Monica Edinger's Blog, page 45

José Manuel Mateo and Javier Martínez Pedro’s Migrant

The recent attention being paid to the many young undocumented immigrants coming across our country’s southern border brings to mindthe remarkable book, MigrantbyJosé Manuel Mateo’s andillustrated by Javier Martínez Pedro. Thisstory of one young boy’s difficult migration fromMexico to the United States is one spectacular book.Beginning in a rural village, readers learn why the young boy’s mothermakes the difficult decision to leave. Their father has already left and, when he stops sending mon...

Peter Pan Live

I’m very curious about the December 4th NBC live production of Peter Pan (with the just-announced Christopher Walken as Captain Hook). I grew up withthe yearlyMary Martin version (first broadcast in 1960)and, as a result, know the songs inside and out. I wonder, will they have Peter played by a woman as is usually the case with this particular version of Barrie’s story? And then there is thatvery problematic Tiger Lily American Indian story line. How arethey going to make thatacceptable for a...

Putting a Stop on the Middle Grade Novel’s Increasing Girth

Travis Jonker has a manifesto: All Middle Grade Novels Should Be 192 Pages. No Exceptions. I like it. A lot. But still do have an exception. Here’s my comment on his post:

Yes!!! I am with you on this with a caveat (see below). I have always tried to keep my read-alouds (to my 4th grade class) to as close to 200 pages as possible, but it has become harder and harder to stick to that what with many terrific mg books being way more than that. (One of my favorites from last year — Kathi Appelt’s...

My Life as an Illustrator (Culminating in Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland)

I started out wanting to be a children’s book illustrator. As a child I was celebrated for my art work, starting in high school I began creating my own illustrations for some of my favorite books and stories, and in college I was an art major, focusing on printmaking. At that time the most scathing criticism was that your work looked “illustrationy.” And so I did beautiful minimalist engravings and etchings in class and did my illustrations at home,careful to not let anyone in my printmaking...

Reading Rainbow, The Doors, and Jimmy Fallon

This is awesome (and from 2012 — how did I miss it?). ViaElizabeth Law.

Walter Dean Myers: There’s Work to Be Done

I believe in families, in the strength of families, and that the strength of a people can be determined by the strength of the families within that people. In December of 2015 the black family will have been established legally in the United States for 150 years. It was December, 1865, that the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery became part of the United States Constitution.

What I proposed to my family was an exhibit, to run in the fall of 2015 outlining the trials and triumphs of the American...

Walter Dean Myers R.I.P.

I think my life is special. In a way it seems odd that I spend all of my time doing only what I love, which is writing or thinking about writing. If everyone had, at least for part of their lives, the opportunity to live the way I do, I think the world would be a better place.

I believe that everyone is intelligent. I believe that everyone can be creative. I like just about everyone I meet. For me, life has been good and it’s up to me to appreciate it. I hope that the next book, story or poem...

Fun and Loathing in Las Vegas (with apologies to Hunter S. Thompson)

We were somewhere around a fake white naked statue (or maybe it was a faux Roman mural or an ersatzEgyptian barge)on the edge of Caesarswhen the lack of sleepbegan to take hold. I remember saying something like “I feel a bit light-headed; maybe you should take another look at your phone…itmust be just past that guy in the diaper or the lightly clad girldancing in a cage overthere…” And suddenly we were outside and there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked lik...

Lou Bunin’s Alice in Wonderland

Lou Bunin did a fabulous stop motion Alice in Wonderland film in 1949. I’ve heard so much about it, but seeing it in total seems to be elusive. (Evidently Disney had a hand in this, wanting his version to be the movie version.)The clip below gives you a taste of why we Carrollians are so eager to get our hands on it. (This young womanfounda French subtitled version — scroll down to see it— that, she indicates, is not complete.)

Africa is My Home: Meet the Author at Teaching Books

I’ve long known of the fantastic resource Teachingbook,net,a subscription service full of original material about young people’s books and their creators. And now I’m so excited to be there too along with Africa is My Home! Go here to listen to me introduce the book, provide some information about how it came into being, and read some of it. And if you are really curious you can also go here to listen to me say my name and tell a little story about it.