Young Reader's Day ~Suzy Leopold

Celebrate Young Reader's Day

Young Reader's Day is an annual event celebrated on the second Tuesday in November. It is a worldwide event. This year, this special day, takes place on November 11th.

Lane, Charlotte and Lily
in Oma's Book Nook

Celebrate the love
of literacy with children

Just ten days ago, National Book Lover's Day was celebrated on the first day of November. As writers of children's picture books, you may not need an excuse or a reason to read. 

Young Reader's Day . . . 

Is a day to celebrate 

the love of reading. 

Is a day to celebrate 

reading with children.

Celebrate Reading with Children

With my teaching experience as a Reading Specialist and a certified Reading Recovery Teacher, and a teacher of ELLs [English Language Learners], of hundreds of students over the years, I can share with you, that learning how to read is a complex process. Learning how to decode symbols to derive meaning is a complex interaction between the student and the text. This is all shaped by the child's attitude, experiences, prior knowledge, and foundation in the student's native language. Reading is about language acquisition, sharing ideas and information, and communication. 

Watching struggling students crack the code and learning how to read equals student success. I always felt that a student's success was my success. Teaching a student how to read is building a child's foundation and preparing the student for the future.

Celebrate National
Young Readers Day

Many schools will celebrate five days of reading during National Young Readers Week, sponsored by Pizza Hut Book It! NYRW is an annual event that was co-founded by Pizza Hut in 1984. I recall distributing hundreds of Pizza Hut Book It Club! certificates to students who achieved a reading goal. The kids were always pleased to redeem their certificate for a personal size pizza.

Homemade Pizza

Reading is typically an individual activity. Today, consider sharing some time and books as read alouds with young readers. Continue to practice, develop, and refine reading with children.

Joshua, Jaxon and Henry
reading with Oma Sue

Consider giving a book to a child or a grandchild on Young Reader's Day. The gift of a book is an intelligent investment in a child's future.

Celebrate Young Reader's Day 
together by reading 

to children and with children.

How Do Writers Spend Their Time? -- By Christy Mihaly (and Cheddar)

Join this Writer’s Organization! Try that Challenge! Take another Course! EEK! Writer friends urge me to participate in this course, that workshop, these Facebook groups, those writing challenges. What am I missing? How can I ever find the time? 

Photo by GROGGER Suzy Leopold

Time for a reality check: I turned to my GROG colleagues --  serious writers all, ranging across continents, occupations, levels of experience, and numbers of publications. I asked them: "How do you spend your writing time?" I asked them to estimate how many hours they spent drafting, revising, reading, doing research, conferences, courses, social media, marketing, etc.  

And now, I'm happy to share these thoughts and recommendations, from my informal GROG survey.  

Bottom line: None of us has time to do it all.  We have day jobs, spouses and loved ones, social obligations, volunteer work, children, grandchildren, friends in need. We want to "give back" to the writing world. What’s a writer to do?  

We know the answer: WRITE. The GROGGER responses reminded me that when it comes to all those “writing-related” activities, we have to stick to the ones that are helpful enough to warrant taking time away from actual writing. 

I boiled my colleagues' responses down to these three points: 

1.  Write!  Carve out “writing time” every day.  Make writing your top priority during that designated time. Maybe it’s a half-hour before the rest of the household awakes. Maybe it’s an hour after everyone else is asleep. Whenever it is, make it sacrosanct.  No internet surfing.  No opening mail. “Writing” means drafting and revising. If inspiration isn’t coming, try writing a poem! A journal entry, a cover letter . . . just write! GROGGERs' writing times vary considerably, depending on where they are on a particular project (or other aspects of their busy lives) but range from about an hour a day to 30 hours or more per week.  (And we all spend more time revising than drafting!) 

GRAB THAT PENCIL, CHEDDAR!

2.  Everything else is extra. Select only those “extras” that really help your writing. Want to refine your craft?  Maybe a course or studying a book on craft is your best bet. Are you feeling isolated?  Then join a community, whether it’s an in-person critique group or an online writing group, or volunteer to work with kids. Has your inspiration dried up? Maybe you need to hang out with the grandchildren, or maybe just going for a walk is what you need! You’ll never be able to do it all . . . so choose what inspires you, and nourishes your writing.

Sniffing out new inspiration . . . 

Here's some collective GROGGER wisdom about setting priorities,  from among all those “other” activities:

Research: If you write nonfiction, this is a major element of your process . . . though fiction writers need research too. For our nonfiction GROGGERs, research can take MORE time than writing.  When we're in that "research groove," that's all we want to do. The consensus: Go for it!

                        

Challenges: GROGGERs have tried various online challenges, and concluded it's best to choose one, or at most two, per year. Favorites among GROGGERs are 12x12, WOW, and PiBoIdMo.

