For Kids

Keeping Track with Personal Reading Records

By on February 14, 2018   /   Book Lists, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, Op-Ed  

I recently caught up with two former students to talk about – of course – reading! One is at a new school, and I still see the other around campus and in the library, though I’m not regularly in the classroom these days.

I heard from their mothers ( both book people, so of course we’re in touch) that Kenzie and Hannah keep reading records for themselves, and I was very curious to see how – or if – they continued on where their library class with me left off some years ago.

I kept a wall behind my desk depicting my own reading life: covers showing books i’d read and those I planned to read. In addition, a couple of my classes chose to track their reading lives on another wall of the library.I love that this particular wall grew out of these readers’ desires to follow their own lives as readers.

In our recent conversations, I started out by asking the girls why they keep track of their reading. Kenzie uses her list/page count system to prove a point to others and to show that she really is as well read as she says she is, and to see how far she has come as a reader. She also uses a list of books she’s read to keep track of where she’s been. I can relate to that. I remember where I was when I dug through Bronte’s Villanelle on summer in high school, and I opened Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the security line at Gatwick Airport. Kenzie also pointed out that she likes bonding with new friends over books they both love.

Hannah uses a journal to remember what a book was about, and to set and keep reading goals. She also finds that she can also track her taste in books.

I asked next how the readers keep track of their reading. Kenzie carries two lists. One is of books to acquire/to read. A book goes on this list when it’s recommended or when she decides to read it.  It gets crossed out when it gets added to her (physical) bookshelf.  A book goes onto the second list when she starts reading it, along with its page count. When she’s completed it, she marks it off.

Hannah makes lists of books she wants to read while she browses the library shelves, then adds them to her journal when she starts reading, with synopses, notes, and a rating system. I asked some other students about keeping track of their reading. Many of them simply try to remember what they read, except for those who are currently using their Humanities teacher’s Reading Bingo to track their reading.

I keep an occasional journal as well, noting books that inspire me in some way. Otherwise, I keep track using Goodreads and my library wishlist. If not for these tools, I would be lost.

Inspired by this conversation, I also asked my colleagues how they track their reading. They use  phone notes apps, Amazon and library wishlists, and Goodreads (many are actually on Goodreads but only a few use it, and those are mostly readers who are members of book clubs).

I asked Kenzie and Hannah how they choose their next read.  Kenzie chooses a book from a genre she’s interested in, then explores titles in that genre. A read-alike in that genre inspires her next read. Sometimes she needs a break from a certain type of book, though, like murder mysteries or books with heavier themes.

Hannah finds her next read by using eeny meeny miney mo, from 3-4 books she chooses from the shelves by turning a few pages, according to her mood, and referring to her list.

Asked how they read,  Hannah reads all in print, and Kenzie reads in print or on her phone if she’s out and about. Hannah has expressed that she is not at all an audio book lover (it is my main way to consume books these days, to be honest).

Finally I asked the girls what they’re reading now.

Favorite Genre:

Hannah: Realistic fiction and historical fiction – she feels that she learns more from them.

Kenzie: Mystery

One unforgettable book:

Kenzie: Under the Egg

Hannah: All the Light We Cannot See

A book to recommend to a parent:

Hannah: The Rhyme Schemer

Kenzie: Everything she thinks is good

Here we are with a few of our favorite books.

It was a blast to ask these questions of students I’ve watched grow from early readers through their middle grade years. It is especially rewarding to celebrate the readers we all are today.

Do you keep personal reading records? Why and how?

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The Unicorn Quest: Some Writing Advice and A Giveaway!

By on February 1, 2018   /   Author Interviews, For Kids, For Librarians, For Teachers, For Writers, Giveaways, Writing  

 

Kamilla Benko spent most of her childhood climbing into wardrobes, trying to step through mirrors, and plotting to run away to an art museum. Now, she visits other worlds as a children’s book editor. Originally from Indiana, she currently lives in New York with her bookshelves, teapot, and hiking boots.


She describes her magical new MG this way:

Claire Martinson still worries about her older sister Sophie, who battled a mysterious illness last year. But things are back to normal as they move into Windermere Manor… until the sisters climb a strange ladder in a fireplace and enter the magical land of Arden. 

