JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans. Join now (it's free).
Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.
Blog Posts by Tag
In the past 7 days
Blog Posts by Date
Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: midwinter, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 13 of 13
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: midwinter in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
The winter solstice settles on 21 December this year, which means it’s the day with the least amount of sunlight. It’s the official first day of winter, although people have been braving the cold for weeks, huddled in coats and scarves and probably wool socks. It’s easy to pass over the winter solstice because of the holidays; however, many traditions center around the solstices and equinoxes, and even Christmas has borrowed some ideas from the midwinter celebration. Below are a few facts about the winter solstice and the influence it has had on religion.
1. The winter solstice occurs when the sun at noon is in its lowest position in the sky, which puts it over the Tropic of Capricorn (22-23 December).
2. The astronomical solstice is 21 December, but midwinter or Yule covers a few weeks during the time of the solstice. During medieval times, this period would stretch from the feast of St. Nicholas (6 December) and Christmas Day, then from Christmas to Epiphany or Candlemas.
3. It is most likely untrue that Christmas is the birth-date of Christ. However, it was likely set on 25 December to coincide with the already well-established Pagan holidays. In ancient times, the winter solstice was celebrated as the birthday of the two gods Sol Invictus (the invincible sun) and Mithras.
4. In contemporary Paganism, Yule celebrates the rebirth of the sun with the winter solstice, as it is the darkest time of the year with the days get longer after the solstice.
5. The Christmas traditions of gift-giving, candles, mistletoe, evergreens, holly, yule logs, Old Father Time, red and white colors, and others all come from Latin and Germanic yuletide celebrations. The word “yule” is thought to have originated from the Anglo-Saxon word for “yoke,” although it is possible it is connected to the words for sun in Cornish and Breton.
I had the pleasure of participating in certain parts of the Oral History Association’s Midwinter Meeting, held 14-16 February 2014 in Madison, Wisconsin. Let’s get this question answered right off the bat: Why Wisconsin in February? Because the organization meets in the winter (or early spring) at the location of the upcoming meeting. Since the OHA’s 48th Annual Meeting will be held in Madison (8-12 October), the group’s leadership met in Madison this month. It seems everyone in attendance embraced the Wisconsin winter, including marveling at the ice fishing “shacks” on Madison’s lakes and watching the cross-country skiers take over Capitol Square during Madison’s Winter Festival.
I served as a tour guide for the organization’s executive director Cliff Kuhn. Fresh off his appearance in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s article (and video chat) about the Belfast Project, Cliff came into Madison ready to talk about all things oral history. Cliff thought both the article and the chat went well. “I was pleased that the Chronicle reporter addressed a complex subject in considerable depth,” he said. “With the chat we were able to discuss at some length a number of important issues the Belfast Project/Boston College case raised which are of interest to oral historians and archivists.”
The OHA Council (L-R): Cliff Kuhn, Gayle Knight, Amy Starecheski, Jeff Freidman, Anne Valk, Paul Ortiz, Dan Kerr, Stephen Sloan
As I took Cliff around to some possible off-hotel sites for the upcoming conference, and meetings with representatives from the Wisconsin Humanities Council and Wisconsin Historical Society, we chatted about the relationship between the OHA and the Oral History Review. Particularly, we both lauded the work our Editor-in-Chief Kathy Nasstrom has done to in her two-plus years in charge. “Kathy has really raised the bar, and it’s getting noticed,” Cliff enthused. “At a session at the AHA on journal editing, the OHR was singled out for its inclusion of digital content.” Cliff also felt an upcoming addition to the OHR’s editorial team, Stephanie Gilmore, will bring a great deal to the journal. (Gilmore will be featured in a future podcast; yes, this is a blogpost tease!)
Saturday morning, I attended the portion of the meeting regarding Oral History Review. Cliff and I briefed the OHA Council on a few important topics. Specifically, we both noted the great reception we have received in regards to the OHR’s short-form initiative. We joked to Council that the topic (almost) “trended on Twitter.” Overall, I felt what I already knew: All of OHA’s leadership who attended the midwinter meeting respect and appreciate the work we have done. And it’s always nice to be appreciated.
Troy Reeves is the Oral History Review’s Managing Editor (though, thus far, no one has been as impressed with that title as Reeves thinks they should.) He also oversees the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s oral history program, which is housed in the UW-Madison Archives. In his spare time, he tries — quite unsuccessfully — to teach the OHR’s Social Media Coordinator about 1970s and 1980s Americana.
The Oral History Review, published by the Oral History Association, is the U.S. journal of record for the theory and practice of oral history. Its primary mission is to explore the nature and significance of oral history and advance understanding of the field among scholars, educators, practitioners, and the general public. Follow them on Twitter at @oralhistreview, like them on Facebook, add them to your circles on Google Plus, follow them on Tumblr, listen to them on Soundcloud, or follow the latest Oral History Review posts on the OUPblog posts via email or RSS to preview, learn, connect, discover, and study oral history.
Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.
Subscribe to only history articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS.
ooh lovely! I'm a Peynet fan too! I don't have this one but 3 of the other months in red, it would be great to collect the whole set of 12! I love his books too:)
What a sweet plate! Vintage as well? I put your blog on my favorite blog list. I really like you blog. Thanks for your kind reply on my blog. The Brand of the vase is Figgjo Flint Norway and the name "Granada". Greetings, Bjør
I hereby present you with photographic evidence of the great time had in the HarperCollins Children’s booth at ALA:
"How Lamar's Bad Prank Won Him a Bubba-Sized Trophy
Lauren Oliver's upcoming DELIRIUM
Cynthia Hand's UNEARTHLY and hundreds of Inkpop bags
Our fun & fabulous new tween series!
