2012-05-29T15:34:35Z http://kerirecommends.com/atom.aspx Quick Blogcast tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-05-26:24c6f684-a11c-4186-8c3c-c18abb6a44af Keri Collins 2012-05-26T12:43:00Z 2012-05-26T12:43:00Z From Greg at GottaBook, a brilliant, funny and genuinely inspiring speech from award-winning author Neil Gaiman. ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-05-25:9fdc6f47-1b7c-4be0-a336-a33517f3ea34 Keri Collins 2012-05-25T23:58:00Z 2012-05-25T23:58:00Z Most of the time, when I hear the words, "this book saved my life," it relates to an abusive relationship, getting the emotional strength to overcome adversity, motivation to give up toxic behaviors, or that type of emotional support found in realistic fictional characters.In this story of a boy in Washington, knowing a book's hero had gone downriver feet first and kicked off the rocks saved his life when he fell in a river . . . that had white water and a nearly 300-foot waterfall he barely avoided.Don't you love books?!Thanks to Publisher's Weekly Children's Bookshelf for the link. ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-05-20:07d27e75-660c-44de-a798-5ce30450dbde Keri Collins 2012-05-20T14:06:40Z 2012-05-20T14:06:40Z An entomologist at Mississippi State University, where I work, recommended this book to me based on our mutual interest and work with bees. The full title is Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey -- the Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World. You can read an excerpt online here.Holley Bishop -- a trained journalist and one-time literary agent -- penned this comprehensive narrative as a history of beekeeping and behind-the-scenes look into one man's apiary over the course of a year or two. Mixed in with the different, thematically arranged chapters (Pollination, The Sting, Wax, etc.) are brief essays ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-05-20:f8438ef8-7799-441f-ae25-364faac51564 Keri Collins 2012-05-20T13:42:17Z 2012-05-20T13:42:17Z Back in my previous life as a first grade teacher, my students ate up read-aloud story time. Especially when we read funny chapter books.Especially Junie B. Jones. The series turns 20 this year! Read about it here.Check out the books from your local library. Laugh out loud. Random aside: I still remember the day a parent (Margaret H.!) remarked on the euphemisms in the book. When I read aloud, I edited those out, but apparently should have warned some parents of students who could already read. Sorry, M.! I hope W. turned out okay in spite of me and ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-04-27:7071a044-ec33-4bab-a9a3-f09822f22973 Keri Collins 2012-04-27T14:35:21Z 2012-04-27T14:35:21Z Check out this photo essay of the recent book festival at UCLA.If you've ever wondered what some of your favorite authors look like, check it out.If you've ever wondered what it would feel like to have your picture taken with Judy Blume, look closely at the contained giddiness in John Green's expression. Presenters even got rock star microphones -- or rather, old-school, Janet Jackson-style mics. Oh, someday, I'd love to be there! ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-04-03:ffe2242c-edd8-44d1-9ea3-8369903644be Keri Collins 2012-04-03T13:06:51Z 2012-04-03T13:06:51Z The world is full of poetry this month.The Daily Poem has a 12th Annual Poetry Parade. I particularly identified with today's poem, "Tuesday," by Richard Allen Taylor.Sylvia Vardell has a series of interviews with poets at her Poetry for Children blog.She also has a new resource for parents and teachers, The Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists. I'd really like to have tea with her someday -- I think she's likely forgotten more about children's literature and poetry than I could ever hope to know.Greg at GottaBook's got 30 Poets/30 Days, which features previously unpublished poems by a laundry list of ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-03-23:92e4b226-c40a-4cb9-9386-8324f7d0ed58 Keri Collins 2012-03-24T00:09:00Z 2012-03-24T00:09:00Z Check out these beautiful bookstores and info. on how reading lowers your stress level.Thanks to Jana for the link! ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-03-16:02153dab-ba53-424a-907b-4a6151a4a4e1 Keri Collins 2012-03-16T13:38:54Z 2012-03-16T13:38:54Z If you want a list of patriotic poetry books for kids or info. on a new election year collection, check out the Poetry for Children blog.And congrats to Janet Wong on her new book due out this year! ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-02-25:65690818-2c2f-4119-8e3a-6bb88def9bfc Keri Collins 2012-02-25T17:06:27Z 2012-02-25T17:06:27Z Many of my friends are homeschooling moms, and this title caught my eye when it came across the transom as one of the "free" e-books available recently. Most of the time I don't even look at the daily offerings on the Pixel of Ink Facebook page, but every once in a while I end up with something of interest at no cost.The Pig in the Pantry and Other Homeschool Tales is a collection of newspaper columns written by California farmer/speech pathologist/mother-of-11 Rose Godfrey. She and her husband Brian have adopted and birthed a motley crew of kids and animals. As ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-02-22:ac8cb031-7289-42dd-96b8-497b1fdcd3d9 Keri Collins 2012-02-23T03:01:00Z 2012-02-23T03:01:00Z Disclaimers: 1. I know the author -- this was a work-for-hire job.2. I