Every Word Counts: Lyrical Language

Whether a writer is crafting fiction or nonfiction, every word counts. This is especially true when it comes to picture books where just a few words have to do A LOT of work.

Since I’m as much a scientist as I am a writer, I’ll start out with a scientific finding: The anatomical structure of our ears and the physical laws of sound wave transmission make certain combinations of sounds and syllables particularly pleasing to us. That’s why devices like alliteration, rhythm, and repetition can give writing a magical quality. We call it lyricism.

Here are some examples of lovely lyrical books that focus on natural history topics.

Vulture View by April Pulley SayreThe sun is rising.
Up, up.
It heats the air.
Up, up.Wings stretch wide
to catch a ride
on warming air.
Going where?
Up, up.

Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights by Debbie S. Miller
The sun’s arc drops lower as the top of the world angles away from its source of heat.

White sky and earth create flat light, and it is hard to see where land ends and sky begins.



Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart
In the heart of winter, a deep layer of snow blankets fields and forests, ponds and wetlands.

You spend your days sledding and skating and having snowball fights.

But under the snow lies a hidden world.

All of these books have a calming, comforting tone that make them perfect as bedtime stories but they can also enrich science lessons. The lyrical language helps readers fall in love with the books--and their topics.

Can you think of other books with beautiful lyrical language? If so, please share them in the comments section.

The Voice from the Page

I’m becoming a part of the movement to save education. I went to see “Waiting for Superman” two days after it opened. I go to webinars. I was invited to hear Geoffrey Canada speak at a McGraw-Hill function last week and I used my phone to take this picture and so you can see I was really there. What has become increasingly clear is that in spite of all the clamor about literacy and whether or not kids can read, there is no mention about the quality of WHAT kids are reading. In an online #edchat (# refers to a group on Twitter) last week teachers were slamming textbooks right and left. Did you know each textbook costs $80+? That’s not only a strain on school budgets; it’s also a strain on kids’ backs! So teachers were talking about putting together their own reading materials for their classes from free open source materials, both print and digital. The underlying premise: one source of information is interchangeable with another. I tweeted (peeped? piped up?) “I left teaching to write. No time to do both well.” Don’t think anyone heard me. I was not retweeted.

There is a consensus about what makes a great teacher—it takes mentoring, experience, constant professional development, passion, commitment, discipline, sacrifice and TIME. Guess what, folks—it takes the same thing to become a great writer. Our editors are our mentors, we write, write, write, we get feedback from our readers and critics. It’s tough but we stay with it despite no union, no safety net, no regular paycheck.(And, let me tell you, there is attrition in the ranks.) The qualities that make a great teacher are evident in their personalities, in their intense interactions with their students, in their deeds. What reaches their students is WHO they are as human beings—their humanity. Guess what folks—the same thing is true of us writers. We all have learned how to put who we are as human beings behind the words on the page. It’s called “voice.” Literature has voice. Can you feel how hard I’m hitting these keys right now? I want you to HEAR me. I want my words to shout not tweet.

The #edchat I participated in was my first. I was a little handicapped by my lack of experience with Twitter. Tweets flew by so fast I was breathless trying to read and type (and think) simultaneously. (So many tweets, so little time…..) I was amazed at the way some tweets got answered directly by others. (How’d they do that?). And that there were so few typos!!! Finally I wrote a tweet that seemed to resonate with the group: “Where is it written that every kid has to read the same book on a subject? Why can’t they read different books and discuss?” I used up all my 140 characters on that one but it got me noticed. That tweet was retweeted by quite a few and afterwards a lot of people tweeted me directly (it’s like an email but very short) to thank me and invite me back next week. (A major Twitterer, Shelly Terrell, with almost 9,000 followers sent me her TweetDeck tutorial to be better prepared next time.)

