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From Publishers Weekly Nov. 2, 2015 issue:

Whew! Just finished my latest article for the Westside this afternoon, and I feel drained. Maybe it's because I put it off too long and had to suddenly get it all finished in the last two days. But finish it I did, another deadline successfully met. This article, which is a cover story scheduled for June 12th, was an article I suggested. It is about Bob of Bob's Gym, an Evansville business that has turned into an Evansville icon. Since I am at the west side location pretty faithfully, it was really cool to learn how Bob and his parents started the business 18 years ago in a much smaller west side building. Bob and his dad were a lot of fun to talk to, and everyone was very helpful. Since I am at the gym almost every day, I sure hope Bob and everyone there likes it!

The article was finished and submitted early this afternoon, but then the pictures had to be sent, always a lengthy process. But assuming I get no questions from my editor, I'm all done for now!

I have also posted a link to my latest non-Westside article. This one is in BorderLines, the newsletter for Mid-South SCBWI. I was pleased with it and hope everyone will take a look. Maybe now that article-writing is done (for now), I can do a little creative writing over the next couple of weeks...

We’re thrilled to announce that Just One More Book! is currently featured in a generous article in the December 2007 edition of Borderlines — the quarterly electronic newsletter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Midsouth Region.

BorderLines is a free online newsletter providing helpful articles and tips to those interested in the children’s publishing industry.

Thank you to Karen Knox for her very kind words and for introducing friends and colleagues to our show.

Welcome SCBWI members! We hope you’ll return often and we’d love to hear your thoughts on a favourite children’s book. Send your MP3 recorded or type-written review in email to [email protected], or phone it in to our listener feedback line (206-350-6487).

By: Teaching Tips Contributing Editor, Renee Kirchner

It is important for elementary aged children to understand the concept of compare and contrast. This concept can be applied to many areas of the curriculum including math, science, and literature. When a child is asked to compare and contrast two different things, they are supposed to tell how they are alike and different. Comparing shows the similarities between two objects and contrasting shows the differences. Children will use words such as both, like, also, and similar when comparing. Words such as unlike, however, and but might be used when contrasting two objects.

Children’s books, both fiction and nonfiction, can be useful tools for teaching the concept of compare and contrast. Select one book with two different characters or choose two books with similarities and differences in character or plot. Nonfiction books will also work well. For example, you could choose a book on reptiles and compare and contrast two different types
of reptiles.

There are two useful tools that teachers use as prewriting activities when teaching compare and contrast: the Venn diagram and the T-chart. The Venn diagram is made up of two or more overlapping circles depending how many objects you are comparing. Each circle contains different information about the objects and the overlapping portion in the middle contains the
similarities.

For example if I was comparing a rabbit with a wolf, the rabbit circle might have herbivore and the wolf circle would have carnivore. The overlapping portion in the middle might contain the word mammal, since both animals are mammals. Of course your student would put more than one descriptive word in each circle. The more detail they use, the better. The T-chart is organized differently than the Venn diagram. If we use the example of the rabbit and the wolf the chart would look like this:

Characteristic Rabbit Wolf
Diet Grass Meat
Animal group Mammal Mammal

Here are some examples of picture books that would work well for studying the concept of compare and contrast:

One Picture Book with Two Characters

Bubba and Beau: Best Friends by Kathi Appelt

Bubba is a Texas baby and Beau is a Texas puppy and they are best friends. They have adventures together and both of them become very upset when their pink blanket gets washed.

Similarities between Bubba and Beau:

Both of them are keen on chewing, neither one is housetrained, and they both disdain soap.

Differences between Bubba and Beau:

Bubba loves the pinky pinky blankie because it smells like Beau and Beau likes the pinky pinky blankie because it smells like Bubba.

Two Picture Books with a Similar Main Character

Cindy Ellen: A Wild Western Cinderella by Susan Lowell

Chickarella by Mary Jane Auch

Similarities between Cindy Ellen and Chickarella:

Both of them have an evil stepmother or step-chicken, a fairy godmother or fairy fowl mother, and both have a prince or a princely rooster.

Differences between Cindy Ellen and Chickarella:

Cindy Ella can wrangle, rope and gallop. Chickarella starts a high fashion business that grows out of making clothes for the ball.

Children can use the examples above to create a Venn diagram or a T-chart and then write a compare-contrast paper about the different characters.

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Note: Although school is out for summer vacation in most places across the country, parents can still read with their children this summer and use activities like this one to have fund with their children as they help them become better readers.