It's been far too long since I've updated this blog. Here are a few random thoughts.
1. The last few weeks have been stressful. One of the librarians in our district is retiring November 20th and the administration isn't replacing her, putting a lot of stress (and work) on the rest of us. Now we'll have lots and lots of classes, but no time to attend to our libraries and their collections. So frustrating! I'll be working in three different schools with many new students. This is one of the worst educational decisions I've ever witnessed.
2. It's fall, my favorite season, and this year, fall lingers in all its radiant, glowing colors. It's been a pleasure driving home along the parkways and going for walks and runs with the leaves floating down around me.
3. My niece, Holly, will be celebrating her Sweet 16th birthday. How did she get this old?
4. I immerse myself in my novel for weeks or even months at a time, but find it refreshing to come up for air and a taste of poetry from time to time. I just finished writing a poem I really like, for a change.
5. Monday was my mother's birthday. She would have been 81. I still miss her.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
An Autumn Windfall
I've been informed that the PTA is concerned about the state of our library. All I can say is, hooray! I've been concerned for a long time now. When I first started working in my present library, I told our principal it was the most stripped down collection I'd ever seen. And it was. I couldn't believe it!
I pleaded with the administration for more funding. And they did increase our funding, but only by $1,000. which brings us about even with the level of funding we received for books in 1992. Very sad.
Anyhow, the PTA wants to help and is going to donate about $1,600 for new books. I was under the impression that I'd have to purchase all the books from Scholastic but today they told me no, that I could order the books from a library book company (such as Follett or BTSB). So, now I'm really excited! Since my wish lists always far exceed my funding, I have plenty of ideas on how to spend this little windfall. Three cheers for the PTA!!!
Our annual pumpkin decorating contest is underway and this year's entries are the best ever! I'll post some pictures later this week, if I can figure out my new camera.
I pleaded with the administration for more funding. And they did increase our funding, but only by $1,000. which brings us about even with the level of funding we received for books in 1992. Very sad.
Anyhow, the PTA wants to help and is going to donate about $1,600 for new books. I was under the impression that I'd have to purchase all the books from Scholastic but today they told me no, that I could order the books from a library book company (such as Follett or BTSB). So, now I'm really excited! Since my wish lists always far exceed my funding, I have plenty of ideas on how to spend this little windfall. Three cheers for the PTA!!!
Our annual pumpkin decorating contest is underway and this year's entries are the best ever! I'll post some pictures later this week, if I can figure out my new camera.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Barking Dog
A dog has been barking all afternoon, disturbing our normally quiet neighborhood. I put on some music and shut the windows, but I could still hear him. It made me think of this poem by Billy Collins.
Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House
The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.
The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,
and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.
When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton
while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.
Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House
The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.
The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,
and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.
When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton
while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.
Friday, October 9, 2009
When the Music Died
For ten years or more my library was situated next door to the music room. When Barbara moved into the former science room, I have to admit, I was not happy. Having music as a next door neighbor seemed a bad marriage. A library was suppose to be a haven of quiet, a place where children could come to read and think and make connections with books. A music room, on the other hand, was a place where boisterous children burst into song accompanied by piano music, where kindergartners danced the freeze dance and the bunny hop, 5th and 6th graders rehearsed for chorus week after week, banged on drums and tambourines and belted out songs the whole day through.
At first it drove me batty. Sometimes I had to go next door and kindly ask Barbara to close her doors (which she always did) or to tone it down a notch or two. Sometimes, while I was reading to the kids, they'd sit on the floor doing hand gestures to the accompaniment of the songs. It was a major distraction. Eventually Barbara learned to close her doors and turn down the volume and I learned to love the music that drifted beneath the door and seeped through the walls of my little library.