Maybe we delude ourselves with our awards and blogs and conversations with each other that we are making a difference. The bottom line is that the people who read this blog all get what we are saying; we’re preaching to the choir. It feels good to have that validation. But it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that our task is to reach the people who aren’t listening to us—mainly teachers. I don’t think that they know or have even thought about the difference nonfiction literature can make in their jobs and in their students’ lives. So we have to show (not tell) them. I’ve asked my brilliant colleagues here at I.N.K. to send me two paragraphs on the same subject: one written strictly for information and one written by them. I’ve posted them on our new wiki http://authorsoncall.wikispaces.com/. On the left you’ll see a hyperlinked page listed with the title “What’s the difference between literature and traditional informational writing? See for yourself.” Since it is a wiki, we can keep adding examples. Also, at the top of this page you’ll see a tab for “Discussion.” Click on that and hit “New Post” to register a comment about the page that can become a conversation. It takes many voices to make a difference and a chorus to be heard.

Now learn how to use Twitter and tweet the h… out of this blog!!

BACK TO THE SOURCE

OMG. I turned on my car radio the other day and wafting in through the ether was an NPR panel discussing the importance of reading first-rate literature in school classrooms. So that’s a good thing, right? But as usual, every single book the group mentioned was fiction. C’mon, radio people. And it gets worse; the panelists all agreed that nonfiction was totally boring! To add insult to injury, one guy said there was no such thing as Nonfiction that’s also Literature. Then he defined nonfiction as Original Source Material that kids hate because it all consists of formal documents and speeches written in an arcane style nobody can understand. (Think Gettysburg Address or the Bill of Rights, said he).

Gimme a break, sports fans. You and I could blog all day long about great literature that just so happens to be nonfiction. There’s a reason that the majority of books sold to American adults are nonfiction; the subject matter is fascinating and the quality of the writing can be absolutely superb. And guess what? The exact same standards hold true for the best children's nonfiction books these days too….and they’re related to the kids’ curriculum to boot. Besides, original source material (all those diaries, journals, private letters, songs, articles, speeches, sketches, and artifacts that were created by people who were on the scene at a given time and place) is fabulous stuff.

So let’s meld some very cool original source material with nonfiction stories kids might like to read. Here are a few surprising examples I’ve tied into the stories in my own books—you could never make this stuff up and every good nonfiction author has plenty more.

EXAMPLE 1) Quotes from people who went to the California Gold Rush:

MAN TRAVELING TO THE GOLDFIELDS BY SHIP: “The water is becoming bad. I don’t mind it much. I have a way of killing the bugs before drinking them.”

MAN TRAVELING BY LAND: “Hail exceeded anything I ever saw, being as large as pigeon’s eggs. Found our cookstove full of water. There may be fun in camping, but we haven’t discovered any.”
IN NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT THE GOLDFIELDS: “Chickens were persistent gatherers of small nuggets of gold, and their gizzards were regularly searched by the cooks who prepared them for the oven. At Diamond Springs one was killed for Sunday dinner whose gizzard panned out at $12.80.”

EXAMPLE 2) Comments from the journals of Lewis and Clark as they crossed the West:
“The mercury this morning stood at 40 degrees below 0. An Indian man came in who had stayed out all night without fire, and very thinly clothed. This man was not the least injured. Those people bear more cold than I thought possible.” “This evening Sacagawea was delivered of a fine boy. This was her first child and Mr. Jessaume informed me that a small portion of the rattle of a rattlesnake had never failed to hasten the birth of a child. Having such a rattle, I gave it to him. He administered two rings broken in small pieces and added to water. Whether this was the cause or not, she had not taken it ten minutes before the baby was born.”

EXAMPLE 3) Two quotes that help uncover both sides’ points of view during the American Revolution.

PATRICK HENRY, furious that England’s naval blockade of Boston Harbor enslaves Americans by denying their right to govern themselves, famously says:
“Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston…I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

SAMUEL JOHNSON, the greatest English writer of his day, retorts:
“How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty from the drivers of Negroes?”

