Kirby Larson's Blog, page 94

Clever Folks

In my next life, I want to be witty and clever, like Lisa Yee. She recently posted the most intriguing question on her Facebook page:
what best friend from kid lit would you have wanted to be your best friend when you were a kid?
I answered that I would want to have been friends with Caddie Woodlawn, and Susan of Susan and Arabella, Pioneers. But after more thought, I would add Encyclopedia Brown, Laura (of the Little House on the Prairie books), Pippi Longstocking, Cam Jansen, Fern (Charlotte'...

Ten in 2010

August is the 8th month; and this is the eighth time I've had to generate a theme for the Ten in 2010 challenge. This task is harder than it appears; do not try at home.

Seriously -- do try at home. Try your hand at creating a ten word story and try to suggest a theme for one of the four remaining months in this year (not that I'm counting, or anything).

Since I'm in a numerical frame of mind, let's go with "eight" as our prompt this month.

New Mother

Am I strong enough
to carry these precious ...

Wordy Wednesday

At the risk of sounding like a cranky old lady, when did "busted" become a word that civilized people used? And when I mean civilized, I mean reporters on NPR. Every time I heard one of them report about the "busted" BP well, I nearly came unglued.

Help me out here.

Man's Best Friend Flakes Out

I promise to have my column next week

From Winston: My Ask Winston column isn't ready today because some human ate my blog post. Actually, I'm begging for a little more time because it's summer and all the smart book world people who have agreed to help me are taking vacations. I'm just waiting to fetch up all their answers and will soon have more good insights for you than you can shake a stick at. Dog's honor!

From Kirby: I guess that means I'm pinch-hitting today. Here goes!

Because Barbara...

Good Advice

Ann Whitford Paul

I am blessed to count among my friends the talented Ann Whitford Paul (if you don't have her book, Writing Picture Books, run right out and buy it!).

She recently took a trip to Africa and shared an insight gleaned from that trip in her newsletter, Paul's Post. Watching a pair of wild animals put her in mind of what it means to be a writer and I thought it was worth sharing. I asked her if I could reprint her thoughts here and she graciously said yes. Here they are:

While on...

Wise Owls at Alcott School

Here's a big reason that I keep writing:

Alcott Elementary School Library
93 Laurel Street
Concord, MA 01742

August 6, 2010

Dear Ms. Larson, Ms. Nethery, & Ms. Cassels,

I'm writing to you from the Alcott Elementary School library in Concord,
Massachusetts, where I'm the library teacher. We are a K-5 school located
20 miles west of Boston. Two years ago we initiated what is called The
Bronson Award in honor of our school mascot, Bronson the Owl (named after
writer/philosopher Bronson Alcott from whom ou...

Summer Cooking

The "triplets" L-R: Auntie Lou, Mom Donna, Auntie Alix

It's been awhile since I've shared recipes and I have TWO for you today. The first is from my very sweet Auntie Lou, who is one of the best cooks I know. She just celebrated her 80th birthday but you'd never know it. The only thing about her that seems even close to 80 is her bum shoulder.

The second is from Full Circle Farm and Bluebird Emmer Farro. I had farro once, in Portland, and thought it was so yummy but couldn't find it up here in ...

Makes Me Wanna Shout!

My charming and talented friend, Jaime Temairik Hedquist, won the Sue Alexander Award at the recent SCBWI conference in LA. Here's the official description of this great honor:

Selected from manuscripts submitted for individual critique at the SCBWI Conference in Los Angeles, the Sue Alexander Most Promising New Work Award is given to the manuscript deemed most promising for publication. Critiquers at the Los Angeles conference determine the finalists. Until her sudden death in July 2008, ...

Wordy Wednesday

I do not deserve all the many gifts life has given me, but I do treasure them all. And I am especially grateful for the words of one Eleanore Hamilton, 4th grader, who received an honorable mention in the Letters About Literature contest for a letter she wrote to yours truly. Out of 70,000 entries, Eleanore's shone bright.

Look at how she started it: "Dear Kirby Larson, I love how Hattie Big Sky has a "bumpy" life."

I wrote the darn book and I couldn't have come up with a better way to sum up H...

Ask Winston

The stalwart Winston B. Larson, recovered from recent traumas, is back in the Ask Winston saddle again.

This week's question comes from an as-yet-unpublished author:

I've been warned not to say anything negative about works represented by a certain agent who (the rumor goes) will not represent any writer who's said something negative about a book she's sold. Since I wasn't told this directly by the agent, I don't know how true it is, but it makes me wonder if this is something that most...