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We continue our discussion with word wizard Rebecca Colby as she travels around the world, celebrating her book, It’s Raining Bats & Frogs! Enter to win the overall giveaway for a $50 USD Amazon voucher (or £30 GBP Amazon voucher) at the end of the tour. You’ll find details about the tour here!
And who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt! Follow Rebecca’s tour to find out which blogs contain the clues and then collect all the answers. There are eight answers to find and submit in total.
So what should you be looking for?Witch names, of course! Each post will mention a fictitious witch somewhere in the discussion. To be in with a chance of winning, leave a comment on the blog where you found the name (but please DON’T reveal the name) , including Teacher Authors! At the end of the tour, send Rebecca (at website address here) a list of all eight names via her website contact page, and enter the Rafflecopter entry form on her page. You have until 11.59pm EST on 5 September to enter the scavenger hunt giveaway!
Today, Rebecca talks about her process how a writer (and a teacher) can create a teacher’s guide that teachers can use! Thank you, Rebecca!
When I began teaching, I was gobsmacked to learn how much the profession had changed from when I attended school. Gone were the handy, school-supplied textbooks that provided teachers with lesson plans and worksheets. Instead, I found myself spending all of my free time creating my own lesson plans and worksheets, or researching teacher websites for appropriate resources. My full-time teaching job quickly became two full-time jobs.
After publishing my first book, I was determined to make my book as accessible and as desirable as possible to teachers. Teachers are the busiest people I know! If I wanted teachers to use my book in the classroom, I knew I needed to both create the resources AND bring them to the teachers. By the way, here’s a scavenger hunt answer for you--today’s witch name is Ethel.
Pinpoint your book’s USP
One of the first things you need to do is pinpoint what your book’s unique selling point (USP) is in respect of teachers using it in the classroom. How does it fit in with what is taught?
My first book was about a wee lassie who swallows all manner of Scottish birds and animals. The USP was obvious: I placed my primary focus for the activity guide on Scottish wildlife and their habitats. However, with my second book, which is about a witch parade, the USP wasn’t as clear. I focused on several aspects of the book—after all, witches aren’t a typical classroom topic. So while the main English activity asked children to create their own rhyming spells, math found them comparing and ordering the size of frogs, science had them playing a game of bat and moth to learn about echolocation, and art saw them creating musical rainsticks.
Research relevant curriculums
Find out what is being taught at what grade level. The best way to do that is to research both The Common Core Standards and state curriculums. While researching your own state’s curriculum is a good place to start, keep in mind that unless your book releases with a regional publisher, then you also need to look at other states’ curriculums—particularly curriculums for the larger (and often bellweather) states. Two good examples are California and Texas.
Make teachers happy
Just producing an activity guide is sure to make a teacher happy, but if you want to go that extra mile, think about two things: 1) How can I make the activities cross-curricular? and 2) How can I extend children’s learning?
While my guide is cross-curricular and covers most subjects taught in school, some of the individual activities are also cross-curricular. For example, the art activity involves making a witch puppet, which can later be used in English to act out and retell the book. In this way, one activity allows for learning in two areas of the curriculum.
Teachers are also always looking for ways to extend children’s learning. In one of my science activities, children are asked to measure rainfall over the course of a week. This can be done simply by marking water levels on the side of the rain collection container with colored felt-tip pens and comparing levels. But if a teacher wishes to extend children’s learning and introduce standard units of measure (or the teacher wants a differentiated activity for more able students), he or she could ask the children to measure the rainfall in inches or centimeters with a ruler.
Where to share
Now that you have your guide, what do you do with it? I always make mine available as a download from my website. But teachers are incredibly busy, remember? Bring the guide to them. Post it on websites like Teachers Pay Teachers and Share My Lesson. Forward it to your publisher. They often hold a database full of educational contacts. Bring hard copies of the guide to library, festival, and bookstore event. And if you have some spare time, you could email teachers and let them know about your guide. After all, you’re probably going to email a few teachers anyway to see if they’d like to set up author visits with you. Mention the guide and where to find the download in the email.
Speaking of which, if you’re interested in downloading the free teacher’s activity guide to It’s Raining Bats & Frogs, you can find it here.
I want to say thank Teaching Authors for hosting me again today, and to all of you for reading this post! If you have any tips of your own, or if you decide to produce a guide for your book, I’d love to hear about it!
Illustration by Steven Henry
Thank you for stopping by, Rebecca!
Bobbi Miller
0 Comments on It's Raining Bats and Frogs!! as of 8/24/2015 8:52:00 AM
My Monday’s post introduced readers to Dr. Steven L. Layne, my former Newberry Library Picture Book Workshop student and exceptional TeachingAuthor, as well as his newest professional book, IN DEFENSE OF READ-ALOUD.(Stenhouse).
Jim Trelease, author of THE READ-ALOUD HANDBOOK, properly praised this essential book for teachers and librarians in his review: "Amidst the clanging noise of today's technology, Steven Layne offers here a clear clarion call on behalf of reading to children. It is insightful, reasoned, entertaining (rare in the field), and carefully researched for those who might doubt the urgent need for something that doesn't need a Wi-Fi hot spot. It should be on every teacher's must-read list."
Be sure to enter our Book Giveaway of an autographed copy of IN DEFENSE OF READ-ALOUD.Instructions follow after the Wednesday Writing Workout.The deadline to enter is April 6.
Were I entering our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway, I’d share my #1 read-aloud title - Norton Juster’s THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH (Random House).
As I wrote in my post celebrating Leonard Marcus’ 50th anniversary annotated edition of THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH, reading aloud this beloved classic marked the first day of school for every fifth grade class I taught. Once grown and married, many of my students wrote me to share how they in turn shared Milo’s tale with their children.
So what about you? What is your favorite read-aloud title?
Once again, I thank Steven – this time for allowing me to share his Read-aloud Tips and Recommendations - as listed in IN DEFENSE OF READ-ALOUD, in today’s Wednesday Writing Workout.
Enjoy!
Esther Hershenhorn
. . . . . . . . . .
Wednesday Writing Workout:
Dr. Steven L. Layne’s Read-aloud Tips and Recommendations
As Dr. Layne declares in his newest book, when it comes to read-aloud, practice makes perfect!
Here are a few of his practical read-aloud guidelines as shared in his March 1-released IN DEFENSE OF READ-ALOUD (Stenhouse).
Become familiar with the book before reading it.
Launch the book successfully.
·Provide a purpose for listening.
·Work out an advantageous seating arrangement.
·Plan your stopping point. “Every stopping point is a secret reading-skill-reinforcement lesson just waiting to happen.”
·Teach reading skills such as visualization, inferring, and sequencing.
·Plan strategically for the end of the read-aloud.
·Work out a positive solution for those students who get the book and read ahead.
·Choose and balance the books and genres we read-aloud.
Just in case you’re looking for a good book to read aloud, read through his list of “The Twelve Books Steven Loves to Read Aloud.”
·COUNTERFEIT SON by Elaine Alphin (“My go-to- read-aloud for high school kids who need to be enticed back into the experience of being read to by an adult.”)
·Sue Stauffacher’S DONUTHEAD(“It has proven itself to me time and again when it comes to delighting students in the intermediate grades.”)
·Bill Grossman’s MY LITTLE SISTER ATE ONE HARE. (“How can you not fall in love with a picture book about a girl who eats all manner of disgusting things and then throws up – when it’s written by a guy whose last name is Grossman?”
·Jerry Spinelli’s STARGIRL. (“Of all the books I have read aloud to students in my career, it is Jerry Spinelli’s STARGIRL that takes center stage.”
Happy reading aloud!
And don’t forget to enter our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway! The deadline is midnight, April 6.
0 Comments on WWW: Dr. Steven L. Layne's Read-aloud Tips and Recommendations as of 3/25/2015 9:09:00 AM
I've enjoyed reading my fellow TeachingAuthor' posts on plotting and planning. That series ended with Esther's post on Monday. Today, I'm presenting a new topic: a guest TeachingAuthor interview and book giveaway! But first, I want to share some updates regarding our blog. The next few months will be a busy time for me due to a variety of personal and professional commitments. (If you live in the Chicago area and you're looking for a writing class, I hope you'll check out my class offerings, including one tomorrow on "Great Beginnings.") So, while I'll continue to work behind the scenes here, I'll be taking a blogging break. And I'm THRILLED to announce that the talented Carla Killough McClafferty will be blogging in my place. If you don't know Carla, do read her bio info on our About Us page. I hope you'll give her a hearty welcome when she makes her debut here three weeks from today.
Now, for today's guest TeachingAuthor interview, let me re-introduce you to Sherry Shahan, author of picture books, easy readers, and novels for middle grade and young adults. You may recall that Sherry contributed a terrific Wednesday Writing Workout back in July. I began that post by saying:
>>Sherry and I first met virtually, when she joined the New Year/New Novel (NYNN) Yahoo group I started back in 2009. I love the photo she sent for today's post--it personifies her willingness to do the tough research sometimes required for the stories she writes. As she says on her website, she has:
"ridden on horseback into Africa’s Maasailand, hiked through a leech-infested rain forest in Australia, shivered inside a dogsled for the first part of the famed 1,049 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska, rode-the-foam on a long-board in Hawaii, and spun around dance floors in Havana, Cuba."
<<
Sherry's most recent young-adult novel, Skin and Bones (A. Whitman) required a different kind of research, as she shares in her interview below. According to Kirkus Reviews, she did her work well::
"Shahan tackles eating disorders in a fast-paced, contemporary coming-of-age novel. . . A quick read with a worthy message: We are all recovering from something, and the right companions can help you heal. The wrong ones can kill you."
The paperback edition of Skin and Bones will be released in March. Meanwhile, Sherry is generously contributing an autographed copy for a TeachingAuthors' book giveaway. To enter, see the instructions at the end of this post. First, though, be sure to read the following interview:
Sherry, how did you become a TeachingAuthor?
In the 1980s I lived in a small town and didn’t know anyone who was a writer. I hadn’t even heard of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). I heard about a local Writers Conference and signed up. At the end of the workshop focusing on children’s books, I asked the instructor if she’d critique my middle-grade novel manuscript. She agreed. Soon thereafter she told me she’d shared it with her editor (a school book fair publisher). They bought that novel and I worked with them on five more. Fast forward: After graduating from Vermont College of Fine Arts (MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, 2007) I was brimming with enthusiasm about writing. My friends soon tired of discussions of emotional subtext, objective correlatives, polyphonic elements, etc. When I heard that UCLA was seeking teachers for online writing courses I sent the department chair my resumé. I’ve been teaching for them ever since.
What's a common problem that your students have and how do you address it?
It’s simply the overuse of passive verbs—and that’s across the board, no matter what the person’s writing experience. As an exercise, I post a short paragraph that’s riddled with ‘was,’ ‘seems to be,” ‘must have been,’ ‘would,’ ‘had,’ etc. I then ask them to reconstruct the paragraph using active verbs. Happily, writings submitted after the exercise shine with lively, active language.
Back in July you shared a terrific Wednesday Writing Workout with our readers and talked a bit about Skin and Bones. You mentioned then that the novel started out as a short story. What inspired that original story and how did you expand it to a novel?
I had a crazy idea about a love story from the perspective of a teen guy with anorexia, which I set in an Eating Disorders Unit of a hospital. The short story sold right away to a major literary journal. Later, a London publisher included it in their YA anthology, and after that it appeared in their Best of collection. So far the 1,400-word version of Skin and Bones has appeared eight times worldwide.
My agent kept encouraging me to expand the story into a novel. But I wasn’t ready to spend a year (or more) with young people in the throes of a life-threatening illness. I weighed the pros and cons.
Pros: * The short story would serve as an outline since the basic story arc was in place. •Each character already had a distinctive voice. •The hospital setting was firmly fixed in my mind. •The subject matter had proven itself to be of interest to readers. •Proven ground is attractive to editors and publishers, as long as the topic is approached in a fresh way.
Cons: * The story would require an additional 60,000 words. •I would have to create additional characters. •Every character would require a convincing backstory. •I would need compelling subplots. •Every scene would require richer subtext.
Well, the "Pros" obviously won out.J We don’t often hear or read of boys having anorexia. How did you go about researching this story? What kind of response has it received from readers and teachers?
My primary research was memoirs about teens with addictions. There were striking similarities between the mindset of say, someone with anorexia or bulimia, and a young person addicted to drugs. Shame and guilt effected both addictions. I wasn’t prepared for the skillful manner in which teens—males and females—manipulated friends, family, and the environment in order to keep their obsession secret.
I’ve been visiting high schools and libraries talking about Skin and Bones and the dangers of eating disorders. Many people have known a male with anorexia. According to N.A.M.E.D. (National Association of Males with Eating Disorders) approximately ten million males in the U.S. suffer with this disease. Sadly, there are too many heart-breaking examples on the Internet.
Do you have any suggestions for teachers on how they might use one of your books in the classroom?
My Alaskan-based adventure novel Ice Island (Random House/Yearling) is used as part of the “IDITA-Read” program, a fun reading race from Anchorage to Nome.
Goal: Read *1,049 minutes or pages appropriate to student’s reading level.
Procedure: 1. Explain to the students that they will compete in their own Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Their race will be a reading race. 2. Each student draws a musher from entries on the Iditarod website (which includes trail maps, mushers’ diaries, etc.). Students try to read faster (pages or minutes) than the distance their musher travels on the trail. 3. Teachers track each student’s progress on a large map of Alaska by daily visits to the Iditarod website. 4. Students select their books before the “vet check.” (Dogs are checked before the race to make sure they’re healthy.) Teachers decide if students’ books are “healthy” (grade/ability level). 5. As students read their way to each checkpoint, they are responsible for logging in their time and having it checked by a race marshal (teacher or librarian). 6. Provide prizes or special recognition for those who compete in the reading race.
Materials: 1. Large map of Alaska with Iditarod Trail & checkpoints clearly marked. 2. Legend listing distances between checkpoints. 3. Name pins/tags to mark students’ reading progress on the trail. 4. Sleds or dogs (felt or construction paper) to mark progress of mushers. 5. Iditarod “Reading Log” for each student. 6. Lots of books!
Objectives: 1. Encourage recreational reading. 2. Develop an interest in history and geography of Alaska. 3. Encourage completion of a project.
Wow, what a fun activity! I hope some of our blog followers who are teachers will give it a try and report back to us. Finally, Sherry, what are you working on now?
I’ve just finished a very rough draft of a YA novel that explores the emotional and psychological trauma of abduction. My protagonist is a sixteen year-old girl who’s kidnapped on her way to meet her boyfriend. The kidnapper isn’t someone the readers will suspect.
Sounds like a real thriller, Sherry. Good luck researching that one! And thanks again for today's interview. Readers, here's your opportunity to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Skin and Bones (A. Whitman). Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options specified. If you choose the "comment" option, share a comment to TODAY'S blog post answering this question:
What will you do with the book should you win: save it for yourself or give it away?
If your name isn't part of your comment "identity," please include it in your comment for verification purposes. Comments may also be submitted via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.
If the widget doesn't appear for some reason (or you're an email subscriber), use the link below to take you to the entry form.
The giveaway ends on Feb. 6. After you've entered, don't forget to check today's Poetry Friday roundup over at A Teaching Life. Good luck and happy writing! Carmela
. The post below is refreshed and reprised from September 2013...the book giveaway of Barbara's picture book (about a slice of Golda Meir's childhood--and what an amazing leader she was even then) is NEW and ends September 26, 2014. Howdy, Campers!
It's not Saint Patrick's Day, but we're lucky, lucky, lucky to open our doors and welcome Guest TeachingAuthorBarbara Krasner, who I interviewed last Friday, and who offers us her NEW picture book, Goldie Takes a Stand! A Tale of Young Golda Meir, to give away and a dynamite Wednesday Writing Workout for the New Year.
Feeling lucky? Enter our latest book giveaway! Details on this post.
