Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover


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The Right Word – Roget and His Thesaurus ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

The Right Word – Roget and His Thesaurus

By Jen Bryant

Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

(Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2014)

Fantastic illustrations reminiscent of vintage nature journals fill the pages of this wonderful book.

Meet Roget and discover his love of list making. After losing his father at a young age, Roget began his lists with his father’s death. Moving often did not allow Roget to make and keep friends, but books made great friends and he didn’t have to leave them behind. Making lists kept Roget’s world in order. Organized word lists helped those searching for just the right word.

The Right Word – Roget and His Thesaurus is the perfect book to engage young readers in the study of words.

KID KANDY:

Make a List

1. Grab a notebook or pad of paper.

2. Think of a theme for your list of words. Some ideas are animals, food, places, sports, school, or toys.

3. Make a list of all things that relate to your theme. You can include how they sound, look, smell, taste, or feel. Think of words that mean the same thing as words you list.

4. Stuck? Ask for help looking up your word in a thesaurus. You will find word lists that could have possibly originated back when Roget was making his lists. How cool is that?

I love making lists. It helps me organize my to-do’s and helps me remember what needs attention. Making grocery lists seems to take up most of my time. Maybe you can help your parents make their shopping list!

P.S. This is the perfect way to add chocolate or ice cream to the grocery list.


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Tornado Choices

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

SO many events and changes going on in our lives right now, I’m having a difficult time choosing what to share. Let me just be honest and tell you that I’ve been avoiding posting just because of the vast plethora of options.

There. Got that off my chest.

It may take me months to fill you in. Or just a day. Let’s see, shall we?

Life in Quantrell Land has been tornado-like in the sense that every day has been consumed with a whirlwind of activities, decisions, stressors, excitement, responsibilities, and cat fur. Truly. At times, we just had to grab something – anything – and hang on!

But it’s ALL good.

Because now, we are living in the RV full-time with 2 insane cats. Which if you want some more truth, makes us the insane ones. 2 shedding, clawing, racing, sneaking, messy, loving, snuggly kitties. In. A. Small. RV.

This classifies as an adventure for sure. I kid you not.

When folks used to show up late for church spouting, “The cows (dog, birds, chickens, pigs, horse) got out and we had to chase them down,” I would nod in agreement. But now I REALLY understand the stress and anxiety produced by such an event!

MONET, the sneak, wants out. Not just a little want, but an all-consuming desire of wanting out. Of the RV. The problem is Tiger, who is resident cat on the property. Tiger is very territorial and has been seen chasing off and beating up other cats. She’s a sweetheart to adult people, but not other cats. So we don’t want the girls out unless we can protect them from each other.

MONET, who cares she thinks. I want out. So she watches the door and our feet and if the door is open, ZIP, there she goes. Oh, the anxiety and interesting language on our part! She is having a great time, but we are watching for the arrival of Tiger and trying to lure the naughty girl back in…

Last Sunday, to connect you to what I was sharing, she did it again. Kevin was being nice to the moth and trying to get it out (before MONET, the best moth-catcher west of the Mississippi, ate it). MONET saw the open door – a mere 3-4 inches – and zip, she was out.

Church day. Big luncheon to prepare. Stuff to take (we still forgot the meat and cheese). A wonderful guest speaker to hear. Responbililty to get there first to unlock the building. And we had a loose cat.

I understand, all of you chasing-of-escapees people! Arrrggghhhh!

We won. This time. Even made it on time (except the meat and cheese, which had to arrive with our son).

So goes our tornado lifestyle. Adventures around every corner and open RV door.

By the way, RV doors are difficult even when not dodging the cat. Narrow, steep, metal shaking steps. I cringe just waiting for one of us to biff the landing and go sprawling face down in the gravel.

But for now, we are good. It’s ALL good.

Because He is good.


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Publishing Contest: First Edition Children’s Book Contest, $1000 Advance and Publication

I’ve found a fantastic publishing contest for anyone who has ever dreamt of writing a children’s book. Southwest Human Development, a lovely nonprofit based in Arizona that focuses on e…

Source: Publishing Contest: First Edition Children’s Book Contest, $1000 Advance and Publication

 

Hey, writers for children! Here is a great opportunity!


