Newbery Hopefuls From Our Reading Friends

When we started our blog (almost 2 years ago!) we started it as a way to make public our conversations about the books we hoped would win the Newbery Award. We have never been right, but we love the fun of guessing. This year, we asked some of our reading friends--people who we share our book thinking with throughout the year--to share their thoughts with us. These are people who read lots and know books. We know that we may scramble a bit this next month, reading those 2007 titles that we've haven't gotten to yet. With holiday break coming, we thought others might be interested in doing the same thing. We'll feature a different Reading Friend each day for a while. Enjoy!

Our first installment comes from Jen Allen, a Literacy Coach in Maine. She is also the author of Becoming a Literacy Leader. For anyone who has a job as a literacy coach, this is a must read.

If I had to choose one book to receive the Newbery award it would be
The Aurora County All -Stars by Deborah Wiles. It is just a great read-aloud for students
in the intermediate grades. Good clean fun! Although book evolves around
the kid grabbing topic of baseball, it also weaves in layers about
friendship, gender, judging others, and segregation. Great lessons to be
learned. During this read- aloud I also shared the book, Teammates by
Peter Golenbock to help students strengthen their understanding on the
history of baseball and segregation. An additional treat is how the author
incorporates quotes from poet Walt Whitman and famous baseball players.
I tried this book as a read aloud with both my ten year old son and a 4th
grade class this fall. Both audiences enjoyed the book. I love the feel
good ending. The Aurora County All- Stars is my Newbery pick for the year.

Robert's Snow

The final auction is upon us December 3-7. The Amazing HTML-tress, Tricia, at The Miss Rumphius Effect, has the complete list of Auction 3 illustrators and features compiled here. She and her partner in HTML-tress-ness, Jen Robinson, were responsible for the awesome side-bar info that you've seen throughout the Kidlitosphere. Thanks, Ladies, for all the help you gave to those of us who are HTML-challenged! And of course, one last huge thanks to Jules, at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast, for getting the whole snowball rolling. I can't wait to find out what kinds of fund-raising records were broken at Dana-Farber during this year's Robert's Snow event. Finally, to the person who out-bid me on the one flake I really really wanted, I hope it's making you as happy as it would have made me!

Sunday Silliness

It's that time of the year again. Time for holiday greetings.

We're celebrating two holidays today: Report Cards Are Done (a holiday celebrated by teachers around the world), and Elf Yourself (a holiday brought to you by OfficeMax).

CHEERS!

(If you're feeling grumpy today, you can Scrooge Yourself here.)

Word Work

I'm always looking for fun, engaging, motivating ways for my fourth graders to build up their knowledge of the way words are built -- roots, prefixes, suffixes, and even the little parts that make rhymes, like -at, and -up that make cat and pup.

This week, I tried out this game, Eight Letters In Search of a Word, with my students. I was worried that they would get frustrated, and some did, but because they have grown up on Nintendo and Xbox and Game Boy, they had no problem with running out of time and trying again. They worked to beat their own high scores, they were realistic about low scores when they got a tough set of letters, and when one student figured out the "big word," a new standard was set for ALL of the students (a REAL standard set by the students, not by some governmental committee...but don't get me started). They got really good at finding every variation possible on a small word by substituting consonants, they were smart about using s to make every plural possible, and they worked -ed and -ing for all they were worth when they got those letter combinations. Because all the letters given can ultimately make up an 8-letter word, there was even a little vocabulary development thrown in. When you play this game, you might think it is too hard for 9 and 10 year olds. That is, however, precisely why they liked it so much. It was hard. They had to work for their success. They knew they earned it when they got a high score. And those times when they got the "big word?" Priceless.

Next week, we're going to see how much rice we can donate through the United Nations to help end world hunger by learning new vocabulary words. At Free Rice, you donate 20 grains of rice for every vocabulary word you get right. As you play, the game automatically levels the words you get -- if you get words right, you get harder words, if you miss words, you get easier words. I'm not sure how this will work with my students. Just like we did with 8 Letters, we will play together first, with my computer hooked up to the class TV. I think we can have some great conversations about root words and related words that can help us make a smart guess about the words. Stay tuned for a report on how this goes in my classroom. In the meantime, how much rice did you donate today?

Poetry Friday: New Poetry Book

"Have you watched the fairies when the rain is done
Spreading out their little wings to dry them in the sun?
I have, I have!
Isn't it fun?"

This is the beginning of a poem by Rose Fyleman that is part of a new collection of fairy poems. I just picked up a copy of IF YOU SEE A FAIRY RING: A RICH TREASURY OF CLASSIC FAIRY POEMS illustrated by Susan Lockheart. It is an interesting combo for a poetry book. The book will definitely appeal to my readers who love the new fairy tales and stories out there. It is such a phenomenon in my class! When I opened the book, I realized that many of the poems were written by classic poets like William Shakespeare. I was thrilled to see one by Laura Ingalls Wilder too. Some are excerpts from longer poems which is a nice idea too.

There is something about the illustrations and the way that the words are displayed on the page that make this book one that I am sure my 3rd and 4th graders will pick up. The watercolor illustrations include several "magic windows" that change as the page is turned--showing a different scene from the book. A nice way to get them into more classical poetry, I think.

Because of the window illustrations, this is a big book. Large in size, and thick. But not too big. A fun size for a poetry book.

Perfect timing for a book like this.


Round up is at Two Writing Teachers.

Three Holiday Classics

...and MotherReader's November Carnival of Children's Literature -- The Tips Edition.

Thanks for the gift of knowledge, MotherReader!

Princess Thinking

On the plane home from NYC, I read several articles in the newest issue of Newsweek. I was particularly intrigued by the one called "Princess Power". It was pretty interesting--seems Disney's is marketing to a new crowd with its Disney Princess things. Not only do they want little girls to get into princess things, but they will be marketing to middle class women well beyond their teens. I have not seen the new movie "Enchanted" yet but would like to soon. It is part of the whole princess expansion--sounds like a fun movie that spoofs several of the fairy tale events in a way that gives more strength to the protagonist.

I like fairy tales--always have. But I have always been bothered by the shallowness of the princesses in the ways that they are portrayed. Seems a bit crazy. But seems they are doing something about it.

So I picked up Cynthia Rylant's new book WALT DISNEY'S CINDERELLA. I was shocked to see Cynthia Rylant's name on this new book. Really, she is the last person that I thought would write a version of this fairy tale. But, then I read the book and realized that she is the perfect person for this! It may be my favorite fairy tale now! Somehow Rylant has been able to retell this story with her own voice, staying true to strength and love and the tradition of Cinderella. The language she uses reminds me of the words that make VAN GOGH CAFE one of my all time favorites. This new version is illustrated by the original illustrations done by Mary Blair at Disney. All but a few of the illustrations are from the Walt Disney Library.

