Mary Quattlebaum's Blog, page 25

BEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS 2013

by Joan Waites
It’s hard to believe another year is drawing to a close, and 2013, in particular, seems to have been a very good year for children’s books.  Just a few short years ago, everyone speculated on the eminent death of the printed book as tablets and e-readers were introduced to the market.  Fortunately for book creators and book lovers alike, the printed book is still very much alive and well. Below is a sampling of some of the “best of” lists. What were some of your favorite titles of 2013 American Library Association:
New York Times Notable Children’s Books:
Bank Street College of Education:
Publisher’s Weekly:
Amazon:
Goodreads:
Parent’s Magazine:
Happy Reading!

www.joanwaites.com

A LONG WINTER’S READ

by Jane Harrington
I don’t know about you, but the approach of the holiday season puts me less in the mood for penning and more in the mood for reading. As I madly grade student essays and meet deadlines in my own writing life, I find I just want to nestle all snug in my sofa cushions while visions of fictional characters dance in my head.
I’ve made a point to share this particular longing with my students lately, because I think this poor “Social Media Generation” is losing the ability to focus on text for more than a couple of minutes at a time. That is, in fact, what they wrote about in their semester-ending essays: the effect of technology on their lives. Guess what I’m finding as I read these? The very students who seem most tied to their electronic devices are upset about such things as not being taught to write (or read!) cursive. They recognize that their time is being sucked away from them by their smartphones, and that being the generation with the most dexterous thumbs is probably not going to prove to be much of an advantage in the long run. Many of these eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds still value books, I’m seeing, even as they are convinced they have no time to read them.
So, I’ve been looking at book lists lately, trying to come up with good suggestions to help these multi-taskers unplug and read for pleasure. Here are some links that I’m finding to be good places to start:
Goodreads is trusted by young folk because the lists are created by young folk. This is a page with their college-agerecommendations.
American Library Association is a tried and true source for lists for all ages. Here is their 2013 BestBooks for Young Adults.
And because even teenagers cherish memories of children’s classics—especially around the holidays—here is New York Public Library’s all-time “Top 100.”
Happy winter solstice to all, and to all a good bookwww.janeharrington.com

SNOWFLAKE TO SNOWMAN: WRITING ACTIVITY

by Alison Ashley Formento
It’s the time of year for snowmen and you might be singing about Frosty, laughing at Olaf in FROZEN, the fun new Disney movie, or building a snowman on your front lawn. Frosty and Olaf are memorable characters, who happen to be made out of snow. They also both face the possibility and challenge of melting. One popular snowman writing craft encourages kids to make a melted snowman out of a paper bowl and construction paper and write about their own snowman to explain why it melted. Here’s another great way to use a snowman (or snowwoman) to develop explanatory writing skills, useful for science research and report skills. Snowflake to Snowman: Step-by-step writing       1.      Photograph images of snow at home and at school. If there is no snow in your town, use winter pictures from magazines and newspapers.2.      Find books on weather and arctic geography and read about the different kinds of snow.  3.      Write down at least ten facts about snow.4.      Write step-by-step instructions on how to build a snowman, including the snow facts. Number each step. Imagine these instructions are for someone from a desert region who is seeing snow for the very first time. Include every detail to build a snowman; from how to roll a snowball to placing a carrot for a nose, and how to make a snowman smile out of rocks. The more details shared for each step, the easier it will be for others to follow your instructions. 5.     Read the instructions aloud to see if you included all information needed to build a snowman.6.      If there is snow on the ground at your school, bundle up, go outside, and have fun following one another’s step-by-step snowman building instructions. 7.   Finish this step-by-step writing task by building your own snowman with a big smile.

