Kate DiCamillo's Blog, page 23
August 6, 2013
Answers to your questions, Aug 2013 (part 1) What can my ...
Answers to your questions, Aug 2013 (part 1)
What can my students do this year to convince you we are your biggest fans and long to meet you? This question makes me smile. Tell them I said “hello.” Tell them to keep reading. Tell them someday we will meet in person, but in the meantime we are all together in the story. I...
August 5, 2013
From the Candlewick team: Here is a great list of fabulous children's books from...
From the Candlewick team: Here is a great list of fabulous children's books from NPR. Kate says, "so many of them are my favorites." And we agree - Because of Winn-Dixie is featured!
http://www.npr.org/2013/08/05/207315023/the-ultimate-backseat-bookshelf-100-must-reads-for-kids-9-14
The Ultimate Backseat Bookshelf: 100 Must-Reads For Kids 9-14 : NPR
www.npr.org
Earlier this summer, NPR's Backseat Book Club — our book club for young readers — asked you to weigh in on your favorite books for kids...
http://www.npr.org/2013/08/05/207315023/the-ultimate-backseat-bookshelf-100-must-reads-for-kids-9-14
The Ultimate Backseat Bookshelf: 100 Must-Reads For Kids 9-14 : NPR
www.npr.org
Earlier this summer, NPR's Backseat Book Club — our book club for young readers — asked you to weigh in on your favorite books for kids...
August 1, 2013
Two summers ago, I was working on the rewrites for Flora and Ulysses, the Illumi...
Two summers ago, I was working on the rewrites for Flora and Ulysses, the Illuminated Adventures.
I had received my editorial letter and it was a good editorial letter and I agreed with everything that I had been told to do.
The only problem was that I thought it would be utterly impossible for me to do it.
Also, I was sick.
I went to the doctor and then I went to the pharmacist to pick up my prescription and while I was waiting for the prescription to be filled, I read a magazine article...
I had received my editorial letter and it was a good editorial letter and I agreed with everything that I had been told to do.
The only problem was that I thought it would be utterly impossible for me to do it.
Also, I was sick.
I went to the doctor and then I went to the pharmacist to pick up my prescription and while I was waiting for the prescription to be filled, I read a magazine article...
July 31, 2013
http://family-room.ew.com/2013/07/30/......
http://family-room.ew.com/2013/07/30/flora-ulysses-the-illuminated-adventures-exclusive-book-trailer/
Watch ‘Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures’ exclusive book trailer | EW.com
family-room.ew.com
Newbery Medal-winner Kate DiCamillo’s (The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie) new book is almost here… and this one involves a superhero squirrel. Flora & Ulysses: The...
Watch ‘Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures’ exclusive book trailer | EW.com
family-room.ew.com
Newbery Medal-winner Kate DiCamillo’s (The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie) new book is almost here… and this one involves a superhero squirrel. Flora & Ulysses: The...
July 30, 2013
From the Candlewick team: Call for questions! Please submit questions for Kate a...
From the Candlewick team: Call for questions! Please submit questions for Kate as comments on this post. She will look them over and post answers next week!
July 25, 2013
Speaking of being haunted, I opened a book yesterday and this picture of my moth...
Speaking of being haunted, I opened a book yesterday and this picture of my mother fluttered out and fell to the ground.
I don’t know who took the photograph or when it was taken.
I don’t know who put the photograph in the book.
But there she was—my mother--submerged, smiling.
She loved to swim, particularly in salt water.
She loved the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay.
If I had a rash (often), a cold (also often), a cut or gash, she would drive me to one coast...
I don’t know who took the photograph or when it was taken.
I don’t know who put the photograph in the book.
But there she was—my mother--submerged, smiling.
She loved to swim, particularly in salt water.
She loved the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay.
If I had a rash (often), a cold (also often), a cut or gash, she would drive me to one coast...
July 23, 2013
I was sitting at my desk early in the morning last week when an ant flew by.
T...
I was sitting at my desk early in the morning last week when an ant flew by.
This was a little alarming, but I kept typing.
Another ant flew by and then another.
It is hard to type (or think) when ants are whizzing around your head.
But I persisted.
The sun came up and light hit the hallway door and bounced from there into my office and lit up the wings of the ants so that they looked delicate, otherworldly.
I kept typing.
I had a wonderful writing teacher who said: “Write what haunts you.”...
This was a little alarming, but I kept typing.
Another ant flew by and then another.
It is hard to type (or think) when ants are whizzing around your head.
But I persisted.
The sun came up and light hit the hallway door and bounced from there into my office and lit up the wings of the ants so that they looked delicate, otherworldly.
I kept typing.
I had a wonderful writing teacher who said: “Write what haunts you.”...
July 18, 2013
We are now more than halfway through the year.
I keep thinking that I am going...
We are now more than halfway through the year.
I keep thinking that I am going to get my stuff in order.
I keep thinking that I am going to understand things.
Order and understanding, however, have been elusive.
Still, I keep trying.
On Saturday night, I walked out of a friend’s house and looked up at the sky and the moon was orange, a polished crescent, hovering above the trees.
And I thought: oh, there is everything I need to know.
Maybe it is true.
Reflected light will do.
I keep thinking that I am going to get my stuff in order.
I keep thinking that I am going to understand things.
Order and understanding, however, have been elusive.
Still, I keep trying.
On Saturday night, I walked out of a friend’s house and looked up at the sky and the moon was orange, a polished crescent, hovering above the trees.
And I thought: oh, there is everything I need to know.
Maybe it is true.
Reflected light will do.
July 16, 2013
I keep a screw on my desk.
I found it on the sidewalk a few summers ago.
I w...
I keep a screw on my desk.
I found it on the sidewalk a few summers ago.
I was walking along thinking about the story that I was working on. I was thinking about how I didn’t know what I was doing and I couldn’t imagine how the thing was ever going to work out, how all the pieces were ever going to come together, and then I looked down and saw this unassuming, utilitarian, straightforward screw.
I bent and picked it up.
Holding the screw in my hand, I had a small revelation: it’s work. It’s...
I found it on the sidewalk a few summers ago.
I was walking along thinking about the story that I was working on. I was thinking about how I didn’t know what I was doing and I couldn’t imagine how the thing was ever going to work out, how all the pieces were ever going to come together, and then I looked down and saw this unassuming, utilitarian, straightforward screw.
I bent and picked it up.
Holding the screw in my hand, I had a small revelation: it’s work. It’s...
July 11, 2013
I remember standing in Neisner’s Five and Ten when I was nine years old, selecti...
I remember standing in Neisner’s Five and Ten when I was nine years old, selecting a notebook that looked like the one that Harriet carried on the front of the Harriet the Spy.
I wanted to be like Harriet.
I wanted to be a spy.
Yesterday, for the first time in forty years, I started to read Harriet the Spy again.
Here is the opening paragraph: “Harriet was trying to explain to Sport how to play Town. ‘See, first you make up the name of the town. Then you write down the names of all the peopl...
I wanted to be like Harriet.
I wanted to be a spy.
Yesterday, for the first time in forty years, I started to read Harriet the Spy again.
Here is the opening paragraph: “Harriet was trying to explain to Sport how to play Town. ‘See, first you make up the name of the town. Then you write down the names of all the peopl...
