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It’s our 21st wedding anniversary (though we begin our official count from our first date, five years earlier) and San Diego celebrated with RAIN, which you know is a huge big deal here these days. Glorious.
I can’t find our copy of Winnie the Pooh. Where is it hiding? So after Pooh Corner (sans final chapter) I had to (eventually) give up the search and pick something else. I’ll get Pooh from the library, I guess. IT’S JUST I KNOW IT’S RIGHT HERE UNDER MY NOSE SOMEWHERE. I bought a boxed set of Milne way back before we got married (we’d been an item for three years, though, so you know I was envisioning a house full of rugrats by then…Ingleside, to be precise) because my part-time job during grad school was at a children’s bookstore and I felt compelled to take full advantage of the employee discount. Hmm, someday I should comb our shelves for all the books I bought that year. Dear Mr. Blueberry, I remember that for sure, and every single L.M. Montgomery title I didn’t already own. I had Anne and Emily but not Pat, Jane (Jane!!), The Story Girl, or Valancy. (Valancy!!!!) Nor any of the short story collections, and I recall deciding it would be worth living on ramen for a while in order to procure every last morsel of LMM. I was right.
(Total digression: one of these days I need to do a post on LMM books in order of perfection. It might kill me to pick a #1, though. The bottom of the list is a piece of cake. Sorry, Kilmeny.)
ANYHOO. Back to the temporarily abandoned Pooh Search. In lieu of the silly old bear, I reached for McBroom. I wanted something fast-moving and full of laughs. Plus we’ve been reading Tall Tales this spring (I love the Mary Pope Osborne collection) and was in the mood for more wild yarns. Let’s see, in three days I think we’ve devoured five McBroom books. Started with McBroom Tells the Truth, of course, and then (in order of whatever the kids picked next) McBroom and the Big Wind, McBroom the Rainmaker, McBroom Tells the Truth, and McBrooms Ear. I hope they pick McBroom’s Zoo next–that’s my favorite. Our copy is the one I had when I was a kid, with the sturdy Scholastic book club binding.
Sid Fleischman’s language–his rich, hilarious, colorful turn of phrase–is simply unbeatable. And every whopper McBroom tells is funnier than the last. Oh, such good stuff.
***
As for my own reading, I’m halfway through Blackout and am FINALLY keeping all the dates and locations straight (more or less). And things are beginning to go crackerbots for Polly, Mary, Eileen, and Mike…You know, one of my favorite things in life is when I’m enjoying a book so much I can’t wait for bedtime (the only time of day I can count on a chunk of dedicated reading time…all the other minutes must be stolen, snatched, and squoze-in).
***
I meant to fill this post with throwback pictures in honor of our anniversary, but Scott just got home with a celebratory pizza. Photos, schmotos.
Ventriloquist Freddie the Great finally finds himself living up to his title when he’s suddenly possessed by a Jewish spirit known as dybbuk – “a scrappy demon who glows as if spray-painted by moonlight.” Avrom (the dybbuk) assures the Freddie that he’s as “harmless as a slice of rye bread,” which of course makes me wonder, How harmless is rye bread? Can it in any way be used as a weapon? A poison? The only link I can find between rye and “harm” is ergot poisoning, which results when a fungus infects grain products like rye and other cereals. There’s also Agatha Christie’s “A Pocketful of Rye,” but the rye in one victim’s pocket is only a clue to the killer’s motive, not a cause of death.
Okay, looks like we’re clear – rye does indeed seem to be harmless. But is Avrom?
It doesn’t matter to Freddie; he just wants Avrom out. Now. So he goes to the church, where the priest tells him he needs an exorcism, but that the church can’t do Jewish demons. Then he finds a synagogue (not an easy feat in the aftermath of WWII) where the rabbi blasts a sacred horn in his ear to blow out the demon (and Freddie’s eardrum). When that doesn’t work, Freddie asks Avrom what it will take to make him go away. The demon answers, “Try chicken soup.”
