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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Celebrate, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 35
1. Happy Victoria Day! We are Amused...

When I was a girl, I used to call Victoria Day, ‘Firecracker Day’ for obvious reasons. I always loved going to watch the firework displays with my family during my childhood. There was something nostalgic and magic about it. Loved getting those sparklers and writing your name in the air with them too! Ahhh, the good old days…

But was it really that good back then for Queen Victoria during her reign? This got me thinking about her Royal Highness Vicki. So, I thought I’d do a little digging on some facts you may not know about her. This is what I found:

1. She was barely five feet tall. For an outspoken broad with an imposing reputation, this tidbit surprised me. In later years, her girth almost caught up to her height. Some accounts claim she had a 50 inch waist by the end of her life. Queen Vicki would have been a shoe-in for the Biggest Loser reality show!

2. She proposed to hubby, Prince Albert, and not vice versa. Vicki was only 16 when she met her first cousin Albert (yup, they were related) and was immediately smitten with him. Her uncle Leopold suggested that she propose to Albert since she was the queen, and he couldn’t propose to her. Guess it must have been true love—after all, they had nine children together!

3. She was raised by a single mom, and later became a single mom herself. Her father, Edward, Duke of Kent died of pneumonia in 1820 when poor Vicki was less than a year old. She was left to be brought up by her mother who was under the influence of her advisor, and not out for her daughter’s best interests. When Vicki was crowned queen, she booted mommy-dearest out of the limelight and to a distant set of apartments. Oh yeah, and she fired that useless advisor too. Royalty has its perks.

4. She was the first known carrier of hemophilia, an affliction that would become known as the ‘Royal disease’. Who knew marrying into the family gene pool would weaken it too? Hemophilia is a blood clotting disorder passed along the maternal lines within families; men are more likely to develop it, while women are the carriers. Bummer. Sufferers can bleed excessively, since their blood does not proper coagulate, leading to extreme pain and even death. Her son Leopold and three of her grandsons died from the disease. Presently, hemophilia appears to be extinct in the European royal lines. Someone got smart enough not to push the DNA envelope anymore.

5. She had at a least six serious assassination attempts made against her during her reign—most while she was riding in a carriage. At least two of the trigger-happy gents were found not guilty by reason of insanity. Another would-be assassin fired a gun loaded with paper and tobacco at the queen, but the charge was insufficient. Hmm…maybe he should have been chucked in the insane asylum too. One man even tried to hit the queen with his cane. She wasn’t amused. However, looking for the silver lining, every time there was an assassination attempt on Queen Vicki, her popularity soared among the British public. In these days, guess that would be the same as getting more likes on Facebook. Go, Queen Vicki, go!

6. Finally, she was an artist and writer. Knew I liked the old broad! Queen Vicki began drawing as a child, and throughout her life continued to sketch and paint. She also enjoyed writing, and wrote daily entries in a diary. Her daily journals eventually spanned more than 120 volumes, and this Queen Bee wrote about 2500 words a day. Can you say prolific?


Whatever you decide to do this Victoria Day, take a moment to think about how far we’ve come since Queen Vicki’s rule, then give her silent thanks when you see the burst of color streaking through the sky as you watch the firework display with your family or friends. Salute!

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2. Celebrate -- The Kidlitosphere!

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Will Clayton

Even though our blog birthday was on January 1, we have celebrated it all year! On our 8th Birthday, we decided to celebrate 2014 by celebrating others who inspire us every day. Each month this year, we have celebrated a fellow blogger whose work has inspired us. We feel so lucky to be part of the blog world that we want to celebrate all that everyone gives us each day.

In January, we launched the year by celebrating Kevin Hodges.
In February, we celebrated Ruth Ayres.
In March, we celebrated The Nerdy Book Club.
In April, we celebrated Pernille Ripp.
In May, we celebrated Jen Robinson.
In June, we celebrated Mother Reader.
In July, we celebrated Mr. Schu.
In August, we celebrated Kate Messner.
In September, we celebrated Amy Ludwig VanDerwater.
In October, we celebrated Sylvia Vardell.
In November, we celebrated Barbara O'Connor.

