Día de los niños/Día de los libros

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April is the month when Día de los niños/Día de los libros is celebrated nationwide. Founded by author Pat Mora in 1997, this celebration honors children, promotes literacy, languages, and cultures.

According to Pat Mora’s website, “The goals of this observance from its inception have included a daily commitment to:
 

  1. honor children and childhood,

  2. promote literacy, the importance of linking all children to books, languages, and cultures,

  3. honor home languages and cultures, and thus promoting bilingual and multilingual literacy in this multicultural nation, and global understanding through reading,

  4. involve parents as valued members of the literacy team,

  5. promote library collection development that reflects our plurality.”

Today, during a school visit in Austin, I reminded the students about what Día de los niños is all about. I told them how special they are not just during this April event but all year round. I stressed the importance of books, reading, and writing. I hope I inspired them to become lifelong readers.

School Mural

“Each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. These are magnificent, wonderfully unsafe things.” — Lois Lowry

Love of Books

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Here is a neat article, “What I Love About Books,” posted by Barbara Vey on the Publishers Weekly blog. She lists ten reasons why she loves books. So I started my own list about why I love books too:

  1. I love to read for inspiration.

  2. I love to immerse myself in another time and place, especially with historical fiction novels.

  3. I love to learn new things that I didn’t know before.

  4. I love my imagination to soar with some books.

  5. I love to sometimes chuckle, sometimes cry, with certain books.
What about you? What do you love about books?




Tree in Boerne, TX
You might also be interested in an interview conducted by Rachel Martin with Newbery Honor Medalist Natalie Babbit (Tuck Everlasting) on the NPR blog. She talks about her new book, The Moon Over High Street.  

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” — Maya Angelou

Writing a Manuscript

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Are you having a hard time getting started on that manuscript that’s been at the back of your mind forever? Should you worry about format? Should you outline before you start? These are simple questions that we ask ourselves. Brian Klem’s post on the WritersDigest blog addresses this topic. He offers five simple key tips on “How to Write a Manuscript.”  Read his post for simple but useful tips on getting unstuck and getting started. 
It’s never too early to read to a child. A few days ago, I did a school visit for very young children – preschoolers. It was a delight to read to such adorable young people. They were attentive and wide-eyed as I read and acted out the story. Children love being read to.

“All really good picture books are written to be read five hundred times.” — Rosemary Wells

A Wrinkle in Time

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What started out as vignettes and poems ended as a novel in verse for Guadalupe Garcia McCall. McCall, the author of the award-winning young adult novel, Under the Mesquite, was a guest speaker at our monthly SCBWI chapter meeting at Barnes & Noble on Saturday, March 17. Her talk was on “Literacy and Our Roles as Writers and Illustrators for Young People.” She pointed out the need for diversity in books. She challenged us to strive to write stories that are authentic and well researched and to immerse ourselves in the culture we are writing about. She is already at work on her second novel, which is due out in October of this year.

Texas Bluebonnets
Did you know that one of the classics, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, almost wasn’t?According to a post on the NPR blog, “The Unlikely Best-Seller: ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ Turns 50, L’Engle’s book “almost didn’t see the light of day. Although the author already had six books to her name, publishers were perplexed by her latest.” Read the entire post to find out why it was first rejected.

“I believe that good questions are more important than answers, and the best children’s books ask questions, and make the readers ask questions. And every new question is going to disturb someone’s universe.” –Madeleine L’Engle

World Read Aloud Day

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On March 7, “World Read Aloud Day,” I had the pleasure of reading to over 100 students during a school visit at Walnut Creek Elementary, Austin, Texas.  The students were enthusiastic and asked really good questions after the reading. A question asked was whether I had ever written a book from a childhood experience to which I answered, “Yes, Lupita’s Papalote.” A highlight for me was when I mentioned that I had lived in Thailand and learned that two young girls in the audience were originally from Thailand and the family had now settled in Texas. Small world!
Dr. Seuss would have been 108 on March 2. I think you might enjoy reading Jason English’s post on the mentalfloss.com blog titled, “10 Memorable Dr. Seuss Quotes About His Work.” 
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” ― Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who!

Alicia’s Fruity Drinks/Las Aguas Frescas de Alicia

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Even though I do not have a hard copy in my hands yet, my latest bilingual picture storybook, Alicia’s Fruity Drinks/Las Aguas Frescas de Alicia, is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. The book will be available in bookstores by May 31. The illustrator, Laura Lacamara, did a fabulous job on the art. She is a super talented artist. Visit her website to view some of her beautiful work.

