Patricia Newman's Book Notes

Do books have power? Here's proof! #militaryfamilies #literacy

2012-02-01T11:42:00.000-08:00

Dear Ms. Newman,
I just had to write to tell you how much I loved your book [Nugget on the Flight Deck]. I am aretired children's school librarian and had taken my 9 month old grandson tolaptime at our local library when I saw your book sitting on the counter. When I saw it, I had to have a copy.

One of my sons is currently an F-18 pilot serving aboard the USSEnterprise. He deploys again in March for a 7 month cruise, and when hecomes back he will have a 4 month old son (his first). It will be thefirst time that he will see the baby. We are giving his wife a babyshower before he leaves, and I bought your book as one of the many gifts I havegotten for them, but I know that it will be Daniel's favorite thing. Ican just picture him reading it to his son. Actually, I bought 2 copiesof the book (that was all that was available on Amazon at the time)--one for mypilot son and the other for my other grandbaby (who is the baby of the pilotson's twin brother). I'm going to have to buy another, though, because Iwant a copy to keep at my house too.

Since my husband was a Navy pilot also, I am quite familiar with all of the"pilot lingo." You really did an excellent job of incorporatingthe language on the ship into the story. I particularly liked how youitalicized those words and had a running glossary along the bottom. Theillustrator did a beautiful job, also.

It's funny because I've ordered and read many children's books over the yearsthat I have loved, but have never written to an author before. However,with a son flying off of an aircraft carrier, gone for such a long time, and inharm's way, your book was not only emotional for me, but it wasjust-----perfect. Thank you for such a lovely book.

Sincerely,
Tina

P. S. I also liked your additions at the end of what jobs the different coloredshirts mean, the aviator's alphabet, and the carrier facts.

Best Blog for Kids Who Hate to Read #literacy #lrnchat #parenting #preschool

2012-01-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

Would love for you to read my guest blog on Gail Terp's Best Blog for Kids Who Hate to Read.

Kids On KidLit: Bringing Families Together With Books
by Patricia Newman
Have you ever looked back at your life and noticed a theme? Mine is literacy. I figured it out when the Sacramento Area Reading Association awarded me the Celebrate Literacy Award for my books, my work in schools, and my devotion to reading. Doesn’t sound like a big “ah-ha” moment does it, but at the awards ceremony I thought back to my childhood when books took me to exotic places and fueled my imagination. Then I raised two readers. We looked forward to our family reading time every evening when my husband and I read aloud to our children until they were old enough to participate. Books have been a huge part of my life and I want to share that love with kids. More...

Kids On KidLit: Auriel (grade 2) reviews THE EGYPTIAN CINDERELLA #kidlit #literacy #elemed

2012-01-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

I read The EgyptianCinderella and I liked it very much! It was written by Shirley Climo andillustrated by Ruth Heller.

The Egyptian Cinderellais the Egyptian version of our Cinderella. In Egypt, there lived a Greek maidencalled Rhodopis who was stolen by pirates when she was a small child and soldas a slave to an Egyptian master.

But because she isGreek, and a slave, the Egyptian girls didn't like her. She had been given apair of rose-red slippers by her master because she danced so beautifully. Whena falcon swoops down and snatches a slipper away, Rhodopis is heartbroken.

How is Rhodopis to knowthat the falcon has delivered her slipper to the great Pharaoh himself? Shecan't guess that the Pharaoh will search all of Egypt to find the owner of thetiny shoe and make her his queen. When the Pharaoh finally findsRhodopis, she is the only maiden that the slipper fits and the Pharaoh marriesher. This is how Rhodopis became the queen of Egypt.

In closing, The EgyptianCinderella is very entertaining and easy to read. It is interesting to learnabout the different views of other cultures and the illustrations are reallybeautiful, too!

Win FREE books! Enter a Kids On KidLit review today! Rules and instructions

4th grade bullies made @KatieDavisBurps a writer #literacy #k12 #elemed

2011-12-13T12:30:00.000-08:00

In fourth grade, Katie Davis was bullied by her classmates. A self-described ADD sufferer, she says, “ADD kids are often targets because they don’t get social cues.” The bullying continued throughout the school year and Davis resigned herself to being “a loser.” When her teacher read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Davis was captivated. “It was all about bad kids who get their come-uppance. That was for me!” she says. “You can make that happen in a book.” Although she allowed other kids to treat her like a “doormat,” bullying made her a “kinder more empathetic kid” and gave her the confidence to stand up for herself in two situations involving adults: once as an eleven-year old when an X-ray technician touched her inappropriately, and once as a junior high student when a cab driver made a racist remark. When Davis reflects on her painful experience with bullying, she realizes it made her a writer. More...

Rollicking rhyme makes reading fun! #literacy #k12 #parenting

2011-12-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Kim Norman recalls a big-family childhood in Virginia, long vacations at Lake Kezar in Maine, and a love of art which grew into a profession as a graphic designer. But Norman reflects that her teachers talked more about her writing than her art. From an early age Norman absorbed the sound and flow of language through fairy tales, poetry, and the old Uncle Remus tales (despite their racial overtones). “I loved the cadence of the language,” she says. “I used to have dialogues in my head, conversations almost like a TV script, hearing two people speak.” Norman knows now that her dialogues were all about the rhythm of the words.More...

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Numbers :|: Read Roman Numerals I to MM by Arthur Geisert #literacy #mathchat

2011-11-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

For Roman Numerals I to MM, Geisert drew a total of 4,864 pigs. On the MM page alone, there are 2,000 little farm pigs illustrating the concept that MM equals 2,000. His editor said he wasn’t going to edit that, implying that Geisert was responsible for the pig count. Geisert, in his best imitation of a general dividing territory among his troops, enlarged the preliminary drawings of the book. He marked off zones on each page and created little booklets for his army of counters. Then they met. If everyone counted the same number of pigs in one zone, that was the final count and they moved on to the next zone. [Excerpted from my Arthur Geisert profile.]

Thank A Teacher Tuesday #TATTues #literacy #kidlit

2011-11-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Brown was my third grade teacher. I remember her as a wiry lady with round glasses and short hair. She required oral book reports. As in standing up in front of the class to share your book. Turns out this was terrific training for a children's author. When I visit schools, I'm giving Mrs. Brown's oral book reports all over again!

Thanks, Mrs. Brown!

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Dinosaurs :|: Read How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen #literacy

2011-11-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Yolen has written more than 200 books for children and adults. Dubbed by Newsweek “the Hans Christian Andersen of America,” Yolen’s idea folder bulges with new stories to write. She prides herself on juggling as many as ten stories, books, poems, and songs at once, and compares her work habits to those of a mule train driver: “I hitch 24 horses up to my wagon, crack the whip, and if one dies along the way, I cut it out of the traces and move on.” [Excerpted from my Jane Yolen profile.]

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Princesses :|: Read Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser #literacy #preschool

2011-11-27T11:15:00.000-08:00

Did you know Robin Preiss Glasser used to be a ballerina?

Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor that tapped something hiding inside Glasser waiting to be released. As a ballet dancer, Glasser remembers never being thin enough. The George Ballanchine dancers of her era were skinny, long-legged creatures. “Fancy Nancy is the fat little ballet dancer inside me,” she says. Despite Nancy’s plump physique, she is graceful, poised and perfectly turned out. “She’s always playing to the balcony,” says Glasser, recalling her own drama queen tendencies. [Excerpted from my Robin Preiss Glasser profile.]

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Friendship :|: Read The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill #elemed

2011-11-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Today is a two-fer. Read The Recess Queen and the companion Worst Best Friend for a double-dose of frienship!

One of the biggest challenges O’Neill faced in her professional teaching career was a boss who bullied her and undermined her efforts. O’Neill wondered if there was a way to get a bully to stop being a bully. She started writing The Recess Queen (Scholastic Press) in 1992, but couldn’t come up with an answer to her question, so she filed the story in a drawer for several years. When one of her nieces reached playground age in 1999, O’Neill observed that she was a people magnet because she asked kids to play with her and offered unconditional friendship. O’Neill realized this was the answer to her problem in The Recess Queen--model her character, Katie Sue, after her niece, and have Katie Sue offer to be friends with the bully. [Excerpted from my Alexis O'Neill profile.]

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Holidays :|: Read Santa Claus the World's #1 Toy Expert #literacy

2011-11-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

When Marla Frazee started Santa Claus the World’s Number One Toy Expert she imagined Santa to be an incredible expert on toys, but that attribute alone wasn’t enough. Santa’s magic lay in the fact that he can match each toy with a child who will appreciate it. It’s also Frazee’s magic. Whether she’s illustrating her own stories or the text of other authors, she creates a picture-story that is more than the sum of its parts. It may not come easy, but it’s the perfect match for her readers. [Excerpted from my Marla Frazee profile.]

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Cooking :|: Read Hasty Pudding...by Loretta Ichord #elemed #literacy

2011-11-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

Did you know Loretta visits schools dressed as a colonial woman?

During a visit to Colonial Williamsburg, Ichord imagined herself sweating in front of one of the stone fireplaces in the intense humidity of a Tidewater summer. “I started to wonder how American cooking began,” she says. “The era really grabbed me.” Originally Ichord submitted Hasty Pudding, Johnnycakes, and Other Good Stuff: Cooking in Colonial America (Millbrook Press, 1998) as a cookbook with 40 recipes and several notes to the editor about the time period and the difficulties colonial women faced in the kitchen. The editor loved the quirky historical information that would become a trademark of Ichord’s books, and suggested changing the format of the book from cookbook to cooking-history book. Hasty Pudding now includes several pages of historical text sprinkled with 14 colonial recipes. But the revision wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

Ichord struggled with the new format, finding just the right balance of history and recipes. Her biggest problem? Trimming the manuscript to a manageable size. She uncovered a wealth of historical facts that she had a difficult time parting with. Additionally, Ichord says, “Recipe writing is exacting.” The directions had to be clear for children (who generally have no experience in the kitchen) without being boring or wordy. [Excerpted from my Loretta Ichord profile.]

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Travel :|: Read Jingle the Brass by Patricia Newman #railroad #literacy #elemed

2011-11-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

Step back in time to Ruby’s hash house and put on the nosebag with the boss hogger. He’ll tell you he likes his eggs with headlights, but if you want scrambled, just order wreck on the main line. Follow him as he and his ashcat warm up the engine at the roundhouse and hitch her up to a jigger. Then jingle the brass and ride the point. . .Get ready to feel the wind in your hair as the rods start flashing. . .

Learning the lingo is just part of the fun, because now you’re railroading! Watch the trailer.

Recommended by the Smithsonian Museum of American History

Thank A Teacher Tuesday #TATTues #writing #engchat

2011-11-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

My high school English teacher, Mrs. Johnston, wrote and self-published a guide for her students called Thirteen Steps to Research (copyright 1974). She made every one of her students buy it. We were not happy.

The pocket-size book was nothing special to look at--12 pt. Courier type; stapled binding; a yucky beige cover with a lame staircase design on the front.

