I'm BACCCCKKKK!
Gosh, how did real life get in the way for so long? But I have had several really good experiences lately so will relate those to you.
Last Sat. March 15, 2008, I attended the Libraries Limited annual meeting in Tucson where their 2007 Judy Goddard award was presented to Marjorie Sharmat. A grand lady of many years, Marjorie & her husband Mitch attended & appeared to be ever the doting couple who continue to work together on Nate the Great stories. This series is so perfect for the young reader who is making the switch from picture books being read to them to reading beginning chapter books themselves. Another episode is to be out soon!
Also, in attendance was the venerable Byrd Baylor who has recently been ill with cancer. She looked just like she's looked for many years though wore an attractive scarf on her head. She spoke briefly & said she was glad to be there & glad not to be incarcerated! She went on to tell about the many border crossers who come to her door for help & how several times she has had to call the Border Patrol to get them help. The BP often accuses her of harboring aliens. She lives in the desert without electricity or plumbing and has many pets from a roadrunner to pack rats. What could be a better read than her picture books like EVERYBODY NEEDS A ROCK or THE TABLE WHERE RICH PEOPLE SIT or HAWK I'M YOUR BROTHER or THE WAY TO START A DAY. Her new book is to be a collection of autobiographical essays including one about her love of old manual typewritters.
Another participant & past recipient of the award was Ron Himler, a Tucson resident. His many illustrations have adorned numerous books including many by Byrd Baylor. His beautiful book THE WALL by Eve Bunting is among my favorites--about the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. There is a Reading Rainbow program using that book which includes an interiew with the architect of the memorial. You might not know that Ron is also a "fine artist" of cowboy art.
Joan Sandin who won their award several years ago gave a lively presentation as Eulalia Bourne who was the very first winner of the Judy Goddard award for children's literature and who is the subject of Joan's book COYOTE SCHOOL NEWS which is historical fiction about the remote schools for ranch children in rural AZ. Joan has done much to preserve the history of those Little Cowpuncher newspapers the kids wrote under the teaching of Ms. Bourne.
The weekend before that, March 7 & 8 I also spent in Tucson at the University of AZ Children's Literature conference. The keynote speakers were author Cynthia Kadohata and author/illustrator Ted Lewin. I have heard Cynthia speak several times & have gotten to know her quite well but never tire of hearing about her research for WEEDFLOWER about the Japanese internment camps in Posten AZ where her father was held. KIRA-KIRA is also a semi-autobiographical novel that won the Newbery award several years ago & tells some of the story of her parents & her childhood growing up in the south. Cynthia's newest novel for older readers is CRACKER, the story of the many dogs trained & used during the Vietnam war. All books for the middle to upper grades.
I have had a long time love for the art of Ted Lewin. I once flew to Abilene TX just to see an exhibit of his original art and it's not easy getting to Abilene TX! But it was so worth the trouble to see this huge exhibit of beautiful watercolors at the Center for Illustrated Art. What an interesting career he has had including being a teenage professional wrestler! He has written an autobiography about that period of his life of that same title. It's for older readers but a wonderful story of perserverance & working towards one's dream and the only book that is not a picture book. Since the wrestling exhibitions paid rather well he was able to pay his way through the Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn where he & his wife Betsy Lewin still live. Now they frequently travel around the world and then write together. He paints the most beautiful watercolors and Betsy uses her cartoon style to illustrate their travels. An interesting part of his presentation was telling how many mistakes he has made in books due to relying on research done by others & being given photographs that were not what they were labled. So now he tries to always do his own research & photograph the places he's writing about. I had contacted Mr. Lewin ahead of this conference & asked him if he would be able to bring along some small pieces of original art he might want to sell as I collect original art from children's books. I am happy to say I am now the proud owner of a piece from THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD by Lynne Reid Banks as well as 2 small pieces from THE GREATEST ELEPHANT IN THE WORLD. I so enjoyed his session after the keynote which was more like sitting around talking with another children's book enthusiast. The books he illustrated that I bought at this conference are PENNIES IN A JAR by Dori Chaconas, THE DOORMAN by Edward Grimm, WINTER SHOES FOR SHADOW HORSE by Linda Oatman High, SUNSETS OF THE WEST by Tony Johnston, THE ALWAYS PRAYER SHAWL by Sheldon Oberman, AT GLEASON'S GYM by Ted Lewin, THE STORYTELLERS by Ted Lewin, TOP TO BOTTOM DOWN UNDER by Ted and Betsy Lewin, TIGER TREK by Ted Lewin, HIGH RIDGE GOBBLER by David Stemple, THE ORIGINALS: ANIMALS THAT TIME FORGOT by Jane Yolen. I love them all!!
