What do sketches, photos, magazine images, newspaper pictures, and art supplies have in common? ALL of them can be used to create story ideas!
This is a great idea for dreaming up picture book characters, settings, props, and storylines. Way to go, Mike! Thank you!
Grabbing my scissors, pencils, and paper to get my imagination pumped up…
via STORYSTORM 2018 Day 3: Let’s Get Visual with Mike Ciccotello
Thanks, Tara! Storystorm is going great!
Day 2 of Storystorm features Tammi Sauer, who shares how she uses songs and chants to come up with new ideas for picture books. You might recognize the title from her new book, BUT THE BEAR CAME BACK (book birthday in April), which originated from “But the Cat Came Back,” a song she heard on the radio. I can’t wait to read this picture book.
Any song or chant can spark an idea. So let’s get to it. Dig out those old songs you used to sing as a child (or to your child or with your students). I can’t wait!
via STORYSTORM 2018 Day 2: Tammi Sauer Chants and Sings
Congratulations, Tammi!
Thanks, Tara, for Storystorm!
Today begins the first day of Storystorm! January is a month for new beginnings. That includes brainstorming ideas and making lists for future writing projects: picture books, chapter books, poems, early readers, blog posts…
Let’s do this, my friends. Follow the link below to read the post of the day. Be sure to sign up and comment to be entered to win writerly prizes. 🙂
Ready, set, go! First idea. Check.
Children’s author Julie Hedlund, challenged participants of her 12 Days of Christmas for Writers series to post SUCCESSES (rather than resolutions) on our blogs this year. She believes the way New Year’s resolutions are traditionally made come from a place of negativity – what DIDN’T get done or achieved in the previous year. Instead, she suggests we set goals for the New Year that BUILD on our achievements from the previous one. I decided to participate in this Anti-Resolution Revolution! Here is my list for 2017.
My 2017 writing successes:
You can learn more about the 12 Days of Christmas for Writers here.
What is STORYSTORM?
31 days of inspiring posts to help writers brainstorm story ideas. Picture book ideas will be my main focus, but I bet many others end up with ideas for poems, chapter books, articles, stories, blog posts, and all sorts of other writing projects. STORYSTORM is worth every second!
Let the STORYSTORM rage on!
A great big thanks to Tara Lazar for all of the hard work, planning, and organizing for us! You can find her at here..
via Smorgasbord Christmas Laughter Academy – Time to get the party started.
Here are some Christmas funnies from the blog of Sally Cronin. Some people are just so creative and humorous! Thanks for sharing with us, Sally.
Maybe laughing will burn off some of those extra Christmas calories?
Mary and Joseph were pleased that Jesus had been born but nervous about the waiting crowds.
An angel, wearing pink socks and blue wings, was happy to eat fruit snacks before donning one snow boot to wear while dancing up the aisle.
One of two shepherds sported adorable glasses while keeping watch over his tiny flock of one.
The other one of two shepherds was having none of this mess.
From our Christmas story to yours, Merry Christmas!
Peace and joy to you this day and on into 2018.
My stamping buddy (aka college roommate and friend of many many years) and I were recently trying to figure out how long we’ve been stamping. We sort of came down to the correct decade and several-year span, but we couldn’t quite pin it down. Suffice to say stamping has been a part of my life for most of my life.
This hobby has become a habit. A tradition. A much anticipated gathering.
Actually, another college roommate joins us or we join her to feed our habit. Maybe being a college roommate is a prerequisite? LOL. No. We have other college buddies and friends that join crafting days or at least tolerate our obsession by bringing their own crafts or visiting with us while we crazily create.
I think it’s the creation part that is addicting. Playing with stamps, papers, inks, glitter (always glitter!), and stuff is exhilarating!
And just look! The benefits involve large stashes of beautiful cards, fit for any occasion.
Let’s hear it for the college buddies, friends, stampers, and crafters!
P.S. A recent stamping trip netted an addition of 45 lovely cards. Coming your way . . .