We're going to end our year of celebrating bloggers who are children's literature fanatics, teachers, teachers-of-teachers, librarians, authors, and poets who inspire us the most by celebrating those who help to build and maintain the Kidlitosphere "community" itself.

Here's to all the bloggers behind the scenes who curate the webpage, Kidlitosphere Central, organize the yearly conference, KidLitCon, coordinate and judge and blog about the CYBILS (Children's and Young Adult Blogger's Literary Awards), and run the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group

This is a huge group of volunteers who make the world of blogging a better place by making it feel more like a cozy neighborhood and less like an indifferent city.

To honor ALL of the bloggers who keep the wheels of the Kidlitosphere machinery running smoothly, we made a donation to the CYBILS.

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3. Celebrating Sylvia Vardell!


Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Will Clayton

Even though our blog birthday was on January 1, we are celebrating it all year! On our 8th Birthday, we decided to celebrate 2014 by celebrating others who inspire us every day. Each month, on the 1st (or so) of the month, we will celebrate a fellow blogger whose work has inspired us. We feel so lucky to be part of the blog world that we want to celebrate all that everyone gives us each day.

This month, we are celebrating teacher and blogger, Sylvia Vardell. Sylvia blogs at Poetry for Children, which is one of the most amazing poetry resources for classroom teachers you can imagine! Sylvia works tirelessly to promote poetry for children at every professional conference she attends, through the journal articles and professional books she writes, and, of course, through the Poetry Friday Anthologies she edits with Janet Wong.

On her blog, Sylvia has thoughtful posts like the recent one on Poetry and Social Justice.

She also has a series called Poet to Poet, in which she features one poet interviewing another about his/her new book. 

Plus, she shares readers' guides she's written, like the one for the fabulous novel in verse, Crossover.

To honor Sylvia, we made a donation to the American Academy of Poets (poets.org), an organization that supports educators with tips for teaching poetry, a monthly educator newsletter, and events such as Poem in Your Pocket Day and National Poetry Month.

Please help us celebrate Sylvia for all she does for poetry and for teachers!
 

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4. Celebrating Amy Ludwig VanDerwater!

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Will Clayton

Even though our blog birthday was on January 1, we are celebrating it all year! On our 8th Birthday, we decided to celebrate 2014 by celebrating others who inspire us every day. Each month, on the 1st (or so) of the month, we will celebrate a fellow blogger whose work has inspired us. We feel so lucky to be part of the blog world that we want to celebrate all that everyone gives us each day.

This month, we are celebrating teacher and poet, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater! Her blog, The Poem Farm, is an amazing poetry and writing instruction resource for teachers. On the "Find a Poem" page, Amy has all the poems on her blog indexed by topic and technique. There is also a link to her amazing A-Z Poem Dictionary Hike, her 2012 National Poetry Month poem-a-day project.

Amy shines a spotlight on teachers and students and the poetry work they are doing in the classroom. On her "Poetry Peek" page, you can visit the classrooms she has featured.

If you and/or your students keep writer's notebooks, you will want to check out Amy's other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks. In the introduction, Amy writes,
"Hello, nosy friends! This blog is written by many different notebook-keepers, highlighting pages from a variety of notebooks: paper, digital, napkin, any kind! Read here, and learn how students, authors, artists, teachers, and people of all types use notebooks to strengthen their thinking. After reading, you might wish to try something new in your own writing, drawing, thinking..."
Amy is the co-author of one of Lucy Calkins' Units of Study writing guides, and is in the midst of a beautiful swan dive into the crystal blue water of children's book authoring, with one published (Forest Has a Song) and FIVE more forthcoming.

If you read Amy's blog or follow her on FaceBook, you know that besides being a poet, writer, and teacher, she is mother of three, wife of a science teacher, and very much the farm girl of her blog's Poem FARM name. And you know that one of her (and her family's) passions is rescuing and placing orphaned cats and kittens. Although it veers a bit from our typical donation to a literacy or child-based organization, it just feels right to donate this month, in Amy's honor, to Colony Cats, a local organization that rescues cats as well as practicing TNR (trap, neuter, release) to support the feral cat colonies in the Columbus area. The cat who generously lets AJ and me share his house is a former Colony Cats rescue cat. He gave a twitch of his tail as the sign of his approval of this donation.


