Today we’re back to share some more posters we made and a few of the poems we wrote with Ms. Dealey. But first…
One of the things Ms. Dealey told us is:
by Elijah G.
We learned that writing is not like Math, where the answer is either right or wrong. When a teacher or editor takes their red pen to your paper, it’s to help you polish it, and make it so others can read it. Edits are not a bad thing.
Edits help you turn your
writing into reading.
She also said if we don’t know what to write, start with:
“This is crazy. I don’t know what to write. Why is she making us write this?”
We hope you’ll enjoy our poems & posters:
by Elijah G.
by Izabella D.
by Jas. S
by Hailey R.
Miah wrote this poem for her new baby sister. Poems can be about anything! Poems help you use your voice.
by Izabella D.
Poems can express emotions:
Love is wonderful.
Wonderful as you are.
Are you feeling this feeling?
Love, love, love.
Love is powerful.
Love is strong.
Love is something that you cannot break.
Breaking will not do anything because of this powerful force.
This force is like the solar system.
The solar system you cannot break as well.
It’s like the planets.
The planets are a representation of love.
The planets are held together with love.
Love, love, love.
Love is everything.
Everything you want to become can happen because of love.
Love is wonderful.
by Mannat P.
by Yehloe B.
It turns out writing poems isn’t so crazy after all.
And check out all our cool DEAR EARTH posters here!
Thank you, Erin Dealey, for zooming and writing with us,
and letting us take over your blog again.
Writing is never wrong!
Happy Holidays, thank you Mrs. Howard, and Happy Writing to everyone.
Operation Frog Effect–Sarah Scheeger, w/ graphic novel sections Illus. Gina Perry / Yearling / Penguin Random House–a 2019 title but just released in paperback!
(Be sure to check out all the titles in this series.)
The Hand on the Wall (Book 3 of the Truly Devious series) –Maureen Johnson / Katherine Tegan Books
We encourage you to consider these books for your holiday gifts.
And if possible, #ShopIndie #indiecember.
Happy Holidays to ALL–
and heartfelt thanks to the fabulous authors & illustrators, teachers & librarians, and
booksellers in our #kidlit community, for coming together this year even stronger and more determined to help get each other’s books on the radar of young readers and their families. Special shout-outs to #2020BookLook, bloggers everywhere, @2021derfuls (who started early!) and my amazing @EastWestLit family. It definitely takes a village and I wouldn’t want to “live” anywhere else.
“Creech writes Gina’s narration with comfortable magic…The real focus here is the magic of storytelling, as the class falls in love with Miss Lightstone’s literary leadership and develops their own voices…Ultimately, the book renders the familiar charmed in a way that will gratify youngsters seeking to bring enchantment into their own lives.”
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“A standout teacher and mysterious new student open the minds and notebooks of Gina Filomena and her fellow classmates…Gina, her classmates, and readers simultaneously discover that with most people there is far more than meets the eye. Newbery-winning Creech skillfully catches Gina at the point in life when a child’s small world opens up into a much wider adult one. As Gina navigates this transition, the line between real and imagined is blurred… For fans of Creech’s hallmark beautiful writing…“
—Kirkus
I am beyond delighted to share 5 Qs with Sharon Creech:
Sharon Creech: Thank you!
Q 1.What has publishing a book in a pandemic been like for you, compared to previous “Book Birthday” experiences?
Sharon Creech: This has been a much more subdued book birth than any before it, that’s for sure. Everything is tamped down, muted. I’m at home, not traveling and meeting students and teachers and booksellers and librarians. I’m not able to do virtual visits or videos because of unreliable internet. I feel in limbo, a sort of suspended animation. And yet, I’m also grateful for the quiet, the solitude, the ability to stay at home.
ED note:
All the more reason to have
a party, right friends?
Q 2.Which book title best describes your writing process for ONE TIME:
Absolutely Normal Chaos
Pleasing the Ghost
The Great Unexpected
Fishing in the Air
Sharon Creech: The writing process for ONE TIME might best be described as ‘fishing in the air.’ Each day I stepped into the shoes of Gina Filomena and let my mind roam free, catching bits of inspiration floating in the air. Since the book is about imagination, that worked well for me. It also seemed that Miss Lightstone would encourage this sort of fishing in the air, urging the mind to roam free.
Creech’s picture book with Caldecott Honor artist Chris Raschka (Harper Collins/ 2003)
Q. 3. Speaking of Miss Lightstone, which character from ONE TIME is most like you?
Gina Filomena
Miss Lightstone
Antonio
Auntie Pasta (I just had to write that name—haha.)
Sharon Creech: I am most like Gina Filomena (especially the younger me) in that I am curious, have a passion for words and cultivating the imagination, and am highly susceptible to smiles. I’m also like Miss Lightstone, I think: eager to give students freedom and time to explore and believing strongly in the riches and uniqueness of each individual.
Who are you?
Q 4. Gina starts the book with: “I wonder about you. Who are you?” What might your answer be to Gina—as well as readers and fans everywhere?
Sharon Creech: I am all my main characters from all my books. I am Gina Filomena and Salamanca Tree Hiddle and Mary Lou Finney, and Dallas and Florida and Sophie and Cody and Annie and Zinny and Jack and Leo and Naomi and Reena and Louie . . . etc. If you smooshed them all together, you would have: me. Really.
Q 5. What was one of the most surprising facts or discoveries you made in writing ONE TIME?
