A Book and a Chair: Two Original Poems about Reading to Young Children



I must apologize for being AWOL from Blue Rose Girls for so long. Although I may be retired, my new “nanny granny” schedule keeps me really busy. I leave my house every Monday afternoon and don’t return until Thursday evening. I have also been working on the final revisions for my Things to Do poetry collection—which will be published by Chronicle Books.

I’m finding I have much less time for blogging than I had in the past. I am, however, hoping to find more time for blogging in the future. I have made a real effort to post more often at Wild Rose Reader during National Poetry Month. And because this is National Poetry Month, I thought I’d post two original poems.

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Many years ago, I wrote the following poem titled A Book and a Chair about reading to my daughter when she was little:

A BOOK AND A CHAIR

A book and chair

Are nice to share

When the edges of day

Are melting away

Into the night.

A book and a chair

Are nice to share—

Touching and talking,

Reading and rocking

Into the night.

These days I’m having fun reading to my granddaughter Julia Anna. Although Julia still likes to chew on books, she is now eight-months-old and is beginning to understand books better.

A couple of months ago,  my daughter snapped a picture of me reading to Julia before she headed off to work one morning. Julia and I were reading Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes.

The picture inspired me to wrote the following poem:

A Book and a Chair

(For Julia)

A book and a chair
Are nice to share

When dawn wakes the sun

And morning’s begun.

A book and a chair

Are nice to share

When I am with you

And the day is brand new.

 ********************

Over at Wild Rose Reader, I have an original poem titled Things to Do If You Are a Nightlight. It was one of the poems that we cut from my Things to Do poetry collection.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Random Noodling.

An interesting idea!

I recently received an e-mail from author Kate Milford (whose book The Boneshaker I highly admire)  about an interesting promotional idea for her upcoming book The Broken Lands. It's a kickstarter project to self-publish a complimentary novella. This explains it better (from her Kickstarter page):

The big idea:
I’m publishing a novella companion to release this fall with my second book,The Broken Lands (Clarion, September 2012). I want to experiment with self-publishing as a way to promote and enhance traditional releases by providing extra content to readers in the form of complete, related tales. I also want to use resources that support independent bookstores. It's my hope to release a self-published novella alongside as many of my forthcoming hardcover releases as possible in an ongoing effort called the Arcana Project, which is why it has the optimistic subtitle.

Fascinating idea, is it not? What do you think? Part of me wishes I was a faster writer and could try doing this myself...

Book Signing and Mix and Mingle at The Eric Carle Museum

This Friday, I'll be signing books and chatting with attendees of the NESCBWI annual conference at The Eric Carle Museum. If you are attending this year's conference, please come by and say hello! Details below.

Book Signing and Mix and Mingle at The Eric Carle Museum on April 20th from 11:30-1:30 pm. This event is part of the SCBWI-NE spring conference. Anna will be joined by Harry Bliss, Dan Yaccarino, Carlyn Beccia, Brian Lies, and Shelley Rotner.

A HOW TO...

A few pictures from the Virginia Festival of the Book

This year, in addition to visiting schools, I gave a book talk as part of Va Book's Storyfest line-up. It was a rainy day, but we had a nice group of families. Here are a few pictures, taken by my dad, our photographer for the day.

Coloring sheets for all:

Artwork on display:

Talking to kids about how to make a book:

Drawing demo:

Kids making their own illustrations:

And coloring in my drawings:

A quiet moment at the end of the day:

Question and Images of the Week, and more!

Last week's question of the week was "What made you laugh out loud?" I had intended to answer the question last week, but better late than never, right?

I laugh a lot in my life in general, but being around children makes me laugh and smile all that much more. Two weekends ago I had dinner with friends who have a two-year-old child, Violet. We all know that children fall down a lot, and depending on the fall, they either cry, or they just get up and keep going. Well, Violet's parents have established a routine of Violet "shaking off" her falls. This is how it works:

Violet falls down while running around.
Her parents: "You're okay! Shake it off!"
Violet stands up and proceeds to shake her whole body, especially her arms, while smiling broadly.

