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The tagline of Hip Hop Speaks to Children describes the book perfectly - A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat. Edited by Nikki Giovanni and illustrated by a team of five illustrators, this treasury is a feast of color and sound.

An audio CD is enclosed that features a range of poets reading their work from Langston Hughes to Queen Latifah. There are so many excellent poems, it is hard to choose a favorite. Often when you read poetry, you wonder if you are reading exactly what the poet intended. One of my favorites, "Books" by Eloise Greenfield is read by the author in the exact way I imagined it would be.

I've got
books on the bunk bed
books on the chair
books on the couch
And every old where
But I want more books
just can't get enough
want more books about
All kinds of stuff, like

Jackie's troubles. Raymond's joys
Rabbits, kangaroos, Girls and Boys
Mountains, valleys, Winter, spring
Camp fires, vampires

Every old thing
I want to
Lie down on my bunk bed!

Lean back in
my chair
Curl up on the
couch
And every old
where
And
read
more
books!

From recognized and honored poets like Gwendolyn Brooks and W.E.B. DuBois to today's musical artists such as Tupac Shakur and Stetsasonic, the range of experience captured by these African American writers is varied, rich, and deeply personal.

The book and CD culminate in Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech which we've heard much of recently during Barack Obama's election. It had been awhile since I'd heard the speech almost in its entirety. It gave me shivers. It was followed by a wonderful performance piece by Nikki Giovanni, Oni Lasana and Val Gray Ward based on the same speech.

This is a book that deserves to be pulled off the shelf again and again. The layers of meaning to these poems will unfold as a child grows older and more sophisticated. The book and CD together make a wonderful resource for home, school or library. It is truly one of the best books I've read this year.

I may not have mentioned it yet (shy clearing of throat) but I received some interest on my current YA paranormal manuscript. Interest in the form of a revision letter. Two, actually.

So I am frantically rewriting and editing away each day, toward my end-of-October deadline. And when I’m not writing, I’m blogging (which seems like an escape from my writing), or reading other kidlit or author blogs. Or making some time to read. (I have to read.) Or typing in my manuscript.

photo by Alesia17 at stock.xchng

Typing in my manuscript? Yes–I admit it–I write all my fiction longhand. There’s something about writing with a pen or pencil onto fresh crisp paper that makes me feel good, and that feels so much more connected to my creativity, to what’s deep inside me, to my soul, than when I type fiction in. Writing longhand just seems to allow the words to flow.

I’ve tried both. I wrote an entire manuscript by typing it directly in to my computer. And it just felt so much more disconnected to me.

And when I edit, I print out my pages to edit, and then–you guessed it–edit by hand. I think I catch so much more working that way than directly on the screen. And then, yep, I type it all back in.

In this age where a large number of writers type their work in, and when computers are such a big part of our lives, I was starting to feel, well…different. Not that that’s a bad thing, but I’ve felt different a lot in my life. So I decided to do a quick search on Google to see if any other writers are like me. In A Writer’s Book of Days, Judy A Reeves says that when you write by hand, you’re more connected to your feelings. She also says that one is not better than the other, which I agree with. It’s just whatever works better for you.

Alex Flinn, Libba Bray, Beverly Cleary, Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, Neal Shusterman, and Eileen Spinelli all write longhand. Doreen Cronin writes both longhand and on her typewriter. So I’m in good company.

My head knows that there’s no ONE right way to write. You have to write the way that feels best for you. But sometimes I forget that.

So, how about you? Do you write long hand? Or do you type your work directly into your computer? Know any other children’s or YA authors who write longhand?