Out & About at SCBWI...and Why Does She Keep Two Journals?!?

Hi, Gang!
A quick reminder about TeachingAuthors’ latest book giveaway for Karen Romano Young’s intriguing graphic novel about a girl who keeps a doodles-and-writing journal, Doodlebug: A Novel in Doodles.  Entry deadline is 11 pm (CST) Wednesday, August 4, 2010. For details, read this post.

More about keeping a journal in a minute.

OUT AND ABOUT 
But first...I’m at the SCBWI’s 39th Annual International Summer Conference in my home state of California! (TeachingAuthors’ very own Esther Hershenhorn is featured on the first web page about the conference with her timeless article, Confessions and Secrets of a Veteran SCBWI Conference-Goer!)  2010 is SCBWI's biggest year ever, with over a thousand attendees!

The photo is from SCBWI's website...it's actually from the annual Winter Conference...but you get the idea: big, enthusiastic crowd!

This is the ninth year I’ve critiqued manuscripts.  Wow.  I AM old!  I love having this unique role at the conference.  Each attendee who pays extra and submits a manuscript ahead of time is given a half hour slot during the conference.  They are escorted (some on trembling legs) into a long room where there are more than fifty members of the faculty sitting across tables, talking quietly with writers about their manuscripts.

Critiquing means you have lots of work before the conference.  It takes me at least an hour--sometimes two--to write the critique I give each of the ten or so writers I'm assigned.

My favorite part is having a full half hour to talk with each person about their work.  As we’ve just read in the last few posts on critique groups, you walk a fine line…you want to encourage…and you also want to help make that manuscript the best it can possibly be.  You do NOT want to squash the person’s fragile ego like a bug on the sidewalk.  That’s easy to do!

I do my best to follow Jeanne Marie Grunwell Ford's suggestions: "PQP -- Praise, Question, Polish.   Start with praise.  Always.  There's something good you can find.  Somewhere.  Always. Usually you can find a way to end on an encouraging note, as well. In between, be constructive, be specific, and offer suggestions."

Be gentle!  That's the writer's heart...

Luckily no one gives me suggestions about the entries in my journals...not that either of them is private.  As I wrote in a previous post about journaling, “Do I still keep a journal?  You betcha.  I’ve been emailing it to a dear friend, one day at a time, for years—I call it my blog with one reader.  And she actually reads it.  Now that’s a friend!”

That's the journal I call my news journal, and satisfies the journalist in me.  But something was missing.  The artistic flying-squirrel-crazed-angel part of me didn’t have a platform.  Where were my poems, my colors, my thoughts that didn’t march in a logical procession? 

When I took the Poem-A-Day Challenge in April of 2010, I wrote and posted a poem each day for the month of April.

That challenge forced me to put poetry among the top three priorities in my life (The other two?  Health and family).  A writer is SUPPOSED to make writing a top priority …but this?  This was like pouring jet fuel into my poetry paper airplane!

So even though the official Poem-A-Day Challenge ended on April 30th, I’ve kept a daily poetry journal, in which I write one poem a day, ever since.  I email each poem to one of my best friends, author Bruce Balan, who is sailing around the world in his trimaran named Migration (named for his picture book, The Cherry Migration.)  Right now he’s in Tonga.  How cool is that?

Here’s the exercise about keeping a journal which I assign to my students at UCLA Extension.  It’s from this post.

“Write a one-minute journal each day.  Take only one minute to record the thing you most want to remember about that day.   It can be weighty—that your friend passed the bar exam, for example.  But it could be that one moment—seeing the long slant of the sun on a skateboarder as she skated past.”

Go ahead.  Attack a fresh page--with words and/or doodles--for one minute.  You’ll be glad you did.

And of course, write with joy.        

Drawings (c) by April Halprin Wayland

Writer: Creator. A poem. Two boys. And a book giveaway!

Happy Poetry Friday!

Hi there!  This is the last of six blog posts about how we got the idea for one of our books.  (And speaking of our books, Saturday, January 30th is the last day to enter the contest to win one--see below for details.)

And since the book I'll be talking about is a novel in poems and since it is Poetry Friday, let's start with a poem:

Writer: Creator

I want to

make something

                          beautiful.

Peaches.

If I could

make peaches—grow them

from my pen…

or stretching my palms

up to the sun, watch as

they grow from my lifeline,

that

would be something

                             beautiful.

© From Girl Coming in for a Landing—a novel in poems by April Halprin Wayland 

When I was eleven, we began house-hunting in a quiet suburb of Los Angeles.  “I have dibs if there's a small, blue room in our new house,”  I said.  Mom and Dad said that they would keep this in mind.

The house we bought did, indeed, have a small blue room. It was downstairs, while the other two bedrooms were upstairs. And though my sister was two years older than I was, I got the downstairs bedroom.

I’m not saying that room was where this book came from...but that's when I began typing late at night while everyone else was asleep upstairs. (When my mom would come down to check on me, I’d snap off the light and freeze. As soon as she went back upstairs…I was tap-tap-taping again on that portable Corona typewriter.)

What was I typing?  Love poems about a boy who played viola in orchest. Tap-tap-tap.

The beginning of a novel about a white girl and an African-American boy stranded on an island.  With only one can of tuna.  And no can opener. Tap-tap-tap.

Bits of dialogue.  Musings.  Dreams.  And every joke from the weekly T.V. show, Laugh-In. Tap-tap-tap.