EXAMPLE 4) From young Charles Darwin’s diary the day he set out on his voyage round the world:

“With every sail filled by a light breeze we scudded away. Soon became seasick. Raisins the only food the stomach would bear.”


Folks, I got a million of ‘em. A great nonfiction book for kids can work magic with the very Original Source Material that the radio panel hated so much. Were they kidding about how boring it is? Original Source Material is the juiciest stuff out there and it can make the people who wrote it or said it spring vividly to life. Sometimes I write entire books that fill every page with this stuff and relate an exciting and cohesive story at the same time. Bah, humbug, panel people. Let's put great nonfiction Literature and great original source material in school classrooms today! So there.

I.N.K. News for October

Follow the Money by Loreen Leedy is being used in Vermont's statewide
financial literacy program.
http://bit.ly/bHwSTs

Artwork from several of Loreen Leedy's picture books will be included
in The Storymaker's Art, and exhibit of illustrations by eight artists
at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.
http://www.thestorymakersart.com/



Gretchen Woelfle will be on hand to sign books at Breakfast With the Authors, sponsored by the Santa Barbara County Education Office on October 9, in Santa Barbara, CA.

From Susan E. Goodman: My new Step into Reading book, Monster Trucks!, was just published September 28th by Random House. For my other writing news, check my blog post this month, on October 11th. Other news that doesn't really belong here...I'm going to Paris this month for two weeks!



Deborah Heiligman will be speaking at the Rutgers One on One Plus Conference, October 16. http://www.ruccl.org/One-on-One_Plus_Conference.html
and at the New York State English Teachers Conference October 21-22.

Vicki Cobb has been awarded a CILC Pinnacle Award Honorable Mention in recognition of outstanding videoconferencing programs. She was one of only three individuals (and the only author) who won either the Award or Honorable Mention. The overwhelming majority of recipients is museums, zoos and other educational institutions. The awards are based solely on a performance rating.The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (www.CILC.org), is the leading agency for providing videoconferencing services for education.

Vicki Cobb is now an official blogger for Education Update, a print and online FREE newspaper that reaches 100,000 educators. Check out the other bloggers. Her mission is to let the world know about us.

From Jan Greenberg: Thanks to Steve at WindingOak, my new website is launched. Please check it out. Jangreenbergsandrajordan.com October 1 and 3, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is performing Appalachian Spring with images from my new book Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring. My co-author Sandra Jordan, the illustrator Brian Floca, and editor Neal Porter are coming in and we are doing a panel discussion for the St. Louis Public Library on Saturday, October 2. A narration of the book with images and music will be performed by the St. Louis Symphony on November 10 and 16 for the Young People's Concerts.

Now Available
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Tanya Lee Stone's newest nonfiction book, The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie will launch soon and its first two reviews are both Stars! School Library Journal wrote, "The author maintains her signature research style and accessible informational voice." Kirkus: "Sibert Medalist Stone tantalizes." The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie is part biography--both of the doll and of her inventor, Ruth Handler--and part exploration of the cultural phenomenon that is Barbie.

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)

Today, a review of The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.

This book earned starred reviews at School Library Journal, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and I can tell you why: it rocks, plain and simple. Hmm, where to start.

I think I'll begin with the subtitle, and tell you that this book is based in large part on the observations of Susy Clemens, the daughter of Samuel (a.k.a. Mark Twain), who wrote her own biography of her father when she was 13 years old. Barbara Kerley found that information and followed it to its natural conclusion: a book about Susy writing the biography of her father. It's the perfect sort of biography, really, because it is a biography of a biographer and her subject all at the same time: a child's-eye view of Twain from a person who knew him best. And when Susy's father cottoned on to what she was up to, he made comments just to help her along with her biography. About Susy as a biographer, Clemens said: "This is a frank biographer and and honest one; she uses no sandpaper on me."

