Metaphor

Sunrise on Lake Isabella, MN, Aug. 2010

Metaphor

Morning is

a new sheet of paper

for you to write on.

Whatever you want to say,

all day,

until night

folds it up

and files it away.

The bright words and the dark words

are gone

until dawn

and a new day

to write on.                               

by Eve Merriam

Wild about animals?

Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

I have always loved to read fiction, but it's only recently that I've come to appreciate nonfiction.  When I was younger, pretty much the only nonfiction I ever read was for school assignments.  It always seemed dry and boring to me.  (Turns out, I was just reading the wrong books -- there are plenty of well-written, interesting nonfictional books out there!) 

Fiction still far outweighs nonfiction in my reading selections today, but ever since my son Nick was born, I've read quite a bit of nonfiction -- most of it about animals.

Even as a little boy, Nick preferred nonfictional books about animals to any other genre, and I ended up learning quite a bit about various wildlife as I read them to him.  Now a 12-year-old, Nick still would much rather read nonfiction than fiction.  A few years ago, he realized he'd read just about every book on animals in the children's nonfiction section of our library, and since that time has been steadily making his way through the adult section.   

When I decided that I wanted to write a post about some good nonfiction picture books on animals, I knew just who to go to for help!  The following books all have Nick's stamp of approval.  :)  These books provide information in fun, interesting ways and include colorful pictures that children and adults will enjoy. 

These first 4 books are for younger children -- beginning readers or those who need someone to read to them:

Bats,  written by J. Angelique Johnson with pictures contributed by various photographers, 2011... this book offers easy-to-understand facts and close-up photos of these often misunderstood winged creatures of the night:

Meet the Meerkat, written by Darrin Lunde, and illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne, 2007...  This book asks questions that kids themselves might ask about these African mammals, then provides answers using short, simple facts:

Vulture View, written by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Steve Jenkins, 2007... Using rhymes and concise prose, this book tells readers about the life of a turkey vulture.  There is also a short section at the end of the book that provides more detailed information about the birds for parents or older readers: 

I See a Kookaburra!,  written and illustrated by spouses Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, 2005... This book shows various habitats around the world, encouraging readers to search for the creatures hidden in each environment.  Turn the page, and all of the animals are shown again, this time in plain view.  Details about the habitats and the wildlife, as well as a world map, are provided at the end of the book: 

The next two picture books are for more experienced readers.

Hide and Seek, written by Andrea Helman and  photographs by Gavriel Jecan, 2008... Even non-readers will enjoy trying to spot the camouflaged animals in these photos!  This book talks about different ecosystems of the world and then describes various creatures from each who blend in with their surroundings:

Super Swimmers, written by Caroline Arnold, and illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne, 2007... Marine mammals are the subject of this book, which offers detailed information and scientific illustrations:

Are you wild about animals?  Or do you, perhaps, have a budding young animal-lover in your life?  I'd love to hear about your favorite animal books,  nonfictional or fictional!

In the Summer...

  Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

In the summer when the days are hot,
I like to find a shady spot,
And hardly move a single bit
And sit, and sit, and sit, and sit.

-Author unknown

Man's Best Friend...

Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

"Outside of a dog,
a book is man's best friend. 
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." 
~Attributed to Groucho Marx

I Left My Heart in Hogwarts....*

The Sorcerer's Stone (1997), The Chamber of Secrets (1998),
The Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), The Goblet of Fire (2000),
The Order of the Phoenix (2003),The Half-blood Prince (2005),
and The Deathly Hallows (2007)

When I’m 80 years old
and sitting in my rocking chair,
I’ll be reading Harry Potter.
And my family will say to me,
“After all this time?”
And I will say, “Always.”

–  Attributed to Alan Rickman,
the actor who portrays Professor Snape
in the Harry Potter movies
(but I'm pretty sure he wasn't really the one who said it)

I distinctly remember the very first time I ever opened up one of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books and began reading it.  My parents had given me the first three books in the series for Christmas in 1999.  While I appreciated the thought behind the gift, I had heard all the hoopla about the books, and convinced myself that they couldn't possibly be as good as everyone said they were.  I set them on my shelf and walked away. 

