What am I reading now? The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by K. DiCamillo
On Thursday, October 28, 2010, Scholastic launched You Are What You Read, a new social networking site for readers. The main focus of You Are What You Read is to both “celebrate those books that helped us discover who we are and who we can become.”
Users can log on through existing social media accounts, namely Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google, LinkedIn and MySpace. Once users have logged on they have the chance to not only share the five books that made a difference in their lives but also connect with readers around the world through shared “Bookprints.” Daniel Radcliffe, Taylor Swift and Venus Williams are just a few of the more than 130 “Names You Know” who have shared their Bookprints.
In addition, You Are What You Read provides users with the opportunity to:
Discover new books through an interactive web that shows how users’ Bookprints are connected
Find and connect with users across generations and from around the world to see the books in their Bookprints
Compare their Bookprints to those of the participating “Names You Know,” and find out if they share a book in their Bookprint with famous athletes, award-winning entertainers, world-renowned scientists or iconic business leaders
“Favorite” other books they like and check out what similar users enjoy reading
See which books have been chosen as Favorites from around the world
Share a book in the real word through Pass It On, which encourages users to give a favorite book to a family member, a friend or even a complete stranger
In the spirit of You Are What You Read and to get the ball rolling even further, here’s my Bookprint:
1. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
2. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
4. The Giver by Lois Lowry
5.
If you haven’t already guessed it, I read a lot. Some books have been good, some have been great and a few have been extraordinary. While each book made its impact, however big or small, it’s the extraordinary books that left me pondering a single question: How did the author come up with this? Here’s the answer to a couple of my favourites:
In the documentary Harry Potter and Me, J.K. Rowling says that the idea for the Harry Potter series “came out of nowhere.” Take a look:
I ask you this: Does knowing this make the Harry Potter series all the more magical?
Robert Munsch, author of Love You Forever, recalls the following about the song ”I’ll love you forever,”
I made that up after my wife and I had two babies born dead. The song was my song to my dead babies. For a long time I had it in my head and I couldn’t even sing it because every time I tried to sing it I cried. It was very strange having a song in my head that I couldn’t sing.
I ask: Does knowing this make Love You Forever all the more poignant?
In the end, does the story behind the story matter, of course it does.
Early Start for Reading
Read and listen to WNYC’s report on a new literacy curriculum being piloted in New York City shows signs of promise in closing the gap in reading scores between low-income and middle class students.
Read All About It: National Book Festival
For those in the D.C. area, check this out from Express Night Out: “Bibiophiles should head down to the National Mall on Saturday for the ninth annual National Book Festival, which is bringing dozens of notable authors to D.C.”
Classic children’s books we’d like to see receive the Hollywood treatment
Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life blog features four children’s books they’d like to see get made into a movie, complete with casting suggestions and sample dialogue.
Initiative Focuses on Early Learning Programs
A legislative effort already passed by the House proposes funding to establish the Early Learning Challenge Fund, channeling $8 billion to states with plans to improve standards, training and oversight of programs serving infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
Text message speak ‘not harmful to children’s spelling’, says research
The Telegraph reports on new research that suggests using text message language (like OMG, lol and 2mro) does not harm children’s spelling abilities and may even be a good sign.
A long overdue ode to Robert Munsch
Last weekend, Canadian author Robert Munsch, best known for his book Love You Forever, was inducted into Canada’s 2009 Walk of Fame.
Transparent New Home for Poetry
Today, Poets House, a national poetry library and literary center, opens its spacious new home in Battery Park City, New York.
This past Sunday, I was able to live out every children's writer's fantasy, and talk with Robert Munsch! After performing for 1 1/2 hours, and signing autographs for 2 hours, he was wonderful enough to sit with me, and my children, as well as my two nieces, their mom, my mother-in-law and my husband, for an interview. I can verify that, yes, he really is that great. My children decided to make him an honourary cowboy and decorated an interesting cowboy hat for him, which he donned immediately. They happily spent the duration of the interview, raiding the cookies they made him, and Robert Munsch didn't seem to mind sharing.