But I still have it and I still use it. It's an invaluable source for creating footnotes/endnotes and bibliographies. Over the years I tucked in a page or two on citing websites, but otherwise it's the perfect resource for a writer.

Thanks Mrs. Johnston!

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Folktales :|: Read Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan #literacy

2011-11-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

Bryan’s passion for poetry and the history of black people inform all of his work. For example, the seed for Beautiful Blackbird came from a Zambian folktale in which birds of all colors come together to decide who is the most beautiful. Blackbird wins the prize because he is the most black. “I had grown up with the stories that black is the lousy color. It’s all that’s left. It’s what you get,” Bryan says. “So here was a chance to do a story which was celebrating black.”

Bryan calls the spirituals of African slaves in America “a tremendous gift to the world. How they came about is just staggering. When you think of a people, it was a crime to teach them to read or write. They worked from the dark of the morning to the dark of the evening.” Their only instruments were their bodies and sticks and mallets. “And they used those percussive things to develop the rhythms of song and dance. They developed a language for the spirituals which I cannot get over.” Bryan wrote and illustrated six books selecting from the vast body of these spirituals, varying his media from block prints, to water color, to tempera paints depending on how the spirituals made him feel. His most recent book, Let It Shine, uses collage illustrations. With the exception of the block prints which must be carved, Bryan’s media are available to even the youngest children, an aspect that appeals to him and gives him another point of connection with his intended audience. [Excerpted from my Ashley Bryan profile.]

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Farm :|: Read Otis by Loren Long #literacy #reading #k12

2011-11-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

Did you know Loren Long wrote Otis from a story his sons made up?

For Otis, Long’s second foray as both author and illustrator, he borrowed a story that his two sons made up about a tractor they dubbed Little Green Samuel who rescued a calf from a pond. His sons’ version of the story was loaded with characters, had no front story to build suspense, no device for setting up the problem, and no clever solution, so Long applied what he had learned about storytelling and pared down the idea to a tractor named Otis, a little boy, and a calf. Unlike Drummer Boy, Long wrote the text without thinking about the illustrations, tinkering with words and phrases until he and his editor were satisfied. But while drawing the initial sketches, Long had an epiphany: “What if I take the boy out? The heart of this story is the friendship between the calf and the tractor.” Instead of his usual acrylics, Long chose gouache, relatively unforgiving opaque water colors, experimenting with value—lights, darks and tones—using shades of grey and judicious bursts of red, [Excerpted from my Loren Long profile.]

#PictureBookMonth Theme: School :|: Read Miss Smith Reads Again! by Michael Garland #elemed #literacy

2011-11-18T08:30:00.000-08:00

Garland’s favorite character is Miss Smith, the perky red-haired heroine from Miss Smith’s Incredible Storybook and Miss Smith Reads Again! “She is a metaphor for reading,” says Garland. The better the book, the more involved readers get. In a great book, readers are transported to another time and place. According to Garland, “Miss Smith represents all the teachers who inspire kids to begin the adventure of reading.” [Excerpted from my Michael Garland profile.]

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Jungle :|: Read Over in the Jungle by Marianne Berkes #literacy #elemed

2011-11-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

Did you know Over in the Jungle is part of a series?

Over in the Ocean, in a Coral Reef is a fresh twist on an old song. During story time at her library, Berkes remembers singing “Over in the Meadow” with her young patrons. At the time a save-the-ocean poster graced the library walls and another seed was planted. Berkes used the rhythm and rhyming pattern of the song, and situated her story in a new habitat. Three other Over in the… books have been published, focusing on the rainforest, the Arctic and Australia, each carefully researched and vetted by expert naturalists. The newest one, Over in the Forest: Come and Take a Peek!, will be published in 2012. [Excerpted from my Marianne Berkes profile.]

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Bedtime :|: Read A Nap In A Lap by Sarah Wilson

2011-11-16T11:15:00.000-08:00

Sarah Wilson wrote and illustrated her first story at the age of four. She remembers putting it together in a small book with help from her mother. By the age of five, Wilson pecked out simple stories on her father’s typewriter. And in second and third grade a few of what Wilson dubs her “little poems” were published in a newspaper and a children’s magazine. According to Wilson, “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing.” But in fourth grade, a visiting art teacher planted the seed in Wilson’s mind that she could write and draw for a living. “Max was such a gift,” Wilson says of the visiting teacher. “He’s why I’m so willing to go into schools to speak to kids.”

Wilson plays with words as a form of entertainment. She carries a little notebook and scribbles down funny word combinations or words that sound good together. Sometimes she gets a title idea, sometimes a story idea. “There is so much stimulation from every direction, ideas come faster than I can get them down,” she says. “Trying to catch them is like catching milkweed down.” [Excerpted from my Sarah Wilson profile.]

Thank A Teacher Tuesday #TATTues #literacy #k12 #librariains #elemed

2011-11-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

The other day my daughter thanked me for teaching her how to use the library. She said that in college many of her friends didn't know how to find what they needed on the shelves for their research projects, relying instead on whatever Google coughed up. That amazed me and highlighted the wrong-headedness of the recent spate of librarian/media tech layoffs in California.

But I didn't come by library research naturally. My elementary school librarian (whose name I am ashamed to admit I've forgotten) taught me about the Dewey Decimal System and how to find books I wanted to read. I want to thank that librarian because she gave me a life-long skill that I continue to use in my writing.

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Pets :|: Read Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh

2011-11-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

One day a friend foisted a stray dog on Susan Meddaugh. Usually a soft touch when it comes to animals, Meddaugh had her misgivings. She named the dog Martha after her friend. If the dog was horrible, the name would be her revenge, but if the dog was wonderful, the friend would be forever honored. Martha not only turned out to be a fabulous dog, she was the inspiration for Meddaugh’s most famous children’s books.

Technically, Meddaugh’s son came up with the idea for Martha Speaks (Houghton Mifflin, 1992). He was eating a bowl of alphabet soup at the kitchen table, while Martha nosed around looking for her next meal. “If Martha ate alphabet soup, would she speak?” he asked.

“Ideas are gifts,” says Meddaugh. “But if you do what I do, you’re ready to grab them.” Although Meddaugh never intended to write and illustrate a series of Martha books, ideas and situations unique to Martha kept popping into her mind and she realized she wanted to find out what happened to her next [excerpted from my Susan Meddaugh profile].

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Pirates :|: Read How I Became A Pirate by Melinda Long

2011-11-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

Melinda Long used to play pirate. She buried her mom's earrings and drew a pirate map to find them!

Although the inspiration for How I Became A Pirate came from Long’s childhood pirate games, the seed for the story came from a conversation she had in Barnes & Noble with an acquaintance who mentioned that pirate books were hard to find. Long based Jeremy Jacob, the main character, on her childhood self. “It’s my voice,” she says, “and I really love him.” But illustrator David Shannon created another of Long’s favorite characters—the pirate with two eye patches. “He’s always lifting one up to see. I just think he’s hilarious. He’s perfectly visual and is all [Shannon’s] creation.” In Long’s third pirate book still in production, she had to think of a compelling reason for the pirates to return for their treasure; consequently, she researched what might have happened to their ship that would have required an expensive repair [excerpted from my Melinda Long profile].

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Sea :|: Read The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo

2011-11-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

An educational video on lighthouses gives Buzzeo the idea for this beautiful tale:

The Sea Chest (Dial, 2002) is the story of a girl who lives an isolated existence with her parents on a lonely lighthouse island. A leather sea chest, with a baby inside, washes ashore after a storm. Buzzeo first learned of the sea chest legend in a lighthouse video she previewed for the teachers at her school, and her imagination churned. “It took me a year and a half to figure out how to tell the story,” she says. Ultimately, Buzzeo made The Sea Chest her own story because for the first nine years of her life she was an only child and longed for a sibling of her own.

Buzzeo puts her library research skills to work for every book she writes. “Research is easy for me. It’s second nature.” She describes herself as “undaunted” and “tireless” when working the library system for one of her stories. She went through several librarians and historical society experts before she found a reference librarian at the Maine Maritime Museum who could tell her what type of vessel would have brought supplies to the lighthouse keeper and his family in The Sea Chest [excerpted from my Toni Buzzeo profile].

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Chickens :|: Read Punk Farm On Tour by Jarrett Krosoczka

2011-11-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

Krosoczka's chicken wears shades and plays the keyboards in this hilarious book!

Krosoczka’s books are a blend of circumstances that intrude onto his psyche. Punk Farm began as a series of farm animal sketches. “When I shared the story idea with my editor, she wasn’t into it,” he says, so he detoured to other book ideas. “I always wanted to be a rock star when I was a kid,” he says, “I had a book about rock stardom in mind for about a year." The farm animals and the rock star idea merged at the Hole in the Wall Gang summer camp where Krosoczka volunteered. To motivate his campers, Krosoczka played loud rock music every day. The kids formed a lip sync band that, in one week, experienced all the turmoil of bruised egos that real bands experience. “A band is so much funnier than a rock star,” he remembers thinking to himself at the time and if the band members were animals, he knew he could play their personalities off one another to make his story funny and fresh. Although Krosoczka pitched Punk Farm as a single title, he says, “When I finished the last painting, I knew I wasn’t finished with the story.” Punk Farm on Tour debuted in 2007, but Krosoczka expects that he will write at least one more Punk Farm story [excerpted from my Jarrett Krosoczka profile].

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Mice :|: Read If You Give a Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff

2011-11-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

Did you know that the mouse in Numeroff's classic tale is modeled after her?

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (HarperCollins, 1985), Numeroff’s classic bestseller, is partly autobiographical. “I’m the mouse,” she says. She can be sitting at her desk in her Los Angeles home when she realizes she needs something in the bedroom. In the bedroom, she might see a pile of papers that needs to be put away. Putting away the papers takes her to the kitchen, where a stack of dirty dishes awaits. But first she has to make a trip to the store for detergent. Eventually, like the mouse, Numeroff works her way back to her desk [excerpted from my Laura Numeroff profile].

#PictureBookMonth Theme: Gardening :|: Read Strega Nona's Harvest by Tomie dePaola

2011-11-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

Did you know Strega Nona's Harvest was inspired by Martha Stewart's garden?

After completing his new pop-up book, Brava Strega Nona (engineered by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart), dePaola turned his attention to another project on his drawing table. “It wasn’t really working,” dePaola says of the new book. “I changed editors at that time and the whole team of editors and I weren’t used to working with each other yet and so I was trying to please them by grabbing all these ideas and shoving them into a book I didn’t want to do.” Each time he protested, they offered encouragement and flattery. “If they knew they scared me they’d be horrified!” dePaola quips. He says the process reminded him of Lucretia Hale’s The Peterkin Papers in which Mrs. Peterkin adds salt instead of sugar to her husband’s coffee. The Peterkins ask a number of people how to remove the salt from the coffee and each time Mrs. Peterkin follows their advice, the coffee tastes worse and worse, until finally, a wise lady from Philadelphia suggests throwing out the coffee and pouring a new cup. “So that’s what I suddenly decided to do,” dePaola says, in spite of a looming deadline. Desperate for an idea he found inspiration in an issue of Martha Stewart Living in an aerial view of her garden. “The thing was so anal and so perfect, it freaked me out,” dePaola says. “I got this flash of inspiration. Strega Nona is going to plant a garden and, of course her garden is going to be perfect.” Strega Nona’s garden was doubly appealing because dePaola could incorporate gardening folklore and old wives’ tales. The result, Strega Nona’s Harvest, is like a freshly poured cup of coffee [excerpted from my Tomie dePaola profile].

