God Got a Dog - A Gem

Cynthia Rylant and Marla Frazee.  Another perfect combination.  Using sixteen poems from God Went to Beauty School, they've created a beautiful collection in God Got a Dog.  Who doesn't love these two talented women?
     What I imagine most is Marla chatting with Cynthia about this book, these poems, during their collaboration.  And, me only wishing I could have been a fly on the wall... okay, actually a fellow reader/writer sitting with the both of them at the table as they chatted.  Can you imagine?  Cynthia Rylant, a writer's writer/illustrator.  Marla Frazee, a writer's writer/illustrator.  Two talents that God has put together to create this book... two talents that we all admire.  Imagine.
     Now there might be a few biblical scholars who would disagree with Rylant's interpretation of God.  But, they can't argue with the fact that she's a brilliant writer who writes from her heart, a wordsmith beyond compare.  And her words, coupled with Frazee's illustrations make a reader's heart happy.  And who doesn't need a heart that's happy?  God himself said so in Proverbs 15:13 and Proverbs 4:23.  A happy heart is good medicine! 
     My favorite poem in the entire collection is "God Went to India."  Perhaps it's because it reminded me of my mom and her love for elephants (I have two from her collection).  Perhaps it reminded me of my daughter and her recent life-changing trip to visit the orphanages in India.  But, perhaps it's because of this beautiful section:

 God understands mourning

better than any other emotion,

better even than love.

Because He has lost

everything He has

ever made.

You make life.

You make death.

The things God makes

always turn into

something else and

He does find this good. 

But He can't help missing all the originals.

      
     So, Rylant fans.  So, Frazee fans.  We have a new gem for our collections.  Two of our friends have come together to create this special book.  God does do good work.  And, we can only hope that these new-found friends collaborate and come together on the pages of another book... sooner than later. 

     In the meantime, I'll be sitting at my table with the two of them, reading God Got a Dog. Imagining that they, too, were wishing that were HERE!  Imagine.  

... and our hearts are happy!

Simple Dreams

I haven't blogged since June.  June.  So, tonight I decided it was time to get back to All-en-A-Day's Work.  I hope you'll forgive my absence.  I hope that I will be nudged to get this and several other bits of writing done... sooner than later. 

And what do I start with?  Simple Dreams:  A Musical Memoir by Linda Ronstadt.  Two weeks ago as I was flying to and from Saskatoon, I read it (it's been on order since I heard she was writing it).

I've always been a Linda Ronstadt fan (or Ronda Lindstadt as my friend Christine O'Hanlon lovingly calls her).  When Susan and I got married I told her there were three people I wanted to see in concert:  Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt.  And, together, we've seen all three.  In fact, we saw Linda in Denver not long before she quit touring as a singer... forever.  For those of you who don't know, she's been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and her singing career has been silenced.  Now it's through her recordings and her written word that we'll have to enjoy her voice.  

There's a wonderful section at the beginning of the book where she describes the "mud huaraches" they made so that they could run barefoot in the Arizona desert.  She writes, "We often went barefoot, but the ground in summer would become so hot that it could raise a blister.  The remedy for this was to wet our feet, then dip them in the dry, powdery clay dust, then a little wet mud, and then back into the dust again until we built up layers of earth to insulate us from the heat."  I used this section as a "think aloud" with my students as we began a study of how Wise Readers Ask Questions.  

As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by her writing.  As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by how much music as been a part of her life since birth.  As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by her candor and honesty regarding a career that has spanned decades and garnered many awards and nominations.  As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by her honesty.  She's smart.  She's talented.  She's gifted.

Perhaps my favorite passage in the book is in the epilogue.  She writes, "People ask me why my career consisted of such rampant eclecticism, and why I didn't simply stick to one type of music.  The answer is that when I admire something tremendously, it is difficult not to try to emulate it.  Some of the attempts were successful, others not.  The only rule I imposed on myself; consciously or unconsciously, was to not try singing something that I hadn't heard in the family living room before the age of ten.  If I hadn't heard it by then, I couldn't attempt it with even a shred of authenticity."

And she ends with the line, "At the time, struggling with so many different kinds of music seemed like a complicated fantasy, but from the vantage point of my sixty-seven years.  I see it was only a simple dream."