Rylant starts the story off like this:

"This is a story about darkness and light, about sorrow and joy, about something lost and something found. This is a story about Love."

and I loved this line:

"One day into these lives came something unexpected, something momentous. It was news which would affect the destiny of each of them in ways none could yet imagine."

and this one:

"The prince had no wife because he had not yet fallen in love. Any young maiden in the kingdom could have been his, for he was brave and kind and destined to be king. But of all the girls he had ever known or seen, not one touched his heart. Not one moved him."

and there are so many more lines that I love.

I love the way Cynthia Rylant retells this story. How she tells the story of Cinderella and the prince falling in love. It is totally true to the story and totally true to Cynthia Rylant.

A huge hit. I love it more and more every time I read it.
Maybe Cynthia Rylant will rewrite all of the fairy tales in a way that will make me want to share them with my daughters. I am a huge Disney fan and a huge Rylant fan. The combination makes me happy. And if Disney is going to market to the 40 year old Moms out there, I guess this is the way to go.

The Sisters' Newly Designed Website

If you love "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) who are the authors of THE DAILY 5, you must visit their newly designed website! I just spent quite a while on it. And like Gail and Joan, it is packed with information and it is lots of fun! They have book recommendations, favorite teaching tools, music they use in their classrooms, information on the DAILY 5, CAFE Assessment and more.

If you are a primary teacher and don't know The Sisters, you will want to.

I just spent lots of time browsing their new site and realized I had to share it with someone! (The graph with the Shrinky Dinks may be my favorite thing-of-today.)

Enjoy!

My NCTE Purchases

I am finally home from NCTE. What a great convention! I learned lots and connected with lots of friends. And I came home with a HUGE bag of books. I promised my class that I'd pick up books and I really lucked out this year. On Sunday of the convention each year, the exhibitors have great sales. So I picked up some older and some new titles. Here are some that I wanted to share.

CHESTER by Melanie Watt is a pretty hysterical new book. Melanie Watt begins to tell the story of her pet mouse but Chester, the cat, interferes with the story. Great humor! (Melanie Watt will be at the Dublin Literacy Conference in February!)

Anthony Browne has a new picture book out called MY BROTHER. The book shares all of the ways that his brother is "cool". He does this with words and great illustrations. Labels really add to each illustration. I have been collecting books on different ways authors write about people so I was happy to add this to my collection.

Something new to add to the SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES--THE CHRONICLES OF SPIDERWICK: A GRAND TOUR OF THE ENCHANTED WORLD NAVIGATED BY THIMBLEWICK is a huge book (a scrapbook) filled with letters, photos and artifacts from the mansion. This one will be fun for students to browse--I think it will be one that would be best after having read the entire series. A pretty fun book with lots to absorb.

I picked up VENOM by Marilyn Singer. It is a pretty big nonfiction book about poisonous animals. It has great photos and is organized by the places you find each particular type of venom. Singer's writing has great humor and her headings are definitely some that can be studied when learning about creative nonfiction writing. Her section on poisonous spiders is titled "A Few Spiders Miss Muffet Should Avoid".

I was thrilled to meet Michale Buckley, author of The Sisters Grimm. A new, fifth in the series, book is out. It is called Magic and Misdemeanor. And it sounds like there are more to come!

I picked up a series that I read about on Planet Esme. There are 5 books in the KEEKER series-a series about a girl and her horse. I am always looking for good new, early chapter books series and this one is perfect. Each book is about 50ish pages long. There are simple illustrations on each page and the stories are perfect for 2-4th graders. I think it will be a big hit since I have so many students who love horses.

I had to pick up THE HOLLY JOLIDAY by Megan McDonald. I haven't read it but it is filled with lots of great color illustrations. It is the first book featuring Judy and Stink. I am happy to see this and hope that she writes more that include both of these characters.

I am always looking for fun, new wordless picture books. So I bought a copy of BOW-WOW BUGS A BUG-- a pretty funny wordless picture book with great, bold illustrations and a great story about a fun dog. Hopefully we'll see more of him soon.

There are others but these are my highlights. I know once I get them to school, I won't be able to get my hands on them again for a while:-)

Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet

Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
illustrated by Sonia Long
Amulet Books, 2007
2007 Cybils Graphic Novel nominee

Library copy. Due today. No renewal possible, which means someone has it reserved. I hope the person who has it renewed is a high school student who desperately needs to read Shakespeare in manga in order to access and comprehend this play. Better yet, I hope the person who has renewed it is a high school English teacher who is gathering all possible versions of Romeo and Juliet in order to meet the needs of every learner in her/his class.

It is what the title says it is: Romeo and Juliet in manga. The setting is present day Tokyo, where two teenagers, Romeo and Juliet, fall in love. Their rival families are still at war. But Romeo is a rock idol, and Juliet is a Shibuya girl (a Japanese "Goth Valley Girl"). Tybalt is tattooed with dragons and Mercutio has dredlocks. Friar John and Friar Laurence are Shinto monks.

Shakespeare's exact words are in speech bubbles rather than lines of poetry, while the story is played out in the classic conventions of manga (as defined by Scott McCloud in his book MAKING COMICS): the iconic characters with simple emotive faces; a strong sense of place; frequent use of wordless panels that prompt readers to "assemble scenes from fragmentary visual information"; small real world details; "various emotionally expressive effects such as expressionistic backgrounds, montages and subjective caricatures"; and "subjective motion -- using streaked backgrounds to make readers feel like they were moving WITH a character, instead of just watching motion from the sidelines."

If you think you know Shakespeare, you must check this out and think again. If you want to know Shakespeare, you should check this out because it will give you a different way into the canon of English Literature. And if you need to know Shakespeare for the test on Monday, this seems like a much better way than CliffsNotes to get a unique understanding of the story.

Poetry Friday -- A Noiseless Patient Spider

"It launched forth filament, filament, filament..."
First, I scanned my shelf of poetry and decided on Walt Whitman. I chose the Nature Company collection in the cardboard sleeve, illustrated with provocative black and white photos.

"It launched forth filament, filament, filament..."
I quickly found a poem that spoke to me -- A Noiseless Patient Spider. But could I use the whole poem? What would Copyright say?

"It launched forth filament, filament, filament..."
I did pointless Google search after fruitless Google search until I ran across the phrase I needed but couldn't find inside my brain: Public Domain. And my answer: Yes, you can use the whole poem.