It was an extremely endearing sight and it made me laugh out loud. It also made me want to "shake it off" myself whenever I "fall down". I think it will work!

And speaking of kids, this past weekend some of us got together up in Western Mass. I loved taking pictures of (and with!) Anna's daughter Tilda, and here are two of my favorite shots:

Tilda looking "cool" in my sunglasses.

making faces!

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And finally, if you're in the NY area, please come out tomorrow night (Tuesday, April 10 at 7 pm) to Word Bookstore in Greenpoint. Barry Lyga and I will be discussing his new book I Hunt Killers. Hope to see you there!

image of the week

This stretch of street is usually not very picturesque, but with the trees in bloom it is like walking in a dream:

Rethinking Tikki Tikki Tembo

Once, I visited a school where the kids put on a play of  Tikki Tikki Tembo, in my honor. The kids were absolutely great, the teachers were quite lovely and the play was really well done. They had all worked hard on it and  I was very grateful for the warm welcome the school gave me, yet deep down I felt a strange awkwardness that I couldn't put my finger on.

So, when a friend of mine, recently sent me this blog post written by Irene Rideout, a lightbulb went on. When I read it, I suddenly thought, Oh that's why I felt weird!

With Irene's permission, I've republished her blog post here (her blog is private) for people to read. I think it's good food for thought:

Rethinking Tikki Tikki Tembo
by Irene Rideout

As a child, did you love Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel? Did you find the absurdly long name "Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo" intoxicatingly fun to chant or sing? First published in 1968, the book has won some honors:

• In 1968, it won the Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for Picture Books. (http://us.macmillan.com/tikkitikkitembo/ArleneMosel) 

• In 1997, the New York Times named it "one of the 50 best books in the last 50 years." (http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6634456.html?desc=topstory) 

• In 2007, the book was #53 on the National Education Association's Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children. (http://www.nea.org/grants/13154.htm) 

• The Fall 2009 Audio Book version was Parents' Choice Approved by the Parents' Choice Foundation. (http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=26879&StepNum=1&award=aw)

When I overheard my half-Chinese/half-Caucasian 6-year-old daughter singing the name a couple months ago, I had to ask her where she learned it. "In music class, at school," she replied. And to tell you the truth, I felt uneasy.

My first encounter with Tikki Tikki Tembo occurred around middle school. A Chinese-American friend was talking about the way other kids chanted "Tikki Tikki Tembo" around her. I had never heard those words before, so I asked her, "What does that mean?" The quiet seriousness of her response struck me. She looked me in the eye and said, "It's racist."

This is how the story is summarized on Amazon.com:
"In this beautiful edition--complete with line and wash illustrations by artist Blair Lent--Arlene Mosel retells an old Chinese folktale about how the people of China came to give their children short names after traditionally giving their "first and honored" sons grand, long names. Tikki tikki tembo (which means "the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world") and his brother Chang (which means "little or nothing") get into trouble with a well, are saved by the Old Man with the Ladder, and change history while they're at it." (http://www.amazon.com/Tikki-Tembo-Arlene-Mosel/dp/0312367481/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332508100&sr=8-1)
The Multiculturalist, a publication by Northern Illinois University, warns that, contrary to common misconception, not all children's books about other cultures are authentic.(http://www.niu.edu/mct/newsletter/2009-2010/vol3_num1.pdf) On page 4, the article states:
"Teachers who want to share other cultures may unintentionally choose books that are racist or not representative of a particular group... A book that is often recommended (see Huck, Hepler, & Hickman, 1987) is Tikki Tikki Tembo (Mosel, 1968)... The text and illustrations, however, are inaccurate depictions of any Chinese... The message about Chinese names is less than flattering."