Gary Owens and Lily Tomlin on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

Junior high was all about poetry.  Poems of passion about the outside world (the agony of napalm, poured out of planes onto human beings during the Viet Nam war) and poems of passion about two boys, both budding actors, best friends. One, that same violist, was a brooding black-haired freckle-faced boy with a deep voice and a scar across his chest from open heart surgery. The other, who looked like a 14-year-old James Dean, was off-the-charts smart, theatrical, funny, ridiculous, loud and completely crazy. He rode on my bus, belting out rude, witty comments, gleefully stopping all conversations.

They're both characters in Girl Coming in for a Landing—a novel in poems (exquisitely illustrated in collage by Elaine Clayton, published by Knopf), which is my story, of course—but it’s tweaked and fictionalized and finally, not my story.

It’s the school-year-in-the-life-of a ‘tween. Her first period, first crush, first date, first kiss…and first published poem. It’s about those two boys.  And about coming to terms with her sister and coming to accept herself…and her passionate need to write.

That was me, Girl Writer, and that's where the seeds of this book came from: journals from junior high, high school, college and beyond. Journals were a place for love poems, a place to lean into, a place to record my history.

Do I still keep a journal?  You betcha.  I’ve been emailing it to a dear friend, one day at a time, for years—I call it my blog with one reader.  And she actually reads it.

Now that’s a friend!

Writing Workout / Lesson Plan

As Carmela, Mary Ann, JoAnn, Esther and Jeanne Marie have emphasized in the past five posts, finding the heart of the story is the key and for me, the biggest challenge.

Sometimes condensing an idea makes it more potent. More powerful. Years ago, I thought that I had to write every single thing that happened in my journal every night. It takes a long time to write a historical account of the day. I got tired just thinking about it! Finally, I stopped writing in my journal altogether.

Then, one of my friends, a screenwriter, shared her journal writing secret. Her rule is this: she only has to write for one minute each night.

One minute! I tried it—it's wonderful! It's freeing! Writing for one minute a night forces me to figure out the essence—the heart of that day—it helps me focus: what do I want to remember? The low cooing of a mourning dove? When a friend hurt my feelings? When the janitor winked at me and made my day? How a black cat swished her tail patiently by a pond? How slowly the classroom clock moved right before three o'clock?

Condensing the time I have to write is similar to fitting my words into a poetic form. My day as haiku.

Okay, it's your turn.
1) Date your page.
2) Look at the clock and write down the time.
3) Now, think about something you want to remember from today. You may write for only one minute.
4) Ready? Go!

They say it takes 21 one days to make a habit...so, do this for 21 days. Then read back over your One-Minute-Journal entries. As JoAnn suggested in her last post's Writing Workout, “Explore your idea collection. Choose two or three ideas that don’t obviously fit together. Try to find a way to connect them into one story. Be open to surprises. Trust the process. Have fun!”

Remember to breathe. And as always, write with joy.

Drawings by April Halprin Wayland

Reminder: for those of you who are teachers or homeschoolers: there's still time to enter our contest! The prize is your choice of one of the six TeachingAuthor books we've been discussing. Entry deadline is Saturday, January 30. Read all about it here.

2 Causes of Writers' Block & Poetry Friday

..Howdy, Campers ~ and happy Poetry Friday! (original poem and PF link below)

We TeachingAuthors are in the middle of a round about Writers' Block.

Mary Ann writes about The Scariest Thing on Earth--Your W.I.P; Bobbi helped me understand the facts about writers' block in her post with the great title, Once Upon a Block-ness Monster; JoAnn feels better able to handle writers' block in her new writing chair; Carla says for her, writers' block comes in the form of too many ideas.

In this 2:45 minute video interview, author Neil Gaiman makes a distinction between writers' block and simply being stuck. And my fav children's literature ezine, Quercus, alerted me to Marion Dane Bauer's views on this topic.

For me, the two causes of writers' block are fear and perfectionism (who are most certainly twin brothers).

Fear and Perfection--twin brothers ~ from Morguefile.com by Maria Bavuso

So what do I DO when I'm blocked? Well...I could read the 22 rules of storytelling from Pixar. Chances are, one of those might unclog my blocked pipes.

Note that I said that these might help. I haven't actually tried of them yet. But you should. You definitely should.

During one of those fear-filled times in my life, I told a friend I'd stopped writing completely. How, I asked her, do you begin again? She looked around. Then she shared her journal writing secret: write for just one minute each night. So I tried it. I mean, who couldn't write for one minute, for heaven's sake?  It sounds so simple, but her secret did the trick. (I wrote about it here.)

Thank you, long-ago friend!  This is the assignment in my UCLA Extension's Writers' Program courses:

Write a one-minute journal each day. Take just one (timed) minute to record the thing you most want to remember about today. It can be weighty—that your friend passed the bar exam, for example. But it could be that one moment—seeing the long slant of the sun on a skateboarder as she skated past.

from morguefile.com by Domas

As an example, here's something I wrote in a rush:

I'm always frantic in the evening; I like to write my daily poem before Gary comes home. But tonight he came home and I had nothing.

I asked him if he had any ideas for a poem, for something that sticks...and as I said it, I saw an image of the things that stick to my clothes on a hike.

Sometimes the Universe is good to me. Well, most times, actually.

A POEM STICKS TO YOUR CLOTHES
by April Halprin Wayland

It's like something that clings to your shirt—
one of those blue sticky flowers,
or a foxtail.

At the end of the day,
you take off your jacket
and there it is,

soft like a real fox's tail,
tenacious,
pointed,

and sometimes
painful.

