Yanting Gueh's Blog, page 14

But I Don't Want to Run in A Herd

A novel-in-verse in which words run free and barefoot, like Annie. For MG readers (aged 8 & up).

"And off we go
breathing in
breathing out
thump-thump, thump-thump

and I think it odd
but right
that this is the way we talk
run run run
...

Special Course: How to Babysit A Grandpa

"When your mom and dad leave, pat your grandpa's hand and say,
'Don't worry. They always come back.'
Then right away, ask him if he's hungry."

...

Join a well-experienced grandpa-sitter and his orange tabby
on this unusual course! Lessons in this picture book include:

* How to Stay Quiet
* Snacks for A Grandpa
* Things to Do on A Walk
* Entertainment Ideas
& more ...

Age: 3-7
Course Location: A bookstore or library near you
Course Fee: Could be free ...


Don't m...

The Person You Always Saw in Me

"I'm going to be the person you always saw in me."

Middle-Grade Novel Picks:

This is what you do when you are twelve, your pillar-of-support grandpa dies, and your mother still clings on to the hope of your gambler-father coming back to get you two:

This is what you do when a puppy that's on its way to the pound is thrust in your arms, when you don't have any money to feed or care for it; what you do when you lose your house and are forced to leave school and the town you've always known;...

The Django ~ Who Always Seems to Find Trouble

I'm still drinking in rivers of illustrations ~ bold art that tells stories. Found this piece of gold at my library yesterday: The Django is author-illustrator Levi Pinfold's debut picture book in 2010 and was long-listed for the Kate Greenaway medal. This story is partly-inspired by the legendary jazz-banjo player Jean "Django" Reinhardt.

"A Django. It's like a thing. A sort of it.
A kind of cozzler that always seems to find trouble."


Django. Cozzle...

Us, A Swine & A Knowitall {A Special Picture Post}

Haven't done a picture post in a while.

This week's theme is on our beloved nourishment: as essential as coffee and chocolate cakes, as brilliant as green trees under a grey sky, and as dreamily awakening as the breathing of the sea.

{Okay, okay, I know. Enough with the similes.}I'll let Reading take you away now ~ then introduce you to two exceptional book-lovers.

Read with a smile Or out on a doorstep, with a curious rooster you're too busy to gawk back at. Read with your best m...

Be Someone's Hero

"Be Someone's Hero"

Ten months ago, when I finished reading One for the Murphys , I was certain this was the sort of narrative voice I would always reach for. {I still am. It is one heck of a middle-grade novel.} It was as if Carley, the protagonist, was seated next to me, quietly telling me her story.

When we meet Carley, she was just out of the hospital and on her way to a foster home. Through fits of flashbacks, Carley re...

Wars Fought with Flowers

"I dreamt that wars are always fought with flowers ..."

Created in Mexico, I Dreamt ... A Book about Hope is about a child dreaming of, and wishing for, a world without violence, drugs, and nightmares.

As much as we'd like to imagine that children everywhere stand on mountain-tops with their knight-capes flapping in the wind, the sobering truth is, children in some parts of the world face war, crime, guns and bullying almost everyday.

Yet one doesn't lose hope.

One cannot l...

A Cave, A Sea & A Girl Who Thinks She's About to Die

Hey my Lovelies,

I'm entering the legendary revision cave for my first middle-grade story.

Been working on it for five years. Writing, researching, putting it aside, rewinding to another period {same characters grown much younger},switching the narrative point of view, trying to nail the 'voice' {good grief, this took the longest yet it's also the most satisfying} and working on the descriptions, phrase by phrase.


I'm a cruel author-parent.

I've thrown my girl protagonist into a sea of doub...

Boys Don't Write Poetry

Last week, I asked "Why would so much depend upon a red wheelbarrow?" and this week, I found a boy-protagonist echoing me.


"What do you mean --
Why does so much depend
upon
a blue car?

You didn't say before
that I had to tell why.

The wheelbarrow guy
didn't tell why."


Meet Jack, who t...

A Red Wheelbarrow & Squabbling Sparrows

"When I was younger
it was plain to me
I must make something of myself."
~ William Carlos Williams
"Pastoral"


Reasons I went in search of this picture book:
It's about a poet.Melissa Sweet is the artist of this book. {Remember Melissa's collage and water colour artw...