Applesauce Day
By Lisa Amstutz
Pictures by Tabitha Shipman
Albert Whitman & Company, 2017
I love Applesauce Day!
Fall is my favorite time of year, when the apples, pumpkins, squash, and other great produce is harvested. I can’t wait to sink my greedy fingers into a box of apples or a trunk-load of pumpkins.
Applesauce Day takes me right into autumn. I can just imagine the fun and tradition of gathering with family to make large amounts of applesauce. What tastes better than homemade applesauce? Nothing! Ok, maybe homemade pumpkin pie or apple cake or pear tartes or . . .
This lovely picture book tells the tale of a family traveling from the big city to the orchards to pick apples and then to grandma’s house to put those apples to good use. What’s special about Applesauce Day is the family heirloom – the applesauce cooking pot. Family traditions and passed-down items are a passion of mine, so I immediately bonded with this tale.
I found Applesauce Day to be well written and beautifully illustrated. Flashbacks! I don’t know that I’ve seen other picture books with flashbacks, but the ones in this book are adorable.
Even though apple season is at an end, boxes of apples are still available. Go ahead. You know you want to read this book and make applesauce. Just imagine the scent of warm apples and cinnamon wafting through your home. See? I can smell it from here.
KID KANDY
Make Crock-Pot Applesauce
Ingredients:
apples, cinnamon, water
Directions:
1. Wash, peel, and core apples. Slice into wedges.
2. Put apples in Crock-Pot. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. Add about 1/4 cup water.
3. Cover Crock-Pot with lid. Turn heat to high and let it simmer. Occasionally stir and check apples for tenderness.
4. When apples are soft and mushy, use a potato masher to mash the apples into sauce. I love chunks, so I don’t strain it.
5. Eat warm! Cool and put the rest in the fridge. Or freeze individual containers for later.
I love making Crock-Pot Applesauce with my students every fall. Everyone brings 2 apples, no matter what variety, and we put them all together to cook. By the end of the day, everyone in the school wants what’s bubbling in our room!
I’d love to hear (and smell and taste) how your applesauce turns out!
It’s been a rough year for my family, so we decided to switch things up. This year, we went off the charts for Thanksgiving.
We chose to:
-travel to the beach (off-season is awesome)
-cook our own little turkey breast
-decorate for Christmas
-begin our annual Christmas movie countdown
What really happened:
-beach plans were cancelled due to health issues
-went on a drive to the mountains to collect pine cones for art projects
-soaked by pounding rain
-did a little off-roading to travel up a steep, rocky, bumpy, muddy path
-met a wolf
-the wolf turned into a Husky, lost VERY far from civilization
-he loved us. And jumped eagerly into the pickup
-had to figure out what to do with a huge lost dog (wearing a collar, but no tags)
-Did you know everything is closed (pretty much) on Thanksgiving? Unless you are shopping.
-which was good, since we needed dog food
-by the time we got home, it was very late when our little turkey breast went in the oven
-spent all afternoon taking photos, hanging out, searching for lost dogs, and contacting friends and social media groups in efforts to find this handsome boy his family
-nowhere to keep a large, very large dog in the RV
-our daugther and family took Mr. Handsome home to sleep
-Mr. Sweetie (SO good with kids, pets, noises, crowds) hunkered down in exhaustion
-turkey dinner became our traditional leftovers meal: turkey, cranberry sauce, cream cheese, sliced red onion sandwich (I had a salad)
-actually had a six-course meal. That’s what I told Kevin as we ate and drank different courses while waiting for the turkey to get done
-nearly sugar-free crustless pumpkin pie is delicious!
-decorated the RV. Put up our tree in less than 5 minutes. Done.
-put up the outdoor tree. Less than 5 minutes. Done.
-finished the Harry Potter movie marathon. Next, Christmas.
Our day was totally nontraditional. But we liked it.
Who knows? Next year we might go back for pinecones.
Or another lost dog.
P.S. More about our Mr. Handsome later.
Love, Laughter, and Life 