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  • A Word With Beth — About Apostrophes

    By Beth | March 22, 2015

      The Grammar Owl is looking at his talons again. This time, they’re making him think about apostrophes (and the grammatical catastrophes they sometimes cause.) Apostrophes should be easy. They should be… Let’s look at the apostrophe’s main uses, shall we?     They’re used to create contractions. Think of them as the blank tile…

  • Word After Word After Word by Patricia MacLachlan — Book Recommendation

    By Beth | March 12, 2015

    The minute I finished reading this book, I turned to page one and started again. I wasn’t ready to set it aside. Since it was published five years ago, I’m not sure why I hadn’t seen it before this. I’m grateful I saw it when I was in the library a couple of days ago.…

  • What Books Are YOUR Characters Reading?

    By Beth | March 8, 2015

    I’ve been reading an excellent memoir by concert pianist/conductor/ teacher Leon Fleisher, My Nine Lives: a memoir of many careers in music. (Note: there are two links there. The first gives you a brief bio and the chance to listen to a snippet of Fleisher’s playing, the second is the Kirkus review of his book.)…

  • Words and Pictures and Reinventing Oneself

    By Beth | March 5, 2015

    I explored this a bit on my Starborn Revue blog, but I wanted to talk a bit more here about a movie I watched recently, Words and Pictures. In the Starborn Revue post, I only mentioned the movie in passing, as the film is not a kids’ film, although older teens would get a lot…

  • Fifty Years of Singing

    By Beth | March 1, 2015

    When I was nine years old, I saw a movie that immediately took a very special — and permanent — place in my heart. That movie was The Sound of Music. If you saw the tribute to the movie and to its star during the Oscars telecast on February 22nd, you’re likely aware that The…

  • What I’ve Read in February

    By Beth | February 22, 2015

    I didn’t get nearly as much reading done in February as I did in January — and I’m hiding my face in shame about the scarcity of blog posts on both my blogs, as well as the scarcity of my presence on others’ blogs in February. I will try to do better in all areas…

  • A Word With Beth — About Well-Meant Words

    By Beth | February 15, 2015

    Instead of a grammar post today, this will be a bit of a rant, but hopefully a gentle, thoughtful rant. There’s a phrase that bothers me every time I hear it. I know what is meant by it, but still it bothers me. Very often, people who work for a cause with great dedication are…

  • Paying It Forward, with Links to Cool Blogs & Sites

    By Beth | February 1, 2015

    My writing friend and colleague, Tracey M. Cox, recently tagged me in a blog award post. Thank you so much, Tracey. I’d urge my writer friends to click on the link in Tracey’s name and check out all that she does for the writing community: picture book critique services; platform building consultation services; “Summer Sparks,”…

  • What I’ve Read in January

    By Beth | January 25, 2015

    In December, I did a post listing the best of the books I’d read during 2014 – the ones I hadn’t had time or space to review over the course of the year. Rather than waiting until the end of the year, I’ve decided to do a mini-list at the end of each month, instead.…

  • Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold — Perfect Picture Book Friday

    By Beth | January 22, 2015

    Title: Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold Author: Joyce Sidman Illustrator: Rick Allen Publisher: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014 Genre: Picture book, poetry and non-fiction Audience Age: 6 to 12 Themes/Topics: Animals, Winter, Poetry Opening Sentences: Dusk fell and the cold came creeping, came prickling into our hearts. As we tucked beaks into feathers…

  • A Word with Beth — About Commas, Part Two

    By Beth | January 18, 2015

    At the request of a couple of readers, the Owl and I are taking a second look at commas today. Before the Owl sinks his talons into a few more comma rules and faux pas, we have a little bit of housekeeping to deal with. Apparently, for some readers, the avatars are obscuring part of…

  • How to Make a Picture Book, Part 4

    By Beth | January 12, 2015

    The Making of Bubblegum Princess       Creating a Picture Book Dummy The launch of KidLit TV had me fairly busy this past fall and I’m thankful that Lori was able to fill in by sharing how she created all the characters—from Queen to corgi—for Bubblegum Princess. But before I continue the series, I’d…