Category: Blog

THOSE WHO SAVE US
By Jenna Blum
Harcourt, 2004

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of meeting Jenna Blum at my local library. What a lovely woman! She stood in the front of a packed room and told us what drove her to write THOSE WHO SAVE US, her haunting and incredibly poignant first novel. (The driving forces: her German/Jewish background, trips she took to Germany with her mother, and her work for Steven Speilberg’s Shoah Foundation.) And with that briefest of speeches, Ms. Blum asked us–her audience–why we were there. “What you have to say is much more interesting to me than anything I have to say,” she told us … and then gave us the floor. There were questions about her characters, their actions, her experiences in Germany, her thoughts on Germans living in America today, her educational background, and her writing process. Ms. Blum answered all these (and more) with an enthusiasm and honesty that endeared her—as if her novel had not already—to everyone in the room. This is a woman who is not only very good at what she does, but seems to take great joy from doing it.

THOSE WHO SAVE US is the story of Anna, an Aryan German woman caught in a bad place at a very bad time … Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II. To protect her daughter, the illegitimate child of a Jewish doctor, Anna does what she must. It is also the story of Trudy, Anna’s daughter, who grows to adulthood believing herself the daughter of a Nazi officer. Mother and child must come to terms with their past, their present, and, most importantly, with each other. There are scenes in this book I will never forget, which is, I think, why books like THOSE WHO SAVE US are so important. Not a one of us should ever forget.

I highly recommend this book.

THE FORBIDDEN SCHOOLHOUSE,
The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students
By Suzanne Tripp Jurmain
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005

Many years ago, I wrote a story about a girl who tries to rescue a bird that flew into her church and couldn’t find its way out. While the adults around her abandoned the rescue, the girl wouldn’t hear of giving up. When someone asked her why, she replied, “Because it feels like the right thing to do.” I have since discovered that this sentiment lurks in many of the books I write, the idea that each of us has a moral compass that we must obey, come what may. I think this is why THE FORBIDDEN SCHOOLHOUSE resonated with me.

In 1831, Prudence Crandall opened The Canterbury Female Boarding School in Connecticut. Although she ran her own school, Prudence was not in a good position to comment on one of the most outrageous social practices of the time: slavery. She was, after all, single … and a woman. Prudence couldn’t vote. Prudence couldn’t even stand up in public and defend her abolitionist views. Nonetheless, Prudence found a way to make her views known: she admitted a black student to her school. When the parents of her white students protested, and the town around her rose up in arms, Prudence stood her ground. She closed her elite school for white girls and created in its place a school “for the reception of young Ladies and little Misses of color.”

Prudence Crandall did “the right thing.” THE FORBIDDEN SCHOOLHOUSE is her story. I highly recommend it.

It was BIRTHDAY WEEKEND here at the Burns place. The boys turned eight and the girl turned five and Burns folk from far and wide descended to celebrate. Okay, there were only a few Burns folk. But they celebrated heartily … and lots of other cool folks came and helped out.

Here is a list of our (um, okay, THEIR) birthday books:

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE PREPOSTEROUS PLIGHT OF THE PURLPLE POTTY PEOPLE, by Dav Pilkey
Scholastic, 2006
This long-awaited eighth Captain Underpants epic novel has already received two thumbs up. I have been told I cannot read it until I finish books two through seven; it may never happen. (While the first epic novel in the series, THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, was a hoot, I can only take so much potty talk and there are so many books and there is so little time…)

THE END, by Lemony Snicket
Illustrated by Brett Helquist
HarperCollins, 2006
This one cannot be picked up until its official publication date … Friday, October 13. But a copy has been reserved for the boys and they are thrilled. This is the thirteenth and final book in The Series of Unfortunate Events and, alas, here too I am behind; I have only read THE BAD BEGINNING. Series books just don’t have the appeal they did when I was a kid … another sure sign I am getting old.

LILLY’S BIG DAY, by Kevin Henkes
Now Kevin Henkes’ Lilly books are another story. They are not exactly a series, although there are several of them. And the mouseling Lilly reminds me so much of my daughter that I find her stories irresistible. (Can you say drama queen?) I have read all the Lilly books … about one thousand times each.

