2 New Writing Books by Ralph Fletcher

Ralph Fletcher has written two new books for writers. One is HOW TO WRITE YOUR LIFE STORY. This is part of the series that he has written that includes POETRY MATTERS, A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK and HOW WRITERS WORK. All of these books are written to help young writers grow as writers and in each Ralph Fletcher shares his own process. In this new book, Ralph Fletcher focuses on writing memories and memoir. He does it in a way that makes sense for kids, helping them think through things like ideas, focus and craft. He also deals a bit with writing difficult scenes or topics. As with his other books, he's included interviews with other children's authors who have written their life stories. (He has chosen authors who have written memoirs of their childhoods.) Author interviews included in this book are Jack Gantos, Jerry Spinelli, and Kathi Appelt.

The other new book about his writing process is REFLECTIONS: AUTHOR AT WORK. This one is a short text--64 pages--with lots of great photos. In this book, he shares his writing process and little things about his life as a writer. The photos allow readers to see how his writing happens. He has specific examples from many of his books that readers will know.

Between the two of these new books, I can see possibilities for lots of great minilessons in Writing Workshop next year. I can also see these two books as books that kids will pick up to read cover to cover.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little

So, I have been having problems finding a character that I love ever since I read CLEMENTINE by Sara Pennypacker. How could anyone compare to Clementine? Well, I finally discovered the character who could be Clementine's new best friend. Moxy Maxwell is an amazing character. I picked up the book MOXY MAXWELL DOES NOT LOVE STUART LITTLE by Peggy Gifford because I loved the premise--a 4th grader who had procrastinated her assigned summer reading until the very last day of summer. The back cover reads:

"Now, Moxy loved to read books. She loved books so much that sometimes she would stay up all night and read. It's just that Maxy liked to read what she wanted to read and not what someone told her to read."

I expected to like the plot but I didn't really expect to love the main character so much that I am looking for the author's email address so that I can beg her to write more about Moxy.

Lots to love about this book--it is a great, short chapter book. Like I said, who can argue with the premise. The chapter titles are fun and the photos throughout are laugh-out-loud funny. But, the very best part of the book is Moxy. I should have known I would love her from the front cover photo--but I didn't spend enough time looking at it since I fell so quickly in love with the blurb on the back.

To help you know Moxy a bit better, here is the except where I decided that I needed more books about Moxy:

"Now, Moxy's mother was not wrong when she pointed out how rare cases of 'in-between' were for her older daughter. To the best of her knowledge, she had never witnessed Moxy in between anything: while Moxy was eating lunch, for example, she was already asking what was for dinner. The day she got her puppy, Mudd, she wanted to know if she could get another to keep him company. Before she could finish one sentence, she had often started another."

This is a quick read--less than an hour. It is one of my new favorites. A great read aloud for the middle grades. (Lots of the humor is meant for older readers--that is one of the things I love about it. Some of the funniest moments could be lost with younger readers.) I may have to read it aloud, although the photos are so fun, kids would have to be able to experience those, too.

Peggy Gifford, it seems from the back flap, originally planned to be a famous actress. After reading this book, I am pretty selfishly happy that her plan did not work out. Her new plan is to become a famous writer instead. I am in total support of this PLAN B. She is really, really good at this writing thing.

If anyone finds Peggy Gifford's address, we need to send letters in bulk, begging for more books about Moxy Maxwell.

Taran Wanderer

Book Four of the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander

This has forever and always been my favorite book of the series. It is bristling with stickie notes marking passages that speak to me. There are many pages with a corner turned down, indicating passages that have spoken to me.

In TARAN WANDERER, Taran leaves home in search of his true identity and in search of his parents. He is still a little obsessed with being born of noble blood so that he will be worthy of Eilowny, but by now, the reader (and Gurgi), at least, know that his nobility has nothing to do with his parents. He is engaged in the universal process of a person striving to become his own (noble) self.

Reading this book was a real surprise. I kept waiting and waiting for the part when Taran learns from the craftsmen of the Free Commots. In my memory, that was the whole book, but in reality it is only the final third! Before Taran gets to the Commots, he meets a king who rules with an iron fist who needs to learn compassion and mediation, and another who believes himself to be generous, but who is actually very stingy. "Indeed, is a man truly what he sees himself to be?" Taran wonders.

In two moments of foreshadowing, Taran learns that the people of the Free Commots are not beholden to any Cantrev Lord, rather they rule themselves. "Indeed, true allegiance is only given willingly," Taran muses. (Perhaps not the USA in actuality, but certainly the ideals of our country.) And Taran has an opportunity to mediate a conflict between the iron-fisted ruler and the not-so-generous ruler, showing a glimmer of leadership skills that will be a part of his destiny later on.

Here's more on the Free Commots: "...no man lords it over his fellows because he had the luck to be born in a king's castle instead of a farmer's hut. What matters in the Free Commots is the skill in a man's hands, not the blood in his veins."

