Four Feet Two Sandals Going Strong
Four Feet Two Sandals was recently recognized by Huffington Post in a new List of 50 Inspiring Children's Books with a Positive Message.Take a look at the other great books on this blog.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-handler/50-more-inspiring-childrens-books-with-a-positive-message_b_4739495.htmlAnd look at the big things one teacher has done with this little book:Thanks to fantasic teacher, Laurel Voris-CoranSee this link for a great lesson planhttp://farfallabaci.blogspot.com/2014/02/teaching-friendship-understanding.htmlHere is a preview:Teaching Friendship; Understanding through Literacy“What is friendship?
Gem Hunting Take Two
The New Year has offered another opportunity for my new passion. Last week I was on the hunt for Augite crystals. Hmmm. There is a lot of land there. Those crystals are about as big as the tip of my little finger and some quite a bit smaller. I learned some things about gem hunting and Augite in specific. Well at least at this site. Augite is a mineral. Augite crystals can be found at the outer edges of patches of tiny black stones in the desert sand here. When I think I [...]
Poetry, Passion and Photographs
I took a photography class this semester at Dine Community college. I am still stuggling with the technology and I have learned a lot about the craft.I came away from the course impressed by the similarities between the craft of poetry and the craft of photography.Light, shape, line, texture, compostion, rythym, meaning and metaphore. It is all there in a poem or a photograph. One thoughtful photographic image should do what a poem does in a few well chosen words; evoke emotion and meaning for the viewer or the reader. We should want [...]
The Cook gives Thanks(Or I’d Rather Be Writing)
Warning: If you plan to eat Turkey at my house this year should stop here.After some thirty odd years of preparing Thanksgiving dinner I have much to be thankful for. All my guests have survived. I pretty much follow the rules. I wash my hands until they are chapped and clean the cutting boards. I do not remove the wrapping from the frozen turkey until it is time to cook. And still I worry. This year in the middle of the night a few days before the big gathering I sat bolt upright [...]
A Gem of A Day: Jewel Covered Ground
There is a magical place about an hour and a half from where I live in Chinle. Don't ask me how to get there. Given the coordinates and a little luck the GPS keeps bleeping out things like, "In 1/4 mile turn left on unpaved road, in three hundred feet turn right on unpaved road, in two hundred feet..." You get the idea. I was lucky to be with Jolynn a seasoned rock hound at the wheel and we found our way there with only one wrong turn.You know you are [...]
One Author’s Full Circle(No Favorites) Taiwan
When I go to schools as a visiting author one question students always ask is, "Which of your books is your favorite."My answer is usually something like, "I have four children. My books are like my children and I could never have a favorite one." ( OK anyone in my family reading this keep quiet....) My books like my children all have their special qualities and they have all given me some difficulties along the way.And for an author her books are like her children in that she never knows where they will [...]