Kirby Larson's Blog, page 49
June 7, 2012
Thursday's Thought for the Day
In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.
Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
June 6, 2012
Let's Put on a Show!
My body has never been to Swayzee, Indiana, but my heart has spent a lot of time at the elementary school there, especially in Room 8. It all happened because two years ago, a superhero disguised as a 5th grade teacher, Katy VanAken, sent me an email about how much she loved The Fences Between Us. She told me she couldn't wait to share it with her students.
Last year's Room 8-ers in Mrs. Van Aken's father's WWII Navy uniforms!
When school started up this past fall, two of Mrs. VanAken's "champions" (that's what she calls her students), emailed me about reading Piper's story. That was the beginning of a wonderful pen pal relationship with Brooklyn and Kiley. I sent the girls copies of Hattie Big Sky and that led to one more wonderful thing: with the help of their friend Colin, who played Uncle Holt, the girls chose to act out a scene from HBS for their end-of-the-year play! Brooklyn played Hattie and Kiley played Aunt Ivy.
Here are some of the things Mrs. VanAken told me about the preparation that went into the play:
The girls googled pictures of Wolf Point Main Street to see the real deal and put Huxol Drugs and the rooming house into the scenery as well as ads for Packer's hair stuff and more. A dad enlarged the actual train depot picture and a picture of a train for us.
Downtown Wolf Point, Montana!
This set's amazing-- look at that train!
The kids used the picture of the claim shack that you sent us.
Inside the claim shack
We've had a ball as Kiley plays Ivy - forgive us in our script writing and character interpretation.
Building the set
Kiley and Brooklyn
The rolls of paper at the top of the scenery are for the next scene and the 2 mini-plays following Hattie.
The parlor was on one side of the big-boards.
We rolled down Wolf Point Depot, and turned the boards around for the claim shack - 3rd panel from the left was meant to be a bed/platform. Hattie's bedroom is on the side boards.
Lots of fun to create our own end of the year theater!!!
Rehearsal
It's show time!
Performing for an SRO crowd
When Emily heard that Mattie Mueller died later on in the story, she struggled not to cry. Your characters are indelible in our hearts, and that's priceless. Kiley and Brooklyn wished they had a time machine to visit Vida, and are still shaking their heads at how brave people needed to be just to get through the challenges of each day. Looking at the claim shack and imagining the severe cold made us all give thanks for warm homes and food!
How wonderful to have treasured book friends.
I say, "amen," to Katy's sentiment above. How wonderful it is to have treasured book friends -- like Brooklyn, Kiley, and the rest of Room 8, including one amazing, dedicated and energetic teacher. Mrs. VanAken retired as of May 23, 2012. I wish her well but I know I won't be the only one who misses her guiding light in the classroom.
I also know Brooklyn and Kiley will continue to "knock 'em dead," whether it be on stage or in middle school or whatever comes next for them. They are two smart, articulate, generous and thoughtful young ladies. I hope if they ever get to the Seattle area, they'll look me up. I know if I ever get to Swayzee, I will certainly knock on their doors!
I'll close this post with Brooklyn and Kiley's email to me, post-performance:
Dear Kirby,
We acted scenes from Hattie Big Sky yesterday and we had a lot of fun. We couldn't wear winter clothes because it was too hot in the room so it looked more like spring time. Almost 75 people came to all 3 of our performances so our classroom was hot and crowded. The 5 plays together lasted an hour.
We put quilt batting in the claim shack to look like snow and Andrew was Karl and said ach schnee. Everybody laughed when Brooklyn said, "Sir if I was your daughter, I would wait until the train started up and throw myself in front of it." Everybody laughed when we were grabbing Hattie's letters back and forth.
This is Kiley. In one part I grabbed Uncle Holt's newpaper and said, "I'm talking to you." and everybody laughed. This is Brooklyn. We like the book a lot and had so much fun making it into one of our plays. The audience clapped a lot for us and more kids want to read about Hattie. American Patrol was the music we played to introduce our play because it was from World War I.