Yes, it’s a smartass answer (as intended by Fleischman, who says in the back flap: “The Jewish sense of humor miraculously survived the Holocaust”), and an old wives’ tale. It also represents a sense of hopefulness in that people believe chicken soup cures sickness – whether by steaming out the sinuses, providing nutrients to fortify the system, or just ‘cuz. But it’s not the how or the why that’s important – it’s the universality of the belief in it. Despite the hugely different backgrounds and goals of Freddie, the American stage presence, and Avrom, the spirit of the murdered Jewish child, the two find common ground in their universal feelings of horror against war, genocide, barbarism, and revenge, which, unlike chicken soup, is sometimes better served cold.
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Alan Silberberg holds the paperback version
of Milo: Sticky Notes & Brain Freeze |
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Sid Fleischman was one of the founders of SCBWI and a master of comic invention. He died about a year and a half ago, and the award continues in memory of Sid and in honor of humorous writing.
Lin Oliver, no slouch herself when it comes to funny, introduced us to the delightful and warm-hearted Alan Silberman, who won this year's award for his book MILO: STICKY NOTES & BRAIN FREEZE, about a 12-year-old boy who loses his mother, sneezes on the girl he secretly loves, and learns to live with both.
"Like all great comedy, it has its basis in the human heart," Lin Oliver said. "From the moment we meet Milo we know we're in the presence of a hero who teaches us that humor and hope are the antidotes to grief and isolation.
He shared episodes from his writer's journey with us.
"My first book was pond scum," he said, not clarifying that POND SCUM was the title of the book and not his own personal post-publication review.
After that, he had a couple of false starts. He felt waves of panic until a bookseller asked him why he hadn't tried combining his cartooning and writing. Sort of like that little Wimpy Kid series.
That's when Milo was born. To get into the headspace of a 13-year-old, he had to travel back into his own memories ... to the time when he had braces and ate a forbidden Baby Ruth (with disastrous results), and to the death of his mother when he was 9 years old.
That's when he got the idea to combine humor and heartbreak so that he could tell the story of a funny kid living in a fog-filled emotional world. He wanted kids to laugh even as Milo dealt with that sadness, and to win a humor award for that means the world, he said.
For a description of
his working relationship with editor Liesa Abrams, check out our recap. He dedicated the award to his mother, Audrey Silberberg. And then we all cried.
The
Sid Fleischman Award is an award for exemplary writing in the genre of humor. The 2010 Award goes to
FOOD, GIRLS AND OTHER THINGS I CAN'T HAVE author
Allen Zadoff.
He said, it wasn't so funny being a 275 pound high school student like he was. When he wrote about FOOD, GIRLS he didn't write it to be funny, he wanted it to be the truth. He wanted to share the lessons, as an adult, that he learned from his adolescence. He said his character learned in two weeks what it took him 35 years to figure you.
He advises everyone to keep at it and to come to the SCBWI conference and meet people. And if you win an award, make it the Golden Kite, so he can get the Sid Fleischman again next year. He thanked his editor Elizabeth Law at Egmont (who had invited him to a past conference and introduced him people in the industry).
Look for Allen's next funny book MY LIFE, THE THEATER, AND OTHER TRAGEDIES (Egmont, May 2011).
As many of you know, Newbery medalist Sid Fleischman recently passed away. During his long career, Sid wrote many wonderful fiction and nonfiction books. Among his nonfiction titles were brilliant biographies of Mark Twain and Harry Houdini. Studying these books has helped to make me a better writer.
But before I was a writer, I was a reader. And I have Sid Fleischman and an astute librarian named Carol Freeborn to thank for that.
As a child, I was labeled a reluctant reader. But Mrs. Freeborn didn’t believe in labels. She knew that a reluctant reader can quickly transform into a voracious reader. All it takes is the right book.
One day she handed me Mr. Mysterious & Company, Sid Fleischman’s first book for children. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, so I sat down in one of the library’s comfy chairs and started to read while I waited for my dad to come and pick me up.
Simply put, that book had me at hello. Its combination of intriguing setting, quirky characters, and magic grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. I loved it. I devoured the book. And as soon as I was done, I turned back to page 1 and read it again. And again. And again.
