Archive for the ‘reviews’ Category

I spent a wonderful two days at the Children’s Book Festival at the University of Southern Mississippi. In addition to the presentations, signings, and speeches at the festival itself, this week was the debut of Storybook Look: Illustrations by Southern Artists. The exhibit was hung at the beautiful Saenger Theater in downtown Hattiesburg and I was joined during Wednesday evening’s reception and signing by two other exhibiting artists: Rick Anderson and Daniel Powers. In addition to local folks from Hattiesburg, the exhibit drew from the festival-goers, a wonderful group of school and public librarians from across the region. Diane Shepherd, owner of Main Street Books, handled book sales and took care of many important details.

This year I delivered a new presentation, “Seeing is Believing.” I talked about the power of photography and the importance of storytelling in children’s nonfiction. I was delighted to reconnect with librarians I had met for the first time last year and who have embraced my book.

I heard stories of students finding wolfsnails in their yards at home and protecting them from being killed by gardeners wanting to protect their plants. A college student studying creative writing told of seeing a wolfsnail in New Orleans during a Spring Break work trip — and how fascinated she and her friends were with its lip extensions. In my sessions, I shared a draft copy I’ve made of the new book (Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature) and I got good feedback.

I always learn from the other writers, illustrators and storytellers. This year’s group included Judy Blume, Ashley Bryan, Diane Williams, and Yuyi Morales. After describing herself as an anxious, shy, and fearful child, Blume said her first favorite book was Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. She admited to having hid it at the back of her toy drawer in the hopes her mother wouldn’t return it to the library. As she wrapped up her speech, Blume said this about writing: “If everything is going well, I can leave everything in my life behind and spend a few hours in that other place…It’s the place where I can be fearless. It’s the place where I can be as brave and as strong as Madeline.”

Ashley Bryan urged anyone engaged in the process of teaching kids to read to use poetry. Out loud. His speech was peppered with poems by Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni. Holding a book (he said he always holds a book — even though he knows the poems from memory), he did a lot of call-and-response with us to demonstrate the way putting voice to poetry turns it into irresistible language that is connected to the words on a page. Use poetry, he says, and you will grow readers. I was convinced!

Yuyi Morales had the unenviable position of presenting after Judy Blume’s keynote address and after a two-hour signing (which many festival-goers spent waiting in line(s)), but she was well up to the task. She brought her bag of surprises and led us through her creative journey with her books. Yuyi is a native of Mexico and Spanish is her first language. She does extremely well in English and she sprinkled lots of Spanish into her talk. She ended with a terrific tribute to longtime children’s book ambassador, writer, and teacher Coleen Salley, who died last autumn.

Yuyi read Salley’s Why Epossumondas Has No Hair on His Tail. It was beautiful and fitting. Unfortunately, I missed out on the Coleen Salley celebration and the final day of the festival because I had a prior engagement back in Jackson. What a wonderful festival! Congratulations to Catharine Bomhold, director, and Karen Rowell, assistant director, and all the others who make this event possible — including Ellen Ruffin, director of the de Grummond collection at USM.

My fifth grader (D) finished reading Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain books. He has been trading them back and forth with his friend at school (J). He was excited to find some books he liked that also count for AR points. “What am I going to do now?” he wailed. I said we’d try to find him something else he’d like just as much. “It has to be mythical … have treachery … and fighting.” Hmmm. I found Cry of the Icemark and he was satisfied for the moment. We’ll see whether it takes. This morning while he waited for me to get up he picked up Robyn Hood Black‘s new book, Wolves. “It’s interesting. I like the pop-ups.”

He and his sixth grade brother (N) also spent some time with Donna Bowman‘s Big Cats. It is in the same series as Wolves, has similar paper engineering, and fun facts. Donna and Robyn are members  of the Southern Breeze region of SCBWI and we’ve been meeting up several times a year at conferences for years now. Each launched her book at the recent SpringMingle’09 in Atlanta. My boys always meet me at the car when I come home from a conference, asking for the books. These are definite winners!

Wolfsnail earned a spot on the Best Science Books of 2009 as compiled by The Miss Rumphius Effect. It is very nice for my book to be inlcuded on lists like this one. I know teachers and curriculum specialists pull books from such “best” lists to use in their classrooms and curriculum writing. In another review, on Brian Wilhorn’s Help Readers Love Reading blog  says: “Readers will pay close attention to the text, learning about wonderfully gross things like mucus and slime and tentacles. … Young boys might think they can climb up and ride these carnivorous monsters, when in reality adults are only 1.5 – 3 inches long. The end of the hunt is especially cool. The wolfsnail stretches to reach the next leaf, finds its prey, attacks (as a snail would…there’s no pouncing here), and dines. Finally, there’s a close-up of the now empty shell. Wolfsnail was named a Geisel Honor book in 2009. While very different from this year’s Medal winner, Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems, it is equally as deserving and engaging to young readers, but in a completely different way.” Read the whole review, including a conversation with his resident 7-year-old, here.