Here's Barbara...
...and here'sthe Writing Workout she's cooked up for us:
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, comes early this year and I’m glad. It gives me the opportunity to reflect on the past year and think about the coming year even before the leaves fall. I’m giving you a Rosh Hashanah challenge in three parts. Part One: Rosh Hashanah, literally translated as head of the year, is a perfect time to think about the beginning of your manuscript. How many times do we hear that if we can’t grab the agent/editor/reader within just a few seconds, he or she will just move on to something else? Ask yourself the following questions: • Do you have a compelling title? • Does your first line grab the reader? (My all-time favorites are from M.T. Anderson, “The woods were silent except for the screaming,” and from Kate DiCamillo, “My name is Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog.”) • Have you presented the main character on the first page? • Have you presented the problem within the first page, the first chapter? These questions apply to fiction and nonfiction alike. What are YOUR first lines?
My question to you: What writing sins will you cast off this year?
When I think about this for myself, I think about: • I will cast off my lack of organization – I will organize all those papers into folders with easy-to-read tabs and file the folders • I will cast off watching reality TV (TCM movies only) – I need more time to write • I will cast off working on a gazillion projects at once – I will focus on one genre at a time, and right now, that’s poetry, and okay, picture books • I will cast off reading several books at once – I commit to reading a book fully before moving on to another. You get the idea. What will you cast off?
Part Three: Here’s a prompt you can write to: Recall a Rosh Hashanah (or New Year) scene from your childhood and write about it. Who was there? Where were you? What action and dialogue took place?
Thank you so much for your three-part Rosh Hashanah writing challenge, Barbara, and for mentioning my book (blush)... shana tovah!
posted by April Halprin Wayland
0 Comments on Book Giveaway & Writing Workout for Rosh Hashanah--What Writing Sins Will YOU Cast Away? as of 9/17/2014 6:44:00 AM
Guest Teaching Author Sandy Brehl visited with us on Friday to share some background about her middle grade novel Odin's Promise. (We're giving away an autographed copy--see Friday's post for details!) Sandy also provided today's Wednesday Writing Workout. Thank you so much for joining us, Sandy! Would you share a favorite writing exercise for our readers?
Since Odin’s Promise released, I’ve heard two comments most often. One reflects appreciation of the fact that characters, particularly the German soldiers, are not treated as caricatures or stereotypes. This wasn’t a conscious decision or my original intent, but my research made it clear that there were wide and varied motivations and reactions among the Norwegians and the occupiers. Surface behaviors were not necessarily indicators of genuine feelings. While the overt story may have been “good Guys VS. Bad Guys” the SUBTEXT reveals more complex dynamics at work.
I’ll suggest a favorite exercise that helps in reading AND writing with an increased awareness of SUBTEXT. I first read about SUBTEXT STRATEGY exercises in an article and later in a book created by developer Jean Anne Clyde and co-authors Barber, Hogue, and Wasz: BREAKTHROUGH TO MEANING: Helping Your Kids Become Better Readers, Writers, and Thinkers.
Here’s one strategy I use: Think of a crime drama or other dramatic series that is familiar to all. A full page print advertisement works well, too. Suggest a scene with simple dialogue (better yet, play a short YouTube clip like this one which does some of the work for you!)
Then quickly survey: “What was _________ really thinking when s/he said that?” “How could you tell? (Body language? Earlier actions? Facial expression? Previous experience with the character?)
Since I advocate the use of picture books for all ages as compact, concise and compelling tools for sophisticated lessons, here’s one of my favorite activities: Share Chris Raschka’s picture book Yo! Yes? by reading aloud or sharing the YouTube video.
Working through the brief text page by page, discuss what each character is REALLY saying (and thinking) as he speaks; then explore the other’s reaction.
It’s likely not all will “read” the subtext identically. Some may “read” anxiety, others hostility, still others shyness or confusion, depending on their preconceptions. Keep in mind the words on the page are identical for all.
Once the story has been thoroughly explored, challenge writers to compose a story passage from a full double-page spread (or the whole story, if there’s time) with the dialogue restricted to the original text. Narration alone must do the important work of the illustrations. The finished piece should suggest the subtext but still allow for some interpretation among different readers. This might be conveyed by body postures, gestures, expressions, actions, tone of voice, etc.
If working in a group of three, two can reenact a portion of the story, replaying sections to allow full discussion. A recorder helps the team generate the best way to describe, phrase, and imply the emotions and attitudes intended without stating them outright. The finished text is then read aloud and enacted by the players, comparing to the original impact of the illustrated pages.
This exercise can be adapted to reveal underlayers of character personalities before writing: If you know your story will have two teen boys, a mother, a younger sister, and a crabby old neighbor, imagine their responses to a single page color advertisement--perhaps a lingerie ad. Develop an internal script for each character’s thoughts when viewing the same ad. Is the crabby old neighbor a lecherous man or does he think about his wife deteriorating with Alzheimer's and remember how she looked on her wedding night? Does the mother worry about her son being hounded by aggressive young girls, or worry that he doesn’t even seem interested in girls, but his friend is drooling? Does the young girl have body image issues suggesting early anorexia, or does she disdain such images because she’s 100% tomboy?
Your interpretation of your characters’ responses might reshape your own story and its development.
As for that other frequent comment? Readers ask when they can expect the sequel so they can find out what happens next to Mari and her family. Odin’s Promise was written as a stand-alone title, but apparently there is enough subtext to generate emotional investment in my characters, which is the best compliment I could wish for. Research is well underway, with fingers crossed that this won’t be a thirty-year process.
Thank you again, Sandy! Readers, be sure to enter the book giveaway! The deadline is August 23.
JoAnn Early Macken
0 Comments on Wednesday Writing Workout with Guest Teaching Author Sandy Brehl! as of 1/1/1900
I first met Sandy Brehl as the super-efficient contact person for one of the best-planned school visits I've ever experienced. Later, I had opportunities to meet Sandy again through a number of SCBWI-Wisconsin events, also efficiently organized. When I was Regional Advisor, I knew that anything I left in her capable hands could be crossed off my list.
I'm happy to welcome Sandy today as a Guest Teaching Author. Look below for details about the giveaway of her new middle grade novel, Odin’s Promise.
Sandy Brehl retired after forty years of public school teaching in Milwaukee-area schools. Since then, she’s been an active member of SCBWI, devoting most of her time to writing and reading. Sandy enjoys gardening, art, and travel (to Norway, of course). Visit her website to learn more about Odin’s Promise and follow her blog. She also posts reviews and commentary about picture books at Unpacking the POWER of Picture Books. You can follow her on Twitter: @SandyBrehl and @PBWorkshop.
How did you become a Teaching Author? Teaching came first. I began teaching right out of college and never stopped. For four decades I worked in elementary schools at many grade levels, leading writers throughout those years. The use of mentor text (before it was called that) and the “links to life” approach I used in leading kids to write more successfully, effectively, and with greater engagement meant I was always writing with and for students. This included writing across content areas.
I was always a competent writer, and I wrote often, but I only shared my writing with students and family. It wasn’t until an odd holiday circumstance and my own ignorance of the publishing industry that I gave any thought to submitting my work. I wrote a blog post about this uninformed and inauspicious start to becoming an author.
I had some encouraging successes, with poetry appearing in Spider Magazine and articles published in professional journals. I eventually joined SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). With the help of workshops, conferences, and critiques, my writing efforts more consistently approached publishable quality.
Since retiring from full time teaching, I conduct workshops for educators, sharing ways to use the highest quality children’s literature to improve reading and writing instruction.
Odin’s Promise is compelling historical fiction for middle-grade readers. How did you balance the fiction and nonfiction aspects of your story? I love reading historical fiction, and now writing it, too. Fact and fiction are like the opposite sides of a strip of paper, but they can be skillfully connected, like a mobius strip, making it hard to distinguish where each begins and ends. The story should be so compelling that readers aren’t distracted by the fact/fiction question – until the story ends. That’s when they start asking questions (and pursuing answers) about how much of the story is real.
A secondary plot in this book was inspired by actual events I heard about while visiting in Norway many years ago, told to me by the people who lived them. From the moment I heard their story, I was certain it should be in a book. I knew even then that it would be fictionalized, but wanted to tell it as authentically as possible. It turns out there was a very stubborn part of my brain that was unwilling to move more than a smidgeon away from the actual events and characters.
This story has a history nearly as long as my writing life does. It’s the cumulative result of years and years of continuing research and revisions guided by increasingly knowledgeable sources on a story that wouldn’t let me go. The more research I did, the more fictionalized but credible my story became.
Eventually a particular piece of research opened my mind to an entirely new approach. By then the factual content was as real to me as the characters who emerged.
How can teachers use your book in the classroom? In a guest post for Alyson Beecher’s blog, Kid Lit Frenzy, I used the mobius strip comparison and suggested the benefits of historical fiction as a tool for launching research to answer personal questions. Typically research is used in a linear approach: start with a topic or other prompt, do research, organize results, then produce expository writing or answer factual questions.
Historical fiction often provides an author’s note addressing the fact/fiction elements. Many books, including mine, provide a list of resources for further investigation and related titles. Websites and digital resources allow students to examine maps, read and create timelines, and access guided questions.
I recommend that teachers introduce historical fiction as a genre and suggest using picture books for a model lesson. The interweaving of fact and fiction, which is the nature of this genre, can be examined in these shorter examples. Encourage readers to use sticky notes or notebooks to actively raise their questions while reading. After the book is complete, readers can pursue and compare their questions. They might offer and justify personal opinions as to the fact/fiction status of the content marked. Back matter and other resources can then be used to seek and share reliable answers to those questions.
Once students develop understanding of the interplay of fact and fiction in this genre, teachers might read aloud the timeless Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, to develop background knowledge. Then Odin’s Promise can be offered to literature study groups along with other titles about Norway’s occupation: Shadow on the Mountain, by Margi Preuss, Snow Treasure, by Marie McSwigan, and The Klipfish Code, by Mary Casanova.
Could you describe your research process?
My research started pre-internet. That meant pursuing hard-to-find sources through the library, then noting the references used to create them. Those served as launching points for further searches. Of course, my notes were all hand-written, the books were often out-of-print (making them expensive or unavailable), and my dedicated research and writing times were limited to summers.
Once I began using online sources to expand my searches, technology made it possible to store and revisit my notes and writing attempts across all those years.
Each time I made a new run at the story or received another critique, I’d dive into further research. Along the way it became clear (to everyone but me) that my ideal audience would be middle-grade readers. I just couldn’t loosen my mental grip on the original inspirational story, which centered on older characters. Only when research led me to a scholarly work that incorporated journal entries, some written by younger people, was I able to see a middle-grade story.
As I read those passages, the fictional voice of Mari, my main character, helped me release my older approach. She shared her thoughts and views of the occupation. As she led me through her own concerns, fears, courage, love, and loyalty, she introduced me to her family and community. She was even generous enough to make space for portions of my original story in her life.
Could you share a story about a funny, moving, or interesting writing or speaking experience? The most surprising thing to me is that this story includes a dog. I am an animal lover, and I even worked for some years in wildlife rehabilitation. I avoid reading realistic stories about animals, particularly dogs, because I may find myself deeply invested in a story but unwilling to finish reading for fear of injury to the animal. I might not even pick up and read this book if someone else had written it.
Earlier versions didn’t have a dog. I realized some potential readers might feel the same as I do about stories with animals. Mari gave me no choice. She needed Odin in her life, and the events that unfold were essential to her own growth and change.
Another surprising aspect to this book is that it was a “work-in-progress” for more than three decades. Once Mari’s voice came to me the story went from draft and revision to contract, further revision, and release in only two years.
Book Giveaway Enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Odin's Promise! The book giveaway ends on August 23.
Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options specified. If you choose the "comment" option, share a comment to today's blog post about your experience with writing or teaching historical fiction. And please include your name in your comment, if it's not obvious from your comment "identity." (If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.)
Today I'm thrilled to share a guest TeachingAuthor interview with the prolific and talented Debbie Dadey. We're honored to help Debbie celebrate the release of her latest chapter book, Treasure in Trident City(Aladdin), book eight in the Mermaid Tales series for ages 6-9. Here's a little about the story:
Pearl can't believe it! There is a pirate's treasure near Trident City. If she can find it, she'll be the richest, most famous mermaid ever. Tales of pirate ghosts don't scare Pearl off, but something much bigger just might.
See the end of this post for details on how to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of this fun title! I also share the name of the winner of our last giveaway.
I'm guessing most of our TeachingAuthors' readers are familiar with Debbie's work. She is the award-winning author/co-author of 158 books for children! She is perhaps most known for the best-selling Adventures of the Bailey School Kidsseries (Scholastic) , which she wrote with Marcia Thornton Jones. Debbie and Marcia also co-wrote a writing book for adults, Story Sparkers : A Creativity Guide for Children's Writers (Writer's Digest). A former elementary school teacher and school librarian, Debbie enjoys working with writers of all ages through school visits and writing conferences. She currently divides her time between Bucks County, PA and Sevierville, TN. She has three children, two dogs, and one very smart husband. You can learn more about Debbie through her website and follow her via Twitter and Facebook.
I first connected with Debbie Dadey years ago, when a member of my critique group invited her to join
us. My son was in second grade at the time, and a HUGE fan of the Bailey School Kids. When I told him that Debbie had joined our group, he could hardly believe it. He said, "Wow, Mom, now you're going to be famous!" Well, knowing Debbie didn't make me "famous," but having her in our group definitely made me a "tighter" writer. Our group called Debbie "the slasher" because she was so great at helping us cut extraneous material. We were all disappointed when she moved away. All these years later, I'm happy to be able to still call her my friend.
And now, for the interview:
Debbie, would you tell our readers how you became a TeachingAuthor?
When I was an elementary school teacher, I taught writing to my students. When I was a PK-12th grade librarian, I taught writing to my students. As an author, it was only natural to continue teaching writing through continuing education classes at universities, school visits, and writing conferences. My website has a writing section that I hope is helpful to writers of all ages.
Can you tell us a bit about your Mermaid Tales series and how you came to write it? What was the inspiration behind the newest book in the series, Treasure in Trident City? Are there more Mermaid Tales books in the works?
Yes, there are more Mermaid Tales books in the works. Treasure in Trident City (think sunken pirate ship, pirate ghosts, and treasure!) is #8 and I have written 12 so far. It is a series about a school at the bottom of the ocean. The merboys and mermaids have normal school adventures, but also get the opportunity to have exciting interactions with ocean animals. In Treasure in Trident City, Pearl becomes friends with a giant octopus! I was lucky enough that Simon and Schuster approached me about writing it.
I’m intrigued that Simon and Schuster approached you. Did they provide the general premise for the series and ask you to come up with the stories? Did they dictate number of books, plot ideas, etc.? Did you already have other series with them?
They suggested a series about mermaids and let me run with it, but first they wanted me to create a world for them to live in, so I created a Travel Guide to Trident City which outlined the world. Of course, the one I gave to my editor had character sketches, a map (which the artist redrew for the books), and ideas for books. They did not say how many books they wanted to start with, but I thought four was a great number (since I had four main character) to try and they went for it. This was the first work I've done for Simon and Schuster. I thought it was interesting that they contacted me through my website and I was glad that I had a way on there for them to contact me! It doesn't have my email listed, but it comes directly to my email.
Your website highlights you as an author for “reluctant readers.” What is it about your books that appeals to reluctant readers? Do you have any tips for other writers who want to reach this audience?
I hope my books are full of action, which I think draws in reluctant readers. I think books for any young reader needs to be kid-oriented and avoid overdosing on description.
There is nothing a parent or teacher can to do encourage reading more than modeling that behavior. Reading aloud to them and turning off the TV to read when your child can see speaks volumes!
You’re such a prolific author. Would you share a little about your writing schedule/routine? Do you set writing quotas/goals? Do you have any tricks for generating story/character ideas?