read this in, well, it's not even the beta version, I read it on *paper* my friends. Sometimes I got crazy and made comments in a Word document, but I kicked it old school and scribbled notes on actual paper before this became an app.3. I'm horribly biased because I think my friend Missy is immensely talented, wickedly funny, and she has the ever-elusive quality called VOICE.4. I think she graciously included me in her acknowledgements, but I don't know, because well, I don't have an ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-02-21:dc28227a-8b33-4d94-a0b3-8c2d43dcbdda Keri Collins 2012-02-22T00:15:00Z 2012-02-22T00:15:00Z This is from Wired.com, a video clip and summary of the wickedly funny repartee between Stephen Colbert and acclaimed novelist (and independent bookstore owner) Ann Patchett.Love it! Go Nashville! Go Ann Patchett! ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-02-17:62d2a85a-c816-4549-af4f-a3b68a462af9 Keri Collins 2012-02-17T14:02:08Z 2012-02-17T14:02:08Z Remember the book/movie Dangerous Minds? That author, teacher LouAnne Johnson, shares her experiences with reluctant readers in a piece on Scholastic.com. She identified 10 reasons students don't like to read -- including the physical challenge of having light sensitivity issues that make it painful to read -- and solutions. ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-02-15:a3d97e08-a629-4f89-b527-24a4862a3256 Keri Collins 2012-02-15T23:52:00Z 2012-02-15T23:52:00Z YA Author Arthur Slade posted the results of his year-long experiment in the world of e-books on his blog.These were previously published books, his out-of-print backlist. Yes, it's true: not all books stay in print and available forever. (Side note of advice: if there is a book you love and hesitate to buy, because, say, picture books are frightfully expensive these days . . . if it is not an award-winning book, you'll have a harder time finding it when, years later, you still want it, and you're a book dork and want a *pristine* copy. Call me the Voice ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-02-14:50ef0864-c8ca-476b-90db-5877b79dbabe Keri Collins 2012-02-15T02:07:00Z 2012-02-15T02:07:00Z The Cybils Awards are listed here.Not sure what they are? They're children's lit awards given by bloggers, who explain their work thus: "One way to look at the Cybils is that instead of telling kids what we think they should be reading, we take a look at what they already are reading (or likely will read) -- and then pick out the best of them."Thanks to Gregory K. at GottaBook for the link. ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-02-08:3e65f8a3-1373-433d-9c50-6419f7ef03d8 Keri Collins 2012-02-08T18:44:00Z 2012-02-08T18:44:00Z From writing coach Daphne Gray-Grant: Negative Writing Tips.Check out more at her website. ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-02-07:c2d12a83-6785-4b3a-8f5d-d3928d63201f Keri Collins 2012-02-08T01:09:00Z 2012-02-08T01:09:00Z Here is a bookish quote in today's daily"Moment of Happiness" email from Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project: "If a man wants to read good books, he must make a point of avoiding bad ones; for life is short, and time and energy limited." — Schopenhauer ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-02-01:cfe87b22-3a22-4eec-b6ed-54ca6816ded5 Keri Collins 2012-02-01T18:24:08Z 2012-02-01T18:24:08Z If you follow this blog, you know I'm a fan of Jane Yolen.At the recent SCBWI NYC winter conference, she awarded funds to mid-list authors "whose careers have stalled."In publishing, everyone hears about the mega-sellers, but there is a rather large group of writers termed "mid-listers" because their books don't have huge printings, big audiences, or celebrity clout. You can hear Jane explain it in this video.She's just a classy lady, giving back to her fellow writers.Yay, Jane! ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-01-23:dec772db-8bec-4cde-8726-12d7c32576d5 Keri Collins 2012-01-23T18:25:00Z 2012-01-23T18:25:00Z Here is a list of the 2012 award winners. ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-01-21:4eb6b63d-7011-47bf-a3c0-5e66b5bd6d80 Keri Collins 2012-01-21T22:00:59Z 2012-01-21T22:00:59Z Reading a book written by someone I know is such a thrill. I was fortunate to live in an area of California overflowing with talented writers. I read the first chapter of Jay Asher's haunting novel 13 Reasons Why in manuscript form at a critique group meeting. I met Thalia Chaltas as we carpooled to the national SCBWI convention, and read her novel, Because I am Furniture in manuscript form. I had the good fortune to know what the Disco Mermaids look like without all of the glitter and glamor. They're really lovely, good people.So it was Very, Very Exciting ... tag:kerirecommends.com,2012-01-06:9666f839-7fc6-4712-be77-cfa281d0cad3 Keri Collins 2012-01-07T00:07:00Z 2012-01-07T00:07:00Z Today at work we received our monthly safety tips newsletter. The topic was office safety.My mind flew to one of the favorite read-alouds of my years spent teaching: Officer Buckle and Gloria, by Peggy Rathmann. In this comic tale of a boring safety officer whose passion for the rules is greater than everything -- even, in the end, his own pride -- readers experience the joy of being in on the joke before the protagonist. With visual humor in abundance, fine pacing, and lots of heart, this picture book is beloved by generations of readers. It won the Caldecott medal ...