I learned to like "The Cat Came Back" and "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" and the theme from "Beauty and the Beast", developed an appreciation for "The Monster Mash" and the bubble gum song (which I don't know the title of). Around the holidays, it was "The Jingle Bell Rock" and "Over the River and Through the Woods" and as spring burst into bloom and the rains came whipping across the parking lot, I learned to love "Button Up Your Overcoat" and the classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Most of the songs were old, but some were new, gleaned from recent movies and hit lists. What swept beneath the door and through the walls with all these songs was a lovely poignancy, a kind of poetry that I learned to adore. Often the songs seemed to reflect the mood of the book I happened to be reading or to mirror my own personal feelings.
Four years ago I was yanked out of my library and plopped down into somebody else's. No music room next door. Instead, I'm now next door to the gym. The air is punctuated by the thud of basketballs, the occasionally screech of a whistle, the scream of children playing tag or some other fun game.
I never thought I'd be saying this, but I miss the music.
At first it drove me batty. Sometimes I had to go next door and kindly ask Barbara to close her doors (which she always did) or to tone it down a notch or two. Sometimes, while I was reading to the kids, they'd sit on the floor doing hand gestures to the accompaniment of the songs. It was a major distraction. Eventually Barbara learned to close her doors and turn down the volume and I learned to love the music that drifted beneath the door and seeped through the walls of my little library.
I learned to like "The Cat Came Back" and "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" and the theme from "Beauty and the Beast", developed an appreciation for "The Monster Mash" and the bubble gum song (which I don't know the title of). Around the holidays, it was "The Jingle Bell Rock" and "Over the River and Through the Woods" and as spring burst into bloom and the rains came whipping across the parking lot, I learned to love "Button Up Your Overcoat" and the classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Most of the songs were old, but some were new, gleaned from recent movies and hit lists. What swept beneath the door and through the walls with all these songs was a lovely poignancy, a kind of poetry that I learned to adore. Often the songs seemed to reflect the mood of the book I happened to be reading or to mirror my own personal feelings.
Four years ago I was yanked out of my library and plopped down into somebody else's. No music room next door. Instead, I'm now next door to the gym. The air is punctuated by the thud of basketballs, the occasionally screech of a whistle, the scream of children playing tag or some other fun game.
I never thought I'd be saying this, but I miss the music.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
What Makes Me Stop Reading?
Like most librarians and writers, I love to read - novels, poetry, picture books, biographies. You name it. BUT, when it comes to critiquing somebody's manuscript, it's hard to read everything. Here are a few of my pet peeves in writing, sins that make me yawn or lose interest immediately and put a story down.
1. Stories that begin with a long, unpopulated description of a place. Unless you're writing a segment of The World Without Us, who cares? Put a living being in there, for god's sake, then perhaps I'll have a reason to keep reading.
2. Cliches. A work of fiction that begins with a character waking from a dream, starting at a new school, etc. or that opens with a cliche phrase, such as the infamous, "It was a dark and stormy night."
3. Too much backstory. I lack the patience to read through a lot of meandering background information. A little here and there is okay, but the opening chapter of a novel needs to pull the reader forward, not muddle around in the past. I want a story that begins with action and by that, I don't mean a violent or shocking scene that practically makes me wretch or one so bizarre I can only laugh, but one that makes me care enough about the characters that I want to read more.
4. Stock Characters. You know them -the jolly fat man or lady, the mad scientist, the wicked stepmother, the blond haired, blue-eyed hero or heroine, the world-weary reporter, etc. I don't want to read about the same old same old.
5. Too much description. Here's one sin I'm often guilty of. Sometimes the story gets buried under heaps of adjectives and adverbs and it's hard to know what's going on. The advice to use strong verbs instead of using adverbs to prop up your weak verb choices is a good one. And take it easy on the adjectives. Let the story speak for itself, when you can.
6. Poor grammar and punctuation. If you're not sure how something is spelled or punctuated, then look it up. Easy enough. A manuscript littered with errors is a big turn-off and no editor is going to wade through it to see if there's a story worth salvaging from the wreckage.
7. Talking heads. It's hard to follow a story when you don't know who's speaking. Use dialog tags (a simple "he said" is enough) or add another sentence that lets the reader know who's speaking.