It must be dealt with.
poem © 2016 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved

sticky blue plumbago flower
photo by April Halprin Wayland

Okay, Campers--now it's your turn. Attack a fresh page--with words and/or doodles--for one minute. You’ll be glad you did.

And thanks, Violet, for hosting PF today!

fettered by perfectionism and posted with fear by April Halprin Wayland, with considerable help from a decaf latte with extra soy

The Five Minute Journal

       I've kept diaries/journals since third grade.  Decades of journaling has left me with more notebooks and journals than I can count.  As a third grader, I figured out writers have to practice, like I had to practice piano. Unlike piano practice, which felt like an hour chained to the piano bench, writing practice was nothing but fun.  I wrote morning, noon and night, when I wasn't doing other things like oh, say, going to school, or later, going to work.
     I got married.  I kept journaling. I worked two jobs. I wrote during lunch and work breaks. Going a day without writing was like forgetting to brush your teeth. The world didn't end, but you had this feeling that something wasn't quite right.
     Then I had a baby, and my world did cartwheels. Now I had a baby, two jobs and a husband who traveled. A lot.  I was tired. A lot. I had read A Writer's Way.  Julia Cameron's voice whispered in my ear
You're not journaling. Writers journal.  Oh great. In addition to all the other things I fretted about, I coud add the voice of a woman I'd never met, nagging me to write.
      I wanted to write. But now, even when I had a spare ten minutes, the words didn't come. My words were like stale bread; dry, tasteless, crumbling. No wait. Make that  crummy. See, said my imaginary Julia, what happens if you don't journal.
      But I couldn't do everything.  If I only had an hour a day to write, I didn't want to spend it writing "Morning Pages." But I couldn't just sit down and write without some sort of warm-up.  And without my journal I was finding it hard to generate new ideas, stay enthused about writing. I was a Writing Burnout, and I hadn't sold a single sentence.  That was just sad.
      When I began working with young writers, we discovered we had a mutual problem;  journals. Me, because I had no time. The students were "victims" of a well-intentioned local curriculum that requires ten minutes of journaling first thing every morning, second through eighth grades. My students blanched at just the word journal.
      So we stopped journaling.  Now we observe and report.
     We keep a large notebook, which is our log, but we carry with us a pocket size notebook for reporting.  We have a standing assignment. Each day, my students and I record these three things.
       1. Something that makes you stop and go "Hunh?  I wonder what's up with that?"
       2.  An overheard piece of conversation that catches your ear. Yes, I encourage eavesdropping, but only in public places.
       3. Something that makes a strong sensory impression.
       That's it.  They aren't supposed to do anything with it. They don't draw story webs or brainstorms ten ideas they write about. Just the facts ma'am.
        Here are some examples of my students observations: a bright yellow Porsche parked in the driveway of a small shabby house with an unkempt yard.  A person (sex undetermined) in full clownsuit mode---red wig, floppy shoes and all---waiting at bus stop in the middle of a weekday afternoon. An unused baby swimming pool, now swarming with tadpoles.
      Overheard conversation include such memorable quotes as "Hey, you wanna piece of me?" "I am not leaving this bathroom until I find some mascara." "Peas do not belong in ears."
      Strong sensory impressions ranged from "the pain of having your braces adjusted" to "our neighbors' noisy parties" to "the taste of Grandma's Pizza Potpie.
      At the beginning of each session, I ask if anyone would like to share their observations. I never insist that someone share, but after hearing their friends observations, nearly everyone wants to share.

      Sometimes, the image is so thought-provoking that the group will spontaneously brainstorm on their own. If it happens, cool. If it doesn't, see the five exercises below.

                                                                    Writing Workout

  1.  Have the student choose one of their observations for a five-minute free write.

   2. Using one of the observations, the student will write about it, using all five senses in the description.

   3.  Have the students choose one of their five senses. and write using only that sense. They are not allowed to choose sight as their sense.

   4.  The students write from their observations, this time using all the senses except sight.

   5. Ninety-nine per cent of the time students write first person personal narratives. It's easier (I do it, too!)  Assign each student a particular character (the snob, the mom, the little sister, etc) and have them write the piece again, this time from the point of view of their new character. They can still write in first person, but now they are writing as mom, or an orthodontist, or an older brother.

     After each exercise, the students are then encouraged to share. When sharing generates enthusiasm resembling a pep rally. ("Hey why don't do you this?" "What if..." "And then he could..."), it's time to turn the hounds loose.

     Typically, I only need to use one or two of these exercises before students leap from straight description, to a story or a poem.

     My students come to a session, notebooks in hand, dying to "share."  Little do they know that "share time" is a spring board to writing in their logs." I call it "expanding your observation."You could also call it journaling.  I don't.

    This process has also worked for me, the writer. Jotting down a couple of things to expand on later takes the pressure (and guilt) away.  Julia Cameron is where she should be; between the covers of her books, and not in my head.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

Inertia? Shoo!

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Howdy, Campers!  Welcome...or welcome back to TeachingAuthors' cozy winter cabin!

"All things are possible until they are proved impossible--

and even the impossible may only be so, as of now." ~ Pearl Buck

First order of business...the winner of TeachingAuthors' first book giveaway of 2013 (see Carmela's January 2nd post) is Pam Courtney, who follows our blog via email.  She's won Luke Reynold's book, Keep Calm and Query On. Congratulations, Pam!

We TeachingAuthors have been talking about how to get back to writing after a break.

Jill's found it liberating to give herself the holidays off from writing...and then to stop fretting, schedule writing time and give herself permission to write dog doo (I'm paraphrasing here). Jeanne Marie  has found it useful to take a nap before leaping into her most productive writing hours of the day.

