jama rattigan's alphabet soup

alphabet soup has moved to wordpress!

2011-08-04T13:40:25Z

Hi Everyone,

We are celebrating alphabet soup's 4th birthday by moving to Wordpress.

For a number of reasons, not the least of which are LJ's ongoing technical problems and vulnerability to hacker attacks, we felt it was time for a change and a fresh start.

Please stop by to say hello so I know you've found us, bookmark the site, update your blog rolls and/or add Jama's Alphabet Soup to your readers. We promise more of our usual mischief and look forward to having you join us at the table often.

For those of you on LiveJournal, I've created a feed so you can view my posts on your Friends Page: alphasoup2 .

Thanks for your continuing support!

*The new blog's URL is jamarattigan (dot) com -- easy to remember, easy to find!

summer blog break

2011-06-29T13:57:37Z

The sun is shining, a nice breeze is blowing, and ~~Colin Firth~~ summer fun is calling!

Going to take some time off from regular posting for a few weeks to pursue some new foodie adventures, tackle my just-for-fun TBR pile, and do a little blog housekeeping. I want to get all my letters in a row, since I always feel so much better when my kitchen is spit spot!

Meanwhile, I wish you many happy summer days, whether you're on vacation or staycation. Ahhhhh -- time for barbecue, fruit smoothies, potato salad, and corn on the cob. Enjoy these long, lazy days, have a spectacular Fourth of July weekend, and I'll see you in August!

**Dorothy Whidden illustrations from The Alphabet That Was Good to Eat written by Louise Price Bell (Harter Publishing, 1932). (Crossett Library Bennington College flickr photostream.)

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

chatting with poetry man lee bennett hopkins

2011-06-28T12:43:38Z

Roll out the purple carpet, pass the poetry and the pizza: the one and only Lee Bennett Hopkins is here!

For years and years, I'd see the name "Lee Bennett Hopkins" on dozens and dozens of book covers as poet, author and anthologist, but never once imagined one day I'd have the pleasure of welcoming him to my blog. No one, in the history of children's literature, has compiled more poetry anthologies than he has (100+ to date), and I'm certain most everyone -- whether poet, author, educator, librarian, editor, publisher or reader -- agrees that no one else has done as much to nurture, support and promote children's poetry with such full-hearted enthusiasm and tenacity.

He's won numerous awards and honors as author and anthologist, such as the Christopher Award, Golden Kite Honor, and NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, and has established two awards: the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and the Lee Bennett Hopkins/IRA Promising Poet Award.

TheCookingPhotographer/flickr

But apart from his long list of accomplishments and accolades, he's also someone who likes the color purple and a good pizza, and who, in his heart of hearts, truly believes that poetry is absolutely essential for all children, both at home and in the classroom. Bring books and children together, and teach them to love reading. I'm so honored to have Lee visit alphabet soup to tell us a little about the art of compiling anthologies and to share a few tidbits about the three books he's published so far this year:

I Am the Book (Holiday House, 2011), a collection of 13 exuberant poems celebrating the magic of reading with whimsical illustrations by Colombian artist Yayo,

Dizzy Dinosaurs: Silly Dino Poems (HarperCollins, 2011), 19 humorous poems selected especially for the beginning reader with vibrant cartoony illustrations by Barry Gott, and

Hear My Prayer (Zonderkidz, 2011), a selection of 13 simple verses on a variety of universal themes with illustrations by Gigi Moore.

Help yourself to a slice of pizza and enjoy my chat with Lee!

Jama: In previous interviews, you’ve stated that when creating an anthology, you begin with a theme and then select appropriate poems (some newly commissioned, some previously published). Which part of the overall process do you enjoy the most and why?

Lee: I enjoy both, actually. It is always refreshing to go back and read the masters; I’ve reread, for example, the works of Sandburg and Hughes a zillion times. I also love working with contemporary poets, some of whom have never been published before. It gives writers a chance to be heard. Many times their work is reprinted in a variety of ways. It gives me great pleasure to launch new talent.

Jama: What are three things the average person might not know about the art of compiling anthologies, aside from the obvious challenge of accruing an adequate number of high quality poems to fit a theme?

Lee:

1. It is the responsibility of the anthologist to clear and pay for all permissions. Sometimes permissions can take months to clear.

2. Permissions can run quite high. A book of 14 poems might easily cost $6,000.00 in permission fees.

AMERICA AT WAR and SHARING THE SEASONS ran close to $10,000. Publishers sometimes will provide a specific budget; if you go beyond the stated budget it is deducted from any royalties.

3. It is up to the editor to choose the illustrator. Often I have not seen artwork until the book is in galleys.

Jama: What makes a good anthology?

Lee: A good anthology should have an arc. Most of my collections have a beginning, middle, and end so that readers feel they are completing a whole story.

Jama: You’ve said that poetry anthologies are an endangered species. Recently, Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong compiled the first e-anthology, PoetryTagTime, which includes one of your poems. As it becomes more and more difficult to publish poetry via the traditional route, are you/will you be publishing your own e-anthologies? Do you think it is a good medium for poetry (advantages and disadvantages)?

Lee: It is up to publishers to get involved with e-books. Some of my collections are available on e-books. I am not particularly fond of new technology as it relates to poetry. Format, like line breaks, are very important in a poem.

Jama: Did you have any say in selecting the illustrator for I Am the Book (had to ask because I LOVE the art for this book!)?

Lee: Again, it is the editor who makes the final selection for artwork for any book. I feel Yayo did an extraordinary job with his whimsical interpretations of each poem. A hidden delight is to have children find out where the book appears in each illustration.

Jama: Best and most challenging aspects of this particular project?

Lee: I worked with writers on many pieces that were never published before. I AM THE BOOK was a delight to do. There was little challenge creating this delight.

Jama: Is it more difficult selecting poems for the beginning reader?

Lee: Yes, definitely. I CAN READ BOOKS (HarperCollins) have a VERY strict formula. No poem can be longer than 13 lines including the title; no line can have more than 36 characters, including spaces and punctuation marks. I began the I CAN READ POETRY series back in 1984 with SURPRISES, which is still in print. It was an idea I had. I approached my wondrous editor, Charlotte Zolotow, with the concept; she immediately went with it. Charlotte was one of the best editors I ever worked with. I miss her very much.

Jama: Your favorite dinosaur?

Lee: The Apotosaurus, once called Brontosaurus, a gentle, giant plant eater.