Reading: Do it! Study mentor texts, read books on writing craft and the business of writing, adult fiction and nonfiction for pleasure, YA for the heck of it, poetry, The New Yorker – read it all. GROGGER Pam Vaughan suggests that, if you’re stuck in the car a lot (chauffeuring kids, anyone?) try books-on-tape! GROG members agree, reading is a high priority. Most of us try to get some reading done every day.

 Hey, I get great ideas in my dreams!

Conferences/workshops: We can’t afford to attend all the conferences we’d like, but agree that two or three a year is good. SCBWI is the standard. A pointer: Figure out which format – National? Regional? Small? – works best for you, then focus on that type of gathering. For more GROG thoughts on conferences, check out these posts: 21st Century NF; SCBWI LA; SCBWI New England; write conference for you.

Critique groups: Serious writers must share drafts and revisions with trusted writing buddies. Online groups work well for many. Some are lucky enough to find supportive face-to-face groups. Crit groups are well worth the time -- though most GROG members find that one, or two, of these is the most we can responsibly handle.

Algonquin Round Table members 

Art Samuels, Charlie MacArthur, Harpo Marx, Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott 

circa 1919, from Wikimedia commons, photographer unknown.

Warning!  Warning!  LIMIT social media!  

Sure, there are some wonderful Facebook groups, and FB can be a great place to share information and support other writers. Twitter provides valuable connections and information too . . . but GROGGERs find social media can consume too much precious writing time. All GROGGERs participate in social media, and we agree a little can be good (a half-hour to an hour a day?).  (See these prior posts:  Facebook groups; more Facebook groups; Twitter tips; more Twitter tips.)  But it's also true that too much is . . . too much.

Try setting a timer!

By Hustvedt (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

3. Keep track of how you spend your time 

(see above). 

Some of my GROG friends could tell me exactly how much time they spent regularly on various activities . . . others, not so much. Try this for a week or a month: record your hours. If you feel you're not getting enough writing done, you’ll see exactly what’s taking up too much time. You'll get a more realistic sense of how long different tasks take. And when you meet a writing target or a goal – celebrate!

Bottom line:  Remember Jane Yolen's essential rule:  "Butt in chair!" And write on. 

That's BUTT in chair, Cheddar!!

Special thanks to Marcie Atkins, Todd Burleson, Tina Cho, Suzy Leopold, Pat Miller, Janie Reinart, Patty Toht, and Pam Vaughan.

More From Cheddar's Summer Reading Pile -- by Christy Mihaly

Hello friends -- Welcome to August!  Is your heap of summer reading diminishing? Have you enjoyed some of our earlier recommendations?  (Click here for Cheddar's first post.)  

  
In case your late-summer pile (or your writerly inspiration) is in need of replenishment, we've collected a few more book suggestions: fiction and nonfiction, for kids and adults.  Read on!

Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  
Novel, 2013.  588 pages.

The kid lit world has been buzzing about the need for diversity in children's books. What better way to expand our own horizons, as writers and readers, than reading the insightful and funny work of a prize-winning novelist steeped in two cultures? Adichie, born in Nigeria, divides her time between the United States and her country of birth. This multi-layered third novel is a love story, an illumination of immigrant experiences, an education about modern Nigeria, and a meditation on identity and race.  My book club unanimously loved it -- and let me tell you, in my book club, that's a rarity.

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia, by Candace Fleming.
Nonfiction, for ages 9-12 (or above).
2014.  292 pages (including back matter).

Candy Fleming is one of my favorite writers -- and she has done it again with her latest kids' history book. After I heard her read the enthralling beginning of her WIP (this book) at a Highlights Foundation workshop, I knew I had to read The Romanovs as soon as it came out. Snatching up a copy the day it arrived at my indie bookstore, I dove in.  I wasn't disappointed! It's filled with well-researched, dramatic descriptions of the last years of Tsar Nicholas and his family, as the Revolution closed in on their insulated lives of obscene luxury. The author uses, and reproduces, a wealth of original documents, including many direct quotes from the young Romanovs and those around them. First-hand statements by Russian workers describing the harsh conditions in which they lived, unbeknownst to the tsar and his circle, are particularly striking. Powerful photographs add depth to the story.  A riveting read -- this is history come alive.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown.

Nonfiction, 2013.  404 pages (paperback, including back matter).

This was assigned summer reading for my 15-year old, and the high school soccer team. I don't normally go for sports books, but this one is exceptional -- I've talked to readers of all ages who love it. The book centers on the personal sagas of nine working-class kids from small towns in the state of Washington, especially Joe Rantz, who faced appalling trials with uncommon grace. Brown details the years-long preparation and training of the rowers of the University of Washington boys' crew, as they coalesced into a team.  He weaves in both the national context of the misery of the Great Depression and the parallel history of Germany's preparations to host the 1936 Olympics. Throughout the book, historical photos provide additional insight. The climax is the dramatic account of the Olympics eight-oar crew final. The book's magic is that by the end of the story, we have come to know the boys in the boat intimately, and to care deeply about the outcome of the race. This near-unbelievable tale is enriched by the author's deep research and obvious love for his subject.  