"It launched forth filament, filament, filament..."
But then I found LibriVox: "LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books." And here are eight different readings of A Noiseless Patient Spider. Eight. As in, how many legs does a spider have?

"It launched forth filament, filament, filament..."
And those eight readings made me think of this email I got from Franki (she's still in NYC):

Did you pick this up at the exhibit hall?
Might be a good poetry Friday post--just an fyi.
It is a pretty cool project and site.
Videoclips of kids reciting these poems.
Much more fun than a spelling bee, I would think.

Franki

http://www.poetryoutloud.org/

Poetry Out Loud dot org. Out loud. Like LibriVox.

Enough. Here's the poem:



A NOISELESS PATIENT SPIDER
by Walt Whitman

A noiseless, patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to
xxxxxconnect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.



Roundup is at Susan Writes.

On Second Thought

Squiggles: A Really Giant Drawing and Painting Book
by Taro Gomi
Chronicle Books, 2007
review copy compliments of the publisher

I grew up with coloring books and paper dolls. I learned to keep my coloring inside the lines and my cutting on the lines. I can only wonder how my life would be different if I had had this drawing and painting book that is filled with partially drawn pictures to be completed however one wants, and provocative sentences that pluck one's creativity strings (for example, in the "Time to Eat" section -- "This is going to be very difficult to eat.")

Initially, this book went up on the gifts-to-give shelf in my closet to wait for the children of my friends to be old enough to enjoy and provide a "guest review." ON SECOND THOUGHT...I am going to take this book to school and give it to my students for homework. Stay with me here: each child will take the book home for a night and complete one of the pictures in any way he or she desires. It's a big book ("A Really Giant Drawing and Painting Book") so everyone will have a chance to do more than one page over the course of the rest of the year. We will make a very different kind of class book that will preserve these students' art and writing in a unique way.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Junior Edition
by David Borgenicht and Robin Epstein
Chronicle Books, 2007
review copy compliments of the publisher

This seemed at first glance to be the perfect mentor text for a unit of study in writing workshop on "how to" writing. The book is divided into four chapters where a child's survival skills would be tested: at home, at school, in her/his social life, and outdoors. In each chapter, there are about a half a dozen "How To" situations, ranging from "How to Survive Being Grounded" to "How to Survive Farting in Public." Each survival situation begins with an introductory paragraph and a short numbered or bulleted list of steps. Perfect, right? Well, ON SECOND THOUGHT, I considered the very serious, very difficult, very un-frivolous survival situations that several of my students are going through right now. This book will be a part of my classroom library, and we'll discuss the format of the book when we look at nonfiction writing. I will probably invite students to add their own survival tips on 4x6 index cards in a pocket I'll make in the back of the book. But I don't think that in this class this year I will use this book for a whole-class project on "How To" writing.

NCTE: The Details

I have recovered from sleeplessness, sore joints (from all the walking), and two days of (pre-holiday/end of grading period) teaching. Now it's time to reflect back on NCTE. (Along with Jen, Betsy, Hloney, and Stacy and Ruth...among others, I'm sure. If you've got a post, let me know in the comments and I'll add you in!)

Great Sessions
Regie Routman spoke about how writing has the power to change children's lives...even more than reading. She was very inspirational. I can't wait to read her newest book, TEACHING ESSENTIALS.

Randy Bomer and three of his colleagues spoke about teaching the new literacies without technology -- as habits of mind and materials. They showed us ways to build a schema of the internet for children, with writing activities that promote an understanding of linking, multimodality, and design.

Bruce Morgan, Debbie Miller and Ellin Keene talked about professional development that has made a difference for each of them. Their examples ranged from the very personal (Bruce's) to institutional (Ellin's).

Betsy Bird (Fuse #8) shared a short list of books that defy description and categorization. I was familiar with most of them, but HOWTOONS is, in two days, the most popular book in my classroom.

Welcome to the Kidlitosphere was the best session in the history of NCTE! Okay, I'm a little biased, but we worked hard, had fun, and the folks who came to our session really wanted to be there. It was great to meet Stacy and Amy and Denise! Thanks for coming, fellow bloggers!

Children's Literature Assembly Breakfast featured Allen Say as the speaker. We got to see and hear his newest book, still in the editing stages. It's a sweet story with gorgeous pictures of the countryside of one of Japan's small, less inhabited islands.

Amazing Food
The reception for Rudine Simms Bishop (recipient of the Outstanding Educator Award) was held at The View on the 45th floor of the Marriott Marquis. The snacks included delicious raspberries and blackberries.

Liz, Susan, Jen and I had great Thai food at Pongsri.

AJ's brother suggested we eat at Keen's Steakhouse. The food was fabulous. I have never eaten a piece of red meat that big in one sitting, and I don't think I ever will again. But it was yummy. The creme brulee was...eh. Not the best I've ever had.

The Stenhouse NCTE Author Breakfast was at a quintessential New York deli: The Carnegie Deli. I was still stuffed from Keen's, so I ordered a fruit bowl. Think MIXING bowl size! A bagel and lox came with a two inch stack of lox and a slab of cream cheese the size of the BOXES of cream cheese in the grocery store!

Sharon Hancock from Candlewick invited me to a small, intimate dinner with Megan McDonald (of Judy Moody fame). We ate at Artisinal. The mix of people was very fun. In addition to Sharon, there was Charlie and Jenny from Candlewick; Laura and Sarah, librarians in Queens; Malore, formerly of ALA and now in charge of bringing The Electric Company back to life; and Carolyn, a retired high school librarian/professor of librarianship. And me, a blogger. I had the pumpkin risotto, Malore was the one who braved the pigeon in chocolate sauce, and what was I thinking when I had the creme brulee at a fromagerie?!?! Why didn't I get the CHEESEcake??? Oh, well. I'll have to go back, I guess!

The Loot (in no particular order)
HOWTOONS by Griffith, Dragotta, and Bonsen (HarperCollins booth sell-out)
THE CASTLE CORONA by Sharon Creech (HarperCollins booth sell-out)
THE PAINTED DRUM by Louise Erdrich (HarperCollins adult books booth one-free-book)
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES by Jeff Kinney (uncorrected proof)
STINK AND THE GREAT GUINEA PIG EXPRESS by Megan McDonald (ARC, Candlewick dinner)
JUDY MOODY AND STINK: THE HOLLY JOLIDAY by Megan McDonald (signed, Candlewick dinner)
TRAILBLAZERS: POEMS OF EXPLORATION by BobbiKatz (review copy, signed)
HONEYBEE by Naomi Shihab Nye (uncorrected proof)
THE BEST EID EVER by Asma Mobin-Uddin (she lives just down the road from my school!!!)
HOW TO PAINT THE PORTRAIT OF A BIRD by Mordicai Gerstein (give-away by the publisher because I stood and looked at the book!)
KAMISHIBAI MAN by Allen Say (CLA breakfast)
(...and a few more that stayed at school...)