I do think the use of the word "unintentional" is important. I hold my daughter's school system in very high regard, and from the beginning, I had to assume that the teachers and administration - not a single person of color among them! - simply did not know about the racist perceptions of this popular tale. I mulled over the idea of calling up the school principal and just letting him know that the story isn't exactly culturally sensitive. But I admit, part of me thought, "Maybe another Asian parent will do it." It wasn't until I found out that the entire school would be acting out the story and performing the song "Tikki Tikki Tembo" at a school meeting that I finally realized, "No one else is going to speak up."

So, in a phone call with the principal, I explained why the story is racist.

• The book purports to be an "old Chinese folktale," but it is not. It is actually thought to be based on a Japanese folktale called Jugemu. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugemu) Presumably, that tale was picked up and retold by Westerners, who mistakenly attributed it to China and added to the story. The result is a story that is neither Japanese nor Chinese, and it exemplifies the racist attitude of, "Chinese, Japanese, what's the difference, they're all the same." 

• Though the book's illustrations are beautifully drawn by Caldecott Medal-winning artist Blair Lent, they do not authentically depict Chinese people, as noted by The Multiculturalist above. Tikki Tikki Tembo's shoes are actually strikingly similar to traditional Japanese geta footwear, again reinforcing the inaccurate perception that all Asian cultures are the same.

• Tikki Tikki Tembo's full name does not include any actual Chinese words, and it perpetuates the stereotype that Chinese words and names sound like nonsensical syllables. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikki_Tikki_Tembo) If anyone doubts that this stereotype continues to persist in modern society, look no further than the 2011 racist rant by a UCLA student. 

• Tikki Tikki Tembo's little brother does have a Chinese name, Chang, which, according to the book, means "little or nothing." The book was written in 1968, well before pinyin was standardized, but even if we generously consider all tones of "chang" and "zhang," none of the dozens of possible translations even come close to meaning "little" or "nothing." 

• According to the story, Chinese people traditionally gave their first-born sons long and honorable names. This is not true. I tried to find a source to back up this point, but apparently there isn't really a good way to find evidence of what a culture is not. This Wikipedia article, at least, provides information on Chinese names, modern and historical, and makes no mention of first-born sons ever getting especially long names.

When I read online forums and discussions about the potentially offensive nature of Tikki Tikki Tembo, I am disappointed because so frequently the responses are dismissive. People say, "Oh, lighten up, it's just a fun story for kids." There is, of course, a difference between INTENT and IMPACT. I feel pretty confident in surmising that the author and illustrator of Tikki Tikki Tembo did not set out to offend anyone. In fact, the INTENT may even have been to honor the Chinese culture by sharing a charming story of their understanding of China. But the IMPACT is that an entire culture is misrepresented, and it is not unreasonable that people within the misrepresented culture might feel offended. It's understandable that some people may have happy and fond childhood memories of this book, but their positive experiences with this book does not make other people's negative experiences any less valid.

Another common argument in defense of Tikki Tikki Tembo is, "Children know the difference between truth and fiction. They know this is not a real story of actual Chinese culture." Perhaps some do, but what if the book is actually presented by a teacher or librarian as an authentic Chinese folktale describing Chinese culture? Weston Woods, a production arm ofScholastic, a children's book publisher that specifically creates educational materials for schools, provides a lesson plan for use with their Tikki Tikki Tembo video. Two explicit objectives of the lesson are to "learn about Chinese culture" and "enjoy a well-known Chinese folktale." (http://westonwoods.scholastic.com/products/westonwoods/study_guides/tikki_tikki_tembo.pdf) Of course, in reading this particular book - or watching a video based on the book - the class will do neither.

In 1968, when cultural diversity wasn't yet the major issue it is today, any book that featured a foreign culture was probably welcomed, even if only for its novelty factor. But now that it's 2012, and the children's sections of our libraries are filled with authentic books about other cultures, there is no longer any need to rely on inauthentic tales like Tikki Tikki Tembo as an example of Chinese culture. I am a big fan of Grace Lin, who writes children's books of all levels ranging from picture books to chapter books. Her books are set in America, but they feature a Chinese-American family and plenty of Chinese and Taiwanese culture. For a book set in "old China," I recommend Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim, a book my daughter actually discovered herself in the school library.