For me, there is something sneaky-guilty and oddly energizing about avoiding writing by, say, running a political campaign, taking care of my aging uncle or preparing for a class. I can defend the barricades in the name of the French Revolution if I'm thereby avoiding working on my picture book manuscript.

After the Revolution...or, less excitingly, after driving 92-year-old Uncle Davie to the doctor, my inertia sets in.

  Eli has graciously offered to demonstrate inertia for you:

I asked two friends in two different professions, how do you get back to work after the holidays?

They both blurted out "FlyLady!"  In this post, Fly Lady suggests setting a timer for 15 minutes and doing 15 minutes of WHATEVER (clear clutter, take out the trash, or...hmmm...here's an idea: write).  

It's like breaking through the fear of writing by keeping a One-Minute Journal; I can do anything for one minute.

Another way I make writing a top priority is being accountable to a Writing Buddy.  Oh, and getting off the internet.  :-)

So, go on...get off the internet. Set a timer. Pick out a half-completed story or start a new one.  Start 2013 feeling that all things are possible.

And last but not least, thanks to Renee at No Water River for hosting Poetry Friday today!

Uh...Eli wanted to show you another position for inertia, for extra credit:

3 Discoveries for Poetry Month!

Howdy, Campers ~ and Happy Poetry Friday! (poems and link to PF below)

Hello, hello, on this glorious first week of Poetry Month ~ I have a shower of 3 poetry discoveries just for you!

My 1st Poetry Discovery:

On October 3, 2024, Carmela's post was about a new poetry anthology, Clara's Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts and Wonderfuzz edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong and illustrated by Frank Ramspott (Pomelo Books). Her post, which you'll find here, is worth reading. (Full disclosure: both Carmela and I are proud to have poems in this collection).

The BREAKING NEWS is now, there's a companion to Clara's...called MY Kooky Compendium. It's a guided journal (blank book) with illustrations to inspire 8-13-year-old thimblethinkers and wonderfuzzers.

Read Sylvia's March 21st LET'S GET KOOKY! post about the companion book here--and make sure you watch the 1-minute not-to-be-missed video about it (which is filled Janet and Sylvia's good humor and lots of animations) at the end of her post. Now, go to Pomelo Books for more info and to order both the original Clara’s (long title--you know it by now) and its new companion, MY Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts and Wonderfuzz.

My 2nd Poetry Discovery:

I've just finished my first year of a 3-year term on NCTE's Poetry Awards Committee ~ and man-oh-man! was THAT an experience! At the beginning, as the books came to our doorstep, it felt just like Christmas (says the Jewish girl): OMG--a present almost every day! But within a few months, it felt like The Sorcerer's Apprentice (the familiar theme begins about 2 minutes in this 10 minute performance), when I was screaming: PLEEEEEEASE! NO MORE! 

After just a month or three, there was (literally) no room in my office. Soon, the books took over shelves in our guest room...and then they crept onto the floor of the guest closet, and more and more and more and more! I'm a s-l-o-w reader. All I can say is this first year was like climbing Mt Everest. I escaped with my life, and I sure learned a ton! I wish I had had the courage to apply for this committee decades ago. It definitely would have made me a better teacher. So...thanks, Janet, for insisting I apply to this committee. I will never forgive you...and I'm forever in your debt.

And now, drum roll, please: here are this year's NCTE outstanding poetry picture books and verse novels...and here's the marvelous NCTE Poet of the Year we chose. 

My 3rd Poetry Discovery:

Here's a poetry prompt I heard listening to Highlights Foundation's webinar on April 1st, featuring Charles Waters and Irene Latham leading Highlights Foundation's first-ever National Poetry Month Celebration, showcasing their new poetry collection for children, IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY. In addition to Charles and Irene, JaNay Brown-Wood, Lacresha Berry and Jolene Gutiérrez What a great group!

Here's one poetry prompt that stole my heart: (Irene, could you remind me who shared this prompt?)

List 10 things you can't live without.
Cross out all but 5 of them.
Cross out all but 3 of them.
Cross out all but 1 of them.

Now, write a poem about that.

I tried it...and here's a rough draft of my first effort: 

JUST ONE by April Halprin Wayland

If I had to choose
just one thing,
it would be you, dear one.

Not to butter you up,
but I dream of you,
I do.

I dream of how tender,
how warm,
how sweet you are

in all your purple finery.
Please forgive me
for putting you

in the microwave.
..................... 

Here is my initial list (in no order):

1. purple potatoes ~ you’ve got to watch this 2.3 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye21IDArJP
2. poetry
3. my husband
4. our son and daughter-in-law (yeah, it's cheating, but they come in one package)
5. my friend Bruce and his wife (Bruce and I have been writing a poem a day to each other since 2010)
6. my sister and her husband
7. my sister’s husband children and grandkiddos (yeah, that's seriously cheating...)
8. Sadie
9. Kitty
10. our baby tortoises, Meredith and Derek

Try it! I'd love to hear what you come up with. It sure will be fun to teach!

Thank you, Irene, for hosting Poetry Friday at Live Your Poem

 

drawings and poems (c) April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.
posted by April Halprin Wayland
with help from Sadie & Kitty, who I apparently bored to sleep

Poetry Friday Interview--Jeannine Atkins' Finding Wonders

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Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday!

Lucky Campers--you're in for two treats: 1) you get to meet my talented friend, author and poet Jeannine Atkins,

Author and poet Jeannine Atkins writes: "History shows me what changes as well as what stays the same."
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AND 2) you have a chance to enter TeachingAuthors' book giveaway of Jeannine's delicious verse novel, Finding Wonders--Three Girls Who Changed Science, which has received starred reviews (see below for info on the giveaway)!