http://alisonashleyformento.com/

Writing Connections with Erica Perl

by Mary Quattlebaum
I’m delighted to welcome Erica Perl to Pencil Tips!  Erica is the award-winning author of many picture books and middle-grade and YA novels and, through her work with the nonprofit First Book an enthusiastic advocate for literacy.  Below Erica shares a classroom prompt that helps promote a rich pre-literacy environment and gets kids interacting with her latest picture book King of the Zoo (Orchard, 2013, $16.99), with lively illustrations by Jackie Urbanovic. (Visit www.ericaperl.com for information on other titles.)
Erica, I’m a big fan of your Ninety-three in My Family, with its deft rhymes and cast of funny critters.  King of the Zoo also has kid-pleasing rhyme and animals.  What are some of the challenges you faced with this picture book?
This picture book started out as a story called “Zootube” (a title that ultimately proved to be a non-starter because the word has, er, inappropriate connotations online… trust me on this!).  It was about a zoo chameleon named Carlos who desperately wanted a webcam for his enclosure so he could be a star like the other animals.  My biggest challenge was that the webcam plot point distracted from the character’s main existential crisis: being noticed and appreciated for who he was.  So I revised the book substantially and developed a new idea: that Carlos felt snubbed because he was no longer the one and only “king of the zoo.”  I was thrilled when Jackie Urbanovic, my fabulous illustrator, tipped her hat to the book’s origins: look closely and you’ll see that the little girl who helps Carlos feel validated takes a digital photo of him and shares it with her grandma.  Carlos got his wish to be on camera after all!
Thanks for sharing your process.  You remind us that often a first attempt (or even a second or third) needs some finessing and fine-tuning before it’s “book-worthy.”  I so enjoy the playful energy of King of the Zoo. Do you have a writing prompt that connects with it?  King of the Zoo is a book for preschoolers, so the ways I get them excited about books and writing involve actual exercise!  When I read the book aloud, I invite students to play the parts of the animals in the book – hopping like kangaroos, stomping like elephants, scratching like monkeys, and so on – as well as chiming in for the book’s rhyming refrain (“Not again, the [name of animal] too?  The king of the zoo is ME, that’s who!”).  I then invite the students to make their own crowns, draw their favorite zoo animals, and write or tell reasons why each animal should be the king of the zoo.
Well, that sounds like a hopping-stomping-scratching good time!  And you have another book coming out soon—right?  Is it as rollicking?
My next picture book is called Goatilocks and the Three Bears, illustrated by Arthur Howard (June 2014).  It is the story of a (goat) kid named Goatilocks who visits the house of a family of bears and, well, makes herself at home… (burp!).  I hope lots of (human) kids will devour it, too!
What fun!  Your young readers and I look forward to meeting Goatilocks.  Thanks for joining us at Pencil Tips!
www.maryquattlebaum.com

TO SAY OR NOT TO SAY “SAID”

by Jacqueline Jules
A couple of years ago, a teacher asked my advice on a student’s writing. The conversation went something like this:
“I’m hoping you, as a published author, can work with Mary Ann and give her some pointers. Her writing is so good, I don’t know how to help her anymore. All I could do was encourage her to substitute the word, “said,” because she overused it.”
The discussion made me cringe. The teacher’s writing instruction (which I later learned was part of her county curriculum) was completely contrary to the advice I had heard from editors speaking at writing conferences.
There are much better ways to improve a story than to go through and substitute the word, “said.”
If you examine most published novels, you will see that authors use “laughed, grunted, whispered, squeaked, shouted, etc.” sparingly. Speakers need to be identified without distracting the reader, so the majority of tag lines should not stand out. 
In an August 2013 blog, Kristen Lamb posted “Six Easy Tips for Self-Editing Your Fiction,” http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/six-easy-tips-for-self-editing-your-fiction/  Her advice follows what I had heard before from editors: “Said becomes white noise. Readers don’t “see” it. It keeps them in the story and cooking along. If we want to add things like laughing, griping, complaining, then fine. It just shouldn’t be the tag.”
For a fun lesson on writing dialogue, check out Mary Quattlebaum’s post from January 2012 http://penciltipswritingworkshop.blogspot.com/2012/01/dialogues-and-two-person-poems.html  In this post, Mary challenges students to write a dialogue poem between a big animal and a small animal. ie: mouse and lion, ant and elephant, etc.
Other writing challenges for students:Write a family conversation. ie: child and parent, two siblings Write a conversation between two foods in a refrigerator or kitchen cabinet.Write a conversation between two friends in an argument. Write a conversation between a cat and a dog.
Dialogue should move a story forward and reflect the personality of the speaker. Choosing words carefully, rather than spending time with a thesaurus on tag lines, is a much more effective method for creating good dialogue in a story.

