Two weeks ago, I featured a picture book with a parallel structure. This week's picture book also features a parallel structure with two timelines, one that moves forward in current day, and one that moves forward in the past. Text ©Anne Wynter Illus. ©Daniel Miyares Before a grip on a branch and a fall to … Continue reading Nell Plants a Tree – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Sometimes I review books because I'm struck by their beauty, their language, or their humor. Other times I review a book because it's an important issue or an exploration of a topic that isn't often seen in picture book form. This is one of those books. But it is also beautifully illustrated and written. The … Continue reading The Big Bad Wolf in My House – Perfect Picture Book Friday
So while I'm frantically revising picture book manuscripts to take to Highlights Summer Camp, Listen To Your Mother released the 2016 videos from shows in 41 cities. As promised, here's my piece in the San Francisco Show! It was a privilege and an honor to be on stage with such amazing women. Cheers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s145rabK20
I hadn't planned on going to my niece's wedding. She was getting married in Orlando last week and had planned a large party/reception for friends and family in Illinois in early July. In honor of her grandparents (my parents) who had been married 65 years, she had decided to get married on their wedding anniversary, … Continue reading Summer Life Saving
I've written about my son, the reluctant writer, in a few other posts: Writing as Calculus, Open Mic Fright, Celebrate Illustrators! And now that he's in 4th grade, the pressure is on to produce even more. So when he came home with an assignment to write a newspaper article, using the "Who, What, Where, When, Why, and … Continue reading Writing, Executive Function, and Deep Breathing
Thinking about writing—and my son. In a recent parent-teacher conference, one of his teachers suggested that my son is a perfectionist, and that’s why he’s so reticent to put words on the page. She told me how she sat down with him one day to brainstorm ideas. As they came up with idea after idea, … Continue reading Writing as Calculus
I confess, I have a son who would rather eat peas than write a solitary paragraph for school. It doesn’t matter whether it’s about his favorite book, what he did over summer break, or some fantabulous story (that he’d love to tell you about, instead). At the beginning of second grade when his class first … Continue reading The Writing Lesson
Jilanne Hoffmann 