Jeannine Atkins first came to my attention when I fell in love with her inspiring picture book, Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon, illustrated by Michael Dooling (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1999). Wow, I thought--a young girl did that? Yes she did indeed. In fact, Jeannine writes on her website: "Almost every morning I write on my window seat about strong girls and women who have made historical contributions to science or the arts."

Boy, she's not kidding. She's written countless award-winning books about them--and here's her latest jewel, which came out this September:

“Inspirational and informative, Atkins shows how pursuing one’s passion for science, math, or any field considered nontraditional is worth the risk.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Finding Wonders--Three Girls Who Changed Science (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) is a lush book in three acts about three girls, their interests, and intimate details of the historical periods which shaped them. They were Maria Sibylla Merian (metamorphosis), Mary Anning (fossils), and Maria Mitchell (the night sky). As Irene Latham wrote when the book first came out, "It's another beautiful verse novel about real women, in the spirit of her much acclaimed and beloved-by-me Borrowed Names. Jeannine knows these girls, and by the end of the book, the reader does, too."

Click on Jeannine's website and her blog for more juicy details, as well as Irene's post for three sample poems.

And so, without further delay, let's say hello to Jeannine...thanks for coming into our living room today, Jeannine! How did you become a TeachingAuthor? 

Back when I was in college, I decided to become a teacher because I loved reading. I kind of forgot that I was shy, until I stood in front of a room full of wiggly seventh graders and realized I’d better say something. Thankfully, those students had good hearts and I muddled through, but for an introvert like me, my present job is a better fit. The hours fly by as graduate students in the MFA program at Simmons and I discuss the shapes and tone of novels and poems, looking for bits to pluck and adapt for our own creations.

What would you suggest for young adults to help them develop the shapes and tones of their own writing?

Keeping a journal isn’t magic, but I’ve found that writing every day, even for ten minutes, helps me stay open to inspiration. And by that I mean writing for myself, that first, important reader, who often needs to be reminded to be kind. It’s wonderful to read extraordinary books, as long as you keep yourself from measuring your writing against what you find on printed pages.

Everyone has a voice worth hearing. Listening to your own words as you let your hands move without judgment is a great way to find out if that voice is marked by humor, solemnity, long sentences or short lines, anger, joy, or any combination of these.

Okay since you brought up anger and joy or some combination of these, here's a question out of left field: tell us about your mother.

Ouch. I often ask students to boldly face their entire experience, so it’s good to be reminded of how tough looking back can be. My mom never seemed to want to be one. I looked for mothers who hadn’t checked out in books like Little Women, and also found the sense of being seen that I craved in teachers. Becoming a mother of a daughter showed me how warm and strong that bond can be. I’ve sometimes wondered if my mother would have been happier during another era. The question of how girls and women respond to a sometimes unwelcoming world is one that has driven much of my work.

I love that last line--how succinctly you've described the theme that drives you, Jeannine.

Do you have any suggestions for teachers on how they might use one of your books in the classroom?

Oh, I’m full of suggestions! I think one of the best ways to respond to reading a poem is by writing one of your own. After reading a poem in Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science, students might cite one of the small animals, fossils, or stars found in the book, then might celebrate it by writing their own ode. Maybe rocks or plants can be studied, at least in photos, then students can ask a question about it. Suddenly, they are scientists! And they can be poets, too, asking: What would you say if you could speak?

Ah...Mask Poems of Science--there's your next book! Or maybe, I am a Rock? Wait a minute, I think Paul Simon already wrote that one...

Getting back to business, is there something you do to celebrate finishing a book, sending off a book, getting an acceptance or getting a great review?

Writing is one word that holds a lot of parts. I’m usually in the midst of starting another book when I’ve finished one, sending out several things for publication, steadying myself from rejections, when I get good news. It would probably be smart to do more than whirl a little around the kitchen or tell the dog or grin at my computer, but really the writing life is one of ups and downs and getting back to work. Which makes me feel like a very lucky writer. Though now that you mentioned celebration, I’ll add that I’m never opposed to cake.

What kind?

I tend to like pound cakes or coffee cakes, maybe with fruit.

from either morguefile.com or pixabay.com...I don't remember which

And here's one more new book for us to celebrate with a sweet slice: your next book of verse history, which will be out in January 2017, is called Stone Mirrors: The Sculpture and Silence of Edmonia Lewis. And it's already gotten starred reviews in Booklist and Kirkus--congratulations, Jeannine and thank you for stopping by!

Campers, here's your own delicious slice from Finding Wonders:

Playing Planets
from Finding Wonders--Three Girls Who Changed Science, by Jeannine Atkins

Schoolmasters don’t make much money, so Father earns more

by walking around the island to take measurements for maps

that mark shorelines and shoals. Maria suspects he also asks

relatives for news of Andrew, who disappeared last week.



While Father is gone from his schoolroom, Maria arranges

primers, chalk, and slates. Taking out the wooden spheres

to give an astronomy lesson, she remembers Father holding

the largest ball, bringing the Sun to their parlor.

The children ran around him like orbiting planets, taking turns

as Saturn, Mars, Neptune, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus.

Holding a baby, Mother was Earth.



