Posts filed under 'Author/illustrator visits'
BAXTER, the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher by Laurel Snyder and illustrated by David Goldin. 2010. Tricycle Press.
The RIF staff has awaited this book with great anticipation as Laurel gave us a few sneak peak thoughts about Baxter when she visited RIF in October 2009. Baxter did not disappoint us yesterday once the delivery man arrived with the book!
For someone like me who grew up in a small southern town with no synagogue nor Jewish community presence, Baxter was a great educator as I read and re-read his story last evening as well as the note from Laurel at the end of the book followed by the glossary. And other definitions and “feelings” came across clearly in Baxter’s story. Baxter is waiting at the bus stop one day and learns from an older individual waiting for the bus as well that the man is excited about dinner that evening, a dinner to celebrate what the man called the “beginning of Shabbat.” Baxter thought all week about his favorite part of the man’s description of dinner “The candles gleam and glow and dance while our sweetest voices lift in song!” Baxter had never seen dancing candles and the whole event sounded so neat. The following week the man did not show up at the bus stop but another man whom Baxter approached scoffed that Baxter wanted to be part of a Shabbat dinner as he told Baxter he could not do such, that “You’re not kosher.” And with that the gentleman boarded his bus and was gone. The adventures begin for Baxter and are laugh out loud funny. And the education of Ms. Rasco here began as well.
PEOPLE /CHARACTERS
Baxter is my favorite character followed by Rabbi Rosen who rescued Baxter in his confusion.
WORDS
Like Baxter, I like that phrase about the dancing candles as it gave me the family feel I experience with my own extended family during special meals.
SEQUENCES
Baxter’s attempts to become “kosher” are a stitch…eating pickles until he smelled pickled, eating raisin challah until he decided after five loaves he surely must be kosher if not “too kosher” and finally his attempt to become bovine after being told “cows are kosher.” OH, me, children are going to squeal with laughter!
ART
Goldin’s just right mix of photos and drawings make the whimsy of Baxter come alive without detracting from the message.
AND I TAKE WITH ME…
New understandings about Jewish customs, a delighted discovery there can be laughter surrounding terms like “kosher” and a way to share some of the Jewish traditions and beliefs with young children I know who like me aren’t growing up in a community where they will naturally hear of them, learn about them. Thank you, Laurel!
Happy Reading!
Carol
Twitter: @RascoFromRIF
The format for my book discussions is outlined in an earlier posting. Please scroll down into the post for the explanation.
Wednesday Window features books and/or information which illustrate the “Windows” portion of the paper “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors.”
August 25th, 2010
She gasped, because Miss Loupe had jumped on the Ugly, Ugly Couch. She was perched on its flat, squat back, one leg hanging over each side. And then she started rowing. And singing.
“When my great-granny was ninety-one,” she belted out, pulling with all her might against imaginary oars, “she did PT just for fun!”
So started our recent RIF staff visit with Sara Lewis Holmes reading from her book, OPERATION YES.
We asked how the book was “born” in her head….and we learned Sara wanted to write something about contemporary military families, both for young people in those families but also for those of us who haven’t been in a military family nor had the opportunity to really know a military family. And the two things she knew for sure she would include: (1) the ugly orange couch that came with her husband as they married and his bachelor roommates divided up the lovely orange living room furniture set and (2) improv theatre from Sara’s collegiate days where theatre was part of her major, the other part being government.
Great dialogue followed including cover art, the role of the editor and the actual editing process, Sara’s own life as part of a military family once she married, choosing a book title — thank you, Sara, for sharing so freely with us!
There were LGM (Little Green Men) cupcakes for all; RIF was proud to present to Fisher House a contribution in Sara’s honor raised through our own sale of LGM (Read the book, friends, and you’ll learn the significance of LGM’s and the help they brought to wounded warriors.).
Happy Reading!
Carol
P. S. Wondering why that top photo has such a “unique” frame? That is called leaving Rasco to her own devices and the system for cropping photos seemed to have changed since she last did it…just call it artistic or an accident of art, maybe?