I'm going to skip next to one of the things reviewers don't often talk about explicitly (unless it's a pop-up book), and that's book design. Moreover, I'm going to start with dimensions, so that you'll understand what the weird little device is in this book that works so very well. The pages measure 8-1/2 x 12, which means that the book cover is slightly larger in each dimension. But every few pages, there's a two-page insert that measures only 4-1/2 x 5-1/2, which is an excerpt from Susy's Journal. The "cover" says "Journal", the inside two-page spread is an excerpt from Susy's actual journal using LinotypeZapfino One, a sort of semi-script printing that preserves Susy's exact words and spellings (even when they're a bit "off"). There are eleven journal inserts in all, which add so much information and character and charm to this book. Here's the text from the last one in the book:

The other day mamma went into the library and found papa sitting there reading a book, and roaring with laughter over it; she asked him what he was reading, he answered that he hadn't stopped to look at the title of the book . . . she glanced over his shoulder at the cover, and found it was one of his own books.

Susy told it like she saw it, and it adds so much dimension to the real Samuel Clemens - as does the way Kerley weaves additional quotes into the main text, relating details in a cogent, coherent way - that the book is a delight.

Further contributing to the delight are the marvelous illustrations by Edwin Fotheringham, whose work on last year's Mermaid Queen, by Shana Corey, I raved about. Here's the first two-page spread from the text, which establishes the set-up of the book and what inspired Susy to write her father's biography in the first place.



Kersey notes that Susy documented both Twain's public life and Clemens's private life. She talked about his early years ("Papa was born in Misouri . . . And we know papa played "Hookey" all the time and how readily would papa have pretended to be dying so as not to have to go to school!"), his speaking engagements, his books - and her opinions on them ("She loved The Prince and the Pauper for its 'lovely, charming ideas' and beautiful language.") - and she wrote of their home life, and what Clemens was like in private. That included, of course, his writing habits:



I adore almost everything about this book: The text, the design, and the illustrations I've already discussed. But the book includes a phenomenal Author's Note at the end, which provides information on Twain and on Susy Clemens, who died of spinal meningitis at the age of 24. As the Author's Note says (grab a tissue - you've been warned):

For the rest of Twain's life, he treasured the biography, misspellings and all . . . The loss of Susy [] may have been the hardest for Twain to bear. After her death, he wrote to a friend, "I did not know that she could go away and take our lives with her, yet leave our dull bodies behind. . . . My fortune is gone, I am a pauper."

Kerley also provides a guide to "Writing an Extraordinary Biography", which offers tips to children who wish to write a biography. It's not only available in the book, but also on Kerley's website. The final page in the book (which would ordinarily have been an endpaper, but they used every inch of this book, so there's actual content printed inside the back cover!) contains "A Selected Time Line of Mark Twain's Life" and a family photograph (along with dedications, copyright info, etc.), and the inside of the back cover provides a bibliography of sorts - a list of "Sources" for every single quote contained in the book, including the author's note.

My one quibble with this book (and longtime readers won't be shocked to hear it) is that the book lacks page numbers - something that's particularly troubling when the "Source" list at the back of the book references the pages by number. It wouldn't have been hard to add them to the book, and it would help to sort that out more quickly. *shakes fist at editors and book designers over this picayune point*

You can see a few more spreads from inside this book at Edwin Fotheringham's website (select "Children's Books" from the left-side menu, then scroll through. You can embiggen any of the images by clicking on them after you select them.) And here's a link to the New York Times review of this book, if'n you're interested.

Humanimal Doodles

My post is a doodle. Please click on the picture to read it at full size. -- Karen

P.S. For more Humanimal Doodles, click here.

A Post from Sneed Collard

A funny thing happened when I was writing my newest book, The World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale. I ended up with a publishing company, too!





Okay, I confess that even as I pondered writing about this unique Western celebration, I was thinking to myself “Sneed, no one is going to buy this book.” Never mind that it’s gotten harder and harder to sell any nonfiction book to a trade publisher. Most publishers are located in urban areas and don’t have the faintest clue about regional markets, especially the West.

