Kate DiCamillo's Blog, page 15
April 15, 2014
I walked into the grocery store yesterday and saw an older woman admiring a daff...
I walked into the grocery store yesterday and saw an older woman admiring a daffodil. She had her hands on her knees and was stooped over so that she was face to face with the daffodil.
The woman was smiling the most incredible smile.
My mother moved to Minnesota after living in Florida for 30 years and one of the great gifts of that move was that she got to see spring. She could not get over it--the blossoms and the bulbs and the slow unfurling of leaves.
All April and May long, she was li...
The woman was smiling the most incredible smile.
My mother moved to Minnesota after living in Florida for 30 years and one of the great gifts of that move was that she got to see spring. She could not get over it--the blossoms and the bulbs and the slow unfurling of leaves.
All April and May long, she was li...
April 10, 2014
In the mailbag, a letter from Nicholas in New Jersey.
The letter begins this way...
In the mailbag, a letter from Nicholas in New Jersey.
The letter begins this way:
“Dear Kate Dicamillo,
It’s come to my attention that you should write a series for Flora and Ulysses.
To begin with I think this is the best you have ever written, and maybe other people would want another book about them.”
I know kids do a unit on writing persuasive letters.
I don’t know if this particular letter of Nicholas’ is part of a persuasive letter-writing unit, or not.
But in any case, here is the p...
The letter begins this way:
“Dear Kate Dicamillo,
It’s come to my attention that you should write a series for Flora and Ulysses.
To begin with I think this is the best you have ever written, and maybe other people would want another book about them.”
I know kids do a unit on writing persuasive letters.
I don’t know if this particular letter of Nicholas’ is part of a persuasive letter-writing unit, or not.
But in any case, here is the p...
April 8, 2014
Saturday, the fifth of April, a few minutes after nine in the morning: snow on t...
Saturday, the fifth of April, a few minutes after nine in the morning: snow on the ground, bright blue sky above and I am walking to a friend’s house.
I look up just in time to see a whole flock of finches flying by.
Their bellies are yellow, lit up with feathers and morning light.
Looking at them pulls my heart into the world.
I can feel it
(my heart):
bright
hopefulness
beating
inside
of me, and
flapping its
wings, and
flying up
there.
I look up just in time to see a whole flock of finches flying by.
Their bellies are yellow, lit up with feathers and morning light.
Looking at them pulls my heart into the world.
I can feel it
(my heart):
bright
hopefulness
beating
inside
of me, and
flapping its
wings, and
flying up
there.
April 3, 2014
I read Kevin Henkes’ beautiful book The Year of Billy Miller over a month ago an...
I read Kevin Henkes’ beautiful book The Year of Billy Miller over a month ago and I keep thinking about this one particular scene. Billy Miller is in second grade and he decides that maybe it’s time to stop calling his father “Papa” and staring calling him “Dad,” instead. He tells his father about his decision. Things unfold like this:
“Papa broke the silence. ‘Let’s practice,’ he said. ‘Hi, Billy.’
Billy hesitated. ‘Hi--Dad.’ His voice was just a thread of itself. Saying the word Dad felt o...
“Papa broke the silence. ‘Let’s practice,’ he said. ‘Hi, Billy.’
Billy hesitated. ‘Hi--Dad.’ His voice was just a thread of itself. Saying the word Dad felt o...
April 1, 2014
Some of my favorite letters from readers have been delightfully inventive.
For i...
Some of my favorite letters from readers have been delightfully inventive.
For instance, there was the young girl who said, “And remember when Edward Tulane and that old, cracked-face doll got married? That was a good time.”
And the boy who said that he loved the part where Winn-Dixie went running off and never came back “until fifteen years and a day later.”
Just last week, I received a letter about Flora and Ulysses that detailed the part in the book when Ulysses put on his cape and wrestle...
For instance, there was the young girl who said, “And remember when Edward Tulane and that old, cracked-face doll got married? That was a good time.”
And the boy who said that he loved the part where Winn-Dixie went running off and never came back “until fifteen years and a day later.”
Just last week, I received a letter about Flora and Ulysses that detailed the part in the book when Ulysses put on his cape and wrestle...
March 27, 2014
In the mailbag, a letter from Ana in Arizona.