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5. Celebrating

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Will Clayton

Even though our blog birthday was on January 1, we are celebrating it all year! On our 8th Birthday, we decided to celebrate 2014 by celebrating others who inspire us every day. Each month, on the 1st (or so) of the month, we will celebrate a fellow blogger whose work has inspired us. We feel so lucky to be part of the blog world that we want to celebrate all that everyone gives us each day.


This month, we are celebrating the amazing author and educator, Kate Messner. We have learned from Kate Messner in so many ways. Real Revision: Authors' Strategies to Share with Student Writers was important for both of us as writers and teachers of writing. Her children's books resonate with readers and have an important place in our classroom libraries. And as a former teacher she shares generously --she is an advocate of classroom visits by authors, offering free Skype visits to classes for many of her books, and maintaining an extensive list of children's, YA, and adult authors who will also Skype for free.

But the reason we are celebrating Kate today is because of her blog and her initiatives to support teachers--especially Teachers Write! Kate has worked tirelessly for the past several summers to support teacher writers. The community is a strong one and the Summer Camp is amazing.

To honor Kate, we we are making a donation to one of our favorite local organizations, The Brian Muha Foundation. This is an organization that supports children in our local area. We love the story of the foundation and believe strongly in their mission. You can learn more about the foundation and the Run the Race Club on their website.


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6. Celebrating Mr. Schu with a Donation to The Reading Village

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Will Clayton

Even though our blog birthday was on January 1, we are celebrating it all year! On our 8th Birthday, we decided to celebrate 2014 by celebrating others who inspire us every day. Each month, on the 1st (or so) of the month, we will celebrate a fellow blogger whose work has inspired us. We feel so lucky to be part of the blog world that we want to celebrate all that everyone gives us each day.

Our year-long blog birthday celebration continues as we honor blogger and Super Reader, Mr. John Schu at Watch. Connect. Read. We have so many reasons to celebrate Mr. Schu! His blog is one that keeps us up to date on new books, new authors, and new book trailers. Mr. Schu reads more than anyone we know and by knowing him, we read more too!  He has shown us what a reading community can look like in a school, with the library as the hub. We aren't sure how he does all that he does but we know that the reading community is better because of him. We love his Newbery Challenge and his Book Release Calendar. We love the Sharp-Schu challenges and the Trifectas.  

Mr. Schu is generous with his book giveaways as he is always one to pay it forward with books. Mostly we are celebrating Mr. Schu because of his generosity to this reading community that we love.  It seems he is always giving something to children, teachers, and librarians. His passion is contagious and we are so glad to celebrate him and his blog today!  If you don't follow John, you can find him on Twitter at @MrSchuReads. And if you want to hear Mr. Schu himself talk about his library, I had a chance to interview him for Choice Literacy a few years ago.

To honor John, we are making a donation to The Reading Village. This organization is one that is working hard to build a culture of literacy in Guatemala.  Building leaders in literacy and bringing a culture of reading to communities is key to making change.

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7. Canada Day IS Family Day…


Canada Day officially kicks off holiday season for me here in the northern hemisphere. Kids have big smiles on their faces, and adults are gearing up for family getaways. Some families head for their cottages or vacation homes while others prefer to pack up the trailer or tent and venture into Provincial or State Parks armed with bug spray and bathing suits. Still others choose a stay-cation, opting to stay at home, hang by the pool, or go on day trips with their loved ones. Whatever method of holiday people decide on, the anticipation of being with family for one or two weeks is well worth the wait!

Since this will be our last summer at our lake home (cue the tears), we’re having a big family gathering to say good-bye and celebrate all the good times we’ve had here. I’m expecting a good size crowd, and have plenty of food on the menu. One such appetizer I’ll be preparing—Family Fiesta Dip—is popular at any summer bash, especially when family and friends drop by. So, juice up your taste buds and dive into my easy to make spicy dip at your pleasure.

What you Need:

250g package of cream cheese (soft)
1 tbsp. margarine
½ cup of mayonnaise
1 small jar of salsa (vegetable chunk style)
1 medium red pepper, finely chopped
1 medium green pepper, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I prefer the nacho or tex-mex brand)
1 bag of Tortilla chips

What you Do:

MIX cream cheese, margarine, mayonnaise until smooth. Spread in a medium-sized dish with edges to prevent spill over.