I checked that book out so many times that Mrs. Freeborn finally told me I could keep it. I still have it today. That’s the power of a great book, and a great librarian. Thank you, Mrs. Freeborn.
For me, the transformative book happened to be fiction. But for some kids, the magical book that opens the doors to a whole new world is nonfiction. How do I know? Because once in a while, I get a letter or email from an adult who tells me the tremendous impact one of my books has had on a child they know.
Like my well-worn copy of Mr. Mysterious & Company, I treasure those notes. They provide tangible evidence that the right book at the right moment can make all the difference. No one knows that better than librarians. That’s why we need them.
I was very sad to learn today about the death of Sid Fleischman. I am not as familiar with his rather extensive list of titles as I should be, having only read the Newbery winner The Whipping Boy and his autobiography, The Abracadabra Kid. But his reputation in the world of children's literature is enormous, and his loss cannot be understated. He was a remarkable individual who did what every
Author Sid Fleischman died March 17 in his home in Santa Monica, Calif., at the age of 90.
I write what I am.
When I sit down to a blank sheet of paper,
I may become a yellow-haired boy,
a snarling pirate,
a prankish wizard's ghost,
or even a dog with arrogant worlf's eyes.
But beneath all the makeup, the wigs and putty noses
- that's me
off on a fresh adventure and having a much fun as I can.
From
Sid Fleishchman.com
Two wonderful authors have died very recently -- Australia's Patricia Wrightson and America's Sid Fleischmann both whom I have been privileged to meet.
I loved Patricia's books. Over the years I have read and reread some of them many times, first at primary school and then much later on ... in fact my latest reading of one of her books was last year! My favourite memory of Patricia happened years ago when I fronted up to a bookstore with a bundle of PW books for her to sign which of course she did. One title,was missing - but not for long. Arriving a few days later in the post was the missing title ... signed and dated!
Read the Australian newspaper's obit for Patricia or http://tinyurl.com/ygbzacn
I guess that not too many people in Australia know the American author Sid Fleischman but I met him at the SCBWI conferences in Los Angeles. He was fun to talk with and loved that I came "all the way from Australia!" (he mentioned that over a number of years when we were chatting), just to attend the annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles.
I have been flinging through my computer looking for a photo of Sid (with me of course and I know there is one somewhere) but so far have come up with not an image.
Here is the LA Times obit for Sid or http://tinyurl.com/yljobr4
Thanks to both for absolutely wonderful books.
Guest blogger Tina Chovanec is the director of Reading Rockets.org: the authoritative online source for comprehensive and accessible information about teaching young children to read and helping those who struggle. Reading Rockets is one of four multimedia educational websites created by Learning Media, a division of WETA, the PBS affiliate in the Washington DC area.
Children’s writer Sid Fleischman has a magical way with words. Before he ever took pen to paper to write his 
wonderful and original tall tales (By the Great Horn Spoon), mysteries (The 13th Floor), and biographies (Escape: The Story of the Great Houdini), Fleischman was a sleight-of-hand master, a magician in a traveling vaudeville troupe.
I can’t help but think that those years perfecting his magician’s patter and delighting audiences with the element of surprise and whimsy helped shape his approach to writing.
In The Abracadabra Kid, A Writer’s Life, Fleischman reveals some of his secrets to great writing. Here are three from his bag of tricks:
The main character should be changed by the events of the story. Magicians call this “transformation” – a silk handkerchief changing from plain white to carnival polka dots, seemingly right before your eyes. In The Whipping Boy, the willful, self-centered Prince Brat is slowly but surely changed by his adventures with the clever orphan Jemmy.
Give weather reports. If “the day’s so hot wallpaper is peeling off the walls,” say so – it creates real, tactile atmosphere and can help surround the reader with the story.
Use imagery – it’s powerful shorthand. Fleischman is master of the simile and metaphor: “He could make a half dollar tumble like a flashing silver acrobat across his knuckles.” Be careful with word choice as the language must feel authentic to the characters and the narrative. “I have never had any luck in the thesaurus,” says Fleischman. Find your own unexpected ways to bring words – colorful and plain – together.