As I have mentioned before, a picture book is collaboration between the writer and the illustrator so it becomes “our” book. Thank you, Laura, for the time, dedication, and love you put into this book.
Stay tuned for when I have a booksigning for this book. I should be getting my copies any day now. It’s always a thrill to see UPS drive up and deliver that very special package. Magical!
“Touch magic — pass it on.”  — Jane Yolen

Filler Market

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What is the filler market, you might ask? According to Marie E. Cecchini on her blog, Writing-World.com, Webster defines “filler” as “material used to fill extra space in a column or on a page of a newspaper or magazine.” She writes: “Fillers can be written for children or adults, and topics for them run the gamut from parenting, health, and weight loss, to redecorating your room, dealing with finance concerns, working with technology, and managing stress.”

Children’s book author, Kathleen Muldoon’s article, “Short, Sweet and Sometimes Profitable – Writing for the Filler Market,” addresses this topic on the Institute of Children’s Literature blog. The author of numerous children’s books, Muldoon writes that fillers come in many forms such as “short anecdotes, notable quotes, and interesting bits of trivia.” She gives examples of other types of fillers. Maybe you have a short anecdote you might want to submit to a magazine. Look through those files and I’ll bet you’ll find one. 

New Mexico

“Seasonal queries to a magazine should be submitted at least six months ahead of schedule to allow for editorial lead time.” — Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Do you buy too many books?

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I thought I was the only one. Then I found this blog post, The Wonderful and Terrible Habit of Buying Too Many Books, by Gabe Habash that made me realize I am not as weird as I thought I was. I too have too many books on my shelves that I haven’t had time to read, but I still keep buying more. It’s an addiction, I think. You see, when I walk into a bookstore, my heart quickens and my pulse races. I almost salivate. You don’t need any more books, I tell myself. I justify that with, “I am just looking.” By the time I walk out, however, I have bought at least two or more books that will take up added space on my bookshelf. It’s the same at writers’ conferences. Except there’s a big difference. Those books I get autographed by some of my favorite authors. 
I am happy to report, however, that I do give out some of the books I’ve already read to students at the schools where I do visits. Not the autographed ones, of course. I give out numbers at the end of the presentation and then call them out. The students get to select a book from the box. In the meantime, I don’t think I’ll ever stop this strange quirk of mine. Are there any of you out there like me? 

“Surprise is what keeps readers turning the pages and writers filling them up.” – James Howe

Tejas Star Award Reading List

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What a nice surprise! I just found out that my book, The Battle of the Snow Cones, is on the top ten list of the 2012-2013 Tejas Star Book Award List. I am honored to be on the same list with some of my fellow authors. Good luck to all!

According to their website: “The Tejas Star Book Award was created by the Region One ESC Library Advisory Committee to promote reading in general and for readers to discover the cognitive and economic benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism. All the children of Texas will have the opportunity to select their favorite book from the Tejas Star list during the month of February 2012.”
Here’s a neat piece of information. Have you ever wondered what an author’s writing place looks like? Here’s your chance. The Millions blog post, “Where We Write,” shows the writing spaces of different authors, where they spend a lot of their time creating their stories, and where they are free from distraction and can focus on their work. You might be in for a surprise.    
 “Hook: Aspect of the work that sets it apart from others and draws in the reader/viewer.” – Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Word choice in writing

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Funny coincidence. I just got back from the Austin SCBWI conference. It was a great one, as usual. One thing I kept hearing from editors and agents regarding manuscripts and query letters as well was:  (1) make your words count and (2) word choice. I get home and a recent Ingrid’s Notes blog post, “What’s Your Intent?” addressed the same subject. 
One agent at the conference said the following about query letters: Do not use empty words. Every word should bring up an image in the reader’s mind. Every word counts. Word choices are so important, not just in manuscripts but in query letters as well.
I like this word choice definition in on Wee Can Write: Using 6+1 Trait Writing Strategies with Renowned Children’s Literature blog. 

“Word choice is the use of rich, colorful, precise language that communicates not just in a functional way, but in a way that moves and enlightens the reader. In good descriptive writing, strong word choice paints pictures in the reader’s mind. In informational writing, strong word choice clarifies, explains, and expands ideas. In persuasive writing, strong word choice compels the reader to see things clearly and, sometimes to agree with the reader. Effective word choice is characterized not so much by exceptional vocabulary as by the ability to use everyday language naturally and in a fresh or unexpected way.”

AUSTIN, TX
Query: A letter that sells an idea to an editor or agent. Usually a query is brief (no more than one page) and uses attention-getting prose. – Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner