Like Groundhog’s Day (the movie), this winter clutches our neck of the woods with the setting of repeat. Some movies have that choice, did you know? Especially for the younger crowd. I didn’t know winter had the same option.
But I LOVE snow! Even as green-starved as I am, gasping for fresh air and spring flowers, I feel giddy with joy when snowflakes dump steadily the whole day and into the night. Despite the need for shoveling, I gleefully glance out the window to make sure it’s still coming down in white blankets.
It is! Sheets, comforters, pillowcases, and blankets of the white stuff. Doomed I fear, according to weather reports.
She glanced his way, insect eyes missing no detail.
“What are you thinking of, my love?”
“Appearances.”
“You look ferociously fit.”
She flexed her legs, wiggled her wings. Let him move close.
“How are you feeling, gorgeous?”
“Hungry.”
Poser by Angie Quantrell
I wrote this story in response to Vivian Kirkfield’s #50PreciousWords Writing Contest (50 words total) and a Twitter conversation with @Realistic Poetry about favorite insects. Hop on over to Vivian’s site to read more short stories.
Hey, friends! If you are a writer of picture books and stories for young readers, this writing contest is for you! 50 words to tell a story (beginning, middle, end)? You can do it! Visit Vivian Kirkfield at her blog for details. Best wishes!
The title MAY be a bit of an exaggeration. But welcome to the winter that keeps on giving.
Congratulations! You are enjoying the longest February on record. Technically February is the shortest month of the year, in days, but not in the long drawn-out days of snow-ice-locked cold.
It’s snowing as I type. Skies are heavy gray with a peep of pink along the eastern edge. The landscape is white with bits of black edging from homes, red from the stop sign, and gray-brown from fence posts. White is the dominant theme this winter. Our water resources are sure to be full and overflowing this summer. For that, I am thankful.
I love snow! Really, I do. But. As March edges closer, my thoughts turn to green and bits of yellow and floaty blossoms on trees. Where are you spri-ng? Why can’t I find you? (In my head that sounds like Cindy Lou Who singing “Where Are You Christmas?”)
But today. We have snow. How about one more snow day’s worth of pictures? Come July and the season of sweat, I will bemoan the lack of lacy white.
Celebrate the snow with children everywhere who pray for snow days, late starts, snow play, and hot cocoa.
Well, February has been looking the same-all WHITE. It has felt like the longest month on record. Which is funny, since it’s the shortest. All of this snow has my brain frozen on repeat, like Groundhog Day (the movie).
I have yet to begin my Word of the Year art project (look here to see last year’s page), but I am adding to my Blessings & Thankfulness Journal. The daily blessings and thankfulness items I add are about my days, but some of the verses and journal decor are about treasure. I think I will add more treasure-themed gleanings and thoughts as I go along.
On the front sides of the pages I’ve been listing the days of the month and then adding things for each day that I feel are blessings or things for which I am thankful.
On the back sides of the pages, I’ve added washi tape and Bible verses. I like the idea of working out my word of the year on the back pages of my blessings and thankful lists. I still want to work on a Word of the Year (Treasure) creative art project, but it is simmering on a back burner, waiting for more time and inspiration.
In the meantime, this is what I’ve done to the cover of my journal. I love the colors! I need to do the back.
Do you have a word of the year? Do you journal? I’d love to see your projects.
I spied this gorgeous tree and cones during a winter walk. With such fascinating texture, design, and beauty, I just had to climb a snow bank to get close enough and snap a few photos. So glad I did!
Reading for Research Month is here! March Madness of the Picture Book World, here we come!
This is my 4th or 5th year participating in ReFoReMo. Happy 5 years to #ReFoReMo! Focused blog posts guide researchers (us) to read picture books that illustrate the information found in blog posts. I look forward to this month as an opportunity to read lots of picture books and study their techniques, formats, and picture book elements. If you love picture books, this month of reading is for you.
Is it a coincidence that Reading for Research Month occurs the same month as Read Aloud Day on March 2? I think not (or maybe so, but it is a cool coincidence.)
Read, friends. Read.
Book stacks from previous ReFoReMo! Be prepared for the time AND space commitment! LOL
Great things happen during ReFoReMo:
– picture books are read, studied, dissected
– blog posts are shared by professionals in the kidlit field
– the kidlit community gives support to one another
– interaction between fellow writers, authors, bloggers, and kidlit enthusiasts is invigorating and addicting
– learning about picture books, in oh so many ways, grows in direct correlation to the amount of time spent reading and studying PB texts
– libraries are flooded with requests for picture books (which, as we all know, trickles back to authors – yay!)
– so much fun to be had!
REGISTRATION opens today! Visit ReFoReMo to register.
And start requesting those books! Find the book list here.
I’ve printed the book list and registered for ReFoReMo. Who’s with me?
Love, Z is a great example of a robot tale about the meaning of love. I grabbed Love, Z from a library display and checked it out. Simplicity, good story, nice interactions, clean and beautiful illustrations, and great examples of love help Z (and young readers) understand love. I fell in love with the adventures of Love, Z.
Love, Z is the perfect book to springboard conversations about love and how it looks to different people, even robots.
Blurb from Amazon:
When a small robot named Z discovers a message in a bottle signed “Love, Beatrice,” they decide to find out what “love” means. Unable to get an answer from the other robots, they leave to embark on an adventure that will lead them to Beatrice—and back home again, where love was hiding all along.
KID KANDY
Build a Love Robot
Materials: construction paper, scissors, glue sticks, markers
1. Cut shapes from construction paper-hearts, circles, rectangles, triangles.
2. Arrange shapes on a table until you find the perfect design for a love robot. Use glue stick to glue edges together. Don’t forget to add arms, legs, and faces (eyes, nose, mouth, ears).
3. Use a marker to add details to your robot. Give him or her a name! As you create, think about what love means to you. Tell your mom or dad your thoughts and let them tell you what they think about love.
4. Find a nice spot to hang your robot where you can see him or her. May I see? Ask for help and take a picture and add it to the comments. We’d love to meet your new friend.
I love writing and reading and sipping coffee and nibbling dark chocolate.
Did you see the polysyndeton technique I just used?
Notice the ands, instead of commas. Using extended conjunctions in a sentence is polysyndeton. As soon as I read this post. I recognized this literary technique as one I love to employ. Much to the dismay of some of my former critique partners.
I love the way polysyndeton slows the reader down, creates excitement, enhances vocabulary, adds focus, and increases emotions in the text I’m writing. (No polysyndeton in this sentence.)
It’s fun to play with a technique with a fancy name! I’m not even sure how to correctly pronounce polysyndeton, but I can put it to good use.
![Love, Z by [Sima, Jessie]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51aleJEXxDL.jpg)
Love, Laughter, and Life 