Jama: Please tell us about HEAR MY PRAYER.

Lee: HEAR MY PRAYER follows children from morning to night. The prayers are about friendship, communicating with nature, being appreciative of friends and family. I put this collection together for my Godchild, Alexis Maria Garcia.

Jama: Any upcoming publications or new projects you’d like to mention?

Lee: A wondrous departure for me is a picture book, FULL MOON AND STAR just published with Abrams. It is about two friends, Kyle and Katie, who write plays about the universe. I happily was teamed with Marcellus Hall, who did the artwork for my book of poetry, CITY I LOVE, one of my personal favorites. I’m truly over the moon over FULL MOON…”.



And I can't wait to see it! Thanks so much, Lee, loved having you here today (still pinching myself)! ☺

Wanted to mention that FULL MOON AND STAR's official release date is not until August 1, 2011, but it's available for pre-order through major booksellers.

Here are a few of my favorite Lee books:



MORE!

♥ Lee Bennett Hopkins Official Website.

♥ Lee's essay, "Children and Prayer," at the Huffington Post. Includes samples from HEAR MY PRAYER.

♥ Click here for the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Teaching Toolbox.

♥ Poetry Makers interview at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

♥ Interesting and informative posts about Lee at Wild Rose Reader.

♥ Something to nosh on before you go: a sample poem from I AM THE BOOK:

BOOK
by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Buried in blankets
Book in my bed
Snuggled in story
By heart
In my head
I wallow in words
Chapter One
Till The End.

Closing the cover
I sigh --

Goodbye, friend.

Copyright © 2011 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

six happy things on a monday

2011-06-27T11:13:13Z

1. It's always a good day when you have pancakes for breakfast (and lunch, and dinner) ☺. My pancakes of choice remain Orangette's Oatmeal Pancakes, a recipe she adapted from the pancakes served at the Inn at Fordhook Farm in Pennsylvania. Since I first mentioned Molly's oatmeal pancakes here, we've made them at least six times, and it's become our favorite breakfast to serve houseguests. We haven't mashed in any blueberries yet; they're delicious without them. And as Molly says, they are great the next day and the next . . . they freeze well, too.

2. Do you remember when Kevin Slattery declared May, Bob Dylan Month? And he ran his "Three for Free Giveaway" with copies of Ain't Gonna Hang No Pixel (his first Picture Book for Big Kids) as the prize? Eeeeee! I was one of the winners!

This 16-page pop phenomenon parody, inspired by Dylan's infamous decision to go electric in 1965, offers a tantalizing cross-section of Kevin's unique digital art. Movers and shakers Billie Holiday, Edgar Allan Poe, Paul McCartney (*swoon*), Marilyn Monroe, Jack Kerouac, Emily Dickinson, Alfred Hitchcock, and of course, Dylan -- are portrayed as never before. Kevin loves to mix things up and surprise you with unexpected juxtapositions: there's a beautiful pink and yellow floral Billie as well as a funky cartoony Hitchcock making quite the television appearance (or should I say, "emergence"?). Wish you had your own copy? Click here for more details about this book as well as the second book in Kevin's Picture Books for Big Kids series, Emily Comes to My House!

3. Big thanks to Zoe Toft at Playing by the Book for presenting alphabet soup with the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award!



We truly appreciate this honor and are proud to be recognized along with these other blogs:

Kat Cooks the Books
Reading, Writing and Recipes
Storytelling, cooking and kids!
Children’s Books for Grown Ups – look out for Natasha’s Bookish Bites!
Maison Cupcake
The Tea Box

Check out Zoe's list of books about sweets and baking that she especially enjoys. Don't think I could narrow my list to just seven ☺.

4. A little Virginia pride here: just learned that Earl Hamner (the original John-Boy Walton) will receive the 2011 Literary Lifetime Achievement Award from the Library of Virginia! You probably know I'm a big fan of "The Waltons" and Mr. Hamner's books.



We extend our heartfelt congratulations to him on this well deserved honor. Read Mr. Hamner's wonderful blog post about the award, which includes a little family and career history. BTW, in one of last night's episodes, Olivia and Grandma made two applesauce cakes! Read my Waltons posts here.

5. Just wanted to mention how much I am loving Anita Silvey's Children's Book-a-Day Almanac. Every one of her essays is beautifully crafted and includes interesting tidbits about the day's significance as well as fascinating backstory about the featured book. It's my daily dose of happy information which extends my appreciation for each and every title. Such richness!



6. Well, now, when Sweet Frog Premium Frozen Yogurt comes to town, it's definitely worth celebrating. Newly opened not too far from home, this self-serve haven of the smooth and sweet is happy-making and then some. One of Len's colleagues mentioned that ever since the place opened, his teen daughter has been going to Sweet Frog every. single. day. Of course I insisted we zip right on over and give it a try.

I had vanilla and coconut yogurt with fresh fruit and coconut sprinkles.

Cheery pink and green decor, and the place was packed! You pick your yogurt flavor(s), then select from oodles of toppings -- fruity ones like mango, strawberry, banana, blueberry, raspberry, peach; and dry ones, like dark chocolate sprinkles, nuts, M&Ms, jelly bellies, mochi, graham cracker, Twix, gummi bears. If that's not enough, dribble on some warm caramel, hot fudge and top with whipped cream. What I love most? Everybody in there was smiling.

So, it's the last week of June and summer is in full swing.

Brownie oggles Marilyn in Kevin's book.

Happy Monday and have a good week!

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

a platter of vegetable picture books

2011-06-23T10:47:19Z

Put on your bibs and lick your chops -- it's fresh veggie time!

Serving up a little of summer's bounty today in celebration of all that is green, purple, red, orange and yellow. Nothing better than the crunch of a carrot, the juicy ooze of a garden ripe tomato, the fresh snap of a sassy bean. A quick perusal of vegetable books at my library revealed a surprising number of varieties who took great pride in their ability to amaze and delight. Some call attention to themselves just by being BIG, while others excel at showmanship. Veggie vaudeville? Lima bean monsters? Whoever said vegetables were boring?

Lots to nibble and chew on here. Have fun eating your veggies!

