May Sarton
I appreciate May Sarton’s journals about living and writing on the coast of Maine. The personality that comes through in her entries is prickly, volatile, demanding of herself and others–not an easy friend or colleague, I suspect–but I love being allowed into another writer’s life through her words.
I have learned in these last years to forget the desk and everything on it as soon as I leave this room. The key to being centered seems to be for me to do each thing with absolute concentration, to garden as though that were the essential, then to write in the same way, to meet my friends, perfectly open to what they bring. And most of the time that is how it is.
-May Sarton, The House By the Sea
I like this statement as a goal–for writing, friendship, and life–in 2019. (Not for gardening, though, My father calls what I do “Darwin gardening”–toss something in a hole and see if it grows. Only the fittest survive.)
Read MoreKorean Editions!
Where Do Polar Bears Live? Note the adorable polar bear face on the first character of the title.
Just before Christmas, the Korean editions of my two Let’s Read and Find Out titles arrived on the doorsteps (dropped by Santa’s sleigh, no doubt). Here’s what Where Do Polar Bears Live? and What’s for Lunch? look in their snazzy new Asian editions.
A translated title is always a kind of giddy and bewildering joy. It’s recognizably my book and yet I can’t read a word of it. I can’t even identify my own name. The title of Where Do Polar Bears Live? has transmogrified from a question to an exclamation–why is that? Who knows? It’s kind of fun to feel four years old again and primarily interact with a book through the illustrations.
What’s For Lunch?
For the Holidays
This is my favorite Christmas card of the year. Books can do this too–at least I trust that is true. Sometimes writing can be a hard and lonely and anxious profession, and it’s easy to wonder if it’s worth it. If you know you’re not a genius, but a hard worker and a producer of stories that may touch a few but will not top the best-seller list–is it worth doing it, year after year?
I hope so. I hope adding good books (perhaps not brilliant books, but good ones) to the world is worthwhile, since reading takes us into another’s experience, pulls us out of our own anxious, hunched-over, cramped experiences and lets us breathe. Lets us look around to the horizons. Lets us say, “Look how much is out there.”
We’re here for that. For what is out there.
Read MoreReview of Secrets of the Seven
From a perceptive and talented fifth grade reviewer:
Read MoreThe Founders
Death Valley, CAHistorians are thrilled by the discovery of an artifact in a remote region of Death
Valley earlier this week, and rumors are that more are to be discovered. I assume you are wondering what this artifact is. If I told you, I’d have to kill you. Before you go all whiny on me, make sure to write your will.
This artifact is a key. I know, disappointing. But not just any key. This key is valued at over $6,000,000. This is the key of Benjamin Franklin, the Founding Father of the United States of America. The one from the famous story about the kite.Benjamin Franklin did more than just mess with electricity. He also started a group call the Founders . The Founders is a group of seven famous figures of the late eighteenth century, and early nineteenth century, including Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benedict Arnold.
Each of the Founders chose one artifact to represent them.
Finding all of the artifacts will supposedly do something amazing,
if not magical.
Goodbye to Poetry Workshops (for now)
I posted a while back about the fact that the Imagine series has no people of color in the illustrations–not a single one in three books. And about the fact that I didn’t notice this until my daughter pointed it out.
(I’m still pretty embarrassed about that.)
After thinking it over, I’ve decided that I won’t be offering school visits or poetry workshops using these books anymore. I can’t change the artwork or the fact that the books are on the shelves, but I can decide not to actively promote them.
I’ll be sorry to take these poetry workshops out of my repertoire. I’ve always had such a good time encouraging kids to look deeply at and react to Rob Gonsalves’s innovative, intricate art. I’ve had teachers actually blown away by the poetry their students produced. But I just don’t feel right about using books that offer such a narrow vision of the world.
I do hope that my new book, Brown Is Warm, Black is Bright, will be the basis for some excellent poetry workshops when it comes out from Little, Brown. I’ll just have to wait until then.
Read MoreWhat I’ve Been Reading
The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Jacobson. It’s rare and interesting to see a children’s book (actually a book intended for any age) tackle issues of class as openly and sensitively as this book does.
Sarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Thomson focuses on newfound connection, magic, and suspense to conjure a fast-paced, heartwarming mystery. Thomson’s world is populated by resourceful protagonists, fanciful creatures, and quirky supporting characters.”
—Publishers Weekly