So what did my daughter's school principal say and do in response to my concerns? (My on-the-spot explanations were not quite as organized as my post here, but I think I got the ideas across!) I was so pleased and relieved to hear him say, "I had never thought about the book that way before, but now that you explain it to me, of course I understand." He repeatedly stressed his desire to be culturally sensitive, and he suggested a compromise for the school's upcoming performance of Tikki Tikki Tembo. (I knew the school had been practicing the show for months, and it was too late to do anything drastic like cancel the performance or choose a new story and song.) Rather than introduce it as "a Chinese folktale," they would simply call it "a story" and avoid any references to China or Chinese culture. I thought that was a great idea.

Moving forward, seeing how popular Tikki Tikki Tembo is in schools and with parents, I think it's unrealistic to expect everyone to simply remove it from their bookshelves. My hope is that if people do continue to pass on the story of Tikki Tikki Tembo, they do it in a responsible way.

• One option is to use the story to bring back oral storytelling, and to leave out all references of China and Chinese culture. Without using the actual book at all, parents and teachers can tell the tale of Tikki Tikki Tembo, simply setting it in "a far away land." The younger brother can have a name that does not strongly evoke any particular foreign culture, and it can be comparable to the syllables in Tikki Tikki Tembo's name. Perhaps something like Pip.

 

• Another option is to use the book as a teaching opportunity. Parents and teachers can enjoy the book and its illustrations, but follow it up with a discussion about how not all books are true stories, and not all pictures are true representations of what they are trying to depict. Inaccuracies in the story and pictures can be explicitly pointed out, and the book can be followed by a reading of another book that does authentically portray Chinese culture.

For another person's insights, I recommend this article. It gives what I think is a fair and balanced review of the book, and then it discusses the appropriateness of the book in today's diverse society. It goes even further by suggesting other books about names, and Asian names in particular, that can be used to supplement a reading of Tikki Tikki Tembo.

Your image of the week?

Linda Wingerter brought these beautiful eggs she'd made (photograph by Alvina) to an Easter party.

Eggs have been used to celebrate birth and spring for thousands of years in many cultures -- in ancient Egypt they dyed them and children rolled them (some people think this is where Dolly Madison got the idea for the White House Easter Egg party); in China red eggs celebrate a baby's first month of life.

This past week, some children in town made these string eggs and their mother shared them with me:



They also made these, using onion skins to make the patterns and dye the eggs:



So, I choose these eggs as my image (or images) of the week. I think they say better than words can my hopes for this spring, and new starts. What are your images of the week?

What made me smile

I had a school visit in Newton a few days ago, where I drew with a class of second graders at the end of my talk. I asked the group to help me come up with a brand new character; they choose an animal, activity for her to do, and the clothes she wears and I do my best to draw it. They chose a zebra swimming at the beach and wearing a bikini. Once I started on the bikini they broke into hysterics. Someone shouted "she's wearing a 'ZI-KINI'!" Kids have such fabulous ideas.

Pottermore

Have you heard about the Pottermore shop? An e-book site run by J.K. Rowling? Of course something like this could only be accomplished by someone so famous, but it does seem to be an interesting twist in the way digital book distribution is evolving. More here.

