The August Carnival of Children's Literature is up over at Sandy Fussell's Stories Are Light blog. Writing for children knows no borders, of course, but I'm trying to recall if there's been another Carnival hosted from Australia or anywhere else that to me is overseas (cuz, like, to Sandy I'd be overseas!). Anyone remember one?
Regardless, there are some fabulous links at the Carnival, and I hope you'll head on over and check it out.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
I dunno. It amuses me.
Thanks to the BookChook, I got to play with Iconscrabble and came up with this:
It amuses me, I tell ya!
It amuses me, I tell ya!
Friday, August 20, 2010
"Tag, You're It," He Said Poetically - an adverb poem/a dialogue tag poem
"Tag, You're It," He Said Poetically
(a dialogue tag poem)
by
Greg Pincus
"Cut them quickly," she said speedily.
"I want them gone," he said needily.
"Show don't tell," he said directly.
"Use them well," she said correctly.
"I hate adverbs," he said whinily.
"We're all done," she said finally.
It's a little silliness either designed to end your summer or to send you back to school, I type optionally. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!
The Poetry Friday roundup is over at Teach Poetry K-12 today. Why not go check it out?
And if you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!
(a dialogue tag poem)
by
Greg Pincus
"Cut them quickly," she said speedily.
"I want them gone," he said needily.
"Show don't tell," he said directly.
"Use them well," she said correctly.
"I hate adverbs," he said whinily.
"We're all done," she said finally.
It's a little silliness either designed to end your summer or to send you back to school, I type optionally. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!
The Poetry Friday roundup is over at Teach Poetry K-12 today. Why not go check it out?
And if you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A Facebook Moment....
Over at my other blog, The Happy Accident, I put up a tutorial about Facebook's privacy settings in light of their rollout of Places - their geo-tagging equivalent of Foursquare or Gowalla.
Since I figure most everyone who reads GottaBook is either on Facebook or familiar with it, I wanted to share the link and take a moment to note that taking care of your privacy settings is really rather important. Even though I always assume that everything I do online will be public in the end, I do take whatever steps I can take to make that less likely!
Since I figure most everyone who reads GottaBook is either on Facebook or familiar with it, I wanted to share the link and take a moment to note that taking care of your privacy settings is really rather important. Even though I always assume that everything I do online will be public in the end, I do take whatever steps I can take to make that less likely!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Word Choice and a Dis-invitation
I had a lovely little real-world vacation... and while I was gone, I missed being a part of a few interesting conversations. But that doesn't mean I can't link to 'em or talk about 'em later!
Over at MotherReader's blog, she writes about the new Lane Smith book, It's a Book. There's some controversy... and interesting comments, too.
And at a slew of blogs, there's talk of Ellen Hopkins being disinvited to the TeenLitFest in Humble, TX. A few other authors have now bowed out of the event. I liked Pete Hautman's post on the topic - The Nasty Thing in the Corner - in which you'll find links to many other posts and good conversation in the comments.
I'm still catching up, so who knows what else I've missed?! As if that's not enough....
Over at MotherReader's blog, she writes about the new Lane Smith book, It's a Book. There's some controversy... and interesting comments, too.
And at a slew of blogs, there's talk of Ellen Hopkins being disinvited to the TeenLitFest in Humble, TX. A few other authors have now bowed out of the event. I liked Pete Hautman's post on the topic - The Nasty Thing in the Corner - in which you'll find links to many other posts and good conversation in the comments.
I'm still catching up, so who knows what else I've missed?! As if that's not enough....
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Poetry. Awards. Poetry Awards.
Yes, I'm late to this, I know, but it's still worth a shout-out or two. While I was all SCBWI-ing, Betsy Bird was talking about whether there should be an ALA poetry award or not. Check out the heavy hitters talking in the comments there!
Then last Friday, Elaine Magliaro reposted something of her own on the same topic from 2006 that's well worth a read, too.
Guess what? I'm in the camp that's pro-award. Shocking, isn't it!
Then last Friday, Elaine Magliaro reposted something of her own on the same topic from 2006 that's well worth a read, too.
Guess what? I'm in the camp that's pro-award. Shocking, isn't it!
Monday, August 09, 2010
A Charity Auction... With Cool Art!
Dan Santat - author, illustrator, trailer-maker-extraordinaire - has put together an auction to benefit 826LA, a fab organization that brings the arts to school kids. And this particular auction will be happening online and gives you a chance to nab some artwork by a slew of amazing artists working in the children's book field.