Thank A Teacher Tuesday #TATTues

2011-11-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Miss Blanchard, my fifth grade teacher, for treating me with kindness and respect when I became the target of bullies. She encouraged me to move forward when others tried to hold me back.

Mining family stories for compelling fiction #literacy #k12 #elemed #writing

2011-11-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Natalie Kinsey-Warnock descends from a long line of Scottish dairy farmers who settled in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont over 200 years ago. “The Northeast Kingdom is a place apart. We were the last dairy farm in the state to get electricity,” says the 54-yeard old author. In 1966, the bottom floor of her family farmhouse was finally wired for electricity and telephone, but she still remembers carrying a candle upstairs after dark.

“Holidays were 100 people packed in my grandmother’s house. We were all about family stories,” Kinsey-Warnock says. She mines seven generations of family history in her 20-plus picture books and novels. A Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, Kinsey-Warnock feels a kinship with the renowned author because Wilder once said that her family stories were too good to be forgotten. “We’re kindred spirits,” Kinsey-Warnock says, whose books focus on events that occurred in her life or in the lives of her ancestors. Yet, she admits that even in her close-knit clan some stories are lost or forgotten. During school visits, she encourages young readers to unearth amazing stories in their own families by reading old family journals and letters, and studying old photographs. More...

Memorable Moments from #IBBY #kidlit #literacy #writing

2011-10-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

I attended the IBBY regional conference at the Arne Nixon Center in Fresno, CA this past weekend. For those of you unfamiliar with this fabulous non-profit organization, the International Board on Books for Young People is committed to bringing books and children together. Regional sections are located from Argentina to Zimbabwe.

Some of my most memorable moments included quotes from these inspiring speakers:

From Pam Munoz Ryan who is often asked, "What is your motivation to write?": "That's easy," she says. "To turn the page."

From Newbery Honor winner, Margarita Engle on finding connections between the history of Cuba and her poetry: She strives to discover what it felt like "to make hopeful choices in a time that felt hopeless?"

From Brazilian illustrator and Hans Christian Andersen Medal winner, Roger Mello: "Monkeys are people. They just don't speak because otherwise they would have to work."

From Alvina Ling (@planetalvina), editor at Little Brown and Grace Lin (@pacylin), author, when Grace first submitted her manuscript for her Newbery Honor title, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: Alvina: "This is a great first quarter." Grace: "I thought it was all finished!"

From Adwoa Badoe, author and storyteller: "I believe the storyteller stands in the present to harness the past to create the image for the future."

2011-10-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Turn school book reports into free books in 3 easy steps with Kids On KitLit.

Step 1: Read a book. ANY book.

Step 2: Write a review.

Step 3: Email the review to me.

ALL reviews posted on my blog.

A winner every month!

Read past Kids On KidLit posts!

Multiculturalsim Rocks with @annmartinbowler #literacy #k12 #elemed

2011-10-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

“See the deer eat meat.” Such was the quality of a district-mandated series of beginning readers for first graders in Ann Martin Bowler’s classroom. Bowler remembers throwing down the book, saying “I could do better than this.” Even her students picked up on the inaccuracy. “It wasn’t about writing anything [that made sense],” she says. “[The series] was looking for long E words.” In the face of those awful books, Bowler felt rebellious enough to quit teaching after 19 years and start writing.

Although her decision sounds drastic, Bowler had written many poems for her students and set them to music. She had read hundreds of children’s books to her students and to her five children. Her mother, brother, and cousin were writers. It was now or never. More...

Llama Llama author makes kids' world less scary #parenting #elemed #edchat #literacy

2011-10-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

For New York Times best-selling author/illustrator Anna Dewdney, her work is all about “the power of the book for the child.” She is frequently contacted by parents who share how her books helped their children through a divorce, an accident, or the illness of a family member. One family wrote to say that when their child died of cancer they buried one of Dewdney’s books with him because the story meant so much to him.

With that kind of power, Dewdney takes her job seriously. “I was an anxious child and I’m an anxious adult,” she says. “My books are an expression of my experience.” Dewdney remembers what it felt like to be very little. What it was like to go to school for the first time or how scary it felt to fall asleep by yourself in a big room. “The world can be overwhelming, but with love and support it’s not really that bad,” she says. “The theme of all my books is relationships make the world less scary.” More...

Leukemia patient 1st Kids On KidLit winner #literacy #elemed #kidlit

2011-10-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, I announced that Julia (age 8) was the debut winner of my new Kids On KidLit contest. I sent her a copy of When Life Gives You OJ by Erica S. Perl, a darling story about a girl who wants a dog so badly she's willing to give her eccentric grandfather's "practice dog" a try. Yesterday, I received the following note from her mother:

Ms. Newman: Thanks for the book. It just arrived. Julia is very excited. It is the perfect book for her. For about three years she begged us for a dog. We told her no because she has leukemia and her immune system was too weak. But a few months ago, after getting considerably better, she got her first dog. She can really relate to the character is this book who longs for a dog. Thanks so much, Maria

Connecting kids with books is the ultimate goal of Kids On KidLit. It's working! Please spread the word.

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Kids On KidLit winner--Julia (age 8); Where kids' reviews are published online #literacy #k12 #elemed #librarians

2011-10-04T11:30:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Kids On KidLit September drawing for a FREE book is Julia (age 8) for her review of True or False: Pets by Melvin and Gilda Berger. Read Julia's review.

Kids On KidLit is a fun way to get kids writing...and reading, because every child who submits a review is entered into a drawing for a free age-appropriate book! To help a child submit a review visit my website. All reviews will be posted on my blog. A winner is selected every month. Children may submit as often as they like.

Help spread the word!

Nonfiction that opens children's eyes to the natural world #k12 #elemed #kidlit #literacy

2011-10-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

Caroline Arnold is a featured speaker at the Keeping It Real Nonfiction Intensive, January, 21, 2012 in Sacramento, CA. Registration now open.
Most people know Caroline Arnold as the beloved children’s author of more than 100 nonfiction books for children. The Washington Post/Children’s Book Guild awarded her their coveted Nonfiction Award for her lifetime achievements (“Not that my lifetime is over,” she quips). Arnold has written about animals, habitats, and ancient civilizations, but what many of her readers do not know is that she was trained in the fine arts.

Arnold writes about things in which she is still interested. As a child in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she was a self-described book worm. “When I was eight years old, I used to ride my bike to the library by myself. I had my own library card and my bike had a large wire basket on the front,” she says. More...

Kids On KidLit: Megan (age 11) Reviews THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND #literacy #kidlit #k12 #parenting

2011-09-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

TheOther Side of the Island by Allergra Goodman is one of the books I readthis summer.

I reallylike this book because it’s adventurous and mysterious. During the book I tryto solve mysteries along with the main character but my answer is always offfrom the real answer.

I lovewhat happened in the book because nothing makes sense until the end. The maincharacter is named Honor and her were parents were taken. Honor and herbrother, Quintilian, had to live at their school in an orphanage. Honor and herbest friend, Helix, try to solve where their parents are. After a big stormHonor goes to find their parents.

That’sthe book review. I hope you read this book. If you like adventures andmysteries like me, you’ll LOVE this book!!!

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Kids On KidLit: Megan (age 11) Reviews MASTERPIECE #literacy #kidlit #k12 #parenting

2011-09-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

This summer I read Masterpieceby Elise Broach.

My favorite character is Marvin. His family is scaredthat his best friend is James and he’s human!!!! But, Marvin doesn’t care. He sticks to hispromises to James. He helps James on painting the fake Durer pictures for himbecause James can’t draw and paint. James brings Marvin home to the cupboard,where Marvin lives. Marvin is a beetle!!!

My least favorite characteris James’s mom. For James’s birthday she invited all of her bosses’ kidsinstead of James’s friends. All she cares about is her job and money. Marvinpainted a present for James’s birthday. James’s mom thought James drew it andshe still wants to sell it to one of her bosses to get money.

I really like thebook Masterpiece and if you read it Ihope you like it, too.

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Kids on KidLit: Debut Review #literacy #k12 #elemed #lrnchat #kidlit

2011-09-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

True or False: Pets by Melvin and Gilda Berger (Scholastic)

Review by Julia, Age 8

I read True or False: Pets by Melvin and Gilda Berger. Do you knowif cats and dogs are natural enemies or if cats can see in the dark? If youdon’t then you should read this book. I love this book because it’s a true orfalse type of book. I liked learning about all of the animals. The pictures arereally cute which made me laugh. The funniest picture was a hamster with hischeeks filled with food. You should really read this book.

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Family stories ARE history: classroom activities #elemed #k12 #edchat

2011-09-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

History is about people. Not wars and treaties. In Heart and Soul: The Story of American and African Americans, Kadir Nelson hones in on a broad topic by giving voice to his grandmother as she traces their ancestors from pre-Revolutionary War days to the present. Family stories inform his art and his text to bring the period alive for children.

Help your students see this important connection between people and history. Every family has stories that are too good to be forgotten.

1. Ask your students to interview a grandparent or a parent. Find out one family story that occurred before they were born. Ask them to dig deeper to find one story that occurred before their parents or grandparents were born?

2. Discuss what was happening in the world at the time of the story. What inventions were common? What books were popular for children? What music was popular? What did children wear at the time the story occurred?

3. Ask you students to write the story on a piece of paper. Talk about who should tell their story? A child? An adult? Then ask your students to illustrate their stories.

4. Take the activity one step further. Ask students to form groups of 4. Each day for 4 days, the students will be responsible for staging a mini-skit that tells the stories of each person in the group.

Good luck! Visit www.patriciamnewman.com and send me your stories, pictures, or video!

#LA11SCBWI: Inspiration from Day 3

2011-08-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

From Gary Paulsen, author, on the librarian who gave him his first library card: "Everything I've become I owe to that woman and she never knew."
"Reading became a way to breathe."
Advice for kids on reading: "Read like a wolf eats. Read what they tell you not to. Read when they tell you not to."

From Beverly Horowitz, VP & Publisher, Delacorte Press: "Listen hard when your editor talks to you about revisions."
"When I'm working on your book, there's only you. I love you the most."
"Be knowledgeable about your own book beyond the writing of it."

From Adam Silberberg, author and Sid Fleischman Humor Award winner: "Writing takes inspiration , sweat, and tons of mint milanos."

From Richard Peck, author: "Viewpoint is everything because the one voice our stories never need is ours."
"Writing is trying to make a blank page speak in voices that are not ours."
"Unless you find yourself on the page very early in life you will go looking for yourself in all the wrong places."