www.jacquelinejules.com

Writing with Wordless Picture Books

by Joan Waites
Having just received my copy of (three time Caldecott winner) David Wiesner's  new book, Mr. Wuffles, I started to think of how I could incorporate wordless picture books into my teaching and school visits. Students of all ages sometimes struggle to come  up with ideas for a story, even if prompts and suggestions are given. A wordless picture book is one way to visually inspire a student to come up with a story based on the illustrations in the book. No two students will interpret the pictures and story in the exact same way.
Using  a wordless picture book as a prompt, have your students write (or tell) about what they see happening in the pictures. Who are the main characters? Where is the story taking place? What challenges do the characters face and how are they eventually overcome? For older students, a vintage photograph, a travel shot, or picture from a garden magazine could be used in the same way to help stimulate story ideas.
Using an already written story (a familiar tale or a student created work) as a prompt, have students draw the story in pictures only. Challenge students to incorporate as many details of the story as they can--not only the physical traits of the characters and the setting, but the mood, emotion, and the interaction between characters based on what is happening. Have students share their wordless picture books with the class and ask other students tell the story as they see it.  How closely does it match the author's vision? Even for older students, this can be a useful exercise to help develop a story before writing it down.
There are many wordless picture books to choose from, but some of my favorites are:
Flotsam,  by David Wiesner
Tuesday, by David Wiesner
The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney
Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad, by Henry Cole
www.joanwaites.com

FUN WITH WORDS

Guest Post by Madelyn Rosenberg

My recent middle-grade novel, Canary in the Coal Mine, is about a small bird who busts out of the mines in West Virginiaand tries to make things better for those he leaves behind. It’s set in 1931. When I was researching the novel, I spent a lot of time figuring out what people ate back then, what music they listened to, and how much things cost (thank you old Sunday newspapers). And then, after the copyeditor flagged a few of them, I learned to research something else: words.
I’d tried to take care, as I always do, in choosing just the right words for my story. I’d even consulted a linguistics magazine that listed common West Virginia expressions of the 1920s. But the copyeditor still highlighted a few words that wouldn’t have come into common usage until after my time period. “Gobbledygook,” for example, didn’t reach the dictionary until the early 1940s. “Motion sickness” had a similar date of origin. I’ve had motion sickness my entire life, and it never occurred to me that before 1940, people just felt dizzy and sick to their stomachs.
It usually takes a few years for a word to make it from common usage into the dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary just recently added the term “bucket list,” but I’ll bet you’ve heard that term before.
The origin of a word is known as its etymology (a word that dates back to the 1300s).
For today’s Pencil Tips activities:
*Think of a word that makes you curious. Then go look it up in the dictionary. Far beneath the definition, or whether it’s a noun or a verb, you will see “origin” and a date. How far does your word go back? Does the dictionary tell you anything else about your word’s origin?
*Invent a word of your own, like Nick Allen did in Andrew Clements’ Frindle.  http://andrewclements.com/books-frindle.html  Maybe you’ll invent a word that describes the way you feel when you slam your funny bone against the kitchen table, or a word for a mosquito bite that keeps itching even after you put on Calamine lotion. Share your words in class.
*Play a game of Fictionary. This is a favorite in my family because everyone ends up laughing. I’ve found it works best in groups of five or six.
Rules:Grab a dictionary. Call out words until you find one where no one knows the definition. Have each player make up a definition that sounds like a dictionary definition, while you write the real definition on a piece of paper.
Read the definitions one at a time. Have the other players guess which one they think is real.
If the correct definition is guessed, the player guessing gets a point.If a made-up definition is guessed, the player who wrote the definition scores a point.If no one gets the correct definition, the player who chose the word gets three points. You can restructure the scoring however you’d like; we often play with no scoring at all, but for bragging rights, as in: “Daddy really believed ‘hurkle’ was a species of fish.”
Pass the dictionary to the left for another round.
If you’re interested in more information about how a word makes its way into the dictionary, check out this link to the OxfordEnglish DictioBIO: Madelyn Rosenberg is the author of two picture books, Happy Birthday, Tree which was on the Bank Street best-of list and The Schmutzy Family, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Her first middle-grade novel, Canary in the Coal Mine, was chosen to represent West Virginia in the States Pavilion at the 2013 National Book Festival. Madelyn is also the author of two forthcoming books: Dream Boy, a YA novel co-written with Mary Crockett, due out in July 2014 and How to Behave at a Tea Party, a picture book due out in fall 2014. To learn more about Madelyn and her books, please visit http://www.madelynrosenberg.com/.