There, they find a world in turmoil. The four guilds of magic no longer trust each other. The beloved unicorns have gone, and terrible wraiths roam freely. Scared, the girls return home. But when Sophie vanishes, it will take all of Claire’s courage to climb back up the ladder, find her sister, and uncover the unicorns’ greatest secret.

Kamilla dropped by the MUF to give us a sneak peek into her writing process (spoiler alert: it’s not always easy!)

A fresh page.

A blank expanse with no mistakes, just waiting for your perfect idea to stampede across it, in wild curly cues of insight (or straight backed letters, if you’re typing and not one for cursive.) It’s exciting! It’s exhilarating! And then…

The words don’t come.

My solution had been, for years, to immediately close the blank Word document and go back to watching Downton Abbey with my cat. It was a reasonable enough solution and I learned a lot about the inner workings of a Victorian era high society house, which I’m sure will help me with my writing… some day!

I find myself thinking that the worst part of the blank page is not having no ideas, but having far too many.  It’s imagination in its purest form. And here I am caught with the paradox of choice. It’s the same disorder that causes you to scroll through your Netflix queue for hours at a time wondering why you don’t want to watch a single TV show. It’s because there are thousands of choices and you are suddenly crippled by the choice of having to pick only one (commitment issues, anyone?).

And because this paradox of choice has caused so many smart, talented writers to stop dead in their tracks, I want to share a few ways I worked through the terror of the blank page. These are few tips on how I, for the moment, tackled the infamous conundrum of Writer’s Block while working on my debut novel, The Unicorn Quest.

Tip Number One: Look AWAY!

Don’t turn on Downton Abbey, but do play with your cat. Take a walk, either on the sidewalk or through the mysterious side streets of the internet. Start putting together a Pinterest for each of your projects. Go to a Museum. Get lost on a street you’ve never turned down. Put on some music and go to a park. I’m in New York, so I like to put on some timeless music and wander through Central Park until I can almost forget what year it is. Let yourself be transported by the beauty of what is around you. Make sure to get yourself out of your house or apartment, and find something new.

Tip Number Two: READ!

This should be obvious, but sometimes it’s not. Why would you want to be a writer if you aren’t a voracious reader? I know some authors avoid reading during writing projects, as they are too worried about being influenced by other works. This is not a philosophy I prescribe to. Don’t be a copy cat, obviously, but your brain is unique enough to take in other works and craft your own narratives from those interpretations.

And don’t read just what connects to your book! Read books about politics, history, memoirs. Read about great historical romances and long lost civilizations and explorers discovering new lands – even if you’re writing a contemporary love story set in New York City. I truly believe it is human nature to search for patterns, and your brain will start making new and fascinating connections between disparate sources.

Tip Three: Give yourself permission to FAIL.

I’m going to be upfront with you. You’re going to write a lot of bad stuff. Tons of totally bad, awful, no good writing. And you know who else wrote a lot of bad stuff? J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, probably even William Shakespeare. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received on writing is this: When you first start writing, you will want to quit because your writing won’t be good enough to match your taste. You just have to keep writing until you are good enough to create something you actually like.  

Sometimes, you just need to wade into the blankness of the page and give yourself permission to just be bad. Be cliché and be silly! You’ll find that, magically, gems appear on the page in between. One of the best ways to dive into this is to assign yourself a time to free write. This means writing for 15 minutes straight without ever taking your fingers off the keyboard or lifting your pencil from the page. There’s even an app for this. It lets you set a timer for yourself and if you stop writing, it deletes your previous progress. You have to keep writing! Always remember that things are almost never perfect on the first try.

Thanks, Kamilla! And thanks for offering a free copy of The Unicorn Quest to one lucky winner. To be eligible, please enter a comment below.

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Indie Spotlight: A Children’s Place in Portland Oregon

By on January 31, 2018   /   children's bookstores, For Kids, For Parents, For Teachers, independent bookstores  

Portland is a book lovers town and everyone has their favorites, of course, but the jewel in the crown of children’s bookstores is unquestionably A Children’s Place which was founded only 3 years after the legendary Powells. They are known for their excellent preschool story times, their events large & small celebrating some of the greatest luminaries in the children’s book world, and also many of our local rising stars. But more than anything they are known for the quality and devotion of their staff.