You know, folks like Sean Qualls and Mo Willems and and and and, well, see the picture below. If you click the link, you'll see a trailer and more information about how you can get involved (as in... buy the art!). Check it out!
You know, folks like Sean Qualls and Mo Willems and and and and, well, see the picture below. If you click the link, you'll see a trailer and more information about how you can get involved (as in... buy the art!). Check it out!
Friday, August 06, 2010
Quick Bites on a Summer Friday
Over at the Happy Accident, I wrote up more about Rubin Pfeffer's keynote as well as my own thoughts on this whole future of publishing debate. The comments are rocking, too, so be sure to check them out.
The Poetry Friday roundup is over at Author Amok today. Give yourself a little moment of poetic fun and go check it out.
The Poetry Friday roundup is over at Author Amok today. Give yourself a little moment of poetic fun and go check it out.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Learning, Connecting, and Caffeinating at SCBWI LA 2010
I have probably said this after every single SCBWI summer conference I've attended, but I'll say it again: what a blast! This was my first year on faculty - a huge honor and thrill, I must say - but that didn't change my experience very much at all, other than meaning I had to prepare and miss a few sessions when I was talking. I'll have a post up at The Happy Accident recapping what Alice Pope and I talked about in our sessions, by the way. Soon. Soooooon.
Highlights, as usual, are too numerous to list in detail... though here are a few of mine.
I was excited by what Jon Scieszka is doing with his new series Spaceheadz. The story and the multi-faceted online components work together even as either stands on its own. But they combine to enrich the universe of the story AND offer more fun for the reader. Check out http://www.sphdz.com to get a taste.
M. T. Anderson's breakout session on experimental fiction included a great reading and analysis of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, including comparing it to Burrough's Naked Lunch! Earlier, he sang us a Delaware state anthem that had 1,000 people roaring. But I digress.
Ruben Pfeffer delivered a clear-eyed view of the fact that, well, the future is now so to speak - ebooks are here, technology does have an impact, the business is changing and will continue to... and really, it's not a bad thing. This was the clearest, most direct, non-blinders-on view of the industry I've heard, and I applaud Ruben for delivering it and the SCBWI for asking him to do so. Denial is our biggest enemy, seems to me.
Ack! Already long enough and still no mention of Rachel Vail or Julia Durango or Gail Carson Levine or Marian Dane Bauer or or or or. Ack! Well, they and dozens of others were great. But I can't leave ya without one more...
Seeing 87 year-old Ashley Bryan on stage, getting 1,000 of us chanting poetry with him, filling us with inspiration, and reminding us of the importance of words on a page and getting young readers to connect with them was an experience that will inspire me for years to come.
There are a ton of great roundups already appearing on blogs today, and I'm sure more will come during the week. The SCBWI Conference blog has write-ups on all of this and more and is really worth a trip whether you were there or not.
Finally... it was great to see so many familiar faces there... some only familiar from Twitter and blogs, but many from knowing you now for years. It was a great time, and I'm already looking forward to next year!
Highlights, as usual, are too numerous to list in detail... though here are a few of mine.
I was excited by what Jon Scieszka is doing with his new series Spaceheadz. The story and the multi-faceted online components work together even as either stands on its own. But they combine to enrich the universe of the story AND offer more fun for the reader. Check out http://www.sphdz.com to get a taste.
M. T. Anderson's breakout session on experimental fiction included a great reading and analysis of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, including comparing it to Burrough's Naked Lunch! Earlier, he sang us a Delaware state anthem that had 1,000 people roaring. But I digress.
Ruben Pfeffer delivered a clear-eyed view of the fact that, well, the future is now so to speak - ebooks are here, technology does have an impact, the business is changing and will continue to... and really, it's not a bad thing. This was the clearest, most direct, non-blinders-on view of the industry I've heard, and I applaud Ruben for delivering it and the SCBWI for asking him to do so. Denial is our biggest enemy, seems to me.
Ack! Already long enough and still no mention of Rachel Vail or Julia Durango or Gail Carson Levine or Marian Dane Bauer or or or or. Ack! Well, they and dozens of others were great. But I can't leave ya without one more...
Seeing 87 year-old Ashley Bryan on stage, getting 1,000 of us chanting poetry with him, filling us with inspiration, and reminding us of the importance of words on a page and getting young readers to connect with them was an experience that will inspire me for years to come.
There are a ton of great roundups already appearing on blogs today, and I'm sure more will come during the week. The SCBWI Conference blog has write-ups on all of this and more and is really worth a trip whether you were there or not.
