quack up!

May 25, 2011 ~ jama

Blurry? Is this picture blurry? Have you ever tried to photograph a quazy duck?

Quackity quack quack!

Look who waddled into town over the weekend — yes, that’s Max the Duck, star of the New York Times Bestselling picture book series with his uber-talented creator, Jackie Urbanovic!

Jackie was on the panel at the Mid Atlantic SCBWI New Member Welcome held at the Reston Regional Library, sharing her thoughts on "The Creative Life: Navigating the Peaks and Valleys of Writing and Illustrating for Children," along with Lezlie Evans, Valerie Patterson and Regional Advisor Ellen Braaf.

Though I had interviewed Jackie a couple of times for alphabet soup, we’d never met in person. When I finally introduced myself following the panel discussion, she let out a little scream, jumped out of her seat and gave me a big hug. "I can’t believe you’re here!" she kept saying. Just ducky!!

Such a thrill — I’ve been a Jackie fan since I discovered Duck at the Door at my public library back in 2007 — and have enjoyed each and every installment in the series: Duck Soup, Duck and Cover, and Sitting Duck. Okay, guess which one is my favorite?

HOW COULD I NOT LOVE SOMEONE WHO WRITES ABOUT SOUP?!

Anyway, I got her to sign my books, and then we quipped and quacked for a few minutes. Jackie’s positive energy is contaigious, and she’s able to convey so much joy and exuberance in her art. Zip, jump, run. Badda-bing! Quazy good (with a side of quisp).

Possibly my most favorite inscription EVER!

Her latest title, released earlier this year, is IF YOU’RE HOPPY, written by April Pulley Sayre (Greenwillow, 2011). Full of hoppy sloppy animals growling and flapping all over the place (review coming soon). Big, big dose of Happy.

I’m a lucky duck, no? ☺

♥ More Jackie posts here.

*skips away*

friday feast: round and round we go — a poem by jane yolen

May 20, 2011December 29, 2017 ~ jama

PlayStation.blog/flickr

FAT IS NOT A FAIRY TALE
by Jane Yolen

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Cinder Elephant,
Sleeping Tubby,
Snow Weight,
where the princess is not
anorexic, wasp-waisted,
flinging herself down the stairs.

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Hansel and Great,
Repoundsel,
Bounty and the Beast,
where the beauty
has a pillowed breast,
and fingers plump as sausage.

I am thinking of a fairy tale
that is not yet written,
for a teller not yet born,
for a listener not yet conceived,
for a world not yet won,
where everything round is good:
the sun, wheels, cookies, and the princess.

~ from Such a Pretty Face (Meisha-Merlin Publishing, Inc.), Copyright © 2000 Jane Yolen. All rights reserved. Posted with permission of the author.

seedsinanapple/flickr

That Jane. She runs rings around us all, doesn’t she?

Continue reading →

six happy things on a tuesday

May 17, 2011 ~ jama

1. Amiable houseguest: our great-nephew Charlie, surely the sweetest, most adorable munchkin in the land, was here over the weekend. To his credit: good looking in PJs, can pronounce my name correctly, puts trash in the bin, likes my bread pudding, eats his veggies, good napper, smiles 99% of the time, likes washing machine buttons. We are presently negotiating his employment here as a duster.

Charlie with his dad, Brad. Want one of those monkey bibs.

2. Made an egg custard pie after being inspired by Candice Ransom’s guest post about her mom’s great baking prowess. Sprinkled extra nutmeg on top just like Candice likes it. Can you say smooth and velvety?

3. Fox sightings! Fuzzy the Fox has a brand new family — a wife and two kits. One afternoon I spotted one of the babies out and about by himself while everyone else was asleep. Finally captured the rascal playing near the den, which is quite a comfy compound with 3 mounded entrances and an impressive series of underground tunnels. The babies’ names: Kit and Kaboodle, of course!

4. Finally got a Kindle. First book I’m reading is Robin Brande’s YA novel, Doggirl. Loving it. Think I might subscribe to a few magazines to cut down on the clutter around here.

5. Baby bird: Every year, we have a bird’s nest in the same corner of our porch roof. The mama bird sat for days on end and finally, little beaks appeared! In a tragic turn of events, one of the nestlings fell out of the nest, but its sibling survived. This jumbo fledgling likely needed more room. Hope Mama makes the nest a little larger next year.

6. More pie! Recently went to Hill High Country Store and scored a divine cherry pie. Bar none, these are some of the best pies around, with crusts so light and flaky your eyes roll back in your head. Definitely worth the hour’s drive. Gonna try their peach next time. ☺

Happy Tuesday, All! Whatever’s on your agenda, have fun and remember to smile at the next person you see. And eat some pie. One can never have too much pie. Did I mention I like pie?

friday feast: poetry friday roundup is here (and it’s smokin’)!

May 13, 2011December 24, 2017 ~ jama

“Apple Dumplings” by George Dunlop Leslie (1835-1921).

Happy Poetry Friday!