Sprinkling on the Grammar

by Jane Harrington
November is here—leaves are blowing in circles around us, the first logs of the season are being tossed in fireplaces, and we’re thinking about comfort foods: hearty soups, turkey dinners, plates of spaghetti. So, let’s go with this today and liken a good story to swirling leaves (dynamic, moving), a cozy fire (touching, heartwarming), and a fine meal (nourishing to the body and soul).
Lingering on the food metaphor, I like to think about how the smallest ingredients make all the difference in those things we love to eat: the rosemary leaves on the roasted vegetables, the garam masala stirred into the Ethiopian dish, the pinch of cinnamon in the tomato sauce. (Note to self: Must cook as soon as I finish this post!) This, to me, is what good grammar is to writing. The perfect punctuation mark, the right word—these can turn an ordinary story into something special, something memorable. And raising this sort of awareness can be fun for writers of all ages. REALLY.
Here’s an adjective/adverb activity that can work with a story that is already written. (If you need ideas for creative prompts, I recommend a blog by a high school teacher at writingprompts.tumblr.com. This writing instructor ties his prompts to Common Core Anchor Standards, and most are suitable for writers across the age spectrum.) After instruction on adjectives and adverbs, have the student writers identify these parts of speech in the stories they’ve written. Is their creation under spiced? Have them sprinkle more in! Have they over spiced? Have them reduce the ingredient!
You can also approach this as a challenge in the original piece of writing, by limiting the part of the speech (No adverbs at all in your story!) or over saturating (Every sentence must contain an adjective!). Mix it up for your young writers’ personal palatesSome Common Core K-5 connections:CCSS L.2.1.e: Use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.CCSS L.3.1.a: Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.Anchor Standards for Writing #5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
www.janeharrington.com

Writing Connections with Jennifer Allison

by Mary Quattlebaum
Writing and reading are new challenges for second and third graders, and Jennifer Allison motivates kids to tackle them with her rambunctious new Iggy Loomis chapter-book series.  Short chapters, a fast-paced plot, and Mike Moran’s zany illustrations playfully engage young readers even as they help hone reading skills—and perhaps even inspire kids to write/draw their own superhero adventures.  Jennifer shares her writing process and a classroom writing prompt for Iggy Loomis: Superkid in Training (Dial, 2013), the first book in the series. Check iggyloomis.com for additional activities.
Welcome, Jennifer!  As you know, my family members are big fans of your Gilda Joyce mystery series for ages 10 and up.  Iggy is a departure from these mysteries.   What inspired you to write a chapter book?
I have three kids in elementary school (boy-girl twins who are first graders and also a 4th grader), and I was inspired to write a book that all three of them would want to read.
The combination of real-life problems (how to deal with difficult friends and siblings) and science fiction (secret alien technology and curiosity about other worlds) was inspired by the way ordinary life, imaginative adventures, and ridiculous mishaps all blend together in the daily lives of young kids. Quite a few funny details in Iggy Loomis began with me jotting down a note about something one of my kids actually said or did.
How do you see the illustrations enhancing the text & what were some of the challenges you faced in writing this chapter book?  

