Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Writing from the Inside Out **ANNOUNCING TWO LUCKY WINNERS**

Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for stopping by to leave a comment for the fabulous Trinka Hakes Noble! How wonderful to learn that so  many of you were inspired by her post and loved her books. It's exciting to have TWO autographed books to give away, generously donated by Trinka.

Our first winner of Trinka Hakes Noble's new book just released this month by Sleeping Bear Press and picked by Random.org is:  

          **********KATHY WIECHMAN********
                 *****Congratulations, Kathy*****
Kathy, Please e-mail me with your mailing address and for whom you'd like the book inscribed: claragillowclark(@)gmail(dot)com 


Summary: Long, long ago there was a time when mankind did not venture into the deep ocean waters. It was believed that the world was flat and to sail beyond the horizon meant falling off the edge of the earth. So even though they were drawn to and fascinated by the ocean, people feared it.

But as people lived their lives above the water, far beyond their view and in the ocean's deepest depths lived mysterious and magical sea creatures, half girl and half fish. These shy, gentle creatures were called mermaids and were much loved by the ocean. And when people finally overcame their fear and ventured out to sea, risking disaster and even death, it was the mermaids who came to their rescue. This imaginative legend explains the origin of sea glass, that treasured, collectible gift from the sea.

I learned a great deal from writing these four legends, and I believe they have helped me with my other writing as well. For me, this venture into an unfamiliar genre of writing the unwritten has helped me to stretch and grow as a writer and storyteller. ~Trinka Hakes Noble

Learn more about Trinka Hakes Noble on her Website: www.trinkahakesnoble.com.
Follow Trinka on FB: Trinka Hakes Noble, Author-Illustrator Or click on the FB symbol on her website homepage. Thanks!


The winner of Trinka's first book on legends published by Sleeping Bear Press is:

         **********ROBYN CAMPBELL**********
                *****Congratulations, Robyn*****
Please e-mail me with your address and for whom you'd like the book personalized: claragillowclark(@)gmail(dot)com 




Interior Illustration from Legend of Michigan
Long long ago, the ancient peoples of the forest gathered around their warm bright fires and told the tale of a time long past, when the land of Michigane was covered with thick heavy ice. They called it the Long Night of the North Wind.

The Legend of Michigan -- Finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award, 2006






Dear Readers, Thanks again for stopping by! The next post will be coming up after the middle of March. We'll be celebrating a HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY with Author Patricia Thomas and her new picture book, GREEN BEAN! GREEN BEAN! It's sure to get your youngsters eager to grow a garden of their own! 



Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Writing from the Inside Out. . . Author Trinka Hakes Noble shares about Legends

Dear Friends,

Many years ago, Trinka Hakes Noble and I met at a conference--maybe it was The Hodge Podge Book Conference or it might have been Keystone Reading, but wherever or whenever we met doesn't matter. We were instantly friends. I'm so pleased to share with you my dear friend, Trinka Noble, who shares with you about turning legends into picture books for children. She's also generously giving away two of her picture books for the comment contest. See more about that and Trinka's amazing bio at the end of the post!

 A Legend: Writing the Unwritten by Trinka Hakes Noble

When Sleeping Bear Press, renowned for publishing legends, asked me to write the legend of Michigan, I eagerly accepted. At the time, I was visiting their offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan; but once I was driving back home to New Jersey through the beautiful mountains of Pennsylvania, I was struck by this thought: How does one write something that was never intended to be written, ever, but only spoken? How does one write the unwritten? 


A legend, passed down through eons of time, generation after generation, was told and retold. Furthermore, as far as I knew, there wasn’t a legend of Michigan! I was born and raised in Michigan. My family roots run deep, way back to when Michigan was a wilderness territory, and my Native American roots go back even further. So, why wasn’t I told this legend when I was a kid?

Needless to say, it was a long, fretful drive across I-80. And yet, by the time I reached the Delaware Water Gap, I was determined to find a way to write the unwritten!

I’d written numerous picture books, which often have a read-out-loud quality, so I knew how to start. But a legend seemed to need something more. I’d do historical research, of course, but a legend needed something beyond history, something venerable, something timeless, something for the ages. And so I turned to the masters. I read out loud, and at times actually recited, The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and found what was needed--a cadence. Picture books have a rhythm, but a cadence is stronger and more pronounced, like the beat of a tribal drum. The strong beat of a tribal drum, which is believed to be the heartbeat of the earth, spoke to my Native American ancestry and to what I wanted to write for The Legend of Michigan. This was the breakthrough I needed to find a way to write what is traditionally spoken and not written. So I tuned my writing ear to the beat of a tribal drum, the heartbeat of the earth.