Speaking of Lynne Reid Banks--she & her husband who reside in England, often vacation during the winter in AZ. Over the years of having her for author visits at various schools where I've worked, she & Chaim have become friends I look forward to having them visit. They joined me for several hours of TV viewing on the night of the Academy Awards as we are all movie enhusiasts. She is now working on her memoirs!
Recently Ocotillo School where I now work was the fortunate recipient of a one-session visit by author Phil Bildner & author/illustrator Loren Long who were in AZ on a book tour to promote their new series THE BARNSTORMERS--for middle grade readers--also see the webstie for the series readbarnstormers.com. This is a 3 book series--so far, supposed to be 9-- of historical fiction about exhibition baseball in the late 1800's but includes mystery & magic. After meeting these 2 exuberant guys and listening to them tell the kids about writing & perserverance & hard work, one couldn't help but want to read these books. The 6th graders who got to see this presentation are now literally fighting over the books. Both guys have several other books: Phil 's include THE SHOT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD and SHOELESS JOE & BLACK BETSY. His web site is quite enjoyable: philbildner.com
Loren Long (lorenlong.com) has had many interesting illustration jobs including a book for Madonna (I heard him speak about that 2 summers ago at the Mazza Institute in Findlay OH--hilarious!) and a new version of the classic LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD which is incredibly beautiful--about 2 years old now. His newest picture book is THE TOY BOAT by Randall de Seve. During the Ocotillo School presentation, Mr. Long drew an illustration for us to keep of one of the Barnstormer players.
OK enough for now--I'm sorry I've been absent so long but hope to do better.
CAthy
Last Sat. March 15, 2008, I attended the Libraries Limited annual meeting in Tucson where their 2007 Judy Goddard award was presented to Marjorie Sharmat. A grand lady of many years, Marjorie & her husband Mitch attended & appeared to be ever the doting couple who continue to work together on Nate the Great stories. This series is so perfect for the young reader who is making the switch from picture books being read to them to reading beginning chapter books themselves. Another episode is to be out soon!
Also, in attendance was the venerable Byrd Baylor who has recently been ill with cancer. She looked just like she's looked for many years though wore an attractive scarf on her head. She spoke briefly & said she was glad to be there & glad not to be incarcerated! She went on to tell about the many border crossers who come to her door for help & how several times she has had to call the Border Patrol to get them help. The BP often accuses her of harboring aliens. She lives in the desert without electricity or plumbing and has many pets from a roadrunner to pack rats. What could be a better read than her picture books like EVERYBODY NEEDS A ROCK or THE TABLE WHERE RICH PEOPLE SIT or HAWK I'M YOUR BROTHER or THE WAY TO START A DAY. Her new book is to be a collection of autobiographical essays including one about her love of old manual typewritters.
Another participant & past recipient of the award was Ron Himler, a Tucson resident. His many illustrations have adorned numerous books including many by Byrd Baylor. His beautiful book THE WALL by Eve Bunting is among my favorites--about the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. There is a Reading Rainbow program using that book which includes an interiew with the architect of the memorial. You might not know that Ron is also a "fine artist" of cowboy art.
Joan Sandin who won their award several years ago gave a lively presentation as Eulalia Bourne who was the very first winner of the Judy Goddard award for children's literature and who is the subject of Joan's book COYOTE SCHOOL NEWS which is historical fiction about the remote schools for ranch children in rural AZ. Joan has done much to preserve the history of those Little Cowpuncher newspapers the kids wrote under the teaching of Ms. Bourne.