Maria loves how planets take measured places in the sky,

but also hold mysteries. Once, she wished she could be a comet,

soaring close to the sun to be seen,

appearing as if from nowhere

among the whirls of sisters and brothers,

her father steady in the center.

poem and photos © 2016 Jeannine Atkins. All rights reserved

Jeannine Atkins holding her newest book, Finding Wonders--Three Girls Who Changed Science, which includes the story of Mary Anning
(also told in her picture book, Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon)

And now, Campers, here's your chance to win your own copy personally autographed copy of Finding Wonders ~

Join us in our celebrating Finding Wonders--Three Girls Who Changed Science! Enter our giveaway for an autographed copy!

Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win an autographed giveaway copy of Finding Wonders. You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options. 

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Poetry Friday is at Wee Words for Wee Ones today...thanks, Bridget!

Posted with wonder (and a little help from Eli and Monkey), April Halprin Wayland

How AIN'T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT Changed Me

Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday! (My poem and the link to PF are below)

TeachingAuthors is officially back from our 🌞Summer Break🌞, and I'm kicking off a round we're calling One Book I Learned From Over the Past Year.  

I've changed the prompt slightly for today's post to: One Book From the Past Year That Changed Me.

So many books, so many ways to respond to this prompt!  But lemme tell you, the book that BLEW. MY. MIND this year (thanks to my beloved book club) is the collaboration between author Jason Reynolds and illustrator Jason Griffin, AIN'T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT (Simon & Schuster)

Let's start with this two minute segment of a Washington Post video interview, in which Jason Reynolds tells us that his initial manuscript was three sentences long. 

So you're thinkin' picture book, right?  

Well. Kinda. It did win the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award in the PICTURE BOOK category. But...is that fair to the picture books?  

Kirkus calls it ILLUSTRATED POETRY.  For 12-18 year olds. (Unfortunately the Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards don't have a poetry category ~ for shame!)

How to describe this book? Let's start with its physicality. 

It's 384 pages: the size of a fat YA. Each page is shinier and thicker than you'd expect. The cover alone is hefty. All I'm sayin' is don't put this in your kid's backpack--it's a frickin' brick of a book. 

What about the content?

It's poetry. It's story. It's despair. It's hope. It's family. It's wild and wonderful illustrations that sometimes make no sense and sometimes make the whole thing explode.

It's S-P-A-C-E to absorb a poem with double page spreads that sometimes are just black. 

It climbs to a crescendo page by page. 

It's metaphor, it's simile: 

• "my sister talks to her homegirl through the screen of her phone like it's the screen of the front door," 
• the father tries "to keep the cough from coming through/like trying to mute the blues trumpet in his throat," 
• "worry is worn like a knit sweater/ in summer/ and can't nobody breathe/ in a knit sweater in summer/ a turtleneck wrapped around/my whole family/our necks caught/in a tunnel/of too much/going on"

Again:

This book 

BLEW.

MY.

MIND.

And, Honey, I ain't the only one. 

School Library Journal: ⭐starred review. 

Kirkus: ⭐starred review.

Booklist: ⭐starred review.

Publishers Weekly: ⭐starred review.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: ⭐starred review.

Horn Book: ⭐starred review.

Shelf Awareness: ⭐starred review.

Bookpage: ⭐starred review.

BOOKPAGE: "Dynamic and visceral, Ain’t Burned All the Bright artistically portrays the claustrophobia of the summer of 2020 from the perspective of a young boy."

KIRKUS: "Artful, cathartic, and most needed." 

SLJ: "For everyone who has felt the weight of grief and fear or the comfort of love and family in the last two years, this is a must read."

Jason Reynolds says, “It isn’t about the art illustrating the language, it’s more so about the language and the art being in conversation with one another.” 

Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin

photo credit: Dayo Kosoko

Before my book club meets, I will sometimes put post-its on one or two pages I want to discuss.

And then there's this:

Want more? Take a deep dive into a ton of resources on S&S's site. That's the end of my review...

...which takes us back to the initial question. 

Answer: I am taking more chances when I write. F'rinstance:

HOW THIS BOOK CHANGED ME

by April Halprin Wayland

It said,

Malia, Min, Morgan, Manosh, Whoever:

You.

Be.

You.

 

Like a flame but not a flame because the flame’s

already that hot.

Like lightning but not lightning because lightning’s

already claimed that shine in the sky.

Like your step-mom’s burst of laughter but not her burst because

 

well, by now you know why.

 

Rip across a page!

Or settle down in softness.

Listen, sing, speak up, don’t speak up,

cut through the cloud or

ride it

 

because, Babe,

the you 

inside you

is dyin’ to shout. 

It's not too late.

Open 

the gate.

Let 

it 

out.

poem (c)2022 April Halprin Wayland, who controls all rights.

And finally, I'll send you off with the one minute book trailer of AIN'T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT.

Thanks for being here, and thanks for being you.

And thank you, Elizabeth, of UNEXPECTED INTERSECTIONS for hosting today!

posted with affection by April Halprin Wayland with occasional snores from nearly-13-year-old Eli, who, after a full day playing with younger pups...is being Eli.

Interview with Poet Janet Wong & a Book Giveaway--Happy Poetry Friday!

.

Howdy Campers!

Today, Class, to celebrate both Poetry Friday and National Poetry Month, we've invited a very special visitor: my dear friend, amazing human, poet and teaching author, Janet S. Wong.  (Yay--applause!) 

I've known Janet since we were in classes taught by poet Myra Cohn Livingston during the Pleistocene epoch.  Among other accomplishments, Janet and her co-editor, Sylvia Vardell, have revolutionized the way poetry is published in their Poetry Tag Time eAnthologies.  And in honor of our upcoming 3rd (!) Blogiversary (April 22nd), Janet has generously donated THREE copies of her timely book, Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year. Read more about the book and details on how to enter to win your own autographed copy below.

