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Parents are sometimes confused and it becomes so hard for them to find out the real cause of the crying. It is quite normal for babes to cry if they are hungry or if they are uncomfortable or of they are sick. They may even cry for getting the parents attention.
Well, crying is the only weapon that the kids have for grabbing your attention. This is the only means of communication by which they can talk to you.
Why babes cry? Hunger is the most common cause for a babes’ crying. Once the mother starts feeding, you can see the difference — the babes stop crying. If the child continues crying even after feeding, then there is some other reason.
The babes may cry if it is not comfortable with the dress. Sometimes the dress could be tight or irritating. May be the diapers are wet and it can irritate the babe.
There is also a possibility that the kid may be feeling too hot or too cold. Make the babe comfortable by providing the right temperature. The babe may also cry if it has a poor digestion.
These may be some of the physical discomforts that make a babe cry. But it is not just physical discomfort that makes your babe yell out. If your babe feels that you are not giving much attention, then it is quite natural for your babe to yell out to reach your attention.
Parents are sometimes confused and it becomes so hard for them to find out the real cause of the crying. It is quite normal for babes to cry if they are hungry or if they are uncomfortable or of they are sick. They may even cry for getting the parents attention.
Well, crying is the only weapon that the kids have for grabbing your attention. This is the only means of communication by which they can talk to you.
Why babes cry? Hunger is the most common cause for a babes’ crying. Once the mother starts feeding, you can see the difference — the babes stop crying. If the child continues crying even after feeding, then there is some other reason.
The babes may cry if it is not comfortable with the dress. Sometimes the dress could be tight or irritating. May be the diapers are wet and it can irritate the babe.
There is also a possibility that the kid may be feeling too hot or too cold. Make the babe comfortable by providing the right temperature. The babe may also cry if it has a poor digestion.
These may be some of the physical discomforts that make a babe cry. But it is not just physical discomfort that makes your babe yell out. If your babe feels that you are not giving much attention, then it is quite natural for your babe to yell out to reach your attention.
By:
Steve Novak,
on 4/1/2008
Blog:
Steve Draws Stuff
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Here's a page from my zudacomics.com submission inked and colored.
I admit it...I'm not nuts about computer coloring. (Maybe it's because I'm not that good at it). Sometimes it just feels like a chore to me. (Once again, maybe that's because I'm not that good at it).
I'm about halfway through coloring the eight pages in my submission but I'm having trouble finding time getting it done with so much other work going on right now and with my wife on spring break and requiring a good deal of my attention. MY goal is to knuckle up and get it done this week.
Is that likely?
No.
It's nice to dream though.
Steve~
Review by Becky Laney, frequent contributor
Becky's reviews can also be found at...
Elijah of Buxton is about as perfect as a book can get. What can I really say about it? It's historical fiction. It's set in Canada. It is about the community of Buxton--a safe haven for runaway slaves. The Canada border means one thing to a slave--ultimate freedom. Elijah was not a runaway slave. He was the first "free" child born into this community. He also holds the dubious honor of having thrown up on Frederick Douglass. (Elijah was an infant at the time.)
Doggone-it-all, seems like the things that people enjoy sticking to your name permanent ain't never good things, they're always things that are tragical. I ain't the kind of person that complains for no reason, but I gotta say, I already got one tragedy tied up with my name that is so horrible that it wouldn't be one bit fair that I'd get another. The tragedy that's so horrible put a scar on me that I'm-a be carrying till the day I die. You'd think growned folks would cry when they saw me, but that don't happen atall. Even Ma and Pa try to act like it ain't all that noticeable and that they ain't 'shamed to have folks see they're raising me, but I know better. It happened when I waren't nothing but a baby and I caint see why I'm to blame, but that's when the famousest, smartest man who ever escaped from slavery stood on a tall stage that had got built in the schoolhouse and raised me way up over his head in front of a crowd of people. From the way Pa tells it, the man must've had me twenty feet up in the air. He was giving a speech when the accident happened 'cause every time he made a point he'd give me a little shake way up there over top of his head. I waren't even a year old back when Mr. Frederick Douglass and Mr. John Brown visited Buxton. . . They'll tell you I throwed up on Mr. Douglass for a whole half a hour afore Ma come and snatched me away and pointed me out the schoolhouse window. They say I near drownded the man. Some folks swear I throwed up so hard that desks and chairs rose up and floated out of the schoolhouse. Mr. Polite said I throwed up so plentiful that didn't no deers nor rabbits die in the woods for five years after. He said the bears and the wolves et my vomit for that long since it was considerable easier for them to do that than to try to run down some animal that waren't looking to get et. And that don't make no sense. That don't make no sense atall. First off, 'cause they're always telling us how smart Mr. Frederick Douglass is. They tell us he can talk Greek like a Greek and Latin like a Latin, and anybody who's that smart ain't gonna sit and hold no baby over his head that's throwing up on him for no whole half a hour... (from chapter two)
The rich narrative style, the characters, everything is so well done, so perfect. Elijah is a great narrator. He gives a great portrait of his family, his friends, his community--from school to church and everything in between. The first two-thirds of the book has a relaxed framework. It's all about establishing the setting, getting to know the characters, just sitting back and enjoying story after story after story. But the last third of the book the plot becomes focused--centered--around one story in particular. Elijah and one of the men from the community, Mr. Leroy, set out to go to America. Mr. Leroy is hoping to buy his children out of slavery. But there are many problems and set backs along the way. The good news for Elijah is that finally he has a chance to redeem himself and get something good attached to his name. It is his chance to be a hero.