ADELE & SIMON, by Barbara McClintock
I adore Barbara McClintock’s illustration style. Although DAHLIA will always be my favorite, ADELE & SIMON is set in Paris and we were tickled to follow the title characters as they traipsed through the city we have so recently traipsed ourselves. And little Simon loses his coat and his books and his mittens and everything else he is carrying, which made for search-and-find fun on every page.

Birthdays, books, seventy degrees and sunshine in October … what else can you ask for in a weekend?

2007 CHILDREN’S WRITER’S AND ILLUSTRATOR’S MARKET
Edited by Alice Pope
Writer’s Digest Books, 2007

The 2007 CWIM has been available since July, and I have owned it for almost that long, but it took me until now to sit down and read it. Sad, but true. But now I remember why I buy it each year and why I do, eventually, make time for reading it. This book is chockablock with crucial information for children’s writers and illustrators.

The first one hundred pages contain articles on timely topics and interviews with editors, authors and illustrators. Some of my favorites were: Blogging for Authors & Illustrators by Roz Fulcher and First Books by Alice Pope. In the latter article Pope interviews four novelists whose first book was published this year. There is nothing like reading about folks who have passed over to published author-hood to get a writer jazzed.

Book Publishers is another important section for me. I find it a great way to re-familiarize myself with publishing houses and their needs … each page of my 2007 CWIM is now filled with scribbled notes: “Send Patty French here?” or “Perhaps they’d like the seal book?” or “Check out these titles!” My TO DO list is popping with ideas for matching available manuscripts with appropriate editors and publishers.

One more thing … there are some typos on page 148 that I have to clear up. My dear, dear editor’s name and title are listed incorrectly. So take note: the fabulous ERICA ZAPPY (note spelling) is an ASSOCIATE EDITOR (note title) at Houghton Mifflin Company.

Oh, dear! I am having technical difficulties getting my cover image to show up here properly. I am working furiously to fix this problem. Do NOT hold your breath … but I promise you that I am working on it.

(The flap copy is pretty cool, though, isn’t it?)

TRACKING TRASH: FLOTSAM, JETSAM, AND THE SCIENCE OF OCEAN MOTION
by Loree Griffin Burns
Houghton Mifflin, 2007

Well, folks, here it is: the cover to my debut children’s book! What do you think?

As if that weren’t enough excitement for one day, here is a sneak peek at the flap copy:

Aided by a ragtag army of beachcombers, Dr. Curt Ebbesmeyer tracks trash in the name of science. From sneakers to hockey gloves to LEGO pieces, Curt monitors the watery fate of cargo spilled into the ocean. The journeys he has documented are astounding and some—like the rubber ducks that drifted thousands of miles from the Pacific Ocean across the Arctic and into the Atlantic—have attracted substantial media attention. But the information Curt collects is much more than casual news; it is important scientific data. And with careful analysis Curt is using his data to understand and protect our world ocean.

Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam and the Science of Ocean Motion chronicles the development of Curt’s unique ocean research program. In engaging text and unforgettable images readers meet the woman who started it all (Curt’s mother!), the computer program that makes sense of his data (nicknamed OSCURS) and several scientists who are using his discoveries to preserve delicate marine habitat and protect the creatures who live in them.

If you can’t wait until the March 2007 release, feel free to pre-order TRACKING TRASH now!

WIDE FIELDS, THE STORY OF HENRI FABRE
By Irmengarde Eberle
Illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1943

Children’s books rock. Do I say this too much? Seriously, though, they do. Today’s book is yet another case in point …

I’ve been researching Jean Henri Fabre, a nineteenth century French naturalist and writer whose life and work fascinates me. (I’m so fascinated, in fact, that I am writing a picture book biography of the man.) During the past year I have read several biographies of Fabre that were written for adults. And not one of these comes close to being as interesting and compelling as WIDE FIELDS, which is a Fabre biography written for children. Fist of all, the illustrations are superb … Fritz Eihenberg presents a vital and personable Fabre that readers cannot help but adore. The text, too, is superb … Irmengarde Eberle’s work is an intelligent blend of dialogue* and narrative aimed, of course, at keeping the interest of young readers. But more than both of these things, I was drawn by the glimpse into Fabre’s personal life that Eberle provides, something none of his other biographers chose to do. I met not only the esteemed naturalist, but also his parents, his grandparents, his eight children, his wives (Fabre remarried after the death of his first wife), and the family pets. By including this children’s book in my research, I have a much more rounded view of the man, his life, and his work.