In this video interview from Reading Rockets, Fleischman talks about why books matter to kids, his “mosaic-like” approach to writing non-fiction, and why he keeps a journal of names.
Fleischman’s advice for young writers? First, read widely and with enthusiasm. Second, exercise your writing muscles so that they become strong and limber. Keep a diary, pen a set of letters, or try your hand at writing a short story. Reading Rockets shares some simple ways that parents can encourage writing at home.
Student writers need lots of support as they build their skills. Teachers can use picture books to teach young writers about basic plot structures and how to organize their own stories effectively. In this video clip “Writing Poems,” a second grade teacher leads a writing workshop that actively engages kids in the writing process and learning how to avoid “tired words.”
Sometimes all it takes to spark student writing is a good prompt. Reading Rockets and AdLit.org will be giving kids a chance to flex their writing muscles (beginning on September 26th) with our new “Prompt Response” writing contest, inspired by the Library of Congress and National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance Exquisite Corpse Adventure. Here’s a sneak peek at the writing challenge, but stay tuned for more details in the weeks ahead!
[Oh, and if you’ve ever wanted to amaze your friends with a Cool, Knock-Em-Dead, No Skill, Nine-Card Card Trick, here’s your chance to learn one from Sid Fleischman, the master conjuror himself. First, grab a deck of cards...]
DONNA GEPHART: "12 3/4 Ways to Tickle Young Readers' Funny Bones"
Some hilarious higlights from 2009 Sid Fleischman Humor Award winner Donna Gephart's panel:
-- She provided handouts for everyone with a list of techniques and details to hone one's humor skills.
-- She advises taking risks. "Mine your embarrassment," she said, discussing how writers should not be afraid to talk about real life embarrassing moments.
-- "Embarrassment is funny but humiliation is not," she said. "You want to empathize with your character. Readers want to laugh, not cringe."
-- She gave a writing exercise in which conference goers had to do: List embarrassing things that happened to you or list things that embarrassed you as a kid.
-- She suggested paying attention to the "sound of language" as another tool to write humor. For example, the "K" sound is funny, such as "Chicken is funny. Roast beef is not. Pickle is funny. Cucubmer is not. Twinkie is funny. Pie is not."
-- She also advised using exaggeration and understatement as tools for writing humor. Examples included "Exaggeration: referring to a tropical breeze as a hurricane" and "Understatement: referring to a hurricane as a tropical breeze."
-- Ultimately, she says writers should not TRY to be funny. "Forced humor is no fun for anyone."
-- She also gave a handout listing funny picture books, early readers, chapter books, and MG/YA novels.
It was a packed room where people participated with a lot of enthusiasm to Donna's writing exercises. And yes, there was much laughter!
Yet another shining example of great lectures provided by award-winning writers at the SCBWI national conference.
Posted by Paula Yoo
GOLDEN KITE AWARDS: SID FLEISCHMAN AWARD WINNER DONNA GEPHART
Donna Gephart's middle grade novel, As if Being 12¾ Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother is Running for President!, won the 2009 Sid Fleischman Award. This award is for authors whose work exemplifies the excellence of writing in the genre of humor.
Although Sid Fleischman wasn't able to attend today's award, he wrote a speech in her honor that Stephen Mooser read out loud. Fleischman wrote, "This year's recipient knew at age 14 that she wanted to be a writer. She saved her babysitter money to buy a typewriter."
Fleischman praised Gephart's "irrepressible humor" which was not simply full of "ornamental quotes." He said she understood the true aim of comedy, that it was "tragedy wearing a putty nose."
Fleischman joked that Gephart "... also wins the award for the longest title."
Here are some highlights from Donna Gephart's speech:
-- She screamed so loudly after getting the congratulatory phone call from Lin Oliver and Stephen Mooser that "... I lost my voice for three days."
-- When describing herself growing up, Gephart said, "I was the quintessential nerd... and I still am."
-- "This is the only award of its kind to honor humorous children's books, and it's pretty special. Even though I've been writing humor of different sorts for over twenty years, sometimes it's nice to be taken seriously."