Like her music (I've heard it all), this last line knocked my socks off!  Simplicity... a shred of authenticity. 

I've been thinking about simple dreams of late.  I had one once... to teach.  It started in 1984 (after getting a degree in Communication Disorders).  I decided to teach.  I was probably listening to "Lush Life" while I did my homework.  It was a good dream at the time.  

But my dream has changed a bit.  Now with all the complexities and mandates and grand reformation and uncommonly good standards my dream is that I keep reminding myself of why I got into this career in the first place.  

Thanks, Ms. Ronstadt for reminding me to relish my career.  With all its ups and downs, gives and takes, mistakes and successes.  And, thank you, for reminding me of how important it is to "play in the desert mud" or "ride a horse with a friend" or "sing a song" or "stand up for your beliefs, your history, your voice."  Of how important it is to pursue learning with rigor and endurance.

I think it's time we all start thinking about all the children we know and have known; hoping that they too will have a chance to follow a "simple dream" in an overly complex world.

The Lost Art of Mixing - A Must Read

She dragged a chair across the kitchen to the counter and clambered up, stabilizing herself with a hand on the cabinets.  She reached up for the first bulb in the string of recessed fixtures and gave it two quick, firm twists.  On the third turn, the heat from the bulb met her fingers and she jerked back, the bulb falling through her hands, cracking on the tile floor in loud, spectacular pieces.

     She looked down, shocked.  The house seem to shimmer in the aftermath of the noise.  The edges of the broken bulb winked up at her, bright and sparkling, seductive as diamonds.  Slowly, Louise smiled.

- - - - - 

Tom stood looking at the hunks of wood—a half-cord, easily, he figured, although the logs he had chopped in his teenage years had been clean, consistent lengths, redolent with the smells of alder and maple, their bright surfaces almost begging to be cut.  He remembered the joy of his growing muscles, the loft of the axe as it swung up in an endless arc and then came slamming down.  The complete and utter satisfaction of a smooth surface cleaving into air as the pieces went flying to either side of him.

     This was not going to be like that, he could tell, looking at the haphazard jumble of gnarled stumps and logs, half of it wet and rotting, the other portion hard and glistening and green.  This was wood that defied the axe, a living lesson that when it came to heat, sometimes it was better to use man’s other inventions—electricity, gas, propane.

- - - - - 

As a reader, who can't read these words from Erica Bauermeister’s novel The Lost Art of Mixing and not create an image that sucks you into the writing?

The Lost Art of Mixing is the sequel to The School of Essential Ingredients.  Both books were recommended to me by my friend, Mimi Brown.  Mimi is a literacy virtuoso who works in the Issaquah School District.  Whenever we chat on the telephone, it always includes a discussion of books (new titles, old titles, no matter).  

If you are a foodie, you will love both books (although there's less of a food focus in the sequel).  Erica Bauermeister is a character crackerjack.  When you read one of her books, you leave the last page knowing (sometimes becoming) one of the characters.  The prose-like nature of her words creates ripples of texture, emotion, and images that, as a reader, suck you into the story gracefully.  Her words mix the power of food, the power of love, the power of "being" with another person together in the most artful way. 

Not to sound cliche`, well okay, to sound cliche`... there's a deliciousness that permeates her writing.  Each chapter of this book focuses on a specific character's life... and as I read, I was drawn in to the smells, the tastes, the feelings of each character's being.  In this book, you read about the familiar characters you grew to love (or not love) from The School of Essential Ingredients and you grow to love (or not) new characters that she brings on board in her second book.

When I talk to my students about evoking, or creating, sensory images, we come to know the importance of being "drawn in" of "knowing" how those images help us understand, help us remember, help us extend meaning, or help us make our reading experiences memorable (see Conferring the Keystone of Reader's Workshop, page 25).  As Amanda noted in her reader's notebook during our study of sensory images this year, "I think that sensory images help me by comparing what I got a sense of to what really is... I can see something, taste something, hear something, feel something, or smell something.  It can connect my connections because it makes the details come alive!"

