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  • Jane Yolen

    By Beth | May 8, 2017

    Jane Yolen is one of the wonders of modern writing. She has written and published over 300 books, most — but not all — for children (of all ages). She is a poet and a master of many genres. She is a mentor and teacher to many. One of the keys to the prolific nature…

  • Write This Down by Claudia Mills

    By Beth | May 7, 2017

    Technically, this “What I’m Reading” post is another “What I Just Finished Reading Because I Couldn’t Put It Down” post. Not only is it well done in terms of expressing a middle-grader’s feelings and thoughts, and the wrenching ups and downs of pre-teen life in both family and school, but writers will identify with her…

  • The Distance to Home by Jenn Bishop

    By Beth | May 1, 2017

    Actually, I read this one so quickly (it’s that good) that I didn’t get to post it while I was reading it. I highly recommend this one. Title: The Distance to Home Author: Jenn Bishop Publisher: New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016 Genre: MG Fiction Links: Author’s website Publishers Weekly review Kirkus review  

  • Finding the Value of X

    By Beth | May 1, 2017

    Don’t worry, I’m not going to wax mathematical, and particularly not algebraic. But really, what is the value of X in our language? You may have wondered, when I began this alphabetical journey, what I would do with X . I admit I wondered, as well. It’s a problem that I’m sure most alphabetographers struggle…

  • Water. A Post After Earth Day with Book Recommendations

    By Beth | April 24, 2017

    Water. Its presence is essential to life, and yet we treat it as if it were nothing, an easily-found, easily-restored, rightfully-ours commodity. We do this at our peril. I want to share three picture books today, each by a writing friend and colleague, each with an important message for us about water.   In Water…

  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

    By Beth | April 19, 2017

    This book is intense, moving, powerful — I wish everyone would read it. (Everyone old enough to read YA, that is.) Title: The Hate U Give Author: Angie Thomas Publisher: New York: Balzer & Bray, 2017 Genre: YA Links: Huffington Post “Why Everyone Needs to Read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas” Salon.com “The…

  • Vistas, Vantage Points, Viewpoints, and Vision

    By Beth | April 17, 2017

    I live on the prairie. I grew up here. The vastness of the prairie gives me a sense of freedom and possibility. Not everyone sees that vastness in the same way. Many people driving through our province think the prairie is just one boring stretch of nothing. I can understand that viewpoint, although I don’t…

  • Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner — Book Recommendation

    By Beth | April 10, 2017

    Title: Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt Author: Kate Messner Illustrator: Christopher Silas Neal Publisher: San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2015 Genre: Picture book, fiction (with facts strewn through it like seeds sprinkled on dirt) Audience Age: 4 to 8 Topics: Gardening, time with Nana, what’s under the ground, ecology Opening Sentences: Up…

  • The Tuskegee Airmen Legacy Project — Michelle Y. Green

    By Beth | April 3, 2017

    Most of us have at least heard of the Tuskegee Airmen — 994 African American men who served with valor in World War II, as pilots, bombardiers, navigators and ground crew. Although it is hard to fathom now, before World War II, no African American had been a pilot with the United States military. No…

  • Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay — Book Recommendation

    By Beth | March 27, 2017

    Title: Sarah’s Key Author: Tatiana de Rosnay Publisher: New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007 Genre: Adult fiction Audience Age: 16 and up Themes/Topics: Holocaust, France’s role in deportation of Jews during World War II, Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup, truth, fear, justice Opening Sentences: The girl was the first to hear the loud pounding on the door.…

  • Rambling (the physical, not the verbal, variety)

    By Beth | March 20, 2017

    Come with me on a ramble — See? The roses are out, and here and there, as yet unseen blooms hide in the wind-tangled grass. Come with me on a ramble — hidden joys await us. ~ Photo by Raymond Stilborn, poem by Beth Stilborn The first day of spring seems a good day to…

  • Questions

    By Beth | March 13, 2017

    Questions. Kids are good at them. Why? Why is the sky blue? Why do the leaves fall off the trees — don’t they like the tree anymore? What’s that? Where are we going? (And the dreaded Are we there yet?) Writers need to be good at them, too. Why is a good question for writers…