Monthly Archive: March 2016

Quotes Worth a Second Look

quotes

Quotes Worth a Second Look

When I read, I write down lines that impact me. Here are a few for you to ponder.   He’d never thought much about silence, but now he knew its every shape and contour. It was a cheap glass jar that trapped old voices and kept them fresh.  Angel Falls by Kristin Hannah p.111 We must know how to design our lives. We are all artists and each day is a canvas. Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod  p. 204 I’m getting tired of my own innocence. The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy p.9 We lead out lives like water flowing...

Why We Write

musings

Why We Write

For every writer… there is always the impulse, realized or unrealized, that binds us one to another through the power of language. Every time a person writes, for public or not, he or she is connected to all who have ever felt that magnificent charge of communication through the written word- whether carved in hieroglyphics or glowing in code across our computer…there will always be the brilliant conspiracy between author and reader. Betsy Lerner The Forest for the Trees

What are Your Favorite Children’s Books?

book reviewing / Challenge / musings

What are Your Favorite Children’s Books?

I recently found a list of a hundred top fiction books today’s elementary students should read. Many are relatively new on the book shelf; a few are old enough that I read them as a child, decades ago. The list includes: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Alice in Wonderland Matilda The Chronicles of Narnia We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Where the Wild Things Are Black Beauty Flat Stanley Winnie the Pooh Funnybones The Hobbit Green Eggs and Ham Grimm’s Fairy Tales Artemis Fowl Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Secret Garden The Borrowers Coraline Cinderella Kidnapped The Wind in...

Checklist for Critiquing a Novel

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Checklist for Critiquing a Novel

Have you ever wondered what goes into critiquing a fiction book, short story, or article? If so, check out the list of criteria editors and critique member may consider. And, if you read a book and find something missing, the reason you feel at a loss, may be that the author inadvertently missed a key component. (That’s way authors work with early readers or critiquers to discover and repair these issues.) Conflict • Does your story begin with some sort of conflict—either internal or external? • Does the beginning set up the bigger “conflict” of the entire novel, the issue...

Crazy Rhymes Results

84 Ribbons

Crazy Rhymes Results

In mid-February I challenged you to come up with zany rhymes reminiscent of  see you later alligator. Here’s the extended list. Enjoy, my boy!  It’s a pearl, my girl!   Chop, chop, lollipop See you soon, baboon Up a tree, tiny flea Take care, polar bear In the air, big brown bear In an hour, sunflower Chow chow, lazy cow Better shake, rattlesnake Bye, bye, butterfly Got to go, buffalo Let’s jam, awesome Sam In pocket, shiny locket Be so sweet, parakeet In a flash, succotash Out the door, dinosaur Off the bed, sleepy head