Winter Wish

Whoa! Where did the last two months go?

The winter issue of "The California Reader" has arrived and it's beautiful. It features a glorious poem by Joan Bransfield Graham, "Wish for Peace." It's from the book AMERICA AT WAR with poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Lee just received the NCTE Excellence in Poetry Award.

Best wishes to you.

Fartiste—A Collaboration

This week I had lunch with some of my favorite local writers: Kathleen Krull, Paul Brewer, Carolyn Marsden, Jean Ferris, and editor Jeannette Larson. We all had much to share about writing, favorite new reads, and the recent ALA conference.

Kathy and Paul updated us on one of their newest books. They collaborated on FARTISTE (An Explosively Funny, Mostly True Story), illustrated by Boris Kulkov (Simon & Schuster, 2008). It’s the story of Joseph Pujol, a real person, born in Marseille, France in 1847. He found he had an unusual talent and became “Le Petomane—a polite variation of the French peteur, one in the habit of farting.”

He performed in Paris at the famous Moulin Rouge and became wildly popular. Sigmund Freud kept a portrait of him in his office and Thomas Edison filmed some of his show. Pujol’s friends included Pablo Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Kathy and Paul included an eyewitness account of a Moulin Rouge performance of Le Petomane in 1895:

”I can truthfully say that I have never seen [people] laugh, cry, shout and scream as they did when this little man with his . . . deadpan face pretended to be unaware of his incongruities. People were literally writing about. Women, stuffed in their corsets, were being carried out by nurses.”

The story is told in rhyme and an “encore” section provides readers with additional information. The book has received star reviews and is a unique and fascinating new picture book biography.

Deborah Halverson

On Saturday, July 12 at 2:00 Deborah Halverson will be speaking at the Barnes & Noble on 10775 Westview Parkway, San Diego, CA 92126, 858-684-3166.

Deborah will be talking about her recent book, BIG MOUTH.

I love Deborah’s blog: www.deborahhalverson.com. (Click on BLOG.)

Brian Selznick's Caldecott Acceptance Speech

Perhaps you’ve already heard, but Brian Selznick’s Caldecott acceptance speech was award winning. He had all of the 1000+ attendees in the palm of his hand as he shared his journey to THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET and the Caldecott Medal. He presented a sequence of illustrations showing Hugo receiving word that he had won the Caldecott and how Hugo boarded Air France and flew to Anaheim. On the plane, Hugo read the Caldecott Honor winning books. Adorable.

Brian described how he was at a point in his career where he didn’t quite know which direction his work would take him. He shared how he was inspired by Remy Charlip (the book is dedicated to Remy) and Maurice Sendak. He spent six months reading and not writing or illustrating.

He learned a lot about children’s books by working in a children’s bookstore in New York. One day a woman came in to buy a book for her grandchild and he struggled to please her. Finally, he showed her GREEN EGGS AND HAM and she responded, "Do you have it without the ham? They're Jewish." As always—it's about getting the right book in the right hands.

Brian’s illustrations graced the program and it was absolutely the most beautiful dinner program I have ever seen.

Brian wore a black, sparkly shirt and his speech was kind, insightful, delightful and sparkled even more than his shirt.

Each attendee received a CD of the Caldecott and Newbery acceptance speeches, so if you know someone who attended, be sure and give it a listen. The disc also includes “Sous le Toit d’Anaheim” (“Under the Roofs of Anaheim”), the illustrated sequence I tried to describe above that opened Brian’s acceptance speech.

As always, an upcoming issue of “Horn Book” will include Brian’s Caldecott and Laura Amy Shiltz’s Newbery speech.

Camping Days

I’m the author of a camping book so I’m always on the lookout for other interesting camper books. AMELIA’S ITCHY-TWITCHY, LOVEY-DOVEY SUMMER AT CAMP MOSQUITO by Marissa Moss (and the camper in Cabin 5, Amelia!) makes my list.

Marissa is a California author and illustrator. Her website, www.marissamoss.com, has great teacher advice for writing notebooks. I especially liked this tip, “The first rule is: No one’s the boss of your notebook except you. You can do whatever you want. The second rule is: Since you can do whatever you want, have fun!” (Hmmm . . . sounds like good blog advice, too.)

Here are the details:

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 80 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2008
ISBN-10: 1416947221
ISBN-13: 978-1416947226

Here’s a quote from the front cover:

“The best part of summer—in camp or out—is STILL not doing nothing!"

I’m all about that!

Robin Cruise's Excellent New Adventure

Having lunch with friends is one of my favorite activities, and when they are writer friends . . . well, that’s just a real treat. Yesterday I met with five writer friends including the talented (and kind) Robin Cruise. ONLY YOU is one of her picture books and I had the joy of taking Robin to Lilac School when the book was fresh off the press.

Here’s a little about ONLY YOU:

* A Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection

* Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition, October 2007; New York, New York

* Highly Commended, Charlotte Zolotow Award

* A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book

Review
* ”This parent-child love poem reaches out and cuddles its dual audience close. The simple verse celebrates the small, everyday ways small children endear themselves to their parents . . . As a statement of childhood’s most unalienable right, it doesn’t come any clearer." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

You can learn more about Robin and her work at www.robincruise.com.