From Krista Marino, editor Delacorte Press, on finding your YA voice: "When you're young everything feels like the end of the world."

From Laurie Halse Anderson, author: "Writing forces you to be alive and being alive can hurt!"

#LA11SCBWI: Inspiration from Day 2

2011-08-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

From Donna Jo Napoli, author, on her office: "I work in the laundry room. When my children were small it made a lot of sense."

From David Small, author/illustrator: "Drawing is like breathing."

From Judy Blume, author: "I never really understood the creative process."
"My best ideas come when I'm doing something physical; I'm distracted."
On the first page of a new book: "I know that I start a book on the day something different happens."
On writing the first draft: "I know where it's starting and I think I know where it's going, but I don't know what's going to happen along the way. It's both terrifying and wonderful!"

From Jon Scieszka, author: "I was going to be a doctor, but then I realized I didn't like sick people."

From Norton Juster, author, on the lack of electronic devices when he grew up in the 1930s: "There was nothing to stick in your ears unless someone bigger or stronger told you you had to."

From Verla Kay, author, on Internet promotion: "Promote other people's work as often as you can."

#LA11SCBWI: Inspiration from Day 1

2011-08-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

From Bruce Coville, author: "Craft without inspiration leads to basket weaving. Inspiration without craft leads to modern art. You may like modern art, but you don't want your book to read like it was written by Jackson Pollock."

From Jerry Pinkney, author/illustrator: "I always start with a pencil drawing and layer it with water color."

From Donna Jo Napoli, author: "Your biggest job [as an author] is to make the reader trust you."
On increasing tension: "Tighten the screws but maintain your authority as a truth teller."

From Julie Strauss-Gabel, VP and Publisher of Dutton Children's Books, on social media: Remain "genuine in terms of who you are and do what captures your marketing voice."

Jamie Weiss Chilton, agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency on the nonfiction market: Rejection for nonfiction manuscripts can be classified into four categories--"1. an unknown historical figure; 2. the topic doesn't appeal to a broad enough audience; 3. the manuscript lacks a curriculum connection or a strong promotional tie-in; 4. similar titles have not sold well either at this house or other houses."

Emma Dryden, editorial consultant, the new digital landscape of publishing: "Apple is interested in [acquiring] Barnes & Noble."

Stay tuned for more tomorrow...

Writing my first YA novel

2011-07-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

A character named Vinnie just popped onto the page. Who is he? How does he know my main character? And most of all, what is his purpose? According to Deborah Halverson (@Dear_Editor) in Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies, "If a new character happens to pop into your story as you're writing it, let him hang out a while to see whether he fits in. Secondary characters have a way of arriving before you even knew you needed them..." Okay, Vinnie. Show me what you've got!

Why I Write for Children

2011-07-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

Sixty San Juan Reads summer school students listened as I read Nugget on the Flight Deck today. Lots of cool stuff about aircraft carriers, catapults, flight decks, and jets. After the presentation, one ten-year old boy told me he planned to enlist in the Army when he was old enough (he even showed me how to salute). He said when he was assigned to his unit, he'd be happy to "show me around the Army" and recommend my books to his pals.

The Sobering Fate of Book Stores

2011-07-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

Have brick and mortar stores become places where we browse, only to purchase online? Teresa Rolfe Kravtin provides a sobering look at what's happening in book stores today in "Bookselling: Not For the Fainthearted."

Celebrating Marianne Berkes

2011-07-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Marianne Berkes encourages her readers to explore the outdoors and connect to nature, a love nurtured by her parents when she was a child. She remembers biking on forest paths with her father, and fishing in Long Island Sound from a pontoon boat that her father built. “It was white with blue polka dots and we called her Nelly Bell.”

Berkes remembers that her mother filled their home with singing and her grandfather told stories, further shaping her as a writer-to-be. One summer when Berkes was nine or ten years old, she and her friends wrote, directed and starred in a musical play in her backyard. In high school, she wrote for the school newspaper and in college she wrote her first picture book for a creative writing class. Before Berkes turned to writing as a profession, she founded a nursery school where she taught for several years, directed children’s musical theater in the summer, wrote press releases and transcribed sermons as Norman Vincent Peale’s media director, and moved to Florida and became a children’s librarian for the Florida Public Library. More...

Celebrating M. T. Anderson

2011-06-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

National Book Award winner writes for thinking kids: “quirky teens who may be on the outs socially, but who see things their schoolmates don’t.”

Matthew Tobin Anderson grew up in a small bedroom community for urban professionals. He describes his house as “1970s suburban,” yet out his back door a forest and a lake beckoned. “So much of my writing has come from that experience of being in the woods and making up stories about what goes on there.”

Anderson remembers writing simple stories at the age of six or seven, and by 7th or 8th grade, he wrote 30- to 40-page stories that he liked to call novels. By age 17 he wrote the first draft of The Game of Sunken Places and sent it to publishers. “It got universally rejected as you might expect,” he says, but the early experience of writing and submitting to publishers showed him that publication was not the most important part of writing for him. “The most important part of writing was actually that zone where I was sitting there and coming up with the material and getting excited by the plot and trying to think of how to best say what I wanted to say.” More...

FREE e-book download: DEAD GIRL WALKING

2011-05-09T09:35:00.000-07:00

YA Paranormal fans: Linda Joy Singleton's DEAD GIRL WALKING is now available as a free download for Barnes & Noble's Nook and Amazon's Kindle during the month of May. A worthy first book in an exciting series about 17-year old Amber Borden who has a "lousy sense of direction--so lousy that she takes a wrong turn when returning from her near-death experience and winds up in the body of the most popular girl in school, who has just tried to commit suicide." Other books include: DEAD GIRL DANCING and DEAD GIRL IN LOVE.

Indie with Attitude

2011-05-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

Independent booksellers are asked to support our community. Let's think about how we're supporting them. Mara Lynn Luther of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, MT sounds off: "I’m not an economic priest. My bookstore is not a confessional. I’m tired of handing out “Hail Locals” to guilt-riddled shoppers. If you bought a Kindle as your sole reading device, you have cut out your local bookstore when there are options for e-readers that don’t eliminate indies. It’s your choice, but don’t come whining to me that you really want to shop local, but you have to be “smart about your money.” I agree, you should be smart about your money..." More...

California School Challenges NY Times

2011-04-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

In a recent blog post (Parents Call to Action :: 4 Steps to Toddler Literacy, Nov. 15, 2010), I mentioned a New York Times article ("Picture Books No Longer A Staple for Children") that reported, "parents have begun pressing their kindergartners and first-graders to leave the picture book behind and move on to more text-heavy chapter books."

I am happy to share with you a heart-warming story about Birch Lane Elementary School in Davis, California. The librarian, students, staff, and parents decided to prove the New York Times wrong. In a letter to the editor, the school stated, "We believe that picture books are essential to the development of lifelong readers and learners." The school dedicated the month of February for the promotion of picture books for every book and every reader, reading a total of 4,590 books!

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/opinion/l14scroll.html
See the 15' scroll Birch Lane Elementary sent to the Times: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/04/14/opinion/20110414-letters-scroll.html

Celebrating Charise Mericle Harper's Books

2011-04-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

Charise is a gem and I hope you read her books! When I forwarded a printed copy of her profile she wrote, "I just got your review. It is so lovely! If I wasn’t me I’d like to meet me...I can’t wait to show my mom."

Charise Harper wanted to go to art school but her parents told her there was no future in it. She compromised with a major in marketing, figuring the business angle would please her folks and the creative aspects would appeal to her. After graduating she looked for a job—“but not too hard,” she says. When a Chicago band approached her to design two album covers, she found the confidence to assemble a portfolio. Using her marketing background, she developed a list of magazines published in the Chicago area and visited the art directors. Soon she was drawing edgy, raw editorial illustrations with elements of collage for magazines on a freelance basis. More...

Why I Write

2011-03-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

Writing is hard work and some days are better than others, but it's worth the toil and rejection when I receive notes like the one I received this week from a media specialist at a Maryland elementary school: "I can't keep your books on my shelves. Students line up in the mornings to check out your books." I get shivers thinking about those kids waiting in line to read the words I wrote. That's inspiration!

Good News for School Libraries

2011-02-04T09:10:00.000-08:00

Parents in Sacramento, CA raised enough money to reopen 8 elementary school libraries previously shuttered by a cash-strapped district. And they did it by hosting raffles, organizing jump-rope-athons, and applying for private grants. More...

NBC's 'Today Show' Slights Newbery and Caldecott Winners

2011-01-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

For the first time in eons, The Today Show failed to interview the winners of the most prestigious awards in children's publishing: the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal. Disappointing? Yes. Especially when you consider who they interviewed instead--author Nicole Polizzi, aka Snooki from Jersey Shore. Matt Lauer actually asked his guest if she wrote the book she was promoting on the show that day!

Why do media outlets continue to underestimate their audiences? Every day I meet parents and students eager for new books to read. New favorite authors to find. A new character to love.

Children's book lovers are fighting back, though. Here are a few gems:

1) From Publishers Weekly: No 'Today Show' for Vanderpool or Stead by Claire Kirch

2) From Jane Yolen,called by Newsweek "The Hans Christian Andersen of America", author of 300 published books:
"I could understand important news--assassination attempts, tsunamis, even the death of 1950-1970's culture hero David Nelson bumping the winners of the biggest book prizes for children's authors and illustrators off their normal place on the TODAY roster. But Snookie? Surely the literature of childhood is more important than a half literate reality star. Or maybe TODAY is just mirroring the USA as it is in danger of becoming: a second-rate culture that worships mediocrity and cares little about the death of genius or the leadership of America in the world of ideas. Feh."

3) From Lin Oliver, Executive Director of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in her letter to the 'Today Show's' producers:
"I am the Executive Director of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, a non-profit international organization of 24,000 professional children’s book writers, illustrators, publishers, editors and agents. We are, if you will, the equivalent of the Writers Guild for children’s book authors and illustrators. On behalf of all our members, I have to express dismay at your decision this week not to run the traditional interviews with the winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals. The books that are granted these prestigious awards represent the best of what we have to offer children---great storytelling, strong values, a legacy of literature and hope and high-minded ideals. What you elected to run in that spot, an interview with reality star Snooki, represents the exact opposite.

"Of course, we understand the need to attract audiences and maintain ratings, but we feel broadcasting should also serve the needs of citizens who are looking to inspire their children, to raise up their sights. The exposure that your show has always offered to the best in children’s literature is admirable. Why stop now? In choosing not to run the interviews with Clare Vanderpool and Erin Stead, we feel that you underestimated the intelligence of your audience. Parents are dying to get their hands on good books for their kids. Booksellers are eager to sell and promote good books for kids. In fact, the children’s book segment of publishing is the only sector that has not declined during the recession. It’s good business, good broadcasting and good ethics to use some of your program time to honor the best books for children.

"On behalf of our industry, we sincerely hope you can find a way to remedy your decision. Looking forward to hearing from you."

