Blog Tour Lost and Found by Marsha Diane Arnold

When I first read the picture book Lost and Found by Marsha Diane Arnold, I fell in love. With so few words a beautiful story is crafted. My fifth graders loved seeing what came next as we moved through the story together. I'm delighted to welcome Marsha to my blog today to tell you a bit more about this story and what she is working on next. 

I love Lost and Found because the story is not only in the text, but in the illustrations. How did you and Matthew work together to tell this story?   

I wrote the Lost. Found. manuscript, which consisted of just two words repeated over and over, along with art notes. The art notes for Lost. Found. were a bit like directions in a script. Matthew took my art notes and, through brilliance and imagination, brought my characters to life. We really didn’t talk about the book while he was working on the illustrations. 

I’m so impressed with how Matthew kept my story intact, but added things that heightened the meaning and the fun. He added onomatopoeia to highlight the animals’ actions. For example, “Zoing, toing, doing” is the sound made when the mice use the scarf as a trampoline. He also made some of the animals more mischievous in his illustrations than I had them in my notes. In my original art note I wrote, “Raccoons begin playful snowball fight.” Matthew escalated that play, making the raccoons more rascally than I’d imagined them. This heightens the fun and increases the tension. Thank you, Matthew!

What does your writing life look like? 

My writing life has been quite messy this past year as my husband and I moved from California to Florida. We actually changed living places eight times over the year as we waited for our new home to be completed!

My Florida writing room is currently filled with boxes from our recent move, but once all the books and notebooks are put away, I’ll enjoy writing in a wonderful space. My books in California were spread throughout two rooms and a hallway. Here in Florida, I have shelves along one entire wall, so all my books will be with me in my writing room. I love being surrounded by books when I write.

Although I think it’s an excellent practice, I don’t usually work on my stories every day. But when I’m excited about a story, I’ll write several hours each day because I’m so happy to be with my characters. The more we write, the more we learn about writing. Even 10 minutes a day will keep us on track with our writing projects.

Do you get ideas from every day life? How do you capture them? 

Absolutely, I get ideas from every day life! Ideas are all around us. But capturing them to weave into stories is always a challenge. I might see or hear something, then scribble a few words in my notebook. I might carry that idea in my head for days or months until another thought comes to me and another. Eventually, all the ideas tell me to sit down and start writing. So I do!

Writing books requires lots of research, even if it’s a short picture book or board book. Research is one way to help “capture” our ideas and it’s part of the fun. We get to learn so much! I have two board books coming out in 2017, one about napping animals and one about bathing animals. I probably did over 100 hours of research to verify the napping and bathing habits of baby animals, but what I learned was fascinating.

The hardest part about writing for me is to believe in myself. I often stop writing because I have doubts about my being able to write the story the way I want it to be. If any writer has similar doubts, I say, “Don’t listen to your doubts!” We just need to take our ideas and enjoy the process of writing our story.

What are you working on next?

I have four more books coming out between now and 2017. Very exciting! These require attention along with my writing of new stories.

For my new stories, these characters are wandering around in my mind: a wombat who loves words, an out-of-control letter Z, and a firefly who can’t find the dark. After I finish unpacking boxes, I look forward to getting back in touch with these characters and learning more about them.

Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of READ. WRITE. REFLECT. It’s been a delight.

Thank you, Marsha! It was great getting to know more about you. 

If you would like to learn more about Marsha and Lost and Found, please check out the other stops on the Blog Tour. 

Blog Tour Schedule

November 3: SharpRead and Nerdy Book Club

November 4: KidLitFrenzy

November 5: Read. Write. Reflect. 

November 6: Librarian in Cute Shoes

November 7: Watch. Connect. Read

  

Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave by Jen White - Blog Tour

Liberty is having a tough time of it. She and her sister, Billie, have lost their mom. Their dad has never been reliable and hasn’t been in their lives for quite some time. However, he agrees to take the girls, at least for the summer, as he explores the southwest. Life with dad is not great, but takes a turn for the worse when he abandons Liberty and Billie at a gas station far from home. Liberty feels that it is up to her to protect her sister and get the two of them back to safety. It is a lot for a twelve year old to handle. This book is filled with quirky characters that the girls encounter along their journey home.

This book captured me from the start. Liberty’s desire to protect her sister is heart tugging.  Her journey is not an easy one, and hasn’t been for some time, but you will be rooting for both she and Billie until the last page.