COVER with salsa – not too much so it’s not runny.

LAYER as follows: chopped red pepper, chopped green pepper, chopped tomato, chopped green onions, and then top with shredded cheese.

Keep refrigerated before serving. Serve with Tortilla chips (and napkins).

Family Fiesta Dip

 While you’re waiting for the Family Fiesta Dip to set, why not kick back on the beach or wherever you’ll be during your holidays and take a trip back into time with my Last Timekeepers MG/YA time travel series? Safe travels, everyone!

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8. Celebrate!


Check out more Celebration posts at www.ruthayreswrites.com

1. Franki has unveiled her new digital learning blog: Click Here Next. What an amazing resource for teachers K-5 who are anywhere on the spectrum of learning about and using digital tools in their classrooms!

2. My multi-equational "Gardener's Math Poems" poem-set was accepted for publication in Carol-Ann Hoyt's upcoming (October) anthology of poems for children about food and agriculture.

3. One of the swallowtail caterpillars that I am hosting in a big jar on the counter by the fish tank is now a chrysalis! 

4. The Choice Literacy writing retreat. What a gift to be able to relax in a beautiful setting, connect with smart and funny teacher-writers, and have the gift of TIME to be able to write without interruption.

5. This cute little baby:


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9. Celebrating Mother Reader With a Donation to First Book!


Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Will Clayton

Even though our blog birthday was on January 1, we are celebrating it all year! On our 8th Birthday, we decided to celebrate 2014 by celebrating others who inspire us every day. Each month, on the 1st (or so) of the month, we will celebrate a fellow blogger whose work has inspired us. We feel so lucky to be part of the blog world that we want to celebrate all that everyone gives us each day.

Our year-long blog birthday celebration continues as we honor blogger Pam Coughlan, aka Mother Reader, with a donation to First Book.

Pam also started blogging in 2006 and has been active in the Kidlitosphere over the last 8 years through the CYBILS, KidLitCon, and Kidlitosphere Central. She has written some hilarious posts throughout the years, and heads up BACA (Bloggers Against Celebrity Authors).

But what we'd like to recognize MotherReader for most of all is her 48 Hour Reading Challenge. In its ninth year this year, this read-a-thon has become an end-of-the-school-year ritual for us. We usually gather with local bloggers for breakfast and a trip to our local independent children's bookstore, Cover To Cover, and launch our summer #bookaday with a weekend filled with as many hours of reading as possible.

This year, Pam has taken the 48HRC to a whole new level by focusing on the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign. She writes,
"I'm hoping with lots of participants over the weekend, that we can saturate the blogosphere with dozens - nay, HUNDREDS - of titles that show the beautiful range of the human experience. That's our challenge."
In honor of all of the reading Pam has inspired over the years with her blog and with 48HBC, and especially because of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks focus this year, we are making a donation in her honor to First Book, a non-profit organization that provides access to new books for children in need. In their video "Empty Shelves," First Book states their mission poetically. Because of access to books: 
"Heads fill with thoughts,
Homes fill with works,
Schools fill with learning,
Communities fill with leaders."
Thank you Pam! Thank you, MotherReader, for all you have done for books and literacy and the Kidlitosphere!


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10. Celebrating Jen Robinson with a donation to RIF!

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Will Clayton

Even though our blog birthday was on January 1, we are celebrating it all year! On our 8th Birthday, we decided to celebrate 2014 by celebrating others who inspire us every day. Each month, on the 1st (or so) of the month, we will celebrate a fellow blogger whose work has inspired us. We feel so lucky to be part of the blog world that we want to celebrate all that everyone gives us each day.

Our year-long blog birthday celebration continues as we honor blogger and reading champion, Jen Robinson, of Jen Robinson's Book Page.

We have known Jen since we began blogging in 2006. Jen's blog was one of the first we read and one that became a kind of mentor blog for us.  In July of 2006, Franki noticed her "Cool Girls in Children's Literature" and "Cool Boys in Children's Literature" lists and decided to start a similar "100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature" list. Jen and other bloggers in the newly named (as of June 5, 2006, with thanks to Melissa Wiley) Kidlitosphere linked to our blog and our list. We think it's fair to say that this blog is what it is today because of that launch by Jen.