She drew this picture of William S...
In the mailbag, a letter from Ana in Arizona.
She drew this picture of William Spiver with his glasses on (and with his glasses off).
Her letter begins this way: “Dear Ms. DiCamillo, I am writing to tell you how much your book inspired me. I love the fact that you let everyone in your book step out of their comfort zone and into the harsh (but inspiring) reality of the real world, like when William Spiver takes off his glasses and sees the real world.”
Ana, I have to tell you, your letter ins...
She drew this picture of William Spiver with his glasses on (and with his glasses off).
Her letter begins this way: “Dear Ms. DiCamillo, I am writing to tell you how much your book inspired me. I love the fact that you let everyone in your book step out of their comfort zone and into the harsh (but inspiring) reality of the real world, like when William Spiver takes off his glasses and sees the real world.”
Ana, I have to tell you, your letter ins...
March 25, 2014
So, today is my actual birthday and if you will indulge me, I want to say one mo...
So, today is my actual birthday and if you will indulge me, I want to say one more thing about birthdays, about joy, about celebration.
I was in the Chicago area last week.
I went to two amazing schools, and at each school, the kids sang me “Happy Birthday.”
To be serenaded by a library full of kids, at the tail end of a long winter, at the half-century mark of your life, is the sweetest thing imaginable.
It’s enough to make you believe in spring.
I was in the Chicago area last week.
I went to two amazing schools, and at each school, the kids sang me “Happy Birthday.”
To be serenaded by a library full of kids, at the tail end of a long winter, at the half-century mark of your life, is the sweetest thing imaginable.
It’s enough to make you believe in spring.
March 20, 2014
My brother Curt and I both loved Charles Schulz’s Peanuts when were kids.
We rea...
My brother Curt and I both loved Charles Schulz’s Peanuts when were kids.
We read the strip in the paper every morning and we owned Peanuts books and every week at the library we checked out the gigantic Peanuts Treasury.
Peanuts helped us make some sense out of the world and out of each other.
Just last week, I said to Curt, “Remember that time Linus made Lucy a cup of hot chocolate by melting a brown crayon?”
And he said, “Yes! And do you remember when Lucy told Linus that the leaves falli...
We read the strip in the paper every morning and we owned Peanuts books and every week at the library we checked out the gigantic Peanuts Treasury.
Peanuts helped us make some sense out of the world and out of each other.
Just last week, I said to Curt, “Remember that time Linus made Lucy a cup of hot chocolate by melting a brown crayon?”
And he said, “Yes! And do you remember when Lucy told Linus that the leaves falli...
March 18, 2014
Einstein: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing...
Einstein: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Last weekend, I was up north at the cabin with a bunch of friends, celebrating my 50th birthday; and the most astonishing, unbelievable thing happened: the door opened and Tracey Bailey, friend of my youth, walked into the cabin.
Tracey Bailey who lives in Florida.
Tracey Bailey who hates winter, snow, cold.
Tracey Bailey who I have known for 42 of the...
Last weekend, I was up north at the cabin with a bunch of friends, celebrating my 50th birthday; and the most astonishing, unbelievable thing happened: the door opened and Tracey Bailey, friend of my youth, walked into the cabin.
Tracey Bailey who lives in Florida.
Tracey Bailey who hates winter, snow, cold.
Tracey Bailey who I have known for 42 of the...
March 13, 2014
In August of last year, I got two old wooden filing cabinets for my office.
In o...
In August of last year, I got two old wooden filing cabinets for my office.
In one of the cabinets, there is a torn label affixed to the wooden back.
The label reads (in part): “If the indexing method employed in this Cabinet is not in every way satisfactory, there are many ways of varying same and do not forget that it may be an easy matter for us to remedy your difficulty.”
Sometimes, when I am uncertain about how to proceed in a story, I will get up and open the filing cabinet drawer and r...
In one of the cabinets, there is a torn label affixed to the wooden back.
The label reads (in part): “If the indexing method employed in this Cabinet is not in every way satisfactory, there are many ways of varying same and do not forget that it may be an easy matter for us to remedy your difficulty.”
Sometimes, when I am uncertain about how to proceed in a story, I will get up and open the filing cabinet drawer and r...
