SCHOOL DAYS OR SCHOOL DAZE?

Which will it be?  Parents and teachers hope for the former: which for young children, hopefully involves focus as well as fun.

School Days by Jessie Wilcox Smith

But some children find themselves starting school in a daze...

Back to School Again by Jessie Wilcox Smith

For my readers who may have preschool aged children (or grandchildren) who are learning at home or just starting school this year:  I'll be doing a SEPTEMBER GIVE-AWAY that is sure to help your kids have fun as they focus on learning to read.  How do you know if your child is ready to read?  The website for my GIVE-AWAY books (revealed soon!) says this:

Every child is different, so there is no specific age when your child will be ready for reading. Instead, look for signs and signals that may indicate reading readiness. Because young children learn so much at a very rapid rate, you may not even be fully aware of how much they already know. Some children grasp reading concepts and are able to sound out simple words as early as age 3; others may not start until age 5 or 6. Learning to read is very much a process; as your child’s first and most important teacher, he or she will need your patience, as well as your encouragement, every step of the way.

What should I look for?

As an involved parent, you have most likely been looking at alphabet books together or have magnetic letters on the fridge. Answers to the questions below can help determine where your child is in terms of reading readiness:

-Does your child know the alphabet?

-Can she or he recognize most of the letters (including both uppercase and lowercase letters?)

-Can your child recognize letters on everyday objects such as S T O P on a stop sign?

-Does your child know that letters are associated with sounds and can he or she demonstrate a fair number of those sounds?

-Can your child spell his or her own name?

Lazy Labor Day and Animal Book Signings

On this last day of lazy summer bliss, I want to post something light and fun that meanders away from the heady world of books and writing. A couple of weeks ago on facebook, Jonathon Maberry posted an incredibly cute photo of a baby Dachshund posing as a hotdog. It's on my

desktop and it cracks me up every time I see it.

I love animals, and weird photos, and unlikely friendships. Who doesn't? So, I poked around online and discovered more great examples. hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

There's Roscoe the hound with his best friend, Surya, the orangutan. These photos come

from the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, which is doing valuable work! Here's a link to their fund. You can see that Surya and Roscoe are actually doing a book-signing. Okay, I guess I couldn't get through a post

that had zip to do with writing and books. Check out the other strange bedfellows. Now, for an animal story or two...

One summer during high school, I went to the shore with a friend. Every morning as we got dressed, we'd hear whistles as if construction workers were catcalling us. We couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Finally, on the last day of vacation, we scoured the windows of the neighboring building, and discovered that the culprit was a giant green parrot!

One more. When I was five, I had a chipmunk "friend" who would hop up on a boulder in front of our vacation house deck, and chirp. I began to leave him saucers of peanut butter. He would fill his cheeks with it as he tipped his head at us. One evening, as I ventured into the bathroom for a bath, I found my chipmunk in the toilet, desperately funneling at the water to stay afloat. I yelled for my dad, who rescued the chipmunk with a butterfly net.

What's your funniest memory of an animal encounter? Of your own pet? Any pet talents? Idiosyncrasies?

STEPPING UP THE STAIRS

Since I've been busy helping my youngest get moved into his dorm for college, I haven't had much time for blogging about children's books; but I thought it would be nice if I left you with some thoughts on learning as we all "step" into September and Labor Day weekend...

Stairway in "The Magic House", St. Louis. This Children’s Museum engages children in hands-on learning experiences that encourage experimentation, creativity and the development of problem-solving skills within a place of beauty, wonder, joy and magic. (click HERE for source)

“The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs.” -Vance Havner


"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives." -Clay P. Bedford


"Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life."  -Henry L. Doherty

LLOYD ALEXANDER: HIS PRYDAIN CHRONICLES AND A MAGAZINE NAMED "CRICKET"

"Fantasy's hardly an escape from reality.  It's a way of understanding it."  

-Lloyd Alexander

Lloyd Chudley Alexander (January 30, 1924 – May 17, 2007) was an American author whose best known contribution to the field of children's literature is the fantasy series, The Prydain Chronicles. (He authored over 40 books. To see a complete listing with reviews, click HERE).


Determined to become a writer and looking for adventure after high school, Alexander decided to enlist in the Army during World War II. While training in Wales, he discovered a history and romanticism that would be the inspiration for many of his books...

“It seemed I recognized faces from all the hero tales of my childhood,” he wrote in a memoir, “My Love Affair With Music” (Crowell, 1960). “Not until years afterwards did I realize I had been given, without my knowing, a glimpse of another enchanted kingdom.”  (source: Alexander's obituary in the NY Times)

The Prydain Chronicles is a five-volume (not-to-be-missed!) series of children's fantasy novels which tell of the adventures of a young man named Taran, who is awarded the humble "honor" of Assistant Pig-Keeper (of an oracular pig, named "Hen Wen"), but dreams of being a grand hero.  He finds himself caught in a struggle between good and evil with the help of his unlikely companions: stubborn Princess Eilonwy; a bard named Fflewddur Fflam; a wild, yet gentle creature called Gurgi; and a dwarf named Doli. The book focuses on Taran's progression from youth to maturity, with the series being loosely based on Welsh mythology. (For an excellent overview and review of each book, CLICK HERE). Ages 10 and up.

