Interview with Laura Roettiger: An Accidental Hero: a mostly true wombat story

 

An Accidental Hero illustrated by Debbie Palen

The cutest wombat gazes at the reader from the cover of Laura Roettiger’s An Accidental Hero: A mostly true wombat story which is published by Eifrig Publishing. Ms. Roettiger has written about hope, friendship and science in a picture book about a wombat, Australian fauna and wildfires. The story is told in the form of a newscast which adds a layer of humor. Ms. Roettiger includes facts about Australian animals, climate change and fire prevention in the back matter. Debbie Palen’s whimsical illustrations in a beautiful color palette entertain and inform the reader.

Two Question Interview with Laura Roettiger

ETC: Welcome Laura. Thanks for visiting.

What advice would you give students in K – 12 who would like to write books?

LR: I think the most important advice to give any writer, at any age, is to write what you know is true, kind, and what you feel in your heart. I write fiction so not everything I write is factual, but there is a difference between being creative and writing in ways that are misleading or hurtful. And then, this is the most important part,  be ready to revise. Revision is where the magic happens. When I was a teacher, I worked with students who thought that every word on their paper was sacred and they wouldn't change a thing. When a peer or critique partner tells you something isn't working, LISTEN. This is difficult for so many writers and when I do school visits, the teachers always thank me for explaining how important the revision process is and how many people are involved in my books from first draft to final book. Find good critique partners, take classes, find community, and do what works for you. Writing books is wonderful but it isn't most people's 'day job.' What else are you planning to do? Can you combine the two?

ETC: Did you originally conceive of An Accidental Hero: being told through the point of view of a television news cast?

LR: Surprisingly, yes. I know I talked about revision being where the magic happens so I don't want to imply that this story didn't go through revision, but my first draft of AN ACCIDENTAL HERO, from January 2020 was written as a newscast. I did a lot of research and prewriting first because I knew I wanted to keep the story as close to the truth as possible. I wanted to only include the animals in the wombat burrows that were actually discovered by the rescuers. But North American audiences connect kangaroos, koalas, and emus to Australia so I knew they needed to be in the book. As a teacher, I wanted to be able to include them as a layer to extend learning, so the logical way to incorporate them was to have them be reporters. I also love that it added journalism to the story and because the story is written all in dialogue, it's perfect for Reader's Theater. It really transfers well to classroom use which also makes me happy as a former elementary teacher. I love that it meets science and social studies standards, language arts standards, and SEL standards with different lessons. 

ETC: Thank you so much Laura for your insight and for writing such a marvelous book.

 

Visit Laura Roettiger

Visit Illustrator: Debbie Palen

Learn more about Australian Mammals: Australian Museum

Learn more about wombats: Columbus Zoo

Learn more about wombats: San Diego Zoo

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Rocket Ship, Solo Trip Interview: Chiara Colombi

 

Rocket Ship, Solo Trip illustrated by Scott Magoon

Chiara Colombi has written an enticing rhyming picture book, Rocket Ship, Solo Trip which was published by Viking and imprint of Penguin Random House. Parents will want to read it again and again. Scott Magoon’s beautiful and whimsical illustrations which were rendered digitally draw the reader into the story. Ms. Colombi’s layer text describes both the physical, scientific process of launching a satellite in easy to understand language and the emotional trepidation that accompanies first times. The rhymes and illustrations beg repeat readings.

Three Question Interview with Chiara Colombi

ETC: Welcome Chiara.

You speak both Italian and English fluently. Your rhymes are exquisite. Did you take rhyming classes or webinars in English? If yes, would you like to recommend one or two?

CC: The first sentence of ROCKET SHIP, SOLO TRIP popped into my head in rhyme, but as soon as I tried to write a second sentence, I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I hurried myself to Google for help—I wasn't yet aware of organizations like the 12x12 Picture Book Challenge and all the webinars available focused on the craft of writing picture books. By way of Google search results, I landed on Dori Chaconas's website, specifically an article from 2006 called "Icing the Cake: Writing Stories in Rhythm and Rhyme". You can find it here: http://www.dorichaconas.com/Icing%20the%20Cake%20page.htm That article was my textbook and my guiding light. It inspired me to take my favorite rhyming picture books and type them up in a doc, finding the couplets that are often broken up over the page in the book design process, and marking the stresses in bold, to teach myself how it all worked. After deep diving a number of picture books this way, I learned the techniques I needed to draft ROCKET SHIP start to finish, with a consistent meter and rhyme scheme. I still think Dori's article is among the best articles on rhyming out there!

ETC: What advice would you give students in K – 12 who would like to write?