I am relieved to anounce that my husband no longer thinks I belong in the looney bin. I have been to a few rock concerts in my day, and this event would most certainly compare. I tried to taks a picture of the crazy lineup, but even with panorama, I couldn't even start to fit it all in. It was nice to hear my husband say "wow! Is he really this big?" because to him, Robert Munsch just writes great children's stories. And then there were the hordes of screaming children, stretching their hands in the air for a chance to be in a story, never mind the endless autograph line. "See," I said to my husband. "It's not just me." He still thinks I am slightly more obsessive than the average parent ... and I porbably am.
Anyway, my hugest thanks to Robert Munsch and his very thoughtful and courteous staff. This household thinks that Robert Munsch is a fantastic person. I could not think of anyone who deserves success more. We will cherish the memory, forever.
What is your favourite book, by another author?
My favourite book by another author is a book called Blank Slate by Steven Pinker”
What is your favourite book that you have written?
Mortimer.
What book are you most proud of?
I think, Love you Forever.
Do you ever wish that you could go back and edit something in a book that’s already been published?
Oh yes. Sometimes I can get the publisher to change a book that is already out.
Do you have an example?
Mortimer, my first book, has five different texts, I think. Then the publisher said, “This is ridiculous. When they’re out, they stay out.”
Do you consider yourself a child masquerading as a grown up, or an adult who likes to be a child?
I consider myself an adult who likes to listen to children.
Was your childhood happy?
No.
Books like
Millicent and the Wind and
Stephanie’s Ponytail explore alienation and ostracism. Were you familiar with those, as a child?
Ah yeh. I didn’t do very well in school.You often paint teachers and principals in an ill light. They are quite often the butt of jokes in books such as
Show and Tell and
We Share Everything. Are you playing to your audience or expressing childhood...
I’m playing to my audience and also getting revenge.
Characters such as Jule-Anne and Moira are very clever. Did you often outwit the adults, or is that an expression of an alter-ego?
It’s pure fantasy.
Speaking of alter-egos, I have heard you are a Batman fan. I was wondering, which one of your books do you think he would like?
I think Batman would like Purple Green and Yellow.
What was the inspiration behind
From Far Away?
A kid wrote me a letter about her first Halloween in Canada. She had just arrived from the civil war in Lebanon and she freaked out. I used that letter to write that book.
Was there a specific thing in the story that touched you?She was just so upset, I think that when she cried and her dad had to come and get her. And she didn’t know how to ask where the bathroom was and she crawled under people’s desks and snuck out of the room.
Speaking of the bathroom, my son’s favourite expression when he has to pee is “I have to go peeEE”. I was wondering, as a parent and a former daycare worker, do you have any potty training advice?
Be patient.
How did A
Promise is A Promise come about?
I wrote it with an Inuit friend of mine, Michael Kusugak. I stayed with his family he told me about the Quallapilluit and we wrote that story.
Is that how Michael Kusugak got his start?
Yes that’s how come he got his start.What was the inspiration behind The Paper Bag Princess?
I was telling stories to kids about princes and princesses, but they were just regular stories. Then one of the mothers said, “have you noticed there are not many princes is in this stupid lumber town. You should change that story.” So, I changed it and the kids liked it very much.
It is considered culturally significant, both in its message of self-esteem and feminism. Was that completely by accident, or was some of that intentional?
No. That was not by accident, actually.
So, that was quite intentional to do that?
Yes.
Do you receive many letters from adults?
I don’t receive a whole lot, but that is obviously an adult favourite.
Do you answer the letters from the adults, as well?
Yes.
What advice do you have to offer other writers?
Get a job, first.
Did you have any advice for editing?
Nobody’s first draft works, on some level. It requires constant revision to get it to where it needs to be. But you have to know when to say enough is enough. I would say, you’ll never get it just right. There eventually comes a point when you have to say “stop”. It never gets good enough.