So, as a reader, I'm always on the search for text that helps me revisit and revision my own use of "thinking strategies."  If I'm helping my students come to rely on a strategy more explicitly as a tool, I too must learn how it helps me.  As an adult, the idea of "evoking sensory images" seems clearcut, something "we automatically do because we're proficient readers," but is it?  With each close read, with each nuance, with each "How the heck did she do that?" I think I become a little better at using and noticing this strategy as a reader, as a thinker.  My awareness of what's going on "inside" nudges me to better understand how to express my thoughts to those who sit "outside" my thinking processes.

It's the same with my students.  When we've experimenting enough with a strategy... as a whole group, during small groups, one-on-one, alone—we come to understand how the "behavior" of creating an image (or any other comprehension strategy) brings power and fortitude to our understanding.  We dig around a bit, figure things out, toss out ideas, play... and that can only be done in text that's meaningful to us as readers.

The Lost Art of Mixing is such a book for me.  You should give it a go as a reader.  In her Acknowledgments, the author writes:  Words need ears to hear them and eyes to read them long before they can every be considered a book.  Now that it's a book... oh such words!  Try focusing on the sensory images you're creating and how they are helping you understand Erica Bauermeister as a writer.  Ms. Bauermeister's writing style is powerful... joyous... intriguing.  Often she throws in a word, a sentence, a paragraph that makes me stop in my tracks.  I pause.  I consider.  I reflect.  Briefly.  Then, I move on as not to lose the image created for me as a reader.

Imagine you're Louise wandering in to this bookstore... The bookstore was small and elegant, its books carefully chosen to appeal to both the casual tourist and those who stayed through the long and stormy winters.  A mix of bright and subtle covers, rough-edged pages and slippery paperbacks.  A flurry of handwritten notes hung from the bottom of the shelves, offering recommendations and brief synopses, inviting hands to open the books above.

Now run to your independent bookseller (or library) and get The Lost Art of Mixing.  Then head to the beach (you'll know why I wrote this after you read it).

- - - - - 

I also wrote a blog about Joy for Beginners, another of her books.  Click on the title to the blog it!  Also recommended by Mimi!  

Children WANT to write! - Donald Graves

I wrote a tribute to Donald Graves when he died.  If you know me, you know that I've been a fan of his since my wife, Susan, first introduced me to his groundbreaking work Writing: Teachers and Children at Work.  It is the first book on teaching that I read that "spoke" to me... humbly and sincerely.  It is the book that changed the course of my career path from Speech and Language Pathologist to classroom teacher.  It is the book that still sits proudly in its rightful place among my professional text.  It has since 1984. 

In 1987, I met Don for the first time in Castle Rock, Colorado because my principal, Laura Harmon, had the foresight to send me to a workshop in the old Cantril Building.  A newbie teacher with a heart for reading and writing got to spend time with a master.  I've never forgotten that first meeting.  Thank you, Laura.

Enter Children Want to Write:  Donald Graves and the Revolution in Children's Writing  edited by Thomas Newkirk and Penny Kittle.  It's a collection of "his writing, research videos, and presentations to teachers."  It's a must have for any teacher.  It's a treasure trove of his work with writers and writing.

It's shocking to me how many teachers don't have the name of Donald Graves rolling off their tongue when they speak about young writers and writing.  If it isn't, is should be... he was not only revolutionary, but a visionary whose passion for the craft of writing and the crafters of that writing (children) is unsurpassed.  It's on Don's shoulders that we, as teachers of writers, should stand!  In the first chapter of the book, Tom writes:

"To revisit Donald Graves' work connects us to an extraordinary moment in literacy education, a quiet revolution that overturned assumptions about what children could (and couldn't) do.  It was a revolution that drew on the creative energy--and sheer boldness--of young teachers and a visionary principal.  They did it together with no road map.  Together they learned to observe, ask good questions, and wait for answers.  John Keats called this quality a 'negative capability'--the capability for "being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.
     This uncertainty scares a lot of people, now.  Or it seems an irresponsible luxury in this time of perpetual 'crisis.'  There is no shortage of programs, scripts, or 'alignment' specialists who promise to free us of this responsibility to make decisions.  When I visit schools, I can almost sense teachers ducking and dodging as these programs, tests, and 'data' come their way.  The overcrowded curriculum and the interruptions that Don mocked are even more prominent now.  The testing culture is oppressive.
     So we hope this book is a bracing dose of clarity.  This work still represents a horizon of the possible.  It is still a revolution, one that Don incited with that wonderful, unqualified sentence--'Children want to write.'"

