Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas Tree
December 25th, 2007 by Sara
Haiku Review:
Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
Christmas time machine,
This book is just the right size.
I am 5 again.
Merry Everything, Everyone!
Posted in Books, Haiku review, I heart this book, Nifty happenings, Picture books, The Great Picture Book Read
January 21st, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I just read this, thanks to you. I totally loved it.
What a great idea for a Christmas picture book!!
November 30th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
This was one of my favorite books as a kid. I used to (and still do) love how everyone in the book re-uses and re-uses again the christmas tree.
“I’ve got a golden ticket…”
December 20th, 2007 by Sara
So, I’m going to see The Golden Compass tomorrow. I’m pretty excited, and not just because Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is amazing.
Tony worked on the movie and his name’s in the credits. Hooray!
If you go see the movie, keep an eye out for the wolves in Bolvangar. And stay long enough to cheer for Tony (under Rhythm and Hues Studios, ‘Look Development’) and all the other ‘men (and women) behind the curtain.’
Posted in Books, I heart this book, Nifty happenings
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Books of the Week: Illustrators
December 17th, 2007 by Sara
I’m constantly delighted by the illustrations in the picture books I’ve been reading. Here are a few illustrators that have really captured my imagination.
Dan Yaccarino
(Every Friday, Trashy Town)
Mark Teague
(How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, The Secret Shortcut)
David Shannon
(No, David, Duck on a Bike)
Steve Jenkins
(Move, Actual Size)
David Wiesner
(Tuesday, Flotsam)
These illustrators show a creativity with their subject matter that brings you closer to it. Their pictures invite you into the story and stay in your mind long after. Whether it’s the simplicity of line, the movement within a still image, or the depth of detail, all of these illustrators and their styles are a joy to look at and read.
Wanna see who else I’ve been reading?
Posted in Books, Books of the Week, I heart this book, Illustration, The Great Picture Book Read, Writing
December 22nd, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Hi Sara.
Jude sent me your website and I love keeping up with your writing and reading. Best of luck for 2008 – It will be a special year for you I feel sure.
Congratulations to Tony for his work on Compass. We enjoyed it, especially all the R&H work.
Merry Christmas to you both.
Hook, Line, and Sinker
December 12th, 2007 by Sara
I once caught a book contract that was THIS big… but it got away.
The Westside Schmooze topic this month is all about beginnings and hooks. To be exact:
“Are You Hooked Yet?
How can you use your first pages, first lines, and queries to hook readers and editors? Join us as we try to define the seemingly indefinable something that glues readers to the page. Learn from other schmoozer’s openings and share your own.”
Opening hooks are very tricky. You gotta show a little leg, but not look like a tease. It all has to look accidental, discrete. Flutter your eyelashes, but don’t wink. There’s a reason that I used the phrase ‘indefinable something.’ How do you grab the readers attention without showing off or misleading them? How do you make your beginning exciting without giving too much away? How do you make the reader ask, “Why?” and keep on reading to find out the answer.
Yeah. How? I don’t know. But I know people do it. So, even though I know you’d love to hear me wax poetic about something I don’t really have the answer to, it might be a bit more insightful to actually look at some beginnings instead.
“She scowled at her glass of orange juice.” What do we know from that one sentence? Our character’s female. She’s upset. She’s probably having breakfast. It gives us mood and a setting. It’s active. As a reader, I’m not wowed, but I’m willing to sit down at the breakfast table with her and find out why she’s scowling. (The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley.)
“When Hayley arrived at the big house in Ireland, bewildered and in disgrace, rain was falling and it was nearly dark.” This sentence paints a distinct picture. I imagine Haley standing in an immense, cold, dark stone entryway dripping water from her clothes and looking scared. I may not be right about those things, but I’m already empathizing with the character and feeling a little chilly. In one sentence, we are given who, what, when, and where. And it leaves us asking Why? Which is the most important question you want your readers to be asking. ‘Why’ is what moves the reader forward. The tone is also more passive than the ‘orange juice’ beginning. Hayley seems to be acted upon, by the house, the rain, her disgrace, instead of acting herself. (The Game by Diana Wynne Jones.)
“It wasn’t much, really, the whole Jessica Feeney thing.” This opening sentence tells us there’s been an incident, maybe a something unpleasant. But more importantly, it immediately alerts the reader that the narrator is biased, that he or she isn’t telling us the whole story. This is vital information for the reader. Now we can take the narrator’s words with a grain of salt and draw our own conclusions. Like any good opening, this makes you ask why. Not about the ‘Jessica Feeney thing’, but why is the narrator lying about it. (Firegirl by Tony Abbott.)
As you can see, there isn’t just one approach to hooking the reader. People who do it well are able, in that one sentence, to set the tone for their whole story. They’re able to ground you in the landscape and character, so you get a sense of the trip you’re about to take. And, above all, they make you want to know why.
Happy fishing.
“All children, except one, grow up.”
Posted in Books, Hooks, SCBWI, Writing
December 12th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Your group is very cool looking! I wish I could fly out and join in…just to be a fly on the wall!!
Meg
Words VS Pictures
December 10th, 2007 by Sara
My friend, Tonilyn, asked me the other day if I thought illustrations and text were a 50/50 partnership in picture books. Hmmm…. lets find out.
Fight!
Illustrations can make or break a picture book. You cannot have a great book without great pictures.
Mediocre Text + Fantastic Pictures= Good Book
Fantastic Text + Mediocre Pictures= Mediocre Book
Ouch! I’m sure there are exceptions to the ‘Law of Pictures’ that I’ve just totally pulled out of my b… uh… brain. But, 
ultimately, illustrations have the power to bring a book to life. They engage and capture us. If the pictures don’t resonate with us, the reader, if they don’t give us a rich, active world, then the story and characters are never going to win us over.