I write every day, except Sunday. I begin my day by updating my website, Facebook fan page, and answering email. Then I dive into writing and strive for 3-4 pages per day and most of that is done in the morning. My website, debbiedadey.com, has a writing section that has ‘worksheets’ that I use to help me learn about my character and my stories. I think they are helpful. My friend Marcia Jones and I created them for a book about writing called Story Sparkers, which we are currently turning into an eBook.
You do so many school and library visits. Can you share a funny (or interesting) story about one?
I’ll never forget the little boy who was crying in the hallway when I visited his school. Why was he crying? It was because he had thought the characters in the Bailey School Kids books (my first series with Marcia Jones) were visiting. When he found out it was just me, he was devastated. To him, the characters were real and he really wanted to meet them!
Well, I can't think of a better compliment to your writing than that, Debbie! Thank you so much for taking time out from your busy schedule to visit with us.
I hope all the teachers in our audience will visit the Teacher's Page of Debbie's website for book-related activities and other resources. And I hope all our readers check back here on Wednesday, when Debbie shares a favorite writing exercise for our Wednesday Writing Workout.
Now it's time for you to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Treasure in Trident City(Aladdin). Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options specified. If you choose the "comment" option, share a comment to TODAY'S blog post telling us what you'll do with the book should you win: save it for yourself or give it away? And please include your name in your comment, if it's not obvious from your comment "identity." (If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com. )
The giveaway ends on May 30. And congratulations to our most recent winner, Elaine Kaplan, who follows us via email. Thanks for being a TeachingAuthors subscriber, Elaine! Good luck and happy writing! Carmela
It's not Saint Patrick's Day, but we're lucky, lucky, lucky to open our doors and welcome Guest TeachingAuthorBarbara Krasner, who offers us a dynamite Wednesday Writing Workout for the New Year.
As long as we're feeling lucky, enter our latest book giveaway! Details at the end...
You see what I mean when I say we're lucky to have her come by today? WOWZA!
And now, here's Barbara with the Writing Workout she's cooked up for us!
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, comes early this year and I’m glad. It gives me the opportunity to reflect on the past year and think about the coming year even before the leaves fall. I’m giving you a Rosh Hashanah challenge in three parts. Part One: Rosh Hashanah, literally translated as head of the year, is a perfect time to think about the beginning of your manuscript. How many times do we hear that if we can’t grab the agent/editor/reader within just a few seconds, he or she will just move on to something else? Ask yourself the following questions: • Do you have a compelling title? • Does your first line grab the reader? (My all-time favorites are from M.T. Anderson, “The woods were silent except for the screaming,” and from Kate DiCamillo, “My name is Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog.”) • Have you presented the main character on the first page? • Have you presented the problem within the first page, the first chapter? These questions apply to fiction and nonfiction alike. What are your first lines?
Part Two: The Rosh Hashanah holiday includes a practice called Tashlich, casting off our sins. The practice is exemplified in April Halprin Wayland’s New Year at the Pier (Dial, 2009) and the mother-daughter team of Susan Schnur and Anna Schnur-Fishman’s Tashlich at Turtle Rock (Kar-Ben, 2010). My question to you: What writing sins will you cast off this year? When I think about this for myself, I think about: • I will cast off my lack of organization – I will organize all those papers into folders with easy-to-read tabs and file the folders • I will cast off watching reality TV (TCM movies only) – I need more time to write • I will cast off working on a gazillion projects at once – I will focus on one genre at a time, and right now, that’s poetry, and okay, picture books • I will cast off reading several books at once – I commit to reading a book fully before moving on to another. You get the idea. What will you cast off?
Part Three: Here’s a prompt you can write to: Recall a Rosh Hashanah (or New Year) scene from your childhood and write about it. Who was there? Where were you? What action and dialogue took place?
Thank you so much for your three-part Rosh Hashanah writing challenge, Barbara, and shana tovah!
3 Comments on Happy New Year! Guest Teaching Author Barbara Krasner offers a Wednesday Writing Workout (actually THREE workouts)!, last added: 9/13/2013
Today's Wednesday Writing Workout is from our guest TeachingAuthor, Melanie Crowder. If you haven't read my interview with Melanie, please go do so now, and enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of her debut novel, Parched(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). The details are all in last Friday's blog post.
Okay, now that you're back, here's a simple, yet powerful, Writing Workout from Melanie.
Find an audio clip that relates to your story. Maybe it’s the sound of a train, or crickets, or rain falling on a sidewalk (YouTube is a good resource for this). Play the clip for about one minute before you begin writing. What rhythms do you hear? What metaphors can you pull out of the sound? What kind of atmosphere does the sound create? Wistful? Frustrating? Intense?
… and GO! Play the clip on repeat for 5 minutes while you write.
* * *
Thanks, Melanie. If any of you try her workout, please let us know how it works for you.
Happy writing!
Carmela
3 Comments on Wednesday Writing Workout, last added: 6/27/2013
Today we're taking a break from our series of posts featuring our favorite online resources to bring you a guest TeachingAuthor interview with debut novelist Melanie Crowder. At the end of the interview, you'll be able to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Melanie's recently released middle-grade novel, Parched (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). A Junior Library Guild selection, Parched is a haunting, lyrical story told from three perspectives. Here's a little about it:
Sarel has just witnessed the death of her parents. But she is not completely alone on the drought-ridden land; Nandi is the leader of a pack of dogs who looks out for her pups and for skinny Sarel-girl. Nandi knows they are all in trouble, and she knows, too, that a boy is coming—an escaped prisoner with the water song inside him.
The Wall Street Journal called Parched, "an absorbing and strangely beautiful story of valor and survival that is all the more impressive for its restraint." And Booklist said, "The direct powerful prose in this first novel dramatizes the exciting contemporary survival story. . . . Fans of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet (1987) will want this."
Pretty impressive for a debut novel! If you don't know Melanie, allow me to introduce her: Melanie Crowder graduated in 2011 with an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Colorado, where she teaches English Language Acquisition at her local elementary school. When she's not writing, Melanie is most likely found outdoors—in her garden, in the mountains, or looking for the perfect swimming hole. Visit her online via Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and her website.
And now for the interview:
Melanie, would you please tell us how you became a TeachingAuthor?
First, let me say: Thank you so much for having me!
To answer your question, I have been teaching since 2001—all sorts of subjects (art, music, history, ESL)—but I have only been writing since 2005. I was in the middle of a particularly difficult school year, and I needed something outside of work to put my heart into. I decided I would write a book—it couldn't be that difficult, right? J
Well, eight years, several manuscripts and an MFA in Writing later, I finally have a book published. As it turns out, writing well is really difficult! But along the way, I learned to love the journey and delight in the challenge.
Does your experience as a classroom teacher affect your writing, and if so, how?
My students are amazing. They deal with challenges on a daily basis that would cripple most adults. Above anything else, my students remind me how resilient and brave and joyful children are. I take that as a challenge: if I am going to write for and about this age group, I had better honor those characteristics in my stories.
Tell us a bit about what inspired you to write Parched and your path to publication.
Parched began with a single image that appeared in my mind one day. It was an aerial shot, as if I were in a plane flying low over the savanna. On the ground below, a skinny girl and her pack of dogs walked along a narrow game track. I wanted to know who she was, and how she had come to be all alone in such a harsh place.
I wrote my way into the story when I was supposed to be working on other things. It was the third semester of my MFA in Writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Little by little, in between drafts of my critical thesis, the story began to take shape. By the end of the semester, I had 20 pages ready. I crossed my fingers and sent it in to be considered for the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt prize for Middle Grade Literature. When it won, I received a request for the full manuscript and gleefully sent it in. I consider myself incredibly fortunate that I found an editor with the vision and experience to embrace the sparse quality of Parched, while at the same time patiently working with me to draw out the emotional depth and expository breadth that readers would need. Like so many things in life, turning this academic project into the beautiful novel it is today was all about balance, and trusting that if you assemble the right players, a team can produce so much more than any individual.
You mentioned that Parched started with an image. Do all your stories begin that way? Are they images that come to mind on their own, or do you actively look for images to inspire you, and if so, where do you find them?
My stories do often begin with an image, but it’s not something I go looking for. I think I have my subconscious to thank here; they are often images I wake up with. And because they fill my mind in that hazy space between dreaming and waking, the images are endowed with emotion and sensation—the best story starter I could ever ask for!
Do you have any suggestions for teachers on how they might use your novel in the classroom?
Absolutely! I think Parched would make a great book study, either for a small group or the whole class with all of its cross-content potential. It is a slim volume, and an adventure story, so it will appeal to some of your reluctant readers, too!
And check my website in the fall when school starts up again—I am putting together a field guide for Parched, where students can track and research the flora and fauna found in the book as they read.
Oh, I love the idea of a "field guide" for a novel with such a distinctive setting as yours. I hope the teachers in our audience will check it out. So tell us, what's next on the horizon for you?
My next project is a YA verse novel about labor activist Clara Lemlich. She was an amazing woman who was instrumental in reforming working conditions for women in the early 1900s. This book is completely different from my debut--and a great challenge! My editor for this project will be Liza Kaplan at Philomel, and we are working towards an early 2015 release date.
Congratulations, Melanie! We're looking forward to seeing that. Finally, would you share about a moment when you knew you were a writer?
Well, I’ll show you a picture of a time when I had all the confidence in the world about my own writing. (I must have had a good teacher!) This is a book I wrote and illustrated in 4th grade. A sequel to Julie of the Wolves:
Don’t you think the white-out dress is a nice touch?
Very clever, Melanie.J Thanks so much for stopping by.
Readers, you can enter below for a chance to win an autographed copy of Parched, If you enter via a comment to this blog post, please tell us what you'll do with the book should you win: save it for yourself of give it away? The giveaway ends on June 26. After you've entered, feel free to check out the other stops on Melanie's blog tour, which you'll find listed on her website.
And don't forget--today is also Poetry Friday. This week's round up is at Carol's Corner.
I love the white-out dress, Melanie! If I win the book, I'll find a way to blog about it at my site, abwestrick.com. I blog about the craft of writing, and I met Melanie in the Vermont College MFA program.
What a fabulous topic! My YA in rewrite also explores the topic of lacking water in a very different environment. If I were to win the book I would read it over and over and add it to my library. I buy many copies of books that I love and send them to children of all ages, teachers, and libraries as well as donations to charities for children. Good luck with Parched!
I'd read it myself first of course, but then I'd pass it along to my friend who is a 5th grade teacher. We live hours away from each other but mail each other great books!
I used to be a regular contributor here at TeachingAuthors, but
now I am a guest. In my last post, I explained my difficult decision to
step away from the blog because of an overwhelming workload. Now my busiest
teaching semester ever is coming to a close, and I have a new book to celebrate.
Hooray!
Write a Poem Step by Step: A Simple, Logical Plan You
Can Follow to Write Your Own Poems evolved from the poetry workshops I’ve been
presenting in schools for the past fifteen years or so. Poems written by
students in my workshops illustrate each step in the process. I’m delighted
that the TeachingAuthors have invited me back to tell you about it and to give away
an autographed copy.
I used to be a regular contributor here at TeachingAuthors, but
now I am a guest. As soon as I wrote that sentence, I remembered one of my earliest inspirations for helping students write poetry. Anyone familiar with Kenneth
Koch’s classic Wishes, Lies, and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write
Poetry will probably recognize the form of the “I Used to Be/But Now I’m” poem
that he used as a structure for student poems. When I started working with
elementary school students, I pored over that book and his Rose, Where
Did You Get That Red? Teaching Great Poetry to Children. What I took away from Wishes,
Lies, and Dreams is underlined in my tattered copy: “Children have a natural
talent for writing poetry and anyone who teaches them should know that. Teaching
really is not the right word for what takes place: it is more like permitting
the children to discover something they already have.”
A Celebration of Bees: Helping Children to Write Poetry by
Barbara Juster Esbensen was an even bigger influence on my developing
teaching/helping techniques. I took her words to heart: “If any one word can
stand for the essence of creating a climate, an atmosphere that allows the
creative impulse to grow and flourish, I think it would be the word accepting. Every child needs to feel that you respect and accept what he or she is
trying to do.”I also latched onto her
practice of asking questions to draw out children’s own ideas.
For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry by
Georgia Heard convinced me of another important aspect of my approach. “Poems
come from something deeply felt; it’s essential for student poets to be able to
choose their own topics according to what’s important to them.”
With those concepts in mind, I’ve developed and fine-tuned
my own approach to working with student poets over the years. What I wanted from the
start was a method students could follow all the way through the process of
writing a poem. I didn't want to give them a form to fill in; I wanted them to find their own way, step by step. That process is at the core of Write a Poem Step by Step.
The results in workshops have been amazing: students do have
original ideas, extensive vocabularies, and creative ways of expressing
themselves. Here’s an example from a long-ago series of visits with one class
for which I received the Barbara Juster Esbensen 2000 Poetry Teaching Award:
My Imagination
My mind plays tricks on me
in the dark.
An invisible man
in my closet
is wearing my jacket and shoes.
Miguel Rowell-Ortiz, Grade 3
Write a Poem Step by Step is available now from Lulu, amazon, Barnes & Noble, and bookstores. You can read more about it on my web site. Enter the Book Giveaway for a chance to win an autographed copy!
Book Giveaway!
For a chance to win an autographed copy of Write a Poem Step by Step: A Simple, Logical Plan You
Can Follow to Write Your Own Poems, tell us about a book that influenced your own teaching or writing.
To enter our drawing, you must follow the TeachingAuthors blog. If
you’re not already a follower, you can sign up now in the sidebar to
subscribe to our posts via email, Google Friend Connect, or Facebook
Network blogs.
You may enter the contest one of two ways: 1) by
posting a comment below OR 2) by sending an email to teachingauthors
[at] gmail [dot] com with "Book Giveaway" in the subject line.
Whichever
way you enter, you MUST give us your first and last name AND tell us
how you follow us (via email, Google Friend Connect, or Facebook Network
blogs). If you enter via a comment, you MUST include a valid email
address (formatted this way: youremail [at] gmail [dot] com) in your
comment.
This contest is open only to residents of the United States.
Incomplete entries will be discarded. The entry deadline is 11 p.m. (CST)
Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. I'll announce the winner on Wednesday, Dec. 19.
Good luck!
JoAnn, I found your post inspiring, especially because I hope to include poetry in my next novel. I will have to get the books you recommended. Your new book looks terrific! I'd love to share it with young writers. The book that influenced my writing was STORY by Robert McKee -- really helped with story structure and character arcs. Best wishes with your lovely new book!
You sound a truly inspiring "teacher" - I love that you say "Teaching really is not the right word for what takes place: it is more like permitting the children to discover something they already have." Only this evening when my two came home from school we were having a conversation about their art lessons. Older Brother said that his teacher had said he (the T) could hit him (OB) because his art was so bad. I know he (T) was only joking about the hitting but I was appalled about the squashing of what is in essence a form of creative self-expression. Whether art or poetry, there are tools for honing your craft but I decry the way creativity and imagination end up being boxed or levelled against a set of targets.
This book sounds GREAT JoAnn! I'd love to have a copy to use with my son. The focus on writing in his school is on autobiographical/true stories and they don't do much fiction writing or poetry at all. I'd love to do some more with him at home.
I follow this blog via RSS in Google reader. Does that count? Whenever I subscribe to a blog via RSS, I never know if the blog owner can "see" me as a subscriber.
Donna (Wild About Words), I'll have to check out STORY--another friend has also recommended it. I'll be eager to read your next novel!
Robyn Hood Black, isn't Georgia Heard's work a terrific resource? I also love her Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems.
April, thank you! Your help with the last draft was invaluable!
Marjorie, ouch! No one should have to endure that kind of criticism of their creative work. I hope he took it as a joke!
Storypatch, I'm hearing too many parents say their children's schools are replacing fiction and poetry with nonfiction. We need them all! And yes, I believe you are an official follower.
