persevere
2011/12/30
2011/12/28
Illustrators of Children’s Literature
A list of children’s literature illustrators, past to present, of note to study:
Edward Lear
John Tenniel
Richard Doyle
Hablot Browne
Edmund Evans
Walter Crane
Kate Greenaway
Randolph Caldecott
Beatrix Potter
Arthur Rackham
L. Leslie Brooke
Ernest Shepard
Howard Pyle
N. C. Wyeth
Jessie Willcox Smith
W. W. Denslow
Maxfield Parrish
William Nicholson
Wanda Gag
Virginia Lee Burton
Clement Hurd
Robert McCloskey
Esphyr Slobodkina
Lynd Ward
Leonard Weisgard
Uri Shulevitz
Eric Carle
Ezra Jack Keats
Maurice SendakUri Shulevitz
Eric Carle
Raymond Briggs
Chris Van Allsburg
David Macaulay
David Wiesner
Chris Van Allsburg
David Macaulay
David Wiesner
Brian Selznick
Shaun Tan
2011/12/02
Buying Books
TAKE YOUR CHILD TO A BOOKSTORE DAY on December 3rd
AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION
THE SCHOOL COLLECTION/University of Illinois
JACKET FLAP
2011/11/11
Teddy Bear Stories
On a November day in 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear in Mississippi. A cartoon about the incident appeared in The Washington Post. Brooklyn, New York shop owners made a handmade bear and put it in their storefront window with the sign: “Teddy’s bear.” And, as they say, history was made.
Bear Books:
FAMOUS BEARS & FRIENDS, WRITTEN AND COLLECTED by Janet Wyman Coleman (Dutton, 2002).
WINNIE-THE-POOH (80th Anniversary Ed.) by A. A. Milne, pictures by Ernest Shepard (Dutton, 2006).
CORDUROY, story and pictures by Don Freeman (Viking Press, 1968).
A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON (50th Anniversary Ed.), story and pictures by Michael Bond (Houghton Mifflin, 2008).
BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE? by Bill Martin Jr., pictures by Eric Carle (Henry Holt, 1967).
OLD BEAR, story and pictures by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 2008).
THE TEDDY BEAR, story and pictures by David McPhail (Henry Holt, 2002).
WHAT ABOUT BEAR?, story and pictures by Suzanne Bloom (Boyds Mills press, 2010).
HUMPHREY’S BEAR by Jan Wahl, pictures by William Joyce (Henry Holt, 1987).
JESSE BEAR, WHAT WILL YOU WEAR? by Nancy White Carlstrom, pictures by Bruce Degen (Aladdin, 1996).
JAMBERRY, story and pictures by Bruce Degen (HarperCollins, 1983).
THE TEDDY BEARS’ PICNIC by Jimmy Kennedy, pictures by Alexandra Day (Green Tiger Press, 1983).
Educator Corner:
THE WILDERNESS WARRIOR: THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND THE CRUSADE FOR AMERICA by Douglas Brinkley (HarperCollins, 2009).
LITTLE CORNER ACTIVITY:
- Read Teddy Bears’ Picnic.
- Learn to sing “Teddy Bears’ Picnic.”
- Assist children in planning a “teddy bears picnic day” and hold an elaborate or simple picnic day.
- Children can make teddy bear masks to wear to the picnic.
- A huge, newsprint-size map to the picnic area can be drawn by everyone on the floor.
- Select games to play and gather needed balls or other equipment.
- Children can make small sandwiches and cupcakes.
- Each child can bring a favorite teddy bear and/or stuffed animal to school for the day and/or to the outdoor picnic site.
- Children can serve sandwiches and pour drinks to share with their teddy bears.
- Sing “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” while having a teddy bear parade around the picnic grounds.
- Illustrate the teddy bears picnic day in artwork.
- All can have a teddy bear nap time.
