Grace Lin's Blog, page 118

book talk tuesday

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS by L. Frank Baum

IndieBound Description:Taking the beloved symbol of merriment out of his conventional trappings and into the world of imaginative folklore, Baum gives Santa Claus an exciting life. After growing up in an enchanted forest with elves and wood nymphs, evil Awgwas, and the master woodsman Ak, Claus makes his first toy, ventures out on Christmas Eve, chooses his reindeer, and starts climbing down chimneys.

My Thoughts:If you've read The Year of the Dog, you'll know I've had a bit Wizard of Oz fixation. That fixation manifested by me reading every book that Frank Baum wrote that I could get my hands on. One of those books was THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS which is a whimsical, light and fun reinterpretation of the Santa Claus myth. Some fun reading to get you in the spirit of the holidays!

on my desk monday

Hey, Look! Ling and Ting is a NYTimes Notable Children's Book for 2010!


This is a huge honor, as the NYTimes only featured 8 books. Wow! I think that weekend subscription I got has really paid off!

fortune cookie friday

"Two vats of tears cannot heal a bruise."
-Chinese Proverb

bid for the holidays!

I'm continuing yesterday's post of holiday shopping! Want to feel extra good about your holiday shopping? Try these great charity auctions:

My good friend Jarrett is the author/illustrator of Lunch Lady and Punk Farm. (Yes, those books! I have famous book friends!) He's auctioning off five awesome items (including the
Here's Jarrett talking about the scholarship:



Isn't that great? The auction ends on Dec. 6th, so get your bids in! Click HERE for the auction.

The second auction is the Bridget Zinn auction. The children's book community have donated various cool items to help Bridget Zinn, an author and librarian recently diagnosed with colon cancer. It's a wonderful thing. I don't know Bridget personally, but I do know how cancer can drastically alter your life. Most of the items are for aspiring authors, but you'll see there is something for everyone.

This auction ends soon, on December 4th. If the page says you need a password to bid, all the info is HERE. So bid HERE as soon as you can!

And this concludes all my consumer encouragement commercials for the holiday season. Thanks, everyone for your tolerance and support!!

for your holiday shopping...

Since it's the first of December and, for me, that means the start of busy holiday shopping! I am always extremely honored and grateful when people give my books as gifts, so I thought I'd give a little reminder on how you can make those presents even more special.

Would you like the book autographed and personalized?
As I mentioned briefly earlier, I'm teaming up with Porter Square Books to offer to offer personally, autographed books for the holidays! How does it work?

Simply call the Porter Square Bookstore at 617-491-2220 and ask for a signed or personalized copy of ANY of my books from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon to Ling and Ting. (You can browse all my available books HERE).

You pay for the book(s), shipping, and handling, and the bookstore will ship signed stock in time for the occasion, even gift-wrapped if requested. Remember, if you want the books personalized, to provide the name of recipient to bookseller. I will be going in to sign every Friday until Dec. 21st, so this is a great opportunity to get books specially signed for the holidays (as well as support a great independent bookstore)!

Would you like to add some something extra?
Don't forget the Grace Lin Gallery for affordable prints or the Grace Lin store for T-shirts and baby onesies! (I just added some new prints!)

book talk tuesday

THE UNFINISHED ANGEL by Sharon Creech

IndieBound Description:

Peoples are strange!

The things they are doing and saying—sometimes they make no sense. Did their brains fall out of their heads? And why so much saying, so much talking all the time day and night, all those words spilling out of those mouths? Why so much? Why don't they be quiet?

In the ancient stone tower of the Casa Rosa, in a tiny village high in the Swiss Alps, life for one angel has been the same, well, for as long as she (or he?) can remember. Until Zola arrives, a determined American girl who wears three skirts all at once. For neighbors who have been longtime enemies, children who have been lost, and villagers who have been sleepily living their lives: hold on. Zola and the angel are about to collide. Figs start flying, dogs start arfing, and the whole village begins to wake up. Zola is a girl with a mission. And our angel has been without one—till now.

This hilarious and endearing novel by Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech reminds us that magic is found in the most ordinary acts of kindness.

My Thoughts: Sharon Creech is kind of my idol, in terms of writing. I think everything she writes is wonderful, it's only comparing degrees of wonderful-ness when I say anything about her books. This book is heartwarming and sweet-- a wonderful read to begin your holiday season!

a family thanksgiving dinner

It's probably dull for people to read about my normal family doings, but it's these normal occasions that make life so lovely that I can't help chronicle them.

This year's Thanksgiving was especially fun as we spent it with my older sister's family. They had a full house with 19 people to feed!

(Notice the red envelopes? They are filled with fortunes--like in fortune cookies. They were written by the kids which is why the fortunes said things like, "You are a duck" and "You are a hot dog." It's our new Asian-American tradition.)

Most of the noise was made by the monkeys kids:
Who made the cliche, "My how you've grown," feel very appropriate:

Nephew Cappy about 3 years ago

Nephew Cappy now (I hope he still has the same pajamas next year).

And those great poems that we wrote became the highlight of the after dinner entertainment:





It was a great Thanksgiving! I hope yours was as fun and as happy!

on my desk monday

It's the Ling and Ting audiobook!

When I was learning how to read, my mother got me one of the books with a floppy record...I listened to it so much that the record warped and the narration got distorted. No worries about that nowadays with cd's and such; but I'm thrilled that perhaps somewhere some one will get the same joy as I did listening and reading to a book at the same time.

*And I just found out that Ling & Ting has also been listed as a Booklist Editor's Choice for 2010! Neat!

fortune cookie friday

"One who cannot tolerate small ills will never accomplish great things"
-Chinese Proverb

thanksgiving

I'm spending time with my family for Thanksgiving and so far the highlight has been writing poems with my young niece. At Bookmania I met Isabel Campoy and purchased her book, Pio Peep! with English and Spanish nursery rhymes:


I bought it mostly as a keepsake, but was delighted when my niece picked it up and started to read it with interest. We enjoyed it so much that we began to write our own poems:


My good friend Elaine has always advocated poetry to me as a great way to encourage reading and writing with kids, and now I completely believe it. It's created a Thankgiving memory I'll always remember with happiness.