I also have dog-eared copies of Kenneth Koch's books. Georgia Heard as well. I'd love to add your book to my collection. I agree that the teacher doesn't have to teach poetry, but she has to allow the space for it. I am so disappointed that it is left out of the new CCSS. I believe In, at the very least, poetry once a week, and that is what my students get. Thanks for keeping poetry alive.
I am so grateful to you for compiling your teaching wisdom in this volume! I am always looking for new resources for poetry workshops during school visits, and this sounds so accessible. Congratulations on the publication! irene at irenelatham dot com. I follow on Google. Happy day to you!
JoAnn, Koch and Heard are wonderfully inspiring. I also love poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge. It's wonderful that you have added your book to these resources. Good to see you here again.
This sounds like a wonderful book - poetry sometimes can feel intimidating for students and I agree with Margaret, that even if the CCSS doesn't have poetry in them, students still need exposure to poems!!
What a wonderful resource for students and non-students alike. So many people struggle with expression in all forms of writing. This guide to writing poetry would be very useful indeed. Thanks for offering a copy please enter my name (Carl Scott) for the chance to win. I follow this blog by email: carlscott(at)prodigy(dot)net(dot)mx
These posts are all gifts of sharing. And this new book about allowing young minds to experience the wings of poetry sounds like a winner. In addition to poem crazy, which I shared last year with my poetry critique group, I am grateful for several titles. One I'd like to be bold & mention is THE CREATIVE HABIT by Twyla Tharpe. This choreographer & dancer of great stature provides us a lively guide that I try to reread every year. When she talks about collecting her posse, it makes sense for children's literature folks to especially note that this group of her advisors included Maurice Sendak. Her tips lift me up. Thank you for writing your new book & for this informative post that has prompted all these tips.
JoAnn, I have both of Koch's books and have used them for years as well as all of Georgia Heard's and Paul Janezcko's wonderful books. Another book I still refer back to is Lee Bennett Hopkins' Pass the Poetry, Please. I believe there is even a more recent edition than I one I have. Your book would make an excellent addition to my teaching resource collection!
I own practically all the books listed here by you and others. I am very excited to read your book; congratulations for what looks like a wonderful addition to the poetry-writing collection. One of a number of books that influenced my teaching of writing was Write from the Start by Donald Graves and Virginia Stuart. (An oldied but a goodie.) After that all of Nancie Atwell's work and Lucy Calkins's early works such as The Art of Teaching Writing and Living Between the Lines were very helpful. Georgia Heard's books also were a big influence. Naming the World: A year of poems and lessons by Atwell is very helpful for teachers. I believe in putting poetry at the heart of the literacy classroom. Not just a unit in April. And that works!! Thank you for this post and information. janet fagal jfagal [at] gmail [dot] com
Wow--what a wonderful list of resources we're compiling here! I'm adding several new (to me) titles to my To Read list.
I spent yesterday afternoon at the reading for my graduate thesis seminar students--what a thrill to hear them read their work to an enthusiastic audience! After I turn in grades for my two Mount Mary College classes, I'll be free to return to my own writing, including a poetry collection in progress. I'll be sure to gather and explore as many of these titles as I can. Thank you for all the suggestions!
I intended to include my email to the above comment that mentions The Creative Habit book - so here it is Jan Godown Annino JGAoffice [at] gmail [dot] com
Good to see you back here, JoAnn, even briefly. I've already purchased two copies of your new book, one for keeping and one for lending, and it is terrific! You could ignore this note and let someone else win it, or include me and I'll give it away to a teacher I know will use it. FYI to other readers- I've watched (and learned from) JoAnn as she uses these strategies with kids, and the results are truly incredible. The products are excellent quality, but the processes are quickly learned, practiced,and internalized so kids retrieve and use them on their own.
What a lovely post, JoAnn. I have and love every single one of the books you mentioned (including yours!). Hearing Barbara Juster Esbensen speak shortly before she died was pivotal in turning me toward children's poetry--or any poetry at all. Don't enter me in the contest, but thank you for this post. Reminds me I need to re-read all of these wonderful books!
Sandy, thank you for your note of confidence--it means a lot, especially coming from you!
Laura, thank you! I'd love to hear more about Barbara Juster Esbensen someday--lucky you to have heard her speak!
For anyone looking for more about Barbara Juster Esbensen and her approach to helping children write poetry, see "OBSERVATIONS from A Celebration of Bees" at http://www.ttinet.com/bje/observations.html.
Here's a quote that fits right in with the recent discussion about the Common Core State Standards: "An emphasis on strong verbs and lively, unexpected adjectives carries over into disciplines other than the language arts, of course. Social studies or science reports, for instance, will come to life if the student has had ongoing experience using language in effective ways."
Thanks for sharing all these great poetry resources that inspired you. They're all on my shelf. I would love to add an autographed copy of Write a Poem Step by Step to that shelf.
Today we're celebrating by featuring a guest TeachingAuthorinterview with the wonderful poet, author, teacher, and now, editor, Heidi Bee Roemer. And I'm THRILLED to announce the forthcoming release of the brand new poetry anthology edited by Heidi and Carol-Ann Hoyte: And the Crowd Goes Wild! A Global Gathering of Sports Poems--ATCGW for short. The anthology, which is illustrated by Kevin Sylvester, includes 50 sports-related poems by poets from ten countries. I am honored to be one of those poets, and I have to say that I'm in some pretty amazing company, including Charles Ghigna, J. Patrick Lewis, David L. Harrison, Avis Harley, Priscilla Uppal, and my former fellow TeachingAuthor, JoAnn Early Macken. ATCGW is geared for children ages 8-12, and showcases nearly 30 different poetry forms. A portion of royalties from both the paperback and e-book editions will be donated to Right to Play, an international organization that uses sports and games to educate and empower children facing adversity.
And great news for our TeachingAuthors readers: you can enter our drawing for a chance to win your own paperback copy of this terrific anthology, autographed by Heidi (or her co-editor, Carol-Ann, if you live in Canada). See details at the end of this post. If you don't win our contest, see the official CrowdGoesWild website for information on how to a copy. (The e-book is only $3.99!)
In case you don't know Heidi Bee Roemer, here's an excerpt from her bio: With nearly 400 poems, articles, and stories in various children’s magazines and anthologies to her credit, Heidi is also a song lyricist and children’s book reviewer. Her debut book, Come to My Party and Other Shape Poems, (Henry Holt) received starred reviews and was nominated for several awards. Her newest books are both from NorthWord Press: What Kinds of Seeds are These? and Whose Nest is This? Heidi is a former instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature, and currently serves as a writer-in-residence for several Chicago Public schools.
I had the privilege of taking a poetry class with Heidi a few years ago, and I can tell you from experience that she's a great teacher--several of the poems I wrote while in her class were eventually published in children's magazines or anthologies. When I saw Heidi's call for submissions for ATCGW, I initially submitted a couple of reworked poems from that class. Then Heidi sent a follow-up call, asking specifically for poems about paralympic athletes--athletes with physical limitations. My first thought was: How can I write about a paralympic athlete when I don't know any? Then a few days later I remembered watching my son run his first marathon, and how inspired I was by all the paralympic athletes who participated. One runner in particular, a British man who ran on two prosthetic limbs, had left such an impression on me that I still recalled the awe and respect I felt watching him. So I wrote a list poem called "At the Chicago Marathon" as a tribute to him, and that was the poem accepted into And the Crowd Goes Wild! A Global Gathering of Sports Poems. I don't want to make this post too long, so I'll share just the first stanza of my poem here:
Heidi, will you tell us how you became a TeachingAuthor?
My “on the job training” experience as a teacher is based on nearly 300 school presentations and library visits. As a poet-in-residence for Chicago Public Schools I learned how to make poetry lessons informative, lively and fun! In 2001 I was accepted as an instructor for The Institute of Children’s Literature, a college-credited correspondence course for adults who want to write for children. I also teach poetry to adults and children in various local venues.
What's a common problem/question that your students have and how do you address it?
New poets often write rambling, overly-long poems and approach revision with reluctance. Most rookie poets need guidance on how to trim, tighten, and tweak their words. Someone wisely wrote: “Poetry is a can of frozen orange concentrate. Add three cans water and you get prose.” I agree! Want practice writing succinctly? Write terse verse because it contains only a few words per line. Children’s terse verse may be sprinkled with rhyme, alliteration, assonance, and wordplay. Closing lines should illicit a response from the reader—a sigh, gasp, smile or giggle. To understand how to write stellar poems for children in any poetic form, I often direct aspiring poets to magazines such as High Five, Babybug, Ladybug, Spider, Hopscotch, Boy’s Quest, Fun for Kids, Turtle, and Humpty Dumpty. Those wishing to be published in these specific magazines should study not just one issue, but two or more years of back issues.
Would you share a favorite writing exercise for our readers?
Try writing terse verse—it’s not as easy as it looks! Short lines force the writer to trim excess words. Focus on a single age-appropriate topic using mostly concrete nouns and vivid verbs. Establish a word pattern and engage your young reader by incorporating a lighthearted, playful tone. Terse verse, also called cryptic rhyme, was popularized by author Verla Kay in Orphan Train, Gold Fever and other books. Writers who wish to master this poetry form should read Verla’s complete cryptic collection. I’m pleased to say that ATCGW contains a delightful terse verse written by U.S. author, Ellen Ramsey. I won’t give away her surprise ending, but here are a few opening lines:
Do you have any suggestions for teachers on how they might use And the Crowd Goes Wild! in the classroom?
Educators will find ATCGW an easy fit with school curriculum. One suggestion is to engage students in related physical activities. For example, Laura Purdie Salas’s roundel is about goalball, an official sport of the Paralympics games; visually impaired players chase a ball that contains a bell inside. Using a cat toy with a bell inside, let blindfold students try to toss and catch the toy, aided only by the ringing sound. Patricia Cooley’s free verse about chess, “The King’s Gambit,” can also be creatively adapted. Students can hold large cardboard replicas of chess pieces (rook, pawn, bishop, etc) and play a life-size game of chess.
ATCGW can be used as a study of various poetry forms. The end pages identify nearly 30 poetic forms found in the anthology, such as haiku, limerick and shape poems, as well as less familiar forms: cleave, etheree, and palindrome. Keeping a poetry journal, students can study the various forms and write a new poetry form each week.
ATCGW also introduces students to poets featured in the book. Some contributing poets are recognized and revered around the world, others are just at the cusp of their writing careers. Students can visit the poet’s website or blog. If the poet has published other books, students might read those as well. Geography can play a role in classroom studies, too! Students can use pushpins and a world map to indicate where each poet lives. Once the study is done, students may write an email or letter to their favorite poet.
ATCGW is your first project as editor. What’s the experience been like? Would you do it again?
My dream job is to be a poetry editor for a children’s magazine. So when the book’s creator, Carol-Ann Hoyte of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, asked me to be part of this international “Olympic-related” sports poetry project, I jumped at the chance. It’s an exciting experience to discover new talent and see a book come to life. Yes, I would love to edit another poetry anthology—or children’s poetry magazine, for that matter!
I know you’ve lined up a number of events to promote ATCGW around the world involving some of the contributors (including ME!). Would you tell us about some of those events?
Carol-Ann and I are excited about our upcoming book launches this fall. The U.S. launches will feature eight Illinois poets. ATCGW’s official “Poetry Team U.S.A.” includes contributors Cathy Cronin, Patricia Cooley, Heather Delabre, Claudia Kohlbrenner, Eileen Meyer, Patricia Murphy, Heidi Bee Roemer, Michelle Schaub, and (yay!) today’s TeachingAuthor interviewer, Carmela Martino! My heartfelt thanks, Carmela, for letting me tell your dedicated followers and fellow poets about And the Crowd Goes Wild! A Global Gathering of Sports Poems. I hope your readers will check the listings below and join us for an hour of poetry, poets, prizes and fun surprises!
Thank you, Heidi, for this great interview, and for allowing me to be part of And the Crowd Goes Wild! A Global Gathering of Sports Poems. Below is information about the book's first two launch events. I'll be posting additional dates and times next Friday. Meanwhile, don't forget to enter our contest for your chance to win an autographed copy. See the details at the end of this post.
Thursday, September 13 at 7 p.m.
Selwyn House School
95 Cote St. Antoine Road, Westmount, Montreal
In the U.S:
Wednesday, September 26 at 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Mokena Library
11327 W. 195th Street
Mokena, Illinois 60448
Finally, details on entering our giveaway:
You must follow our TeachingAuthors blog to enter for a chance to win an autographed paperback copy of And the Crowd Goes Wild! A Global Gathering of Sports Poems. If you're not already a follower, you can sign up now in the sidebar to subscribe to our posts via email, Google Friend Connect, or Facebook Network blogs.
There are two ways to enter:
by a comment posted below OR
by sending an email to teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com with "Book Giveaway" in the subject line.
Whichever way you enter, you MUST give us your name AND tell us how you follow us. If you enter via a comment, you MUST include a valid email address (formatted like: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com) in your comment. Contest open only to residents of the United States and Canada. Incomplete entries will be discarded. For complete giveaway rules, see our Book Giveaway Guidelines.
Entry deadline is 11 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 (Central Standard Time). The winner will be chosen in a random drawing and announced on Sept. 12. Good luck!
And after you've entered, don't forget to check out this week's Poetry Friday round-up at Poetry For Children.
Happy Writing!
Carmela
18 Comments on Book Giveaway and Guest TeachingAuthor Interview with Heidi B. Roemer, last added: 9/19/2012
I love to read a book in verse, Be it rambling; rhyming or just terse; Even though I find it exciting; I know it’s not my style of writing. Mary Great interview and can't wait to read the book
Carol-Ann and I thank YOU, Carmela! ATCGW is jam-packed with poems that amuse, entertain, and educate. Readers' hearts will be especially stirred upon reading your poem, "At the Marathon." Thanks for sending it in, Carmela!
I follow with Google Friend Connect. So many great anthologies, but not many about sports, or up to date. This one sounds like a perfect addition to a library. Thanks for offering one.
Thanks, April. Glad to know my tease worked. :-) And Barbara, Patricia, Mary, and Joy, I LOVE the verse form of your comments. Good luck to all, and thanks for entering our contest.
We have a special treat here today on our TeachingAuthors blog: a Writing Workout from a Mystery Guest TeachingAuthor (MGTA). This is a new feature we're trying out, so I hope you'll let us know what you think.
[Note: I'm still waiting to hear from Mary Ann about our giveaway winner. Sorry for the delay--we'll be posting the lucky winner's name soon.]
Now, here's the plan for today: I'll share our MGTA's bio before giving you his/her Writing Workout. See if you can guess who our guest author is before I reveal the MGTA's identity at the end of the post. (No fair looking up the MGTA's books online to find out the author's name!) Then let us know if you guessed correctly, or if the MGTA is someone who's work is new to you. You can respond via a comment, or send us an email.
Our first MGTA is the author of numerous books for young readers. MGTA's most recent publications are two young-adult novels, Dark of the Moon (Harcourt) and King of Ithaka (Henry Holt), and the four books in the middle-grade series, The Sherlock Files (Henry Holt). Nonfiction includes The Ancient Greek World and The Ancient Chinese World (The World in Ancient Times, Oxford University Press). This author was the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Regional Advisor for the Midsouth from 1999 to 2009 and is now SCBWI’s Regional Advisor Coordinator. MGTA was awarded the SCBWI Work-in-Progress Grant in 2005 and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1994. MGTA holds a B.A. with Honors in Classics from Brown University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Italian Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. This author lives in Nashville, TN and recently retired from teaching at Vanderbilt University.
Have you identified our guestyet? Perhaps this MGTA's description of his/her path to becoming a TeachingAuthor will help:
Hi, everybody! So glad to be here at TeachingAuthors.
