announcements

oh, did i miss something?

~ jama ~ 4 Comments

            

Not to worry, dahling!

Nibble on these to get in on the action:
Kelly at Big A little a is soliciting pieces for the May and June issues of The Edge of the Forest. She is looking for feature articles, reviews and interviews. Zip on over for all the details and read the fabulous March/April issue!
Don’t miss the Melanie Watt Blog Tour! Mountains of morsels for all you Scaredy Squirrel fans. Yesterday, Melanie chatted with Jen Robinson about how the books appeal to different age levels. Scaredy has even taken on a new coolness with teens! In case you missed the posts from earlier this week, here is the full schedule:

Monday, 4/7
Big A, Little a
Featured Topic:  An Interview with Scaredy Squirrel

Tuesday, 4/8
Book Buds
Featured Topic: Scaredy Squirrel past, present and future

Wednesday, 4/9
Jen Robinson’s Book Page
Featured Topic: How the Scaredy stories work at different age levels

Thursday, 4/10  [2 blogs]
Hip Librarians Book Blog   
Featured Topic: Talking with Mélanie Watt about writing

Metrowest News
Featured Topic: Kids’ questions for Scaredy Squirrel

Friday, 4/11
MotherReader  
Featured Topic: Mélanie Watt talks about Scaredy Squirrel

It’s time to sign up for Mother Reader’s Third Annual 48-Hour Book Challenge, June 6-8, 2008! Here’s your chance to read read read all the book book books you’ve been wanting to, and review them like crazy. Full details about this once-yearly-wildly-anticipated event here.
Authors and Illustrators for Children, a national non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the world for children, is sponsoring "This I Dream," a series of essays written by prominent children’s book authors and illustrators, who share their hopes, dreams, and wishes for the next generation. Read about Virginia Euwer Wolff’s dreams for education, and George Ella Lyon’s dreams for peace. More essays to follow each month with original art. Essays are free for download to share with teachers, librarians, parents, principals, students and politicians! Posters are available for puchase.(Source: Alice’s CWIM blog.)
Laura Purdie Salas has just posted a ginormous list of online resources for children’s writers. This lavish banquet will keep you chewing for hours on end.   

Ooh la la! Jules and Eisha of 7-Imp fame are guest blogging over at Practically Paradise (School Library Journal). Yesterday, Jules interviewed Eisha, and today, well . . . go over and find out!                                                                                                      
Read these especially appetizing posts, Directions for Writing Recipe and How-to-Make Poems, Parts I & II, over at Wild Rose Reader. Elaine shares some wonderful poems written by her former students. Yes, I’m partial to the recipe format! The results are delightful and satisfying. Leave a comment at any one of Elaine’s poetry posts this month to be entered into weekly poetry book drawings.
And don’t forget the Tea Party right here at alphabet soup all month long! Stop in often for a sip and a bite, post a favorite tea time recipe, or email your recipe to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot com), and I’ll be happy to post it. Come on, you guys, bring on the grub!

 

dylan wins a pulitzer!

~ jama ~ 7 Comments

Have you heard?!

Bob Dylan has won a Special Citation "for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."

From the Associated Press: "This is the first time the Pulitzer judges, who have long favored classical music, and more recently, jazz, awarded an art form once dismissed as barbaric, even subversive."

Yes yes yes!! The times are finally changin’ . . .

This SO totally makes National Poetry Month for me!

Read the full AP article here.

Thanks to Tricia, of The Miss Rumphius Effect, for relating the news 🙂 . . .

 

three quick bites

~ jama ~ 13 Comments

 
Tomorrow is Chinese New Year — the Year of the Rat (for those born in 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, and 1996)!

1. Debbi Michiko Florence is celebrating with a special contest in honor of her new book, China:A Kaleidoscope Kids Book. Though the official release date is not until March 15, 2008, China is already available for purchase online, and judging from the description, it looks like a real feast — hands on activities, history, culture, and yes, food! Today is the last day to enter Debbi’s contest, so head on over there now for all the details!

          
   CHINA by Debbi Michiko Florence,
        illustrated by Jim Caputo
 (Williamson Books, 2008), ages 7-14
 

2. There are two other wonderful books released last month just in time to celebrate the Chinese New Year, both by Grace Lin, one my favorite author/illustrators. In my mind, these are must-haves: 
       
             Bringing in the New Year             
              BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR by Grace Lin    
                       (Knopf, 2008), ages 4-8, 32 pp.  

          
           
             THE YEAR OF THE RAT by Grace Lin
                    (Little, Brown, 2008), ages 9-12

                             
3. And finally, there’s a brand new nonfiction blog that’s definitely worth adding to your favorites list. It’s called I.N.K.: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids, and features 12 authors blogging about a genre that is woefully under-represented in the kidlit blogosphere. So head on over and check it out!