Finally... it was great to see so many familiar faces there... some only familiar from Twitter and blogs, but many from knowing you now for years. It was a great time, and I'm already looking forward to next year!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The SCBWI Summer Conference is here!
Well, "here" as in it's time, not "here" as in on my blog.
If you're at the Conference, I do hope you'll say "hi." I'm mighty thrilled to be on the faculty this year, but I'm even more excited to be able to reconnect with so many friends and connect with new ones....
If you're there, also think of coming by and joining in our Tweetup on Sunday at 5:30 in the hotel lobby. And if you're there or not, follow along the Conference tweetstream via the hashtag #LA10SCBWI (and, of course, the fab SCBWI team blog where they will be live-blogging the conference)
If you're at the Conference, I do hope you'll say "hi." I'm mighty thrilled to be on the faculty this year, but I'm even more excited to be able to reconnect with so many friends and connect with new ones....
If you're there, also think of coming by and joining in our Tweetup on Sunday at 5:30 in the hotel lobby. And if you're there or not, follow along the Conference tweetstream via the hashtag #LA10SCBWI (and, of course, the fab SCBWI team blog where they will be live-blogging the conference)
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
I'm a Sweetheart!
More specifically, I'm the Featured Sweetheart over at the Texas Sweethearts' blog! Y'all should head over and check out their site: Jo Whittemore, P.J. Hoover, and Jessica Lee Anderson have a great, fun group blog going on over there, and I'm flattered to be part of it.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Fibbing on a Poetry Friday
What better day to talk about Fibs than on a Poetry Friday? (Well, I suppose a 11/23/58 woulda been a good day, but I wasn't blogging back then). And what do I have to say about Fibs? Well...
The Fib Review is still going strong, now with issue #6 online. It's mighty good reading... and for those of you so inclined, they take submissions. More than one GottaBook reader has ended up in the Review, so why not join the group?
Also, head on out and check out William Cullerne Bown's new blog/project - A Year in Fibs. He's posting a Fib a day... and he's just begun. That's an ambitious project - they aren't always easy to write, I must say - and it should be fun to follow.
Finally... it's Poetry Friday! The weekly roundup is at Language, Literacy, Love. Head on over and enjoy!
The Fib Review is still going strong, now with issue #6 online. It's mighty good reading... and for those of you so inclined, they take submissions. More than one GottaBook reader has ended up in the Review, so why not join the group?
Also, head on out and check out William Cullerne Bown's new blog/project - A Year in Fibs. He's posting a Fib a day... and he's just begun. That's an ambitious project - they aren't always easy to write, I must say - and it should be fun to follow.
Finally... it's Poetry Friday! The weekly roundup is at Language, Literacy, Love. Head on over and enjoy!
Monday, July 12, 2010
#kidlitchat turns one!
Can you believe it? We've now had 52 #kidlitchats on Twitter (you can see the transcripts here). It's been a fabulous year, and we'd love to have you join us for a community celebration this week. If you're new to chatting, you might want to check out Debbie Ridpath Ohi's great blog post on Twitter chats. If you're a frequent chatter... thanks! And either way, I hope you'll come join us on Twitter this (and every) Tuesday night at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific.
See you there!
See you there!
Friday, July 09, 2010
Combination = Win!
Today I'm sending you off again to celebrate poetry Friday... and the first stop combines two poets who were both part of this year's 30 Poets/30 Days celebration. Yup... you can find Charles Waters being interviewed over on David L. Harrison's blog!
Here on GottaBook, you can also find Charles' poem, I Love Being Me, and David's poem, Lookit!, from this year's celebration.
For more poetic fun, you can also find the Poetry Friday Roundup over at Carol's Corner today. Enjoy!
Here on GottaBook, you can also find Charles' poem, I Love Being Me, and David's poem, Lookit!, from this year's celebration.
For more poetic fun, you can also find the Poetry Friday Roundup over at Carol's Corner today. Enjoy!
Monday, July 05, 2010
I Am a Grammarbender
I'm a big fan of the series Avatar, the Last Airbender... and I love applying the idea of "bending" to other things besides air, water, fire, and earth as in the series. Some other bending seems really useful - timebending, perhaps? But being a Grapebender? Probably not so much.
I also always wonder what bending could help writers (or give us a common vocabulary to refer to certain writers or, I suppose, for editors and agents to classify certain submissions).
Grammarbending seems useful. Spellbending? The computer might fight it, but still.... e.e. cummings was a master Capitalizationbender. And... what else?
