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"In March the running water of the valley is bitter, acid cold, as snow on the fells begins to melt and is brought down over chilled rocks and icy beds. It has in it all the breaking soul of winter, thousands of dying flakes in one long, moving water-coffin."

That's a powerful nature scene written by novelist Sarah Hall, describing earth-shaking changes in a rural area in Europe. Her novel Haweswater captured the difficult lives of a 1930's farming community in England, a setting she'd memorized during her childhood.

Last year she stopped by for a practical interview about her craft, showing us how to turn the most familiar settings into evocative novel scenes. That interview was one of my most popular posts, and I'm reframing the whole entry for your reading pleasure.

As winter looms, trapping us inside our houses, we should all follow Hall's advice and turn the environment outside our window into vivid setting? Click here to learn how to describe nature in your stories. 

The words Nancy Lord weaves into elegant sentences glisten with the same salt spray that washes over the gillnets and corklines she sets every morning on Alaska's Cook Inlet where, for the past eighteen years, she and her partner have made their home. When a writer earns her livelihood from fishing, it's unsurprising that she might try to reshape her life among nets and boats and fish into

A Seed is Sleepy
Author: Dianna Hutts Aston
Illustrator: Sylvia Long
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN-10: 0811855201
ISBN-13: 978-0811855204

The author and illustrator of the gorgeous An Egg is Quiet join together once again to create an astounding illustrated introduction to the life of a seed. Long’s amazingly detailed watercolors showcase many different types of seeds. The pages are slightly reminiscent of Victorian botanical drawings but these are so much richer in color, depth and scope. Each painting is something special, a treasure to be enjoyed for many years. The succinct and poetic text is just enough information for a very small child and enough of a nip to send an older one (or adult) running to the library to find out more. I love books like that, ones that get you fired up about something you’d otherwise not have an interest in. Now I’m excited about seeds!

The text is poetic too.

“A Seed is Inventive

To find a spot to grow,
A seed might leap from its pod,
[violet]
or cling to a
child's shoestring,
[cocklebur]
or tumble through
a bear's belly.
[Red huckleberry]
A seed hopes to land where
there is plenty of
sunlight, soil, and water.”

How about this wonderful phrase?

“Some have lain dormant, or slept undisturbed, for more than a thousand years”

Makes me just say oooooh.

I can’t say enough about this wonderful book except to say that I dearly hope this fantastic duo does another book. A Seed is Sleepy is a perfect gift for anyone of any age. Even non-book lovers will love this book for its glorious color and appreciation of nature.

If you visit Chronicle Books website, there are posters to print out!