Just keep looking...

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"This manuscript of yours 

that has just 

come back from another editor is 

a precious package. 

Don't consider it rejected.  

Consider 

that you've addressed it to 

the editor who can appreciate your work 

and it has simply come back stamped 

not at this address.  

Just keep looking for the right address."     

~ Barbara Kingsolver

Ubiquitous

I've always enjoyed learning new words and then trying to use them in my conversations or writing.  When I was in high school, a friend (who also loved words) taught me a new one -- ubiquitous [yoo-bik-wi-tuhs], an adjective meaning "existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time".  It became a kind of inside joke, and the two of us would use the word ubiquitous every chance we got.  We even made paper buttons to pin to our shirts that read, "The Ubiquitous Club: We're Everywhere!"  (I still have mine, tucked away in my high school scrapbook.)

Now I giggle whenever I see or hear the word, remembering how often we used it in the past. :)  I don't use it very much anymore, but here are a couple of sentences I wrote today, as examples:

When I was in college, cell phones were rare.  

Now, they are ubiquitous!

While camping in Minnesota, it is impossible 

to keep away from the ubiquitous mosquitos. 

How would you use the word ubiquitous in a sentence?

Crayons: A Rainbow Poem

Crayons: A Rainbow Poem

This box contains the wash of blue sky,

spikes of green spring,

a circle of yellow sun,

triangle flames of orange and red.

It has the lime caterpillar

inching on a brown branch,

the shadow black in the center

of a grove of trees.

It holds my pink

and your chocolate

and her burnt sienna

and his ivory skin.

In it are all the colors of the world.

All the colors of the world.

~Jane Yolen, Color Me a Rhyme

A Fine Spring Morning

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An excerpt:

     It was a fine spring morning in the forest as he started out.  Little soft clouds played happily in a blue sky, skipping from time to time in front of the sun as if they had come to put it out, and then sliding away suddenly so that the next might have his turn.  Through them and between them the sun shone bravely; and a copse which had worn its firs all the year round seemed old and dowdy now beside the new green lace which the beeches had put on so prettily.  Through copse and spinney marched Bear; down open slopes of gorse and heather, over rocky beds of streams, up steep banks of sandstone into the heather again; and so at last, tired and hungry, to the Hundred Acre Wood.

~ from Winne-the-Pooh, written by A.A. Milne

Like Old Faithful...

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"If you stuff yourself full of 

poems, essays, plays, stories, novels, 

films, comic strips, magazines, music, 

you automatically explode every morning 

like Old Faithful. 

I have never had a dry spell in my life, 

mainly because I feed myself well, 

to the point of bursting. 

I wake early and hear my morning voices 

leaping around in my head like jumping beans. 

I get out of bed to trap them before they escape."

~ Ray Bradbury

Green Grass & Dandelions

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Green Grass & Dandelions

Never has the grass been so green

Bright and green and growing

Never have the dandelions been so yellow

Bright yellow

Constellations

Brave little lions

Suns in the grass

Dandelions

In the green green green green grass

Never has the grass been so green

Bright and green and growing.

In any spring.

~Margaret Wise Brown

Mind Your P's and Q's

There are hundreds, even thousands, of alphabet books available for young kids.  Though they each share a similar goal (introducing the ABC's and their various sounds), these books encompass almost any -- and every -- theme you can imagine.  Do you like animals?  How about vehicles?  Insects?  Geography?  Chances are, you can find an alphabet book on any subject that interests you or your child.  Here are some of our family's favorite ABC books:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, written by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, and illustrated by Lois Ehlert, 1989... This lively, rhythmic book features letters as characters -- the young lowercase alphabet and their parents, the uppercase ABC's.  All 26 of the youngsters decide to climb a tree, but end up in a heap beneath it, and the parents rush to their rescue.

I remember reading this first when my daughter Emmalie was young and then again when my son Nick was learning to read.  I hadn't thought of it in years, but then my son Ben's Kindergarten teacher read it to his class, and he came home reciting it.  On a recent trip to the library, Ben spotted the book and said, "Oh, Mom... we HAVE to check this one out!  I love it!"  He and I especially like the nonsensical words in the story and the bright, bold artwork.

LMNO Peas, written and illustrated by Keith Baker, 2010...  Cute little anthropomorphic peas grace each page of this clever book, showing off interests, careers, etc. for each letter of the alphabet.  Combined with rhyming text, these peas make learning the alphabet lots of fun!

I picked this one off the library shelf a few months ago, for the title alone. :)  It turned out to be a delightful book that Ben and I looked at over and over again.  The illustrations are full of tiny details -- we noticed something new every time we flipped through it.