"Harry Potter is the only publishing brand big enough (so far) to break all the rules about how e-bookstores work. Instead of being sold through the retailers and their devices, or even through the publishers, all sales are made through a site owned and branded by the author. Rowling and Pottermore convinced retailers to digitally support the books with device syncing, bookmarks, and all the trappings that usually are only provided for books sold through the retailers’ own sites. "

(Via Wired)

What made me laugh this week

I apologize for not posting much recently, I'm behind on everything--even my pocket pacy contest (I have so many wonderful entries that I can't wait to share! I'll announce winners next week, promise!). The reason why I am so behind is that I've been doing a marathon of school visits (which I will also post about later) which have been fun as well as funny. How funny? Well, this is how I was asked to personalize some of the books I autographed (last name photoshopped out to protect the innocent):

It says to sign books to 1. Elliot 2. Little  Elliot Pelliot Smelliot 3. Master Elliot Edward...a year of the Monkey Child

This made me laugh but I signed as directed! However, I couldn't help wondering if some older sibling was getting in a joke on little Elliot...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: WHAT MADE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD?

We are trying something new: a question of the week we will all answer....or those of us who want to will.

The question this week is:

WHAT MADE YOU LAUGH OUT LOUD?

I was on a lengthy stopover at the Denver Airport after a fairly sleepless trip -- at that stage of tiredness and crankiness when almost everything was irritating me, from getting a few drops of hot water in the restroom sinks (and I had to flap my hands to get THAT -- over and over to get enough to really wash my hands) to people's loud voices and rudeness. The WIFI worked perfectly though, and I read the latest in a discussion among me, my siblings and most of our cousins about the location of a planned family reunion. Things were deteriorating there, too, and I was too tired to deal with it. So I went to get something to eat.

I vaguely tuned into the conversation at the next table: three teenage boys complaining about something -- but I didn't REALLY start listening until the father said:

"It was my bad. Mom had this romantic idea of all of us being together in the snow....."

I looked over: father, 3 boys between the ages of about 11 and 16, and a man who never said a word.

"Why couldn't we have gone to the beach?" one boy said.

"We always go to the beach. You would have liked the mountains better if you'd gone ski-ing."

"If I went ski-ing I'd probably hurt myself," said the first boy.

The argument went on and on, with the father being resolutely cheerful even in the face of:

"It sucked."

"I have no interest in sitting on boat."

"It's less boring than_________."

"The likelihood of any of us killing a shark is zero. Sharks move at...."

The only thing they all agreed on, supported by their father, was NO VEGETABLES. When their meal came, and there was lettuce on the hamburgers, they were sent back, very pleasantly and politely -- the father talked. Then, one of the kids commented on the vegetables in the father's drink.

"I know what you mean," the father said diplomatically, "but somehow I can never think of olives as a vegetable."

Then they went back to arguing.

Maybe this won't make anyone else laugh -- but *I* laughed and it really cheered me up, too. ALL families (not just mine) argue about vacation locations and the point is to go. They had their father (such a nice guy! I don't know how parents have the patience!) and, luckily, we have people in our family, too, who say they're going because they want to see relatives and get to know them better; WHERE we do it is secondary ....and thanks to over-hearing this conversation, I was able to be one of them.

I didn't mean to make this a "what I learned" kind of thing, and if we can answer this question twice, next time I'll just say something funny and leave it at that!

Festival interview

Just returned from a busy week in Virginia at the Festival of the Book. More on that soon! In the meantime, here is a clip from an interview I did for the local news while I was in Charlottesville. It was a total thrill being on a real news set... watching the weather guy in front of the green screen, the anchors chatting casually the second they cut to commercial, how all the graphics and pieces came together to create what you see on screen. One of the anchors spent each of the commercial breaks either surfing the web or texting. I guess once you're used to being on tv you have to fill up that time somehow. Anyhow, I had a blast. I hope it shows. Please pardon my frog voice (I had a cold).

Writing Retreat, and The Today Show!

Hi all, Happy Spring! Sorry for my lack of posting lately. I'm in the crunch time of work deadlines and editing my Spring 2013 list, and have also been cramming wedding planning into any free hour I can find...that deadline is fast approaching, too, as I'm getting married this July!

