What Book Chose You?

photo by Becky Meyer

Carmen Agra Deedy, a master storyteller and award-winning author, held her audience of upper elementary school boys and girls rapt as she told a scary, funny story from her Cuban heritage--one of the Juan Bobo stories. One boy laughed so hard he rolled on the floor next to Carmen's chair. Kids (and adults), whose usual attention spans max out at 10 minutes, sat captivated by the story for 45. No batteries, videos, flashing lights or noises other than Carmen's voice held our attention at the Plum Creek Children's Literacy Festival. Such is the power of story.

At the luncheon, Carmen told her personal story. We laughed and cried as she told how her older sister, needing to be rid of 6-year-old Carmen for awhile, shoved her into the public library for the first time. Carmen was not a reader. The library lady interrogated Carmen, unsure whether this little Cuban girl transplanted to Georgia could be entrusted with the library's books. The library lady gave stern directions to the children's room and strict orders about what to do there. She told properly terrified Carmen that the right book would choose her. What did that mean? Carmen wondered.

Carmen entered the room and ran her fingers along the spines of the books on the shelves. One book was not flush on the shelf, and when Carmen tried to right it, it fell onto the floor. Is this the book? The one that's choosing me?

Turns out it was. Charlotte's Web, usually not checked out to those so young, grabbed Carmen's heart, mind, and imagination. She was hooked on reading, stories, and libraries. (Hear Carmen tell her growing up stories in her recording, Growing Up Cuban.)

November is National Family Literacy Month. Enjoy reading and telling stories with family and friends! And tell me, what book chose you?

A Publishing Prodigy

Gordon Korman is a favorite author among upper elementary and middle school students. His road to publishing is unique. At age 12, he wrote his first novel. He knew that to be published, he had to send it to a publisher. The only one he knew was Scholastic, because he was the Scholastic book sale captain for his class. So he sent off his manuscript, and they liked it! Scholastic released the book when he was 14 and a high school freshman. "I don't know what my friends were thinking inside," he said, "but they didn't make any big deal of it. It was just what I did."

Now age 46, he has written over 60 books--all still published by Scholastic--and won many awards. He told his Plum Creek Children's Literacy Festival audience that his humorous school and family stories are inspired by his own experience. He takes a trait of someone he knows and gives that trait to a character, exaggerating it to make it more humorous. His adventure books come from research. He told about learning about the science behind deep sea diving, including shark behavior, and using that information in his plots for his Dive series. Korman is also one of the authors of the popular 39 Clues series.

See an author interview and learn more about his books here.

Write Now!

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution declaring October 21 the National Day on Writing. The National Council of Teachers of English is sponsoring writing galleries where you can post your work and read the work of others.



You're never too late to start writing. John Erickson, creator of the Hank the Cowdog series, had been told in school that he was a good writer. In his young adulthood as a cowboy, his short stories were published, but he didn't begin writing full time until he was in his mid-30's with a wife and children.

Unable to sell his ranch stories to New York publishers, he invested in creating his own publishing company, and Hank the Cowdog was born. Puffin picked up the series, with Number 54 as the newest addition.

Erickson writes 3 Hank books a year and meets his readers at schools and childrens' lit festivals. At Plum Creek, Erickson taught his audience of hundreds of kids rousing renditions of Hank songs, including "Rotten Meat." Kids shouted out answers to his questions about characters and plot from random numbers in the series. He said he makes the books easy to read because he wants kids to enjoy them, and he was a reluctant reader himself as a kid. From the opening line, "It's me again, Hank the Cowdog" to the end, kids love Hank and his ranch dog adventures.

Erickson advises young writers to "leave your readers better off than they were before." With homespun humor and kid-friendly scenes, Hank books show that Erickson takes his own advice.

You still have time to post in the National Gallery of Writing. It's not too late to write and leave your readers better off!

Footloose! (Or The Library to the Rescue)

photo by the Nebraska Library Commission on flickr

Last Thursday night, I drove to the Plum Creek Children's Literacy Festival on Concordia University's campus in Seward, Nebraska, where I would present on Saturday. It was, as they say, a dark and stormy night and it had been a hectic week. I threw professional clothes in my suitcase and took off.

One hundred miles down the road, my memory clicked. I had forgotten my dress shoes! What to do? I could drive into Lincoln on my way to Seward and see what I could find. I could cut out of Friday's activities to drive to Lincoln to buy shoes. Neither of those options appealed. Then I literally saw a sign--Fremont, Nebraska, was coming up. Fremont was big enough to at least have a Walmart. (You now sense my desperation. White sneakers wouldn't do!) Maybe I could get shoes there and get it taken care of.

The highway went right by the public library. It was 8:20. The lights were still on! I pulled around the corner and into the parking lot. "Yes," the reference librarian said, "we have a Walmart," and she gave me excellent directions. Backtracking, I turned onto another highway. Before I got to Walmart, I encountered--even better!--a Payless Shoes.

I sped into the parking lot with 20 minutes to spare before they closed. I yanked the door open and held up 5 fingers as the clerk asked,"May I help you?" He could tell I was desperate.

"Size 5 Women's." I strode toward the area where he pointed. "Jackpot!" I called. Not only did I find the pair I needed, at their special rate, I got another pair, too.

Once again, the public library came to the rescue. From research to programming to apparel, they know their stuff, and it's there for everyone. Thanks, Keene Memorial! (And Payless.)

The Right to Know

Happy International Right to Know Day on 9/28!
The Freedom of Information Advocates (FOIA) Network is sponsoring events worldwide to draw attention to citizens' rights to know what their governments are doing. Strides are being made around the globe for greater access to public information for all citizens, including our own.



In a different kind of knowing, have you tried the Free Rice site lately? It began as a vocabulary game that donated grains of rice to the needy. It has since expanded its subject areas to Art, Chemistry, English grammar, Geography, Languages, and Math. Give it a try, test what you know, and help the hungry all at once!

Peace

Happy International Peace Day! (If you are reading this after Sept. 21, go ahead and celebrate anyway.) The goal of the day is to enjoy peace for one day. If one day, why not one more? And one more after that?



Is peace more than the absence of war?
Enjoy these links as you contemplate the meaning of "peace."
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me
Peace like a river
Peaceful, easy feelin'
On earth, peace, goodwill to all
The peace that passes understanding
Peace, I leave with you, my friend
Shalom, Salaam, Pax, Paz, Paix
Peace train
Peace and quiet
Peace Corps
Peace pipe
Nobel Peace Prize
Peace and justice
What do you think of when you think of peace?

Read All About It!

Join UNESCO and the International Reading Association in celebrating International Literacy Day on September 8.

How can you celebrate? READ!
*cereal boxes
*street signs
*billboards
*emails
*novels
*technical manuals
*graphic novels
*magazines
*clothing labels
*store ads
*textbooks
Read anything at all!

Model reading. Let others see you read!
Read aloud to
*your child
*your spouse
*your teacher
*your friend
*your dog, cat, fish or other pet
*passersby
*yourself!

Be thankful that you can read. Here are some facts from a statement by the International Reading Association:
*It is estimated that nearly 860 million of the world's adults do not know how to read or write.
*85% of juvenile offenders [in the U.S.] have reading problems.
*American business spends $60 billion each year on employee training, much of that for remedial reading, writing, and mathematics.
*Africa, as a continent, has a literacy rate of less than 60%.

Which countries are the most literate? The least? Where does the U.S fit in? See the answers and related information in this UK Guardian article from March 9, 2009.

How will you celebrate?