Although not a librarian or teacher herself, Jen is one of the most active proponents of reading, not just in the Kidlitosphere, but the big wide Blogosphere. She reads avidly, review thoughtfully, all while raising her very own bookworm.  She is a resource for both parents and teachers and works tirelessly to support readers everywhere.

To honor Jen's passion for putting books in the hands of children we will be making a donation in her honor to Reading is Fundamental (RIF) this month.



Thank you Jen for for sharing generously and for all you do for readers and reading!


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11. Celebrate This Week

Discover. Play. Build.
For the Celebrate this Week Link Up, visit Ruth Ayres Writes!


This week, we are celebrating a week of leisure--not of doing nothing, but of having a little bit of extra time over spring break to browse online, to read a few more posts than usual and to find some gems!  Here are the things we found online this week that are worth celebrating and sharing.

If you have not read A Snicker of Magic, it is one of my favorites of 2014 already.  I was thrilled to see that author Natalie Lloyd had a post on Nerdy Book Club this week and even more happy after I read it. It is an amazing piece that you'll want to read.  There's A Lion in My Closet.

My good friends Drew and Candis Jones created a new product for their Etsy store which I LOVE LOVE. They shared the new produce on Facebook and I was so glad I saw it right away!  I own a few too many of their necklaces but I can't imagine I could ever own too many of these bracelets! Check them out!

Then, I found this amazing Ted Talk thanks to @kylepace on Twitter. Drew Dudley's "Leading with Lollipops". Such a powerful message.  I happen upon Ted Talks I love once in a while but knew that Mary Lee had a goal of fitting more Ted Talks into her life.  So I passed it along. She loved it too.



Mary Lee here: I had high hopes for getting caught up on reading through the blog posts in my overflowing Feedly. Alas, that, and thoroughly cleaning the house one room at a time just didn't get done. I did manage to get in a TED talk with illustrated notes. Thanks for the link to Kyle's post about "Leading With Lollipops," Franki!





And I loved this piece by Tammy at Assessment in Perspective, "Practicing Until It's In Your Bones". An important message for teachers.

At Michigan Reading Association, Colby Sharp hinted that there'd be a big SharpSchu announcement coming up soon so I was thrilled to finally hear details about their new challenge!  Looking forward to hearing their thought on the Geisel winners!

My daughter and I went to see Divergent this weekend. We both loved the movie. I became fascinated by the idea that Shailene Woodley is playing the part of Tris and of Hazel in the upcoming Fault in Our Stars movie.  What am amazing actress to be able to play both of these roles well. I loved her interview that I found somehow.

One thing I like about social media is the way that it gets word out about important issues. I try to focus on positive stories but there were a few negative stories that pulled me in this week. One story that has stayed with me was the story about the runner wearing a tutu who was made fun of by Self Magazine.  I don't often repost negative stories on FB or Twitter but I felt like sharing this story was important. It is a celebration for me because once it was shared in social media, it was clear that most everyone in the world knows this is wrong.  That treating people like this is not okay.  Lots of people sharing the story as a way to take a stand against people being treated like this. A very small thing to do but small things are important.




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12. Celebrating The Nerdy Book Club with a Donation to LitWorld!



We love that even though our blog birthday was on January 1, we are celebrating it all year!  On our 8th Birthday, we decided to celebrate 2014 by celebrating others who inspire us every day. Each month, on the 1st (or so) of the month, we will celebrate a fellow blogger whose work has inspired us recently. We feel so lucky to be part of the blog world that we want to celebrate all that everyone gives us each day.

This month, we are celebrating the team at the Nerdy Book Club: Donalyn Miller, Colby Sharp and Cindy Minnich.

The Nerdy Book Club is the most democratic club on the planet. "If you love books, especially those written for children and young adults, then you are an honorary member of The Nerdy Book Club."

The Nerdy Book Club blog is the most democratic group blog on the planet. Want to write a guest post? Go on -- submit one!

