This author was born in China in 1932 to missionaries and moved again and again and eventually became a missionary herself, to Japan. In New York City, while attending a seminary, she married a minister and they had two children and adopted two more. Her 1978 book The Great Gilly Hopkins features a tough cookie who goes from one foster home to another and fantasizes about her beautiful "real" mother. The author's 1980 Newbery award winning book Jacob Have I Loved tells of a girl jealous of her twin sister. The writer understands that "children do hurt, do fear, do grieve. We who care for them must take their feelings seriously." This sensitive author is Katherine Paterson.
Deborah Holt Williams' Blog
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for March 18, 2025
Our town has a wonderful independent bookstore, opened by a local couple in October, with a beautiful children's book section. Our city council is considering offering an incentive to a developer wanting to open a Barnes and Noble in a vacant space in our mall. The owners feel this would essentially mean the death of their store. I'm using this week's trivia spot to say NOOOOOOO! And I'll show up at Thursday's city council meeting in support of our independent bookstore, Alpenglow. Support independents!
Friday, March 14, 2025
My Rant Poem
My poetry group gives a weekly prompt, and this week we were to write a poem that is a rant:
My chubby thighs rage,
my derriere rants
as I struggle each morning
to pull on my pants.
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for March 11, 2025
This Polish artist lived through the 1939 Warsaw blitz and moved to Paris, Israel and finally New York City. He had only been speaking English for 4 years when an editor suggested he write a children's book to go with his illustrations. After several failures, he completed his first book in 1963--The Moon in My Room. He went on to write and illustrate numerous books and won the Caldecott medal for his artwork. He feels that too many writers want to create picture books because they love children. He said, "Sentimentality does not replace the craft that is essential in making good children's books. My first obligation is to the book, not to the audience." He died in February of 2025 of influenza and pneumonia at the age of 89. This is Uri Shulevitz.
Monday, February 24, 2025
Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for February 25, 2025
As a child, this American poet, born in 1998, had a speech impediment, so she practiced singing songs with lots of "R" sounds to correct it. As a young adult in 2021, she read her powerful poem "The Hill We Climb" to millions at the inauguration of President Biden. A school in Florida removed the book version of this poem from the children's section of the library, because one parent claimed it was "hate speech" and an attempt to "indoctrinate students." This poet has also written picture books for children, including "Change Sings," "Something, Someday" and "Girls on the Rise." This is Amanda Gorman.
Monday, February 17, 2025
Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for February 18, 2025
This author, daughter of a Viet Nam veteran, attended a Department of Defence school in Germany. So it was personal, and quite a shock, when she learned that her 2007 book about a little red haired girl who learns to accept her freckles is now banned from all Dept. of Defense schools. The reason? The little girl comes to learn that her freckles make her different and that everyone has something different about them, which apparently smacks of diversity and inclusion. The author/actor is Julianne Moore, and her book is called Freckleface Strawberry.
Monday, February 10, 2025
Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for February 11, 2025
This week in February of 1964, four young English men appeared on the Ed Sullivan show watched by millions. One of the "fab four" went on to write a children's book that came out in 2019 called Hey, Grandude about a grandfather who takes his kids on wild adventures with his magic compass. It was followed by a sequel, Grandude's Green Submarine. This is James Paul McCartney.