Jane Sutton's Blog, page 25
September 9, 2015
Eager Chickens
These ceramic chickens in Provence were clucking in French, of course, but here’s a loose translation: “Jane, when can we read What’s Up With this Chicken?”
“Bientôt,” I clucked back. (“Soon”)
September 8, 2015
Chickens of the Day
These busy, colorful cuties were near our agriturismo in magical San Gimignano, Tuscany during the grape harvesting season.
September 7, 2015
More Chickens!
These chickens were wandering around my family as we sat on beach chairs gazing at the turquoise sea. They seemed to feel as happy and free as we did. After all, we were in Paradise: the island of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.
September 6, 2015
Chickens in Provence!
Although there is no rooster in What’s Up With this Chicken?, these metallic hens, chicks and rooster outside a gift shop in Provence were quite charmant!
September 5, 2015
Chicken Countdown!
As a countdown to the release of my new picture book, What’s Up With this Chicken?, I’ve decided to post chicken photos from various trips. Many, many thanks to my husband, who patiently and uncomplainingly granted recurrent requests as, “Ooh! Isn’t that chicken so cute?! Can you take its picture, Al?”
This gigantic chicken (or some kind of bird) was constructed entirely of plant materials. It ruled one of the colorful floats in this year’s Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena!
September 4, 2015
Debut Book is Awesome!
A delightful new picture book is out that will make readers of all ages smile…In Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast the title characters set off on a wild race through the refrigerator to capture the last drop of syrup. Debut author Josh Funk is a genius at writing the story in surprising, original and hilarious rhyme. The illustrations, by Brendan Kearney, bring the story to life with charm and details. A must-read!
Publisher: Sterling ISBN: 978-1454914044
http://www.joshfunkbooks.com/#!lady- pancake-and-sir-french-toast/c1zmz
September 1, 2015
Coming Soon!
It’s September, which means….my new book, with Pelican Publishing, will be out very soon!
Drum roll….here’s the cover! Stay tuned for details!
August 4, 2015
The Featured Author, Moi
I feel honored to be the first author interviewed for the blog “Literature Connects,” whose goal is to help “educators make connections to excellent children’s literature in order to develop children’s systems thinking capacity.” Systems Thinking is a fascinating way of looking at the world, with important applications in education, economics, environmental studies and more, and I am tickled to be associated with it.
In previous posts, blogger Sheri Marlin reviewed my picture books Don’t Call Me Sidney and The Trouble With Cauliflower, and her analysis taught me how these books relate to the principles and archetypes of Systems Thinking.
Blogger Sheri Marlin
In the featured authors interview, Sheri asked me interesting questions, like “What is the most timeless element in your books?” and “What do you want kids to walk away with after reading your books?” The questions made me think!
Here’s a link to the interview: http://literatureconnects.blogspot.co...
July 25, 2015
Music to a Tutor’s Ears
As a writing tutor, my main goal is to help students communicate their ideas clearly, effectively, grammatically, and originally. I also hope to share (and spread) my own enthusiasm for writing. Sometimes I help with homework assignments, but when I’m hired to boost overall writing skills, I get to create my own assignments!
This summer I’m working with two brothers whose native language is not English. As I usually do, I’ve been asking them what they would like to write about, and they’ve come up with lots of ideas for fiction and non-fiction. In the context of their writing, we go over pesky verb tenses and annoying articles. I always sympathize with the difficulties of learning rule-defying English. It’s great to see both boys’ progress, but best of all, to see that, like me, they are thoroughly enjoying the process of writing…and revising!
They’re excited to show me what they’ve written, which is often many pages. And their mother tells me they eagerly wait for my arrival. Recently, one of them was busy studying for a test but chose not to miss our writing session. Another day his brother was exhausted from a very long day at camp but insisted on meeting with me anyway. Sweet music to my ears was the 11 year old’s comment: “The time is up already? It always goes so fast when you’re here.”
I left the house on cloud 10. 
July 14, 2015
Someone Should Write a Book About This!
I was lucky enough to spend the morning at Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury, MA last Sunday. It’s a picturesque and historic site with an old farm house and animals to visit, including 700-pound Big Dave the pig and charming Roger the donkey. Truly worthy of a children’s book!
Big Dave has earned his name.
Roger is a charmer.
Not only that, but on the field, my son Charlie’s team was playing a double header in an old-fashioned baseball league. They wear authentic uniforms and follow old-fashioned baseball rules, like no gloves! I got to hold adorable human babies, visit farm animals, sit with my daughter-in-law and wish Charlie a Happy Birthday! A perfect day.
The Newburyport Clamdiggers (Charlie is front row, second from left.)
And now for the sepia.