March 2nd, 2010
Wynne Intermediate School serves 462 children in the fourth and fifth grades and is located in the Arkansas Delta. For the past 16 years, Wynne has held engaging motivational activities for the students and parents. Last year when each of these grades was studying different countries and cultures, the RIF coordinator built on the studies and planned a multicultural book-themed distribution. Authors and titles were chosen to help represent that theme. The Family Literacy Night is the largest of the three distributions. The event is organized by the school staff in order to promote parent involvement in the schools and in their child’s education. Parents and students generally rotate stations and do arts and craft projects, walk through the book station, and listen to a storyteller. Last year, author Michael Shoulders came to visit. He spoke to the gathering about becoming a writer and the writing process; when the students left to select their books, Mr. Shoulders spoke to the parents about the importance of books in the home and reading to their children no matter how old they are. Ree Routon, the former coordinator who recently has moved to the Wynne High School library, discussed with RIF staff recently the impact RIF has had on Wynne. She pointed out the connection that every student in the intermediate school has had with the Wynne Public Library. The librarians come to speak with the students and promote coming to the library with their parents to get library cards and check out books. Mrs. Routon also mentioned that the closest bookstore to Wynne is roughly a 50 mile drive; this means it is not common for many kids to own their own books, except the beautiful books they receive through RIF. Kaley Boeckmann has recently taken over the RIF program and is looking to continuing the great RIF traditions in Wynne.
Congratulations to Wynne Intermediate School and Happy Reading to all!
Unit 2
December 10th, 2009
Last week Rasco from RIF turned one year old. At that time it had been my intention to write a reflection post about my first year of blogging…alas, RIF was closing out the old, ringing in the new fiscal year; there were events and meetings to be attended in New York City; and well, you get the picture…time got away from me. Today as RIF welcomed Laurel Snyder, I realized her visit tells the story of my blogging and my twitter experiences better than a “reflection piece.”
Would I have met Laurel Snyder outside the blog world, outside twitter? Maybe, but probably only in passing. However, today the minute I walked into our reception area to welcome her, I realized I “know” her even better than many I walk out to welcome regularly. One of the first things I asked her was “How is Lewis who doesn’t wear diapers anymore?”
Once I had blogged for about three months with help from many of you as you introduced me to so many individuals in the kid lit world online, I realized my children’s/youth “shelves of books read” had huge gaps from that time my daughter moved from children’s books to YA/adult books to the present. Entering the world of twitter confirmed the gap to be even wider than I originally diagnosed. And while I prided myself on the number of children’s book I had read each year and the ones from my childhood I re-read on an every other year schedule, I have huge gaps. A resolution I have kept in 2009 has been to turn my voracious reading habit almost solely toward children’s and youth literature newly released and released during those years filling the gap.
I thrill when new books among my online friends are released, I get excited when books from the missing years of my children’s book repertoire are discussed and put in front of me for consideration. Having read and recently posted about the wonderful memories of my childhood neighborhood and friends evoked by Laurel’s Any Which Wall, I was excited one day to pick up from a tweet stating her home library as the Enoch Pratt Free Library that she appeared to have grown up in Baltimore and was headed “home” for a visit. I immediately DM’d (direct mailed) her to ask if she would consider visiting RIF for a visit with the staff…and I was thrilled that an author said “of course!”
Today Laurel Snyder initiated what I hope to be a regular feature on RIF’s calendar: author visits. We had a grand time as I hope you can tell from the rather non-traditional photos taken of the two twitter friends!
It’s interesting as the feedback so far has been much like the blind men describing the elephant….programs personnel were buzzing about one aspect of the free flowing dialogue, Q and A; other departments had somewhat differing but equally exciting “take away’s” whether from the writing, publishing, publicizing angles and more. However, the one consistent refrain in the halls of RIF was “I am so energized!” The bar is set high, the interest whetted, and we look forward to dialogue with others of you in DC/VA/MD or passing through the beltway.
And we certainly look forward to a return visit from Laurel, to whom we say thanks for making a Tuesday afternoon such a fun one! The welcome mat awaits you; bring the boys next time!
Happy reading!
Carol
Twitter: @RascofromRIF
October 6th, 2009