Writing isn't a mystery.  Writing isn't a lock and step sequence of events that magically mixes and matches the 26 letters of the alphabet onto the page.  It isn't a "unit " in which a writer's pencil falls gracefully upon the page and because it's packaged in pretty publisher quality paper, success is guaranteed.  It isn't.  It isn't a rubric-based system of "teach this" and "score this" and watch as the mysterious writing wand suddenly turns children into writers who, because they have a plan, write brilliantly.  It isn't a half hour a day of drill and kill and skill, turning writers words into swill upon the page.  It isn't a five-paragraph essay.  It isn't.  It isn't a clearcut continuum of standards that are scooped out of a pot of "skills and strategies" then thrown upon paper in a neat and tidy sequence by someone who, for the most part, probably doesn't write.  It isn't a program packaged with bells and whistles, "say this" and "model this."  It just isn't. 

Writing is the work that writers do.  Don knew this.  In every word he wrote and from every child (adult) with whom he conferred, Don learned that the work of a writer is... well... WRITING!  He knew that it we have to teach "to the intention of writers, not curriculum guides or standards."  On page 57, Penny writes, "Don defined a writing classroom as a place where we experiment and learn.  The 'we' is critical of course:  Graves believed that the teacher must practice and demonstrate a deep understanding of writing craft, and in fact, called the teacher-writer the chief 'condition' for effective writing."

I don't think Don would have disagreed that we should help writers reach high standards.  In fact, if you ever took a workshop from him, you KNOW that he nudged writers to write.  Over the years, I took several workshops with him and during every one of them I was expected to write, to listen to other writers, to talk to other writers, to experiment, to revise, to "give it a go" with a strategy or skill.  Last week, Susan and I were talking to our friend Jo Franklin about all the times we sat in one of his workshops with clear expectations and notebooks in hand, wanting to write because there was no doubt in his mind that we could!  And, I remember sitting with him on the lawn with my friend, Randi Allison, talking writing and writers, children and learning, people and places.  There was always a natural and sincere curiosity swirling about Don. 

So, it's with excitement and furor that I recommend "his" latest book!  And, I'm so thankful that his dear friends Penny Kittle and Thomas Newkirk went on an archeological dig through his work to put together an amazing tribute.  I needed this book!  When I read "First Grade," I was taken back to 1992 and I heard Don's voice reading this poem to us, here in Denver... I'll be forever grateful for your wisdom in putting this book together.

For those of you who knew Don, you'll reminisce and remember.  You'll hear his voice float through the pages.  The video clips will remind you of a friend who's gone, but not forgotten (I have a sneaking hunch he's still observing in a few classrooms now and then).  The writing will "re-energize" you and perhaps encourage you to write, and more importantly, stand up for writers.  This compilation is classic Donald Graves. 

For those of you who never met Don, you'll get to meet him.  You'll hear the voice that caused thousands of teachers to revision the teaching of writing.  The video clips will give you a glimpse into the heart and mind of the man who taught us well.  The writing will re-energize you and perhaps encourage you to read more of his writing... to see what real writers in real classrooms should be doing.  This compilation is classic Donald Graves. 

Classic Graves.  Thank you Penny and Tom.  Thank you, dear Don!  Children DO want to write...

Timothy Egan - Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher

It's time to blog again... after a LONG bit of "blog block"!

