Terry Farish's Blog, page 19

Literacy and Special Recognition Award. Thank you, NERA

I am deeply honored to receive  the Literacy and Special Recognition Award from the New England Reading Association. Thank you NERA!  I selected the cross-cultural literacy organization, I’m Your Neighbor, to receive NERA’s donation in honor of this award. NERA Announcement:

So Many Books So Little Time Interview

  Sophia Sturtuvant of Portland, Maine did a beautiful reading from Either the Beginning or the End of the World as part of the PPM-TV production and broadcast of a discussion of the novel. Sherry Evans (pictured below) hosted the

Racial Awareness and Children’s Literature

I created a session for the New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ conference entitled, Stepping into Writing Across Culture.  The following begins my posts on the subject.  I offer my journey in these posts as a white writer who

Joseph’s Big Ride in Three Languages at Broken Ground School

Joseph’s Big Ride got a magnificent launch at Concord, New Hampshire’s Broken Ground School with students from many refugee families.  I came for Family Night. Everybody  got ice cream sundaes, then came and listened to the story in the gym.

Illustrating Love: Nickie Tadgell on Art for REAL SISTERS PRETEND

I met illustrator Nickie Tadgell at a We Need Diverse Books event at Annie’s Book Swap in Worcester, Massachusetts. Nickie is the illustrator of many books including the beautiful FATUMA’S NEW CLOTH by Leslie Builion.  Nickie’s just illustrated a new

Illustrating Real Sisters

I met illustrator Nickie Tadgell at a We Need Diverse Books event at Annie’s Book Swap in Worcester, Massachusetts. Nickie is the illustrator of many books including the beautiful FATUMA’S NEW CLOTH by Leslie Builion.  Nickie’s just illustrated a new

Rabbit in the Moon blog

The name Rabbit in the Moon comes from an image and stories that cross cultures, from Cambodia to Mexico and beyond.   Join the conversation here about diverse books, immigration, and culture.

Immigrants, Kids, and Flan

It was after this assembly program in Newport, New Hampshire that I needed to make flan. I had never made flan while I was writing LUIS PAINTS THE WORLD. In the story Luis’s mom makes flan the night before his

Young Writers and Leaders Program

This winter I’m mentoring a young student who is one of only 15 students selected for The Telling Room’s Young Writers and Leaders Program.  These are international high school students  from Somalia, Rwanda, Jordan, Iraq, Congo, Burundi, and Afghanistan and are now attending one of Portland, Maine’s high schools. They’ve all come to write a story based on their own lives. Each student is working one-on-one with a professional writer.  Mentor and Mentee. This is an experience I am savoring, as I do free writes with my talented mentee and begin to see the story she wants to tell.  And this work will result in an anthology of students’ stories as was a book I often bring to teachers when I visit schools.  The book is I Remember Warm Rain: 15 Teenagers 15 Coming to America Stories. This is an exquisite story collection. And these students are in the process of making a book of their own.

Signing LUIS PAINTS THE WORLD at ALA

 

I signed my new Carolrhoda Picture Book, LUIS PAINTS THE WORLD at the Lerner Booth at the  the American Library Association conference in Boston.  I met librarians and writers from all the places I’ve lived as I signed LUIS,   illustrated by Oliver Dominguez.  My favorite thing to do was meet people who asked me to sign a book for a child not yet born.

Just in from ALA-Booklist for LUIS PAINTS THE WORLD: “The story is inspired by an art program in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a city of residents from all over the world, who share their stories and traditions through mural art. Its beautiful message will touch the hearts of readers and maybe inspire them to create art of their own.”

To the left is an illustration by David Small from Sarah Stewart’s book, The Library. I got some notecards with this illustration at the ALA conference this weekend in  Boston and it makes me feel like a kid and how easy it would be to slip into this person, walking while reading with a stash as back-up.  That was me.