As I await answers, I'm gonna practice my timebending. With any luck, you'll have read this a few hours before I posted.
I also always wonder what bending could help writers (or give us a common vocabulary to refer to certain writers or, I suppose, for editors and agents to classify certain submissions).
Grammarbending seems useful. Spellbending? The computer might fight it, but still.... e.e. cummings was a master Capitalizationbender. And... what else?
As I await answers, I'm gonna practice my timebending. With any luck, you'll have read this a few hours before I posted.
Friday, July 02, 2010
PoFriWeRo!
PoFriWeRo is my new acronym for the Poetry Friday Weekly Roundup. Don't all thank me at once :-)
This week's roundup (aka PoFreWeRo) is over at The Poem Farm. Go on over and check it out!
And while you're at it, if the mood strikes you, you can see my poem from last week - Hello, Summer! - translated into Chinese. I do so love the web!
This week's roundup (aka PoFreWeRo) is over at The Poem Farm. Go on over and check it out!
And while you're at it, if the mood strikes you, you can see my poem from last week - Hello, Summer! - translated into Chinese. I do so love the web!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Meanwhile...
I have yet to meet a kid who wasn't fascinated by it and enjoyed reading it/interacting with it. It works in groups, too. It's not a perfect book (what is?), but boy I am so happy it exists.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
A Poetry Re-Issue: Hello, Summer!
Summer began this week and school ended hereabouts, too. Seems like a good time for this re-issue....
Hello, Summer!
by
Gregory K.
Goodbye, classroom!
Goodbye, Teach!
You can find me at the beach...
Or in the park or at the pool
Or any place that isn’t school.
Goodbye, quizzes!
Bye, reports!
Hello days packed full of sports
And days when I’m just lazybones
While eating melty ice cream cones.
Goodbye, homework --
Lunchroom, too.
There’s so, so much I wanna do.
I know the school year flew on past…
But please, please summer -- last and last.
If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!
Hello, Summer!
by
Gregory K.
Goodbye, classroom!
Goodbye, Teach!
You can find me at the beach...
Or in the park or at the pool
Or any place that isn’t school.
Goodbye, quizzes!
Bye, reports!
Hello days packed full of sports
And days when I’m just lazybones
While eating melty ice cream cones.
Goodbye, homework --
Lunchroom, too.
There’s so, so much I wanna do.
I know the school year flew on past…
But please, please summer -- last and last.
If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Here a link, there a link....
Everywhere a link, link!
The 2010 edition of KidLitCon has been announced (October 23 in Minneapolis). You can follow the conference blog for more info. I've been to the first three, and I highly recommend attending if you blog in the broad children's literature space.
Guess who's blogging? No. No. Not her. No... not him. Keep guessing. Give up? Arthur A. Levine, that's who! This is exciting - he's a wonderful writer (with a new book out in 2011 in fact) and now I don't ever have to feel guilty blogging since my editor is doing it, too. (Right????)
And finally... why not check out the first trailer for a documentary about children's literature? It's called Library of the Early Mind, and it will be premiering in October at Harvard, no less! You can follow the movie's blog to stay up to date. I think it looks great.
The 2010 edition of KidLitCon has been announced (October 23 in Minneapolis). You can follow the conference blog for more info. I've been to the first three, and I highly recommend attending if you blog in the broad children's literature space.
Guess who's blogging? No. No. Not her. No... not him. Keep guessing. Give up? Arthur A. Levine, that's who! This is exciting - he's a wonderful writer (with a new book out in 2011 in fact) and now I don't ever have to feel guilty blogging since my editor is doing it, too. (Right????)
And finally... why not check out the first trailer for a documentary about children's literature? It's called Library of the Early Mind, and it will be premiering in October at Harvard, no less! You can follow the movie's blog to stay up to date. I think it looks great.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
The Brainstormer!
I apologize because I can't remember where I initially saw this link. I know it was on Twitter (and it might have been Colleen Lindsay (and if it wasn't this time, you should follow her anyway regardless)), but that is all I know for a fact.
Anyway, here's The Brainstormer by Andrew Bosley. Is it art? Is it a tool for writers who need to brainstorm ideas or plot points? Is it both? It doesn't matter, frankly... I just think it's cool and will keep you all busy all weekend!
Anyway, here's The Brainstormer by Andrew Bosley. Is it art? Is it a tool for writers who need to brainstorm ideas or plot points? Is it both? It doesn't matter, frankly... I just think it's cool and will keep you all busy all weekend!
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