The Nerdy Book Club is huge -- when last I visited, I was greeted by the proclamation that "You and 2,781 others like Nerdy Book Club." There are nearly 70 Nerdy Book Club Bloggers in the blogroll

Have you been to a Nerdy Book Club meet-up at a national conference like NCTE recently? Readers and authors fill a room and spill out into the adjacent areas. It's such a happy gathering with lots of hugging and laughter and photos that go straight to FaceBook and Twitter. There is no need to be a wallflower at a Nerdy Book Club meet-up. Everyone has lots in common: books, reading and readers. 

We are honoring the Nerdy Book Club by making a donation to LitWorld in their name.  We love LitWorld and this month seemed the perfect month to donate to them as March 5 is World Read Aloud Day ! If you have no plans to celebrate World Read Aloud Day in your classroom, you might want to change your mind!   World Read Aloud Day is "about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people."  What an amazing cause. LitWorld has lots of other amazing projects too.  And we believe in all of them.

Here is a little glimpse of the vision and work of LitWorld:

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13. Celebrate!

Join others who are celebrating this week at www.ruthayreswrites.com
I'm not just celebrating this week, I'm celebrating this MONTH.

Goodbye, February! Been nice to know you! We had some fun times...but mostly we had snow and cold. I know you can't help being who you are. It must be rough to be post-holiday and pre-Spring. You have to wait four long years to special in any way. But you know what? Even though it feels like a grueling effort to make it through your days, you actually help me to fine-tune my Signs-of-Spring Senses. Just the other day, for instance, when you gave us that glorious spring preview and we were able to have salmon on the grill for the first time since fall, I heard the robins singing in the dark.

In this mosaic, we begin with wing tracks in the deep snow that seemed to last forever. The rest of the first row: award winners in our classroom library, a message from the Universe that I have yet to decode, TED notes made with my...new pens... ROW 2: ...that bleed through but I don't care. Community band at Old Worthington Farmer's Market brings me joy every week (their tribute to Pete Seeger made me teary), another message from the Universe that couldn't be clearer (and it's just a tiny bit ironic that I took a PICTURE of it, eh?), the sky at Gene Barretta's airport vs. the sky in Columbus (he was the only author who didn't make it to #DubLit14). ROW 3: #DubLit14 -- student work, authors, celebrities. ROW 4: The last of the snow (or, based on the current forecast, should I say, the last of LAST MONTH'S snow) looks like a beached whale at our curb, auto tracks in a dusting of snow, (next 7) this is a visual rendition of That Silence I wrote about here (and I promise this is the last time I'll link to that review), LASTLY: a mosaic of the March Birthday Cake: "The Making." In the March Mosaic, you'll see March Birthday Cake: "The Icing and Eating."


A better view of the photos in this mosaic can be seen on Flickr.

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14. Epic Book Deal Contest!

This weekend has been overwhelming. I've been blown away by the well-wishes on Facebook and Twitter, the emails and blog posts. It's moments like these that all the years of late-night writing, tears over rejections and fighting self-doubt become worth it.

I'm so excited to celebrate my book deal with you that I'm giving away three prize packs. I know some of you are readers, some are writers and some are travelers, so I've created a pack for each of you.

Writer's Pack
  • Critique of your first 10 pages by me
  • $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card- your choice!
  • $10 Starbuck's gift card
  • Journal and writing pens
  • Query critique from my writing partner, Kate Fall, who has just opened her own editing business 

Reader's Pack
  • Copies of my writing partner's books: autographed copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis, I'M BORED illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi, and a preordered copy of PROPHECY by Ellen Oh 
  • A Samjokgo amulet (or some spell it as Samjogo)- this represents strength and was considered the most powerful symbol in Korea during the Koguryo Kingdom. This amulet has a big role in my book!


Traveler's Pack
  • Traveler's journal and writing pens
  • "Woman On the Go" traveler kit
  • Kindle or Nook (your choice!) versions of these great YA books: TEN by Gretchen McNeil and DEFIANCE by C.J Redwine.

Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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15. Grads On Parade

Just part of something I’ve been working on…

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16. Celebrate National Poetry Month with Lit World



30-Second Video:

April is National Poetry Month! Join LitWorld, A Global Literacy Organization, in celebrating the power and spirit of words by helping to compose a Global Poem for Change:

The wonderful poet Naomi Shihab Nye got us started with a first line:

I send my words out into the air, listening for yours from everywhere.

