Sharing the Knowledge: Librarians Who Blog!

November 26, 2012 Caroline's Classroom Connections Sharing the Knowledge: Librarians Who Blog There are a vast number of resources available for educators, and never before has so much information been so easily accessible as in the Internet age. Last month I shared a number of links for teachers who blog. This month you'll find a list of librarians who blog about books, literacy, and their experiences in their libraries. There is a wealth of knowledge at these sites, and I hope you find them to benefit you and the work you do with children. School Librarians: Great Kids Books Mary is an elementary school librarian in Berkley, CA and had three young readers at home. She recommends titles for kids 4-14. This year Mary is the chair of the Book Apps Cybils Committee. Mrs. Yingling Reads: Books for Middle School Students, Especially Boys The title says it all! Mrs. Yingling is a middle school librarian and avid reader. She reviews and posts regularly on a variety of titles -- "boy books" especially. She's serving on the Cybils this year. Watch. Connect. Read. Mr. Schu is an elementary librarian who posts interviews and reviews as well as showcases book trailers that can be used in the classroom. Along with Colby Sharp, he is reading through all the Newberys this year.  Librarian's Quest Margie has been a school librarian for 39 years. From the website: A place where students, educators and parents can exchange and express views about the best of books, new technologies and libraries. Children's Librarians (Public Libraries): Biblio File Jennie is a children's librarian in the DC metro area who has served on two Cybils panels (2007-2011), the Maryland Blue Crab Award committee (2009), and YALSA's Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction (2013). She reviews a variety of middle-grade and young adult titles. The Chained Library Rebecca is a children's librarian in Rio Rancho, NM who is also pursuing publication. She reviews books, interviews authors, and writes in-depth, meaty posts about all things bookish. Green Bean Teen Queen Sarah is a youth services librarian in Springfield, MO, who works with children 0-18. She posts reviews and interviews and this year is serving on the Printz committee. The Fourth Muskateer: Reviews and More about Historical Fiction and History-Related Non-Fiction for Children and Teens Margo is children's librarian in California. This blog is an excellent resource for history lovers! And if you're curious about what kids think of new titles --  Kid Reviews: Fresh Ink: New Books, Young Reviewers, Fresh Perspectives Students 7-17 review new middle-grade and young adult titles. Join Our Mailing List! Meet the Spellbinders Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana.    Back in New Mexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time. Her forthcoming picture book, OVER IN THE WETLANDS, releases 2014.   Website  Blog       Kimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well    as two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013. She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing workshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website  to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides.      Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Acts of Haiku." To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to www.caroleedean.com.          UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS February 2, 2013 Montgomery Teen Book Festival Carolee Dean Kimberley Griffiths Little Houston, TX

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Happy Thanksgiving!!! Check out the pie . . .

Giving Thanks to all of You!!! 

I'm grateful to my blogging friends; writers, readers, teachers, librarians, parents, students, bookstore owners, kids, and family.

Hope your weekend is lovely! 

I'm enjoying family time and game nights (we stay up until midnight, at least!) with both the in-laws and the out-laws as well as meeting up with an old friend, reading books, and doing a bit of writing in the car on the long drives. (And Sssh! We're going to watch the last Twilight movie, too!)

AND I'm enjoying a LOT of turkey and pie! 

What are you favorites? I baked Razzleberry, Cherry Strudel, Key Lime, Homemade flaky delicious apple pies - and pumpkin! Yum.

See you next week! 5 lbs. heavier, I'm sure . . . 

What is it about Picture Books? PLUS a darling giveaway!

Read a terrific Guest Post by Lori Mortensen!

