Katherine’s Story

I grew up in western New York with two younger brothers and all sorts of pets—cats, dogs, gerbils, a white mouse,

George in the compost pile.

fish, and guinea pigs. There was always at least one animal in our house, sometimes there were two, and every once in a while there was a multitude. My favorites were my gerbil, Nerbil, and our dog, Noire (which, in French, means “black”, and she was). My happiest memories involve spending time with the animals, and horsing around outside.

When I was very young, I was so shy that if my mother tried to introduce me to people I would hide behind her legs, and sometimes I would cry. But when I was ten years old, we moved to a neighborhood with hordes of kids—over thirty of them living on our street or around the corner. Every day after school and all summer long we would play “Cops and Robbers”, “Kick the Can”, “Four-Square”, and “Kill the Guy with the Ball.”  After hanging around with those kids for a while, I was not so shy anymore.

In school, I did well in most subjects, except for science. I liked art and math the most. But nobody—not my teachers or my parents or my friends—ever said to me, “You are an amazing writer. I just know you’re going to grow up and write books.” I never thought that myself, either. And now I’ve written three books, so you never know.

What were your favorite things to do when you were young?

I was a daydreamer. I was always making up stories in my head, then drawing pictures to illustrate them. I loved to draw.

And I loved to read. If I was reading a good book I wouldn’t even notice the time going by because I was in the story, seeing and doing and feeling all the things the characters saw and did and felt. That was the best.

Also, I liked playing “Kill the Guy with the Ball.” Lots of running and tackling in that game. Very fun (and a little bit dangerous).

What were you afraid of?

I absolutely refused to touch slimy, slick, or scaly animals. That included worms, snakes, frogs, fish, and the legs of any bird.

Beezus (the baby of the family)

Since moving to Iowa, though, I have held worms, frogs, toads, all sorts of birds, mice, chipmunks, bunnies, rabbits, and a wild turkey (I wear leather gloves whenever I handle wild animals that have teeth, so they can’t claw or bite me). I’m still not sure I want to touch a snake, however.

Did you have a best friend? Who was it and why were you best friends?

Mackie

In grade school, my best friend was Dorothy. Every day we walked home from school together. Every day, once we got to my house, she’d say, “Well, I guess I should go home.” And every day I’d talk her into staying, at least until dinner time. We played basketball in the alley behind the neighbors’ house, we played running-hiding-tackling games with the neighborhood kids, we sat on the porch and talked. I don’t really know why we were best friends.  I just know she was the easiest person, ever, for me to be with.

What advice do you have for aspiring young readers and writers?

Well, I can only say what works for me.

I do think that I learned a lot about good writing—like what makes for an interesting plot, or ways characters might talk so the reader stays interested—simply by reading so many books when I was young. I didn’t realize I was learning those things; I just absorbed them as I read. So I’d say to people who want to write: read.

The patio where I sometimes work.

It takes me a long time to write a story—Ida B took a year and a half, True took even longer. If I’m going to spend that much time creating a world and the characters that live in it, I have to really love and enjoy them. So I’d also say: write about what you love or what you imagine you’d love. Write the story you’d most like to read.

Do you have a special place where you write your books?

I write in lots of places—in the big red chair in my living room, at the dining room table, in bed at night. On a nice day, I’ll write out on the patio that overlooks the meadow. What is always present wherever I write, however, is a cat (right now I have four of them). They keep me company and, most of the time, they let me work. They will not tolerate a late meal, though, even if my writing is going well and I’d like to postpone dinner a bit.

Download a copy of Katherine’s Story HERE.

Read “Your Friend, Katherine Hannigan (A Letter to Readers)” HERE.

For more about Katherine and her books, visit her author page HERE.

Your Friend, Katherine

Dear Reader,

I hope you’re enjoying reading True (…Sort Of) as much as I enjoyed writing about Delly, Brud, Ferris Boyd, and all the other characters who live in River Bluffs.