Our friendship is not why I've invited her today.  Janet is a force of nature in the world of children's poetry--that's why I wanted you to meet her today.

Janet S. Wong looking calm, peaceful, even--hiding the dynamo within
.

Janet is the author of a gazillion books for children and teens. She has been honored with the Claremont Stone Center Recognition of Merit, the IRA Celebrate Literacy Award, and by her appointments to the NCTE Commission on Literature and the NCTE Excellence in Children's Poetry Award committees. She currently serves on the IRA Notable Books for a Global Society award committee. A frequent speaker at schools, libraries, and conferences, Wong  has been featured on CNN, Fine Living’s Radical Sabbatical, and The Oprah Winfrey Show and has performed at the White House. (!!)

 

Janet's house. 
Ha ha. 

1) How did you officially become a TeachingAuthor?
I had my first “teaching author” gig in May 1994, four months before my first book, Good Luck Gold, was published. On a Friday I got a call from a bookseller who had heard me speak and wondered if I would visit a middle school near LAX. An author who was scheduled for Monday had canceled. Could I fill his spot? Three days later, I walked into an auditorium of 700 seventh graders. I introduced myself, read a poem about race discrimination, “Waiting at the Railroad Cafe,” and was greeted with thunderous (truly, thunderous!) applause.

After the assembly, kids said: “I like your poems because I know they’re real.” What an amazing feeling of accomplishment at having connected with those kids! I knew that I wanted school visits to be a big part of my life as an author.

2) What's a common problem/question that your students have and how do you address it?
The most common problem: what to write about. I want to teach kids that their own everyday experiences--even seemingly trivial ones--can be good material. I’ll read a handful of poems and talk about the stories behind the them: why I wrote about my dad’s anger, why I wrote about noodles for breakfast, why I wrote about hiking in the woods. Some of the kids must wonder: “That’s good enough for a book? But then you could write about anything!” Exactly! You don’t have to have an “exciting” dream-filled life in order to write. I also want kids to write just for practice, just for fun, at home. Write an ode to cookies that is so mouth-watering good, it will inspire a mom to say, “Yes, we should bake some cookies today!” I want kids to know that they have the power to make good things happen with their words.

video credit: Bettie Parsons Barger

3) Would you share a favorite writing exercise for our readers?
My most successful writing exercise is a simile exercise that I usually do when I visit schools. Here it is, broken into 10 steps.

Step #1, Introduce Similes: I introduce similes before they even know that an exercise is coming. Showing--not telling--what a simile poem is, I read “Dad” from Good Luck Gold (my dad as a turtle, hiding in his tough shell), and sometimes also “Sisters” from A Suitcase of Seaweed (sisters who are opposites, like fiery ginger and soft tofu) and “The Onion” from The Rainbow Hand (mom as an onion; you cut her and yet you cry).


Step #2, Describe the Prompt: I say: Take someone in your family (mother, father, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt, cousin) and turn that person into a plant, animal, or object--but don’t make the mistake I made with calling my dad a snapping turtle--make it a loving idea, an idea that can become a gift poem.

Step #3, Give Examples: I share examples. From a 6th grade girl in Los Angeles: “My mother is like braces; she can be a pain to deal with, but she straightens me out.” From a 5th grader in Seattle: “My mother is like glasses; she helps me to see things more clearly.” From a 3rd grader in Texas: “My aunt is so sweet, she is like candy.” (Me: “What kind of candy? A cool peppermint? A tough red rope?” Her: “Well, she’s kind of . . . nutty, so I guess she’d be a Hershey’s bar with almonds.”)

Step #4, Think for a Minute: Too often kids are thrown into a quick-write with zero idea of what to write (and of course they panic). I have them sit and think for a minute--no writing. While they’re thinking, I’ll make a few additional suggestions, pointing to things in the room. “Do you know someone who is very bright?” (pointing to a light) “Do you know someone who is full of stories?” (pointing to a book) “Someone who gives you energy?” (pointing to an electrical outlet)

Step #5, Draw for a Minute: Drawing for the group, I show how you can change a negative idea into a positive one if you imagine that there’s a “video in your mind” and you let it run. What starts out as a rain cloud might turn into a sunny scene with a rainbow, transforming the idea of a stormy mom into one who is just a bit moody, like spring weather.

I also like to show that there’s more than one way to draw something. For instance, if you draw a rose one way, you might think of a perfect rose, a gift of love. Or you could draw the whole bush and it might help you think of a grandmother as an old-fashioned climbing rose with deep roots.

Step #6, Share Ideas: For the next several minutes, I invite kids to share their ideas aloud so that the whole group can hear. I tell kids that if I pick them, I want to be able to use their idea for my own poem, and also want them to allow other kids (who might not like their ideas) to use their idea, too. This is yet another way of making sure that every student has something positive to write about.During this sharing portion I help students fine-tune (or change) their ideas, especially in terms of making them “more loving.” For instance, if a boy says his sister is a pig, I’ll say, “Is she very intelligent? Pigs are very intelligent creatures. They are strong, sturdy, not fussy, they are good in groups and give their lives to us. Is your sister this way?” After seeing that a negative idea fails to get the shocking reaction they’re after, these kids with less-than-loving ideas often surprise with moving poems on a completely different subject.

Step #7, Suggest Music: Rather than just say, “Now write a poem,” I give a one-minute lesson on rhyme, repetition, and rhythm. I ask them to “put a little music in the poem”--and we’re off!