Did you always want to be a writer?
No. I wanted to be anything but a writer. I couldn’t spell in school. My boss made me be a writer. I put off writing but my daycare boss told me he would fire me if I didn’t try writing down a story.
How important do feel it is for a children’s writer to immerse themselves in childhood culture?
I don’t know the answer to that. Dr. Seuss who wrote such wonderful books had virtually no contact with children. I on the other hand, have lots of contact with kids and that works for me, but I don’t think there is a general rule about that.
Do you have any advice on how writers can immerse themselves in children?
Go visit a daycare centre.
Are you an organized person?
No.
Do you write down your ideas or do you store them in your head?
When I start getting a story that I think works, I put it on a list. But that’s about it.
Do you write down the children’s names to remember them? [Robert Munsch uses real children as characters in his books]
No. I just call it, if it’s about Shelly, I’ll remember it as Shelly’s story. Then if I think it’s going to be a book, I contact Shelly so I can contact her. I write a draft, then five years later when it becomes a book I can say, “hey, you’re going to get a book”. Then I send her an autographed copy.
Do you have an agent?
No.
Do you think that it’s beneficial to maintain loyalty with one publisher?
Yes because the more books you have with a publisher, the more work they will do for you. If you scatter yourself all over the place, you’re not that valuable, unless you’re Stephen King.
Do you still receive rejections?
I just went with one publisher, but we don’t agree on what stories to do. I have lots of stories and it’s hard for me to get the ones I want out. Like I have over one hundred and fifty to choose from, now, on file with my publisher.
I heard that
Love You Forever was one of those.
Yes, Love You Forever was one of those. My first publisher rejected that.
To what do you attribute the success of
Love You Forever?
The depth of love between children and parents and families. You can love people and you can be driven crazy by them. There is a way of saying you like someone without being smothering. And it’s about life and death.
I have a few questions for the children readers.
Do you have any hobbies?
I like to walk my dog, I like to take long walks in the woods and I like to climb trees.What are you afraid of?
Bees.
Who is your favourite person?My favourite person? Hmm. My children.
Do you have a favourite food?
That changes a lot. I think right now, it is Indonesian coconut soup.
Do you watch T.V.?
I don’t have any shows that I like to watch.
Are you often recognized by children?
No, although I am in bookstores.
What is something that people would not know about you?
I used to yell at my kids and they would yell back. I was not the perfect parent.
I think people would be very relieved to know that. With more than one hundred stories on file with your publisher, what can we expect next?
Two books a year for a long time.
No hints on the next one?
The next one is going to be called One More Goal. It’s about a girl named Sierra, from Hay River, in the North West Territories. It’s a hockey story. I’ve written many books, but never any hockey stories.note: Unless you are a grade school student doing a class project, any reproduction of this interview, by any means, is prohibited without the written permission of Robert Munsch, as well as the author of this site.
Morton Keller is the author of America’s Three Regimes: A New Political History, in which he argues that while most historians popularly categorize America’s history into short periods of time (most “eras” or “ages” lasting no longer than a decade) the truth is quite contrary. In the post below Keller, Spector Professor of History Emeritus at Brandeis University, looks at how our past informs our polarized present.
As the election cycle heats up, and political punditry spreads over the land like kudzu grass, the prevailing assumption is that to understand what is happening we should focus on the present and the near future, and ignore the past. Matt Bai observes in his new book The Argument that most bloggers regard the Clinton impeachment of 1998 “as ancient … as the underlying causes of the Peloponnesian War, and about as useful.” (more…)
Share This
My bookprint is: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, The Hitchhikers Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Trixie Belden and the Mysterious Visitor by Julie Campbell, Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I love the Bookprint idea! I wrote about this too! (http://princessdot.wordpress.com)
princessdot, thanks for sharing! I, too, love the Bookprint idea. Scholastic has definitely struck gold once again.