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Eclectic
sites to explore
(below are author & illustrator sites, writing
resources and bookstores)
Enjoy folk music? Next time you're near
Los Angeles on the first Saturday of the month, come to a
meeting of the
Santa Monica Traditional Folk Music Club.
Like
Rabbits? Visit the Bunny Museum!
This is an interesting museum which includes in its collection
copies of both the hardcover and soft cover book To Rabbittown,
signed by the illustrator, Robin Spowart, and me.
Is overeating or undereating a problem?
Try Overeaters Anonymous
Ever feel like you want to give up?
Before you do,
click here
for some inspiring quotes about not giving up.
AUTHORS & ILLUSTRATORS Here
are a few to start your exploration:
The Children's Authors Network!
(CAN!) is an organization of children's authors devoted
to promoting the literacy of children and inspiring their enjoyment
of books. CAN! includes my friends
Bruce Balan---my
wonderful sea-going friend and political partner who lives on a
boat, Jeri Chase
Ferris, Joan Bransfield Graham,
Robin Rector
Krupp,
Julie Mammano,
Michelle Markel,
Alexis O’Neill,
Janet Wong, and...oh
yeah,
me.
Teaching Authors--a blog by six children's authors who
teach...including me!
How to pronounce my name (and how to pronounce lots of other
author and illustrators names)
Elaine Clayton--The
fabulous illustrator of GIRL COMING IN FOR A LANDING and the
author and illustrator of many, many wonderful books. I
believe she may be my spiritual sister....
John Ritter—A friend and
a terrific young adult author. His novels center on baseball...and
so much more.
Pam Munoz Ryan—An amazing
writer with a big heart. The author of PAINT THE WIND
(which I just listened to on CD and which is fabulous), ESPERANZA
RISING, RIDING FREEDOM and many more novels and picture books.
Barney Saltzberg—A talented picture
book writer-and-illustrator and marvelous singer/songwriter!
Want to learn to draw? Wanna have fun? Check out Barney's
site!
Mim Eichler Rivas
is an incredibly prolific friend. She's co-written the
Pursuit of Happyness, Michael Phelp's mother's biography, an
amazing book about the most intelligent horse on record called
BEAUTIFUL JIM KEY and more. Her husband,
Victor Rivers, is a
writer, an advocate against domestic violence, and an actor.
RESOURCES--for
writing and for life...
Want to write and/or illustrate children's books? Check out
the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators--that's
how I learned how to be a professional in this field.
Check
out Harold Underdown's
Purple Crayon-- he's a children's book editor with a
wonderfully informative site about the children's book publishing industry
and answers to questions all aspiring writers need to know.
Greg K. Pincus's poetry blog,
Gottabook, is
wonderful. During April (National Poetry Month) he posts an unpublished
poem from a different well-known children's poet every day!
My friend Megan Adler
is a learning and literacy specialist for grades K-12 and a
marvelous poet.
Another amazing friend,
Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge, author of the marvelous
POEMCRAZY and other books about freeing your life with words,
will come your way if you can gather enough friends for a
workshop.
How
about a journalist
who has a fabulous archive of authors she has interviewed?
Never seen the
Story of Stuff?
At least watch the first seven minutes. Really. You
will never be the same.
Speaking of too much stuff, my dear friend Brooks Palmer,
who has helped free
me of stuff so I can really and truly live my life. Check his
Clutterbusting
website and read his generous, life-changing and spirtual book,
Clutterbusting--Letting Go of What's Holding Your Back.
Check
out the Children's Book Council or
the Association
of Jewish Libraries.
USA Writes 4 Kids:
has a map of the USA--you can click on each state to find more than 150 children's authors and playwrights. reviews
by kids, stories by young authors and more.
Los Angeles Public Library - Click
on Kid's Path, then Recommended Reading. From there, try
clicking either on Age and Grade Level lists or Genre and Themed
lists. These are annotated to help kids
and parents select the right books.
Poets Online
- Poetry, poetry and more poetry! Every two weeks a new
writing prompt, lots of wonderful links, more information than
any of us need!
Learn a new word each day, and receive a daily quote as well (for free!) with:
A-Word-A-Day
1,000 Pieces of Peace is poet Judy Lucas's site to gather
poems, prose, and "prose pictures about peace" for a book to
benefit "the world's first silly hospital" (based on the work of
the real Patch Adams) in West Virginia. If you read this
after her deadline has passed, you can still do good--contact
Judy through her site.
INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES
Here
is a link to our country's
independent bookstores.
SHOP INDEPENDENT!
www.abfc.com
, a great site to locate independent children's bookstores
across the country.
Why
shop Indie? (from the Indybound site)
When you
shop at an independently owned business, your entire community
benefits:
The Economy
§ Spend
$100 at a local and $68 of that stays in your community. Spend
the same $100 at a national chain, and your community only sees
$43.
§ Local
businesses create higher-paying jobs for our neighbors.
§ More
of your taxes are reinvested in your community--where they
belong.
The
Environment
§ Buying
local means less packaging, less transportation, and a smaller
carbon footprint.
§ Shopping
in a local business district means less infrastructure, less
maintenance, and more money to beautify your community.
The Community
§ Local
retailers are your friends and neighbors—support them and
they’ll support you.
§ Local
businesses donate to charities at more than twice the rate of
national chains.
§ More
independents means more choice, more diversity, and a truly
unique community.
Now is the
time to stand up and join your fellow individuals in the
IndieBound mission supporting local businesses and celebrating
independents.
My out-of-print books
are available used, through abebooks.com.
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