Step #8, Write: I write at the same time as the kids. Using chart paper or the board, I let students see me struggle with their same writing exercise, crossing words out, making a “sloppy copy,” and then a second very different draft. Kids who don’t know where to start can see that I plunged in and started my first draft quite simply--just “my cousin is like a [something].” Not all of them start their poems this way, but I think it takes the pressure off them if they can copy my format. I’ll usually write a second draft during the same five minutes and will deliberately try to make it very different (but still on the same subject).

 Janet Wong with students at Heritage School in Newnan, GA. 
Photo by Marianne Richardson

Step #9, Evaluate: I don’t ask, “Did anyone write a good poem?” Instead I ask, “Is there anyone who wrote something--start of a poem, part of a poem, whole poem--that is better than you thought it would be?” This is key: having the courage to try, especially when you’re not inspired, and being happy when you can surprise yourself. I also point out that a poem can be short and still be good by reading my poem “Down Dog” from TWIST: Yoga Poems. That poem is only 14 words long, but one of my own favorites.

Step #10, Share the Poems: It’s important that we make time for children to share their poems by reading them aloud. It takes less than 30 seconds for most children to read a poem aloud. I like to point out favorite parts of poems but also lines where the child could add or change a few words to give a head start on a revision.

4) What one piece of advice do you have for teachers?
Pick exercises that have “real world meaning” for you. The week before the birthday of your mom, your husband, or your child, have all the kids write a birthday poem for someone in their families. If you love gardening, bring in a bunch of gardening catalogs and have kids scour them for found poems. Create an e-book anthology as a fundraiser and earn money for a classroom party, field trip, or your library. If your writing exercises have some sort of real world meaning for you and your students, the enthusiasm will be genuine and infectious.

5) Can you share a funny (or interesting) story with our readers?
I did a drop-in Q & A at a high school where a student once asked, “How much money do you make?” When I told him the sad truth, he stood up and left the room. I guess it wasn’t worth his time to sit and listen to someone who makes as little as 10 cents per book! This made me realize how important it is to make writing seem profitable to kids.

The reality is that very few authors make a “good” income. But writing, as a skill, can help people make millions and “live rich.” Kids perk up when I explain that a good sportswriter can go to the Super Bowl or World Series for free. You can drive a Ferrari one week and a Lamborghini the next if you are a car reviewer. The suggestion they love the most: developing video games. In Minn and Jake’s Almost Terrible Summer, Jake carries a notebook in his pocket because he wants to capture ideas that pop into his head--ideas for video games. I tell kids about a video game developer who once told me that “the writer is the most important person on a video game team.” Before illustrators go wild, before programmers get practical, first you need a story: a setting, characters, and a basic plot (Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 in a game).

6) What's on the horizon for you?
More e-books! I love the freedom: you think of an idea, you write it, and a week later the e-book is out, on Kindles and iPads all over the world. It’s exciting to look at the royalties and to see that an e-book has sold in Australia or Ireland.

7) And finally, since it's Poetry Friday in the Kidlitosphere, do you have a poem you'd like to share with our readers?
I’d like to share the poem “Liberty” from my new book Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year, available both as an e-book and in paperback. If you like this poem, please look at its blog,
TheDeclarationOfInterdependenceBlog.blogspot.com

Liberty

by Janet Wong

I pledge acceptance

of the views,

so different,

that make us America

To listen, to look,

to think, and to learn

One people

sharing the earth

responsible

for liberty

and justice

for all.
poem and drawings (c) 2012 Janet Wong all rights reserved

That is one of my favorite poems, Janet. And I love the different ways you engage elementary through high schoolers (and adults, too) about elections in the book, including a Voters Journal and Discussion Guide ("If you were a dog, what kinds of promises would you want to hear from your mayor?") 

I'm thrilled you stopped by!  We'll be following your blogs and gobbling up your new hold-in-your-hand books, eBooks and eAnthologies!

This is April speaking now: before we get to Janet's Book Giveaway, I'm asking you with big puppy dog eyes to stop by and read an original dog poem a day on my Poetry Month blog. 

Eli has just performed surgery on his friend, Squirrel.

AND, in honor of Poetry Month, Easter, and all things rabbity, we’ve just e-published TO RABBITOWN, 

the first picture book I ever had published (by Scholastic). It’s a free-verse fantasy (gorgeously illustrated by Robin Spowart) about a child who runs away to live with rabbits and slowly turns into one. To Rabbittown is available on Kindle and Nook (both just 99 cents)…and I’ll upload it to iTunes for iPads soon (wish me luck) ~

And now, without further delay, here's your chance to win one of three autographed copies of Janet's marvelous and timely, Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year

Before entering our contest, please read our Book Giveaway Guidelines. Then answer the following question:  If you're our winner, would you keep the book for yourself or pass it along to a young reader, and if so, to whom? (Don't worry about sounding selfish--who wouldn't want to own a book of election poems during this exciting year?)

You may either post your answer as a comment below or email your answer to teachingauthors at gmail dot com with "Contest" in the subject line. If you enter via a comment, you MUST include a valid email address (formatted like: teachingauthors at gmail dot com) or a link to an email address where we can reach you. Your entry must be posted or received by 11 p.m. April 19, 2012 (Central Standard Time). The winner will be chosen in a random drawing and announced on Friday, April 20, 2012. G'luck!

Poetry Friday is hosted by
Robyn Hood Black at Read, Write, Howl
 ~ thanks, Robyn! ~

Happy, Happy Poetry Friday!

~ and remember to write with joy ~