RAH, RAH, RADISHES!: A VEGETABLE CHANT by April Pulley Sayre (Beach Lane Books, 2011). Get ready to root for rutabagas and fall for fennel. This rollicking trip to the farmer's market will have you cheering in the stands and bouncing for beets. Over 40 different vegetable varieties are celebrated with gorgeous color photographs and a heaping bushel of simple a-peeling rhymes. Familiar friends like carrots, cucumbers and beans are tossed around with not-so-common types like kohlrabi, Swiss chard and bok choy to entice curious munchkins. A wondrous mix of colors, shapes and textures makes this feast irresistibly delectable, and there are seven kinds of peppers to spice things up (bell, banana, cayenne, poblano, habanero, jalapeño, and serrano). An Authors Note defines "vegetables," suggests ways to learn about new ones and touts the importance of incorporating different colored veggies for a healthy diet. Never seen such ravishing radishes, and what a fabulous read aloud!


THE ENORMOUS CARROT by Vladimir Vagin (Scholastic Press, 1998). So, Floyd and Daisy Rabbit plant a garden one spring and with their careful tending, everything comes up beautifully. One day they notice a huge carrot growing out of the ground and when they try to pick it, it won't budge. Soon, one friend after another drops by -- a cow, goat, hen, dog and cat, and they all heave and ho and ho and heave to no avail. Finally, Lester the mouse offers to help, but he is told he is too small. He helps anyway and that stubborn carrot finally COMES OUT. Nothing to do but throw a gigantic carrot feast for everyone. The double page spread showing all the animals eating carrot soup, carrot cake, carrot pie, carrot cookies and carrot ice cream is worth the price of admission. Based on a Russian folktale, this story's a great way to stress the importance of teamwork, and of course, who could resist the novelty and wonder of such a big carrot?

BRAVE POTATOES by Toby Speed and Barry Root (Putnam, 2000). When all's quiet at the County Fair, a bunch of prize potatoes sneak out late at night to ride on the Zip (ferris wheel). Meanwhile, across town, Chef Hackemup at the Chowder Lounge is busy chopping, dicing, shredding, grating, mashing and mincing all manner of veggies ("carrots curli-queuing and the garlic parachuting") for his soup, stew and chowder. He's got everything he needs except -- you guessed it -- potatoes. He catches a glimpse of the lit-up Zip and sees "spinning spuds against the sky!" and all he can think of is hash, fries, chowder, gumbo and chips. He rushes over, sacks up those spuds, and takes them back to his kitchen.

But will those brave potatoes heed Hackemup's orders? Well, they don't have ears, do they? No, they can't/won't listen: potato insurrection! Guess who lands in the soup? This spectacular spudly saga, with its high energy and masterful rhyme and rhythm, will have you vocalizing veggies for days on end. You'll want to crunch and chew every word and read aloud loud loud. Chop chop!



TOMATOES FROM MARS by Arthur Yorinks and Mort Drucker (HarperCollins, 1999). Ever wonder why Mars is red? Well, Dr. Shtickle has a great theory. You see, last summer, these giant tomatoes landed in Minnesota (atop enormous china flying saucers). They silently moved through the city and stained everything in sight. Soon there were tomato sightings all across the country and everyone panicked. What did those tomatoes want? Why? They were making a mess of everything. Scientists worked feverishly to find a way to stop the invasion to no avail. Dr. Shtickle proposes they try to communicate with the mysterious red orbs, but the symbols of welcome filling the sky don't work.

When the President threatens harsher methods to keep the country from being totally shmeared, Shtickle begs for more time less the entire nation be covered in sauce. How was he able to stop those giant red denizens? Shall we say, never underestimate the power of a little extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, fresh basil, and just the right shpritz. Phew! Mort Drucker's ginormous tomatoes floating through the air = retro whimsy at its best!

PIGS LOVE POTATOES by Anika Denise and Christopher Denise (Philomel Books, 2007). This one gets my vote for most adorable potato on the platter. A rhyming counting book and a simple tale of Mamma cooking potatoes for her little piggies and a few unannounced guests. Christopher Denise's charming charcoal and acrylic illustrations convey happy family warmth and the singular joy of ~~playing with~~ preparing potatoes. Especially love the spread showing one mischievous pig piling potato peelings atop his father's head. Anika's fetching, concise text is pitch perfect. Don't miss this totally endearing dose of cute overload. Oink!



THE VEGETABLE SHOW by Laurie Krasny Brown (Little, Brown, 1995). Ta da! Step right up for a little Veggie Vaudeville hosted by Mr. B. A. Dilly (a friendly pickly guy). The tempting menu features acts such as String Beanie (juggler), Bud the Spud (magician), and Eeny-Weeny Zucchini (weight lifter). Thumb through Krasny's detailed cut paper, paint, colored pencil and block print collages and nibble on interesting info about all the performers. Bud the Spud can magically transform a plain potato into french fries or yummy pancakes. String Beanie can make a mean tossed salad bursting with fiber, and Eeny-Weeny Zucchini proves why he's the world's strongest squash. Drum roll, please, for the stars of the show, the Tip-Top Tomato Twins, who like to tiptoe across the tightrope. Oooh! Includes a "Veggies Are Not for Sissies" song at the end, and an About the Performing Vegetables Glossary chock full of nutritional info and various tidbits. Kids will eat up this tasty show ☺.

THE LIMA BEAN MONSTER by Dan Yaccarino and Adam McCauley (Walker, 2001). Yuck! Sammy hates lima beans -- he hates them so much he's never even tried one. Whenever his mom makes them for dinner he tries to think of new ways to avoid eating them (hiding them in the mashed potatoes, stuffing them into his napkin). One night, he thinks of an ingenious idea: why not stuff them down his sock? Later, he buries them in a vacant lot, feeling very good about himself. As soon as word gets out, other kids in the neighborhood are burying all their unwanted veggies in the same hole, along with rejects like tap shoes, ugly birthday sweaters and failed spelling tests. There's a big storm with lots of thunder and lightning that strikes the unwanted veggies mound not once but twice, and a huge, horrible stinky lima bean monster emerges! And it's hungry for human beans, especially grown-up ones! What to do? Luckily, Sammy comes up with the perfect plan. A lively, suspenseful story that'll grab the little ones by the throat, and just maybe convince them to try lima beans. Nah!

♥ More thematic book lists to feed your summer hunger here.

♥ More 2011 Summer Jam here.

otama2/flickr

VEGGIES ROCK!!