Last weekend I was on the faculty for the Vermont College Novel Writing Retreat for Middle Grade and Young Adult Writers in beautiful Montpelier, Vermont (VCFA campus pictured above). It was an intimate weekend--about 30 people in total, faculty and attendees combined, with a few alumni who live in the area popping in throughout the weekend. We were housed in the dorms of Vermont College, complete with shared bathrooms (nothing like brushing your teeth together to bond!) and twin-sized beds. I was on the faculty with the brilliant authors Coe Booth and Holly Black.

Author and Vermont College MFA alumni Bruce Black (no relation to Holly) led a wonderful Friday night yoga and journaling workshop on "setting your foundation"--the importance of having a strong foundation in yoga, in life, and in writing (he also led Saturday and Sunday morning yoga sessions, but alas I did not make it to either one). He gave us several writing prompts, one being the question: "What does it take to create a solid foundation as a writer?" (I, of course, answered it substituting "editor" for "writer.") My small epiphany was that getting enough sleep is crucial to having a strong foundation--perhaps because I've been lacking in that aspect of my life lately. But of course there was much more on my list, including great books, a strong support system, and challenges. What would be on your list?

On Saturday morning Coe got us started off with a talk about secondary characters, defining them as the characters in the main character's life who have some impact on his/her life. These generally include, but are not limited to: parents or parent substitutes, siblings, and friends and classmates. She spoke about the important of knowing what each secondary character's life is like beyond the main character. "A flat, lifeless secondary character is a missed opportunity." (she may have been quoting someone else when she said this, so my apologies if I have the attribution wrong) Coe drew on her background as a social worker who did home visits and supplied us with handouts to help everyone establish the structure and system of family relationships. This included interview questions for the adults and other children in the family, as well as questions and prompts for observing the family. Her motto when she writes: "Secondary characters are main characters in her own life!" So true. And you never know when that secondary character in one book is going to star in his/her own book in the future.

There were one-on-one critiques as well as critique groups during the "white space" (some attendees chose to use that time to write) and then after lunch I spoke about narrative voice and structure. I had revised the talk I gave on narrative fiction at the NY SCBWI Annual conference in January, and thankfully none of the attendees of that talk were in Vermont!

There were more critiques in the afternoon, and then after dinner we had a dessert and cocktail reception, and then readings/open mike. People read 2-3 minutes of their work, and it really was wonderful--as I haven't been to Kindling Words in a few years, I realized how much I missed hearing people read their work out loud. They were so varied--some funny, some dramatic, some heartbreaking.

On Sunday Holly spoke about "Fixing the Sickly Book" giving writers guidelines for how to help their writer friends "fix" their book, and how to both be a good doctor and patient. Of course, I found this talk extremely helpful as it relates to editing. I took copious notes, but I'll just highlight a few takeaways. As the "doctor" it's always good to ask the patients to summarize his/her own book, even if you've read it, because it's important to know where they start, what they actually care about in the book, what they think the protagonist's conflict is, what parts they stumble over, and what the overall tone of the book is. As the doctor, it's good to ask yourself: "Is anyone being stupid? Is this how the world really works? Is this how people really work? Does this make sense?" And when offering remedies, be generous, be flexible, frame suggestions in the form of questions, and give up ownership (all things editors do all the time, I must add!).

It was a hugely inspiring weekend--I would strongly recommend the program to any writer, both aspiring and published. There were quite a few published authors in attendance, and I have no doubt that many more of the attendees will achieve their publishing goals soon.

***

In other news, Andrea Davis Pinkney appeared on The Today Show last week to discuss her middle grade novel Bird in the Box with Al Roker's Book Club. She was marvelous, and I love the questions the kids asked--it was a new group of kids, but they were so poised it was hard to believe this was their first appearing on the Book Club. If you missed the segment, you can watch it here.

Andrea signs books for the kids after the show in the green room.

Congratulations, Andrea!