      The first book I'm reading in 2013 is Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher:  The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis.  If you are a Timothy Egan fan, you're going to love this new book.  The Worst Hard Time, for which he won the National Book Award is one of my favorite books.  I knew when I saw his new book, I had to read it!
     Timothy Egan writes about Edward Curtis - a famous mountaineer and photographer - with riveting and thought-provoking insight.  It's the kind of narrative nonfiction that I can't put down.
     Edward Curtis was a man on a mission when he decided to capture as much of Native American life as he could... on both film and audio.  Curtis moved from studio photographer to "archiver" of Native American life like no other person.  He settled in Seattle after moving from Minnesota.  In the early 1900s, he decided that he would capture as much of Native American life as possible before the life of our country's original inhabitants disappeared forever.  He was willing to give up everything - his family, his business, his rights as a photographer - to pursue his dream of capturing authentic insight about the lives of Native Americans.  And, as a result of his persistence, there are over 40,000 photographs and 10,000 audio recordings captured all over our country.  Curtis was driven.  He died in 1952 at a time when his work was all but forgotten (Mr. Egan's book will certainly revitalize an interest in Curtis's photography).
     As I read the first chapter about Chief Seattle's daughter, Princess Angeline, I was awestruck.  The conflict between the development of the Seattle area and the demise of the native people who occupied the area is brilliantly described and impeccably researched.  It was Curtis's interest in Angeline that nudged hims to spend 30 years photographing Native Americans... he spent over ten years trying to persuade the Hopi to let him into their Snake Dance ceremony.  By 1930 he had created 20 volumes of documentation.  Amazing.  And, we learn it was not without the sacrifice.
     Timothy Egan is a gifted writer.  He writes with passion and purpose.  Check out his essays in the New York Times.  But first, check out Short Nights of the the Shadow Catcher.  

The Story of Charlotte's Web

I remember years ago when my friend Cheryl shared a photograph of E.B. White with me from her classroom calendar.  Famous writers writing in their favorite "writing spots" filled each month's pages, black and white photographs coupled with a quote by the featured author.  E.B. White sitting alone at a typewriter at a plain oak table in his barn was one of the images.  It was poignant.
      I've always loved E.B. White's writing.  It's charming.  It's simple.  It's often poignant.  And, sometimes strange subject matter aside, his writing is just brilliant.  And, like most of you, I think Charlotte's Web is his most endearing piece of work.  His description of the barn is, by all accounts, the most delicious, detailed, and delectable text I think I've ever read (of course, it helps that I spent summer's exploring the nooks and crannies of my sister's barn)!  I shudder when I read it!*
     When I was at The Tattered Cover a few weeks ago, The Story of Charlotte's Web caught my eye... perhaps because of the simplicity of the cover which includes the picture of E.B. White as a child.  It made it into my shopping basket.  And, I'm so glad it did!
     Michael Sims has paid humble homage to White in this book.  E.B. White, shy and unassuming, makes for delightful subject matter.  Sims explores White's life, his writing, and his connection to nature with depth and candor.  He spends most of the book exploring Charlotte's Web from both the point of view of a writer and a philosopher.  Michael Sims writes about White with utmost respect.  
     I love that White describes himself as a "writing fool" as a child and I think my students will love to hear that.  In today's program-oriented climate, I worry sometimes that we're not nurturing our students to become "writing fools" as much as we are nudging them into the realms of "foolish writing!"  Sometimes it takes a detailed account of a writer's life to remind us what that life can and should look like... full of words, poetry, essay, exploration, research, and writing!  Sometimes we have to be reminded of what a writer is... and, in turn, help define for our students what power writing brings to their young lives (and ourselves perhaps)!
  NPR did a wonderful story on this book.  Why not take a read and a listen!  "It's not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both" (White, 1952, p. 184).  In this case, both White and Sims are tremendous writers!

*White's description is a great cousin text to the beginning pages of The Winter Room by Gary Paulsen.

Making Learning Whole - "Light" Summer Reading

David Perkins is the co-director of Harvard's Project Zero*.  In Making Learning Whole, he introduces seven principals of teaching that take a revised look at wise practice.  Building the book around a baseball metaphor, Dr. Perkins offers a compelling look at what we can do to enhance learning.  Thank you to my friend and colleague, Missy Matthews, for recommending it at our last "Friday Freaks" get-together.

    This is not a "how to" book, it's not filled with easy answers that provide a step-by-step notion of teaching.  BUT, if you're interesting in taking your philosophy to new depth--to rethink how you look at learning and to reflect thoughtfully on your own practice--this is a terrific read.  It's fodder for thought!