Jen White’s debut novel reminded me of my favorite TV series of all time, Gilmore Girls. Both the book and the series have a powerful team of girls at the heart of it. There are also many secondary characters that pull you in and leave you wanting to know more about them. The characters that Liberty and Billie encounter range from the crazy – a Star Wars obsessed boy’s brother, to the helpful – a tattooed truck driver.

I also loved Liberty’s habit of writing in her notebook and her strategies that started off each chapter that she was sure would get them home.

This is a book perfect for so many of my fifth graders. Those kids that love a realistic fiction adventure story that has an amazing relationship at its core. They will devour it. I cannot wait to share this one with them.

Schneider Family Book Award 10th Anniversary Blog Tour & Giveaway

Recently Alyson Beecher asked if I’d like to participate in a blog tour. She was creating a tour to honor the tenth anniversary of the Schneider Family Book Award. I have to say, it wasn’t until four or five years ago that I was even aware of the Schneider award. If you are as in the dark as I was, Alyson did a great summary of what this award stands for:

This award honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.

With that in mind, Alyson mentioned that I could pick a favorite book from the winners and talk about it on my blog. Hmm, I scanned over the list of books that have been honored at ALA. 

How to pick? This year my students went crazy over Splash of Red, I should go with that one. Wait, but last year had the amazing book A Dog Called Homeless. I can talk about that. Yet, Wonderstruck and the unusual format would be a good discussion. It always helps my students understand dual plot lines. But, Anything But Typical….no, Waiting for Normal…no, Rules… so many good books.

I finally had to settle, I do need to pick one. The first year a special book won the award – Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements. I was in my third year of teaching in Monticello when this book came out. I book talked it then as I do now…

Imagine, you wake up in the morning, stumble into the bathroom and jump into the shower. You’re tired, why does school start so darn early? You quickly rinse off and step out, towel drying yourself as you walk over to the mirror. Glancing up, you do a double take. You’re looking into the mirror, but you aren’t there. Where you’re reflection should be is nothing. Nothing. And you have no idea what has happened.

Usually the book talk enough creates a waiting list for the book. When I explain that Bobby – the boy that is suddenly invisible – runs to the library naked so no one will notice him, they giggle. When I share how he befriends a blind girl, questions begin immediately.

I love this story. Bobby immediately drew me in. He has such a string of bad luck in the beginning of the book that I just wanted to be able to take care of him. My students adore this book as do I. What an amazing and unforgettable tale.

For more information about the Schneider Family Book Award: webpage | list of winners  

Check out all of the links of the Schneider Family Book Award 10th Anniversary Blog Tour & Giveaway:

July 6, 2014    Nerdy Book Club

July 6, 2014    Kid Lit Frenzy 

July 7, 2014    Nonfiction Detectives

July 9, 2014    Teach Mentor Texts

July 10, 2014    There’s a Book For That

July 11, 2014    Kathie Comments

July 12, 2014   Disability in Kidlit 

July 14, 2014    Librarian in Cute Shoes

July 15, 2014    The Late Bloomer’s Book Blog

July 15, 2014    CLCD

July 16, 2014    Read, Write, and Reflect

July 17, 2014    Read Now Sleep Later

July 18, 2014    Unleashing Readers

July 19, 2014    Great Kid Books

July 20, 2014    Maria’s Mélange

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Schneider Family Book Award, we are providing readers with an opportunity to win a set of all three 2014 Schneider Family Book Award Winners. Participants must be 13 years or older and have a US or Canadian mailing address. 

Click HERE to be taken to the giveaway! 

Celebrating Writers Blog Tour

Years ago I began following blogs. First I would visit the blogs I loved each day. Then I began using Google Reader *sob*, and now Feedly, to keep track of my blog reading life. With over 150 blogs subscribed to, I can’t read each post every single day. Usually I skim the titles, look at the brief writing shown, and make decisions how to spend my time. However, there are some blogs I read every time there is a new post. I know the writing will move me no matter what the topic. Ruth Ayres’s blog is one of those must reads for me. When Stenhouse asked if I would like to be part of the blog tour, I gladly accepted. 