-- Her advice? "If you've ever heard the words 'never' or 'can't,' I have three words for you. 'YES YOU CAN!'"
The White Elephant
Author: Sid Fleischman
Illustrator: Robert Mcguire
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 112 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (October 17, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0061131369
Wouldn't it be great to have a white elephant for a pet?
Run-Run, a young orphan boy, is returning from clearing tree stumps on the hillside with his 50-year-old elephant Walking Mountain. When the elephant sprays a trunkful of river water and splashes one of the king's many sons, the one called Noi the Idle, the prince is enraged. The boy's punishment? The gift of a white elephant named Sahib. But how could that be punishment, you ask? According to tradition, white elephants are so rare, they can't be used for labor, must be fed the finest foods, and treated like royalty. Run-Run is already struggling to make a living as an elephant-trainer with Walking Mountain, his beloved old elephant. Somehow, Run-Run has to find a way to take care of Sahib and treat him like an honored guest. He wishes he could make Sahib disappear, but Run-Run comes to love the spoiled Sahib. Sahib learns to work and doesn't mind getting his tusks dirty. Eventually, Sahib helps Run Run find the strength to break free of the prince and seek his destiny.
What's great about this book is that not only is it an entertaining read, but when you're finished, you'll know a lot more about elephants than you did before picking it up.
A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild Westby Sid FleischmanGreenwillow / HarperCollins 2008Mark Twain was a self-made man. Fleishman acknowledges this when he beings this biography of the writer's early years by laying his birth date as some time in the fall of 1865. This, of course, is around the time that the man from Hannibal, Missouri officially used the pen name Mark Twain while writing
***Before we get into the review today, I just want to remind you to leave a comment on the interview with Jessica Day George, the review of Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, and/or the review of Dragon Slippers for a chance to win a signed book by Jessica Day George. Contest will close Wed. at midnight. The more comments you leave, the better your chances.***
Review by Becky Laney
Set in the late 1940s,
The Entertainer and the Dybbuk is the story of an American ventriloquist, the Great Freddie, who while on his tour of Europe becomes haunted or possessed by the spirit of a Jewish child slain in the Holocaust. This boy, Avrom Amos Poliakov, now a dybbuk or spirit, has unfinished business and he needs this former American soldier's help to be at peace. Now inhabited by this friendly, often sarcastic, mournful soul, his act has become better than ever. The dybbuk is winning the hearts of the crowds. The crowds of course don't realize that this isn't all an act put on by The Great Freddie. He's gone almost overnight from a mediocre-at-best performer to a real crowd-drawing attraction. But being possessed isn't all fun, the dybbuk means business. And he'll stop at nothing to accomplish his goals.
The book is very good, and I definitely recommend it.
I was saddened today to hear of the passing of Sid Fleishman. Sid was a gifted writer and his contributions to children's literature will continue to enlighten generations of children. More importantly, Sid was a kind and generous man. I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Sid. To honor him, I am re-posting the interview with a heavy heart. Sid, may your memory be a blessing.
Last week at the Jewish Literature for Children conference in Los Angeles, I had the honor of sitting with Newbury author Sid Fleischman. I have read and admired Sid's work for many years, but never had the opportunity to meet him in person. Sid was charming, kind, and gracious enough to blog chat with me about his newest book, THE ENTERTAINER AND THE DYBBUK(Greenwillow), which won a Sydney Taylor Book Award for older readers. Both children and adults should read THE ENTERTAINER AND THE DYBBUK, a tribute to the children of the Holocaust. The story brings to life an important part history through the character of Avrom the dybbuk, who takes over the life of Great Freddie, a ventriloquist. The relationship that develops between the two characters is warm, touching, and surprisingly humorous. I'm thrilled to interview Sid about his latest work.
The Entertainer and the Dybbuk is your first book about the Holocaust. What was the inspiration for the book?
I think every Jewish novelist wants to deal with this most dramatic and disturbing event in our lives. But what can you say? Through the years my thoughts have returned again and again to the nightmare and in particular to the murder, beyond belief, of the 1 1/2 million Jewish children. It was only after I began thinking of a dybbuk as the illuminating character in a novel that I found a fresh way of dealing with the Holocaust.