Thanks very much for writing to us this year. This is our last day of 5th grade and we will always remember your letters and the books you sent to us. Thank you.
Have a good time writing your books this summer.
Your book lovers, Brooklyn and Kiley
Last year's Room 8-ers in Mrs. Van Aken's father's WWII Navy uniforms!When school started up this past fall, two of Mrs. VanAken's "champions" (that's what she calls her students), emailed me about reading Piper's story. That was the beginning of a wonderful pen pal relationship with Brooklyn and Kiley. I sent the girls copies of Hattie Big Sky and that led to one more wonderful thing: with the help of their friend Colin, who played Uncle Holt, the girls chose to act out a scene from HBS for their end-of-the-year play! Brooklyn played Hattie and Kiley played Aunt Ivy.
Here are some of the things Mrs. VanAken told me about the preparation that went into the play:
The girls googled pictures of Wolf Point Main Street to see the real deal and put Huxol Drugs and the rooming house into the scenery as well as ads for Packer's hair stuff and more. A dad enlarged the actual train depot picture and a picture of a train for us.
Downtown Wolf Point, Montana!
This set's amazing-- look at that train!The kids used the picture of the claim shack that you sent us.
Inside the claim shackWe've had a ball as Kiley plays Ivy - forgive us in our script writing and character interpretation.
Building the set
Kiley and BrooklynThe rolls of paper at the top of the scenery are for the next scene and the 2 mini-plays following Hattie.
The parlor was on one side of the big-boards.
We rolled down Wolf Point Depot, and turned the boards around for the claim shack - 3rd panel from the left was meant to be a bed/platform. Hattie's bedroom is on the side boards.
Lots of fun to create our own end of the year theater!!!
Rehearsal
It's show time!
Performing for an SRO crowdWhen Emily heard that Mattie Mueller died later on in the story, she struggled not to cry. Your characters are indelible in our hearts, and that's priceless. Kiley and Brooklyn wished they had a time machine to visit Vida, and are still shaking their heads at how brave people needed to be just to get through the challenges of each day. Looking at the claim shack and imagining the severe cold made us all give thanks for warm homes and food!
How wonderful to have treasured book friends.
I say, "amen," to Katy's sentiment above. How wonderful it is to have treasured book friends -- like Brooklyn, Kiley, and the rest of Room 8, including one amazing, dedicated and energetic teacher. Mrs. VanAken retired as of May 23, 2012. I wish her well but I know I won't be the only one who misses her guiding light in the classroom.
I also know Brooklyn and Kiley will continue to "knock 'em dead," whether it be on stage or in middle school or whatever comes next for them. They are two smart, articulate, generous and thoughtful young ladies. I hope if they ever get to the Seattle area, they'll look me up. I know if I ever get to Swayzee, I will certainly knock on their doors!
I'll close this post with Brooklyn and Kiley's email to me, post-performance:
Dear Kirby,
We acted scenes from Hattie Big Sky yesterday and we had a lot of fun. We couldn't wear winter clothes because it was too hot in the room so it looked more like spring time. Almost 75 people came to all 3 of our performances so our classroom was hot and crowded. The 5 plays together lasted an hour.
We put quilt batting in the claim shack to look like snow and Andrew was Karl and said ach schnee. Everybody laughed when Brooklyn said, "Sir if I was your daughter, I would wait until the train started up and throw myself in front of it." Everybody laughed when we were grabbing Hattie's letters back and forth.
This is Kiley. In one part I grabbed Uncle Holt's newpaper and said, "I'm talking to you." and everybody laughed. This is Brooklyn. We like the book a lot and had so much fun making it into one of our plays. The audience clapped a lot for us and more kids want to read about Hattie. American Patrol was the music we played to introduce our play because it was from World War I.
Thanks very much for writing to us this year. This is our last day of 5th grade and we will always remember your letters and the books you sent to us. Thank you.
Have a good time writing your books this summer.
Your book lovers, Brooklyn and Kiley
June 5, 2012
Tuesday's Tip
This one I'm stealing from a commencement speech Neil Gaiman delivered (you can find it floating around on YouTube):
Make mistakes. Make big mistakes.
