Beach Tail gets Caldecott Hype!!!!

Check out this site.    Like they say a long shot but nice to dream....  Keeps a writer going to know that the work is being recognized.  I imagine it is great for the illustrator too.  I was delighted from the beginning of this project to know Floyd would be the illustrator.  My book When Africa Was Home was one of his early works.  Here is a shout out to Floyd and A Beach Tail.

http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1999 

Getting here

After a week of traveling west, visiting friends old and new and hiking along the way we spent the last night before the movers came camped out on the floor in sleeping bags.

Our new Home and the things we carry with us

The things we carry with us (or not).

Dust form the old home.

Mouse poop???

The keys to the house of a good friend. 

The directions to the new garage door opener, the one in PA.

Fancy pants cloths and heels..for the dessert?

NO flyswatter.

Enough warm cloths? (who knew it got this cold in the dessert?)

And I can't find the spaghetti strainer anywhere.  A resourceful student suggests hammering nails into a plastic container to make holes.

And is it really possible to get lost in a three bedroom house all on one floor?  I walk around in circles.  And which shoes did I designate as indoor and which are for outdoor?    I give up and who cares if a little red dirt is all over the house.

The very biggest advice anyone can give us and most often given without soliciting advice:  DO NOT DRIVE AFTER DARK.  It seems everyone has hit a free range cow at least once.

It all seems very foreign and barren and beautiful all at once.  Much to discover and explore.

On the Move

We are in the crazy state of cleaning, sorting, throwing away and selling(big garage sale a success). AND PACKING.  

Steve and I move to Chinle Arizona on September 1.  We expect to arrive on September 7 and hope that are movers have arrived then too.

Our new contact info:

karen@karenlynnwilliams.com

Mailing address: PO Box 1932 Chinle, AZ 86503

House Street #: 2085.1 Codetalker's Lane

House Phone #: 928 674 8296

I can still be reached at: kwilliams@chatham.edu and kwilliams@setonhill.edu.  I will continue to teach on line for these programs. 

Updates to come soon.

Sangoel Does it again!

MY NAME IS SANGOEL has won the Carolyn W. Field honor award given by the Pennsylvania Library Association for 2010.  The announcement will be made at the PaLA conference in Lancaster, PA on MOnday October 25.

And check out this thoughtful review in Paper Tiger:

Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed, illustrated by Catherine Stock, My Name is Sangoel Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2009. Ages 6-10 Sangoel has only his mother, younger sister, the clothes on his back and a mysterious package thrust into his hands by a friend as he leaves the refugee camp.  He must start over in a brand new place, America. And in this place, the “wise one” reassures him, “you will be Sangoel.” Sangoel is proud of his Dinka name, the name of his father (who was killed in the war) and of his grandfather before him.  He takes comfort knowing he will always be a Dinka and will always be Sangoel despite everything that may change. A kind woman meets them at the airport and helps them get settled in their new apartment.  She brings clothes, teaches Sangoel’s mother to cook on the stove, shows Sangoel and his sister how television works and how to cross the street, but she cannot pronounce his name.  Neither can the doctor, his teacher or any of the children at school.  Sangoel’s mother suggests he choose a new, American name, but Sangoel can’t imagine such a thing.  Eventually he comes up with a brilliant idea for teaching others how to pronounce his name and begins to settle into his new life while still preserving his cherished Dinka identity. This lovely book, a second collaboration following on from Four Feet Two Sandals between Karen Lynn Williams, author of Galimoto, Tap-Tap and Circles of Hope, and Khadra Mohammed, executive director of the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) Refugee Center, is illustrated in warm watercolors by Catherine Stock. It imparts the emotional challenges of the refugee experience without dragging young readers too deeply through the horrors of war.  It illustrates that even those fortunate enough to be resettled must deal with their difficult pasts while navigating a new present and trying to maintain a sense of themselves as whole individuals.  Children will be impressed with Sangoel’s story and ingenuity.  It is clear that the family will not have an easy life, but with resilience and resourcefulness they will overcome their challenges. Abigail Sawyer August 2010

This is a great issue about refugee children.  Don't miss the entire journal at www.papertiger.org.

Back from Europe

It was an exciting month in France and Spain with friends and lots of art, adventure, great food and a little relaxation.  And to top it off a grandson, Ethan Jon born in Taiwan while we were away.  Hard to believe that Peter from When Africa Was Home is a dad.  Harder to believe I am a grandmother!

Ethan gets a bath and Grandma makes it to the top of the rock climbing course AND to the tope of the mountain in Spain.  An 8 hour hike to the peak was spectacular.

All that and a return to Pittsburgh with three weeks to pack for our move to the Navajo Reservation in Chinle Arizona.  Check back for more about our new home and life, new works in progress, new address and email.