  1. You have been open since 1974. What is your secret to survival? 

Yes, we have been open 44 years. The first owners, Lynn and Jan, owned the shop for 21 years. Since that time, it has been through three other owners and two other locations. We may have many things that contribute to our survival, but it is no secret that our loyal customers are the main reason we stay afloat, year after year.

 

As one of your loyal and happy customers who has been coming to your shop since I was in the 5th grade, I’d just like to say thank you for being there for the reader I was and the reader I have become!

 
  1. Describe the atmosphere you try to create in your shop. What are some special features of  A Children’s Place?

We try to create an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable to hang out for as long as they’d like, and to ask any questions they may have. We have generations who have grown up in our shop, and we know that many of the kids feel that our bookstore is like a second living room! We love hearing the clatter of wooden toys on our stage in the back corner, or to see a  bigger kid snuggled up in the big stuffed panda’s lap, completely absorbed in a book. The preschools in the area join us for story time every Thursday morning, and we also try to get middle grade readers in for special events whenever possible.

 

You have the most awesome book corner/ event space. I adore this mural it is absolutely the best thing about your new store.

 
 
  1. A Children’s Place has recently moved into a smaller space, so your books must be carefully curated. How do you decide what books and related items to carry?

It is always tricky to order books, but you are correct that it is even more difficult now that we are in a smaller space! We have always wished that we could have a crystal ball, the same as all of the other book buyers out there. Now that we are smaller, even if we don’t get our orders exactly right, we just have to be extra efficient about returning our stock that isn’t selling. When it comes to restocking orders, we try to send smaller orders more often now, instead of larger orders less often. This seems to help. And when it comes to new books, we still rely on the expert advice from our publisher sales reps to direct us to the books that will be the best fit for us.

 

  1. As middle-grade authors, we’re curious to know what titles, new or old, fiction or nonfiction, you find yourself recommending most often to readers ages 8-12?      

It’s tough to say which books we recommend the most, as that number is not small. I would say that all of us love to direct people to the Oregon Battle of the Books shelf, since the books on those lists are fantastic, and always our bestsellers every year. The Oregon Readers Choice Award list is also a wonderful selection.

Thank goodness for the hard working school librarians who sponsor the Oregon Readers Choice Awards which has my favorite acronym ever–the ORCAs! And don’t even get me started on the fabulousness of the Oregon Battle of the Books.

Some of our current staff new and old favorites include: Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle, by Janet Fox, Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage, Beyond the Bright Sea, by Lauren Wolk, Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill, Raymie Nightingale, by Kate DiCamillo, Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko, Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz, and Titanic: Voices From the Disaster, by Deborah Hopkinson. Of course, we could go on and on with titles, but if people need more recommendations, they can come into the bookstore, and we’ll pull out tall stacks of our favorites for them to peruse.  Each staff member even has her own “picks” shelf.

5.Do you have any activities coming up that would be of special interest to middle-graders?

Unfortunately, we don’t have any middle grade authors on the calendar at the moment. I’m sure that will be rectified soon. Sometimes we set up middle grade authors to go to schools, since that gives them an automatic large audience. We do have a couple of graphic novel authors going to schools soon. Middle grade and young adult readers are not as easy to lure to the bookstore for events, but we have found that sometimes it works really well to have multi-author events, so we will be looking to do another of those as soon as we can arrange it!

6. If a family is visiting A Children’s Place from out of town, would there be family-friendly places near your shop where they could get a snack or meal after shopping? And if they could stay longer, are there some unique family activities or sights they shouldn’t miss?

We are across the street from a sweet little cafe called Caffe Destino. There are a number of other cute family-friendly restaurants on that same street. Irving Park is just down the street from the store as well. Right up the hill, still on Fremont, there are many fun things to do near our old location. Pip’s has become a destination. Who doesn’t love doughnuts?

Thank you Pam and Kira of A Children’s Place. If you are ever in Portland give them a visit! You can find them at
1423 NE Fremont St.
Portland, OR 97212, USA
And if you want to order a book you can reach them at (503) 284-8294

 

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