In a nutshell, I was reminded that just because a book is “easy to read” does not mean that it was easy to write!
The narrator of Iggy Loomis: Superkid in Training is Daniel Loomis (Iggy’s older brother), who’s approximately nine years old, although I never reveal his exact age. His voice is sometimes challenging for me because Daniel is far less verbal than a teen like Gilda Joyce, who is a self-described “preternaturally gifted” writer. Writing from Daniel Loomis’s perspective pushes me to think visually and to reveal character traits through actions. The verbal limitations of a less-than-bookish elementary school narrator also make Mike Moran’s illustrations crucial to the book – not just as fun enhancements to the text, but to show the reader the range of emotions Daniel, his little brother Iggy, and best friend Alistair experience.
Another challenge for me was the very streamlined form of this humor/adventure genre for elementary school readers: it’s more linear and pared-down than the structure of the Gilda Joyce books, which include several subplots and an exploration of the inner lives of multiple characters. I naively assumed that writing in a very spare form would make my task as a writer easier, but I was wrong. My editor at Penguin, Lucia Monfried, was crucial when it came to helping me refocus my first drafts of Iggy Loomis on only the most essential story elements.
What was your greatest joy?
A few weeks ago, we launched Iggy Loomiswith a pajama party for kids at a wonderful independent bookstore in Chicago called The Book Cellar. There aren’t many bookstore owners who will personally make “bug Jell-O” for a children’s book event, and Suzy Takacs did just that in an effort to get kids thinking about the insect theme of the story.
We planned the bookstore event as a “birthday party” for a new storybook character (Iggy Loomis), and the store was packed with a somewhat zany crowd of sugar-fueled kids ranging from 1st graders through 4thgraders. I loved how, when I started reading from the book, they all fell completely silent – on the edge of their seats and genuinely listening to this story about a boy whose little brother gets mysterious superpowers. This was also the first book event that included my own three children and lots of their classmates as participants. I will always remember the end of the party: my younger son Marcus came up to me and asked if I would please also sign his book. He took his copy of Iggy Loomis everywhere for the next week “because I love it so much!”
Wow, it’s lovely to be able to inspire your own kids to read and write!  Do you have a writing prompt or suggestion that might connect with the book?  
Iggy Loomis: Superkid in Training is a humorous science fiction book that introduces several “real world” science concepts including the study of insects and DNA. The website www.iggyloomis.com includes a list of suggested nonfiction resources for kids who want to learn more about science. The website also includes a complete classroom discussion guide and a list of interdisciplinary projects that will engage visual and experiential learners. Here’s one project that teachers can find on the website:
Paint Your Own Planet! How do you imagine Alistair’s home planet (Planet Blaron) looks? Draw or paint your vision of Alistair’s home planet. Write a paragraph explaining the choices you made (details of the landscape, color choices, etc.) based on details from the text of Iggy Loomis and/or research about planets in distant galaxies.I love that this prompt includes writing and drawing since kids this age seem to enjoy and get so much from doing their own visuals.  What are you working on now?
I’m currently finishing the second book in the Iggy Loomis series entitled A Hagfish Called Shirley. Kids interested in unusual sea creatures and weird pets should add the next Iggy Loomis book to their reading lists!
This sounds like so much fun, Jennifer!  I’m going to add it to my reading list.  Thanks for joining us at Pencil Tips. 
www.maryquattlebaum.com

STORY LEAVES: Writing Conclusions

by Alison Ashley Formento
Leaves swoop around us this time of year and a swirling rainbow of autumn colors fill the air. Leaves leave the trees, fluttering to the ground to end their seasonal journey. Much thought is given to hooking the reader with story beginnings, but endings are a key component in story and essay structure. How best do you leave a story or end an article you’re writing? Writing the ending of any story or essay is often the most difficult task for a writer. You may want to leave your readers with a solid, firm opinion, or an open-ending, that can be interpreted in many ways, and perhaps, lead to another book in a series or inspire a new article or essay.
Leave the page
1.Read the last line of a favorite picture book or chapter book aloud in class.Ask students to write two new endings for this story.
First, they should write a firm ending such as: “and it was still hot.” Where the Wild Things Are
And one ending that might lead to something new:“Uh-oh,” I thought. “it’s not just the lunch box.” Third Grade Angels, Jerry Spinelli
2. Ask students to read Kids Discovery, National Geographic Magazine, or use the daily paper from your town. Choose an article or Op-Ed piece to rewrite the final paragraph still using the facts made clear in the article.
Try to “leave” the reader with a whole new question, which to inspire a new discussion.Example: “Scientists understand key reasons why dinosaurs became extinct, but if there hadn’t been an ice age, do you think we’d still have these massive creatures on Earth? Perhaps as house pets?”
Now write a new article ending leaving the reader with clear knowledge of the represented facts. Example: “Scientific testing on discovered dinosaurs bones are solid proof they could not survive due to severe weather conditions.”
The best authors and journalists play with story and article endings to make sure readers feel like they’ve had a memorable reading experience. Writing a great ending is as satisfying as jumping into a giant pile of autumn leaves. Enjoy!

www.alisonashleyformento.com