Jingle the Brass Recommended by Smithsonian

2010-12-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

Teachers, librarians, and parents! Do you know a kid who likes trains? Is your class studying trains as part of a transportation unit? The National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. developed several activity guides for Jingle the Brass (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) as part of their OurStory: American History Stories and Activities You Can Do Together series. Activity guides include:

Jingle the Brass Reading Guide
Sing, Play, and Cook Railroad-Style (my personal favorite)
John Bull Riding the Rails
Trains Near You

Many thanks to the Smithsonian!

Parents' Call to Action | 4-Steps to Toddler Literacy

2010-11-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

Are you a stressed parent who wants your children to have an edge when they go to school? Well, it seems that many of us are pushing our children to advance beyond their developmental capabilities. A recent New York Times article says, "parents have begun pressing their kindergartners and first-graders to leave the picture book behind and move on to more text-heavy chapter books." Recently The Today Show took aim at Your Baby Can Read--a program of flash cards, pop-up books and DVDs. Shockingly (note the sarcasm), the babies are merely memorizing, and reading experts from Cornell, Harvard, NYU, Tufts (the list goes on) declare unequivocally that the vast majority of children are not developmentally ready to read until they are four or five years old. The best way to teach your children (according to Jeff Rossen of NBC News)? "You talk to them, you interact with them, you sing to them, and you play with them."

Rossen forgot one important thing. You READ to them. Reading aloud is the foundation for literacy development. It is the single most important activity for reading success (Bredekamp, Copple, & Neuman, 2000).

Parents' Call to Action for Toddler Literacy
1) Instill in your children a deep love of literature through a wide variety of stories, poetry, and drama. This includes picture books! (And I say this not only because I write them.) The strong connections you make with your children when you read together help them make sense of the world. Picture books are like theater--good guys, villains, conflict, action, and a resolution. They are carefully crafted to address a child's developmental milestones and improve literacy.

2) Teach your children to appreciate the rhythm and the power of words. Ask them to recite a much-loved poem, or take the part of Goldilocks in a family puppet show or skit. Play word games. Create silly poems of rhyming words. Reading boots a child's vocabulary far faster than flashcards.

3) Put away the work sheets, the flash cards, and the phonics for now, and concentrate on the beauty and the power of language itself. Letter recognition and letter sounds will follow, not from a mandate, but because your child is curious and wants to further her own sense of the world. Think of it this way--how do you like to learn? Flash card memorization or experiences that connect to you personally? The time you spend on flashcards is time that could be spent curled up on the sofa reading a great picture book!

4) Use picture books as a jumping off point for other kinds of play. For your children to fully understand and remember what they have read, the information must be meaningful to her in the context of her experiences and development. Let them pretend.

Most of all, your children will become lifelong readers if you make reading fun. Let your toddlers be toddlers. Dive into the world of picture books!

Read to a Vet on Veterans' Day

2010-11-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Do you know someone in the Navy? Marines? Do something different this Veterans' Day and read Nugget on the Flight Deck with them to thank them for their service.

Live from Washington, D.C.

2010-10-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterdy I signed Nugget on the Flight Deck at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museums--both on the National Mall and at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. Few book signing venues provide a more receptive audience to a book about airplanes and the lingo used by pilots! Surrounded by planes from the past and present, space capsules, historical exhibits like the Wright Brothers, and flight simulators, I knew my book had found the perfect home. Everyone who approached me--kids, active and retired military, airplane enthusiasts, parents, teachers, docents--told me a story about how their lives had been impacted by the miracle of flight.

Space Shuttle Enterprise

My favorite was the former Navy sailor who worked on the flight deck of the USS Nimitz. With his two school-age nephews in tow, he told me about his job as the yellow shirt or "shooter" on the Nimitz giving aircraft the go-ahead to take off. When I signed their books, I found the page with Aaron Zenz's illustration of the "shooter" and wrote, "This is Uncle Brian!" What a great way for those boys to connect with their uncle and the important job he held on a US Navy vessel !

The Apollo 11 space capsule that carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins in their historic 1969 journey. "One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird--the Wright Brothers' longest flight was 7 feet longer than this plane!

Eureka! Silver Honor Awarded to Nugget on the Flight Deck

2010-10-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

The California Reading Association announced the winners of their new Eureka! Nonfiction Children's Book Award at their annual conference this past weekend. My newest book, Nugget on the Flight Deck was awarded the Silver Honor! (I was in the toothpaste aisle in Target when I got the news in case anyone from the Today Show cares.)

Writing That Next Book

2010-10-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

I'm writing my next book, but I'm stuck in chapter 11. The characters have already told me how the book ends, but not what happens in chapter 11. What do they do? How do I decide between a couple of different options? More importantly, how do I know which "voices" to listen to? Seems like there are several opinions vying for attention in my head.

So I write this blog instead. And think about Eudora Welty's quote: "Every story I write teaches me how to write it -- but not how to write the next one."

Maybe I'll find the answer in this morning's work-out...

Meet Donna Gephart

2010-09-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

Donna Gephart’s first novel, As If Being 12 ¾ Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother is Running For President!, was the recipient of the 2009 Sid Fleischman Humor Award. When she reflects on what drew her to humor, she recalls, “The big family dinners where my aunts and uncles and cousins and everybody would be sitting around the table laughing our heads off and telling stories and pigging out.” She also read the humor columnist Erma Bombeck, as a kid—even though Bombeck’s column was written for a more mature audience. “I was interested in humor even back then,” she says.

Somewhere between the ages of eight and ten, her mother made a fuss over something she had written and Gephart knew she wanted to be a writer. However, the path to writing for children was long and circuitous, with stops at writing greeting cards, magazine articles, and short stories. Gephart had always enjoyed reading children’s books to her two sons, but when they began to veer away from the children’s section, she stayed. More...

Mail Bag

2010-08-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

During the SCBWI LA summer conference (#LA10SCBWI), my agent held a soiree where I had the good fortune to meet Luciana Navarro Powell, a talented illustrator who was also a fan. When I told her I wrote Jingle the Brass, her reaction was effusive and surprising! "It's my son's favorite book!," she said and went on to tell me that her husband plays the part of the engineer because he's skinny, her son plays the part of the boy (of course!), and she plays Joe--the roly poly "ashcat"--fireman for all you non-railroading types. [Note: Luciana is tiny and nothing like Joe!]

The moment was indescribably delicious. To know that I had reached a reader and his family in that way. Another author/illustrator at the party said, "I wish one of my readers would greet me like that!"

My agent promplty gifted Luciana with Nugget on the Flight Deck, and here's Luciana's response [with her permission]: "It was so awesome to meet you in LA!...Thank you for the book, it is already on our reading pile and although some things are too complicated for Alex he loved it. We had the chance to walk around the [USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum] yesterday, so this is a picture of my boys and my mom. Alex is talking on the photo, he is explaining to me how the wire prevents the planes [from falling in] the water :)...When we were walking around the midway he kept saying: 'Just like Nugget on the Deck! Just like Nugget on the Deck!'"

SCBWI LA: Day 4 (#LA10SCBWI)

2010-08-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a week behind everyone else, but what else is new? If you are still curious about day 4 of the recent summer SCBWI conference in LA, keep reading.

Did you know that Bruce Hale is also an actor and a Fulbright Scholar in storytelling? He says, "Series are an easy way for reluctant readers to get hooked on reading." According to Hale, there are three types of series: the repeating concept/setting (i.e. Bruce Coville's Magic Shop series; the Dear American historical series); the repeating character/situation (i.e. Nancy Drew, Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House); and the story arc series (i.e. Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy; Philip Pullman Dark Materials series).

Gennifer Choldenko, Newbery Medal winning author for Al Capone Does My Shirts says of writing the MG novel, "each scene must be gratifying in and of itself and not just a set-up scene for a later scene."

Paul Fleischman says, "Research should be like a slip. It should be there but never show." [How many of us are guilty of not following this advice?]

Ashley Bryan encourages authors and illustrators to help children feel the spoken word as they recite poetry. Play with the sounds of words. Repeat key phrases. Make it musical. Make it fun!

SCBWI LA: Day 3 (#LA10SCBWI)

2010-08-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

Three words for SCBWI LA--Fun! Exhilarating! Exhausting!

From Gordon Korman author of Pop and Swindle and other great middle-grade and young adult books:

"Why don't we teach humor [in schools]? What do you use most, your sense of humor or your ability to recognize foreshadowing?"
"Have a sense of what's cool...a super simple and elusive asset."

Questions to ask yourself to help you Create Characters That Come to Life by Carolyn Mackler:

What does he keep in his underwear drawer?
Who would she call/text/contact when something good happens and what would that good thing be?

From award-winning author Marion Dane Bauer:

Stories have three trajectories: the character's desire, the climax, and the emotional resolution for the character's desire. Bauer asks herself, "What will that resolution feel like?"
To the writers in the room: "The emotional resolution is your own truth."

From Rachel Vail on Hearing Your Characters: "How do we hear one another? The trick is listening."

Gail Carson Levine cautions, "Be patient with your ideas and don't toss them off."

SCBWI LA: Day 2 (#LA10SCBWI)

2010-07-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

Opening keynote by Jon Scieszka, the nation's first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature:

"Your mission is to be a storyteller."
He suggests reading the BEST children's books, but also, "Read the the worst children's books."
On Pope Benedict's first children's book: "Hey, I don't get in your turf!"

National Book Award winner, M. T. Anderson:

Lin Oliver, in her introduction of M. T. Anderson, says, "He creates books for thinking kids."
From the literature of his youth, he recalls, the "mood of the place, the sense of expansive landscape, the romance of geography."
"Books take us away from home so we can see home...through estrangement we are forced to see what we've know in new way."

Break out session with Francesco Sedita, publisher of Grosset & Dunlap and Price Stern Sloan says, "Mass market is great quality at a great price."

Break-out session with Coleen Paratore, author of 14 books in 6 years: "I try not to think about anything [when I write]. I try to hear what's in my head and capture it."

Afternoon keynote illustrator and four-time Golden Kite winner, Loren Long:

Search for the 'emotional hit' in your book.
His favorite childhood books were The Poky Little Puppy, The Little Engine That Could, and Ferdinand. "Why did I love [these] books so much? The book was my friend."

SCBWI LA: Day 1

2010-07-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

I'm in Los Angeles this week at the SCBWI LA Summer Conference. Today is day #1and we kick off with a keynote from Jon Scieszka (read the profile I wrote about him on my website).

Other sessions on tap: Writing Mass Market Fiction with Francesco Sedita of Grosset & Dunlap and Writing for the Tween Market: Turning Inspiration Into Income with Coleen Paratore, the "queen of tween."

Stay tuned for inspiring quotes from the faculty...

July 4 Aboard Aircraft Carrier

2010-07-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

The USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum--the perfect venue for signing my newest book, Nugget on the Flight Deck. July 4--the perfect day.

Stationed on the hangar deck, I signed dozens of books and spoke to oodles of the 11,000+ visitors that boarded the carrier. Some of the more memorable conversations:

One Navy seaman told me he purchased Nugget last year for his nephew and they LOVED the book!
A retired pilot named Bear said in addition to "nugget" they also called the new guy on board FNG. (Hint: NG=new guy; use your imagination to fill in the rest.)