*Veggies illustration at top of post by Louise Norman/flickr.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

a little adventure with sarah emma edmonds

2011-06-21T11:18:06Z

It’s always fun and exciting when something you’ve read sparks your imagination and makes you want to learn more.

That’s what happened when I read Carrie Jones’s new picture book biography about Civil War nurse and spy Sarah Emma Edmonds. When I studied American history in Hawai’i eons ago, I learned a lot of names and dates that I couldn’t really relate to. I certainly never dreamed that one day I’d live near a real battlefield site, meet people who like to don period garb to participate in battle re-enactments, and be steeped in heady historical richness that would actually mean something.

I had heard of female Confederate spies, but knew very little about the ones spying for the Union army. Sarah Emma Edmonds Was a Great Pretender (Carolrhoda Books, 2011) is a provocative introduction to the feisty Canadian teenager who fled her home country, assumed the identity of a man (calling herself Frank Thompson), and then served in the Second Michigan Infantry, first as a field nurse and then as a spy under the command of Major General George B. McClellan.

Sarah Edmonds in female and male garb.

Jones’s tightly woven narrative emphasizes Edmonds’s skill as a master of disguise. An adventurer at heart, Edmonds was motivated by a deep sense of patriotism to her adopted country because she was able to forge a new life, far away from her abusive father who hated that she was a girl and who tried to force her into an arranged marriage.

Steely, brave, clever and highly adaptable to whatever circumstances came her way, Edmonds assumed various guises, as an African American male slave, an Irish peddler woman, and a black laundress. She infiltrated enemy lines many times and returned with valuable information for the Union army. When she contracted malaria, she chose to recuperate in a private hospital in Illinois to avoid blowing her cover. After learning that she was listed as a deserter, she reclaimed her identity as a woman and returned to nursing, with no one the wiser.

Further reading revealed that much, if not most, of Sarah’s exploits took place on Virginia soil. She participated in both the First and Second Battles of Bull Run, The Peninsula Campaign, Vicksburg, Fredericksburg, Antietam, Williamsburg and Yorktown in her various capacities as field nurse, postmaster and spy. When I read that she nursed wounded soldiers at an army hospital in the Old Stone Church in Centreville, I had to see the place for myself. I’ve lived in Virginia for 30 years and might never have heard about the church (only 10 minutes away) if I hadn’t read Carrie’s book.

Old Stone Church circa 1860's (Library of Congress photo).

The Old Stone Church was first built by Methodists in 1854, and used as a hospital by both the Union and Confederate troops. It was destroyed by soldiers during the war, but rebuilt with original materials in 1870. The Union army marched from Centreville to meet Confederate forces in the First Battle of Manassas/Bull Run (1861), and later took the same route, right past the church, as they retreated from the Manassas battlefield.

Today, the Old Stone Church is the Anglican Church of the Ascension.

I tried to imagine the fort situated behind the church to the south, where nearby camps housed 40,000 Confederate soldiers in log huts during the winter of 1861-1862. I didn’t want to think about the wounded men in that hospital of long ago, but I was glad to be able to see where Sarah, as Frank, once nursed them.

Sarah’s is a thoroughly captivating story, and Carrie has made it accessible to older picture book readers with an easy, conversational style. The book begins with Sarah’s childhood in Canada, where she was already “pretending” to be a boy to please her father, and ends with Sarah as a female nurse. We see how Sarah was able to transform a troubled beginning into a life of courageous service using her cunning, resourcefulness and inner strength. The text also incorporates quotes from Sarah’s memoir and includes an Author’s Note and bibliography. Paired with Mark Oldroyd’s powerful and evocative acrylic paintings (stunning character portraits!), this book (which earned a PW *starred review*), will likely spark interest in espionage and girl heroes and perhaps spawn some new Civil War buffs. Just in time for the 150th Commemoration of the Civil War and a wonderful read for Women's History Month.

Thanks, Carrie, for writing this cool book and getting me to the church on time ☺. I love when history comes alive, don't you?

SARAH EMMA EDMONDS WAS A GREAT PRETENDER: The True Story of a Civil War Spy
written by Carrie Jones
illustrated by Mark Oldroyd
published by Carolrhoda Books, April 2011
PB Biography for ages 7-11, 32 pp.
Cool themes: Civil War, spies and espionage, nursing, feminism, gender discrimination, courage.

♥ Carrie Jones official website and blog.

♥ Learn more about Sarah Emma Edmonds here. Scroll down to read her riveting first-hand account of the Battle at Bull Run.

♥ See also Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss and John Hendrix (Abrams, 2011).

*Spread posted by permission, text copyright © 2011 Carrie Jones, illustrations © 2011 Mark Oldroyd, published by Carolrhoda Books. All rights reserved.

birthday boy!

2011-06-18T12:22:26Z

friday feast: like father, like son

2011-06-17T12:12:29Z

James Paul McCartney and his father James "Jim" McCartney at age 64.

Tomorrow is Sir Paul's birthday and Sunday is Father's Day -- what better time to feature a song Paul wrote with his dad in mind?

"When I'm Sixty Four" has always been one of my favorites. Whenever I hear it, I feel a little 'goofy-happy,' probably because of its rooty-toot rhythm and slightly mocking tone. Ah, those bouncy clarinets! You may know that Jim McCartney had a big influence on Paul's musical upbringing. Self taught on the piano and trumpet, Jim played in ragtime and jazz bands in Liverpool during the twenties and thirties. He encouraged Paul to take music lessons and taught him to sing harmony.

Music was central in the McCartney household -- they listened to the radio and Jim's 78 rpm records, and of course, Jim played popular dance hall tunes on the upright piano (which Paul, reputedly, still owns). Paul's granddad Joe was also musical. An opera lover who was more of a traditionalist, he played the double bass and tuba.

Paul wrote the melody for "When I'm Sixty Four" with Jim's encouragement when he was just 16. When the Beatles were still the Quarrymen, the song was a "stand-in number" when the amps weren't working or the electricity went off. It wasn't until Jim turned 64 in 1966 that Paul decided to revise and record what would become the first completed cut for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, widely regarded as one of the most important and influential rock albums in popular music. When Paul himself turned 64, his children sang the song to him as a birthday present.

When I first heard the song as a teenager, 64 seemed positively ancient. Now, not so much . . . ☺.

♥ Full lyrics here.

♥ Jone has the Roundup today at Check it Out. Dance on over and enjoy all the cool poems being shared around the blogosphere this week.