NCTE: Wow!

What a great conference!

Too bad I have to go to work today instead of reflecting on the great sessions I attended (Regie Routman wins for inspiration; Randy Bomer and his co-presenters win for ideas I want to try in my classroom), the amazing food I ate (and some that I didn't -- pigeon in chocolate sauce), the distances I walked (will my feet and hips ever recover?), the books I got for free or cheap, and the new friends I met (some for the first time ever, and some for the first time in person).

Stay tuned for more!

Welcome CCBC Visitors!

We are proud to be the "Link of the Month" at the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the School of Education University of Wisconsin-Madison!

If you haven't checked out the CCBC website, go now and look at all the children's literature/education resources they have! This page of links is a great overview. Bookmark it for frequent use!

Thank You For Your Patience

We are NYC bound for the National Council of Teachers of English annual convention!

Polishing up the presentation, doing one more load of laundry and packing, writing lesson plans for the substitutes, finding quotes for the speeches...whew!

Hopefully, we'll manage to post some highlights during the conference, but if not, stay tuned for some post-conference posts next week!

Poetry Friday -- A Meditation on Consumerism

I give you the middle stanza. Here is the whole poem, which begins with apples and ends with a dog.

The Necessary Brevity of Pleasures
by Samuel Hazo

***
Call it a tug-of-war between enough and more
than enough, between sufficiency
and greed, between the stay-at-homers
and globe-trotting see-the-worlders.
Like lovers seeking heaven in excess,
the hopelessly insatiable forget
how passion sharpens appetites
that gross indulgence numbs.
Result?
The haves have not
what all the have-nots have
since much of having is the need
to have.
***

The round-up is at a wrung sponge.

The Complete 4 For Literacy by Pam Allyn

I heard Pam Allyn, author of THE COMPLETE 4 FOR LITERACY, speak at the Connecticut Reading Association Convention last week. I have been spending the last few days with the new book and am loving it.

Now, I am not usually a fan of things with names or numbers attached. My inferring skills have told me that many of these have been far too prescriptive, contrived, and scripted for me.

But, the Complete 4 is none of these! It is AMAZING.

Pam Allyn has created a framework to help teachers plan literacy in a way that keeps the decision making on the teacher. She respects our knowledge and does not intend to tell us how to teach. However, the framework she provides is brilliant. She has thoughts about yearlong planning so that all areas of literacy are covered over the course of the year. She spends time talking about the importance of the whole school, K-5 conversation so that students' learning builds. She shares goals for various units and how the goals would be different in a K-2 nonfiction unit than a 3-5 nonfiction unit. She shares sample yearlong plans with explanations about the things she's included. She includes ways to teach conventions in authentic ways in both major and minor units.

This is really better than any planing guide I have ever seen. It is really a tool to help teachers THINK in powerful ways about their daily and long-term planning.

I have a habit of becoming TOTALLY obsessed with a professional book every year or two. This is the book I am currently totally obsessed with. Such amazing ideas and they seem like things that teachers at all experience levels would find helpful. I have rethought my planning already and I can't wait to share it with teachers that I work with.

On a side note, check out Pam Allyn's website. She founded a Books for Boys program in NYC that is pretty amazing.

My Dead Girlfriend

My Dead Girlfriend
by Eric Wight
TOKYOPOP, 2007
a 2007 Cybils nominee

This was a fun book to read, and it is going to be even more fun to review. I'm going to get to use the phrase, "bitch-slapped by a Honda" in this review, and that's an occasion I don't want to miss. (You might remember the time another Kidlitosphere blogger used a similar phrase. My role model.)

I really didn't think I was going to like this book. After all, I had just finished reading The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci, and she gets high school cliques so right. Now here I was reading about caricatures of high school cliques: The Deadbeats are just that -- led by a vampire and including Frankenstein the bully. The Aberzombies are brainless conformists. The Foreign Exchange Students are aliens. Literally. The Coven of Witches are the drug dealers. The Lab Monkeys are the science nerds. Finney and Dahlia seem to be the only "normal" kids in the school. (It always seems like you are the normal one, right? Surrounded by all the freaks?) Right about here is when Finney gets beat up by the Frankenstein bully. When Dahlia asks him if he's okay, he says, "Felt kind of like being bitch-slapped by a Honda."

Then Finney meets Jenny Wraith (just a little foreshadowing there) at the carnival and has a great time. They arrange to meet the next day, but Jenny never shows up. Finney is in a deep, deep funk. Then his dad (who is a ghost) has a heart to heart talk with him and tells him that while he can't choose the way he'll die, he can choose the way he'll live. So Finney snaps out if it and asks Dahlia to the movies.

While walking home through the woods, Finney is ambushed by Franken-bully and his pals. Just when it seems that all is lost, a dark spirit (death is fighting for Finney's life?) swoops in and takes out the whole group, then whisks Finney away to the graveyard. And shows him a gravestone. The gravestone of Jenny Wraith, who fell into a well and died the day she was supposed to meet Finney and didn't. Then the hood of the dark cape falls away and you see that the ghost of Jenny is who saved Finney.

There you have it: the dead girlfriend in the title of the book. Plus, the perfect set-up for book two in the series. What is Finney going to do about Dahlia, the live girl that he asked to go to the movies, now that he has a dead girlfriend?

And the winner is...

...MsMac! That lucky lady who won all the piles of books at the Kitlitosphere Conference (and also agreed to host Conference #2), and who has won chocolates from Robin Brande has now won Matt Phelan's Raffle Doodle! ENOUGH, ALREADY! Give the others a chance!

I was going to take pictures of the whole process to document the fairness of it all, but I left my camera at school. You'll have to take my word for it. She won it, fair and square. (Using my new JacketFlap hat must have conjured up her good mojo from the conference.)

