Friendly Little Book Exchange

How cute is this?

What a great idea. A friendly little neighborhood book exchange. I have a list of e-books yet to read but, how could I resist this home's invitation? Plus, I couldn't help wondering what my neighbors have read.

Murder Mysteries, books on gardening, sailing, and sprinkled in a few books for kids. Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt, called out, "Read me again, you loved me the first time." True, I did.

Instead, I chose, Tough Cookie, by Diane Mott Davidson. It was time for something new. Murder Mysteries are a genre I typically do not read. Correction, I never read. But then, I typically do not pull books out of cute little houses. How horrific could a cookie murder be? What the heck.

Have you ever come across one of these book exchanges? For more information and to start a book exchange check out:
LittleFreeLibary.org

The Little Match Girl - Remembering a Childhood Favorite

Hans Christian Andersen’s short story, The Little Match Girl, was a favorite of mine. This story haunted me. How sad this story was to me. In my world kids did not work outside of the normal house chores. Yet, this poor unnamed girl was made to sell matchsticks in the freezing cold.
I’d wondered, did this really happen? Was this based on a true story? And how could this happen? How could her parents send her out in the snowing weather? How could people in the story just ignore a starving, cold girl?

Hungry and shivering, she went along, poor little thing, a picture of misery.

And if I wasn’t sad enough, in this passage I’m reminded there was only one person in the entire world that cared for this little girl:

“Now, someone is dying,” said the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only person who had ever been good to her, and who was now dead, had said that when a star falls a soul goes up to heaven.

I had read many different versions of The Little Mermaid. Perhaps, there would be another happier version of The Little Match Girl. I sought out this disneyesque version, searching every collection of H.C. Andersen. I never found it. The story always ended the same:

But in the corner by the houses, in the cold dawn, the little girl was still sitting, with red cheeks and a smile upon her lips – frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. The new year’s sun shone on the little body. The child sat up stiffly, holding her matches, of which a box had been burned. “She must have tried to warm her-self,” someone said. No one knew what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she had entered with her grandmother on the joyous new year.

Re-reading this as an adult, I am reminded that in many countries children are selling on the streets so that they might have a bit to eat. In this country there are many children without homes and without enough to eat. The story continues to haunt me. What can I do so a poor child does not die on the streets? Perhaps, by answering this question, I will find my happier ending.
****
For more January 2012 Books That Made Me Love Reading Click HERE

2012 Books That Made Me Love Reading - Challenge

I’ve signed up for a fun reading challenge!

Re-read and review one book a month from your youth. Any treasured book that fostered a love for reading.

Like many kids, my first love was Dr. Seuss. Green, Eggs, and Ham was a favorite Dr. Seuss book in my house. One day, my brother, sister and I pondered what we could eat that was green. My father offered to make us green spaghetti. We cheered with delight. While we anxiously waited for our green spaghetti my mother left to get her own dinner at Taco Bell. With a sly smile, not unlike the Grinch, my father served us our dinner. To our horror and disgust it was nothing more than pureed green peas and pasta!

But I digress…

On to the world of Hans Christian Andersen, I read the original stories and all the adaptations available to me.  Though, in my child’s mind, I did wonder why an author would do an adaptation and not come up with his or her own story? It felt a bit like cheating. Yet, I loved reading and re-reading every version I came across.

Reading these stories in my room or in my favorite oak tree I was transported into magical realms.

From the imaginative worlds of Hans Christian Andersen, I embarked into real life tales such as the survival story of an American Indian girl named Karana, in Scott O’Dell’s, Island of the Blue Dolphins. I remember reluctantly putting this book down when my mother called me to dinner.

In Junior High, I plucked from my parent’s shelf, Nicholas and Alexandra, the tragic true tale of the last Tsar of Russia and his family, by Robert K. Massie. Like most young girls my age I wondered and hoped Anastasia had escaped with her life. To this day, I like to imagine that she did.

Now, off I go to select my first book. It may be one of the ones mentioned here or another one all together. So many books to chose from, so many memories. What were some of your favorite childhood books? Feel like going down memory lane and joining the challenge? Click here: 2012 Books That Made Me Love Reading Challenge 

WARAMBI TELLS TWO STORIES

WARAMBI TELLS TWO STORIES

The Spine and Guts of the Story

 When I start to write a story I have a character and scene in mind and allow the story to unfold.