2011/11/08
Story Map: Edge and Hope
In a conversation about books, I heard of a school librarian in a large American city who choses books that won’t draw complaints. With budgets being cut, she feels it is better to have books on school library shelves rather than spending her limited dollars on a book that then, must be removed because of an objection. The result is a “safer,” conflict-free world for school children readers. The thought being that the children will, at least, have books to read.
This library is opposed to the world the children are living in. Where are children going to find the book in order to read about themselves? Where are children going to find the book to ease their own struggle in real life? Where are children going to find the book that changes them into lifelong readers?
Katherine Paterson writes in The Invisible Child about children finding themselves in books. She discusses the idea that story characters need some internal struggle to reach readers in difficult situations. To satisfy the invisible child looking for identification, confirmation that he or she is not alone in the world. The invisible child being that one hidden from the surface glance that schools and acquaintances, or even, friends and family usually see on a daily basis.
What should a writer write today? The old wisdom is that you write the story that wants to be written. As writers, should we see the children around us today and write the story that needs to be written? How far should we push our characters? Should childhood in general be ratcheted up for an attention-grabbing narrative? If we consider Katherine Paterson’s book of essays, a small push may best meet that need for readers.
Write characters with an edge, not completely lost, but with a reason for hope. Give children some relief from the demanding, destructive world developing all around as society wrestles with a change. Comfort the invisible child, write for this child. Write with an edge and hope that is grounded somewhere in real life. Write for the child inside all of us and it will be chosen by a story-buying world still trying to find itself.
THE INVISIBLE CHILD: ON READING AND WRITING BOOKS FOR CHILDREN by Katherine Paterson (Dutton, 2001).
2011/11/01
All About Books
THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS
http://bccb.lis.illinois.edu/CHILDREN’S LITERATURE ASSOCIATION QUARTERLY
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/childrens_literature_association_quarterly/KIRKUS REVIEW
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/home/index.htmlREADING ROCKETS
http://www.readingrockets.org/WEBSITES FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS
http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?section=greatwebsites&template=/cfapps/gws/displaysection.cfm&sec=24
2011/10/12
Show, Don’t Tell
Writing Lessons from DVDs
CITY LIGHTS (1931)
Show, don’t tell: scene 4.
WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
A journey for all ages: all scenes, scenes 52, 53, 54.
SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (1941)
A journey: scene 2.
CITIZEN KANE (1941)
A story circle/beginning and end: opening and closing scenes.
CASABLANCA (1942)
Voice, editing: all scenes.
LAURA (1944)
Pacing, twists and turns: all scenes, scene 13.
STRANGERS ON THE TRAIN (1951)
Tension: scenes 30, 31.
REAR WINDOW (1954)
Plotting: all scenes, scene 11.
ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959)
Character: scene 26.THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962)
Truth and legend: all scenes.A HARD DAYS NIGHT (1964)
Creative nonfiction: scenes 7, 8.ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976)
Nonfiction, dialogue: scenes 4, 5, 6.THE VERDICT (1982)
Character, no dialogue: scenes 30, 28.OUT OF AFRICA (1985)
Emotion: scene 14.WITNESS (1985)
Action: scene 15.A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT (1992)
Setting/place: All scenes, scene 26.THE PLAYER (1992)
Story: all scenes, scene 8.MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY (1993)
Details, set-up: scene 3.O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000)
Plot points, conclusion: scenes 10, 23.THE GHOST WRITER (2010)
Point of view: scene 4.
2011/10/02
Writing Clear
I’m sitting in a little bit of a cloud today, high up in a tree. I attended a wonderful writing workshop yesterday. The critique of my work was heartening and careful in showing areas needing clarity. It was the greatest compliment of my work so far.
A workshop is successful if I learn something new. Certainly successful if I learn more ways to revise and improve my manuscripts all on my own.
Lessons learned lately include needing to be less anxious and in a rush to send manuscripts out to a writing buddy, a critique group, or even an editor. Relying more on my own voice is the direction I need to go. Knowing those workshop skills will come in handy. But, it is hard because of the craving for some kind of feedback.