     Dr. Perkins develops a framework for teaching that is both practical and research-oriented.  And since it's a framework, it's not explicitly developed as a "do this" type of text, but more of a "think about this" guide.  His seven principles for making learning whole include:

• Play the whole game
• Make the game worth playing
• Work on the hard parts
• Play out of town
• Uncover the hidden game
• Learn from the team... and the other teams
• Learn the game of learning

     Dr. Perkins talks about approaching the complexity of learning with wonder and placing a focus on understanding.  He ends each chapter with a one-page "Wonders of Learning" synthesis related to the seven concepts he espouses.  He talks about motivation and the importance of sustaining learning.  He talks about the importance of knowing and emphasizing sustained learning.  He talks about how to develop self-managed learners.  I think Making Learning Whole is a perfect cousin text to Ellin Keene's To Understand.  
     If you're like me, you plan on spending some time reflecting on your practice over the summer.  If you're like me, you're always looking for research-oriented support for your deeply held beliefs as a teacher and learner.  If you're like me, you're looking for "real-world" applications of learning and trying to identify the needs of the 21st Century learner.
     Some of my favorite quotes from the book are:  

• "Do not read this book too carefully.  By all means look through it, but if you discover ideas that seem provocative, try something soon." 
• "The problem of content is simple:  Teach today what learners will need to understand and act on tomorrow.  Unfortunately, both as individuals living our personal lives and in a larger social sense we only know roughly from trends and guesses what tomorrow ill be like.  Tomorrow is a moving target."
• "Good work on the hard parts is one of the fundamental structural challenges of teaching and learning."
• If much of what we taught highlighted understandings of wide scope, with enlightenment, empowerment, and responsibility in the foreground, there is every reason to think that youngsters would retain more, understand more, and use more of what they learned."
• Here is a simple but surprisingly revealing plan for such a dig: 1) What is one thing you understand really well?  2) How did you come to understand it?  3)  How do you know you understand it?

     I can imagine reading Making Learning Whole with a small group of colleagues and having rich conversation about the purpose and practice of wise teaching... any takers?  I can't wait to dig deeper into this book!  It may just nudge my thinking in a new direction. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

*Ron Ritchhart also works as a researcher at Project Zero.  His research focuses on understanding how to develop, nurture, and sustain thoughtful learning environments.  He is the author of Intellectual Character:  What it is, Why it matters, and How to get it.  Check it out if you haven't read it!

Growing Up Laughing

From 1966 until 1971, "That Girl" was a regular on our console black and white television (it was a Sears model and boy did we think it was fancy).  Does anyone remember the "That Girl" episode where Roger took Ann Marie to a party and told her to mingle?  She walked around saying, "Mingle... mingle, mingle... mingle!"  I still laugh when I think about that one.  And, I don't know why it sticks in my head!  There's something endearing about sitcoms of the 1960s; I miss them!
     Today, while I was wandering the bookstore, I picked up Marlo Thomas's book Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny.  I sat in a comfy chair with a cup of coffee and, for the next hour and a half, I was hooked!  The creator of Free to Be... You and Me and other "best selling" books has documented a creative look at her childhood through the eyes of the "laughter" that surrounded her family.  But, of course, if Danny Thomas was your father, you would have to laugh!
     What I enjoyed about the book was the fact that she included anecdotes and memories about Bob Hope, Sid Caesar, George Burns, and Milton Berle (and other famous comedians of her father's era).  Imagine having them as family friends... imagine the dinner parties!  I laughed out loud at some of the jokes and stories she included... I guess because I remember watching these same comedians when I was growing up... still love catching them on re-runs or You Tube.  Watching comedians work their magic was something that bonded our family as we sat and watched television together (well, that and Gunsmoke, Carol Burnett, and Bonanza).   My parents loved a good joke and we laughed together a lot!
     Thomas includes interviews with many of today's "hot" comedians... which is an added bonus.  Among her stories of growing up with the greats and her family memories, she intersperses interviews with Jerry Seinfeld, Ben Stiller, Jay Leno, Tina Fey, and several other contemporary comedians... all of them share how they were influenced by the same actors and comedians that Marlo Thomas had been, except that she knew the "greats" personally via her father!  Who doesn't love a good joke?  Who doesn't love a good story?
     Not my typical blog post, but I certainly could see using bits and pieces of this book as a mentor text for writers.  Imagine students adding tidbits and "interviews" with family members and friends as part of a memoir study.  I think it would add a delightful twist to a study of memoir. 
     I may be adding Marlo Thomas's book to my "have to buy it" list!  "That Girl" sure got me thinking about a new twist to make memoir writing come alive... for myself and my students.

