I love this illustration by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. The quote by Madeleine L’Engle seems particularly apt for Banned Books Week, as her most famous book, A Wrinkle in Time has been on banned and challenged book lists since its publication in the 1960s.
Debbie has lots of other awesome illustrations available for sharing and printing. Make sure to check out her great work and share your enthusiasm for reading!
Start the week with some good link-age:
Happy Friday, everyone! This week has been more than enough for me, so I’m all too happy to head into the weekend. Let’s get things started with a look at what I’ve been reading and writing, in fifteen words or fewer.
Reading: This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Beautifully illustrated look at that summer between being a child and being a teen.
Writing: “I am so not a badger,” I said. “Take that back.”
This character has to learn to embrace his inner Hufflepuff.
Lots of good links to start your week:
Happy Friday, everyone! I’m especially psyched that it’s Friday because Monday is Patriot’s Day, aka Marathon Monday, and the Boston Marathon is my very favorite sports-related event. (Okay, pretty much the only sports event I care about.) Let’s get the weekend started with a little look at what I’ve been reading and writing in fifteen words or fewer.
Reading: Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang
Beautifully constructed look at a dark moment in Chinese history. Honest but hopeful.
Writing: “Do you think you could fight a coyote?” “What do I look like, a roadrunner?”
Things happen on a road trip.
Happy Friday, everyone! It’s also the last Friday in February, and I’m hopeful March won’t bring quite as much soul-crushing snow. Here’s a look at what I’ve been reading and writing, in fifteen words or under:
Reading: El Deafo by Cece Bell
Just as honest, funny, and adorable as I’d hoped. Little me would have loved it!
Writing: “Resolution: a/ Girl needs a best friend, and mine/ Is so the best one.”
My WIP includes lots of haiku and friendship feelings.
Today in funny things writers do, Tao Lin teaches us how to draw a hamster (which are basically just giant faces):
Tao Lin: How to Draw a Hamster from Graham Kolbeins on Vimeo.
Lin’s drawings inspired me to give my own hamsters a try. Here are my hamsters, celebrating a birthday:
And this is why I’ll never be a children’s book illustrator. Still, it was fun to see a writer like Tao Lin talk about a random, silly thing he likes to do, and it was also fun to give hamster-drawing a try. It’s a nice reminder that play isn’t just for kids–it’s great for creative people of all ages.
From Latin@s in Kidlit, Yuyi Morales reading Niño Wrestles the World is awesome and adorable and makes me cheer at the end:
This is just the kind of reading I needed for a Thursday morning. Niño recently won a Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award, and I was excited to get to hear/see this dynamic book. So cute and fun!
Click through for more info on Niño and Morales (who’s also a puppet maker? how cool!) at Latin@s in Kidlit.
An awesome video about the Toronto Public Library system and why it needs support.
I think most public libraries (or school libraries for that matter) could say the same. Every so often I see articles about how libraries are dying and how they’re not necessary anymore, but they continue to be a vital resource for their communities–for readers, for families, for educators, for students of all ages, etc. Now more than ever, we need our libraries.
(via bookshelves of doom)
Welcome to March, everybody! They say March comes in like a lion, so let’s start the month with some lion-related books:
1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Tell me you didn’t open your closet and hope you’d find Narnia.
2. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness #3) by Tamora Pierce
My least favorite of the series; she’s away from the main cast for so long.
3. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Gorgeous take on Aesop’s fable. Try telling me children’s illustrations aren’t fine art.
4. Lionboy by Zizou Corder
Got this for free at the midnight release of Harry Potter #6. Didn’t grab me.
5. The Lion in Winter by James Goldman
Here’s betting your family isn’t as messed up as Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine’s.