Writers can get burned on their writing journey by showering too much energy on listening to everyone—except themselves. Writing by consensus does not encourage a strong voice, a true voice. And it is incredibly easy to lose yourself and your writing into a muddle. The world is filled with writers that are good enough, but not singular in voice. Attentive to what has been done and correct, but not about what is pushing out new boundaries.
Is the problem that we write alone for hours on end? Do we need a social interaction more than writing satisfaction? Maybe it is a validation that we are writers, part of a group. Or is it a deeper problem, that we lack confidence in our writing?
Writing speaks most clearly to the person who has written it. In the end, it is all about the process of art and moving that clarity to a place that speaks to many people. It is as far as anyone can be from post-structuralism. It is creation of one voice.
Writers do not have any say on how the writing will be understood once published. All readers will see something different. Don’t invite too many people into the process. This is not about ignoring learning craft. One has to read, read, read. Go everywhere you can to learn. Listen to those who have earned a place as a master writer. The right critique can push a writer toward being clear and focused. However, the writer must stand tall in her or his vision.
Essential in the endeavor of writing is writing to find self. What is life, but to see, to really know what is more true? So, we write, bound in the chains of our everyday selves. Success beyond expectations can only be found in the breaking of those chains and boundaries. And there is the problem for a writer. We still need to be heard. To be a sturdy tree in a forest, but in a forest that is seen.
2011/09/26
Banned Books
BANNED BOOKS WEEK during last week of September
Recent examples of banned books:
THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie, art by Ellen Forney (Little, Brown, 2007).
CRANK by Ellen Hopkins (Simon Pulse, 2004).
2011/09/22
More Picture Books
THE CARROT SEED ( 60th Anniversary Ed.) by Ruth Krauss, pictures by Crockett Johnson (HarperCollins, 2004).
TEN LITTLE FINGERS AND TEN LITTLE TOES by Mem Fox, pictures by Helen Oxenbury (Harcourt, 2008).
KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON, story and pictures by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 2004).
DOG HEAVEN, story and pictures Cynthia Rylant (Blue Sky Press, 1995).
THE POLAR EXPRESS, story and pictures by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin, 1985).
BEFORE YOU CAME by Patricia MacLachlan & Emily MacLachlan Charest, pictures by David Diaz (Katherine Tegen Books, 2011).
THE NOISY BOOK by Deborah Underwood, pictures by Renata Liwska (Houghton Mifflin, 2011).
TREASURE, story and pictures by Suzanne Bloom (Boyds Mills, 2007).
OWEN, story and pictures by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 1993).
THE LONGEST NIGHT by Marion Dane Bauer, pictures by Ted Lewin (Holiday House, 2009).
2011/09/08
Cupboard Reading
A Blog for Young Readers:
CUPBOARD READING
CUPBOARD READING
INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY on September 8th
2011/08/14
My Own Road: On Writing
I saw a bicyclist with an extremely low tire.
He biked on down the trail, ignoring his situation. Curious . . . what was the story there?
In the last couple of weeks, it’s been one
hundred and ten degrees in the shade—great for staying in and writing. Revising my novel. After a week or two
of this southern version of hibernation, the mind and body needs to find space. A writer’s block of the muscles. On
Sunday morning, the temperature dropped to eighty-eight degrees, so I headed
out to a nearby nature preserve to hike. Another
blank page.
 |
| 2012 Linnea Heaney The Path |
Starting out, it was steamy, but not too hot.
The paper signs taped to the trail head posts included, “Lost: eight black
cows.” The counting book I tweaked every
now and then. The scent in the air was a little too real for the images.
