Gung Hay Fat Choi! Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy Year of the Sheep/Ram/Goat!
So how are you celebrating? Here are some of my favourite children’s books for Chinese New Year:
The Year of … Continue reading ...
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By: Linda S. Wingerter,
on 11/3/2010
Blog: Blue Rose Girls (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: eva ibbotson, Grace Lin, dumpling days, Add a tag
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By: Marjorie Coughlan,
on 2/19/2015
Blog: (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Oliver Chin, Regine Abos, Sheep Beauty, The Year of the Rat, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Sheep, Demi, Dawn Casey, Dumpling Days, Crown Books, This Next New Year, Immedium, Li Jian, Happy New Year! Kung-Hsi Fa-Ts'ai!, He Zhihong, Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Chinese New Year: With Fireworks, Long Long's New Year, David Bouchard, Sally Rippin, The Dragon New Year: A Chinese Legend, The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac, The Race for the Chinese Zodiac, and Lanterns, Bringing in the New Year, Family-Ship Experience blog, Grace Lin, Happy, Gabrielle Wang, Frances Foster, Knopf Books, Janet S. Wong, Happy Chinese New Year!, News, Books, Alina Chau, Barefoot Books, Yangsook Choi, Anne Wilson, Tuttle, Dragons, Zhong-Yang Huang, National Geographic Children's Books, children's books for Chinese New Year, Carolyn Otto, Catherine Gower, Crafty Moms Share blog, Add a tag
Blog: (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Oliver Chin, Regine Abos, Sheep Beauty, The Year of the Rat, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Sheep, Demi, Dawn Casey, Dumpling Days, Crown Books, This Next New Year, Immedium, Li Jian, Happy New Year! Kung-Hsi Fa-Ts'ai!, He Zhihong, Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Chinese New Year: With Fireworks, Long Long's New Year, David Bouchard, Sally Rippin, The Dragon New Year: A Chinese Legend, The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac, The Race for the Chinese Zodiac, and Lanterns, Bringing in the New Year, Family-Ship Experience blog, Grace Lin, Happy, Gabrielle Wang, Frances Foster, Knopf Books, Janet S. Wong, Happy Chinese New Year!, News, Books, Alina Chau, Barefoot Books, Yangsook Choi, Anne Wilson, Tuttle, Dragons, Zhong-Yang Huang, National Geographic Children's Books, children's books for Chinese New Year, Carolyn Otto, Catherine Gower, Crafty Moms Share blog, Add a tag
By: Linda S. Wingerter,
on 11/3/2010
Blog: Blue Rose Girls (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: eva ibbotson, Grace Lin, dumpling days, Add a tag
Don't forget to comment for cookies (and books)! We need your suggestions to keep the BRG conversations going!
Right now, I am in the midst of the latest revision for my new novel "Dumpling Days." Not only has my schedule gotten rather full, recently this novel has filled me with anxiety. When I met the lovely Karen Hesse at the Literary Lights event, she asked me, "How are you doing?" in a concerned way and talked to me briefly about how winning an award changes things. At the time, I thought she meant speaking engagements and school visits and I breezily told her things were fine. Things were busy, but not in a way that was extremely unusual or unmanageable. Just an extra stir in soup, so to speak.
But now, I realize she meant the actual writing. I hadn't thought too much about it, but slowly as each revision goes by I've become more aware of my personal phantom hanging over me. "Dumpling Days" is a continuation of Pacy's story from The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat, and, like those books, it is highly autobiographical (this one is about my first trip to Taiwan as a child) and light-hearted.
And in the shadow of the Newbery Honor I start to worry--maybe this book is too light, not ambitious enough, not "Literary" with the capital 'L.' But as I begin to let myself get paralyzed, I see that the award only amplified worries and thoughts I've had my whole career. The only difference is my shielding mantra of "Just do the best you can!" has run a bit thin.
So, it was with great comfort that I recently discovered (okay, I know I am really, really late to the party) Just One More Book's podcast of Eva Ibbotson. In her interview she talked about how she knows books about things like escaping the Nazis and suicide are important but she was not the one to write them. She considered her books as personal gifts to her readers and would always work and work to give them what she felt they deserved. In fact, she said she wanted her tombstone to read, "She Took Trouble."
Listening to her was extremely heartening and inspiring to me. It was the right message at the right time. It helped shake away my doubts and transformed the begrudging revisions into acts of love. With any luck, "Dumpling Days" will be a book I will hold proudly and give to my readers with the same warmth as she did.
I'm ashamed to say that I've never read any of Ms. Ibbotson's work--something I inte
2 Comments on She Took Trouble, last added: 11/6/2010
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Grace! You are worrying too much! DUMPLING DAYS is charming -- I loved it. And even friendship doesn't make me love books if I don't really.
As for Eva Ibbotson: I read ISLAND OF THE AUNTS -- as an adult. It has stayed with me; and I can see why you'd like her. Her book is charming, too.
libby
I love, love, loved Dial-A-Ghost.