Fiction and fact

Last weekend, This American Life retracted a story -- the one told by the actor who went to China and did a stage show on the horrific conditions in Apple's factories. Conditions there ARE bad; but lots of the dramatic details (like guards wearing guns) were completely made up. Others were exaggerated or distorted.

He was interviewed on last weekend's show and the lies continued; he never admitted that he had lied. The reporters said talking to him was "exhausting" because of the way he qualified every statement, even his denials. He never came out and said anything, and he couldn't seem to see that he had distorted the truth and that it would have all been fine if he'd told audiences his stage show was drama BASED ON facts rather than fact. He said, only more indirectly, that the main point was true and his goal was to get people to care.....billing his show as "based on the truth" rather than true wouldn't have had the same impact. He's probably right about that!

Ira Glass and the others were outraged. Their passion for the truth, for fact checking, for getting every detail exactly right was for me the most interesting and dramatic part of the show (the guy who had lied gave me the creeps, frankly -- his smarmy voice was creepy in his original story and it was almost a relief to have a reason not to like him, before I just hadn't!).

Listening to the reporters talk made me think about fiction and non-fiction. I am guessing (guessing because I am not one!) really great reporters and non-fiction writers are driven by passion to get at the facts, to find out what REALLY happened. For me, research and learning are fascinating-- but that's not why I write, even when I'm writing non-fiction. Research in fact can often be an end it inself; for me, it's really different from writing.

Fiction writers (and like it or not, that's mainly what I am -- what about you? What drives your writing?) are probably driven by other things: the desire to express themselves, tell a good story, reveal an emotional truth, portray a world -- or just make things up.

Some people can't help doing this even when they set out to tell the facts. Carl Sandburg's biography of Lincoln contains a long account of a romance -- a woman (Nancy Rutherford???) Lincoln deeply loved who died. When critics pointed out, pretty conclusively, that this had never happened, Carl Sandburg replied:

"Well, it ought to have happened."

picture books done in 3D?

Hey guys,

I'm working on improving my school talk and I'm in need of an example of a picture book done in 3D. Sculpture perhaps? I already have the cut paper down. I'm thinking real 3D - something that needs to be photographed. Any ideas? Please do share! Thanks!

meghan

ipad, nook, kindle?

So, I've been traveling a lot this month--school visit marathon!-- and I'm starting to bend towards getting a e-reading device. I loathe checking in bags but being pregnant has made carrying books that much more unwieldy. The idea of carrying a library in a single device has become more and more attractive with each trip I take and with the old ipads dropping in price I am starting to be very, very tempted.

But is the ipad the right device to get? Even though my single purchase is not even a drop in the larger battle of e-books, I'd like to get the one that helps book publishing the most. Apple certainly doesn't seem to need any help (and is of course the most expensive option as well as recent reports of its dubious manufacturing practices). Getting a kindle seems rather like a betrayal of the book industry, considering how ruthless Amazon is to both publishers and indie bookstores. While the nook would support B&N & not indies, at least it would help B&N stay afloat against Amazon. Which device would support the book industry the most, do you think?

Virginia Festival of the Book

Next week I will be packing up the car and heading south for the Virginia Festival of the Book. It takes place in my hometown of Charlottesville, so it's always a mix of visiting friends and family, visiting schools, giving book talks, and enjoying an early dose of spring. In the past I've flown down. But this year Bruno and Tilda will join me and given the mountain of stuff a traveling baby requires, we decided to drive. I am mildly terrified of 10 hours in the car with a toddler, but very excited about the festival.

This year I'll be visiting 5 schools (including the first elementary school I ever attended!), giving a couple of weekend events, and will be interviewed on the local news. I grew up watching my hometown news, so that will be an extra thrill.

If you are in the area, the festival is well worth checking out with hundreds of events around town. But most especially, come join me if you can for these gatherings:

Making a Picture Book with Anna Alter
Sat. March 24th, 2012 - 10:00 AM

A StoryFest Event! Anna Alter shares her latest picture book. Children learn how a book is created from start to finish and then participate in their own art project. Original artwork from Anna's books will be on display. Anna's own books available for purchasing and signing.