On Thanksgiving Day 2001, after I'd spent several hours (by myself) making a feast for our family, and then another hour or more (by  myself) cleaning up after the meal,  I was upset  and not feeling very thankful.  I retreated to my bedroom and shut the door, leaving my husband and kids to fend for themselves.  I slumped onto the bed.  I briefly considered taking a nap, but then my eyes were drawn towards the bookshelves.  I suddenly realized that I owned three books that I'd never read, never even opened.   It was something to do, so I grabbed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone off the shelf.  I flipped it open to the first page, and began to read.

From that very first sentence, I was a Harry Potter fan!  I eagerly read all three books over that holiday weekend, then couldn't wait to get my hands on the fourth!  (I used that year's Christmas money to buy myself  Goblet of Fire.)

By the time the fifth book came out, I had created another Harry Potter fan, someone who loved the books even more than I did -- my daughter, Emmalie.  She walked up to me one day, complaining of boredom, and saying that she didn't have any new books to read.  I handed her The Sorcerer's Stone.  She did not seem very interested in it -- like me a few years earlier, she thought all the Harry Potter hype was just that.  I said, "Trust me.  Just start reading, and see what you think."  As predicted, once Emm began reading, she couldn't put the book down.  She reads quickly (even faster than me), and soon had read all five books.

I checked the sixth book out from the library as soon as it was published so we could both devour it -- as only BookWyrms can :) -- and then Emmalie received a copy of the book for Christmas later that year.

By 2007, Emmalie and I were so anxious to read the final book that I agreed to wait in a HUGE bookstore line at midnight the day it came out.  I quickly drove home with my new copy of  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, then began reading it right away, around 1am!  I read straight through the morning and afternoon until I had finished the very last sentence. (I did fall asleep for an hour or so at one point, book in hand, then woke up and immediately went back to reading!)  As soon as I'd finished it, I handed the book to Emm, and she read it straight through, as well.

Both of us have re-read all seven books several times.  Emmalie has even read each of them aloud to her brother, Nick.  We love the characters, the settings, and the adventures.  Emm is such a fan that she collects all kinds of Harry Potter memorabilia -- puzzles, costumes, stuffed animals, and more.  There is just something about the story that speaks to us, captivates us, and leaves us longing for more.

Though books are almost always MUCH better than their movies -- and J. K. Rowling's series is no exception -- our whole family has seen every Harry Potter movie.   We love the actors who were chosen to portray the characters, and we enjoy watching the stories play out on the big screen.  (Both Emmalie and I hate it when scenes are cut out or changed, however.)

With the last movie, "The Deathly Hallows, Part 2",  comes that same bittersweet feeling that we had when we read the last book.  We can't wait to see it (in fact, by the time this posts on my blog, Emm, Nick, and I will have already been to the midnight premiere), but we're also sad that the series has come to its end.  You can be sure, however, that we will return to Hogwarts again and again in the years to come -- in our re-reading of the books, in our re-watching of the movies, and in our dreams....

“The stories we love best
do live in us forever

so whether you come back by page

or by the big screen,

Hogwarts will always be there to
welcome you home.”

- J. K. Rowling

*For the younger generation -- like my daughter, who didn't understand the reference -- there is an old song called "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", and I was trying to mimic that. My heart, or at least a part of it, will always be in Hogwarts....

The whiff of a soul...

Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

Browsing the dim back corner
Of a musty antique shop
Opened an old book of poetry
Angels flew out from the pages
I caught the whiff of a soul
The ink seemed fresh as today
Was that voices whispering?
The tree of the paper still grows.
~Pixie Foudre

When writing...