Heartfelt Congratulations to J. Patrick Lewis, our new Children’s Poet Laureate!

Welcome, All. So glad you’re here — there’s some HOT STUFF going on in the alphabet soup kitchen today. We’re peeling a few apples, rolling out a little dough and celebrating girl power (gentlemen, brace yourselves). ☺

Before we proceed any further, please put on a couple of these oven mitts; you may need them to handle today’s poem.

Alright. Remember when I said that women seem to have the market cornered when it comes to writing about the sensuality of food? Combine that with sassy powers of seduction and you’ve pretty much slayed the soufflé. Sue Staats really knows how to bring it and she doesn’t believe in taking any prisoners. “Come, come into my kitchen if you dare,” she seems to say. Hotcha-cha and Va-va-voom!

(You’ve got your oven mitts on, right? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

COOKIN’ IT
by Sue Staats

Oh yeah, I’ll make you a man in my kitchen
buckle your blueberries, slump your apples,
cream your butter and sugar,
knead your dough,
steam your windows with my oven heat.

Bet your life I’ll poach your pears,
pickle your persimmons, foster your bananas,
cobble your peaches, marmalade your oranges
clafouti your cherries to a parlez-vous

You’ll be cross-eyed, crumb-topped
crimped, crisped, crusted, folded,
punched, proofed and risen before I’m done.

Get over here now.
My pan dowdy’s hot, and there’s cream.

Don’t keep me waiting.

Cherry and Almond Clafoutis by Pinot & Dita/flickr

*fans self*

Is it hot in here or is it just me? Nothing sexier than a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. (Oh my, Jama says demurely, my Jello’s still jiggling after that one.) ☺

Now, once you’ve cooled down, please leave your links with Mr. Linky below. Don’t forget to put the title of your poem or the book you’re reviewing in parentheses after your name.

TODAY’S POETRY FRIDAY MENU (nibble, crunch, chew):

1. Charles Ghigna (“Wild Flowers”)
2. Rasco from RIF (Monday is One Day)
3. Julie (Links to J. Patrick Lewis poetry)
4. Diane Mayr (Massachusetts Poetry Festival)
5. Kurious Kitty (“Why I Am Not a Painter”)
6. KK’s Kwotes quote by Salvador Dali
7. Janet (“The Peace of Wild Things”)
8. Amy @ Hope is the Word (Scranimals by Prelutsky Art Activity)
9. A Fuse #8 Production (Lemonade by Bob Raczka)
10. Heidi Mordhorst (Thomas Lux’s “The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently”)
11. Debbie Diller (“Wind on the Hill”)
12. The Stenhouse Blog (“To David, About His Education”)
13. Robyn Hood Black (Book Spine Poem, Writing with Mrs. Mirabel)
14. Alice@Supratentorial (A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes)
15. Liz in Ink (Children’s Poet Laureates)
16. Katie @ Secrets and Sharing Soda (Judy Scuppernong)
17. Elaine@Wild Rose Reader (Two eel poems)
18. Tabatha (Being Civilized)
19. Ruth (J. Patrick Lewis)
20. Books4Learning (Pocketful of Posies)
21. Barbara Etlin (Stevie Wonder’s Sunshine)
22. Great Kid Books (The Great Migration)
23. April Halprin Wayland (“The Ubbery Tree”)
24. Mary Lee (Hooray for J. Patrick Lewis)
25. Janet Squires (Dutch Sneakers and Flea Keepers)

Thanks for joining us today. What’ll you be cookin’ in your kitchen tonight? If you’re hungry for an encore, click here to hear Sue read “Cookin’ It,” which was featured as a 2011 Alimentum Menupoem.

Apple Dumpling by fayettevilleflyer/flickr

Oh, don’t forget to eat your dumpling ☺!

*Oven mitts by the_red_deer/flickr.
**ABC fruit by craig.stanford/flickr.
***Blueberry Cheese Coffee Cake by TheCookingPhotographer.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan’s alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

a marriage, a meeting, a menu and a little may madness

May 4, 2011 ~ jama

"I stuck my head out the window this morning and Spring kissed me bang in the face." ~ Langston Hughes

majlee/flickr

Ah, May! The merriest of months is here.

Mmmm, mmmm! But you do get better looking as the days go by. What’s your secret? Have you been bathing in dew drops again? Whatever you’re doing, let me just say it’s really working for you. ☺

The view outside my office window couldn’t be more perfect: sun shining through the trees, soft breezes tickling newly opened pale green leaves. We have a bird’s nest on our front porch again; after looking through my field guide, I’m guessing it’s a catbird. She’s a very devoted mother, sitting on those eggs through high winds and rainstorms.

All our favorite yard pets are busy with their spring activities: cardinals, bluejays, robins, nuthatches, woodpeckers, sparrows, chickadees, and bluebirds chirping the latest news, happily singing and flitting about; Fuzzy the fox tending to her kits, squirrels up to their usual mischief, deer grooming each other in the back yard, Boxcar the land tortoise wandering onto the street (don’t worry, Len rescued him).