I loved this book so much. I definitely recommend this one to one and all--young and old.
Mr Travis, when he's being our Sabbath school teacher, says the Lord rested on Sunday and commanded us to do the same. But, doggone-it-all, that's one lesson that ain't sticking too good with him and all the other growned folks 'cause half of every Sunday ain't spent resting, it's spent in church. And whilst Ma and Pa say church ain't work, some of the time if I had my druthers, I'd druther clean five stables and dig two miles of drainage ditch and clear three acres of woodland than sit through a whole morning and afternoon of church. . . I ain't trying to show no disrespect. . . Reverend King's a mighty good man, after all he is the one that started the Settlement, I am saying his sermons go on so long that some of the time you feel like begging, "Take me now, Jesus" 'bout halfway through'em. (201-202)
Some of you have already had the pleasure of meeting the author of A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT on ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
kellyrfineman's blog this week. If you haven't seen her interview, it's terrific. If you did see Kelly's post, you can consider this your second date with Linda! I'm doing a presentation on my upcoming historical novel SPITFIRE at this weekend's Burlington Book Festival, and Linda's talk on CROOKED is right afterwards in the same room, so I wanted to invite her here for a visit first.
Whether they're adults or kids, people who love reading and writing always want to hear the story of how their favorite books came to be. What was the inspiration for A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT and how did it grow into the middle grade novel it is today?
It started as a picture book. I was telling author/illustrator David Small about my childhood fantasy of playing classical music on a grand piano and how my dad got seduced by the rhythm switches of a mall organ. David said, "I can just see the illustrations for that!" A few weeks later I wrote a picture book, but the voice and pacing were all wrong for a picture book. It wasn't until two years later that I gave it a try as a novel. That's when the story took off.
Many of my blog readers are teachers of writing, and they're always looking for ways to help kids with revision. Would you share with us a few of your favorite revision strategies?
Nothing beats reading your work aloud. That's when you hear all the word repetition and discover the rhythm of the piece. For me, writing is about capturing a sound, a voice, a mood. I can't be sure I've done that until I actually hear the work.
On to the fun stuff now....
Why Neil Diamond?
Many people think I picked "Forever in Blue Jeans" for some sort of cheese factor, but really it is a very sweet, very earnest song that fit Zoe's story perfectly. She has to see past the cheese of it, past the disappointment that her competition piece is not the perfect classical composition she had imagined herself playing, and come to love this simple, honest melody. The lyrics underscore that.
We live in such an ironic age, enamored of kitsch and edge. People are made to feel foolish for feeling things with their whole hearts. If there is anything that I can do to let kids know that it is okay to express what honestly matters to them, I'm all for it. Hence, a little Neil Diamond.
The desserts described in A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT sound perfectly delicious. Are you a great dessert chef, a great dessert eater, neither, or both?
I bake some. Cookies and breads mostly. I have a lot of admiration for people who make beautiful desserts. When you and I spend hours on our writing, part of us is thinking that maybe we'll find a few words that will live on beyond us, bound in a book, available forever and ever and ever. A pastry chef can put her heart into a cake - hours of work - and then the whole thing gets swallowed up and that is that. You really have to care a great deal about making art when you know it is only going to last thirty minutes.
And your favorite dessert is...?
Apple pie. Yum.
What books -- for kids or adults -- have you read and loved lately?
I just finished Elijah of Buxton, the latest historical by Christopher Paul Curtis. What a genius that man is. He starts by letting us meet Elijah at his most silly and, as his Mama would say "fra-gile", falling for an elaborate story about "hoop snakes", playing a practical joke, and getting one played on him in return. It is hysterically funny and perfect for grabbing the attention of young readers. In a few short pages you can't help but know and love Elijah. And then, slowly, and without losing humor or character, we are introduced into the deep and lasting horrors of slavery that have shaped the lives of the townspeople of Buxton. The effect is devastating. You've got to read this book.