Veronica Roth's debut dystopian novel DELIRIUM
the pageturn Post-Its
Robin, Laura, Stephanie, and Heather - the Harper team minus Patty the Photographer
And that doesn’t even begin to cover it! Books on display, hundreds of galleys in cupboards, posters for upcoming books by Kevin Henkes and Mo Willems…just a taste of all the fabulous loot we brought to the conference.
Saturday at Midwinter was a happy day for Maud Hart Lovelace fangirls like me…HarperPerennial hosted a booksigning, giving away tote bags and copies of Carney and Emily to a crowd of happy conference-goers. Mitali Perkins and I signed our forewords in the gorgeous reissues, and I loved getting to meet so many fellow Betsy Ray devotees, including several lovely women I know from the Maud-L discussion list.
With Maud-L listren Nancy Downing and Kathleen Waldron, a happy meeting!
The lovely Mitali Perkins
Me, HarperPerennial’s Jennifer Hart, and Mitali Perkins
Delightful lunch company. All of us are card-carrying members of the Betsy Tacy Society. (Well, I guess baby Lucy isn’t carrying a card…yet.)
The Whole Library Experience was the theme for the YALSA Midwinter Institute in San Diego. The morning got underway with Paige Battle’s ice-breaker activity. She asked participants to come and select adjectives on strips and then sort ourselves into two groups according to whether we thought the adjective described a teen or a librarian. Actually, a third group formed for those who thought their adjectives could describe either teen or librarian. There was quite a bit of laughter as we talked about the stereotypes both groups have.
Our first speaker was Linda Braun, former President of YALSA, who has just written a white paper on this topic of Whole Library Experiences for YAs. Her suggestions included not forgetting the parents of the teens, working with circulation and reference staff about the needs and interests of YAs. We who work with YAs need to be aware of “those who are not us” and how we can assist them in offering services and materials to teens.
Sara Ryan was the second speaker of the morning and offered a wide array of resources for those working with YAs who want to do some training of others on the staff. She mentioned the 40 developmental assets, the ages and stages of YA and more. We need to document what we DO with teens each and every day to demonstrate, especially to the administration, our value. Teen friendly is synonymous with people friendly, too. She recommended the PAIN IN THE BRAIN online class from YALSA.
Lunch was a short walk into the Gaslamp District. Participants returned for an afternoon full of information.
A panel of folks from the San Diego library systems with Jennifer Lawson as moderator tackled topics about the whole library experience. These panelist suggested YA staff provide reading lists and other suggestions to them on a regular basis. After the panel, Penny Johnson discussed good management and administrative tips with the acronym PLEASE.
P=PROPOSALS AND NOT PROBLEMS
L=LIAISONS
E=EXPERTISE
A=AVOID ARGUMENTS
S=SHARE SUCCESSES
E=EXEMPLARY EXCELLENCE
The day ended with two interactive sessions. Part One provided each team of participants with a case study to “solve.” Part Two asked participants to list out an action plan for implementing the whole library experience in their own institutions when they returned from conference.
I wanted to post this today because Carolyn Mackler is on my mind. Today I had a lovely discussion with a couple librarians in the booth at Midwinter – they were very interested in TANGLED, Carolyn’s realistic YA fiction book with HarperTeen.
We contrasted and compared Carolyn’s books and I told them about TANGLED, which they hadn’t had the chance to read yet. It’s a story told in the various viewpoints of four teenagers stuck in Paradise, a Caribbean resort. Dakota, Jena, Skye, and Owen soon find that their lives intersect in unexpected ways and they’re surprised to find out that they have much more in common than they thought.
Carolyn Mackler recently decided to take on our grueling interrogation because that’s the sort of daring, feisty woman she is. Here is what she told us:
What time is your alarm clock set for?
I wish! My children are my alarm clock. The baby babbles from his crib, so we grab him. Once he’s in our bed, my first-grader comes tumbling in full of 6am energy. And suddenly our bed feels really small. And I need coffee.
Favorite book from childhood?
FOREVER by Judy Blume. Hands down. It was sexy. It was real. It was heartbreaking. I felt like I knew Katherine and Michael. Sometimes I’m still curious how they’re doing.
If you weren’t an author/illustrator, what job would you like to have?
Stand-up comedian. My husbands jokes that I’ve watched Funny People way too many times. I even have the soundtrack on my iPod. Some combination of career envy and a celebrity crush on Adam Sandler.
How many stamps are in your passport?
Four? Five? It’s my new passport. I traveled much more before I had kids. No one tells you that international travel isn’t quite as glamorous when you’re schlepping car seats, a pack-n-play, and jet-lagged angry children. My husband and I are determined to go somewhere next year where we have to cross an ocean. Grandparents, did you hear that?
Favorite word?
Sleep. Bath. Massage. Coffee. Clean clothes. Okay, that’s six words.
ooh lovely! I'm a Peynet fan too! I don't have this one but 3 of the other months in red, it would be great to collect the whole set of 12!
I love his books too:)
oh, that is just too lovely! x
Great!!!
What a sweet plate! Vintage as well?
I put your blog on my favorite blog list. I really like you blog.
Thanks for your kind reply on my blog. The Brand of the vase is Figgjo Flint Norway and the name "Granada".
Greetings,
Bjør