See? Children’s books rock.

*The dialogue perplexes me. Some of it is clearly taken from Fabre’s works. But all of it? I am not sure; I need to keep reading. I have only read translations of two of Fabre’s ten volume masterpiece. But (and this is my one criticism of the book) there is no Author’s note in WIDE FIELDS to tell me where the dialogue comes from. Hmmmmm.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
By J.K. Rowling
Illustrations by Mary GrandPre
Scholastic, 2004

Today we hear from my other eight-year-old son, who was shocked to discover his favorite Harry Potter book on the Banned Books display at our local library. I managed to pin this cutie down for an interview before school yesterday. Here’s what he had to say…

How many Harry Potter books have you read?

Smart Eight-year-old: Six

Which one is your favorite?

SEYO: Number five … Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Do you think the Harry Potter books should be banned?

SEYO: No!!!!!!!!!!!

Why do you think that some people DO want to ban them?

SEYO: Maybe because of the magic?

What would you say to a person who was worried that the magic you read about in Harry Potter was going to turn you into a magic-practicing lunatic?

SEYO: I would say that even an eight-year-old knows that magic isn’t real.

Who is your favorite character in the books?

SEYO: Hagrid

What are Harry Potter books about, besides magic?

SEYO: Adventures, friends, lots of stuff.

If the seventh Harry Potter book is a billion pages long, are you still going to make Mom read it out loud?

SGB: No. I’ll read it first, Mom, and make sure it is appropriate for you.

Hmmmm. Could he be referring to the fact that I didn’t handle Dumbledore’s death very well? (The man simply CANNOT be dead!) Or is he poking fun at the very idea of banned books? Only the smart eight-year-old knows for sure.

AND TANGO MAKES THREE
By Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Illustrated by Henry Cole

What kind of person would ban a picture book about a childless penguin couple that is able, with the help of the Central Park Zookeeper, to adopt and raise a baby penguin of their own? A person who takes issue with the fact that the penguins in question are both male, that’s who.

AND TANGO MAKES THREE is the story of Roy and Silo, male chinstrap penguins living at the Central Park Zoo. Roy and Silo behaved like all chinstrap penguin couples. They bowed and danced to each other, they walked together, they sang to each other, and they built a nest together. They even found something that looked like an egg (it was a rock) and tried to hatch it together. So when zookeepers found an opportunity for Roy and Silo to become parents (a fertile penguin couple with a poor history of raising twins had laid two eggs), they leant a helping hand. Roy and Silo rose to the challenge. The pair successfully incubated the egg and raised the baby penguin that hatched from it.

The power of this book, for me, is the simple fact that it is a TRUE STORY. Gay couples exist in other species. It is unusual, yes, but it is a normal course of events. So there. Besides that, this is a beautifully rendered picture book with superb watercolor illustrations and a happy ending. What’s to ban?

In the words of the American Library Association, “Read Banned Books. They’re your ticket to freedom.”

THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS
By Dav Pilkey
Blue Sky Press, 1997

The American Library Association has named September 23-30 Banned Book Week, and I am celebrating it here on my blog. I couldn’t help but use this opportunity to talk to the kids in my life about books, intellectual freedom and censorship. To prove to me he gets it, my son, aged eight, nominated one of his favorite banned books, Dav Pilkey’s THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, as our kick-off book. He also submitted these comments:

“I don’t think the wonderful Captain Underpants series should be banned from any libraries, schools or stores. All it is is a funny series of books with tons of potty talk. Why these places ban them is one big mystery to me.

I think potty talk is funny. How about you? For example, Chapter Sixteen of THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS is called “The Extremely Graphic Violence Chapter” and it starts with this warning:

“The following chapter contains graphic scenes showing two boys beating the tar out of a couple of robots. If you have high blood pressure, or if you faint at the sight of motor oil, we strongly urge you to take better care of yourself and stop being such a baby.”

Now that’s funny.

If you know a eight-year-old kid please buy them this book. And have a happy Banned Books Week.”

Gosh I love that boy!