I don't know about you, but sometimes I get handcuffed by trying to be careful, by trying not to mess up. And when I get careful, I think small. And thinking small deprives my work of its genuine self. Which is what makes it my work, and not somebody else's.
My passion is historical fiction. "They" say it doesn't sell. But I happen to love it and find only life and juiciness when I read about what people did in the past. It's so lively and juicy, I can't help wanting to share bits of it with contemporary readers, even though "they" have issued the genre's death knell.
So I'm already following Neil Gaiman's advice -- how about you?!
Make mistakes. Make big mistakes.
I don't know about you, but sometimes I get handcuffed by trying to be careful, by trying not to mess up. And when I get careful, I think small. And thinking small deprives my work of its genuine self. Which is what makes it my work, and not somebody else's.
My passion is historical fiction. "They" say it doesn't sell. But I happen to love it and find only life and juiciness when I read about what people did in the past. It's so lively and juicy, I can't help wanting to share bits of it with contemporary readers, even though "they" have issued the genre's death knell.
So I'm already following Neil Gaiman's advice -- how about you?!
June 1, 2012
Fan Letter Friday
Pretty hard to top email like this:
Dear Ms. Larson, Ms. Nethery, and Major Dennis,
Greetings from Mr. Ritzen’s First Grade Class at Discovery Primary in Milton, Washington!
On Tuesday, May, 15th a special process took place to honor four outstanding books, The 2012 Discovery Primary Book Caucus. The evening consisted of students performing commercial presentations, campaign booths featuring each book, and opinion papers about which book is best using the TREE (Topic Sentence, Reasons, Examine Reasons, and Ending Sentence) writing strategy. The evening culminated with a vote by friends and family for the favorite book based on the presentations and campaigning done by the students.
It is my pleasure to inform you that Nubs is the winner of the 2012 Discovery Primary Book Caucus. This is the second year in a row that a Larson/Nethery book has earned the top honor (Two Bobbies was our winner last year). And to Major Dennis, welcome to the club and thanks for documenting such a great story. Below are the official results of the voting and the campaign photo of the winning team as well as an attached certificated of appreciation to honor your book. Thank you for writing a book with such a motivational message.
Take care and we look forward to your future work.
The Nubs' Campaign Team
Dear Ms. Larson, Ms. Nethery, and Major Dennis,
Greetings from Mr. Ritzen’s First Grade Class at Discovery Primary in Milton, Washington!
On Tuesday, May, 15th a special process took place to honor four outstanding books, The 2012 Discovery Primary Book Caucus. The evening consisted of students performing commercial presentations, campaign booths featuring each book, and opinion papers about which book is best using the TREE (Topic Sentence, Reasons, Examine Reasons, and Ending Sentence) writing strategy. The evening culminated with a vote by friends and family for the favorite book based on the presentations and campaigning done by the students.
It is my pleasure to inform you that Nubs is the winner of the 2012 Discovery Primary Book Caucus. This is the second year in a row that a Larson/Nethery book has earned the top honor (Two Bobbies was our winner last year). And to Major Dennis, welcome to the club and thanks for documenting such a great story. Below are the official results of the voting and the campaign photo of the winning team as well as an attached certificated of appreciation to honor your book. Thank you for writing a book with such a motivational message.
Take care and we look forward to your future work.
The Nubs' Campaign Team
May 31, 2012
Thursday's Thought for the Day
No entertainment is so cheap as reading nor any pleasure so lasting.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
May 30, 2012
Martha, Martha, Martha!
Get. This. Book.
Written by the supremely smart and wickedly witty, Martha Brockenbrough, founder of SPOGG (Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar).
Here's the hook:
There is a great legend of the guardian angel who traveled across time and space for the human girl he loved, slaying those who would threaten her with a gleaming sword made of heavenly light.
This is not that story.
Resistance is futile!
On sale June 1.
Written by the supremely smart and wickedly witty, Martha Brockenbrough, founder of SPOGG (Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar).