“Missing: Bichon Frise lost on this trail.” Hmm,
a possible plot point? I met toddlers to older character types. The age of my manuscripts. And many dogs
on walks with their people. Dogs . . . my
rejected manuscripts, the ones I loved unconditionally.
 |
| 2012 Linnea Heaney Dog with Walkers |
Soon I left the chattering toddlers,
strollers, and dachshunds behind. Those
just beginning on their paths. My muscles relaxed and remembered the last
time they’d been on a trail. It was in the much cooler mountains of the Pacific
Northwest last month. A unique cool
setting. I searched for the elusive, threatened northern spotted owl. A first book publication. The saw-whet
owl is what I identified. A positive
rejection.
 |
| 2012 Linnea Heaney Fast-moving Bicyclist |
Hiking along the nature trail, I met a
fast-moving bicyclist, a steady horse and rider. Pacing. My mind considered the loss of green color in the snapping
dry woods. I need to write. The black
bat houses were clearly visible. A red cardinal flitted down from a tree. A
female cardinal checked the trail. Look
for the details of an ordinary life.
 |
| 2012 Linnea Heaney Fallen Tree with Bat House |
A well-mannered large white dog sat on the
bridge over a still creek. A red herring.
I passed, lost in my own thoughts, focused on the next step, and continued onto
the quiet trail beyond. It was getting warmer. I realized everyone else had
disappeared. The morning walk matched my breathing and confident hiking. I can do it. The cool of a shady spot
held my senses. Peace of mind. Solitude.
With earth under my soles, I could feel the
space for inspiration intensifying to reveal story, to find the right words. Working outside the box. Sweat poured
along my scalp. A critique. I needed
water. It was time to turn around.
 |
| 2011 Linnea Heaney On the Bridge |
When I returned from my hike, my car was the
only one in the parking lot. Time to get
to work.
I turned onto the same road I took to the
nature preserve, where a sign faced me: “Road Closed Ahead.” Keep going. I’m on my own road and ready for anything.
2011
blog version withdrawn
MY
OWN ROAD by Linnea Heaney (Hunger Mountain: the VCFA Journal of Arts,
10.15.2012).
http://www.hungermtn.org/my-own-road/
2011/08/12
2011/08/08
Childhood Literacy
Resources for Teaching & Parenting
PARENTS AS TEACHERS
http://www.parentsasteachers.org/
ZERO TO THREE
http://www.zerotothree.org/
CLEARINGHOUSE ON EARLY EDUCATION & PARENTING
http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/
HARVARD FAMILY RESEARCH PROJECT
http://www.hfrp.org/
CENTER ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH & PRACTICE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG CHILDREN
http://www.naeyc.org/
SOUTHERN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION
http://www.southernearlychildhood.org/
TEXAS FAMILY LITERACY RESOURCE CENTER
http://www.tei.education.txstate.edu/famlit/EarlyChildhood/earlyresources.htm
NATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILY LITERACY
http://www.famlit.org/
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH
http://www.ncte.org/
PARENTS AS TEACHERS
http://www.parentsasteachers.org/
ZERO TO THREE
http://www.zerotothree.org/
CLEARINGHOUSE ON EARLY EDUCATION & PARENTING
http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/
HARVARD FAMILY RESEARCH PROJECT
http://www.hfrp.org/
CENTER ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD
EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH & PRACTICE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG CHILDREN
http://www.naeyc.org/
SOUTHERN EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION
http://www.southernearlychildhood.org/
TEXAS FAMILY LITERACY RESOURCE CENTER
http://www.tei.education.txstate.edu/famlit/EarlyChildhood/earlyresources.htm
NATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILY LITERACY
http://www.famlit.org/
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH
http://www.ncte.org/
2011/07/21
Best Practices
Learning to Read
LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPRORIATE PRACTICES FOR YOUND CHILREN, by Susan B. Neuman, Carol Copple and Sue Bredekamp (NAEYC, 2000).
2011/07/19
Summer Curriculum
Children’s literature and, especially, picture/story books expand a teacher’s curriculum and a parent and child’s world. Books, and the teachers and parents using the books, are a tremendous influence in the lives of children. Stories are the backbone of culture and in today’s times, present the most compelling way of anchoring children and families in society. Summer is a great time to visit the library and be role models for children in reading books. It is also a great time to make new family memories.