Location:
CitySpace--Charlottesville Community Design Center
100 5th Street NE
(434)984-2232

Book Signing at Alakazam
Sun. March 25th, 2012 - 1:00 PM

Author and illustrator Anna Alter shares her book A Photo for Greta and an art activity with her Alakazam fans.

Location:
Alakazam Toys and Gifts
100 E Main St
(434)971-1717

PAINTING I'M WORKING ON...

pretty white girl

I'm traveling around this month, doing lots o'school visits, but this blog post, Why The Pretty White Girl YA Book Cover Trend Needs to End caught my eye. It's written by the fearless & articulate Ellen Oh, who is a great supporter of multicultural authors (as well as being one herself).

One of the topics briefly touched upon was that middle grade novel covers don't suffer as much "white washing" as YA covers. As a middle grade, multicultural author I think that is true. But I still think there is room to grow! What do you think?

authors are rockstars

Today,there's a fun little podcast interview with yours truly at Authors are Rockstars. I love how they we talked about the story of my Newbery dress--you can see we talked only about the most important things!

Listen HERE!

Slippery fish

It seems to me, in general, there are two types of writers. People for whom ideas come easily and the craft and follow-through are a challenge and people who struggle with their idea, but the craft and revising flow unimpeded. This is a vast oversimplification of course, but in general it seems like most writers I've met lean towards one or the other group.

I am in the second group. I wrestle with ideas like slippery fish, but once I've caught one I can whip up dinner in no time flat. This is probably not the best analogy, books have little in common fish and I am a vegetarian, but slippery carrot doesn't work quite as well... anyhow... I long to be one of those writers with ideas buzzing round their heads all the time, who need merely choose which spark will make their masterpiece. But I do love the rush of energy once I've got my momentum going and can really sink my teeth in. Right now I am at the cusp, about to dive in, writing aimlessly until the pieces I need come together. It's a place I cannot stand and will do anything (blogging for instance) to avoid, but usually passes quicker than I think it will.

Which type of writer are you?

two things

I'm posting this on an airplane on my flight back from a lovely school visit (I'm still in awe that I can get the internet while in the air) because there were two things that I really wanted everyone to know about.

First:

 Illustrations from Lissy's Friends and Fortune Cookie Fortunes will be shown (along with the art of 6 other artists) at the Wenham Museum as part of their

Draw Me a Story: A Celebration of Contemporary New England Children's Book Illustrators Exhibit, showing from March 2-18.

I'll be at the reception for it this Sunday, March 4th, 1-4 pm


I hope to see some of you! It's a super cute museum--antique toys and trains, definitely worth the trip!

Wenham Museum 

132 Main Street, Wenham, MA 01984 

Tel: (978) 468-2377

AND second:



Here is the Pocket Pacy giveaway I've been promising!

Even with the great turn-out at the launch, I have a dozen Pocket Pacys left! Would you like one? You can win one by simply telling me what journey YOU would like bring Pocket Pacy on! Simply download the Pocket Pacy Activity Page and do the activity. The activity is very simple-- finish the sentence on the page ("I would bring Pocket Pacy to...") and draw background around her. Here's an example:

Before

after

See! Easy and fun, right? Download the activity sheet HERE.

Then, send me your finished activity sheet scanned or photographed by e-mail at:
gracelin.manager@gmail.com

OR send it to me via snail mail at:

Grace Lin
PO Box 441457
West Somerville, MA 02144-1457

I will choose 3 winners a month until July 1st. Let your imagination go wild--if you win, you don't really have to take Pocket Pacy on the trip you draw! I can't wait to see where you want to take her!

Snow day

It's a quiet, snowy day up here in the mountains. Not much to do but look out the window and wait for the driveway to be cleared. No babysitter and no writing, just cookies, tea, and Sesame Street. Happy winter to all!