Here's the hook:
There is a great legend of the guardian angel who traveled across time and space for the human girl he loved, slaying those who would threaten her with a gleaming sword made of heavenly light.
This is not that story.
Resistance is futile!
On sale June 1.
May 29, 2012
Tuesday's Tip
As summer looms, so does a book deadline. Rather than taking a complete hiatus from this blog, I've decided to post only on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and other days if there's news!). Thursday will remain the place where I share favorite quotes. But since I started this blog --lo these many years past-- with the idea that I would share writing tips/insights/questions, it seems like a good time to revisit those roots.
So here's summer's first tip:
I was recently trying to help a friend write a synopsis and in my poking around I came across this site. One thing the writer, Randy Ingermanson, said jumped right out at me: "I like to structure a story as 'three disasters plus and ending.'" I loved this because it taps into that Rule of Three often seen in children's literature. It's also easy to remember. I appreciate things that are easy to remember.
Mr. Ingermanson offers this caveat: "It is OK to have the first disaster be caused by external circumstances, but I think that the second and third disasters should be caused by the protagonist's attempts to 'fix things'." (my emphasis)
Isn't that a great way to look at a story? I thought so. I sat right down with my current WIP and realized that the "disasters" I'd envisioned were caused by others, not by my main character. With a good day's thinking, I was able to come up with two actions my MC could take that would make a huge mess of things! Isn't that fabulous? Nothing like making things awful for your MC, right?
Now you try it.
So here's summer's first tip:
I was recently trying to help a friend write a synopsis and in my poking around I came across this site. One thing the writer, Randy Ingermanson, said jumped right out at me: "I like to structure a story as 'three disasters plus and ending.'" I loved this because it taps into that Rule of Three often seen in children's literature. It's also easy to remember. I appreciate things that are easy to remember.
Mr. Ingermanson offers this caveat: "It is OK to have the first disaster be caused by external circumstances, but I think that the second and third disasters should be caused by the protagonist's attempts to 'fix things'." (my emphasis)
Isn't that a great way to look at a story? I thought so. I sat right down with my current WIP and realized that the "disasters" I'd envisioned were caused by others, not by my main character. With a good day's thinking, I was able to come up with two actions my MC could take that would make a huge mess of things! Isn't that fabulous? Nothing like making things awful for your MC, right?
Now you try it.
May 26, 2012
Nineteen Nominations
I am so blessed. Not only did I get to write this book about two good friends WITH my good friend, Mary Nethery, it has made friends with readers of all ages, all over this country.
We've just learned that it's been nominated for a 2012-2013 Florida Reading Association Children's Book Award (K-2).
That's the Two Bobs' 19th reader's choice nomination. Wow.
Thanks to Best Friends Animal Society for rescuing the Bobs (and thousands of other animals), to Melinda Golis for adopting these two best buds, and to Jean Cassels for capturing their story so poignantly in her illustrations.
Biggest thanks to Bobbie dog and Bob Cat who showed the world what can be accomplished when you're willing to lend someone a paw. . .or a hand.
We've just learned that it's been nominated for a 2012-2013 Florida Reading Association Children's Book Award (K-2).
That's the Two Bobs' 19th reader's choice nomination. Wow.
Thanks to Best Friends Animal Society for rescuing the Bobs (and thousands of other animals), to Melinda Golis for adopting these two best buds, and to Jean Cassels for capturing their story so poignantly in her illustrations.
Biggest thanks to Bobbie dog and Bob Cat who showed the world what can be accomplished when you're willing to lend someone a paw. . .or a hand.
May 25, 2012
Nerdy Book Club
I have an August 1 book deadline but that doesn't keep me from reading one of my favorite blogs, The Nerdy Book Club. I especially enjoyed a recent post by Matthew Holm. I loved learning that he borrowed books from his big sister, Jenni!
Consider becoming a Nerdy Book Club member yourself!
Consider becoming a Nerdy Book Club member yourself!
May 24, 2012
Thursday's Thought for the Day
There are many trails up the mountain but in time they all reach the top.
Anya Seton
Anya Seton