November 19, 2012 What is it about Picture Books? ~with Lori Mortensen~ PLUS we're giving away one of her books!! What Is It About Picture Books? by Lori Mortensen  Ever since I was a little kid and excitedly checked out Where the Wild Things Are from the Gregory Gardens Elementary School library for a special birthday night reading, I've had a special place in my heart for picture books. Within a mere thirty-two pages, they manage to be funny, touching, clever, rambunctious, surprising, suspenseful, and memorable.    When I was small, writing them was the farthest thing from my mind. I was short and shy, but whenever I opened them up, I was instantly drawn away into worlds far away from my ordinary home on Jennie Drive.   Later as a dance major in college, I spent most of my time sweating and spinning across the dance floor. But when there was a lull in the action, I'd find myself wandering around the children's section of the campus book store. As I paged through the picture books, I idly wondered how someone became a part of such a magical endeavor, but it wasn't really a question. Wherever authors lived, they lived far away from me and somehow it seemed as if only people who were born to the profession had the right to claim it.   Come See the Earth Turn by Lori Mortensen  So when did I begin writing? I was a   stay-at-home mother of three when I was reintroduced to children's literature and secretly wondered-could I write a picture book? The idea was stunning, as if I'd challenged the laws of the universe. What did I have to say? What did I want to say for my children, and the child in me?      Many years later, that's still the exciting reason I sit down at my keyboard and bring a story to life. When I sit down at the keyboard, the screen becomes a vacant world, that I fill as I please with characters, plots, and themes that take shape from my own thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Sometimes it's hard to get started, but once I do and I know where I'm going, there's nothing more exciting than wrestling with words on the page until they fall into their proper place   Cindy Moo  by Lori Mortensen  What is it about picture books? They're a lot harder to write than they look. Picture books are so short, I'm sure many people pick them up and think they could knock one out in five minutes if they just had the time. The text is so short, how could it take any longer? Short as they are, however, the beauty of pictures books is how they pack so much into so little-character, drama, rhythm, rhyme, and meaningful undercurrents of theme. When they unfold across two eager laps in a chair, it's an invitation to share a new world together through extraordinary pictures and words. Some of my favorites? King Bidgood's Bath by Audrey and Don Wood; The Night Moon Fell Down, by Linda Smith; and The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neil.   Clever. Awesome. Ringity Zingity. What is it about picture books? I love them and I love writing them. There's nothing I'd rather do (although dancing comes close.) And if children ever think that any of my picture books such as Cindy Moo, In the Trees, Honey Bees!, Come See the Earth Turn - The Story of Leon Foucault, and my upcoming book, Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg are clever, awesome, or ringity, zingity, then I'd be delighted.    Maybe one day, it'll be my book that's tucked under the arm of an excited child on their way home for a special birthday night reading. ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF In the Trees, Honey Bees by Lori Mortensen! AT OUR SPELLBINDERS BLOG (CLICK LINK) OR CLICK THIS LINK:  http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/3d710d2/   Lori's Website is terrific - check it out here at the link!   Lori Mortensen is an award-winning author of over three dozen books and more than 100 stories and articles that have appeared in Highlights, Ladybug, Jack and Jill, The Friend, and many other publications. Like a detective on the trail for a clue, Lori follows her writing interests wherever they lead her-sometimes to a fascinating French scientist who proved the earth turned (Come See the Earth Turn: The Story of Léon Foucault, Random House 2010) and other times to the remarkable insider activities of a honey bee hive (In the Trees, Honey Bees!  Dawn Publications, 2009, winner of multiple awards including the NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Book for Students K to 12.) Her titles with Picture Window Books, Capstone Press, Stone Arch Books, KidHaven Press, and Marshall Cavendish Benchmark Books include early readers, biographies, American history, mid-grade nonfiction, and first graphic novels.   For the past six years, Lori has also been an instructor for the Institute of Children's Literature helping hundreds of students explore the fascinating world of writing for children.    Her latest release is Cindy Moo, a rhyming picture book with HarperCollins (2012) featuring a spunky cow that sets out to prove that cows really can leap over the moon. This hilarious picture book will have readers of all stripes (and spots) cheering for its determined heroine. Look for her rhyming picture book Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg from Clarion next spring about a cowpoke determined to pop his dirty dawg in the tub. Of course, Dawg will have none of it.   Rollicking verse with page-turn surprises makes this uproarious tall tale a rootin' tootin' read-aloud. To learn more about Lori and her books, visit her website at www.lorimortensen.com. Visit her blog at Lori Mortenson's Blog!  and view her book trailers at YouTube.      Join Our Mailing List! Meet the Spellbinders Kimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well as two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013. She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing workshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website  to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides.      Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Acts of Haiku." To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to www.caroleedean.com.       Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New  Mexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time. Website  Blog       UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS            October 27, 2012 6-7 p.m. FORGET ME NOT BOOK LAUNCH Alamosa Books Albuquerque, NM November 3, 2012 YALSA Literature Symposium  "Author Research Panel" Carolee Dean and four other authors St. Louis, Missouri February 2, 2013 Montgomery Teen Book Festival Carolee Dean Kimberley Griffiths Little Houston, TX

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Fan Mail Friday!

Hello there, Friday-ers! 

Some of you may know that I sell the charm bracelet from my book CIRCLE OF SECRETS on my website. Here are a couple of pictures:

This is a replica of the mysterious charm bracelet that Shelby Jayne, my main character, finds hidden behind an antique wardrobe when she's forced to go live with her mamma in the bayou.