CC: Read, write, repeat. Read whatever writing appeals to you the most. And write anything: journal entries, poetry, news articles about your family's boring weekend, fan fiction (fan fiction, in particular!), stories that go no where, stories that go where you hadn't planned them to go, stories that go exactly where you planned them to go. The more you read, the more you understand what you like in writing. And the more you write, the more you figure out how to create what you like on your own. It's honestly as simple as that. Once you've figured out how to write something that you like, the next step is to share it with someone you trust. Sharing your work, and learning how to receive feedback and work with that feedback to improve your writing is an essential skill if you want to write something that others beyond yourself will also like. Of course, you can also just write for yourself, in which case, there's never a need to share. But if you're hoping to write stories for others, feedback from a trusted source will be invaluable in helping you to make your stories as strong as they can be.

ETC: Thank you for your generous answers.

Visit Chiara Colombi

Visit illustrator Scott Magoon

A special thanks to Dori Chaconas for sharing Dori Chaconas Icing the Cake  

Scott Magoon has an interesting article On Publishing  

Visit NASA What is an Orbit?

 Learn more about orbits NASA Earth Satellite Orbits

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Spring Fling The Princess and the Cactus Blossom

The Princess and the Cactus Flower

By Elizabeth Thoms Charles

Word Count: 137

 

A princess flounced in gowns of pink orchids. She pirouetted. Vanilla became scarce.

After a week she tossed the gowns into the compost heap. The princess wanted more.

Pea blossoms were crafted into a dress and there were no spring peas to eat.

Tummies rumbled.

Apple blossoms were sewn into a dress and those trees didn’t produce any apples in the fall.

Tummies growled.

They traveled to a far land. The princess saw a beautiful magenta flower.

She grabbed the flower and was stung by many cactus spines. “Ouch.”

Her attendants spent hours pulling out thousands of spines.

Tummies roared.

The princess switched to blue jeans and for events she wore the same orchid gown for an entire month.

She threw pizza parties for her people. Compost grew vegetables and fruit.

Her people appreciated eating more food.

End.

 

Cactus blossom on Giphy

Greg Krehel has many photos and time lapse videos of Echinopsis.

Thanks to KaitlynLeannSanchez and Ciara O'Neil for creating Spring Fling Kidlit Contest. 

Matt Phelan's A Snow Day for Plum!

 

Matt Phelan’s second book in the Plum series, A Snow Day for Plum! was published by Greenwillow Books an imprint of HarperCollins in 2023. Mr. Phelan has written and illustrated a fun adventure for Plum a peacock, Kevin a giant elephant shrew, and Itch a ningbing. Set in an empty school during a blizzard, Plum, Kevin, Itch and fellow zoo animals meet three school mice and embark on an exploration of the school. Along the way themes of fear of a new school, friendship and practice are depicted. Mr. Phelan’s engaging black and white illustrations draw the reader into the adventure and for artists he added a how to draw Plum section at the end.

Plum and friends are an amusing romp for those with March snowstorms and snow days and those wishing for snow days. This short book with many illustrations may be called a chapter book or a young middle grade novel. Pages:128.

Visit Matt Phelan

Learn about book designer Sylvie Le Floc'h

Visit Greg Pattridge host of Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Learn about Elephant Shrews 

Learn about Giant Elephant Shrews Houston Zoo

Learn about Giant Elephant Shrews Brookfield Zoo Chicago 

Learn about Ningbings  and here  and here

Visit your local bookshop Second Star to the Right

Review: Tara Lazar's Absurd Words

Absurd Words illustrated by Michelle Mayhall

With Absurd Words: A kid’s fun and hilarious vocabulary builder for future word nerds Tara Lazar has written an entertaining word book with words grouped by topic. My favorites are space and weather. However, there are a variety of categories such as style or fashion and music. Michelle Mayhall’s colorful, engaging illustrations and book design guide the reader through the text. Ms. Lazar defines over 750 words in kid friendly language. This is a witty read and will benefit both elementary and middle grade students. Sourcebooks Explore published Absurd Words, a nonfiction text, on January 2, 2022 and it is recommended for grades 4-8. Ms. Lazar likes to make lists; her website has a list of 500 interesting words.

For writers and future writers, Ms. Lazar hosts Storystorm every January which is a romp through picture book craft and generating ideas. While it is February, past posts are easily accessed.

Greg Pattridge provides book recommendations and reviews on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday.

Visit Tara Lazar

Visit illustrator Michelle Mayhall 

Visit Greg Pattridge host of Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Visit your local bookstore Second Star to the Right