The Fault in our Stars, by John Green.
Fiction, YA
2012.  318 pages.

You can't let the summer pass you by without reading the book the teens, preteens (at least the girls) and many of their parents have been talking about, can you? John Green does a fine job creating attractive, three-dimensional, literate, believable teenaged characters coping with the pain and terror of cancer, and facing death. Plenty of humor and plenty of tears. If you're going to see the movie, be sure to read the book first.

Are you tired of Cheddar pics yet?   Her buddy Kaia is also a bookworm:

Photo by Jack Miller

Before we go, Cheddar insisted we include one of her personal  nonfiction faves:

Happy Reading, all!

Journal [jûr′ nǝl] n. A Personal Record ~By Suzy Leopold

Many people, young and old, keep journals-artists, students, teachers, librarians, gardeners, farmers, athletes, politicians, scientists, writers, chefs, and many, many more. 

Most writers use a journal to record everyday events and topics that interest them.  These journals may include daily entries that record news and events that are personal in nature.  They are private and not intended for others to read as one writes about personal experiences, thoughts and dreams, in a diary.  Others who write in a journal may want to share their thoughts, recordings and reflections. These individuals enjoy sharing, with a trusted reader, who is interested in the subject matter or information. Favorite quotes, jokes or delicious recipes can be passed on from a writer to a reader.  Some journals are considered working journals that record observations and facts, such as crop, plant and weather data. A double-entry journal, is a way to share, read and respond while rotating the journal between two writers. Most often a double-entry journal dialogue is between a teacher and a student.  These journals become a written conversation for learning and growing.  

The American Heritage dic•tion•ar•y defines the word journal: [jûr′ nǝl] n. A personal record of occurrences, experiences, and reflections kept on a regular basis; a diary.

Did you know that Leonardo 

da Vinci kept over forty notebooks?  He wrote about his activities, and recorded plans for his engineering projects.  If Meriwether Lewis had not kept a journal, while exploring across North America, we would not have a glimpse of his travels, during the time he lived, nor the geographical information that he recorded in his journal. The beloved, world class diary, The Diary of Anne Frank, was written while Anne and her family hid in an attic, from the Nazis during World War II.  Reading her remarkable child diary connects the reader to the horrors of the war. President, Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth president kept a kind of diary.  On little scraps of paper, he jotted down thoughts and sometimes referred to these notes in his speeches. Our beloved president was a powerful orator.  His love for the written word was evident in his love for books. As a young man, Abraham always had a book stashed away. He read whenever he found a chance to do so, sometimes finding a moment in between chores on the farm. On a page from Abraham's schoolbook he wrote the following poem: 

Abraham Lincoln

his hand and pen

he will be good but

god knows when

There are many purposes for keeping a journal or two or more.  A journal has many functions and uses.  Writing in a journal is an excellent place to jot down personal experiences, thoughts and memories.  

For additional information, refer to a previous post by Janie, Tickling Your Muse or How to Spark Ideas Using Glitter and Crayons.

Many readers and writers use journals to enhance their writing from beginning to end. It is a great format to write about books.  Keep a reading log of books you are reading.  Scribe your thoughts about the book.  Summarize and evaluate the book.  Would you recommend the book to others?  Consider recording ideas, information, data and facts, or rhyming words about topics that you wish to write about.  

As a writer, brainstorm thoughts and make lists in a journal. Use a journal for pre writing that is spontaneous and written in a first draft form. Try a strategy referred to as quickwriting.  It is an informal ramble of words on paper to develop and generate ideas.  Jump start your writing with some writing prompts that may spark some creativity.  Make a list.  Doodle. Sketch. Create a graphic organizer. Think of bold beginnings, mighty middles, and exciting endings. Add mementos and ephemera.  Jot down words and more words. Keep on writing. Just focus on your thinking and ideas; not grammar and spelling.  The revisions and editing can follow later.  Use a variety of writing implements.  You can use more than a pencil. Try writing with colored pencils, markers, or even a collection of rainbow colored pens.

Keep a pocket size journal or notebook in your purse or backpack for moments when bright ideas pop into your head.  Writing in a composition notebook or even a spiral bound notebook, make great journals. 

Create and keep a variety of journals and begin writing for many purposes.  One can never have too many journals.  Just think of the many possibilities.  What type of journal do you write in?  What kind of journal will you create to write in on a daily basis?