In a writing workshop, my instructor asks, “What is the ‘Spine’ of your story?” At first, I’m not quite certain what she is asking. Is ‘Spine’ theme?  Is it motivation?  Is it voice? Oh no, I worry, do I even have a story to tell?

 My ah-ha moment – I struggled with the question because I didn’t know my story well enough. Not what happens next, but the guts of the story. And by knowing the guts, I’ve got more to work with, more scenes coming forward.  Though I may write as a story unfolds; there is much work and planning, checking to see that all elements are stitched to the ‘Spine.’ If it can’t be stitched it’s got to go. 

Rest in Peace- 5/1/2004-5/29/2010

May 29th, my computer died.

Of course, one week after starting a blog! Through the years that poor laptop had taken a few falls. Couples times from my klutziness, but the final fall happened when my dog got tied up in the cord while chasing his cat friend.

Computer-less for a couple of months, I took to pen and paper. I used to love to write with a mechanical pencil, so I tried that too. I hate writing with pencils you have to sharpen. They always feel scratchy, and I hate when writing gets smudgy and thick from beaten down lead.

There’s something about writing by hand; a special journal for inspiration, cool new Post-its to use, the pen that glides just right across the page. My favorite pens have animals atop of them. It’s just me, my animal pens, dog and cat, crafty a story... it takes a village.

I now have my new laptop, equipped with a breakaway power cord.  I’ve started typing in my handwritten pages. I love the soft clicking sound of the keyboard. I love the backspace key and spell check.  Merriam-Webster online is pretty cool too.

Yep, the laptop is my preferred writing tool. And then, my flamingo pen.

What’s yours?

My Next Project

I now begin work on, Cecilia and the Yucky Muckys. It’s a middle grade novel. The idea for this originally began as a Picture Book about a little girl that planted toy items covered with chocolate syrup and candy bits. She then waited to see what would grow. The boys living next door taunted her for being so ridiculously silly. But when candy in the shapes of the toys bloomed, Cecilia had a tea party and invited the boys and her friends to eat the yummy candies. 

Though the story made me slightly nauseous, I took it to my then writer’s group. The reception was lukewarm which, for them, meant... the story sucked. I then asked my sister to read it. She flat out told me the story sucked.  Not to be daunted, I got back to work.

There was just one problem. The story was syrupy sweet. It made me sick inside. The story sucked. Lesson learned; listen to your critique group, your sister and mostly, trust your gut.

On the upside, when I let go the fantasy, sticky-icky candy elements, another story came forward. Last year I got out, in no particular order, about 4 chapters in rough for Cecilia and the Yucky Muckys. After a break, (breaks consist of working on other projects and some day dreaming about Cecilia’s story), I’m ready to get back to it. Today I begin with what I believe to be Chapter One of what I believe to be a Middle Grade Novel. My target is to have this completed by end of October. I hope when I’m done, I don’t realize it really should be a Picture Book.

I LOVE PICTURE BOOKS!

My first love. Picture Books.  When I go to a bookstore with the intent to read picture books, I go alone ‘cause I’m likely to get lost in a pile of brand new PB’s. After a couple of hours I might then torment myself trying to decide which PB to purchase and take home with me.

Do I go with a Skippyjon Jones, story of a spunky imaginative Siamese kitten that makes me laugh and reminds me of my late Siamese-Tabby, Tiffany. I had always wanted to write a PB with Tiffany as my muse. Perhaps, I still will. Any whooo… I just love this story. The illustrations also by the author, Judy Schachner, are incredible. Holy Gucaomole! So much fun!

Or there’s The Elephant Wish by Lou Berger and Illustrated by one of my favorites Ana Juan. Wistful and imaginative, and ever so slightly haunting.  Just my kind of story.

I could go on and on…

Picture books - Illustrations and words beautifully coming together to tell a story, evoking emotion and thought.
I love spending time with a great picture book.

How about you?
Oh, and as to which book I took home? Both, of course.