Sharon Creech: One of the most surprising discoveries was that Gina, filtered through me, was incorporating bits and pieces of many of my earlier books. This was not intentional or conscious. In the Clackerties, for instance, I could see bits of Absolutely Normal Chaos, and in Uncle and Auntie Pasta, I heard echoes of Granny Torrelli Makes Soup.
In Miss Lightstone I caught glimpses of Miss Stretchberry from Love That Dog; Angel Lucia seemed to be an echo of the angel in The Unfinished Angel; images of the moon and water first arose in Walk Two Moons and The Wanderer; and the exploration of the imagination occurs in different forms in many of my books, including Fishing in the Air and The Great Unexpected.
As Gina says near the end of ONE TIME, “All those stray pieces and one times float around in me.’ That’s how I feel now, as if this story gathers pieces and one times from all my previous books that float around in me.
[Hmm. If I were still a graduate student, this might make a good thesis to explore!]
I’m so thankful for the pieces and one times you shared with us on the blog today, Sharon.
We encourage you to consider these books for your holiday gifts.
And if possible, #ShopIndie #indiecember.
Last but not least, this post is a heartfelt thank you to our wonderful author & illustrator #kidlit community, for coming together this year even stronger and more determined to help get each other’s books on the radar of young readers and their families. Special shout-outs to #2020BookLook, bloggers everywhere, @2021derfuls (who started early!) and my amazing @EastWestLit family. It definitely takes a village and I wouldn’t want to “live” anywhere else.
“A well-thought-out presentation of an important environmental message.” —Kirkus
Poster art: MP
We are Mrs. Howard’s AWESOME 5th/6th graders from room FIVE04
–here to celebrate!
We met up with Erin Dealey on Zoom, showed her the Book Birthday posters we made, asked her some questions, and wrote poems.
So here’s part 1 of
DEAR ERIN DEALEY,
From Your Friends in Room FIVE04.
Click image to view trailer. Art by Luisa Uribe.
Q1 –from Ruby: When did you figure out that you wanted to be a writer?
Erin Dealey: First off, thank you for taking over the blog today, and for celebrating DEAR EARTH’s book birthday with me. It was great fun to meet you!
As for your question, the short answer: I was definitely NOT the kid who wanted to write books some day. (Long answer below.)
Room FIVE04: Erin Dealey’s 6th grade journal is proof! She read us an entry:
“It’s the same thing today and I don’t know what to write. The End.”
Erin Dealey: In 6th grade I got to go down the hall once a week and read to the kindergarteners. This is when I really discovered picture books. But write them? Ha! I liked to draw but by high school, I thought I might be a math teacher, mainly because my Algebra teacher was lots of fun and I knew how to get good grades in math.
In 10th grade English, I shared a poem we had to write, an example of alliteration, and the whole class laughed. I took it as proof that I was not a writer. Now, when I look back, I wonder if my friends laughed because they were used to me being funny, making people laugh. Still, to a 10th grader, it was horrifying. But funny thing:
I loved words.
I didn’t figure out I wanted to be a writer until much later. However, I’ve always loved words. I liked to make up jokes and puns with my friends. I loved memorizing the lyrics to my favorite songs–partly to sing along, but I also loved writing them down. I feel like that’s where I learned to rhyme. I also wrote angsty poems in a journal, which I showed no one!
And yep, I entered college as a MATH major. Halfway through university, my counselor asked me why I was taking all those English Lit classes… Long story short: I switched majors–with a plan to become a high school English/Art teacher.
Poster art: JR
Q 2. –from Isabel: What inspired you to write books?
Erin Dealey: Ha–I’m getting there…
I was teaching high school English and Theater, and I found myself having to expand various scripts to fit the needs of my theater students. Then one day I found a cheesy novel that a student had left on a desk, and I thought, “I could do that!”
I was also the ASB advisor and constantly telling my students to get past their doubts and follow their dreams. Never let the “If onlies” get you.
My mom always used to tell us, “You never know until you try.” So I tried writing that novel. Over and over. (I may have just recently cracked the novel code, finally!)
When our daughter was born, we read stories night and day, and somewhere along the way I realized that picture books are theater.
Poster art: JP
Q 3. –from Bubba: How long does it take for a book to come out?
Erin Dealey: When I started out, I was told it usually takes about two years from when you sign the contract for a picture book to be released. This will vary from book to book. The illustrator gets a year to do the art –although sometimes they get it done sooner. Plus, even if you think you’ve submitted a “perfect” manuscript, the editor will have more revisions and suggestions for you. It’s so very important to be open to these changes. I’ve found that the input only makes the book better.
With DEAR EARTH… I signed the contract in the summer of 2018. I worked on edits from Harper Collins team (including notes from science expert, nonfiction author Melissa Stewart) through October. In December 2018, I learned that the amazing Luisa Uribewould be the illustrator. Her art made the story come alive! I am so very thankful for our editor Tamar Mays, our art director Erica DeChavez, Melissa Stewart, and the entire DEAR EARTH team, as well as my incredible agent, Deborah Warren of East/West Literary.
Room FIVE04: Happy Book Birthday! We learned a lot today. (Writing a picture book and turning it in is like waiting for Mrs. Howard to grade our papers–only it takes much LONGER!) Thank you for letting us takeover your blog today, and for helping us write this poem for Dear Earth–
As Gina says near the end of ONE TIME, “All those stray pieces and one times float around in me.’ That’s how I feel now, as if this story gathers pieces and one times from all my previous books that float around in me.