Parts of my life sneak always their way into my books: my cat Lulu showed up in Ida B (as did my habit of talking to

trees). I live in a place where there are lots of wild animals, so Emmaline and the Bunny was full of them. But in True, I wanted to write about how friendship, and a new place, can transform somebody’s life. Because that’s what happened to me.

I grew up in a city in New York State. This city had a mall, movie theatres, and all kinds of restaurants and stores. Then, about eleven years ago, I moved to a tiny town in Iowa. In this town, there’s no mall, no movie theatres, no streets full of stores. There aren’t even traffic lights. And when I moved here, I didn’t know anybody, so it was pretty scary. But it was also pretty wonderful, because all around the town are hills and fields and woods, and sometimes when I go running bald eagles fly over me. In this town there’s a river, and if I paddle my kayak down it I see giant turtles sunbathing. There’s a meadow behind my house and woods beyond that, so I’ve met all sorts of wild creatures—deer, skunks, raccoons, possum, wild turkeys, groundhogs… The people here are kind, and they became my friends.

Lulu yawning.

I got a whole new life moving to this place, and it changed me. I started doing things I’d never done before. I got a garden going, and grew some of my own food.  I learned to kayak and canoe. And I decided I wanted to write some stories. I didn’t know if I’d be any good at writing, but I really wanted to read a story about kids growing up in a place like this. The only way to read that story was to write it for myself.

Writing stories ended up being so much fun. It was hard, too—writing isn’t easy for me. But writing True (and Ida B and Emmaline) were some of the best times I’ve ever had because, while I’m writing, it’s as if I’m hanging around with Delly and Ferris Boyd and Brud. In my imagination, I get to do all the things they’re doing: I’m sitting up in the hideawaysis, playing basketball with Brud, having breakfast on the lake with Delly and her mom, and laughing about those words Delly invents (especially the nocuss ones).

I also wanted to write about kids who feel different, like Delly, Brud, and Ferris Boyd do, because I’ve always felt that way. Maybe everybody does. It was important to me that one of the heroes of True be a kid who’s been in so much trouble that she’s starts to believe she IS trouble, because I’ve known kids like that. And, if I’m honest, there were times when I was young that I thought about not talking anymore, like Ferris Boyd.

There’s a lot of humor in True because I love to laugh and make other people laugh, as well. So I hope you laugh at least a couple of times as you read it. I also wish that if you ever felt different and were sad about that, or if you ever had something so hard happen that you didn’t know how to talk about it, you got some hope, and maybe some help, from True. Maybe you, like Delly, will become a hummin bin, too.

Best wishes,

Katherine Hannigan

Download a copy of “Your Friend, Katherine (A Letter to Readers)” HERE.

Read more about Katherine and her books on her author page HERE.

MO WREN, LOST AND FOUND, by Tricia Springstubb

MO WREN: LOST AND FOUND by Tricia Springstubb, illustrated by Heather Ross

Mo Wren, her dad, and little sister Dottie have sold their house on Fox Street and moved into an apartment above an abandoned restaurant. Mr. Wren is going to renovate and reopen the restaurant, serving up down-home cooking.  But nothing about the move is easy for Mo. Their new street is a row of businesses. Not homes, like back on Fox Street. Her little sister Dottie is fitting in at school better than she is.  And the new place is under a curse. Everything that can go wrong – does. Mo is feeling lost.But with the help of a new friend, she finds that what she was looking for was right under her nose all along. It’s the people around you that truly matter and make any place a home.

Readers will enjoy living with Mo Wren on East 213th just as much as when she lived on Fox Street.

Find a review of WHAT HAPPENED ON FOX STREET, Springstubb’s first book about Mo, HERE.

Welcome to ReaderKidZ, September 2011!

“Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a tough battle.” Plato

It’s never too soon for children to learn empathy: empathy for children who talk, or look, or sound different; empathy for children from different cultures and religions; children with special needs. So much depends on our children learning this. That’s what books do – they teach empathy. They make the unfamiliar familiar. They give comfort to children who are different by letting them know they’re not alone. This month, we’re talking about Accepting Differences.