                Interior Illustration from The Legend of Michigan
                                                                                                                                                         
If I were going to use something as ancient as the beat of a drum, then I would have to go back to a time and space before the legend could appear. A legend often tells how and why something came to be. I would have to reach far back in time before the story of the legend started, and set the stage so the legend could happen. In The Legend of Michigan I journeyed back to the last Ice Age to find the story of how Michigan was created and came to be the unique shape of a mitten. 

And even though I was writing a legend, I was also, and most definitely, writing a story. I wanted the feeling of sitting around a campfire on a still evening, watching the wood smoke drift up into the starry night, listening to elders tell this long ago story, their voices softly rising and falling through eons of time. So I put myself in both places. I had to become the storyteller, the elder and the young listener all at the same time in order for the written page to captivate and transport the young reader back in time. This was another breakthrough that I needed in order to write a legend.

And yet, I still had to somehow connect the legend to the present, to ‘now’ so young readers could relate, so it would have some meaning, some connection to the modern world of today.

Lastly, a legend needed a mythical element, something beyond logic and reason, something that could only happen in the realm of timelessness. Only then could a legend come to life on the written page.

Somehow, all these things came together in the mysterious and unexplainable process we call the creative process. Through the creative process, I was able to write in picture book form a legend, a spoken story in the written word.

Interior Illustration from Legend of Michigan
Long long ago, the ancient peoples of the forest gathered around their warm bright fires and told the tale of a time long past, when the land of Michigane was covered with thick heavy ice. They called it the Long Night of the North Wind.

The Legend of Michigan -- Finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award, 2006



After writing The Legend of Michigan, illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen, I went on to write three more legends for Sleeping Bear Press 

The Legend of the Cape May Diamond, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, came next. It begins in a time long past, when the Delaware River was called the Wehittck and flowed through an ancient land called Lenapehoking, the ancestral homeland of the Lenape people.

"Eye candy tome to dress up any coffee table, and serve as pirate's treasure for generations of beachcombers.  Ahoy!" - Philadelphia Magazine
Keystone to Reading Book Award List
Delaware Diamond State Award Nominee
 

Next came The Legend of the Jersey Devil, illustrated by Gerald Kelley.  It begins in a wild and mysterious place in New Jersey that has kept its ancient ways, called The Pine Barrens. Lurking in its black swamps and murky bogs are hidden secrets and evil stories that can only be told on the darkest of nights. 


"A delightfully spooky picture book rendering of the famed Jersey Devil legend.  Suspenseful, with captivating illustrations."  Kirkus Review, June 2013


The fourth legend, and my latest book, is The Legend of Sea Glass, illustrated by Doris Ettlinger. It begins long ago when people believed the world was flat. No one dared sail beyond the horizon, for surely you would fall off the edge of the earth and be devoured by sea monsters.
Summary: Long, long ago there was a time when mankind did not venture into the deep ocean waters. It was believed that the world was flat and to sail beyond the horizon meant falling off the edge of the earth. So even though they were drawn to and fascinated by the ocean, people feared it.

But as people lived their lives above the water, far beyond their view and in the ocean's deepest depths lived mysterious and magical sea creatures, half girl and half fish. These shy, gentle creatures were called mermaids and were much loved by the ocean. And when people finally overcame their fear and ventured out to sea, risking disaster and even death, it was the mermaids who came to their rescue. This imaginative legend explains the origin of sea glass, that treasured, collectible gift from the sea.

I learned a great deal from writing these four legends, and I believe they have helped me with my other writing as well. For me, this venture into an unfamiliar genre of writing the unwritten has helped me to stretch and grow as a writer and storyteller.  