The weekend before that, March 7 & 8 I also spent in Tucson at the University of AZ Children's Literature conference. The keynote speakers were author Cynthia Kadohata and author/illustrator Ted Lewin. I have heard Cynthia speak several times & have gotten to know her quite well but never tire of hearing about her research for WEEDFLOWER about the Japanese internment camps in Posten AZ where her father was held. KIRA-KIRA is also a semi-autobiographical novel that won the Newbery award several years ago & tells some of the story of her parents & her childhood growing up in the south. Cynthia's newest novel for older readers is CRACKER, the story of the many dogs trained & used during the Vietnam war. All books for the middle to upper grades.
I have had a long time love for the art of Ted Lewin. I once flew to Abilene TX just to see an exhibit of his original art and it's not easy getting to Abilene TX! But it was so worth the trouble to see this huge exhibit of beautiful watercolors at the Center for Illustrated Art. What an interesting career he has had including being a teenage professional wrestler! He has written an autobiography about that period of his life of that same title. It's for older readers but a wonderful story of perserverance & working towards one's dream and the only book that is not a picture book. Since the wrestling exhibitions paid rather well he was able to pay his way through the Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn where he & his wife Betsy Lewin still live. Now they frequently travel around the world and then write together. He paints the most beautiful watercolors and Betsy uses her cartoon style to illustrate their travels. An interesting part of his presentation was telling how many mistakes he has made in books due to relying on research done by others & being given photographs that were not what they were labled. So now he tries to always do his own research & photograph the places he's writing about. I had contacted Mr. Lewin ahead of this conference & asked him if he would be able to bring along some small pieces of original art he might want to sell as I collect original art from children's books. I am happy to say I am now the proud owner of a piece from THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD by Lynne Reid Banks as well as 2 small pieces from THE GREATEST ELEPHANT IN THE WORLD. I so enjoyed his session after the keynote which was more like sitting around talking with another children's book enthusiast. The books he illustrated that I bought at this conference are PENNIES IN A JAR by Dori Chaconas, THE DOORMAN by Edward Grimm, WINTER SHOES FOR SHADOW HORSE by Linda Oatman High, SUNSETS OF THE WEST by Tony Johnston, THE ALWAYS PRAYER SHAWL by Sheldon Oberman, AT GLEASON'S GYM by Ted Lewin, THE STORYTELLERS by Ted Lewin, TOP TO BOTTOM DOWN UNDER by Ted and Betsy Lewin, TIGER TREK by Ted Lewin, HIGH RIDGE GOBBLER by David Stemple, THE ORIGINALS: ANIMALS THAT TIME FORGOT by Jane Yolen. I love them all!!
Speaking of Lynne Reid Banks--she & her husband who reside in England, often vacation during the winter in AZ. Over the years of having her for author visits at various schools where I've worked, she & Chaim have become friends I look forward to having them visit. They joined me for several hours of TV viewing on the night of the Academy Awards as we are all movie enhusiasts. She is now working on her memoirs!
Recently Ocotillo School where I now work was the fortunate recipient of a one-session visit by author Phil Bildner & author/illustrator Loren Long who were in AZ on a book tour to promote their new series THE BARNSTORMERS--for middle grade readers--also see the webstie for the series readbarnstormers.com. This is a 3 book series--so far, supposed to be 9-- of historical fiction about exhibition baseball in the late 1800's but includes mystery & magic. After meeting these 2 exuberant guys and listening to them tell the kids about writing & perserverance & hard work, one couldn't help but want to read these books. The 6th graders who got to see this presentation are now literally fighting over the books. Both guys have several other books: Phil 's include THE SHOT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD and SHOELESS JOE & BLACK BETSY. His web site is quite enjoyable: philbildner.com
Loren Long (lorenlong.com) has had many interesting illustration jobs including a book for Madonna (I heard him speak about that 2 summers ago at the Mazza Institute in Findlay OH--hilarious!) and a new version of the classic LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD which is incredibly beautiful--about 2 years old now. His newest picture book is THE TOY BOAT by Randall de Seve. During the Ocotillo School presentation, Mr. Long drew an illustration for us to keep of one of the Barnstormer players.
OK enough for now--I'm sorry I've been absent so long but hope to do better.
CAthy
