Debbie Levy's Blog, page 8

Double Scoop of Goodness

Who can resist putting a nice, shiny award sticker on her website? Not me. I’m happy to report that Dozer’s Run has been named a Finalist in the 2014 USA Best Book Awards in the Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book category. Good dog, Dozer! Thank you, USA Book News!

And the second scoop: We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song has received a 2014 Aesop Accolade from the American Folklore Society. The Aesop Prize Committee called the book “an outstanding narrative of the evolution of a great song for social change” that “is accessible to children in grades 1-5, and, in many ways, is written for people of all ages.” I am grateful for this recognition.

 

 

My Next Book. . .

. . . started with a visit by me and my husband to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in January 2013. It’s one of my favorite museums; we went on that winter day to see an exhibit called “The Civil War and American Art.”  I wasn’t looking for a book topic; we just both like Civil War history. Among the works of art on display was this painting by Winslow Homer entitled “Home, Sweet Home.”  The painting shows soldiers in a Union camp on the banks of the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  In the background of the scene is a group of soldiers listening to a band playing music –presumably, as the title of the painting suggests, to “Home, Sweet Home,” one of the most popular tunes of the era.

What I read there at the exhibit piqued my interest about what happened on the banks of the Rappahannock as the two opposing armies camped there for months after the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862.  I went home and started doing research.  I learned about the Confederate and Union soldiers calling across the river to one another, sailing little toy boats across the water to each other, and, most significantly for purposes of the book I ended up writing, playing music and listening to the other side’s music.  And I learned of one particular event, described by several soldiers who were there, when a song known to everyone camped there on the river—“Home, Sweet Home”—bridged the differences between the two sides, the two enemies, if only for a short time.

And that’s what my next book, Soldier Song, is about. It was just announced today in Publisher’s Weekly. The illustrator is Gilbert Ford, and if you take a look at his work on the picture book Mr. Ferris and His Wheel, you’ll understand why I feel lucky to have him attached to the project. Publication is set for fall of 2016. I love this story, and can’t wait to share it with readers.

 

On The Road With Dozer

          

It is unfairly easy to do book events with Dozer the dog.  These photos are from book signings for Dozer’s Run at Kids’ Ketch in Lewes, Delaware and Bethany Beach Books in Bethany, Delaware.  This dog is a people magnet.  Can a dog have charisma?  Plus, beach town bookstores–also easy to love.

The grown-up you see in the photos (besides me) is Rosana Panza, Dozer’s owner.  She is an excellent partner in sharing Dozer’s Run with readers and dog lovers.  And–news flash!–she and Dozer just got certified by Pets on Wheels, so Dozer is now officially a therapy dog.  We hope to bring his special brand of Dozer goodness, and his inspiring story, to kids, adults, book lovers, dog lovers, and people who didn’t know they were dog lovers (before they met Dozer) everywhere.

 

Begin the Begin

For years, I have stubbornly resisted becoming a regular customer at one of the specialty food stores in my area–whether Fresh Fields or Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, all of which reputedly sell better, more interesting, more organic, more whatever food than my plain old Giant Food.  I’ve never deeply examined my loyalty to Giant.  I just. . . go there.

Last week, I found myself pushing a cart up and down the aisles of my local Giant.  As always, music played in the background.  As usual, the playlist was straight from the Great American Songbook.  I can’t tell you if it was a Cole Porter or Duke Ellington or Harry Warren tune that yanked me off auto-pilot, but yanked I was.  I stopped in front of the canned tomatoes and was immediately transported back in time.

When I was little, I used to tag along with my mom to the Giant.  The store had music playing in the background then, too.  Same songs–or nearly so.  The one that made the greatest impression on my five-year-old self:  ”Begin the Beguine.”  What a sweeping melody!  What a funny title, Begin the Begin!  My mother told me it was beguine, a type of dance.  She loved that song.  I loved that song.  I loved going grocery shopping with my mother.

And now I have realized that I am shopping at the Giant week in and week out, year in and year out, not only because I am too lazy to learn the lay-out of another grocery store, but because I am waiting, waiting, waiting to hear “Begin the Beguine” again, in that particular setting.  For now, this:

Bank Street, Plus Video!

Good news for We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song–it’s been selected as a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of 2013.  Makes me feel like singing!