Picture book stories can spring from an author’s own memories, fictional stories woven together with pictures that connect with young children. Family Pictures can be used to show a parent a way to talk about family history. The book is excellent for teachers working with young children and with families in family literacy settings and efforts. Literacy activities for the child in a classroom setting and for the whole family in the home setting can expand into a whole summer curriculum. All the World presents another view of our place in the world for children and families to share. Liz Scanlon’s book is a Caldecott (Randolph Caldecott Medal) Honor Book.
FAMILY PICTURES CUADROS DE FAMILIA, story and pictures by Carmen Lomas Garza (Children’s Book Press, 1990).
ALL THE WORLD by Liz Garton Scanlon, pictures by Marla Frazee (Beach Lane Books, 2009).
In learning about nonfiction stories, children’s books are strong in focusing on the less well-known, intriguing facts of history and the stories that make people and events come alive. For example, if one wants to learn more about the Apollo 11 landing on the moon, two recent books come to mind. The first book was written by Buzz Aldrin, one of the astronauts on the initial moon-landing flight. The Brian Floca’s book, Moonshot, is a Sibert Medal (Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award) Honor Book.
REACHING FOR THE MOON by Buzz Aldrin, pictures by Wendell Minor (HarperCollins, 2005).
MOONSHOT: THE FLIGHT OF APOLLO 11, story and pictures by Brian Floca (Atheneum Books, 2009).
Fictional middle grade and young adult books often use a real setting or a period in history to create a story around. The Gary Schmidt’s book is a Newbery (John Newbery Medal) Honor Book. The following two books represent only a couple of small windows of a huge library of wonderful books.
LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY by Gary D. Schmidt (Yearling, 2004).
ESPERANZA RISING by Pam Muñoz Ryan (Scholastic, 2002).
Books show the way for teachers and parents to ask open-ended questions for discussions about characters and conflicts in the stories.
LITTLE CORNER ACTIVITY:
1. Ask children and family members to draw pictures about their family memories, events and world.
2. Create scrapbooks with family photographs, drawings, and written versions of family stories.
3. Share the creations at home and in classrooms.
4. How do the stories read relate to our lives today?
2011/07/08
2011/06/30
Summer Break
Summer vacations take you away from regular life, work, and deadlines. The break is ideally relaxing and focused on activities that you find interesting, but away from time pressures, away from home. After a vacation break, you return unstressed and with a clear head to tackle life and work projects with a positive energy.
A break from a writing project should be like a vacation, so that you can return to your writing with a clear vision of the story. Your voice is hitting all the beats and is informed.
Reading preparation and breaks are invaluable to the writing life. Writing is a creative endeavor that flows better with rest, preparation, and only a little pressure. Let all writing simmer on the back burner while you take a break. The magic is in rewriting.
2011/06/29
Summer Reading
Well-Known and Not So Well-Known Books:
THE GIFT, story and pictures by John Prater (Puffin Books, 1985).
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, story and pictures by Crockett Johnson (HarperCollins, 1955).
A POCKET FOR CORDUROY, story and pictures by Don Freeman (Scholastic, 1978).
THE BOXCAR CHILDREN by Gertrude Chandler Warner (A. Whitman, 1942).
THE TREASURE, story and pictures by Uri Shulevitz (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1978).
LITTLE BLUE AND LITTLE YELLOW, story and pictures by Leo Lionni (Scholastic, 1959).
BLACK AND WHITE, story and pictures by David Macaulay (Houghton Mifflin, 1990).
FORTUNATELY, story and pictures by Remy Charlip (Aladdin Paperbacks, 1964).
HOW TO PAINT THE PORTRAIT OF A BIRD by Jacques Prevert, translation and pictures by Mordicai Gerstein (Roaring Brook Press, 2007).
WALK WHEN THE MOON IS FULL by Frances Hamerstrom (The Crossing Press,1975).
VOICES IN THE PARK, story and pictures by Anthony Browne (DK Publishing, 1998).
2011/06/28
2011/05/21
The Secret in the Garden
 |
| Hummingbird Visit 2011 Linnea Heaney |
I had two ladies to tea, iced, on my wide southern porch this week. One was a passionate gardener, and the other, a writer whose passion is finding the right phrase.