Photo courtesy of PublicDomain Pictures.net

"Fill your paper
with the breathings of your heart." 
~William Wordsworth

Haiku

"Haiku" by Emmalie (who is studying Japanese in school)

The word for the week is haiku, a type of Japanese poetry.  The poems are short, only 17 syllables -- 5 in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third.  Haiku does not rhyme, and the poems often describe elements of nature or the seasons.

I wrote a lot of haiku when I was a teenager, partly for class and partly for myself, because I enjoyed it.  Re-reading them again now, I am not too impressed with the poetry of my youth. ;)  There are a few poems I wrote back then that I still like, however, including the following:

Rich purple velvet
Opens, praising the new day --
The morning glory.

***

A star winks at me
From the black pool of nighttime,
Bidding me "good night".

While reading through some haiku online, I came across this humorous poem:

The only problem
with Haiku is that you just
get started and then
~Roger McGough

If you've never written haiku before, give it a try ~ you just might like it! :)

A Second Big Dream Come True

Back in 1995, the instructor for my correspondence course through the Institute of Children's Literature gave me a new assignment: pick an age group, find three magazines that catered to that age, and then write a short story that fit those magazines' guidelines. 

I chose to write for early readers, creating a children's version of a favorite Christmas story, O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi".  Called "The Greatest Gift of All", my story ended up being about 800 words long.  My instructor really liked the story, though she thought it still needed work to be publishable.  She gave me a few ideas for revisions, then encouraged me to try sending it in to the magazines I'd picked earlier.

I rewrote the story, then sent it to the three magazines in 1996.  I was a bit discouraged when I received three rejection letters back, but I knew I had to keep on trying!  I found several other magazines that accepted early reader fiction, and sent out more copies of my story. 

Then one day in 1997, I received a different kind of rejection letter -- a handwritten one from Clubhouse, Jr.*   The editor who'd read it said that she loved the story, but they could not use it in any of their December issues.  Their magazine was a Christian one, and they wanted all of the stories in the December issue to focus on the birth of Jesus.  She said that if I was willing to do a little rewriting -- turning it into something other than a Christmas story -- she would consider publishing it.

If you've ever read "The Gift of the Magi", you know that its overlying theme is love.  It wasn't hard for me to turn my Christmas story into a Valentine's Day story, so I quickly did that and resubmitted it to Clubhouse, Jr.  Just a few weeks after that, I received an acceptance letter from the magazine, and in February of 1998, my story "The Greatest Gift of All" was published:

Clubhouse, Jr.
February 1998 issue


The story features a poor young church mouse named Lucy, who wants to purchase a special gift for her grandfather.  When I wrote the story, I imagined soft, sweet pictures to go with it, like those of Garth Williams (the artist who illustrated the books Bedtime for Frances, Charlotte's Web, the Little House series, and several others).  I wasn't expecting the bright, cartoon-like pictures that the magazine used, and was surprised by them.  (I don't know who drew them; there are no credits given for the illustrations.)  Still, that did not dampen my enthusiasm about being published again! :)

"The Greatest Gift of All", p. 1-2



"The Greatest Gift of All", p. 3

The magazine purchased "first rights", which means that, now that Clubhouse, Jr. has published it, I can sell the story again to another publisher.  I have changed it back into a Christmas story and have mailed it out to several book publishers.  So far, I only have a pile of rejection slips to show for it --  but I just keep on hoping and trying. :)

*Although I knew that Clubhouse, Jr. was a Christian magazine, I didn't know anything else about the company behind it (Focus on the Family) at the time.  Since my story was published by them in 1998, I have learned more about the company, and no longer feel comfortable submitting any of my work to them.  (Though Christian myself, I do not agree with their exclusionary stance toward the LGBT community, among other things.)

Summer Stars

From the book Zoo in the Sky,
written by Jacqueline Mitton, illustrated by Christina Balit

Summer Stars

Bend low again, night of summer stars.
So near you are, sky of summer stars,
So near, a long arm man can pick off stars,
Pick off what he wants in the sky bowl,
So near you are, summer stars,
So near, strumming, strumming,
So lazy and hum-strumming.

by Carl Sandburg