Happy 69th Birthday, Sir Paul, and Happy Father's Day weekend to all!

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

carl sandburg's soup

2011-06-16T12:55:24Z

#4 in an eclectic collection of notable noshes to whet your appetite and brighten your day.

ed ed/flickr

Fave writer soups: Truman Capote (Gumbo), Willa Cather (Vegetable), Bob Dylan (Split Pea), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Vegetable), George Bernard Shaw (Vegetable), William Makepeace Thackery (Bouillabaisse). Source: soupsong.com.

♥ More Tasty Tidbits here.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphbet soup. All rights reserved.

illustrator chat: diane degroat on charlie the ranch dog

2011-06-14T14:13:27Z

            Charlie, overwrought with excitement.

Well, flap my jowls and tickle my ears!

Have you ever seen a more lovable dog? Yep, it's Charlie, easily the most famous basset hound in America. He lives with Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman herself, and his new picture book, Charlie the Ranch Dog (HarperCollins, 2011), has been on the New York Times Bestseller List for the past 6 weeks! Doggone awesome!

Is that bacon I smell on his breath?

Anyway, just in case you're not familiar with the book (where on the wide prairie have you been?), it chronicles a typical day on the cattle ranch from Charlie's point of view. Along with his best friend Suzie (a spunky Jack Russell terrier), he gets up too early every morning and works so hard (wink, wink) fixing fences, gardening, keeping cows and other critters in check, fishing, and rounding up cattle.

A dog this busy certainly deserves ~~oodles of bacon~~ a good meal and ~~endless naps~~ a little rest now and then just to keep his strength up. Why, if not for Charlie's steady vigilance, Daisy the cow could have destroyed the garden! Personally, I happen to admire those who've perfected the fine art of napping and bacon nipping, and I know exactly how Charlie feels: a dog's work is never done. ☺

Recently, Ree blogged about the experience of writing about Charlie (her first children's book), and I thought it would be fun to get the illustrator's side of the story. Of course I'm talking about the brilliant and talented award-winning author/illustrator Diane deGroat, who's visited with us before, and is known far and wide for the 120+ books she's illustrated (most notably her beloved self-illustrated Gilbert series).



I sent Diane a few questions and she came back with some right chewy answers and lots of photos. She's done an outstanding job with the pictures in this book, and I think you'll enjoy learning more about how she created them. How did she manage to perfectly capture Charlie's ranch-roving, bacon-loving ways, and extend Ree's trademark wry humor? Grab a biscuit, tap your boot heels together, sit and stay. Roll over if you like, but do read on. (No need to beg.)

Congratulations on the great success of Charlie the Ranch Dog! How did you get this gig, and what did you like most about doing it?

It's true that when one door closes, another opens. I had just learned that my Gilbert series at HarperCollins was ending. I anticipated using this time to work on a proposal for a whole new series when I received an email (from a different Harper department) asking me if I'd be interested in submitting some art samples for Ree's book. I was not familiar with her blog, and wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the time illustrating a book that I hadn't written, but I gave it a shot. A manuscript wasn't available yet, so I used photos from www.thepioneerwoman.com to see what Charlie looked like. This was my first interpretation of Charlie:

The editors felt it was too realistic and that the style should be more playful. I was given another chance. Eventually, I was able to fine tune Charlie until he became the character we see in the book. Here are some other attempts:

Nope. Still too realistic.

Nope. Not there yet.

Finally Charlie and Suzie became the characters we see in the final version:

Yep.

What did I like most about doing it?

1) It was a challenge that got me out of my comfort zone. After 16 years of writing and illustrating Gilbert books, I had the opportunity to think and draw differently.

2) I was able to work in a digital and watercolor combo -- a direction I had been heading in with Gilbert.

3) Charlie became #1 on the NY Times Bestseller list.

Have you ever worked on a similar project, where the author had lots of input from the get-go?

Charlie was different in that I collaborated with Ree more than I usually do with authors. There was much discussion, and I had to be open to changes and revisions at all stages of the project. The biggest challenge was illustrating Ree's art specs with just a few images. Her blog format allows her to use many images and scenes to illustrate one episode. In a book, I have just one page or two to show the action. So either the text/action had to be pared down, or we needed a much longer book to show everything she listed in the art specs. I think we all made a good compromise in the end.

In her blog process post, Ree mentions sending you photographs. Did you take any liberties with any of the details, or did you concentrate on portraying the setting as realistically as possible?

Ree provided lots of photographs, but for most of my reference, I searched through her photographs on flickr.com that were linked to her website. All 35,000 of them! I could find most of what I needed (Charlie, Suzie, the grounds, etc.), but couldn't find just the right pics for the house that appears in many of the illustrations. The editors said it didn't have to really look like her place. The best I could find was:

I used this, but downsized it a bit. OK -- a lot. But unbeknownst to me, this was the back of the house! I used it for all the art inside the book, but the cover was supposed to be the front of the house. Again, I didn't have any photo reference for the front. Ree mentioned it had a bright red door and sent this photo. (I love the red door!)

I added the rocker (Google images) and the red boots, which were from a photo I took at a friend's house. (She collects cowboy boots.)

Ree sent a photo of her own boots:

I reversed the colors so they would show up better on the cover. She asked that "PW" be carved into the leather. (For Pioneer Woman, not Publisher's Weekly!)

The veggies were a combo of Google images and my own imagination. Ree wanted more ranch porch stuff, so I surfed the web again for lariats and dinner bells.

Before computers, we illustrators had books and picture files to use as reference. Now it's all there on the web. I printed out some of the images to have in front of me as I painted:

When it came time to draw the family, I had to stick a little closer to reality -- right ages for the kids, right horses, and right clothing for Ree!

FYI: The cover went through a lot of changes. Here are some earlier versions:

How did you get the idea for the chipmunk?

It wasn't my idea. In one of the art specs, Ree thought it would be cute to have a chipmunk sleeping under Charlie's ear. I had to think of a way to incorporate him. Where did he come from? Why was he under Charlie's ear? So in my sketches, I introduced the chipmunk when Charlie is sniffing the steps and Suzie is chasing critters. The chipmunk sees that Charlie is the harmless one, and maybe he wouldn't mind sharing his dinner. Then I added him in later drawings. The editors and Ree liked the chipmunk so much, they asked that he be in every pic for the kids to find. I guess someone who has cows walking across their porch doesn't mind a critter in the kitchen!