We looked over my gardens—the meadow, the wildlife habitat, and the secret garden. The overflowing pink Texas skullcap, salvia, wood rose, trailing periwinkle, and drifting Mexican feather grass in the planters edging the perfect white columns in comfortable disarray. My mission was to make the gardens look like they had just happened. The gardener understood with an unspoken keenness. Of course, getting any garden to just happen in this day of drought and brutal heat is almost a miracle.
My spring yard work came to a close this week with the pruning of my favorite antique roses—Old Blush and Duchess de Brabant. I positioned the cuts to encourage new growth and erased dead wood. I checked that the overall shapes and heights were pleasing to the eye.
Later that day, I approached an old manuscript with the same vigor. I cut out the lines that didn’t need to be there, shortened lines to a point, and left room for thoughts to grow. Do my sentences flow the way I need them to go? Is the story satisfying? Do the words look like they just happened?
A writer and once my teacher, Marjorie Facklam, said that “writing should be invisible.” How hard a writer must work to have the words and sentences look like they just happened, to be clear and enlightening, so the reader sees only the true story. What talent the reader might say, when, in fact, it is more dedication and perspiration. Any talent lies in being able to see what could be in the barren land or the white space of paper or the blank computer screen.
The secret in the garden is to work passionately with what you have, what will grow in the soil that is your life—to find that comfortable disarray that is your voice. A secret understood by my fellow gardener and writer friends.
2011/05/08
Beginning To Write
Who are you writing or illustrating for?
- Yourself—The Storyteller
- Children—format:
Board Books
Picture Books
Early Chapter Books: 6-8 yrs. (48-64 pp.)
Middle-Grade: 7-9 yrs. (48-80 pp.), 8-12 yrs. (80-160 pp.), 10-14 yrs. (128-200+ pp.)
Young Adult: 12+ yrs. (250+ pp.)
- Genre/Subject that you are knowledgeable about
- Family
- Writing Friends/Critique Groups/Teachers
- Editors
- Agents
- Publishing Imprints/Book Packagers/Magazines
- Publishing Houses
- Marketing
- Booksellers/Amazon/Barnes & Noble
- Publishers Weekly/Horn Book/Kirkus Reviews
- Independent Booksellers
- International Market
- Media: Print/Online/Television/Radio
- Digital Books/Print-On-Demand
- Self-Publishing
- Blogs/Websites/Social Network
- Awards/Recognition
- Journals/Publications/Catalogs
- Librarians
- School Librarians
- Teachers
- Other Professionals
- Professional Conferences
- Book Collectors
- RIF/First Book/ROR
- Parents/Grandparents/Family
- Children—age group:
Young Adults
Teens
School-age Children
Preschoolers
Toddlers/Infants
- The Reader, The Listener
2011/05/02
Celebrating Children’s Books
CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL
CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK in May
NATIONAL AMBASSADOR FOR YOUNG CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
EVERY CHILD A READER, CBC FOUNDATION
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE ASSOCIATION
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE JOURNAL
THE HORN BOOK
THE BANK STREET CHILDREN’S BOOK COMMITTEE
JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE NETWORK
2011/04/12
Poetry Notes
NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
YOUNG PEOPLE’S POETRY WEEK
A good basic reference for teachers and poets:
THE TEACHERS & WRITERS: HANDBOOK OF POETIC FORMS, edited by Ron Padgett (Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 2cd ed. 2000).
LITTLE CORNER ACTIVITY:
1. Look into your own backyard or nearby park. What do you see?
2. Put pencil to paper and write or draw the things that you saw without stopping.
3. Try to arrange a few words and feelings into short lines.
4. Think about fitting the ideas into a fun poetry form—an alphabet poem or a list poem. A haiku is short. A prose poem is longer. A couplet is just two lines that usually rhyme.
Here is my couplet poem:
In my garden, lives a green anole. He turns brown
when I chase him into the primroses that grow all ‘round.