You can follow the Celebrating Writers! Blog Tour all week:

Nov. 11: A Year of Reading

 Nov. 12: Kate Messner’s Blog 

Nov. 13: Reflect and Refine 

Nov. 14: Read, Write, Reflect 

Nov. 15: Nerdy Book Club 

Ruth inspires me each time I read her work. Once I heard about Celebrating Writers, written with Christi Overman, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I knew it would be a book to treasure because it is full of Ruth’s writing. When Ruth writes, you can feel the honesty pouring through. She writes in a quiet way, but a way that makes you want to be a better person. I desperately wish she lived in my town – so we could walk and talk and I could absorb all of her wisdom. I wish she lived here so she could teach my own children how to write – and teach me as well. Since she doesn’t want to uproot her family, the next best thing is to read her books - and Celebrating Writers will make you glad you did.

Ruth began talking about this idea of celebration a while ago, and I liked what she said. When I originally heard it brought up I assumed she was talking about publishing parties at the end of a writing unit. And while she does touch on how we can celebrate at the end of a unit, this book is so much more.

Stenhouse posted Celebrating Writers online for you to preview (HERE), and that is the way I first read it. I cannot wait for my copy to come, though, because I want to highlight so many lines. What I think is so important here is that the act of celebrating does not have to be some crazy big party – but there are celebrations in the quiet moments as well. Here is where I believe the strength of celebrating truly lies. In the first chapter Ruth and Christi write, “The writer is more important than the writing.” Their words were swirling in my head this week.

I have a student in my class who began the year telling me how much he hates writing. He struggles in all areas that you would think of in regards to language arts – reading, writing, spelling, grammar, you name it. Normally when given twenty minutes to write after a mini-lesson, I check-in with him, make suggestions, let him go, circle back, see a blank page, and repeat. I have had this book on my mind over the last week as I have tried to celebrate small accomplishments during our workshop.

Friday I taught a lesson on internal vs. external in our personal narrative stories. As always he was looking at me with his earnest face as I taught. I gave example after example and shared my writing. And then, they were off.

I noticed that he got to work immediately and I did a small celebration in my head. Then, after fifteen minutes, he came up to me. I looked in wonder at his full page of writing. I could have focused on what needed to be fixed: spelling, paragraphs, capitalization, etc. However, what I first saw was this: an entire page of writing; a story about his football game – a seed story; deliberate choices he had made in regard to spelling, capitalization, and punctuation; dialogue used correctly; internal and external details. And more, and more. I glanced up at the shining eyes looking at me and smiled, and then he did too. One more thing to celebrate – pride. We had our own celebration party right there.

This is the brilliance in Ruth’s work. She will cause you to see the daily opportunities for celebrations. These opportunities will bond you closer to your students and make you all grow as a result. There is no question in my mind that I am a better person every day that I read Ruth’s blogs. I am also a better teacher as a result of her blogs and this beautiful book. I highly recommend it.

The Real Boy Blog Tour - Oscar

Several months ago I was blessed enough to receive an early copy of Anne Ursu's The Real Boy. I read the opening chapters and immediately fell in love with Oscar. While never stated in the book, I felt certain that Oscar had Asperger's. In my fourteen years of teaching in my current district, I have taught many children with Autism or Asperger's. What I saw in Oscar was my students. It wasn't that Asperger's defined Oscar, just that it was part of who he was but not all that he was. 

In July I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Anne at an ALA gathering for Walden Pond Press. When I thanked her for creating this character of Oscar and told her how many of my students I could see in him, she shared that she has a son who has Asperger's. Today I asked Anne if she would visit my blog, share the inspiration for Oscar, and maybe what we can all take away from this beautiful book. Here's is Anne - and Dash's - story.

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Oscar is not my son; where Oscar hides himself in the cellar of the magician’s shop preparing herbs, Dash would be running around, knocking the tinctures on the floor. Dash is all energy and wants desperately to be with people. But like Oscar, he has no idea how.

My son was diagnosed with Asperger’s when he was three-and-a-half. The diagnosis came after two years of abruptly terminated playdates, a steady stream of disapproving looks and muttered comments from other parents, and a long preschool rapsheet from principals who moved quickly from “we care about him and want to work with you” to “we cannot have him here and we need you to leave.”

The diagnosis was an end and a beginning--one mystery solved only to plummet into a greater, interminable one. Dash’s world is so shadowy to me—full of uncheckable impulses and storms in his mind; of fundamental yearning for structure and order; of a great desire to connect bested only by the utter inability to figure out how; of love, empathy, need, rage, and shame.