New Professional Book from Regie Routman

On Friday, I was in Connecticut for their Connecticut Reading Association Annual Convention. What a great day it was! (I will share some highlights in another post.) Aside from learning a ton in some great sessions, I spent quite a bit of money before 9 am! Before I went book shopping, I was able to buy some great new jewelry from a company called Purple Umbrella. Great stuff by a variety of artists from around the world. If you are in the mood for a new necklace, check it out:-)

After the jewelry shopping, I hit the booksellers. It is a great time to buy new professional books. So many new great ones out this month! I picked up several. The one that I read on the plane ride home and that I would HIGHLY recommend is TEACHING ESSENTIALS: EXPECTING THE MOST AND GETTING THE BEST FROM EVERY LEARNER, K-8 by Regie Routman. It is a quick read with so much for us to think about. The back of the book says:

"What makes a teacher outstanding? More than anything, it's a way of being with kids in the classroom that lets them know they're smart and capable of high achievement. When you combine this mind-set with effective instruction, teaching and learning is transformed."

Regie takes the opportunity in this new book to help us think about some of our most struggling students and the stance that we take with them-how much things can change when we truly believe they are smart and treat them accordingly. She shares stories from many of the schools in her work where some students labeled with a special education label were changed when instruction was delivered in a way that valued their intelligence. That good classroom instruction is good for ALL students, especially those who are not always successful in schools.

In her introduction, Regie writes:
"My hope is you will use TEACHING ESSENTIALS as a catalyst for your thinking: that reading this text may affirm what you are doing as well as create a little dissonance that causes you to reflect on your teaching. This book is an invitation to think and talk more deeply about how to improve and sustain effective, daily literacy practices across all subject areas and throughout the school year so that all students and teachers reach the highest possible levels of learning, achievement, independence and enjoyment.

As always, Regie Routman brings us back to what is essential in our work with our students--what makes sense for all students and why every student deserves this. She makes a strong argument for inviting every child into the learning community --and shares what happens when we really, truly believe that every child is smart and capable.

There is also a great companion website that adds to the book with videoclips, study guide and more.
Thanks, Regie!

Poetry Friday -- Teachers' Overture*

*To the tune, more or less, of The William Tell Overture

This song was inspired by the Mom's Overture that we wrote about last weekend, and composed by compiling (and fluffing) the comments to that post. Thanks to all who contributed!

Ready, Teachers? SING IT:


Good morning!
Have a seat,
Quiet voices, sign in.

Eyes up here,
Sit up straight,
Turn your homework in.

Sit down please,
Be mature,
1, 2, 3 and...FREEZE!

Get your books,
Line up now,
Be nice (please).

Marshmallow toes,
Clam lips,
Skinny line, eyes on me.

Have a seat,
Quiet voices,
Time for library.

Get a book,
Get a chair,
Criss-cross applesauce,

SHHHHH
SH SH
SH SH SH.

Are you sure? Where's your work? What did she? What did you?
Whatcha doin'? Are you sure? Again? So soon?
Was that a good choice? What's a better one, then?
Are you sure? Really? What happens when?

No you can't: take a nap, play with food, go again,
Practice wrestling, jump like frogs, eat chocolate for a snack,
go outside without a coat it is cold outside.
ACT YOUR AGE! (Oh, yeah, you are.)

Come to the meeting area.
Bring your writer's notebooks.
Do your self-eval.
Choose a just-right book.

Do your best. Try.
Take a risk. Try.
I know it's hard for you,
Please give it a try.

Fingers on
Home Row,
Pockets on the carpet.

Hands in laps,
Quiet signs,
Voices off, zip it!

Put it away--
back pack!
Take it home, don't bring it back.

Keep your hands
To yourself.
Tell the truth. Help your friend.

I can't hear myself think!
The only one talking right now is ME!
This is your last warning!
Be patient, I'm coming, there's only one of ME!

This is not democracy;
It's a benevolent dictatorship.
I'll explain it later. Ask your parents.
Ask 3 before you ask me!

Nice work!
Good job!
I like the way you did...

Tell me more!
Oh, wow!
That's so way cool!

Easy peezy
Lemon squeezy
I knew you could!

Aren't you proud?!
How's it feel?!
Share with the whole class!

Get your homework,
Get your books,
Get your lunch boxes.

Time to go,
Line up now,
Have a nice night!

Walk please,
Quiet voices,
Don't run to your bus!

WHEW!
What a day,
Where's happy hour?

Pippi Longstocking and Lauren Child--what a match!

I am a huge Lauren Child fan. Love all of her books and can happily watch entire episodes of Charlie and Lola on TV. She is brilliant. So, I am not sure how I missed the exciting news that she has just illustrated a classic favorite--
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. But, I did find it yesterday.

I always liked Pippi but I didn't love her. I read all of the books and had a ball thinking about what it would be like to be her neighbor. But, I must say that Lauren Child's version of Pippi is quite lovable. She is still the same Pippi but more fun, in my opinion.

So, the story is the classic one that we all read. But the book is large with large print and not quite so many words on a page. It is a fun size for kids.

So, I brought it into my room today and just asked if anyone knew Pippi Longstocking. None of them had ever heard of the book but they were like bargain-shopping women at a sale trying to get it from me. (I finally let a little girl have it who had just finished a book yesterday. ) Really, there was something about the book that they had to have it. They knew nothing about it but it LOOKED like a book they wanted to read. Lauren Child has that impact on people. I imagine I will never get it back as several kids have their eye one it.

So, I am thrilled about this book. It is absolutely adorable.

Robert's Snow -- Matt Phelan

"She Never Misses"
(ink and watercolor on paper mounted to flake)

Mark your calendar for the third auction of the Robert's Snow: For Cancer's Cure fundraiser at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, December 3-7, so you can bid on Matt Phelan's snowflake.

Look at that sly little grin, those arched eyebrows just daring you to come within range of that perfectly formed snowball. What spirit! What spunk!

Come to think of it, she reminds me a bit of Matt Phelan himself! When you look at Matt's work, you'll see that he has not lost touch with his inner air guitarist/trampoline jumper/yodeler/Tarzan.

In Matt's interview with 1000 Times No, a blog/podcast that explores the No's in life, I learned that Matt went through quite a few No's before he became an illustrator of children's books. His most notable No was the time he learned that the optioned screenplay he had quit his job to write would never be made into a movie. However, all of Matt's work in theater developed his skills of interpretation, which he has applied to illustration. After getting the screenplay no, he joined SCBWI and risked a portfolio review. Turned out to be the best $30.00 he ever spent, because it led to his first illustrating job!