Dozens of docents stopped by my table to share their Midway stories when they served aboard the carrier. I took the opportunity to ask lots of questions!
Other docents stopped by to tell me they'd purchased Nugget on the Flight Deck for their grandchildren.
Teachers and picture book lovers from all over the country stopped by to get their "fix."
I even saw fellow SCBWI member Roseanne Greenfield Thong and we talked about writing for children.
Plus, I snapped a few more photos for my school visits. Nothing informs a school talk like on-site research! (Ever see the size of a kitchen mixer on a carrier?)

Meet Diana Muldrow

2010-06-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Author of We Planted a Tree also an editor at Golden Books.

“When I was very little,” Diane Muldrow says, “all my mother had to do to make me happy was read to me. Once when she was reading to me, I told her I wanted to write books when I grew up. I wrote lots of poems and stories and even a novel in elementary school. By high school, though I had other aspirations. I wanted to be a photojournalist for National Geographic.” More...

Online Video Promotion--Does It Work?

2010-06-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd give it a try and wanted to share my experiences. The whole point of "video distribution" is to structure your book trailer titles and descriptions for optimal placement on Internet searches.

At our 2010 Spring Spirit Conference for SCBWI CA North/Central (@SCBWICA), my co-regional advisor Erin Dealey (@erindealey) and I invited DigitalWeavers to host a table in the foyer to talk to attendees about the benefits of promoting themselves with video. I decided to put my money where my mouth is and opt for DigitalWeavers' video distribution package. Here are the pros and cons as I see them...

PROS
Owner Lisa Gottfried interviewed me by telephone asking several probing questions about the market I hoped to reach with my Nugget on the Flight Deck trailer. She developed a long list of possible keywords for which prospective readers/buyers might search and then (and this is the magical part that I don't understand) discovered how many times those keywords were used in the last month. From that list of keywords, Lisa developed a list of possible titles for my book trailer and I chose the one I wanted.

Behind the scenes, Lisa worked her magic and posted the video with the title I chose and we waited. In about a week, she typed in one of our search terms (gift book for grandson) and Nugget on the Flight Deck appeared on the first page of search results in the #1 spot out of 1,350,000,000 competitors. If a prospective reader types "teaching vocabulary and science picture book," my video appears on page 1 of the search results in the #1 and #2 slots out of 12,100,000 competitors. And, I'm definitely accumulating more "views" than I did before the distribution process. So far so good, right?

CONS
Well, here's the catch. There's not much we can do to then make the prospective reader/buyer view the video once it appears in their search results. Plus, it's difficult to determine how the increased visibility and number of views actually affects book sales.

If anyone figures out a way to study this, I'd love to know!

Meet Tomie dePaola

2010-06-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

Even Tomie dePaola was once new at writing and illustrating for children!

At the age of four, Tomie dePaola announced, “I am going to be an artist when I grow up and I am going to write stories and draw pictures for books and sing and dance on stage.” After celebrating his 75th birthday, dePaola declares that not only has he achieved each of these goals, “I got paid for them, too!”

There was a time in dePaola’s life, however, when he was not so confident about his future. After graduating from Pratt Institute in 1956 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, he thought he wanted to become a Benedictine monk and joined a small monastery in Weston, Vermont. “It wasn’t meant to be,” dePaola says. Instead, he moved to New York City and commuted to a college teaching position in Boston. Although he liked teaching and his students liked him, he says, “I never saw teaching as a career. I thought of it as getting money for rent.” Creating art was his passion and he struggled to make the dream a reality. More...

Meet Richard Peck

2010-05-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

Never heard Richard Peck speak or watched his Master Class video? You're missing a valuable piece of guidance in the craft of writing!

Writing was Richard Peck’s first dream, but he came of age in an era when boys were not encouraged to take chances. After college, the U.S. Army drafted him and shipped him to Stuttgart, Germany as a chaplain’s assistant where he set himself up as a ghostwriter for sermons. “It was the first time I wrote to an audience,” he says. At the time, Peck felt he wasted two years of his life, but upon reflection considers his experience an apprenticeship in the last place he would have looked. “Sermons are novels,” he says. “They have beginnings, middles and ends and morals. And they depend upon research, because a sermon is based on the Biblical text.” More...

Who Wrote That? Kadir Nelson

2010-04-15T06:09:00.000-07:00

A occasional feature profiling the talented authors and illustrators who bring children’s books to life.

Throughout childhood, Kadir Nelson viewed the world through the lens of an artist, drawing by the age of three and painting by the age of ten. He remembers one rainy winter day in Atlantic City, New Jersey. “My family was piling into my grandmother's white Cadillac and I stood and waited for everyone to get inside. It was cold and breezy, and warm streetlights reflected off the shiny bluish sidewalk. I stood there feeling warm, wrapped up in my heavy winter coat, enjoying the breeze and the scenery. I remember thinking to myself, ‘This is beautiful.’ I was a six-year-old kid savoring the moment. It felt pretty special to me.”

More...

In Memoriam...Sid Fleischman

2010-03-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sid Fleischman was one of the greats in children's literature, a weaver of stories that won our hearts. He worked up until his death, selling his final picture book manuscript only weeks before. His novel, The Whipping Boy, won the Newbery Medal and Humbug Mountain was a National Book Award finalist . I was fortunate enough to speak with Sid Fleishman before his death about his career, his interest in magic and the great fan mail he received from readers. His profile may be found on my website.

What I Learn At School Visits

2010-03-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

Read Across America Week and Dr. Seuss' birthday spawned a series of school visits over the last several days. I spoke to hundreds of children at six different schools to inspire them to read and write, but sometimes I feel as if they teach me more than I teach them.

During each presentation the students and I discuss different kinds of writing. I'm looking for responses such as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comic books, and articles. But in response to my question, "What do you like to write?" one brave kindergartener said, "My high frequency words."

Research is a big topic in my school presentations and I like to show children pictures of the two pilots I interviewed for Nugget on the Flight Deck. I challenge the children to guess where I found real live pilots to speak with me. One boy said, "Facebook?"

During one of my "close encounter" presentations with a fourth grade class, one of the students asked me why I write. I responded that I love words and I especially love the way the slang words sound in Jingle the Brass and Nugget on the Flight Deck. He instructed me that my phrases such as "putting on the nosebag" (eating), "the rods are flashing" (used to describe a fast-moving train) and "kick the tires and light the fires" (do the preflight check and take off quickly) are idioms.

Many students can satisfactorily explain G forces and the way a catapult operates. Or how two trains share the same track.

But the #1 one thing that students teach me every time I visit a school is the value of enthusiasm. They raise their hands to respond to a question before the question leaves my lips. They volunteer before knowing what they are expected to do. They ooh and aah over each page turn. They beg to see my movie of the jet catapulting off the aircraft carrier over and over.

Their childlike enthusiasm keeps me writing. Every rejection is balanced against the faces that stare at my every move when I'm visiting a school. When I interview authors and illustrators for my column in California Kids! and my website, I always ask them to share their inspiration.

My inspiration is the readers that I am fortunate enough to meet in schools.

Who Wrote That? Meet Erica Silverman

2010-02-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

A occasional feature profiling the talented authors and illustrators who bring children’s books to life.

As a child, Erica Silverman turned to books to help her make sense of the world. “The feelings of childhood are very intense and unmitigated by the adult perspective,” she says. “I remember feeling the powerlessness of being subject to the intensity of those feelings without the ability to express them or make sense of them. Books were the places I went to find that characters had similar feelings to me.” As a children’s writer, Silverman tries to stay in touch with the intensity of childhood emotions and the way stories can connect children to the ability to express themselves. More...

Ten Tips for a Dynamite Author Visit Program

2010-02-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Whether you’re speaking to a classroom of 20 students or an assembly of 400, you need to have your audience in the palm of your hand. Here are my top ten tips for a dynamite author visit program:

1) Energy, energy, energy! Every word, every movement must convey a love of words and writing. It’s not enough to say you love your job. You must show them!

2) Read excerpts from your books to show parts of the writing process. Don’t lecture!

3) Use a variety of media to get your point across. I use PowerPoint and incorporate slides, audio and video. I also use hand-held visuals and props like paper airplanes to demonstrate some of the dogfight moves in Nugget on the Flight Deck.

4) Engage students with questions. Challenge them to answer. When reading Jingle the Brass, we piece together the steps to make a steam engine run. In Nugget on the Flight Deck, we learn how to tell time like pilots.

5) Incorporate activities, skits or demonstrations that require students to help you at the front of the room.

6) Sometimes the students talk all at the same time because they are excited by what you are sharing. Plan inventive ways to recapture their attention. I use my train whistle or rhythmic clapping with a funny twist.

7) Like a stand-up comedian, sometimes it’s okay to let the audience react. Give them time to process a particularly cool idea or fact. A little noise and excitement can be a good thing!

8) Change the pitch and volume of your voice to rivet students.

9) Consider wearing a costume that illustrates one of your books. It’s a great visual and immediately identifies you as a special visitor for the day. I have overalls and a train hat for Jingle the Brass and a flight suit for Nugget on the Flight Deck.

10) If you are fortunate enough to meet children individually, engage them in conversation to help make the experience memorable for them (and you)!

Ingredients for a Great School Visit

2010-02-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

The difference between a good school visit and a great school visit is planning. My program is a combination of assemblies, close encounters, readings and writing workshops that engage children in the writing process, acquaint them with the wonders of research, and inspire them to persevere when faced with the dreaded task of revision. I also provide for the author visit coordinator a clear contract, an attractive book order form, and a clear idea of what I plan to accomplish with the children I meet.

But a lot of what makes a good school visit great is out of my control. Librarians and teachers do the real planning and the result is a unique experience that conveys the individual personality of the school—its students, its faculty and it’s administration.

I recently traveled to Vermont and spoke to the students and faculty at three schools (one in the town where I grew up) and I want to share some of the outstanding events that occurred that made the experience memorable for the students and me.

1) Kris Larson and Gwen Schuppe, the librarians at Rick Marcotte Central School in South Burlington, Vermont purchased an extra copy of Jingle the Brass and Nugget on the Flight Deck. They cut apart the books, laminated the pages and posted them in the hallways of the school. When I visited, I saw the pages of my books covering the walls of the school and surrounded by student art, depicting train, planes, and aircraft carriers. Kris and Gwen also read my books to every child in the school so when I arrived the students were familiar with my work and prepared with questions.

For lunch, students made personalized placemats and second grade teacher Diane Farnham whipped up a delicious homemade meal.

Small group workshops with fifth graders showed them that writing can be fun! I repeated the dialogue writing workshop (described in my Jan. 29, 2010 blog entry) and we laughed, stretched our imaginations, brainstormed ideas, accepted some and rejected others. In short, we behaved like real writers.

2) At Milton Elementary School in Milton, Vermont, kindergarten teacher Cheryl King arranged for an introductory Skype session so I could meet her students a few days prior to my visit. We discussed the weather in California vs. Vermont (and they kindly warned me to bring my woolies)! The time difference between East and West was a big topic of discussion and the students wanted to know if I was still in bed when they started school. We also talked about what we going to do when I visited their classroom.