Here's what I used for reference. Yes, I have a taxidermied chipmunk!

As far as I know, there aren't any dogs living with you at the moment. How do you explain your knack for capturing canine expressions, postures, and emotions?

No dogs. No pets. I treated Charlie the same way I would have drawn an opossum. A smile and expressive eyes go a long way to make animals anthropormorphic. And Charlie is a great character even without my help!

What's your favorite spread and why? Could you please take us through its creation, step-by-step, from rough sketch to finished art?

My favorite spread is the barn scene where Charlie realizes that everyone has left without him.

The thumbnail design for this art was originally just the left hand page. The right side was a different scene.

When we added 8 pages to the book, I had room to spread out the barn scene to a full spread.

The actual barn was pretty drab . . . (sorry, Ree!). The editors said I could change it.

I started from scratch. Gathering reference material from the web, I assembled a collage in Photoshop, trying different things.

I found some nice window frames on the web, but I wanted the view outside to be authentic to Ree's prairie. On her site, I found this pic of the prairie behind Charlie. But Charlie was in the way.

I cloned him out . . .

and placed the background behind the glass. The "glass" filter in Photoshop gives it that frosted look.

More research. I shot some pics at a friend's barn. I loved the lighting and color palette.

Once I got all the material together I sketched over it (digitally) and played with the lighting and added details: tack, shovels, bags, dog food, cooler, hose, bucket, boots, etc.

This is what I sent to the editors for approval.

In Photoshop, I added realistic layers and "painted" in the details and textures until I had a color comp. This is where I can make any final changes to make it work just the way I want it. Normally I wouldn't do such complete color comps, but I wanted to play with the shading, lighting, and color scheme. The good thing about Photoshop is you can't mess it up!

I lightened the comp and printed the images onto Arches 140 lb. hot press watercolor paper with my Epson 3880. The ink is actually pigment, so I can paint right on top of it.

With watercolor, I added all the final details, washes, shading, and line work. All the hard work had been done digitally, so now I could enjoy the fun part -- the finishing touches. The finish is a combination of digital and watercolor art. From start to finish the painting took about four or five days. It's not really faster on the computer, as the same steps are there that you would do with pencil and paint. It's just more flexible.

Finally, have you ever been on a ranch, and how do you feel about bacon?

I don't think I've been on a real cattle ranch like Ree's, but there's a stable just a short walk up my street, a llama farm down the road, and a herd of bison on the way out of town. Does that count?

Bacon. Yuuuummmmmmm.

Ree Drummond/The Pioneer Woman/flickr

Thanks so much, Diane! You really nailed those expressive eyes, and it was fascinating hearing about how you blended all the elements for the barn spread. Your depictions of Charlie and Suzie are warm, endearing and adorable, and even readers who don't know them from Ree's blog can't help but love them.

Here are a couple more of my favorite spreads:

(click to enlarge)

**One more thing: The book includes The Pioneer Woman's (and Charlie's) Favorite Lasagna recipe. You might want to try it sometime, that is, as soon as you're done eating your bacon. AAARRROOOOOO!

♥ Diane deGroat's official website.

♥ Cute video featuring Ree introducing Charlie. Listen to Ree read the book at Barnes & Noble Online Storytime.

♥ The Pioneer Woman website/blog. Don't miss the Charlie archives and the detailed post where Ree provides backstory about the book, "Twenty Steps to Writing a Children's Book." Interesting comments, too!

Till next time,

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ . . . . . . .

*Spreads posted by permission, text copyright © 2011 Ree Drummond, illustrations © 2011 Diane deGroat, published by HarperCollins. All rights reserved.

**Unless otherwise noted, all photos, sketches, collages, etc., copyright © 2011 Diane deGroat. All rights reserved.

***Charlie headshot, porch, barn, boots & bacon from The Pioneer Woman's flickr photostream.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

just for fun: laughable liffs for lunch

2011-06-13T13:46:11Z

#32 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

MsBlueSky/flickr

Liff (lif) n. A common object or experience for which no word yet exists.

I'm guessing there are an infinite number of liffs floating free in the world, just hoping someone exceedingly clever will chance along and name them. Two clever someones, Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, compiled the first humorous dictionary of liffs back in 1983: The Meaning of Liff, followed by a revised and expanded edition, The Deeper Meaning of Liff (1990). Along with these "no name" objects, feelings and situations, Adams and Lloyd also noted "thousands of spare words which spend their time doing nothing but loafing about on signposts pointing at places."

Words like Dunfish, Jeffers, Knaptoft, Ranfurly. They were real places, but who ever heard of them? Better yet, who'd ever think of visiting them? Why not match these place names with a needy liff?

Our job, as we see it, is to get these words down off the signposts and into the mouths of babes and sucklings and so on, where they can start earning their keep in everyday conversation and make a more positive contribution to society.

Thought you might enjoy a Sampler Platter of Liff Lunchables, à la Adams and Lloyd. All but a couple are food related; I've added a few extras to compensate ☺. Nibble on them, maybe give them a good chew (you're bound to chuckle). There's plenty to go around!

ABINGER (n.)
One who washes up everything except the frying pan, the cheese grater and the saucepan which the chocolate sauce has been made in.

BECCLES (pl. n.)
The small bone buttons placed in bacon sandwiches by unemployed guerrilla dentists.

CROMARTY (n.)
The brittle sludge which clings to the top of ketchup bottles and plastic tomatoes in nasty cafes.

DUDDO (n.)
The most deformed potato in any given collection of potatoes.

EPPING (participial vb.)
The futile movements of forefingers and eyebrows used when failing to attract the attention of waiters and barmen.

FINUGE (vb.)
In any division of foodstuffs equally between several people, to give yourself the extra slice left over.

GOOSNARGH (n.)
Something left over from preparing or eating a meal, which you store in the fridge despite the fact that you know full well you will never ever use it.

HENSTRIDGE (n.)
The dried yellow substance found between the prongs of forks in restaurants.

INIGONISH (adj.)
Descriptive of the expression on the face of a dinner party guest which is meant to indicate huge enjoyment to the hosts and "time to go home, I think" to your partner.

JEFFERS (pl.n.)
Persons who honestly believe that a business lunch is going to achieve anything.

KIRBY (n.)
Small but repulsive piece of food prominently attached to a person's face or clothing.