Matt's first book came out in 2005:

The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs
written by Betty G. Birney
(Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2005).
Three more followed in 2006:

The New Girl…and Me
written by Jacqui Robbins
(Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2006)


The Higher Power of Lucky
written by Susan Patron
(Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2006)


Rosa Farm
written by Liz Wu
(Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2006)


Matt's 2007 books are:

Floridius Bloom and the Planet of Gloom
written by Lorijo Metz
(Dial Press, 2007)


A Box Full of Kittens
written by Sonia Manzano
(Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2007)


Where I Live
written by Eileen Spinelli
(Dial Press, 2007)


Very Hairy Bear
written by Alice Schertle
(Harcourt Children’s Books, 2007)

Matt keeps a sketch blog at Planet Ham. If you search his blog for all the posts labeled "Illustration Friday," you will see that he participated EVERY WEEK in 2006! Quite a goal, and quite a variety of pieces!

On Matt's website, you will learn that he is tickled to be able to say, "Now available in specially marked boxes of Cheerios is a cute-as-a-button miniature edition of The New Girl...and Me! The free book (one of five) is all part of Cheerios' very cool Spoonful of Stories program." You can also find some gorgeous Matt Phelan Original Wallpaper for your computer screen, and take a tour of his studio.

But here's what you've really been waiting for, my interview with Matt:

How and why did you get involved with the Robert's Snow project?
I first heard of the project two years ago and thought it was a fantastic idea. When the call for new snowflakes came up on the Blue Rose Girls blog this year, I wrote to Grace immediately and asked if I could participate.

What are some other children's book illustrators whose work you especially admire?
I'm a huge fan of children's books, so my list is pretty long. Emily Gravett, Brian Floca, and Alexandra Boiger are just a few current faves off the top of my head. Angela Barrett's recent version of Beauty and the Beast is stunning. David Small is not only one of our finest draftsmen, he is an absolute master of pacing. From the golden age, I have to put Ernest Shepard at the top of my list.

Did you have any sense when you were illustrating The Higher Power of Lucky that it might be Newbery material? Any idea that there would be the big brouhaha over the anatomical vocabulary?
I knew it was a wonderful book but it didn't occur to me to consider its award potential. To be honest, I wasn't sure an illustrated novel was even eligible. Although I realized that I had never read the word scrotum in a novel before, I had no idea it would cause a controversy. How naive.

Can you tell us anything about your top secret mission in Maine? (see sketches in recent posts on his blog)
Well heck, it wouldn't be much of a secret if I cracked the first time someone asked about it. No, I will say absolutely nothing. Except that the mission was for a book I'm writing. And the subject is somewhat nautical. But really, that's it. Stop your clever interrogation tricks!

Okay. No more clever interrogation. On to the silly stuff! Beer, wine, or sparkling water?
Beer. But only microbrewed beer, preferably from the Philadelphia area which includes some of the best breweries in the world.

Cake, pie, or creme brulee?
Creme brulee, because making it involves a tiny blow torch. It's the dessert of welders.

Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music, or Oklahoma?
I'll have to pick Oklahoma because sometimes I whisper the phrase "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" as a mantra. It's very soothing.

Here's what ELSE you've been waiting for: a "raffle doodle" being offered by Matt to one lucky reader of this Robert's Snow feature. Just leave a comment, and at the end of the week, I'll put all of the commenters' names in a hat and we'll draw for a winner! This is the original sketch that you might win:
Let the auction fun begin! May Robert's Snow be a giant blizzard of bidding that shuts down schools for five days. When it stops snowing, let's meet at the park for a snowball fight. I get to be "She Never Misses," and I personally want to throw the snowball (maybe with a rock or piece of ice in the center -- he doesn't play fair, so why should I) that hits Cancer right between the eyes so that snow goes behind his glasses and he's blinded, he gets a bloody nose, and goes running to mommy. Take THAT, you creep, for the year of hell you gave me! And THAT for all of my friends you've pelted...especially the ones you've taken out of the game way too early.

A Growing Kidlitosphere!

When we celebrated our Blog Birthday in January, we thanked Melissa for this post where she created the word KIDLITOSPHERE.

On January 2, 2007, the word KIDLITOSPHERE was official with 538 Google Hits.
On June 23, the word had 15, 700 hits.

Today, I was getting things ready for a workshop I have talking to teachers about words. I always share this true-to-life Frindle-like story, so I googled the word again to see how popular it is getting.

As of today, October 28, the word gets 36,900 hits when googled!
Pretty cool, huh?

Mom's Overture (Teachers' too!)

This is the funniest thing we've seen on YouTube in a long time. Maybe ever. It is everything a mom would say in 24 hours condensed into 2 minutes and 55 seconds, and set to the William Tell Overture.

So, it got us thinking about all the things teachers say in a school day.

Let's gather a list of all of the kinds of things we say. While we might never sing it on YouTube, perhaps you could hum the William Tell Overture while you read it.

Here are a few of our common phrases to get you started:

Have a seat, get ready for math, zip, exCUSE me?!?
Take out your homework, come to the meeting area, did you sign in?
Bring your writer's notebook, do your self-evaluation, find it!
What happens when...? What did you...? Where is your...?
Don't forget to do your lunch count.
Get your coats--it's cold out today.
Pick up the scraps around your table.
What's going on? Whatcha doin'?
Clean your desk, look again, are you sure?
What are you going to do about that?
Take out your planner, sit down please, shhhhhhh...
We're ready for a quiet line.
Have a good evening! Don't forget your homework!

Send us your best phrases, and we'll compile them all into a Teacher's Overture.

***
Edited to add this one I just found on Cynthia Lord's blog: "A fourth-grade teacher in Franconia, New Hampshire sent me a link to a podcast of his students discussing RULES. Wow.

First, my jaw dropped and then I got teary listening to those kids! What thoughtful comments. I especially loved when they are discussing, "Is life fair for Catherine?" and "How do you define regular and normal?" how one student said there is an "infinity chance" of normal.

I also smiled when the teacher said, "The only person who should be moving right now is . . . ." That reminded me so much of being a teacher, myself."

This 'n That

I'm just getting ready to go check out today's Robert's Snow posts. I haven't kept up on my blog reading since this blizzard of posting started, but I have read almost every Robert's Snow post on the day it was posted. And if not on the day, the day after. This dedication to reading Snow posts and lack of regular blog reading habits has, of course, resulted in me being days late to important revelations, and thoughtful conversations. I'm sure there's plenty of other action in the kidlitosphere that I've missed, but since I don't know what it is, I'm not worrying about it!

How about a few Halloween diversions, just for hoots?!?!? (pun intended)

• Check out Sam Riddleburger and Cece Bell's daily Halloween features. They've got some amazing (even sock monkey) pumpkin carving and some creative costuming (Oompa-Loompa legs not withstanding) going on!
• Speaking of pumpkin carving, here's extreme pumpkin carving.
• If you want the basics, go here or here.