My Reading Life

Two weeks ago, my friend Carol send me several emails listing quotes from Pat Conroy's book, My Reading Life.  Each time one of her emails came through, I couldn't wait to read it.  Two of my favorite quotes that she sent were:

•      Writing is the only way I have to explain my own life to myself.
•      From the time I could talk, I took an immense pleasure in running down words, shagging them like fly balls in some spacious field. 

      I knew I had to have the book, the lines Carol was sending me were just too brilliant to ignore!  I had to read more!  I love when the authors we've come to enjoy spend time explaining, dissecting, reflecting, and exploring their early lives as readers and writers.  I've always had a strong regard for people who can capture in words the journey of falling in love with either reading or writing... Ralph Fletcher, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, Anna Quindlen, Eudora Welty, Gary Paulsen.  And, Pat Conroy.

     Pat Conroy's collection of 15 essays is beautifully written.  Each essay gives us a glimpse of his love of reading and, more importantly, how he became the teller of tales he is today.  The book is peppered with the titles he remembers fondly.  He shares the words that shaped his love of language.  He shares stories of people whose influence made a lasting impression, both good and bad, on his life.  He shares why he is who he is today. 

     This excerpt is a perfect example of the careful crafting of Conroy's:  I had witnessed with my own eyes that a poem could make a Colonel cry.  Though it was not part of a lesson plan, it imparted a truth that left me spellbound. Great words, arranged with cunning and artistry, could change the perceived world for some readers.  From the beginning, I’ve searched out those writers unafraid to stir up the emotions, who entrust me with their darkest passions, their most indestructible yearnings, and their most soul killing doubts.  I trust the great novelists to teach me how to live, how to feel, how to love and hate.  I trust them to show me the dangers I will encounter on the road as I stagger on my own troubled passage through a complicated life of books that try to teach me how to die. (pp 10-11)
     I am so happy that Carol send me some her favorite lines from the book.  As I read, I'm collecting my own.  Pat Conroy has done a brilliant job of capturing his journey, which is vastly different from my own... but as I read, I'm reminded of Mildred Hache, our small town librarian, who let me spend hours perusing the wooden shelves in our small town library.  I'm reminded of Downie Bishop, my third grade teacher who read us The Boxcar Children.  I'm reminded of my father, a biblical scholar, who read stories from the bible with sincerity and passion.  I'm reminded of the hours my mom would spend telling stories, usually over a game of Canasta or Racko.  I'm reminded of Mildred Henrie, my second grade teacher whose voice I can still hear sharing stories, she had a delightful laugh and her eyes twinkled when she noticed I discovering a new word! 

     And, that's the real beauty of this book... it causes you, the reader, to want to think more deeply at your own journey as a reader and writer.  I just may have a little notebook writing to do!

The Book of Qualities

On December 10, I attended the PEBC's Winter Seminar with Penny Kittle.  Some of my best learning has come about as a result of my relationship with the Public Education and Business Coalition here in Denver (check out the institutes and seminars available on their website - particularly the four-day Thinking Strategies Institute).  The day I spent with Penny Kittle was no exception.  It was a perfect day of revitalization as a writer and a teacher of writers.  I think, too, that Penny's close connection to Donald Graves added bit of light to the day!
     One of the books that Penny shared with us was The Book of Qualities by J. Ruth Gendler.  It's a collection of third person pieces written around a variety of emotions... beauty, compassion, discipline, anxiety.  Short vignettes that describe each "quality" with simplicity and complexity... perfect springboards for our own writing or for the writing of our students.  Penny selected a few pieces to nudge us to do a quickwrite in our notebooks. 
     It's interesting that this book is found in the "mental health" section of the bookstore (of course, I went to three bookstores and it was either sold out or on hold, so I had to order it from The Tattered Cover).  The book's original intent was likely to bring clarity to our "emotions," but I think Penny had the "write" idea to use it as a springboard for experimenting with words and language.  We don't often focus specifically on an emotion and have a go with third person writing.  And, we don't often focus enough on building fluency as a writer by doing some writing practice (I learned about the importance of practice from my friend and colleague, Randi Allison, author of Tastes Like Chocolate thoughts from young people).  It was such fun to play around with bringing human characteristics to the most human of all qualities - our emotions - in my notebook.
     My day with Penny was exactly what I needed that December day, not to get into the holiday spirit, but to get into the writing spirit.  If you work with adults or older children, or if you want to revitalize your own writing, this might just be the perfect book for you.  Thanks, Penny, for introducing it to us!

