Cloaked in Courage: Interview with Beth Anderson

 

Cloaked in Courage illustrated by Anne Lambelet

Beth Anderson has written Cloaked in Courage: Uncovering Deborah Sampson Patriot Soldier, published by Calkins Creek. Forward thinking, Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man and fought in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. In telling this story Ms. Anderson also depicts the life of poor children in New England and the life of an enlisted soldier; stories that are seldom told. By its absence, the story becomes an endorsement for free public K-12 education and free lunch. Anne Lambelet drew and painted with traditional pencils and paint and then combined these in a digital program, Adobe Photoshop. As always Ms. Anderson includes primary sources and secondary sources in the back matter.

One Question Interview with Beth Anderson

Hello Beth. Welcome.

ETC: What do you find most helpful to your writing?

BA: Most helpful to me in my writing is….other people! We often think of writing as a solitary pursuit, but I couldn’t do this without so many people in my life that help carry me along this journey. My critique partners are vital to pushing my thinking and helping me solve problems within a manuscript. And that works both ways as critiquing their work allows me to grow, too. More kid lit peers create opportunities for learning, whether it’s in online groups, at a conference, webinars, or sharing experiences. My agent provides honest feedback, suggestions, and takes care of the side of the business that’s not my favorite. Editors are a constant source of knowledge and see the boulders and holes in a story path. In addition to all those essential people in the writing world, encouragers like family and friends keep me going when the mojo fades, and share the joy when everything comes together. And of course there are the kids who read the stories. That’s a lot of people! Truly a village!

ETC: What an inclusive and joyous response. Thank you so much for visiting.

Visit Beth Anderson

Visit Anne Lambelet

Visit National Women's History Museum

Visit Colorado History Center

Visit your local bookshop The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop 

Beth Anderson's Educator guide to Cloaked in Courage 

Beth Anderson's Persuasive writing USPS stamp campaing

Light Speaks: Interview with Christine Layton

 

Light Speaks Illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell

Light Speaks beautifully written by Christine Layton is a quiet book, a bedtime book about the concept of light and each page compels the reader to turn to the next page. At the same time, the melodic words may lull a child to sleep. Luciana Navarro Powell’s fun illustrations include a gorgeous depiction of the butterfly nebula. Ms. Layton lyrically explains difficult aspects about what light is and how it acts. She includes back matter facts about light. Readers are likely to want to read this again and again. Tilbury House published Light Speaks. 

One Question Interview with Christine Layton

Hello Christine. Welcome

ETC: What advice would you give those in grades K-12 about writing?

CL: My advice for student writers is the same as my advice for professional authors: write badly! By this, I mean that you shouldn't let fear or anxiety or perfection keep you from writing. Fear, anxiety, and perfectionism would like nothing better than to keep you in a writer's block, staring at a blank page. So, go ahead and write a really crummy rough draft. It can make you cringe. It can be way off the mark. It can be absolutely awful! But once you've written that crummy first draft, something magical happens. You suddenly don't have a blank page anymore. You have words you can work with. You might even find that after revising and changing things around, you like what you've written. You never have to show anyone the crummy first draft. It can be your secret. The great thing about writing is that it's like working out a muscle. The more you do it, the better you get. It doesn't matter if you do it badly. The act of writing makes you a better writer each time you try. I find that very comforting.

ETC: Thank you for visiting, Christine.

Additional Non-fiction Component

For Definitions and Explanations of Lightning please see:

Earthdata NASA Lightning

NASA Lightning

NASA Micro-article Lightning

For information on Lightning Safety please see: 

NOAA Lightning Safety

National Weather Service Lightning Safety Tips

National Weather Service Lightning Safety

Visit author Christine Layton

Visit illustrator Luciana Navarro Powell

Visit your local book store:The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop

Abundance - Fall Writing Frenzy 2023

 

Abundance

by Elizabeth Thoms Charles

Word count: 79

Photo #1

 

Fall harvest. Enough for winter storage.                  

Enough to share with the neighbors.

Enough to donate to the food kitchen.  

Pumpkins for soup.

Pumpkins for roasting.

Pumpkins for pie.

Pumpkins ornament houses and yards.

Squirrels, rabbits and raccoons

chew pumpkin decorations

leaving a mess.

Pumpkin residue composted

becomes sustenance for soil and next year’s crops.

In spring a pumpkin vine grows

from the compost pile.

Bees pollinate blossoms and ensure

the possibility of more pumpkins.

