My mother was a wonderful baker but she took first prize in pies. When she was a teenager in the 30s, she spent summers at her family’s homeplace near Woodstock in the Shenandoah Valley. Her aunts baked six pies daily. Uncle John ate an entire pie with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every single day. Those summers my mother learned to roll out piecrust and whip up different fillings, like the lattice-crust raisin pie that was her own father’s favorite. (Raisin pie is often called funeral pie because it travels well.) I hated her raisin pie because I despise raisins. They lurk in all kinds of desserts and, to me, it’s like biting down on a tadpole. When I was grown and married, my mother made my husband raisin pies, which he loved. Once, exasperated by my tendency to open boxes, cans, and bags and call it cooking, my mother told me to “bake that man a pie.”
Speaking of pie, I hope you saved your forks, because today we're serving up an extra delicious portion of Southern goodness thanks to the kindness and generosity of multi-talented, award-winning children's author Candice Ransom!
I call Candice a human dynamo, because I'm in perpetual awe of just how much and how fast she writes. In a career spanning 25+ years, she's published well over a hundred books in multiple genres -- board book, picture book, easy reader, chapter book series, tween and middle grade fiction, biographies and nonfiction.
She has not one, but two graduate degrees: an MFA in children's writing from Vermont College and an MA in children's literature from Hollins University. She currently teaches in the MA/MFA children's literature program at Hollins, is a widely sought after speaker at conferences and workshops, and can polish off a Red Velvet cupcake, blackberry bruchetta, or Devonshire cream scone with the best of them.
Impressive credentials aside, what I admire most about Candice is how completely she immerses herself in the time and place of her stories. She's a diehard antique junkie who will travel to the ends of the earth to locate a cool artifact which might "belong" to a particular character, or a bit of ephemera that might inform a certain scene or illuminate an overriding theme. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more astute observer of human nature; Candice wholeheartedly loves and appreciates her Virginia roots, and conveys her enthusiasm in crackling prose brimming with telling detail.
Lest you think she's a paragon of perfection, rest assured -- there is at least one thing she apparently cannot do very well: bake a pie. All the more reason to read what she says about the one pie baker she admires the most. Much like what you'll find on her fabulous blog, Under the Honeysuckle Vine, today's essay is vintage Candice: razor-sharp, a little quirky, undeniably engaging, refreshingly candid and unpredictably funny.
Here's her piece, warm and fresh from the oven. And yes, she's included recipes! Enjoy!
Mama's Wesson Oil Cook Book and rare one-handled rolling pin.
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By: Jama Rattigan,
on 1/31/2011
Blog: jama rattigan's alphabet soup (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: candice ransom, comfort and joy 2011, Add a tag
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Richard Scarry, Mary Pope Osborne, Robert Ingpen, Candice Ransom, Marilyn Scott-Waters, Ages Four to Eight: Books for pre-school to second grade, Goodie Bag: Books to share and give, Ages Nine to Twelve: Books for third through sixth grade, Book Lists: Specialty picks, Seasonal: Holiday Events, David Shannon, Mercer Mayer, Chris Plehal, James Bernardin, Jean Marzollo, Sal Murdocca, Sarah Hollander, Add a tag
By Bianca Schulze and Phoebe Vreeland, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 22, 2010
Last year, Lauren Thompson’s holiday book, The Christmas Magic, let us in on one of Santa’s little secrets: Santa gets a “tingling in his whiskers” when the Christmas magic is on its way. I believe that the tingling has begun. Perhaps even a little jingling, too!
From nicely illustrated carols to tales for the naughty and nice, our holiday gift to you is this list of wonderful Christmas books.
by David Shannon
Reading level: Ages 3-7
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press (September 1, 2010)
Source: Publisher
Publisher’s synopsis: Readers of all ages will vividly remember trying to peek at hidden gift packages; writing scrolls of wish lists to Santa; and struggling to behave at formal Christmas dinner parties. Always in the background, we know Santa Claus is watching, soon to decide if David deserves a shiny new fire truck or a lump of coal under the tree. From playing with delicate ornaments to standing in an endlessly long line for Santa, here are common Christmas activities–but with David’s naughty trimmings. A surefire hit that is destined to be an annual classic.
Note: Fans of No, David! will be thrilled with Shannon’s latest addition. Pairing it with Too Many Toys would make a great gift. It’s Christmas, David is also available in Spanish.
Add this book to your collection: It’s Christmas, David! or llego La Navidad, David! (Spanish Edition)
From nicely illustrated carols to tales for the naughty and nice, our holiday gift to you is this list of wonderful Christmas books.
The Twelve Days of Christmas in Washington, DC
by Candice Ransom (Author), Sarah Hollander (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 5-7
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Sterling (October 5, 2010)
Source: Publisher
Publish
Add a CommentBlog: World of Words (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Books I Wish I Had Written #2: Billy and Milly Short and Silly
Perhaps I should change this series to "Books I Admire and Want to Learn From". I'm featuring books I think are brilliant--books that I want to learn more about what I think makes them great. Last summer Candice Ransom encouraged us to type up the text of favorite picture books and study them. It helps to see the text without the pictures (if you are a writer-only) to see what makes these books "tick".
By: Jama Rattigan,
on 3/31/2009
Blog: jama rattigan's alphabet soup (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: soup of the day, candice ransom, Add a tag
Clip clop, clip clop!
Whoa, steady there! It's time to tap your lucky horseshoes together in honor of uber-talented, prolific children's book author, Candice Ransom, because today, her non-fiction picture book, Pony Island, is officially out from Walker Books! WooHoo!!
PONY ISLAND by Candice F. Ransom, pictures by Wade Zahares,
(Walker Books, 2009). Picture book for ages 4-8, 32 pp.