Second grade teachers Cathy Stout, Anne Cameron, Janet Lynch and Mary Ladabouche gave up valuable class time for workshops on building believable characters. The children and I created a character based on a few of the character’s possessions I brought to school. We made notes on their Smart Boards, and the teachers planned to extend the lesson into a story writing exercise. (See upcoming blog entry on What’s in Your Character’s Backpack?) Angela Filion's first grade class put themselves into the shoes of a sailor aboard an aircraft carrier and wrote a postcard home to their families complete with a colorful drawing.

3) Kathy Duggan, Librarian at Summit Street School in Essex Junction created a balanced schedule of assemblies, writing workshops, small group readings, and book signing time. During an entire school assembly, I unfurled the 16 rejection letters I received for Jingle the Brass taped end-to-end. I told them that I never stopped believing in myself or my story. At lunch, one of the teachers tracked me down to tell me that after my assembly a boy in her class struggled with a writing assignment. The girl sitting next to him patted him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry. You have 16 tries!” Another student approached Mrs. Duggan and said, “I REALLY like your friend.” Kathy’s program allowed me to meet and speak with several students personally to help them look at writing as an everyday goal.

Although there is no substitute for an author creating a dynamic, interactive program, the school’s commitment is essential. When the school is invested in making author visit day an unforgettable experience for students, the transformation from good to great is guaranteed!

In gratitude for the staff and students at Rick Marcotte Central School, Milton Elementary School, and Summit Street School who welcomed me with the warmth of old friends.

Inspiring Kids to Write Meaty Dialogue

2010-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

If you are a teacher or have ever judged a kids' writing contest, you know kids do not write the most thrilling dialogue. Okay...usually it's downright awful.

In a recent school visit to Carriage Elementary in Citrus Heights, CA, I conducted a dialogue writing workshop with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. When I've conducted this workshop in the past, the kids wrote their own individual scenes, but with a nudge from my writing pal and co-Regional Advisor for SCBWI, Erin Dealey (@erindealey on Twitter), I morphed the workshop into a group project.

As writers and teachers, we all know dialogue serves several purposes, but for the workshop I focused on one--moving the plot forward. To start the workshop, I read a few lines of dialogue from some of my favorite books to illustrate how dialogue can move the plot.The students and I brainstormed topics on which we could write a scene between two people in conflict. The Carriage students and I worked together for about an hour proposing and rejecting lines of dialogue for our scenario. At the end, several pairs of volunteers acted out the scene--garnering lots of laughs!

The "Wow!" Factor: Nonfiction, Research & School Visits

2010-01-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

Nonfiction and school visits go together like peanut butter and jelly. Trains and aircraft carriers were the main topics of the day at my recent visit to Mather Heights Elementary School in Sacramento, California.

Jingle the Brass (trains) and Nugget on the Flight Deck (fighter pilots and aircraft carriers) required months of research. I labored over library books, Internet sites, and expert interviews searching for the most fascinating facts for my readers. When I began writing the manuscripts, I discovered I not only had enough material for my picture books, I had enough for the definitive works on trains and carriers!

That's where school visits come in! Students are treated to many of the delights that I could not include in my books. For instance, when I read Jingle the Brass I demonstrate how two trains share one railroad track through a skit in which the children play the parts of train cars, tunnels and semaphores. And a couple of pages in Jingle the Brass provide a perfect introduction to the science behind steam engines.

With Nugget on the Flight Deck, we figure out the size of a carrier in comparison to objects with which students are more familiar. For example six third graders equal the weight of one link in the anchor chain. I demonstrate how a fighter pilot keeps track of the position of enemy planes flying around him. One student plays the part of the pilot and other students play the part of bogeys. We do head math problems involving the number of TVs on a carrier and the number of meals served every day. We also do a few spatial relationship problems, demonstrating a hi yo-yo dogfight move with paper airplanes.

Whether you are an author or a teacher, nonfiction is an excellent way to help students make connections to the real world. If I hear the students say, "Wow!" I know the hours of research were worth it.

Great Conference for Writers & Illustrators

2010-01-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

2010 SCBWI SPRING SPIRIT CONFERENCE

DATE: April 24, 2010
TIME: 8:00 am (for Pitch-A-Thon and Nuts & Bolts sessions); 9:00 am for Keynote address by Judy Sierra - 4:00 pm
LOCATION: Sunset Center, Rocklin, CA (easy freeway access off I-80)

DOWNLOAD CONFERENCE REGISTRATION PACKET at http://www.scbwi.org/Regional-Chapters.aspx?R=5&sec=Conf

The day is packed! Come with a buddy and split up the sessions to maximize your opportunities. Registration limited to 175 participants. Register by Feb. 1st for the best rates.

Sessions include (see website for full program):

If You Want to Be Published, Try Nonfiction: Keys to Nonfiction That Sells by Mary Rodgers (E-I-C, Lerner Publishing)
Anatomy of a Picture Book by author-illustrator Laura McGee Kvasnosky
Art Sample Critiques by Kristen Nobles, (AD Candlewick Press)
A Novelist's Craft: Working Out a Plot by Jeanne DuPrau, author of The City of Ember series
Pitch-A-Thon--pitching your manuscript idea to an editor (pre-registration required)
TMI! Being You, Being Professional by Brian Farrey, Editor, Flux/Llewellyn
Not Your Mother's Book Trailer: How to Stand Out and Become Ubiquitous on the Web with a Phenomenal Book Video by Lisa Gottfried, President, DigitalWeavers
Nuts & Bolts session for new writers and illustrators
Four: Anatomy of a Synopsis by Brian Farrey, Editor, Flux/Llewellyn
First Page Critiques with Mary Rodgers (E-I-C, Lerner Publishing), Judy Sierra, and Jeanne DuPrau
Picture Books-Thinking Visually with Kristen Nobles, picture book author Judy Sierra and Laura McGee Kvasnosky

Important Conference Deadlines (*all deadlines are POSTMARK date):
Early Registration Deadline – Feb. 1, 2010
Written Manuscript Critiques – Feb. 1, 2010
Written Art Sample Critiques – Feb. 1, 2010
Pitches for Early Bird Pitch-A-Thon for PAL Authors– Mar. 1, 2010
Oral Art Sample jpg files—April 1, 2010

Email scbwicanorthcentral@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you in April!

Who Wrote That? Meet Jeri Chase Ferris

2009-12-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

A bi-weekly feature profiling the talented authors and illustrators who bring children’s books to life.

Jeri Chase Ferris remembers being twelve years old and riding her black Arabian mare through the golden wheat fields of Nebraska under steel gray thunderheads. “That combination…is seared in my memory,” she says. Perhaps it was the dramatic contrast of colors. Perhaps it was Ferris’s first attempt as a future writer to record an event of visceral importance. In hindsight, she reflects that her own age during her most vivid memory is the same age as most of her readers today. Ferris says, “I didn’t want to be a writer. I read all the time, but I never thought that someone had to write those books.” More...

What is the best way for a student to get published?

2009-12-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

At several recent signings, I've been approached by high school students interested in writing for childen. My responses to their questions will run over a series of blog posts. Perhaps they will assist other students and aspiring writers.

A: Wow, this is a loaded question. There are entire classes that answer this question, but I'll do my best. The one thing many authors neglect to do is work on their craft--developing the best possible story with interesting characters and gripping language--in the race to be published. I suggest you begin by taking a writing class--perhaps in high school or in college or through a community organization like the Learning Exchange. I also suggest you analyze some of your favorite books or the award winners of the kind of books you would like to write. Don't just read these books, but dissect them to figure out why they work. How does the plot unfold? What makes the characters so appealing? How does the author keep you turning the pages to get to the end? As you consider your own story, try to incorporate the answers to these questions. And above all, remember that the first draft of anything is usually awful--even for professional writers. Revision makes it readable. Do not plan to be a writer unless you are willing to revise your work multiple times (as in more than 10)! I'm sorry if that sounds preachy, but it's a hard truth about writing.

Next, I suggest you enter contests and submit to magazines. There are a few resources for aspiring writers on my website. A few writers published books as teenagers--S.E. Hinton, Amelia Atwater Rhodes, Christopher Paolini come immediately to mind--so it is possible. Remember to treat each submission professionally. That means you must find out how to format your manuscript, what types of stories individual publishers are looking for, researching submission guidelines for each publisher (they're all different), and develop a professional cover letter or query letter. With every submission, you must look like you know what you are doing even if you feel lost. Research is the key! I suggest beginning with Children's Writers & Illustrators Market, an annual market guide available in any library, to learn about the market and pick up a few tips.

What high school classes do I recommend for students and why?

2009-12-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

At several recent signings, I've been approached by high school students interested in writing for childen. My responses to their questions will run over a series of blog posts. Perhaps they will assist other students and aspiring writers.

A: Classes that will get you to college. You learn to think critically and creatively in college and I think it's important for writers to have that experience. Also, college opens up your world. So I recommend you take a college track program in high school. I also suggest, if you like to write, that you join extra-curricular activities that allow you to do so, such as the newspaper, a literary magazine, the yearbook. For instance, my local newspaper used to have a Teen Sidetracks page that allowed teens to submit articles. Check out my website for other tips.

What are some challenges I face as a writer?

2009-12-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

At several recent signings, I've been approached by high school students interested in writing for childen. My responses to their questions will run over a series of blog posts. Perhaps they will assist other students and aspiring writers.

A: The first draft of anything is always a challenge. There is such potential when a story is alive in my head; filling up the white computer screen with the correct words is still scary for me. To delay the first draft as long as possible, I hide in the research--reading just one more chapter of a source book; interviewing just one more person about their experiences--you get the idea. But once the first draft is out, I am relieved. Editing is much more fun because I know every time I tackle the story from here on out, I improve it. It's fun to see an idea I created improve to the point that it could be published.

Where did I go to school? Would I recommend that school?

2009-12-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

At several recent signings, I've been approached by high school students interested in writing for childen. My responses to their questions will run over a series of blog posts. Perhaps they will assist other students and aspiring writers.

A: I graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. I LOVED Cornell and would encourage any self-motivated student with a strong desire to learn to consider Cornell. (The winters are cold, though, so be prepared!) As someone who may want to be a writer, you do not need to major in any specific field. Writers, by nature, are curious people. They want to find out new things, and whether they research nonfiction topics (like the fighter pilots and aircraft carriers I read about for Nugget on the Flight Deck) or discover new characters in their imaginations (like I did with "My Brother, Josh" published in Spider Magazine), they need to keep their minds open for story ideas. The more you practice, the better you get at finding story ideas. When you get to college, be sure you take classes or join activities that make you write--maybe you take a creative writing class; or maybe you write for the school newspaper; or maybe you write articles about some research you are doing for a professor. Practice putting words on paper.

What do I do in a typical day?

2009-11-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Tune Your Radio Dial to CPR Today at 10:00 a.m (Pacific)!

