Thursday, March 22, 2007

Have you read The Higher Power of Lucky?

I just finished reading The Higher Power of Lucky which won the Newbery Medal this year. That's the prize awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year. "Lucky" is the story of a little girl who lives in the desert--in Hard Pan California, population 43. The book is very entertaining, with a dizzying array of eccentric characters, including Brigitte, her father's first wife, who came from France to look after her after her mother (the second wife) died in a bizarre accident. I enjoyed it, but I'm wondering if this is one of those books that kids don't like as much as adults do. (Does anyone know a ten year old who has read it?)
Oh--almost forgot. The book's claim to fame, other than the Newbery, is its use of the word "scrotum" on the first page, referring to a dog's being bitten there. It raised a huge controversy in the school library community: some people concerned about age appropriateness (the book seems aimed at 4th graders, in terms of the difficulty and length), and others concerned about censorship...

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Curious George--everyone's favorite monkey!

One of the most dramatic stories in publishing is the story of Curious George. German Jews Hans and Margret Rey were living in Paris during the Nazi invasion in 1940. They were not able to escape the city until Hans found some parts and managed to build two bicycles. H.A. and Margret escaped on bicycle from German-occupied Paris, with just their winter coats and several picture books (including a draft of Curious George, then called Fifi) strapped to the racks. They rode their bikes to Marseilles, got a boat to Lisbon, and eventually reached America.
(Thanks to information in Anita Silvey's book 100 Best Books for Children which lists her idea of the 100 best books for children of the last 100 years. She has several fascinating pages about each book)

Thursday, March 15, 2007

I am in the greatest volunteer program!

I just went and sat in on a session for the volunteer program I'm going to be doing, and that I'll be a substitute volunteer for next week. The program is called Play Partners and teams of two people go to day care centers or family day care homes 1 hour a week for a month, each time reading a book and doing activities based on that book, Because of grants received by the organization, the day care provider and each child in the group all get a copy of the book to keep at the end of the month. If there are infants in the group, they each get a board book every month too. The program has huge plastic storage tubs of materials to go with each of the books, as well. The book we did today was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, and there were actually little stuffed animals or plastic figures for every animal in the book! A green frog, a yellow duck, a blue horse, etc. We began the session by singing a greeting song, calling each child by name and singing about the color he or she was wearing. Then, we read the book, with the kids, who had heard the book before, chiming in. Then, the woman who was leading hid the animals under a cloth, and picked up the cloth along with one animal, and the kids guessed which animal was missing. After that, we went into the kitchen where each child had two brushes and two colors of paint and we painted and talked about the colors and the results of mixing the colors. After painting, the children played with some toys that were also in the kit, a Lego Primo Set - Stack 'n Learn, a color and shape puzzle, and other toys emphasizing colors. The session closed with more songs,
including
Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light
On the corner shining bright
Red means STOP! (Hold up red card)
Green means GO! (Hold up green card)
Yellow means go but VERY SLOW (Hold up yellow card.)
Twinkle twinkle traffic light
On the corner shining bright.
I talked with the day care provider who was very enthusiastic about the program, especially the library of books she has built through the program. She was particularly happy about how responsive the children are to the books after they have experienced them in a multisensory way.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Stop that pickle!


If your kids know and love The Gingerbread Man they will think Stop That Pickle!is hilarious!I read this to my kindergarten students and they thought it was the funniest thing they ever heard. We compared and contrasted it with The Gingerbread man. You will be glad to know there is a happy ending for the pickle. He lives to run another day...
Kids love these fractured fairy tales. (Refer back to my post of February 5 for some more)

Monday, March 12, 2007

Have you read The Big Green Book?

The BIG GREEN BOOK which is by Robert Graves, and is illustrated by Maurice Sendak is a real crowd-pleaser. Kids love seeing the adults fooled by a little boy, with a bit of help from the Big Green Book of magic. It is amazing that this book is no longer in print. It's available used and in Spanish.

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Send a birthday card to The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat is turning 50, and here's how to celebrate:

Go to firstbook.org and send the card and Random House Children's Books will donate a book to First Book, which gives books to low-income children who do not have books in the home.

Next, click here
The Cat in the Hat and buy a copy for your favorite kid!