Ever since I first read Fuse 8's detailed, glowing review of Pony Island, I've been anxious to see it. In spare verse, Ransom relates how a cargo of wild ponies were left stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Virginia after a shipwreck in the Atlantic. The ponies lived there peacefully without human contact for many years, until a devastating series of fires on the neighboring island of Chincoteague prompted cowboys to round up the ponies and auction some of them off to raise money for a new fire truck.
The Chincoteague Wild Pony Swim, Penning, and Carnival is an enduring tradition that is still highly anticipated today. Every July, tens of thousands of people brave long waits in the hot sun to watch these beautiful animals make the 3-minute swim between Assateague and Chincoteague. Proceeds from the auction support the fire department and help maintain the herd on Assateague, where they have supposedly lived since the 1600's. 
If you've read Misty of Chincoteague, you know well the fascination with these ponies. It is said descendants of Misty still live on Assateague. Now, with Candice Ransom's new book, young readers will be able to read a story based on the theory most favored by Chincoteague residents about the origin of these ponies -- that involving a Spanish galleon wrecked at sea.
Now, please join me in congratulating Candice on what sounds like a beautiful book! Just for today, you may get into the spirit of celebrating by diving right into the bowl or slurping heartily from the trough. Exuberant whickers, whinnies, neighs, and nickers are especially encouraged.
Today's Special: Chincoteague Chowder (will bring out your wild side)
Well, what are you waiting for? Gallop on over to your local indie or click through to your fave online bookseller and pony up some cash for your copy of Pony Island!
For more about Candice and her books, visit her official website and Live Journal Blog, Under the Honeysuckle Vine, or catch up with her cohorts in adventure at Ellsworth's Journal.
To see a video of last year's Wild Pony Swim, click here.
To see the parade (you have to, the ponies are adorable), click here.
For more information about the 2009 Wild Pony Swim, Parade and Carnival, visit Assateague.com.
Blog: World of Words (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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I heard Candice Ransom speak at the Roanoke Valley Reading Council's Literacy Tea on May 29, 2008. I am very far behind on posting reviews and notes from speakers I've heard, so I'm attempting to catch up.
Candice Ransom has written over 100 books for children including Finding Day's Bottom, Tractor Day, Seeing Sky-Blue Pink, and her new series for children, Time Spies Series.
I read the first book in the Time Spies series, Secret in the Tower, before it was published. I immediately loved it for two reasons: 1) it would appeal to my students who were unable or unmotivated to read longer chapter books, and 2) it took place in Virginia and snuck in Virginia history. Since I teach fourth grade and fourth graders study Virginia History, this was a big draw for me. You can read a chapter of Secret in the Tower here.
So, what are transitional readers? They are kids who are past the easy reader books, but aren't ready for middle grade chapter books. They are newly independent readers. As a teacher, I'm glad Candice is trying to appeal to this age group. There are some kids who try to make that leap to regular chapter books and just can't plow through the entire book. They aren't ready. The Time Spies series books are ones that have chapters that can be read in one sitting, and have a "hook" at the end of the chapter, to make the reader want to keep reading.
Ransom describes her books as a mixed genre, combining adventure, fantasy, mystery, biography, history, set in a comtemporary setting, and put it all in a series. She says that this series is a tribute to "everyday fantasy" where a kid feels like something magic could happen to you. She pays homage to E. Nesbit and others. In this series, modern day kids go back in time to an important moment in history. But as Ransom says, she uncovers a piece of history in each of the books that hasn't been "done to death." The social studies teachers in my school were excited that Secret in the Tower talked about Jack Jouett, known as the "Paul Revere of the South" who warned Jefferson that the British wanted to capture him.
There isn't an author's note at the end of each books, because "kids don't read them." Instead there is a travel guide at the back of each book with the historical information in it.
The Time Spies series has a wonderful website with lots of information for kids. You can check it out here.
Other links:
Candice Ransom's website
Candice Ransom's blog
By: Laura Purdie Salas,
on 2/1/2008
Blog: laurasalas (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry, poetry friday, laura's poems, roundel, Add a tag
The challenge from Tricia this week at The Miss Rumphius Effect was to write a roundel. I didn't have time to do this, but I also didn't do last week's macaronic verse challenge. So Wednesday night, while I was at a ski trip meeting with my daughter, I was sitting there trying to block out the noise of teenage boys sitting behind us while I jotted down rhyming words and potential lines.
In my poetry diary that day, I had thrown this onto paper:
The silence of sleep
is the noisiest world
without sound
tears, cries, laughter, screams
echo in my forest head with
nobody to hear them
I had been thinking about how some of the most vivid sounds in my life happen in my dreams, and meanwhile, I'm lying there, silent. So I wrote this roundel. I started out trying to show a range of all the noises and emotions that happen in dreams, but the space constraints and--mostly--the rhyme scheme restraints ended up with my focusing on scary or terrible things. Anyway, this is what I ended up with.
Dreams conceal sound as darkness bleeds slowly to light
Moon hovers above and noises under eyelids roam ‘round
Softly masked footsteps steal through black furtive night
Dreams conceal sound
Somersault avalanche pounds the sky’s thunder to ground
Swallowed regrets make voices too shiny and bright
Wind howls in oak trees, crackling and yellow autumn-gowned
Hopes from your past crash down from immeasurable height
Shrieking red music sniffs at your ears like a hound
Fear claws the dirt of the grave where the fit’s not too tight
Dreams conceal sound
--Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved
Thanks for the challenge, Tricia. It was fun!
And rest assured, friends, that I don't actually have nightmares or bad dreams very often at all. I just wanted to go for some intense moments in the poem:>)
Tricia says it's not too late to play, so visit her original post and give this a try!
Karen Edmisten has the poetry roundup today!