Nonetheless, after I spent a long weekend interviewing cowboys and kids, watching the raw beauty of rodeo events, and taking almost a thousand photographs, I knew I had to write this book. The Miles City Bucking Horse Sale began in 1951 as a way for local ranchers to get rid of “spoiled” horses that wouldn’t do any work. A couple of enterprising cowboys thought “Hey, why don’t we invite rodeo producers up to Miles City and auction off our unruly stock for rodeos?” Sixty years later, the Sale has evolved into a four-day celebration of Western life, matched only by the Calgary Stampede and Cheyenne Frontier Days.

In writing about the Sale, I not only wanted to give a blow-by-blow of the excitement of the event, but explore its history and the history of eastern Montana. I was correct, however. No mainstream publishers were interested. And that was the spur that I needed. “Time to start my own publishing company,” I told myself. I hired a truly gifted designer here in Montana, struck a distribution deal with another regional publisher, and a few months later, have probably the most beautiful book I’ve ever written.

Just as INK members have taken control of our own marketing, I believe more and more established authors and illustrators also will take control of their own publishing futures. As we all know here, it’s become almost impossible to sell even the best nonfiction ideas to mainstream trade publishers. Yet that doesn’t mean that the demand for high-quality books has disappeared. In fact, I have never had the kind of early response to a book that I’m getting for The World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale. Part of that is the novelty of an established writer starting my own company, but a lot of that response stems from a hunger for books about topics that real people can relate to.

It’ll be interesting to see how many of us “buck out” on our own in coming years. For my part, I’m sold that it’s a good idea, and am already climbing up on my next horse.

To learn more about Bucking Horse Books, check out www.buckinghorsebooks.com.
To see the Publisher’s Weekly article featuring Bucking Horse Books, click here:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/44271-montana-author-launches-publishing-house.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+Children%27s+Bookshelf&utm_campaign=07d4eeb191-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email

Sneed Collard

Teens Need Non Fiction

Having two teenagers in the house, issues having been flying around that would make for the perfect YA novel. Sadly the reality among this age group is much more painful than even the most poignantly written books can express—girl bullying, cliques, isolation, anxiety, depression, and so on. I admit to having read more than my fair share of young adult literature this year in hopes of finding some comfort in the familiar.

Honestly, it didn’t help. Instead, the contrast between the fictional stories and real life was palpable. In the stories, there was always a kind boy with a crush, a new girl that befriended the alienated protagonist, or a bully who got what was coming to them. Ah, if only it were so. This summer’s reality was extreme-- a girl in the incoming senior high school class hanged herself. And then just last week a talented musician from the 2010 graduating class killed himself. Among other things, one wonders aloud how the magnitude of their pain could have gone unnoticed. And the worry persists that no matter how overprotective and on top of things you try to be, it might not be enough to help all the kids you care about.

I reread Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman and listened to a powerful interview she gave that is now part of the extras offered on the DVD of the movie Mean Girls. As a parent, I did find the acknowledgement of typical patterns of girl bullying behavior to be helpful. But books of this kind are actually geared toward the parents. When I thought about what teens might read that could influence them, I thought about YA nonfiction.

Nonfiction can subtlety, and otherwise, reveal an important message: it’s hard for almost everyone but, look, we made it through and so can you. Here are the role models of those who successfully mucked through the emotional turmoil that is high school to become who they hoped to be. Young adults don’t need heroes placed high upon pedestals. Rather, they need to know of real people so they can honestly sense that you do not have to be superhuman to endure.

For teens, the timing is ripe to become better acquainted with the real life experiences of those behind the well-known images. Jackie Robinson had rocks thrown at him in front of his childhood home. Eleanor Roosevelt was a painfully shy child who wanted nothing more than the love her alcoholic father kept failing to provide. Being smart certainly doesn’t make you immune as evidenced by Albert Einstein who was looked upon as a failure by his teachers and treated as a social outcast by his peers.