Biography: Trinka Hakes Noble

Trinka Hakes Noble is the award-winning author of over thirty picture books including The Scarlet Stockings Spy (IRA Teachers’ Choice 2005), The Last Brother, The Legend of the Cape May Diamond, The Legend of Michigan and Apple Tree Christmas, which she wrote and illustrated. Other titles include The Orange Shoes (IRA Teachers’ Choice 2008), The Pennsylvania Reader, The New Jersey Reader, Little New Jersey, Little Pennsylvania and The People of Twelve Thousand Winters.   Ms. Noble also wrote the ever-popular Jimmy’s Boa series and Meanwhile Back at the Ranch, both featured on PBS’s Reading Rainbow. Her many awards include ALA Notable Children’s Book, Booklist Children’s Editors’ Choice, IRA-CBC Children’s Choice, Learning: The Year’s Ten Best, plus several state reading awards and Junior Literary Guild selections.

Her latest titles are The Legend of the Jersey Devil, and Lizzie and the Last Day of School (March 2015).  Forth coming in 2016 is The Legend of Sea Glass and in 2017 The Ragamuffin Parade, part of the Tales of Young Americans series by Sleeping Bear Press.   

Ms. Noble has studied children’s book writing and illustrating in New York City at Parsons School of Design, the New School University, Caldecott medalist Uri Shulevitz’s Greenwich Village Workshop, and at New York University. She is on the board of The New Jersey Center for the Book and a member of the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature. In 2002 she was awarded Outstanding Woman in Arts and Letters in the state of New Jersey for her lifetime work in children’s books, along with letters of commendation from the US Senate, the US House of Representatives and the US Congress. Ms. Noble currently lives in northern New Jersey.

Learn more about Trinka Hakes Noble on her Website: www.trinkahakesnoble.com.
Follow Trinka on FB: Trinka Hakes Noble, Author-Illustrator Or click on the FB symbol on her website homepage. Thanks!

Trinka has generously donated a copy of her featured book, The Legend of Michigan, and her newest title just released on February 15th, The Legend of Sea Glass.

                       ****** HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY, Trinka!******

For a chance to win one of these two titles, simply leave a comment for us and your name will be entered. We appreciate your comments, dear readers! If you have a moment to spare, please tweet using the handy icon below the post. The winners, picked by random.org, will be announced in one week!

Thank you so much, Trinka, for sharing your writing from the inside out and for your generous spirit!
 








Saturday, February 13, 2016

Lucky Winner of BEAR CAN DANCE + Inside peek of A NUMBER SLUMBER

Dear Friends,

It's a cold, blustery day, but things will warm up fast if we all get up and dance with Bear and cheer for the lucky winner of BEAR CAN DANCE:




      ***CONGRATULATIONS***
              DAVE BEAUDRY

Please E-mail me: claragillowclark(dot)gmail(dot)com
with your mailing address!

(Preview of A NUMBER SLUMBER at end of post!)








School Librarian Summer 2013 *Starred Review
When Bear and Goose open a suitcase of toys, little Fox arrives and wants to play. Initially Bear warmly welcomes the newcomer, but quickly starts grumbling when Bear becomes the one to be left out. Soon it's up to Goose to solve the situation.
A dilemma faced by most young children (and many adults!) is deftly resolved by Goose's good will. A wonderful scene on the last page finds Goose and Fox perched on Bear's lap while Goose reads aloud and Fox snoozes contentedly.
The bold simple text in this exceptional book
tells the story of complex emotions in only 100 words.
The vibrant blue, green and turquoise background provides a striking backdrop for the drama. Bear's size and beautifully textured polar coat cannot protect him from the roller-coaster of his own emotions. Little Fox, shy and sly by turns attempts to manipulate the situation while Goose's expressive eyes reflect his conflicting allegiances and anxiety.
This powerful story is a marvelous sequel to A Splendid Friend Indeed and will be remembered for many years. An ideal book to read aloud to children of 3+,
this would be an excellent trigger for classroom discussions and candle times. ~Rosemary Woodman
www.alannabooks.com. Anna McQuinn, of Alanna Books, has published A Splendid Friend, Indeed and What About Bear? in the UK. Goose & Bear have been translated into nine other languages.

Enjoy this preview of A NUMBER SLUMBER!!!
In this book, beloved author-illustrator Suzanne Bloom asks readers how they prepare for bed—from putting on jammies to asking for one more hug—then counts down to bedtime from ten terribly tired tigers to one really weary wombat. Each animal demonstrates a different bedtime ritual—skunks somersault into bunks and elephants curl up with their trunks—adding original and inventive rhymes and a clever counting-backward structure to the bedtime book genre. The lyrical, rhyming text combines with dreamy, colorful artwork to provide a perfect way for children to wind down from an active day in a book sure to become a new bedtime classic. 
Here is a nearly finished spread from the upcoming, A Number Slumber. (Boyds Mills Press, fall 2016)
  Looks like another winning story, Suzanne! Congratulations on your forthcoming book, A NUMBER SLUMBER. And thanks so much for sharing your time and expertise with us!