And here's what Taran learns in the Free Commots:

"Life's a matter of luck. Trust it, and a man's bound to find what he seeks, one day or the next...Trust your luck, Taran Wanderer. But don't forget to put our your nets!" (Which I've also heard as "Trust Allah, but tie your camels!")

"Life's a forge! ...Yes, and hammer and anvil, too! You'll be roasted, smelted, and pounded, and you'll scarce know what's happening to you. But stand boldly to it! Metal's worthless till it's shaped and tempered!"

Life is "...a loom, rather, where lives and days intertwine; and wise is he who can learn to see the pattern."

"Craftsmanship isn't like water in an earthen pot, to be taken out by the dipperful until it's empty. No, the more drawn out the more remains. The heart renews itself, Wanderer, and skill grows all the better for it."

"Stale water is a poor drink. Stale skill is worse. And the man who walks in his own footsteps only ends where he began."

The quest for one's true self never ends. Because of that, this book remains timeless in its messages to those who seek to be more than they are at the moment.

Did We Mention...

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Poetry Friday -- A Fable

The Calf-Path

by Sam Walter Foss. Public Domain.

One day through the primeval wood
A calf walked home as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.
Since then three hundred years have fled,
And I infer the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.
The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bell–wether sheep
Pursued the trail o'er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bell–wethers always do.
And from that day, o'er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made.
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because 'twas such a crooked path;
But still they followed – do not laugh -
The first migrations of that calf,
And though this winding wood-way stalked
Because he wobbled when he walked.
This forest path became a lane
That bent and turned and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.
The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The road became a village street;
And this, before men were aware,
A city's crowded thoroughfare.
And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.
Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed this zigzag calf about
And o'er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They followed still his crooked way.
And lost one hundred years a day,
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.
A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.
They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move;
But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf.
Ah, many things this tale might teach —
But I am not ordained to preach.

Poetry Friday is Famous!

Susan at Chicken Spaghetti has an excellent article about Poetry Friday on the PoetryFoundation.org website! Check it out!

(Thanks to Gregory K. for the link.)

The Castle of Llyr

Book Three of the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander

In THE BLACK CAULDRON, Taran had to learn to deal with the nasty, mean-spirited Ellidyr. In THE CASTLE OF Llyr he has to learn to deal with a nobleman who is a doofus. A nobleman who is a doofus who is also to be betrothed to Eilowny, Taran's beloved. So no matter how strong and brave and honorable Taran is, he believes all of those qualities to be trumped by an idiot who happens to be high-born. He must learn that "For a man to be worthy of any rank, he must first strive to be a man."

This book doesn't speak to me the way the others do, however, I know it is necessary in the scope of the series. Fflewddur gets his giant cat, Llyan. Eilowny is almost lost to Taran, but at the very end of the book, the reader is sure they will be reunited. And Taran seems to be done looking to others to discover who he really is and what he will really be. He is ready to look within.

A Summer Book Party!

My brilliant friend Maureen called a few weeks ago with a great idea--"Let's get the girls together a few times this summer to read. We'll throw a bunch of books out and just let them have fun reading together."

I loved the idea so together we planned 6 Summer Book Parties for a few girls from the same first grade class this year. The invitation was simple--come for an hour and bring some good picture books--quick books you can read lots of in an hour. The girls were very excited and the party was a hit!

We put our favorite books everywhere (See, that money I spend on books is well worth it-we filled up the whole room with books!). The girls came in read alone, together, in the house, on the swing set...Then we made sundaes to celebrate. This first party, we had 3 girls. There are 6-7 total so we may have more at future parties. We'll have 3 at our house and 3 at Maureen's house. It is quite a fun thing and a fun way to keep the girls reading all summer.

One of the side benefits was that Ana remembered lots of her old favorites because we had them displayed all day in the house. She also found some that she could read that she hadn't been able to read before. It was a great way to refresh her reading and to remind her of the books she has. What better way to spend summer --with friends, books and ice cream!

Summer Goals Meme

It took me a while to think about my goals for summer-I am just settling in....
With the end of the school year, the book deadline, and life in general, most of my goals are about getting caught back up so I can start the school year semi-organized. Here goes:

1. I'd like to get back to exercising 5-6 days a week. Maybe start running.
2. Read lots--kid stuff but I have a pile of good adult books including WATER FOR ELEPHANTS and A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS.
3. See family and friends often.
4. Get organized for the fall--I started a new job and school this year and never felt totally organized.
5. Learn how to make and decorate a few really good kinds of cupcakes. (I have no patience for cake decorating but I have seen lots of cupcake books that look fun, fancy and more fun than whole cakes.)
6. Like Mary Lee, do a better job with my writer's notebook.
7. Clean every drawer, cupboard, and closet in the house.
8. Nap often.
9. Keep up with Weight Watchers.

Okay, that's enough. Too overwhelming to think about for the 2nd day of summer!
We are not going to tag anyone but invite teachers who have started summer vacation to join in the fun:-)

Fuse #8 Open For Business at SLJ

Check it out here.