I was a college professor for 28 years, but not of creative writing! I taught Italian, and my students had to write in both English and Italian, especially when I taught Grammar and Composition. My students told me that they learned a lot about writing in general, not just writing in Italian, from that class! Occasionally I also taught classes in children’s literature and in writing for young readers. A few years into my teaching career I started writing for young readers, starting with nonfiction. I added fiction and now happily write both.
I like reading and writing stories that explore a familiar story from a point of view (POV) that we don’t usually hear from. I’ve written King of Ithaka, a version of the Odyssey as told by Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, and Dark of the Moon, the myth of the Minotaur as seen by the Minotaur’s sister, A
0 Comments on A Writing Workout from our First Ever Mystery Guest TeachingAuthor! as of 1/1/1900
Nikki's accumulated more honors, and has written more books and more articles than we have space to list, but it's too interesting not to mention that she's also a performing artist, a fine artist, a fiber artist, a jeweler and more...as she says, she's a Jane-of-all-Trades. I've known Nikki for a long time and have always been moved by her unfailing generosity. Toda
17 Comments on Book Giveaway! Guest Teaching Author & Poet extraordinaire, Nikki Grimes!, last added: 9/26/2011
What a beautiful interview. I have to confess that I have not read any of Nikki Grimes' works yet - which I now think I have to remedy STAT - she appears so multi-talented and such a versatile artist.
Among the things that she has mentioned, this is what struck me - when she discussed disallowing rhyming in her workshops: "Emphasize the idea of painting a picture with words. That is a truer understanding of the heart of poetry, I think."
This captures how I feel as well about poetry. This is such an enriching post.
Thanks for this great interview, April. I love Nikki's writing exercise. I may share it with my critique group this weekend.
I'd love to win Planet Middle School because the moment I read the title, it transported me back to childhood, when school really seemed like an complete universe.
And g'luck to Laura (on behalf of your new middle schooler, Myra (I absolutely agree about rhyming...I think especially for young writers, it can take them off track), and Megan Frances (Oh,yes...school really was a complete universe then...)!
That was a wonderful video clip - something about Nikki's voice is just so soothing and engaging. I'd love to win Planet Middle School because I live in a planet middle school - as a sixth grade teacher. It's hard to find poets and poems that truly "get" this tumultuous age, and I'd love for my kids to have a chance to do so with Nikki's newest book. What would I like to see more of? Interviews and videos - to know more about the writing life.
Renee--whether or not you win, there are lots of life-changing or just diverting middle school books out there for your nephew--I hope you'll ask a teen librarian or bookseller for suggestions based on his interests. He's lucky to have you in his corner.
Melissa--thanks for the vote to keep more writing activities and personal stories! And Pam--since we're TeachingAuthors, our plan has always been to interview only other authors who teach...perhaps we'll see if there's a way we can tie in a publisher to our theme. Thanks for the suggestion.
This poetry exercise will be a spark for my poetry group. And having just returned from a book festival where no one was in my signing line (so that means I had no line at all) at the author's table, I love & am lifted by Nikki's tenderness to other writers.
I'm not entering to win because I read the posts of individuals who have specific young people or schools where it seems this wonderful middle school new relese is tendended best to go.
As for suggestions on future topics, this may have already been covered but it might be fun to see a series of posts on the connection between the other arts & writing. As Nikki said, she puts soft music in the background of her workshops. So posts linking our world of wrting & some of the visual arts. One of my favorite inspirational books that boosts my writing process is by the amazingly talented & legendary dancer/choreographer, Twyla Tharpe: THE CREATIVE HABIT. (I am always learning much from other disciplines.) In this book, she talks about how Maurice Sendak is part of her support system.
Many thanks to Teaching Authors for fascintating & supportive posts.
Jan ~ yours may be one of the most generous comments we've gotten--ever! Thanks especially for your topic suggestion--that'll give us something to chew on!
Today I'm pleased to introduce you to your guest TeachingAuthor:Barbara Bottner. Barbara was among my first teachers in this field--lucky me!Barbara has written--and in some cases illustrated--over thirty-six books for children, published by all the major houses. She has contributed to every aspect of the field; from wordless picture books, picture books, story books, I Can Reads, Chapter books, middle grade and two Young Adult novels.
Her most recent picture book, Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don’t), illustrated by Michael Emberley, was on the New York Times Bestseller list, an Indie Pick for Spring, the March Amazon Pick, the Bank Street pick, as well as garnering starred reviews and appearing on blogs everywhere.
What's it about? With the help of Miss Brooks, Missy’s classmates all find books they love in the library—books about fairies and dogs and trains and cowboys. But Missy dismisses them all—“Too flowery, too furry, too clickety, too yippity.” Still, Miss Brooks remains undaunted. Book Week is here and Missy will find a book to love if they have to empty the entire library. What story will finally win over this beastly, er, discriminating child? William Steig’s Shrek!—the tale of a repulsive green ogre in search of a revolting bride—of course!Barbara Bottner and Michael Emberley pay playful homage to the diverse tastes of child readers and the valiant librarians who are determined to put just the right book in each child’s hands.
See below for information on how you can enter to win an autographed copy of Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't)!
Barbara's other well-known titles includeBootsie Barker Bites, illustrated by Caldecott winner Peggy Rathmann, and Wallace's Lists, co-written with her husband, Gerald Kruglik (who's a doctor in his spare time!).Bootsie and Wallace were both animated and translated into other languages. Scaredy C
Picture books are one of my favorite books to read to my students as I kick off my writers workshop lesson. I love to share with my students how they are authors too. I show them examples of books that address one moment and one time while expanding their references with different authors' talents. This is a perfect book to add to my personal library. Every year I always have one of those students that have a hard time choosing a book from our library, I know this year will be no different. My email address is [email protected] Thanks in advance to the lucky winner.
As a librarian in a small school, I’ve had students tell me they can’t find anything they like to read in our library. I look around at all the books we have and sigh. Then I start pulling books–all kinds of books–which I think those students will like. Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don’t) is a perfect book to share with finicky readers! Email address: cso_11[at]charter[dot]net
Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't) looks like my kind of book.
I am a huge fan of children's books. So I can't wait to buy yours.
Thank you and Michael Emberley.
All my best, Ellen Lebowitz
Beth said, on 8/13/2010 2:58:00 PM
I love that Barbara said that "I basically taught myself as I taught them." when talking about her first teaching job. The fact that one gets to learn as one teaches is one of the best things about the job!
This new book sounds like the perfect book for any classroom: funny, great illustrations, and the message that there is a book out there for everyone. This is one of the messages I try to instill in every one of my students. I can't wait to check out this book!
My email address is bgottlieb[at]wheatonbible[dot]org
How could I have missed knowing Barbara Bottner's books. Thanks to your Teaching Authors website I will miss her no longer. I've just requested a dozen of her books from my library.
My sister is the marvelous un-trained librarian at Incline Elementary in Nevada. She IS Miss Brooks. And her budget for books is close to zilch, so I must get her this book. I would be Missy--although I'm not a reluctant reader--I call it discerning. Okay, so maybe I'm Miss Brooks, as well, but I'm just a substitute and the library already has two copies.
If I win, I will study Barbara's book (I'm a writer) then give it to my sister for her library.
There's a book for everyone, as I discovered when my son, who was in the 5th grade and did Not like to read (how dare he!) insisted on ordering a book that I thought would be too hard for him. He finished it in 2 days. win or not, I'm going to look up your pb. I love pb's and seeing how authors can make a point in so few words. Peggy at [email protected]
Kathleen Adams said, on 8/13/2010 7:52:00 PM
I loved reading your interview. This book would be perfect for the students that I will be teaching this year. I teach struggling readers in fourth and fifth grades, many of whom can't seem to find any books that interest them in our library. I'm not going to give up this year until I can introduce them to books that just might change their minds about all those "uninteresting" books in our library.
When I read Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't), I thought, "I am Miss Brooks!" I'm a children's librarian in a public library, and I have dressed in costumes, worn silly hats, buttons and crazy necklaces, made bulletin boards, flyers and special bookmarks--all to make sure each child finds a book to love. Barbara Bottner has hit the mark with this book, and it's one I expect will elicit giggles at class visits and story times.
I'm also a writer, and I enjoyed reading the interview. What a great writing exercise! I'm off to visualize the non-verbalized goings on in the illustrations!
I work with teachers learning to implement reading and writing workshop. Too often I see teachers who can't recommend books to their students because they are not voracious readers of kids books. This would be a great book to begin the discussion of being able to suggest books to students. I will use her idea for telling the story. Who knew all these books I have enjoyed started out with that writing exercise.([email protected])
Great interview! Can't wait to try the exercise. I would love to win the book because I have heard those comments "I have nothing to read" uttered in my own home. And I always take it as a personal challenge to find just the right book to make my little readers happy again. This book sounds darling. So glad to know about this author. Going straight to the library to check out her books!
LOVE this idea for a pb and LOVE this idea for WRITING pb's:) I have several unshopped pb manuscripts I will try to 're-vision' using this technique! Thanks for the inspiration, Bev
Wonderful interview! Her newest book sounds like a delight! Love the writing tips here. I'm working on an mg right now, but I love writing pbs as well!
Great interview and advice, Barbara! I'd love to use this book with my pb workshop. The autograph is a bonus, so please enter me in the drawing- [email protected].
Barbara's website is a wonderful resource, too, and I always enjoy the generous mention of other author's books in these interviews. Sandy Brehl
I love the story of when you were first starting out. :) Thanks for sharing the writing exercise, too. It is very hard for writers to think in pictures sometimes--I find it is taking years of practice, practice, practice, and reading, reading, reading. Thanks for the tips for teachers, too. Love those!
I read Ms. Brooks this summer. SO FUNNY! How many times a day do I hear something along the lines of "I don't like to read" or "I can't find anything." WELL! That is when I step in and do my darndest to change that.
We have a Ms. Brooks on campus. She's a regular classroom teacher ... but I need to share this book with her!
Looking forward to a new year of matching readers who don't know it yet to NEW BOOKS!
The Teaching Authors are happy to present an interview with our good friend and Guest Teaching Author April Pulley Sayre.
April Pulley Sayre is the award-winning author of over 55 natural history books for children and adults. Her read-aloud nonfiction books, known for their lyricism and scientific precision, have been translated into French, Dutch, Japanese, and Korean. She is best known for pioneering literary ways to immerse young readers in natural events via creative storytelling and unusual perspectives.
In 2008, Sayre accepted the Theodor “Seuss” Geisel Honor Award given by the American Library Association for her book Vulture View. It was also named a finalist for the 2008 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books.
Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust won the 2006 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books and was named a 2006 ALA Notable Children’s Book. One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab was a 2004 ALA Notable Children’s Book and a 2003 Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book and received Britain’s highest literacy award. Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad’s Tale was a Riverbank Review Children’s Book of Distinction and a 2001 ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice and received starred reviews. The Bumblebee Queen marked April's third win of the John Burroughs Award.
Sayre has followed lemurs in Madagascar, pursued army ants in Panama, and eaten piranha in the Peruvian Amazon. She and her husband, native plants expert Jeff Sayre, love science and adventure.
Sayre is an expert speaker in the fields of writing, science education, children’s literature, and wildlife gardening. Each year, she speaks to over 15,000 students nationwide, introducing them to the writing process, the joy of words, the diversity of rain forests, and wacky things scientists do to find, follow, and study animals.
To celebrate April's appearance on our blog, we're giving away an autographed copy of her new book Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! To enter the drawing, see the instructions at the end of this post.
Welcome, April! How did you become a Teaching Author?
My work as a teaching author came after publishing dozens of books and earning an M.F.A. in creative writing for children and young adults at Vermont College. By speaking to over 15,000 students each year during school visits nationwide, I learned how to communicate my writing process to students. Along the way, educators shared what they were doing. I found ways to meld my 20 years as a writer with what teachers needed. Now, I teach educators and aspiring adult writers at conferences, workshops, and inservices. Because of my travel/
19 Comments on Book Giveaway and Guest Teaching Author Interview with April Pulley Sayre!, last added: 5/18/2010
I was privileged to share time with April during my time at VC. I so admire her, how she infuses science and writing. Her acute observations, her lyrical sense of language...I'm a big fan. Now more than ever, after reading this interview! I already have a few of her books, and plan to get this one, so I won't enter the contest. BUT, I want to post my admiration. Cool, very cool. You guys are the best!
Let's hear it for the award-winning April Pulley Sayre, who already taught me this morning via her generous answers before I was off to teach - my - Young Writers! Thank you! And, congratulations on your non-stop Success. Your Fan Esther
April, thanks so much for visiting us here and for taking the time to give such detailed and terifically useful information. We heart your books here in New Market. 15,000 kids a year? WOW!!
I love hearing from folks who are passionate about what they do. Thank you!
debcrabb said, on 5/14/2010 9:23:00 AM
When our son was little(he is 27 now), he had a pet turtle for many years. One day I decided to clean out the aquarium house he lived in with SOS pads. The turtle died shortly after. Justwin still tells me SOS pads made his turtle sick and that is why it died.
I'll always remember driving toward Milwaukee after all the flooding we had a few years ago and there were turtles everywhere on the road. Huge ones slowly making their way across that you had to dodge to miss.
I am amazed how turtles can inspire love in humans. A friend went to the pet store and he bought a tortoise and brought it home. As he watched it he began to think of the other one left at the pet store, so he promptly returned to purchase the remaining tortoise. They were small in the beginning, now they are huge. He has had to build a special shed to house the creatures during the winter with lights and heat to keep them warm. He must plan for them after he dies, as they will live beyond his years. All I can say is "Really?" (Does a tortoise count as a turtle experience?)
Oh, Deb. Sorry about the SOS-poisoned turtle. Anna, Turtle really does need to "watch out" so as not to end up in turtle stew. Pat and Elsie, thanks for sharing your stories, too. JoAnn posted the contest requirements, but I would assume a tortoise story counts as a contest entry. :-)
Thanks, Bobbi, Esther, Jeanne Marie, Marti, & Sara, for your comments. Deb, Anna, Pat, & Elsie, I'm enjoying the turtle & tortoise stories. Keep them coming, readers! You still have plenty of time to enter yours for a chance to win an amazing new nonfiction book!
Thanks for the inspiring post, April. We met a long time ago at an SCBWI-Michigan conference, and I've enjoyed following your success over the years. This post was timely for me, as I've been struggling with how to make the structure more compelling on my WIP. And now on to my sad turtle tale. When I was seven or eight, we had a small plastic turtle tank, complete with an island, palm tree, and of course a pet-store turtle. The turtle tank lived on top of the toilet tank, and I often held the turtle and admired it while sitting on the toilet. As I flushed one morning, the turtle slipped from my hand, and I watched in horror as it swirled out of sight. That was the last turtle to live in our bathroom.
I have two turtle memories... and I'll begin with the more recent...we were snorkling in Cozumel in this luscious protected national park. It was my first time snorkling and I was fascinated by the colorful fishes. Suddenly I looked down and a huge sea turtle sailed directly under me and into a cave. What a sight! My earliest turtle memory was my first pet turtle that I let out for some playtime. He/she scuttled away and found an excellent hiding place- never to be found! Turtle!! Where are you?
My uncle let my husband and I stay at his beachfront condo for our honeymoon. The first night we were there, we went for a walk on the beach and witnessed a mama turtle returning to the ocean after burying her eggs. My uncle commented for all the times he went in search of the turtles in the years he lived there, he had not yet had the proviledge.
We have 2 ponds with many turtles. They come nad lay eggs in our yard. We mark the nests so we can try to see when they hatch. Not many nests make it but it's great fun to watch the tiny turtles makiing their way back to the pond.
When I was eight, at the end of our lane a brushy hill dropped away. I knew that was my own wilderness when I found a desert tortoise there. He had probably lived there before my house was built. I took him home and he stubbed around in a wire enclosure under a tree and ate lettuce we gave him, for about a week. Then he was gone. I looked and looked. A long time afterward I hiked down my wilderness hill and found him again, hoisting himself out of a burrow. Three house lots and a road away, he had gone home. Finding him again was my 9th birthday present. After that, when I explored on our hill we just visited at his place.