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Happy to See This!

Happy to see this new article, Into the World, in Missions Mosaic.

It has been a whirlwind summer!

Selling our home, moving into an RV, fixing the RV set-up, sorting belongings, giving away stuff, acclimatizing the kitties to living in said RV, learning how to cook in an RV, . . .

The list is much longer, but just that much lets you know why I have been lost in cyberspace.

On to fall. The dust is settling, and in just a few more days, we will have only 1 home to care for.

Writing is back on the menu, boys! (Can you name that movie reference? Comment below!)

Into the World

Here is something I’m happy to see, rewards from past labors. I love this magazine, Missions Mosaic, and am honored to write for Woman’s Missionary Union in several different areas.

You might want to check them out here.

Missions Mosaic

Happy reading!

Back to the chaos.


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The Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books of 2016

Source: The Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books of 2016

This is an interesting list! I’ve only read one of these titles and it was truly unconventional yet wonderful.


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Non-Fiction of Olympic Proportions (plus a prize!)

by Karlin Gray What do I know about writing nonfiction picture books? After my book NADIA: THE GIRL WHO COULDN’T SIT STILL was published, someone said to me, “Great timing with the 40th…

Source: Non-Fiction of Olympic Proportions (plus a prize!)

I can’t wait to read this book! I was one of those girls who loved Nadia and watched her on TV during the Olympics. Thanks for the great NF strategies for writing.


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Does Your Story Need a Heart Transplant? by @BonnieAdamson and #GIVEAWAY

Three case histories Sometimes I have what I think is a great idea for a story. I plot it out, polish the text, start thumbnailing scenes and begin working on character design. And then I hit a wal…

Source: Does Your Story Need a Heart Transplant? by @BonnieAdamson and #GIVEAWAY

These case histories give very good examples and tips of how to fix  stories. Thanks, Bonnie!


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Early Pumpkin Harvest

Safe and gorgeous

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

I harvested 8 pumpkins this morning.

It’s August.

Harvesting pumpkins in August just does not sound right. Especially when it will be around 90 later this afternoon.

Not right at all.

Extenuating circumstances encouraged me to wade deep in the bristly pumpkin patch and knee high grass to grasp my favorite orange fall buddies. Er, I mean, signs of the season. Sure, I talk to my pumpkins. And those dratted slugs and squash bugs. I do admit to speaking kindly to my pumpkin pals. Not so much with the vermin.

Doesn’t everyone talk to their plants and garden inhabitants? No? Hmmm.

Slugs. They were eating HOLES in my pumpkins! I rolled one large pumpkin over and a huge spotted slug, probably 3-4 inches long when stretched out, was coiled comfortably in the blossom end hollow. UGH. Tiny little slime booger slugs were creeping all over as well.

Odd. Spring. Weather. We had the weirdest spring. That is all I can blame on the extremely early crops. It was very warm, very hot, and then very cold. Plants in my area don’t know what to do. Except grow.

Squash bugs. I’ve been so busy packing up the house, I missed recognizing the sign of yellowed leaves that indicated I had extra special garden pest visitors. Why, those hungry little insects have moved right in!

Orange. These pumpkin babies were colorful and ready to visit my porch.

Snip, snip, tug, and off we went away from hungry mouths to the safety of shade and protection.

Fall (in August) here we come!

How is your garden growing this year?


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Listening to Your Characters by @mimicross and #GIVEAWAY

“She’s gonna listen to her heart It’s gonna tell her what to do.” — Tom Petty And it’s going to tell you, the writer, what to do. Listening to your main character’s heart—is going to te…

Source: Listening to Your Characters by @mimicross and #GIVEAWAY

Listening to your characters will allow you to give them heart. That’s what I forget to do! LISTEN. Thanks, Mimi.


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Writing with Heart and Soul by Kelly Starling Lyons

Before I became a children’s book author, I wrote newspaper and magazine articles. I looked forward to feedback from editors that would help my stories shine. But one day, I received a note that ma…

Source: Writing with Heart and Soul by Kelly Starling Lyons

Thanks for sharing these tips, Kelly!