These, among many others, are the true stories that need to be told again and made accessible to the young adult reader. They are proof positive of the possibilities of a less emotionally stressed, happy existence after high school. As parents, that’s the best message we can offer for those still stuck in the middle of it.

Speaking to the Test

I think I did pretty well, but I'm not sure. Several teachers told me that the presentations I had just given were the best they had ever seen. One said it was inspiring to her students and herself. Another said she didn't want me to stop because the kids were learning so much. A third said I was explaining difficult concepts in ways she had never thought of, and the kids were getting it -- and having fun to boot!

But the only evaluation that "counts" will be the one that comes in after the tests are graded. Yes, the Big Brother of testing is now watching over authors who speak at schools. I spent three days giving author presentations in central California, funded by a special state program for the children of migrant agricultural workers. It was explained to me that the state requires the children to be tested before and after the presentation so their learning (i.e., my teaching) can be assessed. It was a new experience for me. I had to write a test for each grade level, to be administered both before and after my presentations. Improved scores would be the ticket.

Sounds logical, doesn't it? Sounds simple, right? Wrong! What an awakening it was for me to see firsthand what testing does to teaching. Teachers have to cope with this every day so, if nothing else, at least I could get a feel for their daily reality. And they don't have the opportunity to write to the test.

I'm glad the kids had fun and they learned something but that's only because I got to do what teachers never have the luxury of doing: I ignored the tests. After writing them, I thought about how I could boost scores. I came up with many ways, but I realized a something that teachers have known for years: testing trumps teaching. (For another blog post on the subject of testing, see Vicki Cobb's superb, thought-provoking I.N.K. piece on September 10th.) Here's what I would have done if my main object had been to raise test scores:

speak to the test -- The test is what counts so ignore all else! If a wonderfully teachable moment comes along and it's not on the test, forget it. I use popcorn as a prop to explain big numbers and to show, visually, what happens every time you put a zero after a number. If, as often happens, a child asks, "Did you count all that popcorn?" I should ignore the question and go on. Never mind that it's the perfect opportunity to talk about estimation -- an important concept often misunderstood by both teachers and children. Estimation is not on the test. Forget it.

pretend all children learn in the same way -- There's no time to approach the same subject from different angles in order to reach different kinds of learners. Just get the info out there so they will learn it. Pound it into them. I talk about proportions using the example of a three inch frog hopping 20 feet. "How good of a hopper is that frog for its size?" I ask. In other words, how many of its own size does it hop? There are many ways to approach such a question but there is only time for one approach. To make sure that one gets through...

repeat, repeat, repeat -- If I know I'm making a point that is on the test, I'd better say it three, four, ten times. Then maybe they'll all hear it and remember it. Repeating the same fact or the same approach over and over again takes less time than starting the whole problem over in a different way to accommodate different learning styles.

forget about the love -- Just go for the facts. There is no need to talk about a love of learning or books or, in my case, math and science -- and how my passion for them goes back to my childhood. That's not testable. There is no sense in trying to get my audience to wonder about the world around them ("Wondering is wonderful," I like to say as I show them how my books go back to my childhood musings), but what good is that when it can't be tested?

throw spontaneity out the window -- Normally, I try to read my audience, as a teacher must read her/his class, and respond appropriately. My presentations are not a "speech" that I read aloud or recite from memory. They go in different directions based on the children's responses to what I have already done, and where they inspire me to go next. But with a test lurking in the background, spontaneity will not do! I must go to the same place every time because the test questions are fixed.

Before I got to the schools last week, I thought about all the changes I would have to make to my presentation in order to maximize test scores. And then I decided not to make any of those changes. I decided I'd rather inspire the kids and give them a good time, let them associate math and science with fascination and fun instead of dullness and drudgery. So I gave the presentation I wanted to give. And they loved it, as did their teachers.

When the test scores come in, I'll find out if it was any good.