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Having fun with Broadway show tunes

This movie was a favorite of my daughters when it came out. They loved everything about it, the story, the characters, the actors, and the music. I can still see them up on the raised hearth in our house singing and dancing to "It's a hard knock life". For some reason, Amazon gives Anniea bad review, but no doubt the reviewer lacks the discernment of a 6 year old. Thanks to this movie they picked up a lot of vocabulary, learned who Herbert Hoover was, and learned to say "We love you Miss Hannigan" to me whenever I made demands they thought unreasonable.
Songs are a wonderful way to enhance your child's vocabulary. Imagine having these movies to show to your child: any or all of them: This DVD set,The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collectioncontains The Sound of Music, The King and I,Oklahoma, South Pacific,State Fair, and Carousel. Songs like "It's a grand night for singing", "Getting to know you", "Oh what a beautiful morning", "Doe, a deer", and many others which are a part of our cultural heritage.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Online interview with children's author Toni Buzzeo

1. Please, tell us a little about yourself to start:
I am a Jill of many trades and a wearer of many hats. Two things have always been true, though. I have always been a writer and I have always been an educator. I continue to be both! I hold a Masters degree in English and a Masters degree in Library and Information Science. Before I was a school library media specialist, I taught English at the high school and college level. Two of the great honors of my career have been to be named the 2005 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the University of Michigan Dearborn School of Education and to be named the 1999 Maine Library Media Specialist of the Year
I write many things including children's books, professional books, and many professional articles. I’ve published five children’s books and seven professional books and have four and three more (respectively) in the pipeline.
I also speak at schools, conference, and inservice trainings all over the country. In fact, next spring I will be speaking in Berlin, my first international speaking engagement, though I have taught in Morocco.
You can read more me and my books on my website at www.tonibuzzeo.com
2. Tell us something about each of your books...
I have published five picture books for young readers so far:
Little Loon and Papa (Dial 2004) is a story of fatherly love and the courage of one little loon who must learn to dive despite his fear.
Dawdle Duckling (Dial 2003) and Ready or Not, Dawdle Duckling (Dial 2005) are companion books about a loveable little duckling who is a champion dawdler and dreamer, but whose strengths lie in knowing when to get on board and when to enlist the help of one’s friends.
The Sea Chest (Dial 2002) is the retelling of a mid-coast Maine legend about a baby who washes ashore on a lighthouse island and the keeper’s family who adopts her.
Our Librarian Won't Tell Us Anything!: A Mrs. Skorupski Story with Book(s) (Upstart 2006) draws on my library experience and tells the story of a librarian who won’t tell her students anything--though she will teach them anything they need to know to become independent library users.
3. What books do you have in progress? Still forthcoming are:
Fire Up with Reading: A Mrs. Skorupski Story (Upstart 2007) in which Mrs. Skorupski sponsors a schoolwide reading incentive program.
Adventure Girl Goes to Work (Dial, 2009) is about a spirited young girl who has to go to work with her mom when the “big report” is missing. She causes chaos AND find the report.
A Lighthouse Christmas (Dial 2009) is based on the Flying Santa Service and is about a lighthouse family whose Christmas may not be possible when the supply boat is weeks late.
No T. Rex in the Library (McElderry, forthcoming) features a young girl whose “time out” turns into an adventure when she pulls a T Rex from a book and joins him on a library rampage.
In addition, I have some unsold and in-process manuscripts that I’m working on including a third grade chapter book and a picture book about a little puffin who learns to make her way in the world.
4. Many of my readers are writers or aspiring writers. Tell us when and how you first started writing, when and why you started writing books for children, and how you first got published.
I started writing in junior high--poetry. In fact, I was first published as a poet in my college and graduate school literary journals. I credit my success as a picture book author with those early years of writing poetry. Picture books aren’t all that different!
I started writing for children in 1995 because my husband reminded me that I’d always professed a desire to do that and I ran into a priceless story of a giraffe in a swimming pool when I was touring for a month in Kenya.
The reason I am published, I think, is that I have talent as well as an enormous amount of perseverance! There’s absolutely nothing quick or easy about being published (I have 150 rejection letters from the early years), but if you systematically divide your time by writing new manuscripts, seriously revising and improving your completed work, attending conferences and joining a critique group, and making connections with editors (at conferences) and building relationships with them over time, I believe you will get published. And by all means, join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators www.scbwi.org, both the national organization and your regional chapter. Take advantage of all they have to offer you.
5. Is there a question interviewers don't ask you that would be a smart question for them to ask?
What’s the most important thing a children’s author can do?
I think the most important thing a children’s author can do is to read widely and critically in the field. As a children’s librarian, I have always done that, but I think it is essential for us all to be aware of, involved in, and excited by the work of our fellow writers, to note creative trends as well as marketing shifts.
Sadly, too many people who aspire to write for children don’t take time to invest themselves in the world of children’s literature!
Happily, though, that world has become more and more credible in society at large and more readily available to us all!