I live in a suburb of Atlanta, near a wooded area with a stream. While walking along the sidewalk one day, peering into the streamthat ran below me, I saw what looked like a tortoise! How out of place was that??? It looked to be 10-12 inches wide and at least 16-20 inches in length. Do turtles grow that large or just tortoises? Ans how did he get to the stream in the burbs? Hmmm... sounds like a picture book in the making!
How swell to introduce another Guest Teaching Author to our TeachingAuthors readers: Birmingham, Alabama poet and debut novelist Irene Latham.
Putnam recently published Irene’s middle grade, Leaving Gee’s Bend.
Set in 1932, the novel tells the tale of an extraordinary young girl, Ludelphia Bennett, who must leave her known world of the Gee’s Bend quilters to bravely travel the dangerous 40 miles to Camden and back in order to deliver her Mama's badly-needed medicine. Booklist described the story as “authentic and memorable.”
Irene appropriately titled her website “Heart-Touching Tales of Unexpected Adventure.” Leaving Gee’s Bend is just such a tale.
Come meet Irene in the Q & A interview she recently granted me.
1. How did you become a TeachingAuthor?
It started with parenthood: I am the proud mom of three sons, now ages10, 13, and 15. As soon as my second son hit Kindergarten, I knew public school was not the best fit for him… so I brought him home. Home-schooling him has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Currently, all three of my sons are in successful non-home-school situations, so I can get in the classroom with my poetry workshops and school visits related to Leaving Gee's Bend.
2. What’s a common problem/question that your students have and how do you address it? Interestingly, one of the problems I’ve encountered in my poetry workshops is writer’s block, which seems to be more a “brain freeze” related to performance anxiety. I’ve always found coming up with ideas to be the easy part. So for me to discover this is often the hard part for students…. Well, I’ve learned to be very specific in my prompts. That seems to help. Also, reminding them that the only absolute in poetry is that there is no absolute.
3. Would you share a favorite writing exercise for our readers? Oh my goodness, I could go on for days! Here’s one I was just reminded of in a workshop with author Kerry Madden. It’s deceptively simple, but guaranteed for good results: Think of your favorite secret hiding place. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you taste? What do you feel against your skin?
4. What one piece of advice do you have for teachers? Remember: writing involves trust. For kids to open up on paper, they need to feel safe. Which means, don’t worry so much about form as substance. Praise kids for their effort, their creative thought… overlook poor grammar and punctuation errors. As soon as you start focusing on the nitpicky stuff, they will disengage emotionally. And the whole point is for them to dig deep, to discover something about themselves and their world as they put words on the page.
5. Can you share the Moment you knew you were a writer? For many years writing was my secret life. Even my husband of twenty years says he didn’t know he married a writer. That’s because I didn’t pursue writing as a career in
20 Comments on Meet Irene Latham, Guest Teaching Author! (and Enter our Book Giveaway Drawing), last added: 5/1/2010
Thanks for the great interview, Irene. And Esther, your last question is very interesting. Even after I'd been published in a newspapers and magazines, I didn't really feel like a WRITER--real writers wrote fiction (at least in my mind). I don't think I felt like a REAL writer until my first short story was published in a children's magazine.
I liked reading Irene's interview. I've written many children's book and often go to schools to read them and do activities. I like the "favorite hiding place" exercise. I look forward to reading your future posts.
I enjoyed the interview and will read the book soon.
When I was growing up, my older sister was "the writer" and I was "the artist." Fortunately, my sister decided to do other things for many years, so I didn't worry about competing with her when I started writing. (She now writes poetry that gets published.)I felt as if I'd become a real writer the day a short story I'd written was accepted for publication. I remember dashing all over the house, waving the letter that promised I'd get a check for $22!
I knew I was a writer when I changed the way I thought of myself: I am a children's writer and a dietitian instead of my old way of I'm a dietitian and a children's writer.
Great interview! I found it through your email to kidlitosphere. I've been hearing so much about this book. I'm looking forward to reading it.
I knew I was a writer when I finally got a check for something I had written. That was very validating, especially since my parents didn't think I could make a living as a writer :)
As a teacher I have always had my students write stories. I have always loved the creative process. I had a teacher in high school writing class tell me it was a good thing I wanted to be a teacher because I would never make it as a writer, and I believed her. After 9/11 I kept telling my husband that I had a book idea and repeated that for two years on the anniversary of 9/11. One year he went inside, got a yellow pad and pen and said, "Write It". I did in one month and that is when I knew I was a writer. I am still unpublished but have continued on working on two other books.
I often remind my students, both young and young-at-heart,about that all-important suffix "er." A writer is - simply, technically -a person who writes! Checks, grocery lists and Thank You notes. Picture books, novels, short stories, poems. Thanks to all who shared their Writer-Recognition Moments. Special thanks to Irene for sharing her Writer's Story. Despite a journalism background that placed my name in bylines since junior high school, the first time I truly - felt - like a children's book writer was the first time a school invited me to speak to their students. Ebony Junior Magazine (no longer in print)had just published a poem I'd written.
Well, although a reviewer of children's books, my writing ambitions are for the older crowd and more academic! I recall living in Denver at the start of my career, and tagging along with a friend to visit an author of Dog Fancy who lived in the Foothills. I thought, what a life...that's what I want! Then put that thought aside 20 years, when suddenly book ideas starting popping into my brain frequently. I'll get them written one of these days!
I really enjoyed Irene Latham's Q&A, and I think it's great that Teaching Authors interviews other writers.
My 5 yr old daughter came in the back door, and, referring to her 6 yr old brother, said, "Mom, he's ruining my life!" The moment I knew I was a writer was when I heard her comment and started longing for my intimate moments with my Synonym Finder.
What a fabulous question! I knew I was a writer when I wanted to write more than I wanted whipped cream. Really. I knew it when instead of needing sustenance I needed to write for hours in that zone we all know--that addicted writing state as if in a dream...
I enjoyed reading Irene's interview and will be adding "Leaving Gee's Bend" to my reading list as soon as I leave this computer. As a homeschooling mother, I know the wonderful feeling of spending this special learning/sharing time with a child. I also understand the need to have something for just me. That's why I'm here with you! Cindy Antene [email protected]
I knew I was a writer early on--I remember writing 1 page stories in 3rd grade, but the pivotal moment in my writing life was in my high school freshman English class. We had a new & innovative teacher. He made us WRITE poetry. Finally, I'd found my medium & voice. The teacher left after that 1 year year, but I still remember him fondly.
I've always struggled with writing and finding the right words. I guess I still don't truly consider myself a writer even though I blog nearly every day. After reading a review on Hope is the Word, Leaving Gee's Bend is a book I know I truly want to read.
We Teaching Authors are still catching up from being away at the Illinois Reading Council Conference last week. I'll report on the conference on Wednesday. Meanwhile, while we were gone, our Guest Teaching Author Johanna Hurwitz selected our latest giveaway winner:
Cheryl S of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Here's Cheryl's winning question, and Johanna's answer:
I have sketched out the main characters for my novel in my mind, but have yet to name them. I have determined the conclusion and have chosen the title. What do I do next? Where should I begin? Should I begin with a story outline? Should I concentrate on fleshing out my main characters? Should I mention that there are subplots?
Wow. You have a lot of questions and a lot of work ahead of you. Many writers prepare an outline before they begin writing. However, there is no rule. You already know your conclusion so you just have to think of a beginning and work towards that ending. Personally, I don't use an outline. I like to be surprised by my story just as if I was a reader. That's the way I work - I compare it to taking a trip and knowing where I want to go but leaving the map at home. That means I might get lost, I might waste time. But there will be surprises along the way and that's what makes writing fun for me.
Why don't you give your characters their names? (You can always change them.) They will seem more real to you once they are named. Then sit down and write. Nowadays with computers it is so simple to flesh out characters or make changes at any point. When I began writing (in the Dark Ages), I literally had to cut and paste my stories together and retype over and over. You are spared that but there is still a lot of work ahead of you. Start now or you'll never finish.
Thanks again, Johanna, for sharing your wisdom with us. And thank you to all our readers who entered our contest. If you didn't win this time, never fear. You'll have another chance to win a new autographed book on Friday, when we celebrate the release of the latest TA book: Waiting out the Storm, by JoAnn Early Macken.
Happy Writing, Carmela
2 Comments on Our Latest Giveaway Winner, last added: 3/23/2010
Wow! I love your blog. Every morning I try to visit a new blog from the She Writes blog roll, and I am so glad to have found yours this morning. Thank you all for such fun and informative posts.
I'm honored to announce the publication of my short story, "Big Z, Cammi, and Me," in the new middle-grade anthology, I Fooled You: Ten Stories of Tricks, Jokes, and Swicheroos (Candlewick Press), which was released yesterday. (Don't you just LOVE the cover?) Here's a description of the book from the Candlewick website:
An arrogant prince tries to bluff his way out of paying the bridge troll’s toll, only to find that honesty really is its own reward. Judy Moody dreams up her best-ever prank on Stink, but he finds a hilarious way to make her joke fall splat. And when a boy’s grandfather plays an elaborate trick that has the whole town laughing at him, can he use it one day to big-time advantage? Edited by acclaimed children’s author Johanna Hurwitz, this collection of stories -- all woven around the phrase "I fooled you" -- range from a comic graphic tale about clever chimps to thought-provoking explorations of fairness, empathy, eccentricity, and the power of imagination. How many different ways can ten leading middle-grade authors tell a story including the line "I fooled you"? Prepare to be surprised!
And today I'm especially thrilled to be able to feature a Guest Teaching Author interview with Johanna Hurwitz herself. In the interview, Johanna shares a bit about how the anthology came to be, and also about her own experiences as a Teaching Author. She has also generously agreed to provide an autographed copy of the anthology for one lucky TeachingAuthors reader. You'll find details about the giveaway following the interview.
Although I've never met Johanna Hurwitz in person, I have long been familiar with her work as the award-winning author of over 50 books for young readers, including picture books, novels, and biographies. Two of her recent titles are Amazing Monty and Squirrel World. You can read more about Johanna at her website.
And now for the interview:
Johanna, can you tell us how you became a Teaching Author?
I was a school librarian and then at one of my positions, I was asked to teach reading. I guess I did too good a job because before I knew it I was asked if I could teach writing as well. I drew the line when the school director, realizing that I knew how to type, asked if I would type up all the teachers’ student evaluations. Subsequently, after several of my books were published, I was invited to teach summer writing workshops at Hofstra University on Long Island and a three-day workshop at the University of Vermont.
What’s a common problem/question that your students have and how do you address/answer it?
“I don’t know what to write.” Everyone has a story or many stories
11 Comments on Book Giveaway and Guest Teaching Author Interview with Johanna Hurwitz, last added: 3/14/2010
I think there has been a mistake. I already won this!
I fooled you - just for a second.
I wondered how elaborate the stories are in the book. Do they have to involve a lot of people to be something that interests the readers or are they just quick and simple? I'll have to get the book and find out. Nina Nina Johnson [email protected]
I already have this book so I'm not "in it to win it," but I wanted to thank you for posting this wonderful interview! Johanna Hurwitz is one of the loveliest people on earth and one of my family's all-time favorite authors for emergent literacy...my son learned to read with the help of her RIVERSIDE KIDS series (we've read every single one!), and now my goddaughter loves them, too! Hurwitz's writing is always on the pulse of what's fun and appealing for kids, and she deserves acknowledgment and a large following. Great job!!!
I love the story of your former fan-turned-teacher getting a grant for you to come to the school. I have a couple questions about this. Did you merely let her know your price and then she took it on herself to find the grant? Was it a grant from an arts council? I guess I am wondering how much you helped her or if you suggested the grant avenue to her? When my middle grade novel gets published, I hope to do some school visits around where I live but school budgets right now are not so great.
My question is...how do I create a main character who has a long way to go to be on the plus side of lovable without alienating my reader? Playing tricks on others or being sarcastic doesn't equate with being sympathetic, so what's the best way to proceed?
I have a picture book coming out this fall, Brave Donatella and the Jasmine Thief. I teach college part time and doing a school visit with young students takes me a little out of my comfort zone. How do you make your school presentations interactive, fun and engaging for little folk?
Many times we hear advice to a new writer that it takes perseverance to become an author. Could you name your source(s) for perseverance? Or how do you cultivate perseverance in the face of manuscript rejection?
I have sketched out the main characters for my novel in my mind,but have yet to name them. I have determined the conclusion and have chosen the title. What do I do next? Where should I begin? Should begin with a story outline? Should I concentrate on fleshing out my main characters? I should mention that there are subplots. enyl(at)inbox(dot)com
The Teaching Authors are pleased to present an interview and book give-away with our friend, Sarah Campbell. On a personal note, I met Sarah when she came to my very first book signing in our shared hometown, Jackson, Mississippi. Sarah and I got to know each other pretty well that day, given the number of people who did not attend the signing! Over the years, I have had the pleasure of observing Sarah at work with her elementary school students. Their joy in the act of creating, and pride in their completed writing is a direct result of one very fine teaching author. Sarah is not only a gifted teacher; she is an award-winning author as well. Her first book, Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator is a Geisel Honor Book. A former journalist, Sarah is the mother of three sons, which she and her husband are raising in Jackson, Mississippi Her new book, Growing Patterns, is set for release next month. To celebrate both Sarah's appearance on Teaching Authors, as well as the publication of her new book, we are giving away an autographed copy of Growing Patterns. To enter the drawing, see the instructions at the end of this post.
How did you become a Teaching Author? When my first son was born, I left full-time journalism and took a part-time job teaching a journalism class and advising the student newspaper at a liberal arts college. After my third son was born (three-and-a-half years later) I wanted to use the little time I had for my professional self to write--not teach. At the time, I was writing magazine articles and corporate communication pieces. When my third son went to school, I ventured into the classroom again, this time as a volunteer at my sons' elementary school. I was in the midst of transforming myself into a writer for the children's market. Whenever the students embarked on an interesting unit, I would turn up at school with lots of books (mainly from the public library) on the topic. Both the students and I read and read. I also photographed their class
24 Comments on Book Giveaway and Interview with Guest Author, Sarah Campbell, last added: 2/25/2010
Michelle, Your daughter has great taste! Lindsay Vonn is exactly who I was thinking of when I was thinking of contest ideas. Just the image of her slamming down a mountain...well, I think it would be terrific. Not only is Lindsay a great athlete, she is an example of some one who perseveres despite pain, injury and disappointment. MA
I think the women's 4 x 100 relay team of 1968 deserve a picture book biography. Runners were: Margaret Bailes, Barbara Ferrell, Mildrette Netter, and Wyomia Tyus. I should check into what's available in archival photographs.
I'm glad others are getting inspired to do photo-illustrated books. I think they're great! (but then I would.)
Thanks for having me, Mary Ann, and other teaching authors. I love your blog.
Kids are so lucky today-to have books like Growing Patterns on the Fibonacci sequence! I'd never heard of it till I was all grown up (and working as a sub teacher in a 7th grade math classroom!)
As for interesting Olympic athletes, I'd put pen to paper to write Apolo Ohno's story. Or maybe that's just me thinking like a 7th grader :-)
Great interview, Mary Ann, and I can't wait to see the book, Sarah!
I'd toss in a vote for Apolo - and maybe for the young Japanese pairs skater who left her home and country to train with a particular coach - in Russia, I think? Mary Ann, you probably know the story!
What an amazing website you've provided! As an aspiring children's author, I was thrilled to read of it in the 2010 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market, and couldn't get to my computer fast enough to check it out. Thanks for your generosity and willingness to offer guidance to "n00bs" !
One of the newer Olympic sports deserving of some non-fiction coverage is "Curling". Not only is this sport do-able by children who are not particularly athletic, it also has the distinct honor of being "new & weird" (always a winner with kids). Perhaps an NF children's book on the "First American Olympic Curling Team" (with separate chapters for the 2010 men's and 2010 women's team USA members) would be just the ticket.