KIRBY MISPERTON (n.)
One who kindly attempts to wipe an apparent kirby (q.v.) off another's face with a napkin, and then discovers it to be a wart or other permanent fixture, is said to have committed a 'kirby misperton'.

LIMASSOL (n.)
The correct name for one of those little paper umbrellas which come in cocktails with too much pineapple in them.

MASBERRY (n.)
The sap of a giant Nigerian tree from which all cafeteria jams are made.

NAPLES (pl.n.)
The tiny depressions in a piece of Ryvita.

OYSTERMOUTH (n.)
One who can kiss and chew gum at the same time.

PAPPLE (vb.)
To do what babies do to soup with their spoons.

PEORIA (n.)
The fear of peeling too few potatoes.

QUABBS (pl.n.)
The substances which emerge when you squeeze a blackhead.

RADLETT (n.)
The single hemisphere of dried pea which is invariably found in an otherwise spotlessly clean saucepan.

SALWEEN (n.)
A faint taste of dishwashing liquid in a cup of tea.

THROCKING (participial vb.)
The action of continually pushing down the lever on a pop-up toaster in the hope that you will thereby get it to understand that you want it to toast something. Also: a style of drum-playing favoured by Nigel Olsson of the Elton John Band, reminiscent of the sound of someone slapping a frankfurter against a bucket. An excellent example of this is to be heard on 'Someone Save My Life Tonight' from the album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.

UPOTTERY (n.)
That part of a kitchen cupboard which contains an unnecessarily large number of milk jugs.

VENTNOR (n.)
One who, having been visited as a child by a mysterious gypsy lady, is gifted with the strange power of being able to operate the air-nozzles above aeroplane seats.

WOKING (participial vb.)
Standing in the kitchen wondering what you came in here for.

YATE (n.)
Dishearteningly white piece of bread which sits limply in a pop-up toaster during a protracted throcking (q.v.) session.

ZLATIBOR (n.)
(Hungarian) A prince of the blood royal temporarily forced to seek employment as a waiter.

~ from The Deeper Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd (Three Rivers Press, 1990).

Lovisa Granath/flickr

*BONUS LIFFS (cause I just can't get enough of these suckers):

GLASGOW (n.) *for David and Tanita
The feeling of infinite sadness engendered when walking through a place filled with happy people fifteen years younger than yourself.

KALAMI (n.)
The ancient Eastern art of being able to fold road-maps properly. (Len is an expert.)

KIMMERIDGE (n.)
The light breeze which blows through your armpit hair when you are stretched out sunbathing. Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!

LOW EGGBOROUGH (n.)
A quiet little unregarded man in glasses who is building a new kind of atomic bomb in his garden shed.

Hey! Wanna try one? What do you think "Smyrna" is?

My guess: Tiny smudge left on one's face after kissing an always-smiling, zealous jam eater. ☺

♥ If you're still hungry, even more liff.

♥ More alphabetica here.

Da da da duddo! (DrSlippers2007/flickr).

Back to Woking . . .

Certified authentic alphabetica. Made by hand especially for you with love and adorable pappling.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

friday feast: noshing with maya angelou

2011-06-10T12:26:59Z

1photos.com

This week I've been dipping into Maya Angelou's latest cookbook,
Great Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart (Random House, 2010).

Inspired by her recent weight loss (35 pounds), the book features her favorite time-tested recipes and personal anecdotes. Her guiding philosophy is to frequently eat small portions of really tasty, savory food throughout the day, rather than obsess over counting calories or seeking "diet recipes."

In the section entitled, "Cooking Vegetarian with Courage I," she includes a satirical poem she wrote back in 1983, a kind of "self defense" prompted by a visit to Ye Olde Health Food Diner in Los Angeles. Although basically carnivorous, one day she craved broccoli and steamed rice. After placing her order, she took out a pack of cigarettes and was surprised when the waitress immediately chastized her for being a smoker.

She looked around at the pale, pitiful customers in the diner and asked the waitress whether they were newcomers, hoping to "get better." The waitress assured her they were vegetarians who had been eating there for years, to which Maya replied, "Don't ever tell anyone that these people have been coming here for years, and are still looking no better than they do now."

I love seaweed salad! (Sifu Renka/flickr)

THE HEALTH-FOOD DINER
by Maya Angelou

No sprouted wheat and soya shoots
And Brussels in a cake,
Carrot straw and spinach raw,
(Today, I need a steak).

Not thick brown rice and rice pilau
Or mushrooms creamed on toast,
Turnips mashed and parsnips hashed,
(I'm dreaming of a roast).

Health-food folks around the world
Are thinned by anxious zeal,
They look for help in seafood kelp
(I count on breaded veal).

No smoking signs, raw mustard greens,
Zucchini by the ton,
Uncooked kale and bodies frail
Are sure to make me run

Loins of pork and chicken thighs
And standing rib, so prime,
Pork chops brown and fresh ground round
(I crave them all the time).

Irish stews and boiled corned beef
and hot dogs by the scores,
or any place that saves a space
For smoking carnivores.

Copyright © Maya Angelou. All rights reserved.

Kale Salad by Salim Virji/flickr.

Maya's poem made me smile and remember a time when health-conscious eaters were called "nuts," vegetarianism was viewed as a hippie fad, and much of what you could find in a health food store was inedible. Happily, things have changed; Maya hasn't smoked in over 20 years and is "enchanted with vegetables." As am I. But I still crave a good burger or plate of ribs every now and then . . .

Here's Maya's recipe for cornbread, sure to please vegetarians as well as carnivores. She suggests cutting a piece in half horizontally, inserting a slice of Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese, then heating it in a toaster oven for breakfast. Nice change from cereal!

ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT CORN BREAD
(makes 9 squares)

3 T butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1-1/2 cups white cornmeal
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
1-1/2 cups plus 2 T milk
1 egg, well beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Melt the butter in an 8-inch square pan.

2. Sift together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.

3. Stir in 1 cup plus 2 T of the milk and the egg, mixing only enough to dampen the cornmeal mixture.

4. Pour the batter into the pan. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup milk over the batter and stir.

5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

*Adapted from Great Food All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart by Maya Angelou (Random House, 2010)
----------------------------------------------------------------

♥ Anastasia Suen is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup this week at Picture Book of the Day. Take her a piece of cornbread. Secret password: Seaweed.

P.S. Just in case Maya's poem stirred your meat cravings:

Pork Chop with Mustard Sauce by naotakem/flickr.

