Elizabeth Winthrop's Blog, page 10

LOOKING OVER A WRITER'S SHOULDER

I'm deep into a new long project this time, a personal history for adult readers.  Although I've published two novels for adults (ISLAND JUSTICE, IN MY MOTHER'S HOUSE), this is the first time I've attempted a non-fiction memoir form.  It tells the story of my parents' love affair during WWII which includes sailing through the evacuation at Dunkirk, the death of my mother's only brother at the battle of El Alamein, a romantic meeting in a Yorkshire castle and my father parachuting behind...

DUMPY LA RUE

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST ILLUSTRATED Book

Dumpy La Rue wanted to dance

"Pigs don't dance,"

said his mother.

"They bellow, they swallow,

they learn how to wallow.

But Dumpy La Rue

was a pig

who knew what he wanted to do.

He twirled in the sty,

raised his snout to the sky,

spread his hooves far and wide,

and pretended to fly.

The whole barnyard gathers around and in no time, hooves are stomping, wings are flapping, and feet are stamping out a beat. This romping, rhyming story combined with Betsy...

DOG SHOW

WHEN HARVEY HEARD ABOUT THE BONESPORT DOG SHOW, HE WAS VERY EXCITED. FRED THE BASSET HOUND WAS NOT. HARVEY PLANNED FOR MONTHS. FRED HOPED IT WOULD NEVER COME.

Harvey entered Fred in every class — short dogs, dogs with spots, droopy-eard dogs, and more. By the end of the show, Harvey was miserable and Fred was so tired and hot his tongue was hanging out. Still Fred loved Harvey. He dragged him back in front of the judges for the last event of the day. Fred knew they would win this one…

With...

SQUASHED IN THE MIDDLE

ALA NOTA BLE Book, Bank Street College BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Selection, Starred Selection, Booklinks, Best New Books for the Classroom!

Daisy's father was chopping carrots. Her mother was talking on the phone. Her big sister was chasing her little brother around and around the kitchen. Being a middle child is not easy. Nobody EVER listens to Daisy, even when she tells them she's going across the hall to spend the night with her best friend, Rosa.

With humorous text and bold, colorful...

THE BATTLE FOR THE CASTLE

A Sequel to THE CASTLE IN THE ATTIC

When William turns twelve, he wonders if Jason is still his best friend. In the past year, Jason has grown a foot while William is still a shrimp. When Jason challenges William to "jump the trains," William is terrified. How else can he prove himself to Jason?

William has the chance when Mrs. Phillips sends him the magic token that can once again transport him back to Sir Simon's castle in the Middle ages, this time with Jason. There they must face a...

THE CASTLE IN THE ATTIC

Winner of The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award

and The California Young Readers Medal

Ten year old William can't wait to play with the mysterious castle his housekeeper, Mrs. Phillips, has given him. For years she has been telling him about the old stone and wood model with its drawbridge, moat and the finger-high knight to guard the gates. And now it is his.

But when William learns that Mrs. Phillips is going back to England to live with her brother, he vows to find a way to keep Mrs. Phillips...

THE RED-HOT RATTOONS

Here they are, my five tap dancing rats who tiptoed out of the pages of DUMPY LA RUE (thanks to my amazing illustrator, Betsy Lewin) and marched right into a comic fantasy novel of their own. Their names are Benny, Fletcher, Ella, Woody and Monk and as the Rattoons, a jazz and tap group, they travel to Rat Hollow, the rat community that pulses with a life all its own beneath the streets of New York City.

But when Rat Hollow turns its back on them, the Rattoons break the law and take their act ...

COUNTING ON GRACE

Inspired by a famous Lewis Hine photograph, Elizabeth Winthrop's latest book is set in a Vermont mill town in 1910, when child labor was common, and a bright, eager girl had to struggle to receive an education. Against a backdrop of callous mill owners, national calls for labor reform, and a family that can barely make ends meet, Winthrops protagonist, the courageous 12 year old Grace Forcier, strives to balance the needs of her family, the call of her true self, and her profound sense of...