Feedback!

It was great to hear back from my readers on my Year of Positive Thinking newsletter! Here are just a few of the emails I got...

Dear Katie,

I think your Year of Positive Thinking (could become a DECADE of positive thinking?) is fantastic.  One of my positive thinking strategies as an author is to create forward-looking file folders for manuscripts I haven't sold yet—Several sets of such folders I created in positive (and hopeful) anticipation are now filled.  My tenth book, The Twelve Days of Springtime, has just been published by Harry Abrams.  I often remember, when I was trying to get my first book published, how many people told me it was "nearly impossible."
 
Deborah Rose
 
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Dear Katie,

What a great thing to wake up to! Thank you for sending your newsletter, featuring Our Year of Positive Thinking. You're really made my day, week, month, and year!
 
With renewed enthusiasm, Barbara McClintock
 
--- 
Katie,
 
I loved this issue.
 
I have been ACTIVELY practicing The Secret this year and also reading TNT Discovering your personal power within.  In SPITE of all that is happening in our country and the world I am joyful every single day.  I am secure in the knowledge that the universe is protecting me and you know what Katie? I am one of the ONLY agents in my office doing deals. ;-)  At the height of the market I did nothing...just managed the office but shifting my perception has changed EVERYTHING!
 
Dana Russell
 
 
Katie
 
In Dec 2007 we decided to create vision boards, bought the paper and almost 1 year to the day later, mark, Lucy, Bayla and I spent a very fun evening cutting and pasting our dreams into being.
 
We posted our boards in oft-viewed locations in our home and as our iPhone and PC wallpaper. So far I find it extremely inspiring to be reminded daily of what really matters. Its made a difference in many daily and important decisions and our girls-- whose boards were dogs dogs dogs -- will have their dreams come true on Monday when we adopt a dog (6 years of pleading later)
 
Thanks again for the inspiring news. Best wishes for lots of dreams coming true!
 
Andrea Ross
http://www.justonemorebook.com
 
 
 
 

YAY WTNH!

Props to Good Morning Ct. on WTNH for continuing to support Connecticut's kids by informing viewers of fabulous children's books that might otherwise go unnoticed!

Father's Day was this month's theme, but as usual, I go about things all backwards...what else is new?! So instead of books for dads, I brought on fun books that either highlight a kid's relationship with a father or books that a dad can read with his child (and might even spark conversations).

All the authors I talked about on the show are featured below and include links that are connected to the author's and/or illustrator's sites. Don't forget, you can find activities there, games and information on school visits. Enjoy!

Bringing Asha Home

By Uma Krishnaswami, illustrated by Jamel Akib
Ages 4-8
 
This story takes place over the course of a year in which a little boy, Arun, waits for his sister to be adopted from his father’s native India. It begins and ends on Rakhi, a Hindu holiday on which siblings honor each other - a holiday which my two kids definitely need to know about! This is a very touching book and I admit, I got a bit ferklempt at the end. 

Secret tidbit from illustrator Jamel Akib:

"This was a difficult book to illustrate as it fell slap bang in the middle of the arrival of our first child. I can remember vividly roughing out the illustrations in the cafeteria of the hospital. We had some complications and it meant a lot of time between visiting hours and rather than go home I'd draw over cups of coffee.
 
The artwork was painted through teething and sleepless nights.But my overall memory was of how, my newborn son would fit in to our mixed race family, what would his identity be? And I related this to Asha's imminent arrival and all the wonder and anticipation that brought along with it.
 
I really hope the artwork has portrayed an affinity I felt with our two stories and that some of that affection comes through in the book."

Hugging the Rock

by Susan Taylor Brown
Ages 9-12
 
This is the very painful, yet hopeful story of Rachel, a girl whose mother abandons her and her father. Rachel’s story is told in free-verse, which adds to the poignancy of the story, and also gives the reader some breathing room. Such an intense story can be hard to take, and the structure actually makes it easier to read. The hopefulness of the father/daughter relationship is gratifying and illustrates that Rachel is a survivor. She and her father create a new kind of family together - any child who has lost a mother or a father will find comfort in this novel.

Dogs on the Bed

by Elizabeth Bluemle, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf Ages 4-8


“Dogs on the bed / Like logs on the bed / Bed hogs on the bed— / These dogs, these dogs!” 
 
I am stupid in love with our dog, Mango (see him below? Now you are stupid in love with him, am I right?) Even if you don’t like dogs, you’ll love this fun picture book about a family’s inability to get ready for bed and sleep without their pups!


 

Hiromi's Hands

by Lynne Barasch Ages 9-12

 
I'd think this biographical picture book would be great even for kids as young as five. It’s the story of  a man and his daughter, one of the first women sushi chefs in New York. I was amazed to learn how a sushi chef apprentices, starting by scrubbing floors for a year, then making rice for the next year…I won’t spoil it, but when his American-Japanese daughter Hiromi wants to follow in his footsteps, she must go through the same training.
 
Warning! After you finish reading this book you're going to crave sushi!
 

Otto Grows Down

by Michael Sussman illustrated by Scott Magoon
ages 4-8

When you are six, and your parents give your baby sister your favorite old rattle at her one-year birthday party, what do you do when you help her blow out her candles? You wish Anna was never born, of course. Careful what you wish for, Otto! Time goes backward until Soon Otto is wiping paint off his kindergarten canvas; he takes baths when he is clean and they make him dirty. I burst out laughing when he had to use the toilet - but no spoilers here.
I loved this book - it's quirky and hysterically funny. And, believe it or not, very real - well, maybe genuine would be a better word!

A fun note from Scott Magoon, the illustrator:

"In experience with my two preschool-age sons, I find it can be difficult to explain to young readers sequential actions in picture book illustrations, to say nothing of those that are going backwards. But how does one draw a boy sliding up a slide — without the viewer immediately assuming the boy wasn't enjoying a regular old sliding down? Cut hair going back on a head? How to depict for kids a watch ticking counterclockwise so as to indicate time is going backwards?  

These were a few examples of the visual challenges that awaited me when I began to illustrate Michael's story that bends time all around.  Of course, I was a little leery of it at first because I had no idea how to begin to solve these issues, but over time (which, thankfully, moved forward) I came up with a few solutions: gradual increases in tonal weight as Otto slides up the slide — that is, the lower he is on the slide, the lighter the color, the higher (and therefore "newer moments") he is on the slide, the more rich his color.  The ticking wristwatch second hand has a motion blur from left to right to suggest counterclockwise action and hair going back on the head...well, hair in mid-air, but the facing page, Otto's got a huge head of hair when compared to his previous appearances in the book."

My Favorite Book of the Month

Any Which Wall
by Laurel Snyder
ages 8 - 12

I LOVE this book! Four kids, a mysterious wall, and a good helping of common magic!

It's the kind of book I loved as a kid, and maybe that's why it feels old-fashioned to me. Sort of like The Penderwicks, which I also loved. Four kids of disparate ages find some simple magic: a wall that can send them anywhere. There are many, many lovely moments between the kids, and between the kids and the characters they meet on their adventures. There are laugh-out-loud lines, and wonderful, true-to-life moments of self-discovery. it's one of those delicious books you'll savor the whole time you're reading it. 

In This Issue

Feedback!

YAY WTNH!

Bringing Asha Home

Hugging the Rock

Dogs on the Bed

Hiromi's Hands

Otto Grows Down

My Favorite Book of the Month