Please join us in welcoming this month’s Author-In-Residence, Katherine Hannigan. We’ll begin featuring her Interview, Letter to Readers, and latest book TRUE (…sort of), Monday, September 5th.


Notable Books for a Global Society

Each year the International Reading Association Selection Committee for Notable Books for a Global Society selects “well written books… in which children can see themselves…bringing stories that are engaging and compelling.”   These represent books for all ages and all readers.  Selections vary from poetry, fiction, and biography with age range spans from picture book through middle grade and up to young adult.

Karen Hildebrand, Chair of the IRA Selection Committee, agreed to answer a few questions about the award and why it’s an invaluable resource for parents, teachers and librarians.

Why was this “new” award-recognition of “global books” established by an IRA group?

The list was created for teachers, students and families to suggest quality books that show readers many different groups of people who have different ways of living. We wanted the list to go beyond looking at holiday and food differences, but to actually depict cultural differences and similarities and what contemporary authors say through “story” to bring voice to a variety of cultures.

The books that are chosen as our top 25 have been read and evaluated by a 9-panel committee of professors of children’s literature, librarians, and classroom teachers.

Of the criteria described on the Books for a Global Society website, what are two or three that are especially important to you?

Our definition of “global” has broadened. A year ago two of our winners, Marcelo in the Real World and Anything But Typical, were books about autism. A recent winner, Five Flavors of Dumb, is about a strong female character who is deaf and yet is involved in the world of music. Years ago, autism and deafness may not have been considered as “global” but because we are looking at reading communities that are in a minority or have been overlooked or marginalized, we felt these were outstanding books to represent the “underrepresented” in contemporary literature for youth.

I think our most important criterion, however, is a well written book.

Another criteria is the accuracy and authenticity of the cultural representations. A beautiful example of this is last year’s winner, Blessing’s Bead by Debbie Dahl Edwardson for the older reader — or for a younger reader,  Saltypie by Tim Tingle.

Why do you encourage children to read these books?

 If children are provided with books that offer a window outside of their own communities, we hope we are broadening their view of the world.  Our list offers a variety of genres – poetry, fiction, nonfiction and picture books as well as graphic novels and biographies.

Books also address the ELL and immigrant children, or children who live in alternative parenting families.

For a young reader, Dear Primo by Duncan Tonatiuh looks at two cultures simultaneously as cousins write back and forth from Mexico to the US.

I end with this quote from Yvonne Siu-Runyan, the woman who was the initial force behind the NBGS,

“Stories are people, just as people are stories; that is, when we read or hear stories, we learn about and deepen our understanding about others and self. Stories provide a way to understand the past and present, project toward the future, and celebrate both the multiplicity and commonalities among all peoples so that humanity can evolve toward peace, acceptance, and harmony throughout the world.”

Links, Lists and further reading:

~ IRA has published Breaking Boundaries with Global Literature; Celebrating Diversity in the K-12 Classrooms edited by Nancy L. Hadaway and Marian J. McKenna (c2007).

This collection has chapters that include key themes in using global literature including teaching and classroom ideas. More book lists divided into genre, theme or author lists are available HERE.

2011 Notable Books for a Global Society (K-12)

Picture Books

Saltypie; A Choctaw journey from darkness into light  by  Tim Tingle. Illus. by Karen Clarkson. Cinco Puntos Press

Mirror  by  Jeannie Baker.  Candlewick Press

Goal  by  Mina Javaherbin.  Illus. by A.G. Ford.   Candlewick Press

Dear Primo: a letter to my cousin  by  Duncan Tonatiuh.  Abrams

Fly Free  by  Roseanne Thong.  Illus. by Eujin Kim Neilan,  Boyds Mills Press

Seeds of Change: planting a path to peace  by  Jen Cullerton Johnson. Lee and Low Books

Biography

Yummy; the last days of a Southside shorty  by  G. Neri.  Lee and Low Books

Black Jack; the ballad of Jack Johnson  by  Charles R. Smith, Jr.  Illus. by Shane W. Evans, Roaring Brook Press

Fiction

8th Grade Super Zero  by  Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich.  Arthur A. Levine Books.

