Just like an old and gnarled tree is growing very slowly, my first picture book took some time to come along. Now it's here, and I'm glad to see it printed.
Read moreWHAT DO JAMES JOYCE, SYLVIA PLATH AND LANGSTON HUGHES HAVE IN COMMON? By Little Bear
They all wrote children's picture books!
I wrote an earlier blog about children's picture books by Maya Angelou, but did you know that many other poets and authors who wrote for adults also wrote for children? Here are some of my favorites...
Read moreShark Girl, Black Clouds and Bear Hugs! By Little Bear
Shark Girl has a black cloud following her. (Or is she following it? I couldn't tell!) When I met her at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Cincinnati, she seemed just like a fish out of water.
Read moreInspire Children to Read by Meaghan Fisher
As a child, my mother always read to me traditional books with moral lessons and never told me that I had to read anything specific according to a test, my given age, or reading level. Instead, she encouraged me to read anything I found interesting and fun and told me that reading was about having fun!
Read moreLorenzo's Story by Carmela Dutra and Lorenzo the Bear
While visiting a classroom of second graders I was asked a series of questions. Who is Lorenzo the Bear? Where did he come from? Is he real, or fictional? Will he have more adventures, and stories to tell? All excellent questions...
Read moreAre Picture Books Necessary? - By Carmela Dutra
When you think about books, how do you view them?
Read moreWhy I Write and Draw for Children by Kyle Skor
I suppose I could say it came to me first when I was really young. The 64-color box of Crayolas and whatever paper was available at home were inseparable from the idea of daily fun, play, and discovery.
Read moreEloise Greenfield - Rap Star! (:3 - By Little Bear
Our friend, children's book author Eloise Greenfield, has a new Youtube video! She's performing "Nathaniel's Rap," a poem from her book, "In the Land of Words"...
Read moreMentor Text: Picture Books That Teach the Craft of Writing in Grades 3, 4, and 5, By Lola M. Schaefer
[Part 2 of author Lola Schaefer's guide to using picture books as mentor texts in classrooms] Picture books are amazing. Not only are they a source of enjoyment and entertainment, but in the hands of a proficient writing teacher, they become so much more.
Read morePicture Books As Mentors: How Beauty and Art Guide Young Writers - By Lola M. Schaefer
[Part 1 of author Lola Schaefer's guide to using picture books as mentor texts in classrooms] We’ve all heard the expression “show, don’t tell.” It’s especially true in teaching. If students discover truths or concepts on their own, they are much more likely to remember and apply these in the future.
Read moreHow Rhythm and Rhyme Impact Learning Language - By Heidrun Worchel
Rhymes have the power to engage us with their pattern of repetition in sound and rhythm. We are encouraged to think along and our mind starts to participate. Perhaps we wonder how will the rhyme end? Can I come up with an ending word of my own?
Read moreA Beautiful Picture Book Time with Curious, Creative, Fun First Graders - By Eloise Greenfield
Last week, I celebrated the beauty of picture books in a program for three first-grade classes, in the library of Shepherd Elementary School in Washington, DC. The children were well-prepared with a love for and an excitement about picture books. Each of the classes surprised me with a dramatic, group performance of one of my poems.
Read morePicture Books Inspire Creativity! - By Martha Rodriguez
I read A Reel Cool Summer to six classes of smart, sweet, curious, silly, beautiful girls in three days. They listened carefully to the story, making mental notes of each detail. They laughed out loud as the characters in the book did, and said, harebrained, ridiculous, funny things.
Read moreARE PICTURE BOOKS IMPORTANT? - By Shirley Parenteau
I had barely begun reading my picture book Bears on Chairs in a first grade classroom when a boy in front broke in. “It doesn’t make sense,” he said. “The picture shows four chairs on the first page, but there’s only one chair on the second page. Where are the rest of them? It doesn’t make sense!” ...
Read morePICTURE BOOK MAGIC - By Anna and Audrey Vernick
(This piece was co-written by Audrey Vernick and her daughter, Anna.) AUDREY: My twelve-year-old daughter, Anna, and I are not in the heart of the picture-book demographic. But we both love picture books, read them often, and wanted to weigh in about the role picture books play in our lives.
Read moreWHY I LOVE WRITING CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS - By Laura Duksta
When I was about seven or eight years old, I learned two very important things, one, that we're all brothers and sisters, and two, because of that everyone deserves our love, even if we don't agree with or like them. I remember very clearly thinking that I was going to travel then world, meet my brothers and sisters and share this message of love.
Read moreSPECIAL MOMENTS & A LEGACY OF LOVE - By Kay Lindahl
My love affair with books started when I was very young. I still remember sitting on my mother’s lap and listening to her read to me and my older sister, enjoying the closeness and the excitement of the stories.
IN THE BEGINNING—Were Art, Words, and My Father’s Loving Voice - By Jan Spivey Gilchrist
I would find myself, as a child, running my fingers over the elaborate paintings in my father's oversized Bibles and religious books. My mind would be filled with the stories he had read to me while I sat with him on his large chair.
Read moreGIFTS FOR OUR CHILDREN: Inspiration and Education Through Picture Books - By Eloise Greenfield
As I have visited through the years with schoolchildren, parents, teachers and librarians, most of the people I have met, children and adults, love picture books. And yes, I do mean that they love books in a way that is emotional. I can see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices when they talk about a character, a story, or an illustration, or when they recite a favorite line from a poem.
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