I just learned from my publisher that Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator was included in the CCBC Choices 2009 List. It is the annual best-of-the-year list of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), a library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I am honored by this inclusion. Boyds Mills Press has three other titles on the list: The Freedom Business by Marilyn Nelson, and Piggy by Mireille Geus and Rits by Mariken Jongman.

Rebecca Hogue Wojahn, another blogger who is also a children’s librarian and writer, put Wolfsnail on her favorites list, too. Thanks.

SCBWI’s Southern Breeze region wrapped up its SpringMingle’09 with advice from Caitlyn Dloughy, editor of the Simon & Schuster imprint Atheneum. Dloughy urged writers to develop characters with action: “If you find yourself starting with a few paragraphs of physical description of your character, you may not have developed your character enough.” She asked the audience to name memorable characters from children’s books and then say why the characters were memorable: Lily (of the purple plastic purse), Eloise, Max (the wild thing). Each was noted for something they did; not what they looked like. In particular, Dloughy cautioned writers to avoid descriptions such as “twinkling eyes” and “blond hair.” Recommended reading: Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos, Shift by Jennifer Bradbury, and The Underneath by Kathi Appelt.

Our keynote speaker, award-winning author Kathleen Duey, explained that writers need to work on three aspects of the writing life: “art, craft, and filthy commerce.” The bottom line, she said, is always “write the BEST book.” She suggested that beginners should attend conferences, join critique groups, and take writing classes. Start submitting only after you know your work is really, really good. Otherwise, you crowd the mailboxes, desks, floors, and closets of editors who are getting busier as the industry downsizes. In order to feed your art, she said: “spread your wings, read poetry, read literary novels for adults.” If you stare at children’s books all the time, that will help your marketing knowledge (filthy commerce), but it won’t help your art.” She cautioned against trying to write to trends; write what you absolutely MUST write — from your heart. Recommended reading: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.

Note: I will post more about the conference in the coming days. Check back for more from other speakers: Abigail Samoun, Daniel Powers, and Liz Conrad.

Shelli Johannes-Wells, one of our own Southern Breezers, launched the conference with a great talk on marketing. She made a convincing argument for writers to begin marketing during their “pre-published” years. I couldn’t agree more. She explained branding (including the often overlooked shadow brand.) Her talk was funny and full of good tips. You can find more of the same on her blog called Market My Words.

Mary Kate Castellani, an associate editor at Walker Books, cautioned writers against trying to write to trends. In her talk titled, “Young Adult Fiction: What Works?” she explained some of the characteristics of YA books: immediacy (everything for teens is happening right now; not much perspective of past or future) and offer some hope. To keep up with what’s being published and finding success in the market, she recommended a newsletter. I thought she said YA Pulse, but the only thing I could find with a similar name is the Check Your Pulse newsletter from Simon & Schuster. Anyone else find the YA Pulse? Recommended reading: Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher; Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson; What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell.

Two librarians who blog about children’s and young adult books at Bookends: A Booklist Blog gave Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator their new two thumbs up. The twin grandsons of one of the librarians posed for the thumbs up. I love seeing young readers who are excited about Wolfsnail. According to Lynn Rutan, “the text of the book is simple yet fascinating and respectful of the young audience, blending perfectly with the astonishing pictures. This is an ideal book for small naturalists, wonderfully suited either for reading with an adult or for solo examination.” Read the entire review here.

Here’s the knitted log cabin blanket I started when I was recuperating from my surgery. The pattern is from Mason Dixon knitting. The yarn felt wonderful to work with and the colors kept me happy. I am sending it to a relative as a late Christmas present. She’s having some tough health problems, too, so I hope it will bring her some comfort. You followers of this blog will know that I also knitted a hat during my recuperation. The two were very different projects. The log cabin blanket involved just plain knitting, knitting, and more knitting. The hat involved knitting in the round, purling, counting stitches, etc. I think I’ll try to keep a log cabin knitting project going most of the time — it’s so simple and keeps my hands busy. Plus, I have lot of little bits of yarn left. My friend, Julie Owen, turned me on to log cabin knitting this summer when she would turn up at the pool with knitting when I turned up with quilting.

Now for the kind of log cabin I am more familiar with — a quilt. My first log cabin project, when I was a teenager, was a Christmas table cloth. It turned out so well that I made a bunch of them. My grandmothers, my godmother, and our family’s best friends all got Christmas table cloths that year. I had never tried a full-sized log cabin quilt until now. I chose yellow, blue, creams, tans, and browns. At first I had it laid out in diagonal lines, but Richard suggested this layout and I love it.