Now, get back to work, or go outside and enjoy the fall weather, all of you who have enjoyable fall weather.

Poetry Friday -- Halloween ABC

Halloween ABC
by Eve Merriam
Illustrated by Lane Smith
Copyright 1987


I'm feeling old. (It doesn't take much these days.) Eve Merriam's book of 26 Halloween poems has been one of my all-time favorite holiday books since...this is where the problem lies...since close to the beginning of my teaching career. Yeah. That long. And when I went to Powell's to get an image and a link, it wasn't there. Because it's out of print.

Come to find out, I missed the release of the updated version in 2002:







I doubt I would have bought it because, frankly, it doesn't look as spooky as the original book. I really liked Lane Smith's dark, foreboding illustrations. It appears from the reviews that the poems are the same in both books, only the illustrations have been updated. And the poems are classic Eve Merriam. If she chooses some predictable Halloween subjects for some of the letters, she writes a surprising poem. Every poem is completely unique -- there is no formula for the poems that make them repetitious and boring. The poem for Apple begins,

Apple,
sweet apple,
what do you hide?
Wormy and
squirmy,
rotten inside.

(You can see the whole poem for Apple here.)

This poem is a good example of the way the whole book twists and turns your expectations for what each poem might be about, or what word she might choose for each letter of the alphabet.

Grab this book (if you can find it), turn the lights off and light a flickering candle, get out your spookiest voice, and have a great read aloud! Happy Halloween!

*****

Today's roundup is at Literary Safari, a new blog for me. Look around their blog a bit before you click out to the poems today. They've got some great stuff over there!

The Plain Janes

The Plain Janes
by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
DC Comics
Copyright 2007

2007 Cybils Nominee




There are three main plot lines in this graphic novel for teens.

1. The main character, Jane, is walking by a cafe in Metro City when a bomb goes off. Her parents are afraid to live in the city, so they move to the suburbs.
2. As the new kid at Buzz Aldrin High, Jane consciously negotiates the cliques. She refuses to join the "cool girls," and yet when she sits at a table of outcasts, she finds herself in the unique position of being an outcast of even the outcasts.
3. Jane writes letters to another of the bomb blast victims, a young man known only as John Doe who has been in a coma since the blast. Jane saved him, picked up his "Art Saves" sketch book, put up posters of him to try to learn his identity, and visited him in the hospital. She takes his sketch book with her when her family moves to the 'burbs.

These three plot lines twist together to form the story of how Jane wins over the outcasts and turns them into the most popular group at Buzz Aldrin High. She involves the girls (another Jane, Jayne, and Polly Jane -- hence the Plain Janes of the title) in secretly creating public art installations/events/attacks that are claimed by the group P.L.A.I.N.: People Loving Art In Neighborhoods (hence the Plain Janes of the title).

Lo and behold, art does save -- it saves all of the Janes and gives them a powerful girl gang that helps them come to terms with high school cliques in their own unique ways.

The Plot Thickens

Bone 6: Old Man's Cave
by Jeff Smith
Review copy -- purchased for the classroom by a parent at our school book fair (Thanks again!!!)

Suspense is building in the continuing saga of the three Bone cousins.

Grandma Ben's sister (who was thought to be dead) is actually The Hooded One who works for the Lord of the Locusts. Whoda thunk?

The Hooded One thinks Phoney Bone is the key to everything because his larger than life campaign-for-mayor balloon (the one that got the Bones run out of town in the first place) has become snagged at the entrance to the lair of the Lord of the Locusts. There looms this omen: a gigantic Phoney Bone with a torn ribbon across his chest reading, "Phoncible P. Bone Will Get You..."

Back when it was a campaign balloon, it read, "Phoncible P. Bone Will Get Your Vote." So it's all a big over-inflated misunderstanding, but before they can all have a chuckle about it and move on, the Lord of the Locusts swarms Princess Thorn and overtakes her. Fone Bone saves her with the necklace the Red Dragon gave him...or does he? She reawakens at the end of the book, but walks off the last page with her hood pulled down over her face...like the Stick Eaters.

"To be continued..."

Robert's Snow--LIVE!

As I mentioned last week, my 81 Days of Balance ended with a workshop for Choice Literacy I had this past weekend. As I was pulling together final details a few days before the trip, I realized that my plane was landing just 22 minutes away from the Child At Heart Art Gallery where the Robert's Snow Snowflakes were on display! What luck! So, we decided to take a tiny detour to visit the gallery and the snowflakes. (So, it was pouring down rain and we had no umbrella--as you can tell by the photo--but it was so worth it!)


WOW! I thought they were amazing online but they are GORGEOUS in real life. Each one is absolutely breathtaking. It was pretty powerful to see them all in one place. There are several that I hope to bid on--a few that I fell immediately in love with. I know you must all be a bit jealous--I know Mary Lee was (It didn't really help that I reminded her every 30 minutes that I was going to see the snowflakes in real life!) The snowflakes have moved on from the gallery and onto the Danforth Museum of Art. If you are ANYWHERE near the museum, it is a pretty amazing thing to see--the snowflakes all in one place. The art was amazing but having the snowflakes on display here was such a powerful tribute it is to Robert Mercer.

And I am so happy to have met my new friend Paul, the owner of the gallery. What a place! As a children's book person, I can't believe my luck in finding it. The gallery is filled with children's book art. Original pieces and prints from so many artists. I feel like I found such a great treasure. Not only a place to purchase original art but a person who has developed great relationships with many of the artists and knows so much about children's book art.

It was a great day--the time we spent in the Gallery seeing the snowflakes, looking at the art, meeting and chatting with Paul, and of course buying a few things! If y0u are ANYWHERE near the gallery, I would highly recommend a visit. And if you aren't near it, but are looking for great children's book art, it seems like this is the place that can probably find it for you!

As an added resource for you moms out there, if you make it to Newburyport, I would make sure to get to the Pink Hearts/Blue Soles children's shoe store. A kind of dangerous place with the best children's shoes I've ever seen--all in one place. I am thinking of flying to Newburyport to shop for schools shoes for my daughter next fall:-) If our kids are going to learn to read in school, I think they need to do it in great shoes, don't you? (See, I knew I could connect this shoe store somehow....)