8. Nothing happens. I've read lovely settings and been introduced to some interesting characters, but sometimes absolutely nothing happens in a first chapter, leaving me to wonder if it's a story at all. To keep me reading, you need to introduce a dilemma or conflict otherwise why bother?
These are a few of my biggest writing pet peeves. What are yours?
1. Stories that begin with a long, unpopulated description of a place. Unless you're writing a segment of The World Without Us, who cares? Put a living being in there, for god's sake, then perhaps I'll have a reason to keep reading.
2. Cliches. A work of fiction that begins with a character waking from a dream, starting at a new school, etc. or that opens with a cliche phrase, such as the infamous, "It was a dark and stormy night."
3. Too much backstory. I lack the patience to read through a lot of meandering background information. A little here and there is okay, but the opening chapter of a novel needs to pull the reader forward, not muddle around in the past. I want a story that begins with action and by that, I don't mean a violent or shocking scene that practically makes me wretch or one so bizarre I can only laugh, but one that makes me care enough about the characters that I want to read more.
4. Stock Characters. You know them -the jolly fat man or lady, the mad scientist, the wicked stepmother, the blond haired, blue-eyed hero or heroine, the world-weary reporter, etc. I don't want to read about the same old same old.
5. Too much description. Here's one sin I'm often guilty of. Sometimes the story gets buried under heaps of adjectives and adverbs and it's hard to know what's going on. The advice to use strong verbs instead of using adverbs to prop up your weak verb choices is a good one. And take it easy on the adjectives. Let the story speak for itself, when you can.
6. Poor grammar and punctuation. If you're not sure how something is spelled or punctuated, then look it up. Easy enough. A manuscript littered with errors is a big turn-off and no editor is going to wade through it to see if there's a story worth salvaging from the wreckage.
7. Talking heads. It's hard to follow a story when you don't know who's speaking. Use dialog tags (a simple "he said" is enough) or add another sentence that lets the reader know who's speaking.
8. Nothing happens. I've read lovely settings and been introduced to some interesting characters, but sometimes absolutely nothing happens in a first chapter, leaving me to wonder if it's a story at all. To keep me reading, you need to introduce a dilemma or conflict otherwise why bother?
These are a few of my biggest writing pet peeves. What are yours?
Friday, September 18, 2009
What's the Point?
Lately the administrators I work for - the superintendents and principals - have acquired a taste for picture books that tout a message. Not a subtle theme, mind you, but a heavy-handed "message" we're all suppose to swoon over or something. One recent picture book our superintendent drooled over was The Invisible String. I don't remember the author's name, but clearly this was one of those message driven books that teachers and administrators like and kids clearly don't. The book was about our interconnectedness. Certainly a good theme - a great one even - but kids don't want a book that's all about a message.
Kids want stories that pull them along head first, head over heels - characters they can empathize with and laugh with, cry with, worry over. After 20 years of reading many books to thousands of kids, I know kids love good stories with believable characters, not books whose primary purpose is to send a message, to moralize, to edify. Nothing will make a child's eyes glaze over more than a heavy-handed message meant to educate them. As Samuel Goldwyn said, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union." Not that children's books shouldn't have a theme - they should - but the theme should emerge organically, subtlety from the story, the story where we worry about the characters and only later realize we also learned a little something in the process.
Kids want stories that pull them along head first, head over heels - characters they can empathize with and laugh with, cry with, worry over. After 20 years of reading many books to thousands of kids, I know kids love good stories with believable characters, not books whose primary purpose is to send a message, to moralize, to edify. Nothing will make a child's eyes glaze over more than a heavy-handed message meant to educate them. As Samuel Goldwyn said, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union." Not that children's books shouldn't have a theme - they should - but the theme should emerge organically, subtlety from the story, the story where we worry about the characters and only later realize we also learned a little something in the process.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
A Deft Touch
The photo above is once again by my friend, Joan C. Jones and the flowers you see are bluebells. She took this photo on a recent visit to England. In clumps, even the humblest flower radiates a certain beauty. For me, this forest looks magical, like a setting for a fairy tale.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)