Update: The Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book stickers I ordered arrived today so I went to Lemuria to leave them enough for their signed stock. Here’s a post on A Year of Reading by a teacher who went by her local bookstore and picked up a copy of Wolfsnail.

There was more good news today from the American Library Association (ALA): Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator earned a spot on 2009 ALA Notable Children’s Books for Younger Readers. See the whole list here. Several librarians posted responses to the Geisel Honor Book announcement. My friend at Pink Me called Wolfsnail “The little non-fiction book that could (win a Geisel Honor, that is).” You can read the post here. Jennifer at Jean Little Library noted that she hadn’t thought of Wolfsnail as an easy reader, but she recommends it: “It’s difficult to find good read-aloud nonfiction for the younger ages and this was perfect.” Read the whole post here.

I have been planning this post for some time, but several things (scanner down, computer down) conspired to keep it from going up until now. And I’m glad. Earlier today, I learned that Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator had been named a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book by the American Library Association. The award recognizes authors and illustrators of beginning readers “for their literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading.” Here’s the committee’s description of Wolfsnail: “An exciting nonfiction look at the carnivorous wolfsnail trapping and devouring its victim, this science book uses bold block type against a white background to enhance the ease of reading. The magnified, detailed photographs and playful, informative text will amaze and attract readers.”

The above picture shows a young reader, named Jackson S., who read Wolfsnail in the first months after it was published. He sent me my first (and only) fan letter. I will quote from it here, keeping his invented spellings:  “I like your book because the plot helps me learn about woulfsnails in a fun way! Are you going to write any more books? Maybe you could write about spiders or lizards. I would prefer lizards.” He also told me about the wolfsnail he and his older brother found in their yard. “I let go my wolfsnail because I was afraid it was goining to die. It ate about one snail evre two days. I got its food off our brick wall! It staid in its shell about an hour and then it would come out and search for food. We named it wolfy!”

I telephoned my editor, Andy Boyles, when I heard the award news and he suggested one of the reasons I won was the fact that I take children seriously. I do. The chair of the Geisel committee, Joan Atkinson, told me the panel liked the fact that the book had a story arc, that it included some suspense. Though some of the language seemed at first glance a little more advanced than in your typical beginning reader (“toothy tongue”), it was appropriate to the story and well supported by the photographs. The above photograph shows me signing my book for a beginning reader who at age four negotiated “toothy tongue” and the rest of the text just fine. (This photo was taken at the 2008 Children’s Book Festival in Hattiesburg. See previous post.) I am so glad these kids are diving into books like Wolfsnail and discovering the wonderful world of reading and the joys of nature.

Update I visited St. Therese Catholic School in the fall and the librarian wrote a tribute post today. I feel so honored.

Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator appears on three new lists: a national magazine’s holiday gift guide, a blogging librarian’s best new nonfiction list, and a children’s literature consultant’s best books of the decade list. I am excited to see Wolfsnail make these lists.

Check out Natural History Magazine’s Gifts for Budding Scientists. Diana Lutz, a freelance science writer and editor, compiled the list. She writes: “Told in larger-than-life photographs, the story has a nice narrative arc and more drama than you might expect. Young children will warm to the snail, which has comical handlebar mustaches (mouthpiece extensions that help it track prey), and shares their predicament of being very small in a big world.” Other books Lutz recommends for young readers are: Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City and Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life.

Gwen Vanderhage is a librarian who blogs at Your Friendly Librarian. She’s put together a list of best new nonfiction books “for those sometimes reluctant readers who are really intrigued with facts and amazing nature photos.” Wolfsnail is in company with Trout Are Made of Trees (April Pulley Sayre), The Black Book of Colors (Menena Cottin), Wild Tracks (Jim Arnosky), and Nic Bishop’s Frogs.

Kathleen Baxter, a children’s literature consultant, included Wolfsnail on her best books of the decade list. This is a list she keeps updated for a popular workshop she presents for librarians and teachers. As she notes, “Creating a list like this for a fairly brief talk is almost absurd!  Estimates of the number of new books published in the U.S.A. every year range from 15,000—29,000, so no wonder we all feel behind.  I thus selected a healthy dose of fine 2008 titles and some that I doubt everyone knows from other years.”

I found the list, which includes 108 books, on the website of the Central Massachusetts Regional Library System. Baxter notes that lesson plans and activities are available online for many of the books on the list. Click here to see a teacher’s guide for Wolfsnail.

In her blog, In the Pages, a youth services librarian in Orange City, Iowa, called Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator “a great one.” She goes on: “there is just enough print to keep it fresh but not too many words that it gets too long for little ones. It didn’t strike me at first as a book that would “catch” me and lure me in, but once you get started, you will be amazed.” She called the photography “marvelous.”

You can read more here. Scroll down to the Nov. 30th entry.