So, there will be Enough.

Thanks to Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez and many others for Fall Writing Frenzy 2023

Turkey's Sandtastic Beach Day: Interview with Wendi Silvano

Illustrated by Lee Harper

 

Turkey’s Sandtastic Beach Day published by Two Lions is the seventh delightful collaboration between author Wendi Silvano and illustrator Lee Harper. Mr. Lee rendered the bright, fun illustrations with pencil and watercolors on Arches hot press watercolor paper. Ms. Silvano addresses the conundrum of work versus go to the beach or more accurately work near the beach versus play on the beach. The farmyard animals take turns helping Turkey onto the sand and into the water with engaging word play and amusing disguises. Ms. Silvano’s seventh Turkey book entertains as much as her first Turkey Trouble published in 2012.

One Question Interview with Wendi Silvano

Hello Wendi. Welcome.

ETC: What advice would you give those in K-12 school who would like to become writers?

WS: If you want to become a published writer (or just a good non-published writer) one of the best things you can do is to read, read and read! When you read a lot in the genre that you want to write in your brain will begin to have a natural sense of what works in that genre. For example, with me, since I write mostly picture books, I read 20-30 new picture books a week. I come to see and feel what makes a good picture book text, what type language, sentence structure, length, etc. is in books being published today. It really helps! And the same would hold true for fantasy novels, middle grade fiction, poetry, or any other kind of writing.

Another thing that will help you is to practice writing all the time. Write something every day. It can be in a personal journal, for an assignment at school, on a blog or just for fun somewhere. It doesn’t have to be “good” writing… just something. That exercises your “writing muscles” and keeps them strong.

ETC: Thank you so much for visiting.

Nonfiction Component

Fun facts about turkeys. 

An adult wild turkey has 5,000 to 6,000 feathers.

Wild turkeys, Meleagris californica, went extinct in California 10,000 years ago during the Pleistocene era. Turkey bones have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits.

The Aztecs and Maya domesticated wild turkeys.

Two thousand years ago and further North, the peoples of the Four Corners Region and in the states Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona domesticated wild turkeys.

Five hundred years ago the Spaniards took turkeys from Mexico back to Europe. Later, English settlers brought domesticated turkeys back to the Americas.

During the Great Depression, in the 1930s, wild turkeys were hunted almost to extinction. Only 30,000 wild turkeys remained across the continent.

Now the United States has over seven million wild turkeys.

In Colorado there are two sub species of wild turkey the native Merriam and the introduced Rio Grande.

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Visit Wendi Silvano

Visit Lee Harper

Visit your local book store:The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop

Learn more about turkeys:

Colorado

Colorado Wildlife Council Turkey 

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Turkey

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Turkey

La Brea Tar Pits, California

 Talking Tar Pits Turkey

 Tar Pits Bird Collections       

PreColumbian Domesticated Turkeys

Role of Turkeys to Ancestral Pueblo     

800 Year Old Turkey Feather Blanket   

Earliest Mexican Turkeys in the Maya Regions        

Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Analysis Reveals Complexity of Indigenous North American Turkey Domestication

Parsley Tomato Pasta Salad

Italian Flat Leaf Parsley by ET Charles

2 cups loosely packed fresh parsley leaves

20 small cherry or grape tomatoes

1 cup dry farfalle pasta – also called bowtie pasta

2 ounces blue cheese

1 small red onion or 2 small red scallions

1 teaspoon olive oil

Black pepper

Directions: Cook pasta in 3 cups of boiling water. Do not add salt as the cheese contains plenty of salt. Cook 9-12 minutes or according to directions on box.

Wash tomatoes in cold water and pat dry. Cut tomatoes in half. Wash parsley leaves in cold water and pat dry. Coarsely chop parsley being careful to remove all stems as parsley stems can be tough. Place tomatoes and parsley in a bowl.

Sauté onion in one teaspoon olive oil until lightly caramelized.

Using a slotted spoon lift pasta out of water and into tomatoes and parsley bowl. Add blue cheese to the pasta, tomatoes and parsley. Toss well. Top with caramelized onions and olive oil. Toss again. Serve warm with black pepper.

The ratio of tomatoes to parsley to dry pasta is almost one to two to one (1:2:1).

This makes just enough salad. There will not be leftovers.

Serves 4 people as a small side dish.

Note: Italian flat leaf parsley was drawn for a class at Denver Botanic Gardens. Fabric was produced via Spoonflower.