FACEBOOK: Suzanne Bloom Author
Google Suzanne Bloom YouTube videos
Next up is Author Trinka Noble. She'll be sharing an inside look at her process of turning legends into pictures books for children. Plus, she's offering an autographed book for one lucky reader who leaves a comment! 
THANKS, everyone, for joining the dance with BEAR and Suzanne Bloom! See you soon. . .

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Writing from the Inside Out . . . Award winning Author/Illustrator SUZANNE BLOOM shares

Dear Friends,

Please welcome Award winning author/illustrator, SUZANNE BLOOM! It's been years now since we shared a pan of warm cinnamon rolls on a snowy evening, but Suzanne is always a Splendid Friend Indeed. I'm sure you'll agree! (See details for the giveaway of Suzanne's new book at the end of the post!)
Author/Illustrator SUZANNE BLOOM

AUTHOR SUZANNE BLOOM shares:
 
Though I grew up in Queens NY, my first five formative years were spent in Portland, Oregon. That’s why I retained an “R “ and love rainy days. Living in upstate NY allows a continued appreciation for precipitation. As an antique, I’m mid-century modern. If I were yogurt I’d be traditional/plain.  
My first published piece, in a glossy magazine for teachers, was a third grade poem -- "Blue is My Favorite Color".  Prescient? I guess.
Parents and teachers encouraged my artistic endeavors, except for Jack Tworkov, abstract expressionist and painting teacher at Cooper Union. He urged breaking away from the figurative. Can’t quite do it. 
The idea of writing and illustrating picture books was expressed in a Jr. High autobiography. It came to fruition a quarter of a century later. Creating illustrations that enhance a story puts art into the hands of children. It’s both a portfolio and a passport to a bigger world.  

When I’m writing, it feels like drawing is the easy part and when I’m drawing…well, you know. But once I’ve doodled through the first few lame attempts, something sticks. A character takes shape and then brings a friend.Though the story is far from resolved, I have been reminded that this is what I do. This is how I wish to spend my time and energy. I believe I can do this again.


The perks of this vocation include observing people, eavesdropping, or as I like to say “over listening”, inventing lives from very few details, elevating the everyday with some attitude and flow. Not to mention visiting behind the scenes at the Jacksonville Zoo to draw anteaters. It also includes honoring the events and people who have inspired the stories.

You may be familiar with Goose and Bear who are best known for smoothing out the bumps that pop up in a friendship.  But did you know that A Splendid Friend, Indeed was inspired by my dad, who is the master of the rhetorical question?“What are you doing? Are you reading?” Yep, word for word. That was the start of a story that has grown into a series of seven books, so far.
Auditions for those two characters required many sketches of many mismatched pairs of animals. In fact, before illustrating begins, I must draw my cast of characters in a variety of poses so I know who they are. Body language and facial expressions are key to each character’s feelings. Pre-readers understand; as a kindergartener told his teacher, “I’m feeling like the Bear today”. The bushy tail on Little Fox doubles as a her emotional barometer. It’s easier to make a flamingo look frazzled than a turtle.

I’m always on the lookout for models -- in the grocery store, at the airport, during school visits. A quick sketch for reference is very helpful. I was trying to discreetly sketch teenagers goofing around on the subway and one commanded his buddies, “Sit down, man. She’s trying to draw us.” It was cool. I got their approval. So many times, revisiting a sketch takes me right back to the scene.

From one story to the next, the process changes. Ideas may first appear as a sketch, character, or some words.  But I do try to have the story settled before starting the art. And I try to work out the design decisions before finalizing the drawings. In the forthcoming A Number Slumber (BMP fall 2016) the tiger spread started out as something entirely different. 

When I draw, I listen to music like Buddha Lounge or The Music Man but when writing, I prefer silence.  

Even a book of 100 words requires revisions because every word carries its own weight. Whooshy and woozy, occasionally, chickadee and bamboozled are choice words. As the boss of the book, I get to make the choices. Which is more fun to say? Tricked  or bamboozled?  Robin or chickadee? Read aloud. Savor.