Sarah, we're honored to have you here on TeachingAuthors. And I enjoyed watching the trailer for GROWING PATTERNS on your blog. Lots of great entries for our contest already. But, M, if you want to be entered in our contest, you need to provide an email address--there isn't one listed on your StrictlyTopSecret profile. Good luck, everyone!
Sarah, Your suggestion of the 1968 4 x100 women's relay team is excellent. Of the four women mentioned, the only I know is Wyomia Tyus. This sounds like four women who need to be celebrated, for sure! MA
Robin, Of course I know the name of Japanese pairs skater who left her country so she could work with a renowned Russian pairs coach. Her name was Yuko Kawaguchi. Since she renounced her Japanese citizenship for Russian and competes on their Olympic team, her name has been Russianized (if that's a word)Yuko Kavaguti. (I am not a walking Wikipedia...my daughter competes in figure skating, so we know this stuff.
Kara Laughlin said, on 2/22/2010 2:31:00 PM
I have to go with Shaun White--watching his runs on the half-pipe brought out all my motherly protective instincts as he flew several stories up in the air for each trick. Add to that the fact that he was skateboarding as a four-year-old, and I think we've got a great biography for middle grade reluctant readers.
Also--I'm very excited that my eight-year-old mathematician/scientist has a book on Fibonacci numbers to check out. A kid can only memorize pi to so many digits before he needs to move on, you know?
I am not eligible for this contest, but I can't resist adding my two cents...I am a fan of the Boys on Blades--Apollo Ohno, Shani Davis, and Evan Lysacek!
Nice interview. I'm looking forward to seeing the book!
I'll cast my vote for Debi Thomas, African American figure skater back in 1988 who went on to become a doctor. She was inducted into the Figure Skaters Hall of Fame in 2000.
Doraine, I can't believe I forgot Debbie Thomas. When she lost the gold to Katerina Witt in '88 (the Battle of the Carmens) my winter was ruined! It's great to read all these wonderful story ideas...keep'em coming! You have until Saturday.
Hey Mary Ann, I suggested that 1968 team because I met and got to know Mildrette Netter (and her daughter, Gyra) when I was in junior high. I've kept it in the back of my mind (file). Sarah
I'd like to see one about alpine skier Bode Miller, because he's from my home state (it would be really popular at my library). To my knowledge, the only biography written about him is geared toward adults. Now that he's won his first gold medal, maybe a photo biography is more likely..
Great interview--I love the idea of using paper frames to focus on a writing topic. I might trek through our snow drifts and try it myself! Here are two ideas for Olympian biographies: Peggy Fleming and Mark Spitz. I guess I'm revealing my age..
The Teaching Authors are tickled to present a book giveaway and interview with our dear friend, Guest Teaching AuthorBobbi Miller! Bobbi is the author of the picture books One Fine Trade and Davy Crockett Gets Hitched. She lives in a log cabin, loves the outdoors, and spins tall tales. Of course, she also teaches.
To celebrate Bobbi’s appearance on our blog, we're giving away an autographed copy of Davy Crockett Gets Hitched. To enter the drawing, see the instructions at the end of this post.
How did you become a Teaching Author?
I am one of those nerds who knew how to read and write by kindergarten. I have always read and written stories. I studied hard to hone my craft, too. As an undergraduate, I studied writing and anthropology. I went to Simmons College, the Masters of Children’s Literature Program, where I studied the folklore process in children’s literature. I investigated voice and perspective, and most of all, the language of the storytelling process! I also went to the Vermont College (now the Vermont College of Fine Arts) MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults Program. To tell you the truth, I think everything I learned up to that moment was preparing me for this experience at VCFA.
But the real surprise in this journey is that after graduation, I became a writer who teaches writing. While I was a student, I worked as an editor, a bookseller, and just about anything to pay the bills. Once I became a teacher, however, I discovered that I really enjoyed the connection to the students, to my colleagues, to the process of teaching. This teaching of writing keeps me connected to language itself. I find that in the teaching of writing, I engage more in understanding and expanding my knowledge of writing.
What's a common problem or question that your students have, and how do you address it?
I teach composition and advanced composition as well as all levels of writing for children. In all of my classes, the primary question becomes the use of language. It’s more involved than simply using a thesaurus. Language is more than mere words; it’s not only the rhythms and patterns, the musicality and the poetry of language, it’s a character in its own right. Writers talk of voice, but it’s a metaphorical application, because writing has no voice! Voice is grounded in the organic nature of language.
In my tall tale retellings, for example, the tall-talk of the tall tale is as wild and unabashed as the frontier. The language, like the characters that inhabit these tales, is rambunctious and bodacious. The language of the tall tale defies the tidy and restrictive, even uptight structure of formal grammar. It mocks it, in fact, using pseudo-Latinate prefixes and suffixes to expand on the root. The result is a teetotaciously, splendiferous reflection of a frontier too expansive for mere words to capture. By creating such a grand language, the frontier storyteller found a means to make an unknown frontier less scary. More than this, the grander language captured the bigger ideas.
In this day of truncated text-talk and quick fixes, we take read
17 Comments on Book Giveaway and Guest Teaching Author Interview with Bobbi Miller!, last added: 2/8/2010
Welcome, Bobbi! Great to "see" you again. I didn't know you lived in a log cabin. :-) Your books sound terrific. I look forward to reading them. (Too bad I'm not eligible to enter the drawing.)
I think folktales are really interesting. And am amazed at the amount that are out there. Some of the scarely stories that we hear as children are actually folktales, like The hook and Bloody Mary. so many have been made into or added to movies. But one of my favorites has to be Three Billy Goats Gruff. bc428(at)juno(dot)com
I really enjoyed your discussion of tall tale language. I have published one folktale, holy Mole! and have a second coming out this fall, Brave Donatella and the Jasmine Thief. I also teach composition. Lately editors have been telling me that folktales are a hard sell in this economy. Is there a particular kind of folktale that you think sells better than others or that is very current? What do you think is the future of the folktale? Caroline McAlister [email protected] www.carolinemcalister.com
I never really thought about my favorite folktale before (by the way this book looks super cute--I would LOVE to win it). But I guess I'm a pretty big fan of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe.
O thank you for dropping by, everyone! And for your kind words. Caroline, regarding your question on the fate of the folktale, I addressed this very thing in a forthcoming SCBWI Bulletin article, and in a discussion on my website. Drop by! Bobbi
I read the comments about folktales on your site. Very sobering, but also affirming to find out I'm not alone in my struggle to write and publish traditional tales. Thank you for your work on this topic. I will keep my eyes open for your piece in the SCBWI bulletin, and I will check out your blog and your books. I think I will also get started on writing a middle grade novel. In Peace, Caroline McAlister Author of Holy Mole! and Brave Donatella and the Jasmine Thief
The Teaching Authors are thrilled to present an interview with our dear friend and GuestTeaching Author Carolyn Marsden.
Carolyn grew up in Mexico City and Southern California. Although she wrote for adults for many years, she began to write for children after the birth of her daughters. She attended Vermont College and earned an MFA in Writing for Children. Her first book, The Gold-Threaded Dress, published by Candlewick, was a Booklist Top Ten Youth Novel of 2002. Her second novel, Silk Umbrellas, was a Texas Bluebonnet nominee and Booklist Top Ten Art Novel of 2003. Since then, Carolyn has published several more award-winning middle grade chapter books with Candlewick and Viking, almost all with multicultural themes. The Buddha’s Diamonds was a Southern California Booksellers Association finalist and a Booklist Top Ten Religion Novel of 2008. Her latest book, Sahwira: An African Friendship, is set in what is now Zimbabwe. Carolyn lives in La Jolla with her Thai husband and two half-Thai daughters.
To celebrate Carolyn’s appearance on our blog, we're giving away an autographed copy of her newest book, Sahwira: An African Friendship. To enter the drawing, see the instructions at the end of this post.
Welcome, Carolyn! How did you become a Teaching Author?
In 1981, when I was living in Tucson, Arizona, mostly writing poetry for adults, I got a job as a Poet-in-Residence. For either a week or a month at a time, I visited urban and rural schools (K-12), including those on the Navajo and Pima reservations. Whenever I entered a classroom, I had about one minute to convince the kids that writing poetry could be fun. Following the lead of Kenneth Koch (Rose, Where Did You Get that Red?), I never used poetry written for children as my examples. I enjoyed seeing the children’s writing rise to new levels when I used poems by writers like Shakespeare or William Carlos Williams, or poems from other cultures. The students absorbed the rich language, rhythms, and subject matter. To my eternal delight, the kid at the back of the class, the one the teacher told me wouldn’t write anything, the one with the learning disability, invariably wrote the best poem.
What’s a common problem your students have, and how do you address it?
The most c
13 Comments on Book Giveaway and Guest Teaching Author Interview with Carolyn Marsden!, last added: 12/3/2009
Thank you. Very interesting interview with a unique author. I have a question for Ms. Marsden. If she is taking questions, I would be delighted to know more about how she works out the details of her collaborations. I notice she her collaborators are named co-authors. Any advice she has for working out this arrangement would be valuable, as I am writing a book with a multi-cultural aspect and would love to have someone on board who has more experience and knowledge than I. I'd like a copy of her latest book because it looks like a great story. Thanks, Mary Cronk Farrell
Thank you for having a guest author! I am amazed at her writing process because I have been wanting to do similar interviews with my grandmother (Mema) to write the incredible stories of her fascinating childhood. Now I am truly inspired! I would love a copy of the book! I have recently taken a new position as Instructional Coach at my school. As a writer, working with teachers and students at all grade levels on improving writer's workshop is always a top priority for me. Using this book in my model lessons would be amazing. Not to mention the exposure would be far reaching since I usually try to use the same book with modified applications from kinder up through fifth grade. Thank you again- I look forward to reading your next inspiring post!
I learned a lot in this interview! I think getting on author's perspective on how to teach writing and the processing of writng itself is always inspirational. I am entering to win this book because I have always loved the idea of signed books having been "touched" by the actual author. For me, it takes away some of the inpersonal aspects of mass market book production.
Having a copy of the book would be great but her other books sound wonderful as well. I learned that my way of writing more than one thing at a time is okay. I too have too many ideas. Thanks for admitting to that. lol
I love the idea of working with others on the parts that you don't know and that it is okay to admit that.
Thanks for having such a wonderful interview with such a wonderful lady. Nina
What a fascinating interview. I used to help out in elementary schools in England, and the way you help a child describe a daisy reminds me of that. There's something so fulfilling about bringing words and pictures out with a child.
I'm intrigued by how you collaborate with others to write, and I'd love to have the chance to read one of your books.
I would love to have a copy of this book for several reasons. I, too, had cousins who grew up in Africa as MKs and I would like to read something that relates to that experience and let them know about this book. Another reason is I am a sixth grade teacher at a Christian school where the black/white ratio is nearly 50-50. I think my students would love this story and it would also enhance our World Studies curriculum.
What a fascinating interview! I would love to win a copy of this book. As someone who has lived and traveled in Asia and who married a Filipino man with whom we have 2 children, I am very interested in other cultures. As an adult, I find myself saddened by the fact that I hated history in school so took the minimum required courses and no more. After travelling and learning so much about the world and its' people, I've realized that I love the history - it's the way it's traditionally taught that I have a problem with. The very word "history" contains the word "story" yet it is the stories that get neglected. Reading those stories truly opens my eyes to the world, the people, the cultures. I want to bring this to my children as they grow up.
Thanks for a great interview. Your historical fiction books sound so wonderful--I am a big fan of historical fiction and using it to teach kids about different places and times!
Margo Dill http://margodill.com/blog/ Read These Books and Use Them
Historical fiction brings life to subjects many students find boring and thus refuse to spend the time to learn. It is exciting to read well-written historical fiction and I look forward to reading more books by Carolyn Marsden. Thank you for featuring her.
With the funding cuts our school libraries in California are now dealing with, these contests offer a chance for them to add current literature to their shelves. Thank you.
I am working on a book about a young Maasai warrior in Kenya. The more opportunities our young people have to learn about cultures other their own, the richer their lives will be. I applaud you, Carolyn! I love reading about your writing process and your Airstream makes my little office seem like a very ordinary spot to write.
We have another first today--our firstGuestTeaching Author interview with a Teaching Author who is also an Illustrator: Elizabeth O. Dulemba! We are pleased to be part of Elizabeth's blog tour for her first picture book as both author and illustrator, Soap, Soap, Soap ~ Jabón, Jabón, Jabón (available in bilingual and all-English versions) published by Raven Tree Press. See the end of this post for information on how to enter for a chance to win your own autographed copy!
Elizabeth is the award-winning illustrator of seven trade picture books. She speaks regularly at conferences, schools, and events, and once a year, she teaches "Creating Picture Books" at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. She is the Illustrators' Coordinator for the Southern region of the Society of Children's book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is on the Board for the Georgia Center for the Book, where she is a strong advocate for the children's writing community.
Elizabeth, can you tell us how you became a Teaching Author/Illustrator?
I've always said if I wasn't a children's book author/illustrator, I'd be a teacher. One of my regrets in life is that I didn't stick around for an MFA in college--a degree which would have opened doors to teach in colleges and private schools. I still hope to achieve the degree someday. In the mean time, I have taught every chance I could through alternate means. I was a substitute teacher straight out of college; taught Beginning Drawing through the Chattanooga Arts Center in Tennessee; speak regularly at schools (grade school through adult), conferences and events; and teach 'Creating Picture Books' once a year at the John C. Campbell Folk School. I love to teach--it's a constant puzzle. Every student absorbs information differently and it's up to me to figure out how to relay that information in a way it will be best understood by each particular brain. It's a challenge that I adore.
What's a common problem/question that your students have and how do you address/answer it?
In line with what I mentioned above, if a student doesn't understand what I'm trying to relay, I have to approach the information differently--until I find the way that person learns best. Low attention spans can also be a challenge (even in adults!). I try to keep things dynamic to keep everybody engaged. (Full-time teachers must have amazing energy--I wish they could bottle it.) If I see I'm losing a student, I'll direct a question to him or her to pull them back in.
Would you share a favorite writing exercise for our readers?
Since I am an illustrator first, my exercise has a craft/visual element. I have students create a mini-book with a strip of paper--creating four panels with three folds. They divide the story they're working on into four categories, one for each of the four panels: 1) Introduce a problem, want, or desire 2) Present obstacles 3) Climax 4) Resolution Even for adults, I pull out a box of markers and have them decorate their "mini-dummies." It's something fun to show, but it also helps them define the key components of their stories. What a great exercise for picture book writers! Can you share how you were drawn to the writing side of picture book creation?
My journey into writing is an ironic one. I was identified as an artist at a very early age. So when the writing showed up a little later, it wasn't given much credence. After all, you only get 'One Thing,' right? However, my drawings were always illustrations of the stories filling my head, and I wrote in my drawing pads too--poems, stories, you name it. I kept a diary for years (volumes and volumes), but I never really knew I was a writer until I finally dove into my dream of creating picture books full time. My first attempts were pretty awful, but then I started getting comments like, "She can obviously write," or "She's a beautiful writer." Those meant so much to me. And even though my first picture book as both illustrator AND author is now out, I'm not sure I feel like a 'real' writer yet. I'm not sure what will do it. It's kind of like with my illustrations. I was an in-house illustrator, making my living from my art for fifteen years. But I didn't feel like a 'real' illustrator until I traveled to New York for the SCBWI Portfolio Show at the Society of Illustrators. I joke that I circled the building seven times and pounded that New York pavement. After that trip, I finally felt like a bona fide illustrator.
Soap, Soap, Soap is a variation on a classic Appalachian Jack Tale. Can you tell us how you came to write this story?
