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  • Julie Hedlund — In the Spotlight!

    By Beth | January 4, 2015

    Most of you, if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, know that for the past three years I have participated in the 12×12 picture book writing challenge founded and headed by Julie Hedlund. It has been a wonderful experience, and I have found community, encouragement, and support in the group, as…

  • PARTY AT BETH’S BLOG!

    By Beth | December 21, 2014

    May I have a drum roll, please? How about a trumpet fanfare? What is going on, you ask? We’re celebrating a very special occasion in our part of the bookreaderwriterblogiverse today — Erik, the wonderful Kid Who Reviews Books is about to have a birthday and Susanna Leonard Hill and I could not let that…

  • Interview with the Gifted Renee LaTulippe!

    By Beth | December 18, 2014

    As this month filled with gifts continues, I am delighted to present an interview with the very gifted Renée LaTulippe. Renée M. LaTulippe has co-authored nine early readers and a volume of poetry titled Lizard Lou: a collection of rhymes old and new (Moonbeam Children’s Book Award) for All About Learning Press, where she is…

  • A Word with Beth — A Grammar Gift

    By Beth | December 14, 2014

    As you know, my focus this month is gifts that I can give you. Today, instead of the regular Grammar Q&A or Grammar Owl post, I want to share a link to a delightful episode of Kerri Miller’s The Daily Circuit on MPR (Minnesota Public Radio). Billed as “a scientist’s take on language,” Steven Pinker…

  • A Gift of Reading

    By Beth | December 11, 2014

    This year I have read many, many books. I’ve reviewed a few here on By Word of Beth, but my varied blogging schedule hasn’t allowed me to review them all, or anywhere close to them all. Even this post is by no means all the books I’ve read this year. I would like to tell…

  • Which Films Were They? (the answers from Friday’s Film Fun)

    By Beth | December 9, 2014

      Last Friday, as you know, I posted a fun list of movie quotes from a few of my favorite movies. In case there were a few you couldn’t name, here is the list again, with the movie’s title, and the actor/character who is quoted.   1. “Never assume.” Spencer Tracy as Richard Sumner in…

  • The Gift of Hand-Crafting

    By Beth | December 7, 2014

    (Note: Julie Gribble and Lori Hanson will return with their Making a Picture Book series in the New Year.) There are so many ways to be creative in this world, and at this time of year, hand-crafted creativity abounds. Some people knit (and I have endless admiration for those who do), others do fine needlework,…

  • Film Fun for Friday

    By Beth | December 4, 2014

    One of the gifts of the holiday season — if we gift ourselves with the time for it — is just having fun. And so today’s post is just for fun. Several years ago I enjoyed a meme on my friend Brian Sibley’s blog, in which Brian posted pictures of scenes from 31 of his…

  • You are Gifted

    By Beth | November 30, 2014

    Yes, you. You are a talented, interesting, vibrant, cherished part of my community of friends and connections. You are gifted. And to celebrate that, throughout the month of December — which is traditionally a month for gift-giving — I am going to give you various gifts through my posts. I won’t tell you now what…

  • “The Drama Notebook” — interview on The Starborn Revue

    By Beth | November 20, 2014

    Hi, all — instead of an interview here today, I’d like to point you over to The Starborn Revue where I interviewed Janea Dahl, founder of a fantastically empowering drama resource, Drama Notebook. I hope some of you will take a look — Janea does wonderful work! Here’s the link: http://www.elizabethstarborn.com/in-the-spotlight-janea-dahl-drama-notebook/ Enjoy!

  • A Word with Beth — about Commas, Part One

    By Beth | November 16, 2014

    The Grammar Owl was undecided regarding which grammatical quandary to post about today. He scratched his head, totally perplexed. Have you ever seen an owl do that? Those talons are so sharp! Just the thought makes me flinch with imagined pain. Back to our perplexed owl. After scratching his head, he stretched out his leg…

  • The Once and Future King by T.H. White — Radio Dramatization

    By Beth | November 13, 2014

    My friend Brian Sibley — who is a journalist, historian, expert on many different writers, and an amazing radio dramatist/playwright — has dramatized (dramatised with an “s” for Britons like Brian) T.H. White’s incredible series of books about King Arthur and the wonderful Merlyn, five books which are all clustered under the title The Once…