as a potential conflict of interest? He's absolutely qualified to recommend a book about Darwin -- his own book, The Beak of the Finch, was brilliant -- but as your spouse, he might be seen as having a vested interest in the book's success.
Lisa, you know it's funny. I worried about it, but I was the only one who did. And you are literally the first person I know of who has questioned it. So I guess it was O.K. I think maybe most people saw it just as romantic, which it really was.
Deb! How could I not love this post? After all, we both fell in love with the same guy. I know exactly what you mean...I get blown away by the folks I write about too and I'd defend a couple of them to the death, especially if they've been maligned unfairly for the last gazillion years. I also want to invite them all to dinner so I can see if my takes on their personalities were correct. It's one thing to read every single word my subjects wrote, but I sure would love to check them out in action.
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Beautiful tribute. Glad to get to know your grandpa, Deborah.
How wonderful that you have these precious memories of a very special man. You are right, "Attend you your work." can have many meanings. When I hear it, it reminds me of Jane Yolen's BIC--butt in chair.
What a heartfelt post. I am inclined to side with the underdog too, especially when a person or wildlife does not have the means to speak up for themselves.
So very lovely .... A heartfelt & colorful tribute from a colorful granddaughter with a huge heart.
Another reminder about the power of words.
I just absolutely loved this post. My parents have moved close to me, so they can be part of my daughters' lives, and I hope my daughters have the same connection to my father that you had to your grandfather. And by the way, my mother bought my daughters Charles and Emma for Christmas, and they loved it, although they wept as they read.
In championing the underdog, he helped create a family of overdogs. (If that's not a word, it should be.) "Attend to your work" is almost regal and the fact that it resonated with you at the tumultuous age of 18 is impressive. Thanks for sharing this.
Loved this, Deb.
This is so lovely! Though it makes me miss my own grandparents terribly...
Aww. What a lovely tribute to a great man. Thanks for sharing part of him with us. And such a cool motto to have.
You have made me cry again, my friend. Here's to your grandfather and all he gave you and the world.