AZ SCBWI 2011

On October 1 I had the honor of speaking at the AZ SCBWI conference in Scottsdale AZ. I shared my experiences writing the picture book from travels and life's journeys.

I also got to listen to editors, agents and authors confirm that there will always be room for good books for children in this new digital age and beyond.

It was inspiring to listen to young editors who are passionate about what they do, articulate, intelligent and serious about creating good books for young people. Voice, plot, character...the craft does not change. Now to get back to work and put the inspired muse to work!

Great School, Great Idea!

Sangoel is still making friends and readers everywhere:

Dear Ms. Williams,

I'm writing to let you know that Oakridge Elementary School selected My Name is Sangoel to kick off its new school wide reading project--Mosaic. We are an international neighborhood school located in Arlington, VA and our 660 students come from more than 30 countries. The themes identified in your book were a perfect fit for the mission of the project, which uses literature to teach targeted reading strategies while exposing students to different cultures. Today, more than 700 students, teachers and staff read your book and everyone was mesmerized. Many of students have come to Arlington from different countries and have encountered obstacles similar to Sangoel's. As such, the students easily connected with the book and its themes, which resonated through our school. To learn more about Oakridge's Mosaic project, please see our website at http://www.apsva.us/Page/6203.

Thank you, and we're looking forward to your next publication.

Prickly Pear Jam from the Canyon

I had been waiting all summer for those Yellow cactus flowers to turn to purple red fruits. Elsie Cly had promised to take me into the canyon to pick prickly pears.

The day we went happened to be one of the wettest days in the canyon this summer. I drove our little black jeep with mud spewing over the roof and Elsie hanging on to the passenger bar in front of her yelling, "Don't stop. Just don't stop." I don't know which was worse the deep sand or the mud and water. "Karen," Elsie said, "go left here". I veered left. "No the other left. follow the tracks out of the water."

There were at least ten different tire treads leading out of the mud and quicksand. "No! the other left!" And then, "Karen this is the place where anyone can get stuck. Not just you. Don't stop. " And Eslie's famous advice "Be careful here."

We finally made it to the first patch of prickly pears. The recipe I found on line said I needed fifty. Elsie used the tongs I brought to twist the prickly fruit from the thorned cactus paddles and I used my garden gloves.

We picked a bucket full and got back into the jeep.

Each patch of prickly pears we passed looked bigger and riper than the last so we had to stop again and again, filling basket and bucket. My eyes much bigger than my ability to prepare the pears.

When we determined that I had more than enough red fruits, well over 50...It was time to clean off the prickles. The internet said to hold each one over the flame of the stove burner and turn it gently. Elsie had a better, Navajo method. We stopped and picked bundles of Rabbit brush.

Then we laid out a layer of brush on the

ground, dumped the pears on top and swept them round and round with bunches of the green brush with tiny yellow flowers. Sure enough the fruits were shiny and prickerless by the time we finished.

Back through the mud nearly stuck twice but we made it with Elsie exclaiming "We are the wild women!"

The real work began at home where pealing and getting the seeds out of one pear the size of my thumb left me with the usable fruit about the size of the tip of my pinky finger. But with some perseverance and experimentation (no pectin at the local grocery), I now have eight jars of prickly pear jam

and tons of pears left for some salsa? juice? relish? Yummm.

Why I write for Children

I recently had this email from a fellow author of books for children. Here is what she has to say about My Name is Sangoel and her experience using it in the classroom. The second part give me shivers:

I really do love that book. When schools ask for modeling on response to

literature, that's one of the three books I always grab off my shelf.

Some of my favorite responses have been the character responses. Sangoel is

brave and then they offer up 3-4 examples from the text where they thought

he acted in a brave way. Or, Sangoel was clever, and again they provide

evidence from the text.

One of the most powerful responses I read was a personal response from a 5th

grade boy who said how his brother had given him a nickname that now

everyone knew and used and how it made him feel on the inside whenever he

heard it. This student offered to share what he had written and when he

completed the response several kids in the room looked at him and said,

"I'll never call you that again. Promise."

A Beach Tail Now a Recorded Book

A Beach Tail is now available on Recorded books performed by Dion Graham. Unabridged with a second track included with page turn signals.

Check it out on line or from:

Recorded Books

270 Skipjack Road

Prince Frederick, MD 20678

1-800-638-1304

A Birthday and an Obituary

It is a good thing to google yourself once in while. I try to do it regularly. It is a great way to procrastinate and also to find out where you stand in the world arena. Do you come up first on the search engines? Is that person really you? How many pages of you are there on Google?

The last time I looked I was amazed to find out they were celebrating my birthday in Australia. And this really was me. I think this is a great idea and everyone should be celebrated in this way. Also everyone should celebrate my birthday and forget my age ;-).

Happily the next entry on Google after the birthday was an obituary for well.... not me, but Karen Lynn Williams. I was relieved to find out that it was an article about the death of a different KLW and I am still around to write and celebrate more birthdays although I did give a moment of silent thought to the family whose lost another Karen Lynn Williams. It seems there are many of us out there.

See below for the blog that describes my birthday celebration in Australia! Perhaps we should all celebrate a Harmony Day ...everyday.

KINDERBOOKSWITHEVERYTHING

TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2011

22nd March Karen Lynn Williams (1952)

Yesterday at school we celebrated Harmony Day with a visit from a wonderful group of people from the Torres Straits. Harmony Day is celebrated around Australia on 21 March each year. It's a day where all Australians celebrate our cultural diversity. The day is also the United Nation's International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The message for Harmony Day in 2011 is that Everyone Belongs, which means all Australians are a welcome part of our country, regardless of their background. Our school has extended this message to become Harmony Week. This is extremely fitting given that the school community is quite homogenous and needs to be made more aware of cultural diversity.

Today is American author Karen Lynn Williams'birthday. She is the perfect author for this week as she has lived and worked in developing countries and worked tirelessly with refugees in her own country. She has written widely based on her experience and her books certainly help in the quest to eliminate racial discrimination. We have three of her books (pictured) in our library perfect for discussion on a variety of topics from racism, sexism, inclusion to family similarities if it is with very young children. You can read blurbs, reviews and teaching suggestions for the books on her website.

Dying wool in the canyon

It's still all about writing. On Monday I drove my little black jeep through mounds of sand with Winnie Henry. We picked the leaves from a black walnut tree,the same one her mother used to pick from for dye, snake weed and rabbit bush.

Back at her old stone Hogan we stoked up the ancient propane stove and set the water to boil while we picke the leaves off the branches and sat outside sharing stories. Two old grannies outside the Hogan in the canyon. Drop the wool in, stir it around. It is very exciting to see what color it will be. Winne has created a monster. I walk on the mesa an eye every plant as a potential dye for wool for my next rug.Sharing stories and dying wool. The wool will end up in a rug. I hope the stories end up in a book or many books. Maybe not what we did and how we did it but the place, the sense and the feel of it all, the details. I am learning the place and the people. It is all research, all life. This is the place where Spider woman gave weaving to the Navajo and I am connected, honored to have this opportunity.