Social Media for Nonfiction

Nonfiction books for homeschoolers
Nonfictions book blog reviews
Tips on Social Media for Writers

I specifically listed those lines above for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Why? Because I want people to read what I write... don't we all? When someone googles "Nonfiction books for homeschoolers", the search engines will scroll the first few lines of a blog post to search for information on the topic. That's why when we title a post we should should think about what words a person may google to find your post.

This month I started writing a series of articles for Toy Directory Monthly on Social Media topics for the Toy Industry.  For me, the entire social media revolution is a game. By accident, I have learned how to play the game - and several national organizations have asked me to write about and educate the toy industry. I chose to go the TD Monthly route.

In reviewing my current article, How to Use Mommy Blogs to Promote Your Products - Free Publicity Comes with a Price, I thought there were a few points that would resonated with the readers of this blog. (By the way, I didn't title the article which has received some negative comments.) And, yes, this may be considered "preaching to the choir" for most of you, but this reminder won't hurt.

Reaching Out to Mom Bloggers: What to Do

• Read blogs, including the comments, to see which reviewer is a fit for your product.
• Check blog stats at Compete.com, Alexa.com or another analytic site.
• Contact the blogger via a link on their page or email.
• Understand that the blogger may not post a review immediately. Some of the more popular blogs get over 75 per day requests for a blog review.
• Make sure your Web page and links work and are easy to read and navigate.
• Consider giveaways as a fantastic way to drive traffic to a blog and to your site.
• Be prepared for negative reviews.

Before writing this today, I googled and found some fantastic homeschool blogs - many with book reviews.
And lastly, had to mention, that I have a new puppy. Want to know the BEST way to get lots of comments on your facebook page or blog? Post pictures of your new puppy. Works every time!

Now, off to send the link to this blog post to all the search engine sites. And, that's how we play the game!
Comments welcome, especially about Lucy, my new Old English Sheepdog pup!

The Artists of Nonfiction

Here’s where the goodies are. In the fine print. Beneath the Library of Congress catalog stuff that most readers skip.

“The artist used up to forty layers of colored pencil over watercolor wash on 140-pound watercolor paper to create the illustrations for this book.”

---from Rick Chrustowski’s book, Army Ant Parade (Holt, 2001) That’s right. Rick’s book. Okay, so my husband and I stood in army ant swarms and slogged through five muddy days in Panama to see antbirds and yes, I wrote the text. But Rick put up to FORTY LAYERS on some of those hopping frogs and ants and birdies. It’s his book, too.

Chrustowski has this crisp, modern, graphic style that still can give a sense of perspective and landscape. You are in the forest, with the ants, in the thick of the swarm. His art makes the action pop, larger than life, without making the details muddy. Well, you’ll just have to look at it and see. Chrustowski has also written many of his own books, such as Big Brown Bat and Bright Beetle, both from Holt. See more about him at http://www.rickchrustowski.com/

Oct 21-24, 2010 Chrustowski is teaching an in-depth course on bird collage and illustration for grownups. It’s in Minnesota. I’ll be traveling; otherwise I’d be there for sure. It would be a great chance to meet Rick.

Now, I’m off to investigate more notes.

“Illustrations done in watercolor, gouache, and pastel on Arches paper.

Display type set in Ogre, designed by Wayne Thompson and text type set in Weiss

Designed by Susan Mallory Sherman.”

Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Annie Patterson.

These notes reflect the secret artists, the secret work force. There’s an entire layer of work being done on books that is rarely recognized: all that goes into the art and the choice of type and overall book design. What Annie and Susan and Wayne all did made a huge difference in Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out. I give my thanks to them and all the others along the way that have made my words and ideas flock, fly, and swim.

WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION

A couple of years ago I subscribed to a home exchange website, and this summer I took the plunge. I linked three exchanges, staying in 1) a 15^th century Norman farmhouse; 2) a spacious house in west London; and 3) an urban cottage in Cardiff. To justify my self-indulgence, I researched my current INK blog throughout the trip. Actually, that’s not a fib. As I toured the French countryside for ten days and London for six weeks, I monitored old and new ways museums, castles, etc. are presenting history to visitors, and how that might relate to us nonfiction authors.

CHATEAU GUILLAUME LE CONQUEERANT

The Castle of William the Conqueror in Falaise, France is a restored stone heap with enormous empty rooms, until you enter them with your electronic devise. Then they are transformed with medieval music, spoken narrative and poetry, and photos projected on walls and floor. Suddenly you are in a hall where “tapestries” line the walls, a “carpet” covers the floor, and courtly love poems set to music for the Duchess by her faithful knight, echo in your ear.

You enter a medieval chapel to hear haunting plainsong and a story of a conflict between Duke and Pope, taken from letters and papal decrees. The cold stone walls have come to life. Guidebook texts, even read by a narrator, don’t produce the same sense of time travel back to the age when the tapestries, carpets, and music were not electronically created. (Please excuse my inferior photograph. For a better view, see http://www.chateau-guillaume-leconquerant.fr/web/galerie-photo_uk.php, Photos #14-17.)

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HOUSE

Much more modest is the Benjamin Franklin House in Craven Street, Charing Cross, London. Franklin lived here for nearly twenty years, while he was a colonial lobbyist to Parliament. The small, narrow terrace house has few furnishings and, presumably, a small budget. We meet a real-life actress playing the landlady’s daughter, who tells us tales of Franklin’s London life: meeting renowned scientists and politicians, inventing the glass armonica, writing a witty “Craven Street Gazette” to his absent landlady, and paving the road to the American Revolution. Video images and narrative voices bring Franklin and his friends into the room.

KENSINGTON PALACE

My top prize for “bringing history to life” goes to
The Enchanted Palace at London’s Kensington Palace. A many-roomed installation by Wildworks, a group of Cornwall artist and performers, creates an atmosphere that mixes historical settings and biography with contemporary artworks that reflect the lives of seven princesses who lived in the palace over the last 350 years, from Princess Mary (1662-94) to Princess Diana.

In “The Room of Royal Sorrows” we see an elegant bed and learn of Princess Mary, married to her first cousin at fifteen, suffering three miscarriages in that bed, then dying there of smallpox at age thirty-two. A river of fabric shimmering with “tears” flows over the bed; and a table of antique glass bottles shows how tears of joy were collected and stoppered, and tears of sorrow collected and allowed to evaporate (along with the sorrow.) We are asked to write about the last time we cried, and to attach our note to a string of others’ sorrows. Art illuminating history.

We meet Princess Caroline, patron of philosophers and scientists, in The Room of Enlightenment, along with fantastical contemporary mobiles inspired by her interests. Each princess is given poetry, artworks, and a living Explainer who is well-versed in her history. Some room even have Detectors, actors “in history” who engage visitors in the past. This exhibit continues through 2012, so don’t miss it if you’re in London.

SO MUCH MORE…..

History told through story…. I visited the Big Pit Mining Museum in Blaenafon, Wales and descended 300 ft. to walk half a mile through a coal mine and listen to our guide, a Welsh miner who went “down the mines” at age sixteen, until he lost his job in the 1980s closures. We learned about coal mining, along with his personal stories.

The Original London Walks have been favorites of mine for years. I went on several this summer, featuring the 2012 Olympics, Fleet Street, the East End (with its 350 years of immigrants,) as well as costumed guides adopting the personae of Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. Nothing beats learning through storytelling.

NOW THAT I’M HOME….

…..and back at my desk writing biographies, I’m inspired to try to recreate on a printed page the experiences of “being there” – in the place where history happened and stories began. Tough job, that. I’m also inspired to ponder the possibilities when I, and others, will enter the world of multimedia e-books, using music, spoken words, and moving images to enhance the stories we tell.