Before the book came out, I thought how fun it would be to create the actual  bracelet from the story. It was a challenge finding charms that matched the charms I "made up" for the story, but it was a lot of fun to see it come to life. Now I get orders from kids and Moms and Grandmas and Aunts - and even a couple of Dads have bought bracelets for their daughters - GO DAD! 

This last week I put together a bracelet for a woman's daughter (many buy them as b-day gifts or as a surprise) and I received a beautiful, poignant letter that overwhelmed me. I can't stop thinking about it, and about the power of books in *my* life, and the power that writing is, too. I've changed the names in the letter for privacy. 

Dear Mrs. Little:

Jessica would like the purple stone (good choice I told her! ;-)) for the locket. 

I have to thank you for writing your book. My daughter Anna has dyslexia and has never taken interest in any book before. She was so excited while reading your book. While reading, she would run tell me what was happening. Now she is rereading the book to me out loud. Again, thanks so much. 

Leslie B. 

When I wrote her back, I found it difficult to find the right words to express how much it honored and humbled me - a well as made me cry. What a gift - given on both ends. I'm so proud and thrilled to have been a part of Jessica's and her mother's life.

A thousand thank you's to all my readers. A thousand thank you's to all the Mom's and Dad's out there. Keep up the good work! 

Happy Weekend!
xo, 
Kimberley

The Secret Language of Stories by Carolee Dean!

November 12 , 2012 THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF STORIES - CINQUAIN CHAINS by Carolee Dean I would like to start by welcoming all of the fantastic librarians and book lovers who signed up for our Spellbinders newsletter at the YALSA conference in St. Louis. You may find past issues of our newsletter on our Spellbinders Blog. If you would like to share this newsletter, please use the link at the bottom of this page that says "Forward this email." If you forward it through your regular email service, you may get unintentionally unsubscribed. To find the twelve step story analysis I use to both plot my stories and teach writing to my students, visit The Secret Language of Stories page on my blog. If you are interested in seeing the handouts from the YALSA Author Research Panel, I've created a page on my blog for that information as well. The handouts contain numerous suggestions for how to find local authors and conduct an author panel at your school or library.  And now for my article... Last month in my column I discussed The Major Impact of Minor Characters. I gave suggestions for several short forms such as the epigram and the epitaph that could be used to explore these often overlooked but invaluable folks. A fun activity making headstones was described.   Another short form I enjoy is the cinquain. Cinquains are also a great way to explore characters. They are short, just five lines long as the name illustrates, so it's important to capture the essence of a character with as few words as possible. It's also a good activity for students who struggle with written language. Writing character cinquains can be part of a book report or a stand alone activity. They may be used to create a "cast of characters" and because so much white space is left on the page, other artwork may accompany the project. Because it's a poem, ideas are more important than grammar and punctuation. Ironically though, students  are still exploring grammar because the cinquain focuses on using parts of speech to create each line. The basic format of the cinquain is as follows: Line 1: One word (subject or noun) Line 2: Two words (adjectives describing the subject) Line 3: Three words (-ing verbs relating to the subject) Line 4: Four words (feeling words, sentence, or phrase relating            to the subject. Line 5: One word (synonym or word that sums up the subject)   In my recent verse novel, Forget Me Not, I wrote sections of the story in screenplay format. As an introduction to one of the sections, I wrote a series of cinquains describing the characters who appear in that scene. I decided to call this a cinquain chain because of the way the verses appear to be interlocking down the page. See the example below: Cast of Characters: Ally afraid, alone hurting, hiding, biding never can go back me Sister timid, guarded sitting, knitting, praying quiet girl in black nun Rotceo hungry, unsatisfied holding, kissing, groping always gets his way loverboy Julie Ann trapped, bored forgetting, conceding, letting she never gets away girlfriend Hangman dark, dangerous playing, plotting, punishing ruler of the hall demon And a cameo appearance by: Elijah brave, bold knowing, helping, showing he risks it all friend So give it a try! Have fun creating cinquains of your own.  Join Our Mailing List! Meet the Spellbinders Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a speech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. Take Me There is a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Her upcoming paranormal verse novel, Forget Me Not, will be published by Simon Pulse in October of 2012. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Act of Haiku."             Caroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New Mexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.    To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to my website.    Kimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well as two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013.    She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing workshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides.                           Upcoming Author Events December 11, 2012 SCBWI Winter Party and multi-author book signing featuring all of the Spellbinders and several other authors February 2, 2013 Montgomery Book Festival Houston, TX  Carolee Dean Kimberley Griffiths Little

Forward email This email was sent to kglittle@msn.com by spellbinders@peifercomputing.net |   Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Spellbinders | 3 YAF Authors | Albuquerque | NM | 87181