AWARDS
A Splendid Friend, Indeed has a life of its own. It received an inaugural Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor Award and was shortlisted for The UKLA award.  PA One Book for Every Young Child distributed it to pre-schools and libraries across Pennsylvania and several years later they did the same with The Bus For Us. Several books have appeared on the Bank Street College Best Books list.  There have been a number of starred reviews. But to know that a book is so loved that a dad has to purchase a new copy for his second daughter is a most appreciated seal of approval.   


Reviews of THE NEW BOOK - Bear Can Dance!

What Bear wants is to fly. What Bear does is dance. “It’s like flying, but with your feet on the ground. Mostly.” For the past six books Bear has been put upon and bothered.  It was time to let Bear discover some hidden talents. Goose and Little Fox try to help, but Bear comes up with a personal solution.


Bear Can Dance!
Suzanne Bloom. Boyds Mills, $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-62979-442-6
Bear, Goose, and Fox’s seventh outing sees Bear attempting
to fly. All he wants is to “swoop and glide and feel the wind
in [his] fur,” but even after coaching from
Fox (who outfits Bear with a cape and goggles),
flight remains out of reach for the
lumbering polar bear. With music pouring
out of Bear’s portable turntable, the friends
realize that dancing is “like flying, but
with your feet on the ground. Mostly.”
Bloom’s soft pastel artwork handily captures both the
warmth of this three-way friendship and the wind in Bear’s
fur—while he cuts a rug. Ages 2–6. (Oct.) ~Publishers Weekly, Sept 2015

A review by Sue Heavenrich of Bear Can Dance! is posted Oct. 9, 2015 at Sally's Bookshelf:
http://sallysbookshelf.blogspot.com/2015/10/bear-can-dance.html

Bear Can Dance!

by Suzanne Bloom
40 pages; ages 3-7
Boyds Mills Press

theme: friendship, talents

I love Bear and Goose - they are "splendid friends indeed"... and this book includes their best buddy, Fox...What I like LOVE about this book: 
I love the way Suzanne Bloom can tell a story using a combination of dialog-only text and wondrous illustrations.
I love the creative ways Fox and Goose try to get Bear to fly. 
I love that Bear finds a way to fly with feet on the ground. 
And I love the endpapers where Goose and Fox are dancing the (what else?) Foxtrot.... ~Sue Heavenrich



Beyond the Book:
If you were going to teach Bear how to fly, what would you do? What does it take to fly? Can you get that whooshy feeling doing other things? When you're swinging, or sledding down a hill, do you feel like you're flying?

What animals fly? Birds fly, but there are other animals that fly about, or glide. Think about mammals, fish, amphibians and reptiles, and insects. How do they flit/ fly/soar/glide through the air?



What is that funny suitcase-looking thing that Bear is playing music on? If you have one, listen to a recording. If not, see where you can find one: a museum? A thrift shop? Take a close look. How do they work?…






 
SCHOOL VISITS

I learn a lot when I visit schools.  

During a writing exercise a fourth grade boy told me that he couldn’t write the assignment, about his family, because his dad was in jail and they lived with his grandma, and it would make him too sad and he might cry. He and his writing buddy picked another topic and I became their scribe. Kids think faster than they write, so when i read it back to them, their eyes widened as they exclaimed, “WE wrote that?”  It was deep.
  
I chose a skinny little kid in the front row to help me read the bi-lingual version of A Splendid Friend, Indeed.  The gym was hushed as he read very quietly. Afterward one teacher said she was impressed because he was always in trouble and another teacher said she’d never heard him read before and didn’t know he could read Spanish.  

A thank you note from a 2nd grader a student wrote, “You taught us to bleeve in ourselves."
A Texas 3rd grader stood up during question time and announced, “Ma’am, You were born to draw.”  

Indeed.
Thank you, dear Suzanne, for such wonderful insights about your writing and illustrating process. AND THANK YOU for donating an autographed copy of BEAR CAN DANCE! to one lucky reader who stops by to leave a comment for us. Dear reader, We'd love to hear about what gives you that wonderful whooshy feeling!

Learn more about SUZANNE BLOOM:
FACEBOOK: Suzanne Bloom Author
Google Suzanne Bloom YouTube videos
 
The winner of BEAR CAN DANCE! will be announced on Tuesday, February 16th. You'll also learn about Suzanne's newest title, A Number Slumber, coming in Fall of 2016 and get a sneak preview of her illustrations. How exciting is that?