A is for Angry: An Animal and Adjective Alphabet, written and illustrated by Sandra Boynton, 1987...  This silly ABC book has been a family favorite ever since Emmalie received it as a gift from her uncle when she was two.  I mentioned it a few months ago, here.

Dr. Seuss's ABC, written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss, 1963...  The alphabet, as only Dr. Seuss could present it: "BIG F, little F, what begins with F?  Four fluffy feathers on a Fiffer-feffer-feff." With its rhyming text, Seussian words, and drawings of fantastical creatures, this classic ABC book is a great addition to any young child's library.

We own both the board book (condensed) version shown below, and also the full-size book; both have been well-loved over the years.  All three of my kids asked to hear it so many times when they were little, they memorized the rhymes inside long before they learned to read on their own.

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z, written and illustrated by Lois Ehlert, 1989... This book introduces preschoolers to fruits and vegetables from around the world, with their names printed in both upper- and lowercase letters.  At the back of the book, Ehlert provides a glossary of the foods that includes pronunciations, the origins of the plants, and more.

This is another one that we discovered when Emm was little. We all enjoyed Ehlert's vibrant, mouth-watering illustrations. Emmalie also loved learning the names of all the foods, poring over the pages again and again.  After that, whenever we visited the grocery store, she would point out all the produce that she recognized.  "Look, Mommy!  There's a pomegranate!  And an ugli fruit!  And a leek!"  My boys have been the same way after reading this.

Apple Pie ABC, written and illustrated by Alison Murray, 2010... In this book, each letter of the alphabet stands for a short, simple phrase.  Strung together, these 26 phrases tell the story of a dog, pining for a piece of pie.

Ben and I found this ABC book at the library recently -- we were charmed by the amusing illustrations of the dog and its antics.

An Annoying ABC, written by Barbara Bottner and illustrated by Michael Emberley, 2011...  All 25 of Miss Mabel's preschool students are cranky.  When Adelaide annoys Bailey, Bailey blames Clyde, Clyde cries... and soon the entire classroom is in an uproar.  But when Adelaide finally apologizes, it turns out that kindness can be contagious, too.

I think the illustrations are our favorite part of this book -- Ben and I love the characters' facial expressions and all the little details Emberley provides.  We also get a kick out of the names and verbs Bottner uses for each letter.

Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet Year, written and illustrated by Betsy Bowen, 1991...  Bowen celebrates the magic of the Minnesota woods throughout the seasons, from the antlers of a moose to winter's zero degree weather.

My aunt sent this book to Emmalie for her first birthday, knowing how much our family loves to camp in northern Minnesota.  Though it's really written for older children (maybe those in Kindergarten and above), she and my boys loved looking at the rich woodcut illustrations even as toddlers.  Now that all three kids have actually spent time in the northwoods, they appreciate this book even more.

Since receiving this book 15 years ago, we've somehow lost
the dust jacket.  The hard cover is just a plain blue, so I
took a photo of the title page instead.

A Call for a New Alphabet, written and illustrated by Jef Czekaj, 2011... This clever book for school-age children features X and the other citizens of Alphabet City.  X is exasperated.  Always near the end of the alphabet and only found at the beginning of a few words, X thinks it's time to change things up a bit.  The other letters agree to vote on whether or not to make a new alphabet.  The night before the vote, X dreams about taking the place of other letters, and begins to realize just how complicated things could get.

Who knew learning spelling rules could be so entertaining?  This book is laugh out loud funny and educational at the same time.  It's quickly become a favorite at our house, and we've checked it out from the library several times now because Ben wants to read it over and over again!

Do you have any favorite alphabet books?  I'd love to hear about them!

That magic threshold...

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"At the moment 

that we persuade a child, 

any child, 

to cross that threshold, 

that magic threshold into a library, 

we change their lives forever, 

for the better." 

~ President (then Senator) Barack Obama

Verdant

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The word verdant [vur-dnt] is an adjective meaning "green in color" or "covered with green vegetation", a good word to use in spring and summertime.

Sniffing the air cautiously, the doe stepped out into the verdant meadow.

The man was proud of his verdant lawn.

The verdant leaves of the tree quivered in the breeze.

How would you use the word verdant?

May-Baskets

Ben's May Day basket for his teacher,
May 2012

May-Baskets

Let us take our baskets early

To the meadows green,

While the wild-flowers still are pearly

With the dewdrops' sheen. 

Fill them full of blossoms rosy,

Violets and gay 


Cowslips, every pretty posy

Welcoming the May. 

Then our lovely loads we'll carry

Down the village street, 

On each door, with laughter merry,

Hang a basket sweet.

Hey-a-day-day! It is spring now,

Lazy folks, awake!

See the pretty things we bring now

For the May-day's sake!

~ Evaleen Stein

Happy May Day, everyone!