Storyteller: Roald Dahl

First off, Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl by Donald Sturrock, is written for adults.  I love reading biographies that are "authorized" because they are filled with details, anecdotes, and interviews that many biographies lack.  And, this book provides hundreds of details about Roald Dahl's life... details that we, as fans of his children's books, might find interesting or that might taint our view of one of our favorite writers.
     Roald Dahl led an extraordinary, unusually chaotic, life.  Donald Sturrock writes about the triumphs and tragedies that shaped Dahl's life.  Storyteller shares many personal details of Dahl's relationships with others, his marriage to Patricia Neal, his life as a pilot, the deaths of family members, etc.  Sturrock tells the story of a man who led an eclectic and complicated existence.  And, throughout the read he uncovers just how difficult a man Roald Dahl was and he isn't afraid to take a look at Dahl's "darker" side.  Knowing that Sturrock had full acess to Dahl's archives makes this an interesting read.  He synthesizes Dahl's journals, correspondence, and papers into an intimate portrayal of an complex man.  There's a great review on the book on NPR's website.
     There are hints about what made Dahl tick as a writer, but that wasn't the purpose of the biography.  This is not a book to read to find out more about Charlie, Augustus Gloop, or Aunts Spiker and Sponge came to be.  For that, we'll have to rely on other accounts of his life, like Boy or Going Solo or D is for Dahl: A Gloriumptious A-Z Guide to the World of Roald Dahl. 
     Based on this read, Roald Dahl probably wouldn't have been the person we'd have on our friends list... in fact, he likely would have been "unfriended" by many of us.  But there's no denying that he'll remain one of our favorite children's authors.  If you like "tell all" biographies, you might find this a great one to check out from the library!  

Is that supposed to be in "quotes" or not?

 I don't know if you've ever checked out The Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks, but if you "love" to read "quirky" views of punctuation and the way "people" use it, it's a fun little blog to visit periodically.  It's the kind of blog that Jeff Anderson, Robin Pulver, and Lynne Truss might "frequent" for fodder.  The pictures always make me "laugh" and "wonder" about the way "ordinary" people use punctuation in "interesting" and "strange" ways... particularly the "use" of quotation marks.  Which, if you are a 4th grade teacher, you "know" young writers "try out" in the "strangest" of ways!

     The blog's author, Bethany Keeley, has put together a "collection" in her book Fresh Brown "Eggs" based on her blog and the "unnecessary" quotation marks she has discovered in text, in pictures, on signs... everywhere!  This book is a sarcastic look at the misuse of quotation marks at their best (or worst).  We've all seen them... and I have to admit, I use "them" a lot.  When I read my own writing, I tend to overuse both the "ellipse" and quotation marks... but, "what can I say" I had Mrs. A------- and Mr. S---- as my high school language arts teachers and, well, let's just say I didn't "learn much" during my "formidable" punctuation years.  Thank goodness I have folks like Katie Wood Ray, Ralph Fletcher, and Jeff Anderson as my "mentors" today... although, I'm still not sure I'd be considered "proficient" at punctuation in a "general" sense.

     This is one of those books that would make a "perfect" gift for the grammarian in your life!  It's humorous and made me laugh!  Check it out... and then start taking a closer look at marquees, menus, and the "multitude" of places that you can find punctuation, particularly quotations marks, used (air quote) inappropriately!