The Book of Three (1964)

The Black Cauldron (1965) - Winner of the 1966 Newbery Honor

The Castle of Llyr (1966)

Taran Wanderer (1967)

The High King (1968) - Winner of the 1969 Newbery Medal

Some thoughts from Lloyd Alexander on the importance of writing and reading fantasy:
(Source: The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, May 2007)

"When asked how to develop intelligence in young people, Einstein answered: "Read fairy tales. Then read more fairy tales." I can only add: Yes, and the sooner the better. Fairy tales and fantasies nourish the imagination. And imagination supports our whole intellectual and psychological economy. Not only in literature, music, and painting spring from the seedbed of imagination; but, as well, all the sciences, mathematics, philosophies, cosmologies. Without imagination, how could we have invented the wheel or the computer? Or toothpaste? Or nuclear weapons? Or speculate "What if—?" Or have any compassionate sense what it's like to live in another person's skin?


For me, writing fantasy for young people has surely been the most creative and liberating experience of my life. As a literary form, fantasy has let me express my own deepest feelings and attitudes about the world we're all obliged to live in.


A paradox? Creating worlds that never existed as a way to gain some kind of insight into a world that is very real indeed? The paradox is easily resolved. Whatever its surface ornamentation, fantasy that strives to reach the level of durable art deals with the bedrock of human emotions, conflicts, dilemmas, relationships. That is to say: the realities of life.


As adults, we know that life is a tough piece of business. Sometimes the most heroic thing we can do is get out of bed in the morning. I think it's just as tough for young people. On an emotional level, a child's anguish and a child's joy are as intense as our own. Young people recognize their own inner lives while they journey through a world completely imaginary.


I don't mean to imply that works of realism haven't the same profound effect on young readers. Of course they do. More often than not, however, realism tends to deal with material of immediate, current interest; with, to use a word much overused, what is relevant. All well and good. But there's a difference between what is relevant and what is merely topical. The topical goes away after a while, to be replaced by the next fashionable subject; the newest literary disease of the month, as it were. The best fantasy it seems to me, is permanently relevant. Because it deals metaphorically with basic human situations, it always has something to say to us. Also, I think that fantasy offers a certain vividness and high spiritedness unique to itself. We shouldn't underestimate the value of sheer fun, delight, and excitement. In any art, boredom is not a virtue.


Dealing with the impossible, fantasy can show us what may be really possible. If there is grief, there is the possibility of consolation; if hurt, the possibility of healing; and above all, the curative power of hope. If fantasy speaks to us as we are, it also speaks to us as we might be."


Lloyd Alexander was also one of the creators of children's literary magazine Cricket, which is an illustrated literary magazine for children published in the United States. Cricket magazine publishes original stories, poems, folk tales, articles and illustrations by notable authors and artists. On the last page of each issue is the "Old Cricket Says" column, in which Old Cricket points out a bit of wisdom or a witticism, or introduces themes to be explored in the upcoming issues of the magazine. This recurring column has been ghostwritten by a number of authors and editors who worked for Cricket, but a preponderance of them were written by Lloyd Alexander until his death.

CRICKET now offers 14 magazines for different age groups, including Babybug (up to 3 years old), Ladybug (2-6), Spider (6-9) and Cicada (for teenagers).


CRICKET WEBSITE LINK

Hurricane Irene, Appreciated Followers & Campaigner 2011

First of all, I joined the Platform-Building Campaign, hosted by Rachael Harrie, so check in for chances to join in the fun and blog-hop. You don't need to be a Campaigner to participate. But if you hop on over to Rach Writes... by August 31st, you can make it official.

Next, I'm thrilled to report that I got two Appreciated Follower Awards in one day, and another a few days later. What an embarrassment of riches! So, I want to thank Kelly Hashway, Dawn Brazil and Courtney Koschel. Take a look at their great blogs and consider following them! It’s funny, they are some of the very bloggers who I would grant an Appreciated Follower Award to. Not so sure the rules allow me to boomerang them back, so my Appreciated Follower Awards (drum roll) go to:

1. Helen Mallon at WritingNurture
2. PK Hrezo at Fiction Addiction
   
   
3. Candy Lynn Fite's On the Trail to Publication
4. Shelley HW at Writ. Written. Wrote.
5. Cathy Kozak’s When the Dervish Dances
6. Charmaine Clancy's Wagging Tales

A Hurricane Irene Postscript: I was planning on hunkering down in Manhattan during Irene, but my family cajoled me into escaping to the hollers of the Catskill Mountains. We had three downed trees, including a beloved Willow. We lost power, had major

cabin-fever, and impassioned arguments over what movie to watch, what we should cook for dinner and the true meaning of A Clockwork Orange. We were also unable to drive our son to his dorm on Sunday night as the highways were closed. But, we were safe.

I must confess, I snuck out on the porch, delighting in the crazy high winds and hammering rains. I hope you all were safe!

Any interesting war stories from Irene? Any brilliant theories of A Clockwork Orange or why weather forecasters never get hurricane predictions right? Oh, or the true meaning of life?