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.

---

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.

Peach and Tomato Pasta Salad

Peach and Tomatoes by ET Charles

 

1 peach

1 cup lightly packed fresh Italian parsley leaves

15-20 small cherry or grape tomatoes

1 cup dry pasta – penne or bowtie

4 ounces mozzarella, diced into small cubes

1 teaspoon olive oil

Black pepper

Directions: The ratio of dry pasta to whole peach to 15 cherry tomatoes to 1 cup loose parsley leaves is roughly one to one to one to one.

Cook pasta in 4 cups of boiling water. Do not add salt as the cheese contains plenty of salt. For penne or bowtie pasta, cook for 9-12 minutes or according to directions on box.

Slice cheese into small cubes.

Wash peach in cold water and pat dry. Slice the peach into small pieces. 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 eliminate all stems as these are very difficult to chew. (Reserve parsley stems for soup or stew, tied in cheesecloth a bouquet garni.)

Using a slotted spoon, lift pasta out of water and into a clean bowl. Add mozzarella cheese to the pasta. Let sit for five to ten minutes so pasta can cool. Then add peach, tomatoes and parsley. Toss well. Top with olive oil and black pepper. Serve warm.

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

Serves 4 people as a small side dish. 

Review and Interview Daybreak on Raven Island

 

Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley

 

Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley published by Viking an imprint of Penguin Random House in 2022 describes a seventh-grade field trip that has gone bad for three protagonists. They miss the ferry back to the city and must survive the night on a cold island with a host of mysterious characters, solve some puzzles and find a killer. The story and location are fictitious. However, the island was inspired by Alcatraz Island. This middle grade mystery contains themes of friendship and understanding. Cover illustrated by Manuel Sumberac.

Daybreak on Raven Island was designed by Lucia Baez who began her graphic art career working on the high school year book and newspaper.

One Question Interview with Fleur Bradley

Hello Fleur. Welcome.

ETC: How do you revise?

FB: After I finish my rough draft, I let the manuscript 'cool off' for a week or two (sometimes longer). When I feel ready to tackle it, I print out the whole thing and read it, taking notes on plot, character, and pacing problems I see. I then make an editing plan, revising for big picture changes first. After that draft is finished, I may go one more round before giving it a final pass for small changes. I print the whole manuscript each time, so I try to plant a tree or two each year to make up for it... After those three or so drafts it's off, either to beta readers or my agent. I reward myself with a nice dinner out or cake (usually both).

Thank you again for the support! It means a lot.

ETC: Thank you so much for sharing your revision technique.

Visit Fleur Bradley

Visit book designer Lucia Baez

Visit Manuel Sumberac

Learn more about: Alcatraz Island, California

              Visit your local book shop: The Wandering Jellyfish

 

Blueberry Oat Scone

 

Blueberry Oat Scone photo by ET Charles

Rustic Blueberry Oat Scone

1 cup flour

1 cup whole oats

1 Tablespoon baking powder

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/16 teaspoon lavender salt or less

1/4 cup unsalted butter (half a stick)

2 ounces cream cheese

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 eggs

1 cup frozen blueberries

          With a one-to-one-to-one ratio of flour, oats and blueberries this makes a hearty, irregularly shaped scone.

Directions: Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir and mix well. This makes a thick batter that is best mixed by hand. Cut in butter with a fork or pastry mixer. Cut in cream cheese also with a fork. Add the cream and mix well. Wash and dry each egg. Crack each egg separately into a small bowl and examine for flaws. Make a well in the batter; add the eggs. Mix the eggs in the well and then mix the eggs with the rest of the batter with a fork.

          Grease and flour a 10.5-inch pie pan. Place dough in pan. Dough will be thick and lumpy and will not reach all edges of the pie pan. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 – 40 minutes. Oven temperatures vary so adjust baking time as necessary. A knife inserted into the baked scone should emerge clean. Let scone cool.

Icing

2 Tablespoon unsalted butter

2 - 3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice or whatever you have

1/3 – 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

          In a small sauce pan melt butter. Add lemon juice. Stir. Remove from heat and sift in powdered sugar. This will make a translucent glaze. Pour glaze on scone and serve warm but not hot.

Serves 6 people.

Thanks to Wanda Dietz for the first gift of lavender salt.