What words do you send out into the air?

What words do you listen for?

 

Celebrate Poetry Month and create a Global Poem for Change with LitWorld!

What comes next?

Submit a line of your own at litworld.org/poem

and watch our Poem GROW at litworld.org/poemblog.

We need Your Words to Change Worlds.

Share our announcement

and help our poem soar around the world…?

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17. Creative way to celebrate Presidents’ Day

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of th...

Image via Wikipedia

What is your most creative way of celebrating Presidents’ Day?


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18. Rhymes with Fresca!


Today marks the end of Jon Scieska's two year term as the Ambassador of Children's Literature. I would like to offer up a big thanks to him, not only for his work as ambassador, but for providing so many fun books for us to read to kids!

Some folks might wonder why here at Tweendom, I would be taking time out since most of Mr. Scieszka's work (Knucklehead aside) is for the younger set. Well, because books like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, are laugh-out-loud funny, and help get boys (and girls) to look at reading as fun, and not just something to sit still for!

His MC-ing skills are unparalleled, and he has made the National Book Award press conference for youth and fun and sly experience for the teens and the adults in the room.

So here's to you, Jon Scieszka!

1 Comments on Rhymes with Fresca!, last added: 1/6/2010
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19. The Suitcase Series: Camilla Engman

Amanda tips us off in her Twitter feed about Camilla Engman’s latest book from Uppercase Gallery:

THE SUITCASE SERIES

This series presents in glorious detail the lives of artists and designers from around the world. Small and intimate, each book contains a special treasure: in this edition we have included a glassine envelope of postcards with which you can create a Camilla-inspired collage. You’ll also find a booklet
of the adventures of Morran, the little Swedish dog with a big imagination. Each book in The Suitcase Series is a precious souvenir of a creative journey shared between the artist and you, the reader.

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20. Happy Belated Blogiversary to Me!

So 3 years ago on June 19th I started Welcome to my Tweendom as a companion to the now defunct Booktopia in order to highlight titles for the tweeners in your lives. I forgot my own blogiversary, but I am not being too hard on myself as June 19th was the last day of Kindergarten for my little one.

I have just packed an entire suitcase of books to read this summer, and will hopefully be adding to this blog as frequently as life without a school schedule will allow!

(Photo from pinkcakebox.com)

3 Comments on Happy Belated Blogiversary to Me!, last added: 6/26/2009
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21. Every Day in May

A 24hr. head start! Élena Nazarro writes: “I’m starting up “Every Day In May” again, where I (and others who join in) are committing to paint/sew/write/create for 31 straight days. We’d love to have you join, especially if you think you need a kickstart. Goodness knows I do!”

everyday

More info at her blog, French Toast Girl, and a Flickr group too!

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22. Sita Sings Free

Back in January we mentioned Nina Paley’s astonishing Sita Sings the Blues, an animated and musical tragicomedy with Indian roots and a 20’s jazz soundtrack.

It’s more than worth a mention that since last month, the released film has been available under the terms of a Creative Commons Share-Alike license. In short, as Paley writes, “You don’t need my permission to copy, share, publish, archive, show, sell, broadcast, or remix Sita Sings the Blues.”

Or to download and watch it. So grab a 1080p full cut, and remix Sita into something else awesome!

http://sitasingstheblues.com

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23. Dancing girl with birds

 
Really liked how this one came out! Fun with the white-out pen : D

2 Comments on Dancing girl with birds, last added: 2/24/2009
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24. Veda is here!

Penelope’s baby has arrived, and her husband Colin introduces us to little Veda over at Penelope’s blog. Congratulations, Penelope and Colin!!

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25. Illustration Friday : Celebrate Little Things


Waiting, waiting, waiting...

for the turn of the key...

and then,

Emma does her happy dance

because I'm home!


That's enough of a reason for her to celebrate. Lucky me!!


( a sweet reminder by Val Gal who misses her loving companion, Ratty.)

See her tribute here.

29 Comments on Illustration Friday : Celebrate Little Things, last added: 2/27/2009
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