What can folks expect if they come to see you at the Burlington Book Festival this weekend?
I plan to read a little from A Crooked Kind of Perfect and talk with kids and grown-ups about writing, perfection, and getting over the fears that stop us from doing those things that really matter to us.
If anyone LJ friends are in the area (or up for a road trip!), I know that Linda and I would both love to meet you. Here's the scoop on our presentations:
Burlington Book Festival
Waterfront Theatre, Burlington, VT
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
KATE MESSNER
Join Kate Messner for a trip back in time to the American Revolution on Lake Champlain. Kate will read from her middle grade historical novel Spitfire, set during the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776, sign books and present an interactive multimedia slide show about the real 12-year-old who fought in the battle. Kids will be invited to taste the food and try on the clothes of an 18th century sailor, handle artifact replicas and design their own powder horns to take home.
Waterfront Theatre Black Box, 3rd Floor
12:30-1:30 PM
LINDA URBAN
Linda will debut her new book for young readers (ages 8-12), A Crooked Kind of Perfect. Listen to excerpts and find out what it's like to write and publish a novel for kids.
Waterfront Theatre Black Box, 3rd Floor
I'll back up quickly before we move forward, and tell you about our intimate gathering at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia on August 25 -- a steamy summer Saturday. Owner Diane Capriola put the word out to area writers and teachers, and that's who showed up for a lovely hour and a half of talking shop, reading from ALL-STARS, and munching on Crackerjacks -- House Jackson, age 12, is a Crackerjack baseball pitcher, or so we're told in chapter one of THE AURORA COUNTY ALL-STARS.
Here is something I've learned about book signings: Every book signing, every bookstore, every bookstore owner is so different. Each owner's vision is different, and each audience creates a kind of personality or character that the author must read and respond to. Figuring out what works best in each unique community is a puzzle and a challenge for the bookstore owner. If that owner is very good at this puzzling, it's a gift to the author. Here's Diane behind the desk, smiling that knowing smile.
When Diane called me a little over two years ago to introduce herself and tell me she was opening an independent children's bookstore in Decatur, Georgia, I said, "good luck!" And I meant it sincerely, as I'd heard about independent bookstores closing across the country. I had no idea how tenacious Diane and her business partner Dave would be. Just one example: Jake's Ice Cream is adjacent to Little Shop -- no wall separates the two businesses and customers mingle back and forth between the two. "The books will get sticky," people said. They didn't. The comfy couches between Jake's and Little Shop have housed many an intimate author talk, ice cream sometimes included.
Hmmm, I think, as we settle into the furniture. Lots of writers in this bunch; some teachers, a few kids. Punt. We talk about the writing process, the choppy sea of publishing, do we need agents? and then savvy reader-mom Kim says, "This is all well and good, but what about your characters? How do you create them?"
I learn how to read from ALL-STARS -- something I'll be discovering the entire time I'm on tour. I try to relate the adults' questions to the kids' fidget factor so I don't lose either. I eat my Moon Pie.
Then I sign books. I discover that Dr. Pearl McHaney from Georgia State is here. Dr. McHaney is a Eudora Welty scholar; the ancient, wrinkly, lovable pug dog in ALL-STARS is named Eudora Welty. Diane! You called the Eudora Welty Society! See what I mean? Bookstore owners find the most interesting, unusual threads to follow when setting up a signing, just as readers unravel their most personal, internal threads as they devour a book and make it their own.
I'm going to devour ELIJAH OF BUXTON by Christopher Paul Curtis and THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary Schmidt, the two books I purchase from Diane. I'll get lost in the worlds those authors create for me, and then I'll pass them (the books and the worlds) on to Logan, one of the most discerning 12-year-old readers I know.
I've been home from Columbia and Happy Bookseller for three days. I've done my laundry, watered my garden, cut my hair, paid the bills, cleaned out my email inbox (a first), watched the Justin Timberlake concert on television with my daughter, and lay on a blanket under the stars with my husband (still such a new word!).
The Tour Packet arrived via FedEx from Harcourt. In it are luscious lists of bookstores, schools, libraries, events, signing confirmations, flight numbers, media escort cell phones, hotel reservations, an itinerary as long -- longer! -- than my arm.
It's official. It's a tour. Here we go.
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Hello,
My friend, Kim, attended your book signing at The Little Shop of Stories. She gave you such an enthusiastic recommendation that I picked your book up during the Decatur Book Fest. I look forward to reading The Aurora County All-Stars for one of our family reading times.