I had a lot of trouble writing since Dash’s diagnosis—I’m a single mom, and taking care of him consumed everything for me. There was no space left to write. My books had always been about kids struggling against unfathomable forces; now I was watching my son live it.

After a while, the idea sparked: I wanted to write a fantasy that dealt somehow with the experience of having autism. This is the power of fantasy; it reveals the world by refracting it so we see things anew--telling the truth, but telling it slant. I just couldn’t figure out how to do this; all my ideas about real-world boys slipping into shadowy, mysterious, fantastical lands felt too on the nose. And autism is no fantasy. I put the idea aside.

One night I went to a master puppeteer’s production of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and somehow while the marionettes moved it all came together: the boy would not be from this world, but another. He’d live in a dark forest whose soil is laced with magic and secrets, working in the cellar of a charismatic magician, hiding out because he is an orphan who does not quite fit in.

The boy would have characteristics of autism. His life, too, would keep the world separate and bewildering, so the things that are simple for others are great struggles for him, so he would need to cling to order simply to get by. Meanwhile, the people around him who seemed so certain and comfortable would be desperately clinging to their own rules, smiling brightly and desperately pretending everything isn’t shifting under their feet.

I had lots of ideas, lots of things I was trying to do, but after a while it came down to this: I just wanted Dash to have a book where a kid like him got to be a hero.

When I started, I worried so much about getting it wrong. The minute you start telling a story through fantasy everything becomes a metaphor, and I did not want to say the wrong thing. Autism is infinite, impossible, and desperately personal.

But the more I wrote, the less I thought about these abstract things. Oscar was Oscar, that was all. And as I got to know him I loved him like I was his mother--it sounds cheesy, but it’s true.  And I wanted everything for him, I wanted the events of the book to make him realize he could do anything, even remake the world.

I didn’t want Oscar to triumph in the end despite his autism or because of his autism; I wanted him to triumph because of who he is-- an exceptionally brave, loving boy. I wanted him to know that he had the power to survive and triumph no matter what the world throws at him. I want every kid to know that.

That’s my wish for Dash. He’s six now, and I can’t understand what it’s like to be him, what it’s like to be so baffled and besieged by the world he lives in. I never expected that my child’s very experience of the world would be utterly foreign to me; and I don’t know how to take his hand and show him the way to live in it. But I know how much he struggles, how hard he works, how much he strives; I know he fights monsters I don’t see, every day. I can’t protect him, I can’t make it right. All I can do is tell him that he is my hero, and he saves my world every day.

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When I received Anne's essay in my email box, I was blown away. She eloquently expresses the heart of a mother in it. Thank you so much, Anne, for sharing yourself with us. Selfishly, thanks for continuing to write. The Real Boy is a book that everyone - children and adults - should read. 

THE REAL BOY BLOG TOUR: 

Monday, 9/30 – Maria’s Melange - Maria’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Tuesday, 10/1 – There’s a Book - Danielle’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Wednesday, 10/2 – sharpread - Colby Interviews Anne

Thursday, 10/3 – Novel Sounds - Elena’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Friday, 10/4 – Word Spelunking - Aeicha Interviews Anne

Saturday, 10/5 – The Hiding Spot - Sara’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Sunday, 10/6 – The Brain Lair - Kathy’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Monday, 10/7 – Read, Write, Reflect - Anne Talks Oscar with Katherine

Tuesday, 10/8 – Librarian’s Quest - Margie’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Wednesday, 10/9 – Buried in Books - Heather’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Thursday, 10/10 – The Book Monsters - Kristen’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Friday, 10/11 – Cari’s Book Blog - Cari’s Take on The Real Boy + An Interview with Anne

Saturday, 10/12 – Unleashing Readers - Kellee Interviews Illustrator Erin McGuire

Sunday, 10/13 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers - Gina’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Monday, 10/14 – Heise Reads and Recommends - Editor Jordan Brown Interviews Anne

Tuesday, 10/15 – Bulldog Readers Blog - The Bulldog Readers Debut Their Book Trailer

And, if that wasn't enough, Walden Pond Press is holding a GIVEAWAY on Facebook in honor of The Real Boy and the prize is $300 in BOOKS! Click HERE to head over to enter.