But wait! Words still have a chance here. I mean, they come first. The words are what inspire the pictures. Without words, there are no books. Right?
But, what about Flotsam by David Wiesner? Or Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman? They don’t have any words.
Okay. Without stories, there are no pictures. I suggest that authors and their stories are what inspire the pictures in the first place. If the words don’t hint at more than just what’s on the page, or if they give too much detail, then the illustrators can’t create wonderful pictures. Words and stories are critical in their ability to fire up the imagination of both the illustrator and the reader.
Ooops. Does that mean, in this fierce battle to the death, that pictures and words really are an even match?
Ummm…
Good question.
Posted in Books, Illustration, Picture books, The Great Picture Book Read, Writing
December 10th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
it is certainly an interesting dance that words and pictures perform. but this article? PERFECT. Player 1 Wins!
December 12th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Maybe we need to separate out the word half of it – and acknowledge that there are (at least) two components that make up the words: The story, and then the text that tells the story. I’ve definitely read some books where I loved the story but I thought it wasn’t told from the best viewpoint, or in the most exciting way… So I think maybe it’s 40% story, 10% text, and 50% pictures for picturebooks. And yes, those statistics are straight out of my Brain, too. In a novel, I’d go for 50% story and 50% text… how much of that is character, I’m not sure…
hmmm…
who knew math would come in so useful?
Books of the Week: Did I mention…
December 7th, 2007 by Sara
My Little Sister Ate One Hare
written by Bill Grossman and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Maggie and the Monster
written by Elizabeth Winthrop and illustrated by Tomie dePaola
The OK Book
written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Chickens to the Rescue
by John Himmelman
Bark, George
by Jules Feiffer
Click,Clack,Moo: Cows That Type
written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin
Waking Up Wendall
written by April Stevens and illustrated by Tad Hills
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
by Kevin Henkes
Traction Man is Here
by Mini Grey
Here are a few books I want to read over and over, give to everyone I know, and fill my bookshelves with. Hope you enjoy them, too. Have any favorite reads I haven’t mentioned?
Wanna see the other 800 picture books?
Posted in Books, Books of the Week, I heart this book, Picture books, The Great Picture Book Read
December 11th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Lately I can’t stop reading Ugly Fish. I finish it and start over without even thinking about it. :D (I saw you’ve read it, too!!)
Of course I will eagerly be hunting down those on this latest roundup that are new to me!! Thanks, Sara!!
r
“I’m drivin’ on sunshine. Oooo-ooo.”
December 5th, 2007 by Sara
Biodiesel.The great misunderstood nectar.
A year and a half ago, Tony and I bought a 2003 Jetta Volkswagon so that we could run biodiesel. Luckily, in Califonia there are quite a few gas stations that sell B99. We’ve been running the car almost completely on biodiesel since, with the occasional emergency diesel fill-up.
It’s been great… until 2 weeks ago. Then our lovely Jetta, the glorious ‘Dr. Who,’ wouldn’t start. The problem probably has to do with the kind of diesel California used to sell before we bought the car having a argument with the kind of diesel California sells currently, being mediated, unsuccessfully, by the biodiesel. Love triangles always end in tragedy!
We talked a friend into helping us change the fuel filter (thanks Ryan!), but that was a no go. Then we towed it to the Volkswagon dealership. 2 days later they tell us, first that it might be a $2500 job, then that they won’t touch our car because it runs biodiesel. Yeehaw!
So we’re doing what we should’ve done in the first place. Taking it to an independent mechanic that has experience with biodiesel and no prejudices (or corporate lines).
Has any of this soured me on biodiesel? No.
With biodiesel, I can feel good about my choices. The fuel is usually reprocessed waste oil from vegetable products. When it burns, I’m returning the same oxygen and CO2 that was used by the plants in the first place. The crops used the gases from the atmosphere to grow, my car put the gases back into the atmosphere, and future crops will take it out again. Anyone else hear “The Circle of Life” playing in the background?
I’m functioning inside a closed system, instead of adding gases and pollutants from oil that has been in the ground for millions of years. Biodiesel’s not perfect, but it’s a start. And also, no one is invading Kansas in order to gain control of its soybean fields.
So. Hopefully, our clean vehicle will be back on the road soon and, even more hopefully, for less than $2500 dollars. Cross your fingers and eat your vegetables. Or at least let your car eat them.
Posted in Nifty happenings, Not-so-nifty happenings
December 11th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Great title for this post.
Great post!! Sorry to hear about your car troubles. You know I’m a big fan of your veggie car!! (So is D!)
:D
R
Let’s put the dishes in the dishwasher!
December 3rd, 2007 by Sara
*****
Ewwww! Slimy. Grimy.
Oooey. Gooey. Sink stacked full.
Think I’ll get take-out.
*****
Posted in Not-so-nifty happenings
December 5th, 2007 at 11:33 am
It’s a great picture and I know that you asked out of curiosity… but thanks for being my artistic conscience:) I ‘borrowed’ it from another website that had ‘borrowed’ it, uncredited. I can plead being in a hurry, so I didn’t track down the source, but really it was laziness. But without much trouble I found the artist, as I should have the first time. Leigh Wiener is the photographer and if you click on the picture it will take you to the fantastic website. Thanks Rita!
December 8th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Ha!
I wonder how she got into my apartment 12 years ago to take that photo! (Married life had made me sooo much neater!)
Lee