Needless to say, I loved Newburyport, the Child at Heart Art Gallery, the Snowflakes and the shoe store. What a great way to end my 81 Days of Balance:-)

Robert's Snow -- Week Two

Note to Blog Readers about Blogging for a Cure: When Jules of 7-Imp put out her call in September for bloggers to interview/feature artists who had created snowflakes for Robert’s Snow 2007 at their blogs, a number of artists had not yet sent in their snowflakes to Dana-Farber. As time was of the essence to get Blogging for a Cure underway, we worked with the list of artists whose snowflakes were already in possession of Dana-Farber. Therefore, not all the participating artists will be featured. This in no way diminishes our appreciation for their contributions to this worthy cause. We hope everyone will understand that once the list of artists was emailed to bloggers and it was determined which bloggers would feature which artists at their blogs, a schedule was organized and sent out so we could get to work on Blogging for a Cure ASAP. Our aim is to raise people’s awareness about Robert’s Snow and to promote the three auctions. We hope our efforts will help to make Robert’s Snow 2007 a resounding success.

• Thank you to Elaine of Wild Rose Reader for the above Public Service Announcement.
• Thanks also to Tricia of The Miss Rumphius Effect and Jen of Jen Robinson's Book Page for providing the html code for the links in the sidebar. Those two can write code to either relax from a stressful week of report writing at work, or while watching sports on TV. I just have one word for that: wow.
• And, of course, MEGA thanks to the amazing Jules of 7-Imp for having the vision to bring the Kidlitosphere together for this important project, and the organizational skills to make it happen!

Guest Reviews

A former student sent me these reviews of a couple of new books I passed along to her to read.

Letters from Rapunzel

Review by Eye Red Abook

When you open the pages of Letters from Rapunzel, you will be entranced into the average world of, you guessed it, Rapunzel! This young tween is despairing because of her Homework Club and of her father’s clinical depression “Evil Spell," so she writes to a Post Office Box number to confide her troubles to an unknown stranger. This is a hilarious and heartwarming tale that should now be in your hands, as you sit, spellbound, on the davenport, reading.

Into the Wild

Review by Fan Tasy

Imagine a world in which you are doomed to repeat, over and over, the same old fairy tale, and you have to be the same character. This is the world Julie encounters as she tries bravely to retrieve her mother, Rapunzel, her adopted brother, Puss-in-Boots, and her adopted grandmother, Gothel. This fast-paced tale has twists and turns every way you look, so beware. The Wild bites, even harder than Julie knows.

Dot to Dot

Liz volunteers in her 1st grade daughter's classroom. What I wouldn't give for an extra pair of eyes like hers in my classroom. She can find the big picture within the small moments that she spends with those lucky kids.

This week, she provides a perfect concrete example of those fancy Edu-lingo terms SCAFFOLDING and ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT. She drew the dots for the child to connect. She left. When she came back, the child was drawing the dots AND connecting them. The essence of good teaching. Go here and read all about it.

Robert's Snow--Jeff Newman

We are happy to host Jeff Newman's snowflake on our blog today!
Jeff's snowflake is called "The Christmas Hair." This is one of the snowflakes that will be auctioned off as part of the third auction.

If you have not taken time to read about the auction, please visit the site where you can see the snowflakes on display. You may have to visit again later this month to see all of the snowflakes, but MOST of there are so many on display right now that you will want to visit several times. They are all gorgeous! Another amazing reminder about how lucky we are to be part of this world of literacy and books.


Now back to Jeff Newman. I am a HUGE fan of Jeff Newman. I can read the book HIPPO! NO, RHINO every day and laugh every time. It is a great book told almost completely with the illustrations. It is clear from this book that Jeff Newman is quite brilliant and talented and that he has a great sense of humor.

We were able to ask him a few questions about his work and his snowflake project.



Tell us a bit about the inspiration for Hippo! No, Rhino. Where did the idea come from?
Hippo! was based on a real incident I witnessed at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. I was sketching the rhinoceroses one morning (the zoo was only a few blocks away from my apartment), when a woman approached their enclosure, and waved her family over to look at the “hippopotamuses”. A few minutes later, another person did and said the exact same thing, even though there was a prominent sign indicating what type of animals these were. The rhinos didn’t seem to care, but I started to wonder what would happen if they did. I wrote down three words next to one of my drawings:


That was in 2004. Two years later, Hippo! was published. Of course, some stuff happened in between, too.

What new projects are you working on?
I’m currently working on my next picture book, The Boys, with Simon & Schuster. It’s about a kid who’s kind of shy, and has a hard time working up the nerve to join a weekly baseball game with a group of boys his own age. As with Hippo!, the story is told primarily through pictures, but unlike Hippo!, there’s a significant amount of plot. On top of that, the characters’ motivations and emotions are more subtle, and therefore more difficult to express in a way that’s easily understood. It’s been very challenging trying to convey all of this pictorially, but so far, I think it’s going well.
After The Boys is finished (it’ll be released in Summer 2009!), I’ll be starting on my fourth book (also with Simon & Schuster), but I can’t say for sure what it will be, yet. I’ve got a bunch of different ideas in various stages of completion. We’ll see which one bubbles up first. I can almost positively guarantee that whatever it is, it will be out before 2027.

Tell us a bit about your blog and website--what will readers find there?
My website has a selection of my illustration work, mixed in with some personal pieces. It’s definitely in need of an update, though. There’s an “animation” page with a little, placeholder pencil-guy banging a drum. It’s been there for three years. I’m sure anyone who’s a regular visitor to the site has long since given up on the promise that the page is “coming soon”, and they’re probably right to do so.
On the other hand, I update my blog at least once a week with comics, short stories, drawings, the occasional giveaway, and, on very odd days, a legitimate account of events in my personal life. It’s mostly family-friendly, but it borders on blue, sometimes.

Tell us a bit about your experience designing your snowflake--the process, why you decided to do it, how you came up with the design, etc.
I had a few ideas for my snowflake illustration, inspired by winter activities I enjoyed as a kid (sledding and making snow angels, for example), but I ultimately settled on re-doing a picture of a boy with a Christmas tree-styled ‘do from one of my old sketchbooks. I’ve got this weird thing about hair. A lot of my characters, even the animals, seem to feature some kind of distinct hairstyle. I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with hair, but it’s something I take notice of more and more as I get older (and, maybe not coincidentally, as I continue down the slow road to baldness). Anyway, it just seemed like a funny concept, and the design of it, particularly the shape of the tree, was such that it fit nicely into the angular snowflake pattern.

As to how I became involved in the project, I first read about Robert’s Snow on the Blue Rose Girls blog shortly after last year’s snowflakes had already been auctioned off. So, I was really looking forward to volunteering this year. It’s been incredibly fulfilling to be able to do what I love and contribute to a great cause at the same time.

We were thrilled to host Jeff Newman's snowflake and to learn more about one of our favorite illustrators!