Candace Fleming's Blog, page 3

The Lincolns at The Barnum Museum

In October 1862, Mary took Tad to New York City. They were gone nearly a month, visiting friends and enjoying the comforts of the city’s best hotels. A highlight was their visit to P.T. Barnum’s American Museum. For a twenty-five-cent fee they saw mastodon bones, an Egyptian mummy, and the famous Feejee mermaid (purported to be the remains of a real mermaid, it was really just a glued-together conglomeration of different animal parts). During their time away, Tad lost a tooth, which Mary mail...

Fart Proudly

Because of its subject, this essay by Ben doesn’t often appear in his life story. Written in 1781, it poked fun at the Royal Academy of Brussels. Every year the academy posed a scientific question and gave a prize to the scientist who could figure out the answer. Ben thought the questions stuffy, pompous, and of little practical use, so he proposed his own. Could the academy’s scientist discover a drug that, when mixed with food, would remove the disagreeable odor of “human digestive gases”?...

Papa’s Patents and Plans!

I thought you might be interested in seeing some ofLodner Phillips’ plans for his submarine. The first is a submarine sketch he did. The second is a page from his patent, showcasing his ideas for diving armor. Pretty interesting, yes? All a part of the research for Papa’s Mechanical Fish.

Papa’s Mechanical Fish

I remember it clearly—the day the inspiration for Papa’s Mechanical Fish fell in my lap. I was sitting cross-legged on the basement floor of the Old Lighthouse Museum in Michigan City, Indiana, rummaging through a box of photographs when a crumbling, decades-old booklet slipped from a manila folder. The booklet told the tale of a local inventor named Lodner Phillips who in 1851 developed a submarine that not only had an air-purifying system and a steam boiler, but a chandelier and velvet carp...

You Go, Girls!

I think it’s crucial for young readers of both sexes to see confident, powerful girl characters—girls realizing their potentials, following their passions, bucking convention, overcoming obstacles and making things—good things—happen. These are the traits the girls in my books have in common. And it’s why I enjoy writing them. You go, girls!

Imogene’s Last Stand

Amelia Lost: the Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

Our Eleanor: A scrapbook look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarkable life

Westward...

A Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! Garden Storytime

Harvest time is the perfect time for a Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! Garden Storytime. Hold storytime right in the garden—amongst the vegetables and flowers.Don’t forget–there are three books about bunnies tippy-ing through Mr. McGreely’s life. Read all three!

Take time to ask for predictions about what steps Mr. McGreely might take next to keep his flop-eared friends out of his garden/home/day.
Encourage your hearers to read the words “tippy-tippy-tippy” and “Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!” with you.
Leave...

More on Imogene….

As for the [quotes Imogene spouts], well, I do know a few people from our past pretty well – Eleanor Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Benjamin Franklin. I tend to quote them a lot myself, so it was just a natural extension to drop their words into Imogene’s mouth. Some of the others – like William Morris and Davy Crocket – took some pondering and thinking. The quotes had to match Imogene’s feelings so it wasn’t always easy. Still, the search was lots of fun.

I wish I could say I cam...

You Decide….

Not long ago I was speaking with a group of teachers about Imogene’s Last Stand. “Is the book autobiographical?” one of them asked.

I was stumped.

Autobiographical?

I’d never thought about it before.

“Uh, no,” I finally stammered. “Not really…. Well, not entirely… Uh… Well…um…”

The thing is, Imogene and I do have an awful lot in common. For instance:

Imogene adores American history. So do I.

Imogene often quotes famous figures from the past. So do I.

When Imogene was in the second grade, she dressed...

The Why and How of Amelia Lost

During my sophomore year in high school, on our way back from the homecoming dance, my boyfriend of three whole weeks—Doug Cougill—broke up with me; dumped me for another girl he’d actually spent most of the evening dancing with.

I was devastated.

Still wearing my farm-chic Gunny Sack dress that I’d bought off the rack at Nordstrom’s (this was 1978 after all) I flung myself onto the sofa and sobbed out my anguish. Then I waited for my mother to share a similar story from her past, one that woul...

The Rasputin Effect

Rasputin certainly played an important role in the Romanov’s downfall. But I’m not sure their story would have turned out differently if the monk hadn’t been a part of it. After all, Rasputin only held sway with the imperial couple because they believed he could save their hemophiliac son, Alexei. Heir to the throne – their only son – they were desperate to cure him. Before Rasputin appeared on the scene, they’d already called in dozens of medical specialists. When that didn’t work they turne...