2009-11-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

Catch "Insight" this morning for an interview with yours truly. We'll be talking about the story behind Nugget on the Flight Deck and writing for children.

"Insight" is a daily, in-depth interview program hosted by NPR/Capital Public Radio's Jeffrey Callison, providing context and background to the issues that face the Sacramento region.

Time: 10:00 am to 11:00 am

Listen on the dial at 90.9 FM KXJZ Sacramento; 90.5 FM KKTO Tahoe City/Reno; 91.3 FM KUOP Stockton/Modesto; 88.1 FM KQNC Quincy.

Can't make it? Catch it online at http://www.capradio.org/insight.

Who Wrote That? Meet Teri Sloat

2009-11-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

A bi-weekly feature profiling the talented authors and illustrators who bring children’s books to life.

Teri Sloat remembers being painfully shy. Books were her escape. She physically shielded herself with them so she wouldn’t be required to converse with people, but she also found salvation in them. Through books she found kindred spirits who were shy and didn’t fit in. “Every night at 7:30 my mother would read to me,” Sloat says. Kids in her Oregon neighborhood joined the story times because their own parents didn’t read to them. “After the stories the kids would go home and I would go to bed.” She remembers thinking she was lucky she owned so many books and only later learned that most of them came from the library. “When we moved [my mother] out of her house at age 89, she was still reading to the last little boy in the neighborhood.” More...

Save the Date for my NPR/Capital Public Radio Interview

2009-11-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

On Monday, November 23, I will be a guest on "Insight" , a daily, in-depth interview program hosted by Capital Public Radio's Jeffrey Callison, providing context and background to the issues that face the Sacramento region.

We will be talking about the story behind Nugget on the Flight Deck, specifically and writing for children, in general.

Time: 10:00 am to 11:00 am

Listen in online or on the dial at 90.9 FM KXJZ Sacramento; 90.5 FM KKTO Tahoe City/Reno; 91.3 FM KUOP Stockton/Modesto; 88.1 FM KQNC Quincy.

Who Wrote That? Meet Rita Murphy

2009-11-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

A bi-weekly feature profiling the talented authors and illustrators who bring children’s books to life.

Rita Murphy was eleven years old and on the cusp of puberty when she climbed an apple tree in an orchard in upstate New York. “It was early October,” she says, recalling a family apple-picking outing. “We were there a long time and it was cooling off. The sun was setting. I had this amazing feeling of everything being connected…The apple tree. Everybody. Everything. It was sort of a gift at that time before things began to change physically.” More...

A rare treat! Interviewed by my illustrator's children...

2009-11-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

My conversation with Aaron Zenz's three children was a rare treat! Not only did I learn more about the talent behind the illustrations in Nugget on the Flight Deck, but the kids gave me a behind-the-scenes peek into their Dad's illustration process. Check out their Bookie Woogie blog -- it reads like a one-act play because there were 5 of us on the line at once. Isaac, Gracie and Lily also provide fabulous illustrations--a portrait of me and their impressions of scenes in the book. Don't miss Lily's last drawing--a play on the jargon in Nugget. Very sophisticated for a six-year-old! Also, posted--dueling book trailers--one with Isaac's voice and one with Gracie's.

Special Bonus! Share a comment on Bookie Woogie and you will automatically be entered in a random drawing to win a copy of Nugget on the Flight Deck signed by BOTH author and illustrator!

Nugget on the Flight Deck nominated for CYBILs

2009-10-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Nugget on the Flight Deck has been nominated for the 2009 Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literacy Awards (CYBILs) and reviewed by Kara Schaff Dean's blog Not Just for Kids. We're spooled up now!

San Diego Tour: Curie Elementary School Helps Launch Nugget on the Flight Deck

2009-10-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

The final stop of my four-day swing through San Diego was Curie Elementary School. I used to live in the University City area of San Diego before moving to Sacramento, so I felt like I was going home. I was particularly gratified to see that the EDUCATE Foundation that I helped found when I lived in University City has grown exponentially and gives thousands of dollars to the five schools in the area.

During the morning hours, I spoke with six small groups of students from the fourth and fifth grades in a "close encounter with the author" format. Using Jingle the Brass and Nugget on the Flight Deck to illustrate several points, I spoke about my idea phase, research, revision, illustrations and working with my editors. I also answered the students' questions about writing. One piece of advice I offered students: Put your stories/reports in a safe place for a week or two to let your brain rest and recharge. After the rest period, read your story with a new eye and you will immediately see places it can be improved.

After lunch, I spoke to an assembly of third graders in the auditorium. We had a great time reading Nugget on the Flight Deck (my first school visit reading!). Students helped me demonstrate aspects of flying; solved head-math problems (did you know the 18,000 meals served on a carrier each day will feed one third grader three meals a day, every day until he's 26 years old?); and learned how to spell our names using the aviator's alphabet (Ryan = Romeo Yankee Alpha November).

Bravo zulu! Curie students are spooled up now!

San Diego Tour: Vista Library Welcomes Children's Authors

2009-10-18T11:12:00.001-07:00

The San Diego County Library hosted Page One: A Celebration of Reading this weekend at the various libraries around the county. I spoke about my work and what it's like to be a writer as part of a panel with Edith Fine, Judith Josephson, Kathleen Krull and illustrator Paul Brewer.

The Vista Library is beautiful and featured gorgeous flower arrangements, goodie bags for the authors, book sales, and friendly company.

What a treat to be selected by the librarians as a favorite author and included in this special event!

San Diego Book Tour: Readers, Inc. in La Mesa

2009-10-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

Deena While at Readers, Inc. in La Mesa, California is a prime example of why authors and illustrators love independent book store owners. Deena invited me to do a reading at her store during my trip to San Diego and I accepted.

Readers, Inc. is dedicated to children's books and is situated in the old downtown section of La Mesa on a street lined with family-owned businesses. Deena and her staff are part of their community and regularly participate such events as the Farmers' Market, Christmas celebrations and Oktoberfest. The store features a gorgeous mural hand painted by her mother-in-law of all the businesses that line La Mesa Boulevard in this downtown section. A model train track runs the perimeter of the store--a tribute to the train tracks practically outside Deena's door (and a perfect backdrop to my book, Jingle the Brass). A menagerie of snakes and turtles keep children interested in more than just books!

From the moment I entered Readers, Inc., Deena welcomed with a beautifully decorated table of my books and friendly conversation. Deena is a publicist beyond compare--not only contacting her considerable database of clients, but publicizing the event in the newspaper, contacting radio stations, and writing a review of my newest book, Nugget on the Flight Deck, in East County Magazine.

If I could have one wish for all of my writer/illustrator friends, it would be to have a book signing like the one Deena delivered!

The Benefits of Making Friends with your Barnes & Noble Community Relations Manager

2009-10-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Since the release of Jingle the Brass, I began establishing a relationship with the Community Relations Manager (CRM in Barnes & Noble-speak) at my local B&N. Over the years he has asked me to various in-store events such as Local Author Appreciation Day. Now that Nugget on the Flight Deck is for sale, my CRM turns to me in a variety of ways.

B&N's new bookfair/fundraiser concept for schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations provides a way for the store to sell books and for organizations to raise money. Organizations that arrange a B&N bookfair will receive a donation based on a percentage of total sales over a given period of time. Because of my CRM's outreach program, several schools schedule a bookfair/fundraiser and request an author to visit their school. My CRM is now the initial contact for several school visits. Sometimes I visit a school for an entire day, sometimes for a singe assembly. But my CRM is the point-person, getting the word out about local authors and connecting us with schools.

This week, I participated in three Educator Receptions as part of B&N's educator appreciation week. At each reception, the CRM features a panel of local authors who speak about their school visit programs. After the panel presentations, the authors and teachers meet, chat and network.

If you write/illustrate for children and you have not yet met your local B&N CRM, you're missing an opportunity!

Press for Nugget on the Flight Deck for my upcoming visit to San Diego

2009-10-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

NOTED CHILDREN'S AUTHOR IN LA MESA OCT. 16 FOR READING & BOOK SIGNING | East County Magazine

Book Review: Nugget on the Flight Deck By Patricia Newman

Patricia Newman New York, Walker and Company, 2009. Illustrated by Aaron Zenz. Hardback Picture Book, 40 pages, with Target Age: 4-8 years.

Reviewed by Deena While

“Welcome aboard, Nugget…I’ll bet you’ve never been aboard a carrier before…”

October 13, 2009 (La Mesa) -- San Diego may be the nation’s 9th largest city, but it is still a Navy town at heart. The graceful passage of San Diego’s homeport aircraft carriers down the harbor channel, past Ballast Point and out to sea is one of our area’s most awe-inspiring sights. And any one of those ships could have a nugget aboard. Navy and Marine jargon is often heard in our community. In Navy-speak, a nugget is a new pilot on his first tour of duty. Patricia Newman’s just-released book is a fun-filled introduction to the basics of carrier operations, centered on the heart-warming story of one particular nugget. More...

Who Wrote That? Meet Pamela S. Turner

2009-10-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

A bi-weekly feature profiling the talented authors and illustrators who bring children’s books to life.

Pamela S. Turner, the award-winning author of several science books for children, parlayed her high school love of science into a career in health planning, epidemiology and health policy research. She and her husband met as exchange students in Kenya, and traveled the world. Turner’s three children were born in three different countries. After a stint in Tokyo, Turner and her family returned to the U.S. “By that time I was doing policy research and I was not that into it,” she says. “I really wanted to go back to my original ambition, but I was scared to try it. Afraid that I wouldn’t be any good.” More...

USO's United Through Reading Military Program

2009-10-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

While reasearching Nugget on the Flight Deck, I stumbled across a wonderful program for deployed service men and women with children. According to http://www.uso.org/, "United Through Reading is a California-based nonprofit organization that unites military families facing physical separation by having the deployed service member read a children's book aloud while being recorded on DVD to send home to their children." The service is available aboard Navy ships worldwide, on remote operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 60 USO centers in airports, community locations, military medical facilities and overseas bases.

The DVD, a copy of the book and instructions are mailed to the child back home. The parent/caregiver is encouraged to photograph or video the child's excitement. This photo or video of the child is sent to the deployed parent to encourage them to participate again.

When United Through Reading updates its list of suggested books, Nugget on the Flight Deck will be included!

Fairytale Town's Children's Book Celebration

2009-09-29T13:06:00.001-07:00

Sitting in the gigantic throne at Fairytale Town and reading to the hundreds of children who come out for the annual book celebration is always a highlight! This year, I presented a few pages from my newest book, Nugget on the Flight Deck. We talked about the size of an aircraft carrier -- the flight deck is almost twice the size of Fairytale Town and the carrier is as tall as 24 of their school buildings stacked on top of one another. We could have used a cool ocean breeze though, as the thermometer topped out at 100 degrees.

Following my presentation, I changed hats and volunteered at the SCBWI table (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) where we presented a literacy activity for the children and their parents. The table was staffed by several wonderful volunteers. Here, my co-Regional Advisor Erin Dealey and I pose with Mother Goose.