I have long been a fan of the Jack Tales. Something about the Appalachians and the culture there has pulled at me my entire life. So when Raven Tree Press approached me to illustrate Paco and the Giant Chile Plant, a bilingual adaptation of "Jack and the Beanstalk," I jumped at it. Not only was it a Jack Tale, but it was my excuse to finally learn Spanish. (Raven Tree specializes in bilingual picture books.) Happily, Paco did very well for Raven Tree and they wanted another. I presented Soap to my publishers when they were in town for IRA and they flipped over it. However, the new tale fit better in a modern day setting. So Paco became Hugo, and the old Chihuahuan desert became a small town in South Georgia. The rest will, I hope, be a very happy and successful journey.
Do you have any suggestions for teachers on how they might use Soap, Soap, Soap in the classroom?
Yes! I've created an entire activity page on my Web site. It includes coloring sheets, puzzles, recipes, and other activities that can be used at home or in the classroom.
I'm also thrilled to share that the Alliance Theatre's Teaching Artists program has picked up Soap as one of their main books this season. They focus on the basic concepts of getting muddy and getting clean. For instance, where can you get mud on you? Your elbows, your knees, etc. What does mud feel like and smell like? Once you've gotten muddy, how do you get clean? Do you take a bath and scrub? Teachers are using Soap to introduce hygiene in their classrooms. Anastasia Suen has also posted a mini-lesson tying the book to a related topic of hand-washing and learning to stay clean--an important topic in this Swine Flu season.
Along with these basic ideas, Soap can be used with my previous (illustrated) picture book, Paco and the Giant Chile Plant (written by Keith Polette) to discuss how folktales evolve over time. Both books are adaptations of classic Appalachian Jack Tales that were passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, from Cornwall, England to the Chihuahua desert in Mexico. Playing "telephone" is a great way to discuss how stories change and evolve as they travel from teller to teller and how stories can become uniquely our own when we tell them our own way.
Elizabeth, thanks so much for taking time to talk with us today.And special thanks for providing an autographed copy of your book for our giveaway. Readers who'd like to learn more about Elizabeth and her books can visit her Web site.
Instructions for entering our giveaway drawing are provided below. But first, you may want to watch the trailer for Soap, Soap, Soap ~ Jabón, Jabón, Jabón:
----- Now, for the contest requirements:
To enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Soap, Soap, Soap in your choice of a bilingual or all-English edition, you must post a comment giving us the title of one of your favorite folktales, and the reason behind your choice. To qualify, your entry must be posted by midnight, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 (CST). The winner will be announced on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009. Be sure to provide an email address where we can reach you! See this post for our complete giveaway guidelines.
We look forward to reading your comments. Good luck, everyone! And don't forget to watch for another book giveaway coming VERY soon.
Carmela
7 Comments on Guest Teaching Author/Illustrator Interview and Another Book Giveaway!, last added: 10/1/2009
No need to enter me (although my daughter's teacher would love to hear about this book!). I'm dropping in to say thanks for the e-mail. I've got this posted at Win a Book.
Very interesting to hear the author's/illustrator's/teacher's perspective! My favorite folktales are "The Selkie Bride" and "The Sea-Morgan's Baby", two Irish folktales about the selkie or mer-people. "The Secret of Roan Innish", a favorite movie of mine from a few years back, is drawn from these tales. I love the selkie stories because they remind me of my grandfather, a Scots-Irish story-teller of the old tradition--wise women, people of the sea, lonely fisherman---its all there. Leanne :) [email protected]
mine would have to be The Little Match Girl. its a sad and beautiful story. scrapbook-crazy.com
Anonymous said, on 9/28/2009 8:24:00 PM
I love our 'Malin Kundang'. It's an Indonesian's folktales about a rebellious boy that had been cursed to a rock by his mother. The boy, when he became a wealthy son-in-law of a king, didn't want to admit that the woman's his mom because she was very poor. The rock is still exist till now. Anyway, i'm so happy to find this site coz my 3yos son will love the book :) Mariska uniquas at ymail dot com
One of my favorite folktales is Johnny Appleseed. I mean, where would all the apple orchards be that we are going to this fall without Good ole Johnny? :) Soap, Soap, Soap looks wonderful. Thanks for the interview! Margo Dill http://margodill.com/blog/
Great interview. As a child I loved all the old stories of Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyon. Recently though I have enjoyed reading some very different tales from other countries. "The Magic Porridge Pot" tells how things can turn out if you do something nice and the end leaves you guessing. For some reason I also enjoyed "The Starlight Cloak" even though it seemed to be a mix of 2 tales, Cinderella and Johah and the whale set in Ireland. Thanks for this wonderful site.
Mary Sandford said, on 9/30/2009 10:11:00 AM
Great interview! My fav folk tales are the Boy Who Cried Wolf and The little REd Hen, but I am sure you can tell by my favs I am not really into folk tales much. I do love it when other people write about them- Can't wait to read your book Elizabeth!
We have a winner!But before I announce the winner's name, I want to thank everyone who posted in response to our first Guest Teaching Author interview. We loved the variety of picture books you all shared, and we enjoyed your wonderful comments!I also want to again thank Ann Whitford Paul for her terrific interview. And I need to apologize to Ann--I neglected to include a link to her website when
0 Comments on Our First Book Giveaway Winner! as of 1/1/1900
We have two firsts today--our first Guest Teaching Author interview, and our first Book Giveaway!We are happy to welcome author, poet, and teacher Ann Whitford Paul to TeachingAuthors.com as our first Guest Teaching Author. Ann is the author of 17 picture books for children. Her poetry has been published in numerous anthologies, and she teaches picture book writing through the UCLA extension
42 Comments on Guest Teaching Author Interview with Ann Whitford Paul and Book Giveaway!, last added: 7/18/2009
Great interview!<br /><br />I would have to say my favorite picture book is The Red Book by Barbara Lehman. I love how it tells a complete and complex story through illustrations alone, and that it makes the reader a part of the story.
My favorite picture book is Solomon the Rusty Nail by William Steig. I love how Steig incorporates so many of his reoccurring themes and ideas into this wildly exciting story of a rabbit with a particular talent. And of course Steig's illustrations are as brilliant as ever.
It's cruel to have to choose just one picture book when there are so many I love, but for rib-tickling fun I have to choose Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett. I love the "story within a story and the use of color in the illustrations to offsets the fantasy aspect of this whimsical tale. But most of all it's a hilarious tale that reaches the child in all of us.
Thanks for the great interview and the book giveaway!<br /><br />My favorite book for the "mom" in me is LOVE YOU FOREVER by Robert Munsch. I still get choked up reading it after 20 years! My favorite book for the "child" in me is THE GIVING TREE by Shel Silverstein. I love the message and the simple text and illustrations.
Thank you for this wonderful interview.<br /><br />Ann Whitford Paul was one of my teachers, and mentors. I look to her the way she looks to Sue Alexander and Myra Cohn Livingston. If you are ever able to take her class at UCLA Extension, don't miss it. I am sure her WRITING PICTURE BOOKS will become the go to book for all PB writers.<br /><br />One of my favorite PB is Ann Whitford Paul'
I hope I'm not repeating myself, but I don't see my post, an hour later.<br />Thanks for the blog and the interview.<br />Wish I had a great teacher like MLC.<br />Favorite books:<br />Ginger by Charlotte Voake because it's simple yet profound and about the nature of love and acceptance.<br />Oink? by Margie Palatini because it's a riot.<br />My Cat the Silliest Cat in the World
Thanks for the interview. I like <i>One Duck Stuck</i> by Phyllis Root, because it takes teamwork to get the duck out of the swamp. My oldest enjoyed the repeated verses even before he could read, and my youngest is also a fan.
I choose "Lunch" by Denise Fleming. The colors are rich and appealing an the story simple. I find even my preteen and teens pick it up and still look at it from time to time!
Great interview and thanks for the giveaway! I just found this blog and bookmarked it; I will surely be back. I have so many favorites, but if I must choose one picture book it would be <i>Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?</i>, Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises. I don't think I enjoyed reading any book as much to my children and now my grandchildren. It's so much fun making all those
I really enjoyed the interview--especially what Ann said about how we teach children to associate a book with an assignment--so wrong!<br /><br />My favorite picture book is Roxaboxen by Alice Mclerran (author) and Barbara Cooney (Illustrator). It is wonderful-- like every summer vacation (staycation) of imagination you've ever had as a kid. :)
Nice to meet you, ladies! Ann, what do you suggest as a way to interact with the book, beyond the book report? (Just so I can be armed and ready when my kids face the dreaded assignment!)<br /><br />No need to enter me. You were nice enough to send us e-mail asking us to post about this contest. We were more than glad to; it's up at Win a Book.<br /><br />I hope we can help spread the word
Anonymous said, on 7/15/2009 4:20:00 PM
Hi! Fun question. My favorite picture book is Go Dog Go by P.D. Eastman. Every time I read this book it brings back wonderful childhood memories.<br /><br />Suzanne Slade [email protected]
I teach kindergarten. It's so hard to choose. I'm going to go with a new favorite. Otto Grows Down by Michael Sussman. My kinder kids loved it and it was a great jumping board for journal writing.<br /><br />+mj.coward[at]gmail.com
Ooo, this was hard.<br />But I'm going to say my fave is <br />BARK, GEORGE by Jules Feiffer.<br />The text is simple but the idea/plot is fabulous. A great payoff belly laugh at the end, no matter how many times you read it.<br />The mother's and vet's expressions are priceless:)<br /><br />Bev
My favorite children's book is "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse" by Kevin Henkes. I enjoyed it because I thought Henkes captured the essence of a young child's behavior. Lilly reminds me of myself when I was her age. I also loved school and my teachers. I found the part where Lilly misbehaved humorous.Pam Matar
Not exactly an original choice, but my favorite would be "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. I just remember it so clearly from my own youth, and if I have kids, it will be one of the first ones I buy for them. I still enjoy it, incidentally, and am (perhaps sacrilegiously) looking forward to the movie very heavily. Thank you!<br /><br />lesleymfan(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks for the great insights in the interview! Although it's so hard to choose, my current PB favorite is "The Missing Piece" by Shel Silverstein. My son always asks why the main character leaves behind the missing piece for which he'd long searched, and I love getting to explain that sometimes our flaws are what make us who we are. It's a priceless message, and the
Wow, what a great site and outstanding interview!<br /><br />Currently my favorite picture book is Skippyjon Jones by Judith Schachner.<br /><br />I love the ability to join Skippyjon in his alter ego by using my version of a Spanish accent. The kid's reactions are priceless even if it does "tax the tongue."
Very interesting interview! Thanks!<br /><br />One of my favorites is If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff. It's a funny story children can relate to and I enjoy the way it's told. utgal2004[at]yahoo[dot]com
Anonymous said, on 7/16/2009 10:39:00 AM
I thought the interview was great.<br />My favorite picture book is Romeow & Drooliet by Nina Laden.<br />The basis for this book is William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet.<br />It is a sweet story with a surprise ending.<br />June Sengpiehl [email protected]
Anonymous said, on 7/16/2009 12:19:00 PM
Susan wanted to know how to interact with books other than book reports. I think a discussion is much less formidable. Perhaps a simple "tell me about the book," or "what did you like about the book," or whatever you want. My children, not being artists, stressed out even more when the assignmnet was to draw a picture or create a mobile. Really I believe reading books
Thank you for the interview! It was very helpful for me as a writer. My favorite picture book is Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe. I love his incredible illustrations and the rich lesson of the story, that little acts of kindness and mercy, when done in secret, are rewarded openly. I read this book repeatedly during my growing up years, and it was one of the books that inspired me
One of my very favorite picture books is called SHADOWS ARE ABOUT by Ann Whitford Paul.... not only is it beautifully written, but it is also a very different way to look at something thats always around us, something that we don't often see or pay attention to it.. <br />I love the ending because it sooo true. And lastly, looking at shadows is a fun game of observation to play with young
Dawn M. said, on 7/16/2009 4:23:00 PM
My favorite is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, illus. by Lois Ehlert. The text is such fun to read aloud and the illustrations so vibrant.
My favorite picture book is Henry Works, by D.B. Johnson. I love the illustrations, especially of rain and water. I also enjoy the counter-cultural view of what is important for work.
It's so difficult to choose just one favorite. Hmmm... if I have to choose one at this very moment in time, it would be KING BIDGOOD'S IN THE BATHTUB by Audrey and Don Wood. What humor! What an ending! What a fun and wonderful book!<br /><br />I've already heard good things about Ann's book. Can't wait to read it!<br /><br />Katy<br />www.katyduffield.com
this is an excellent interview. Great information. Awesome work. Two thumbs up.<br /><br />check out Get Published TV - episodes on writing and publishing your own book http://www.GetPublishedTV.com
Glad to find this blog; i bookmarked it! Thanks for the interview.<br /><br />Oh, so many good ones but if I go with first thought I'd say Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Simple yet vivid pictures I still remember, especially the first and last pictures. He uses sounds, senses, color, and simplicity to tell an unforgettable story of an ordinary day. My daughter, who has never seen snow, just
Great interview! As we all know, there are a zillion amazing picture books. Right now, the one I love and connect to most is Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty. Brilliant rhythm and rhyme. For the romantic in me, I love Sixteen Cows by Lisa Wheeler.
A great interview! Every picturebook is my favorite! My current favorite is the newest PB from Marion Dane Bauer, THE LONGEST NIGHT. Illustrator Ted Lewin uses only three colors to create the atmosphere for this very strong and emotional poem. The book begins: The snow lies deep. All through the forest, animals long for dawn's warmth...<br />([email protected])
Great interview!<br /><br />My favorite picture book is Bark, George by Jules Feiffer. I love the simple, matter-of-fact humor. (Like when George meows, the vet simply reaches in and pulls out a cat. Problem solved. Or is it?) :)<br /><br />Sheri<br />thedillard5 [at] yahoo [dot] com
Hi. Great blog and interview. Thanks!<br /><br />My favorite picture book is I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont. <br /><br />The drama from page turn to page turn is great for my little ones to participate in. We absolutely love the humor :-)
Thanks for the post and the contest. I have two real oldies as my fave picture books:<br /><br /><a href="http://books.simonandschuster.com/A-Is-for-Annabelle/Tasha-Tudor/9780689828454" rel="nofollow">A is for Annabelle</a> by Tasha Tudor. I love the delicate drawings, the whole idea of this beautifully outfitted doll, and lines like:<br /><br />"I is for India, whence came her shawl."<
I remember a few years ago I had taken my children who were very young at that time to the public library. It was their favorite thing to do on a Friday afternoon, because we would sit and hear the book being read for story time that day and then we would pick out a few books and videos to take home for the weekend. <br /><br />My 2 year old daughter came running over with a strange little book
One of my favorite picture books is Tuesday by David Weisner. I love the imagination and fun pictures, where kids can find something new every time they read it. And, as a first grade teacher, it made a great writing exercise. ;)
Thanks for the interview! I love so many picture books, but which ones do I have more than one copy of? Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is the favorite. If Max is going to be a wild thing, then, darn it, he is going to be the king of all wild things! He sails to the island where he is the most powerful creature. There is no better line than "Let the wild rumpus start!" I
I loved the interview and really love the "idea" exercise with the four columns. I think it's a great way to build a poem or story, not just the idea :)<br /><br />Anyway, to narrow down which picture book is my absolute favorite is virtually impossible because the ones I love each have their own individual flavor and can't really be compared. What I'll do is mention my
We have a winner! Check out my post for Saturday, July 18, for details.<br />Whether or not you won, I hope you'll keep reading--we have more giveaways planned for August and September.
Wow, Barbara, thanks so much for giving us not one, but THREE!, writing workouts. I want to try all 3!
Happy New Year to you!
This is just what I needed. How fortunate I get to celebrate two New Year's and try this twice! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Barbara, for gifting our readers - and me (!) - with such delicious and clever ways to start anew, literally and figuratively.
Happy 5774!