Speaking of which. . . . I finally got to meet Vanessa Brantley-Newton, the illustrator of We Shall Overcome, last month when she came to visit so we could present together at the Gaithersburg Book Festival.  It was like meeting a long-lost best friend or sister–for the first time.  These photos give you a sense of how much we enjoyed ourselves:

 

   

(Vanessa’s real sister, Coy Brantley Curry, also came to Maryland for the festival and helped make the weekend even more enjoyable.  Plus, she took lots of great pictures, including these.)

The good people at the festival put together a video of our presentation.  We had 30 minutes or so to talk and sing about our book.  You may not have 30 minutes to watch this video, even if you know and like us.  So since the Bank Street honor makes me feel like singing, I’ll  direct you to the juiciest parts, by which I mean the parts where Vanessa is singing.  Advance the video to minute 10:04 and also to 22:46.  And enjoy.

Where are the people of color in children’s literature?

A response to this question from Vanessa Brantley-Newton, illustrator of We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song:  http://tinyurl.com/n5olxg9.  Thanks, Carol Baldwin, for bringing Vanessa’s words to the attention of your readers.

More Puppy Love

A few months ago in this space I posted sketches by illustrator David Opie from the pages-in-progress of my next children’s book, Dozer’s Run: A True Story of a Dog and His Race.  Readers really enjoyed that post; I think so many of us who can’t draw much beyond stick figures are fascinated by the artistic process, and those drafts offered us a window into how an illustrator works.

Now that the book is only days away from publication–thank you, Sleeping Bear Press!–Dave is opening the window wider with a brand-new post detailing his process in creating the pictures for Dozer’s Run.  Take a look here.  There’s a very cool animation that I keep watching over and over.  I’m not sure I understand everything Dave describes, but I now know more than I did before (which was nothing) about gesso.

Dave, Dozer, Dozer’s owner, Rosana, and I will all be at the Maryland Half Marathon this Saturday, May 10 in Howard County, Maryland.  That’s the race that made Dozer famous, or semi-famous.  It benefits the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Greenebaum Cancer Center.  We’ll be signing books and, if need be, doing a do-not-rain dance (Dozer especially).  Book sales at this event benefit the Greenebaum Cancer Center.

‘Make Books, Not War’

Every year since 1953, the Jane Addams Peace Association and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom present the Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards to children’s books that promote peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races.  The awards were announced this past weekend, and I’m happy to report that We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song was named an Honor Book in the Books for Younger Children category.  “With lively illustrations and moving prose, the book explores the power of community through the story of one song,” the press release announcing the awards stated.

I am honored that the Jane Addams committee chose to recognize this book, so beautifully illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, with this award.  And when I look at the company our book is keeping–wow!  The two top award winners this year are Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909, written by Michelle Markel and illustrated by Melissa Sweet; and Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes.  The other Honor Books are Razia’s Ray of Hope: One Girl’s Dream of an Education, written by Elizabeth Suneby and illustrated by Suana Verelst; Seeing Red, by Kathryn Erskine; and Brotherhood, by Anne Westrick.  All are books based on great ideas (that I wish I’d had!) and wonderfully executed.  Coincidentally, Anne Westrick and Kathy Erskine and I met up at the Virginia Festival of the Book last month.  Anne and I were giving back-to-back presentations at an Albemarle County middle school.  Was there magic dust in the air there in Charlottesville?

The heading on this blog post, “Make Books, Not War,” isn’t my own formulation, by the way–I cribbed it from the Jane Addams Peace Association website.  It’s catchy!

A Good Week In Pictures

Sure, I could write something here about how great it’s been in the past week to share We Shall Overcome and other books with kids at the Annapolis Book Festival and at St. Elizabeth School in Rockville, Maryland–but sometimes pictures are all a person really needs. . . .

Learning about the story behind the song at the Annapolis festival

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Kids sing their own words to “We Shall Overcome” in Annapolis

First graders at St. Elizabeth have lots of ideas about poetry

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My favorite poem to act out is about a cricket that jumps inside of a cat’s mouth. All you need to know is that “chirp” rhymes with “burp.”

 

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Lucky me: In Annapolis, I got to hear Kwame Alexander read from his powerful new novel-in-verse, “The Crossover”

Teach more through music. . .

Recently, as I’ve been thinking about the presentations I’m doing on We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song, I’ve been exploring the excellent website for Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.  I’ve visited the site many times before, and there are too many inspiring ideas for classroom and other activities to list here, but I am definitely taking notes from these two:  “If You’re Angry and You Know It” (have young children use the familiar song “If You’re Happy and You Know It” to write their own songs of tolerance and conflict resolution) and, for older students, “Music and the Movement.”  Click on over; you’re likely to find something of interest.