Monica Edinger's Blog, page 53

In the Classroom: The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp Come Alive (sort of).

My 4th graders enjoyed my reading aloud Kathi Appelt’s latest, The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp (my take on it is here) and so when some of them were at loose ends, having finished a big project their peers were still working on, I suggested they make a mural of the book. (I love making book murals! See the one we did ofThe Graveyard Bookand this one of When You Reach Me.) After talking through a few ideas, I left them to it. After a… er…redolent day when they used undiluted mod podget...

Alicewinks

Fans and newcomers to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland have something really special in store this season. This is Alicewinks, a remarkable ebook book edition. A labor of love by creators David Neal, William McQueen, and Brittney Owens, the edition took years, but the result is spectacular. It is a beautiful and sensitive presentation of Carroll’s book featuring the art of twelve post Tenniel illustrators. The ebook can be enjoyed as a conventional read (on a tablet, that is),...

RIP Peter O’Toole

One of my favorite less familiar Peter O’Toole performances is as the unhinged Earl of Gurney in The Ruling Class. The movie starts out light and then gets crazily darker and darker, but it is the first part with several surreal musical comedy numbers that I liked the most. Unfortunately, I could only find the below blurry youtube video that gives a weak taste of them. (I should also mention that the Earl is totally bonkers and, in the first part of the movie thinks he is Jesus and later on,...

Africa is My Home: A Couple of Things

This is still sometimes an old-fashioned web log where I document stuff, say items related to my book. Having it all here means, hopefully, I won’t lose it. And so here are two cool photos that folks tweeted to me yesterday.

1. A 5th grade reading and writing teacher in the Boston public schools, @Ms McGlone, tweeted:

We have just begun #africaismyhome Students fascinated! Comparing as we read Equiano’s autobiography.

I love what this teacher is doing with the book and hope to be further in tou...

Learning About Africa: Congratulations to Joseph Opala

PRESS RELEASE

Historian Professor Joseph Opala receives

Sierra Leonean Passport

Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the United States of America H.E. Bockari Kortu Stevens today presented Americo/ Sierra Leonean historian, Professor JosephOpala with his Sierra Leonean passport. The impressive ceremony took place at the conference room of the Sierra Leone Embassy in Washington D.C.

On 20th May 2013, Professor Opala was sworn in as a Sierra Leonean citizen by H.E. President Ernest Bai Koroma. This was in...

Thoughts on Newbery: Heavy Medal and Calling Caldecott

In case you don’t regularly follow Heavy Medal and Calling Caldecott, I suggest that if you are interested in the two awards or just in thinking deeply about children’s books, you might want to reconsider. I do know it can be challenging to read hard-hitting critical analysis of books you adore, but the moderators of these two blogs are really only putting out in public what happens during both committees’ deliberations in private. Right now there are a couple of posts that are particularly t...

Eva Ibbotson’s The Abominables

… this is a romp that balances Ibbotson’s trademark whimsical humor with understated opinions about outsider and animal rights.

Read my whole Horn Book review of this entertaining title here.

Africa is My Home: Thank You, Fellow Bloggers

As exciting as it has been to get traditional media reviews for Africa is My Home, I’ve also been enormously appreciative of those from my blogging peers. Below are links to the ones I’ve come across so far. (They are alsohere). Thank you all for taking the time to read and then write so thoughtfully about my book.

Fuse#8

For Those About to Mock

Teri Lesesne

Reading by the Pond

Bibliothecary Prescriptions

Pirate Tree

Readerkidz

Teen Reads

Ms. Yingling Reads

Randomly Reading

Killin’ Time Reading

BOOKSANDB...

I Think I Need to Go Back To the UK Soon

There are many reasons, one of them being this (if it is —fingers crossed —any good):

Africa is My Home is a NYTimes Notable Children’s Book!

Yesterday evening, a publishing friend and I were just heading out of her office into a rainy New York City for a quiet pre-Thanksgiving dinner when I received an email letting me know that Africa is My Home is a New York Times Notable Children’s Book of 2013. It was great to get the news with her as she knows just how big deal it is. I’m still floating on air amazed that this happened and to be among those other distinguished book creators. Just…well…wow….