Do you have experience as a ventriloquist?
None as a performer, though many of my magician friends do vent acts. It is, after all, a bit of magic to throw the voice. Still, when I was nine or ten, I saw an adv in a Johnson Smith catalogue of novelties (magic tricks, joke books, stage beards and makeup, etc.) offering Ventrillo, a device that allowed you to throw your voice into a trunk, and so forth. I believe the price was ten cents. Anyway, I sent for one and was disappointed to receive a rubber warbling device you put on your tongue -- the same device sold to make bird calls. My career as a ventriloquist or bird caller ended on the spot. But in writing the book, I talked over technical problems with friends who were pros.
The concept of a dybbuk might be unfamiliar to kids. How have readers
responded to this aspect of the story?
Yes, even among Jews, I have found only spotty familiarity. But they respond immediately and with fascination when the dybbuk is explained. Kids, especially, to discover there is a well-defined Jewish ghost lurking about. From mail I have received so far, kids especially are enchanted with Avrom, the dybbuk in the novel, and particularly the ending when he tricks the villain into confessing.
Of all the books you have written, do you have a favorite?
Almost always the last book I have written, out of sheer relief to have gotten the story on paper. I'd have to say, the novel I find myself thinking about the most these days is The Entertainer and the Dybbuk. At other times the book that has pleased me the most is By the Great Horn Spoon! and more recently, ESCAPE! The Story of the Great Houdini. Impossible to pick an absolute favorite.
Can we expect another book soon?
Yes. THE TROUBLE BEGINS AT 8
I was working under a deadline yesterday and missed posting my tip. Here goes. And it's a doozy.
Tip of the Week: If you're going to talk badly about someone behind their back, you'd better make sure they aren't a member of the list you are posting on.
I love when my tips are relevant in all sorts of facets of life. Flaming people online (posting hateful things) isn't anything new, but when you do it about people in your professional life you're just asking for trouble.
Here's the situation. An author with a story accepted in an upcoming anthology showed some concerns over a portion of his/her contract, specifically the handling of subrights. Author asked if his/her attorney could call Boss to discuss the contract. Boss said yes and waited for the call. Since the attorney was apparently out of town, Boss figured it would be a few days before this issue arose again. She was wrong. Author had taken the liberty on a writing group board of posting part of the contract with various negative comments and then solicited opinions of the (I think it was 2 sentences) quoted out of context. Now, I dare anyone to take any two sentences in any legal document and have them still sound flattering. I tried this with a CBAY contract. It couldn't be done. Even simple sentences like "The work shall be tentatively titled _____" sounds awful when put in legalese. Needless to say, the excerpt elicited negative comments some of which called into question the publisher's integrity.
Boss, who is a member of this list, got to read every single one of these posts. She got to see exactly what Author thought, in a way I'm sure Author never intended boss to know. Boss also got to see a very interesting side of Author. So did I.
There are so many problems with what Author did. He/She
- Posted parts of a confidential contract in a public forum. Never publish part of your contract online.
- Acted unprofessional. Having your lawyer talk to the publisher's representative is professional. Venting you spleen to close friends is professional. Venting your spleen to relative strangers in a public forum is not.
- Acted prematurely. The contract was still up for negotiation. Boss had already offered to make some concessions. However, posting that kind of thing during the negotiation phase will only sour the whole process.
- Was just plain stupid. I mean, really. Not even bothering to check the public member list to see who's going to be getting this? Even if Boss hadn't been a member, I could have been, or any of our staff, or any of our authors. How exactly did Author think this was going to be kept a secret?
So I beg all of you to keep this in mind when you get upset. We all do, and some times we do rash things. However, always try to keep things professional.
And if someone does tell Author about it, or if it Author stumbles upon it, good. I will happily discuss this with him/her over the privacy of email. I won't discuss the contract itself because that is best left to lawyers. I will happily discuss "the incident."
Oh, and for those of you who were in Mistletoe Madness or Summer Shorts, yes it was the exact same contract.
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nice post