Robin is moving to Washington. We’ll miss her, but look forward to hearing about her new work in the future!

Kathleen Krull and Hillary Rodham Clinton

I’m so excited! I just got to see/read the proofs for Kathleen Krull’s upcoming biography, HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: DREAMS TAKING FLIGHT, illustrated by Amy June Bates. It’s a smart picture book biography that features 16 spotlights of Hillary’s life using flight as a metaphor. Inspirational words float across the words complementing each vignette. The reader roots for Hillary’s success while applauding her persistent and caring spirit.

I especially liked how the Author’s Note is organized. (I do like my Author’s Notes!) It is segmented and referenced by page number so readers can learn more about Hillary’s life or do research. By placing this information in the backmatter, the story itself will make an excellent classroom read aloud that will prompt discussion of character traits.

Here are the details:

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Pub Date: September 2, 2008
ISBN-10: 1416971297
ISBN-13: 978-1416971290

I’m a long-time fan of Kathleen’s biographies, but this one just knocked my socks off. Enough said for now. but I reserve the right to gush more about this biography in the future.

California Young Reader Medal

One of my happiest committee experiences was serving on the California Young Reader Medal committee. They were a great group of people and it’s a super program. The winners for 2007-2008 have been announced this month so visit www.californiayoungreadermedal.org and see the list of winners and the list of nominees for the 2008-2009 school year.

Congratulations to California author Neal Shusterman in the middle school category CYRM for THE SCHWA WAS HERE (Dutton Children’s Books, 2004).

San Pasqual School Library

Last night I was at the San Pasqual School library as part of a fundraiser. The school had previously auctioned me off to the Stanley family! A big thank you to the Stanley family for their support of their school library.

My friend, Teri MacDonald, is the school’s librarian. Teri and I worked on FINDING THE WONDERS OF OUR WORLD, an article for BOOKLINKS. You can find a link to the article on my website. It was inspired by THE SEVEN WONDERS OF SASSAFRAS SPRINGS by Betty Birney. (www.bettybirney.com) It’s one of my favorite books.

Meet Paul Brewer

I love working on THE CALIFORNIA READER, the journal of the California Reading Association. Each quarterly issue I have a chance to feature a book by a California author or illustrator. The spring issue features the very talented writer and illustrator Paul Brewer and an "About the Cover" article describing his joke books.

Check out his website at www.paulbrewer.com to learn more about him, his books, and his school visits. You can learn more about the reading association at www.californiareads.org.

Armando and the Blue Tarp School

Today I had the happy opportunity to have a delicious Thai lunch with my friends Judith Josephson and Edith Hope Fine. (I like for them to call me Helen-ith so I can be part of the -ith group.) We’re working together on an article for the summer issue of the California Reader, the journal of the California Reading Association.

Sometimes Edith and Judith are known as the "Grammar Patrol" for their books Nitty Gritty Grammar and More Nitty Gritty Grammar. They have written books together and individually. Their newest book, Armando and the Blue Tarp School (published by Lee & Low), is an inspiring literacy story and will be featured on the cover of the California Reader. I hope you'll visit their websites to learn more about them at www.grammarpatrol.com, www.judithjosephson.com, www.edithhopefine.com, and www.bluetarpschool.com. (How’s that for lots of terrific literacy information?)

About Me

I’m the author of S is for S’Mores: A Camping Alphabet. I started researching the book when I was four years old—when I went on her first camping trip! Since that time, I have been on more than one hundred camping trips including backpacking down (and up!) the Grand Canyon, hiking to the top of Sierra Mountain passes, and canoeing down the Colorado River. I even met my husband Bob on a camping trip to Catalina Island.

I am also the author of E is for Enchantment: A New Mexico Alphabet (published by Sleeping Bear Press) illustrated by Neecy Twinem. I received a WILLA Literary Finalist award for the book from Women Writing the West. The book was named to the Land of Enchantment Booklist for 2006-2007 and selected by the New Mexico Library Association as their “Legislative Gift Book” for 2007.

I have been an educator for over 25 years as a coordinator of library media services, elementary teacher, media specialist, and as a teacher of children’s literature. I received my doctorate in Educational Administration from Northern Arizona University. I recently received an award from the California Reading Association for my contribution to literacy.

I am the editor of A Taste of Literacy (published by the California Reading Association). For this cookbook, I collected favorite recipes and literacy memories from 124 California children’s book authors and illustrators. My office is in my kitchen—maybe that’s why I edited a cookbook!

I’m a native San Diegan. My home is in Pacific Beach and I have a cabin in the San Diego mountains in Mount Laguna where I can hear coyotes serenade the moon. I enjoy watching raccoons, woodpeckers, wild turkey, deer, fox, and other wildlife outside my cabin’s windows.

When I’m not camping, hiking, and hanging out on Sail Bay in San Diego, you can find me reading, writing, watching movies, and planning my next travel adventure.

For more information, please visit my website at www.helenfosterjames.com or e-mail me at hfjames@san.rr.com. Teacher guides for S is for S’mores and E is for Enchantment can be downloaded from www.sleepingbearpress.com.