Will I write another two lines? What else do I want to say?
5. So keep writing—the secret to finding success is to never give up. If you write and read, you will be a better writer and reader.
Poetry books for reading aloud:
YOU COME TOO: FAVORITE POEMS FOR YOUNG READERS by Robert Frost (Henry Holt, 1959).
A FAMILY OF POEMS: MY FAVORITE POETRY FOR CHILDREN, edited by Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion, 2005).
SHARING THE SEASONS: A BOOK OF POEMS, edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2010).
More books for poetry study:
A POETRY HANDBOOK by Mary Oliver (Harcourt Brace, 1994).
RULES FOR THE DANCE by Mary Oliver (Houghton Mifflin, 1998).
A POET’S GUIDE TO POETRY by Mary Kinzie (University of Chicago Press, 1999).
2011/04/10
Classic Books
NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK on April 10-16
SUPPORT TEEN LITERATURE DAY on April 14
http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/Support_Teen_Literature_DayClassic Books to Read or Read Aloud:
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll 1866).
LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott (1868-9).
HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain (1884).
THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ by L. Frank Baum (1900).
THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT, story and pictures by Beatrix Potter(1902).
POEMS OF CHILDHOOD by Eugene Field (1904).
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by L. M. Montgomery 1908).
NOW WE ARE SIX by A. A. Milne (1927).
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1935).
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE by C. S. Lewis (1950).
CHARLOTTE’S WEB by E. B. White (1952).
A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle (1962).
2011/04/02
A Real Best Friend
A REAL BEST FRIEND, story by Linnea Heaney (Hunger Mountain, 2011).
While writing A Real Best Friend, I honored old friends and my first teacher through the story. One of the experiences I like best about writing is how connections come to light. Old circles round to connect to new and suddenly everything fits. Getting everything to fit takes a drop of serendipity. A Real Best Friend has taken a thunderstorm of serendipity.
The final versions of A Real Best Friend were written over a few months while I was solving perplexing life mysteries. Into this period walked Bethany Hegedus, an author and an editor at Hunger Mountain. Bethany led a writing workshop that I attended at the last minute because of a change in travel plans. A “light bulb” moment occurred at the workshop. I realized how my quest for story and the mysterious fit into my life. With a whole new world view, I dove into my writing.
Later that month, I finished rewriting two picture book manuscripts. One was sent off to an editor I had met at a conference. A Real Best Friend was a question mark in my mind as to where to send it. I found that I had missed a contest deadline by one day at Hunger Mountain. The manuscript gathered dust while I considered the best course for it. It had received lovely hand-written rejections in the past year, but needed a special “home.” Could submitting the story as a general submission at Hunger Mountain be the next step? With no response to a half-hearted email sent through a social network, I sent it off to another publisher. It came back in short order. A Real Best Friend was to gather more dust. I was writing my first novel.
Three months later, I attended another workshop and had plans to meet a writer friend at a bookstore afterward. When I arrived at the bookstore, my friend was not there, but Bethany was there. I introduced myself again and we had a good conversation. I asked about submitting a picture book manuscript to Hunger Mountain since there would be no illustrations. The conversation ended with Bethany requesting to look over both of my picture book manuscripts. I visited with my friend, drove one hundred miles home, and emailed the manuscripts that Sunday night. Bethany responded favorably on Monday morning about, of course, A Real Best Friend.
We did go through revision, with Bethany’s gentle, but to-the-point comments. During this time, I learned about addressing editor suggestions and how to rewrite to find the story in the snuggest and most illuminating way. By the time I sent off the final version near the deadline and heard my phone ringing, I knew it was Bethany with the call all writers want to get. I thanked her for being my first teacher in the writing world!
Bethany Hegedus connects with Ms. Clements in being my first teachers, one for my childhood and one for my writing life. And I hope a friend always. Serendipity continues as my real life and my writing life finally unite with A Real Best Friend being my first publication in children’s writing. I am a real writer—and the A Real Best Friend story continues—waiting for more serendipity.
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