Five Flavors of Dumb  by  Antony John.   Dial Books

Ninth Ward  by  Jewell  Parker Rhodes.  Little Brown.

A Long Walk to Water  by  Linda Sue Park.  Clarion Books.

Lost Boy, Lost Girl; escaping civil war in Sudan  by  John Bul Dau.  National Geographic

Bamboo People  by  Mitali Perkins.  Charlesbridge

Thunder Over Kandahar  by Sharon E. McKay.  Annick Press.

A Million Shades of Gray  by  Cynthia Kadohata.  Atheneum Books

Warriors in the Crossfire  by  Nancy Bo Flood.  Front Street Books

The Dreamer  by  Pam Munoz Ryan. Drawings by Peter Sis, Scholastic Press

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond & T.R. Simon.  Candlewick Press.

Heart of a Samurai; based on the true story of Nakahama Manjiro.  by Margi Preus.  Amulet Books.

Poetry

The Firefly Letters; a suffragette’s journey to Cuba  by  Margarita Engle.  Henry Holt.

Non-fiction

The Good Garden  by  Kate Smith Milway.  Illus. by Sylvie Daigneault.  Kids Can Press.

Birmingham Sunday  by Larry Dane Brimner.  Calkins Creek.

They Called Themselves the KKK  by  Susan Campbell Bartoletti.  Houghton Mifflin.

Sugar Changed the World  by  Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos.  Clarion Books.

Amazing You, Amazing Me!

Developing a close-knit community of learners is critical in those beginning weeks and months of school.  Appreciating one another – the commonalities and the differences – and recognizing that each of us has many wonderful talents to offer to the others in the class is one of the most important life lessons that kids learn in a classroom setting. Here are a few of the many books that celebrate who we are.

AND HERE’S TO YOU! by David Elliott, illustrated by Randy Cecil  

This picture book is the most joyful, exuberant celebration of all living things I’ve ever read.  Birds and bugs, dogs and cats, fish, frogs, and more – each with their unique personalities and quirks – fill the pages of this book. Add Randy Cecil’s buoyant and lively illustrations and you’ll find this is book you won’t want to miss.

THE SKIN YOU LIVE IN by Michael Tyler, illustrated by David Lee Csicsko 

Published by the Chicago Children’s Museum, this ode to the wonders of the skin we live in is a perfect book to pair with And Here’s to You!

It’s not … fat skin or thin skin,/you lose and I win skin…/ Nor she skin or he skin,/ you’re better than me skin;/… It’s not any of this,/ ’cause you’re more/ than you seem,/ You are all that you think and/ you hope and you dream.

THE COLORS OF US by Karen Katz 

Written by Katz as an uplifting reminder of the diversity of the communities in which we live and the rich shades and tones which make each of our skin colors unique, the message of this book is most powerfully told through its bright and bold illustrations. Katz brings the sensibilities of her artist’s eye to the work, making concrete and tangible the many “colors of us.”

WHAT HAPPENED ON FOX STREET by Tricia Springstubb

WHAT HAPPENED ON FOX STREET by Tricia Springstubb, illustrated by Heather Ross

9-year-old Mo Wren has lived on Fox Street her entire life. Almost everybody she cares about lives there; the Baggott boys, her best friend’s grandmother, even spooky Mrs. Steinbott. Whenever Mo’s dad works, she takes care of the “wild child,” her little sister, Dottie. Mo wishes her dad would snap out of his bad mood. He hasn’t been the same since her mom’s accident. And when a developer wants to buy up Fox Street, Mo thinks her Dad will never sell. But then she thought her mom would live on Fox Street forever. Readers will fight alongside Mo as she battles to hold onto everything she loves. Everything that makes her feel safe. Everything that makes her Mo.

Look for a review soon of the newly released sequel, Mo Wren: Lost and Found (Balzer & Bray, 2011).