**Note: Food photos in this post are not from Maya's book.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

soup of the day: the absolute value of mike by kathryn erskine!

2011-06-09T11:31:54Z

Hey, hey!

The clock on the wall says it's time to celebrate Kathy Erskine's brand new middle grade novel, The Absolute Value of Mike (Philomel, 2011)!

Before we proceed any further, please select your party shoes. You may choose between yellow sneakers,

or duck slippers (quacking optional).



Heck, let's go all the way. Put on this pink "Life is Good" cap while you're at it.



There now! Ready?

I was very excited to read Kathy's new book because I absolutely adored her National Book Award winner, Mockingbird (Philomel, 2010). Maybe you're thinking what I was thinking: How could she possibly top that? By showcasing her versatility and writing something completely different, of course!

This touching and refreshingly offbeat story is powered by Kathy's intuitive perception of human nature, flawless comic timing and keen ability to craft quirky, unforgettable characters. It reveals her deep conviction to tolerance and promotes mutual understanding as opposed to prejudgment.


          Photo Literacy/flickr

When his math genius father decides to teach in Romania for six weeks one summer, Mike is sent to rural Pennsylvania to stay with relatives so he can help his great-uncle with a special engineering project (building an "artesian screw"). Since there's nothing Mike's dad would like more than to have his son follow in his footsteps, he hopes this experience will help Mike get into a prestigious math magnet school. He may be a brilliant mathematician, but sadly, Dr. Frost really doesn't know his son at all. Mike has a math learning disability, has no interest in engineering, and would really rather not be reminded of how pitifully short he falls of his father's expectations. Besides, he's never even met these relatives.

Once he gets to Do Over ("Donover," but the "n" in the town's sign went missing long ago), he discovers there is no artesian screw, just a town full of wacky people hoping to help the local minister adopt a boy from Romania. Most have recently lost someone and ultimately benefit from the "people smart" leadership skills Mike never realized he had.

His great-uncle Poppy, for example, is physically and emotionally "frozen" following the death of his only son, and is unable to follow through with supervising an "artisan's crew" to build wooden boxes for the adoption project. Half-blind, wild driver, "collector of lost souls" great-aunt Moo is doing her best to cope despite her grief-paralyzed husband, monetary problems, and the understandable limitations of a well-intentioned but overwhelmed 80-something-year-old. Add to the mix a mysteriously atypical homeless man, a pierced and punky musically talented bank employee, and 'three old stooges' with a penchant for making porch pals, and you've got plenty of fertile ground for off-the-wall humor, surprises around every corner, and remarkable character growth.

Mike carries a blue Lego brick in his pocket at all times (Alicee<3/flickr).

Mike may not be academically smart, but the pain of his dysfunctional relationship with his father fuels his empathy for others, as he builds the emotional bridges necessary to "engineer life," make things happen, bring people together, and finally realize his own self worth. Kathy has done a beautiful job of balancing serious issues with comic portrayals, and young readers will easily identify with Mike's longing for a normal family life, frustrating parental opposition and search for empowerment. Character motivations are especially well-drawn, and the book's overarching themes of empathy, community building, cooperation, communication, healing, and redemption have universal resonance.

In our society, much is made of the inability of males to express their emotions, so it was wholly satisfying to read a good "boy book" focusing on human relationships. When a 14-year-old is capable of provoking two adult males to confront their grief, and can finally understand what makes his dad tick in order to foster their relationship, it's definitely worth noting and inspires hope.

Now, let's all congratulate Kathy on another fabulous book. The alphabet soup kitchen helpers are serving up today's celebration soup in a handmade, handpainted wooden box. In the spirit of The Absolute Value of Mike, we would do well to remember that there is nothing more important than human connections, for it is often other people who bring out the best in us and show us our true value. Dip your spoons, everyone, and Slurrrrrp!!

Today's Special: Artesian Stew (Romanian spice + zero calories = 40,000 yums)

Of course some of the residents of Do Over have brought extra food for our party. Poppy wants to share his Scrapple, his sole source of nourishment:

stu_spivack/flickr

Once you've picked those pig guts out of your teeth, move onto dessert. Moo wants you to taste some of the snickerdoodles she made to sell for the adoption project:

Pinch My Salt/flickr

and please help yourself to a Felix the Cat cupcake (her late son Doug loved Felix):

christylacy/flickr

Gladys (bank assistant manager) likes these guitar cookie pops because she sings in a band with her boyfriend Numnut:

Charming Chelsea/flickr

but under NO circumstances would Past (the homeless guy) want you to eat this Twinkie! Back away from it right now!

elana's pantry/flickr

But he's more than happy to see you have some of this blueberry spread:

Okay, you know the drill. Race your shopping carts to your local indie or click through to your fave online bookseller to score your very own copy of The Absolute Value of Mike. If you go to a brick and mortar store, wear your duck slippers, yellow sneakers and/or pink baseball cap. If you own any Clarks shoes or sandals, that will do, too. Compliment the cashier on his/her ciphering skills and don't forget the secret password, "Misha."

Thanks for writing this cool book, Kathy. We love you!

THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF MIKE
by Kathryn Erskine
published by Philomel, June 2011
Fiction for ages 9-12, 256 pages
Cool themes: self-realization, families, social dynamics, tolerance, communities, relatives, math, homelessness, cooperation, grief, healing, hope

♥ Kathryn Erskine's official website and blog.

♥ Awesome review by Gary D. Schmidt in the New York Times.

♥ Interview at From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors.

♥ Blog reviews: Waking Brain Cells, A Year of Reading, As the Page Turns, Challenging the Bookworm, Not Acting My Age, Prose and Kahn, Searching for a Good Read?.

♥ Check out Audrey Vernick's Literary Friendships for "Chatting with Mike."

♥ Kathy will read from and sign The Absolute Value of Mike tonight, June 9th, at the New Dominion Bookshop in Charlottesville, Virginia, 5:30 - 7 p.m. Check Kathy's blog for more bookstore appearances.

♥ More Soup of the Day posts here.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights

seven random things, hometown edition

2011-06-08T12:56:33Z

A little while ago, the lovely and talented Susan Taylor Brown presented me with this wonderful Stylish Blogger Award! The alphabet soup kitchen helpers and I are tickled pink that Susan finds our aprons and oven mitts worthy of recognition ☺.

This award comes with these responsibilities:

1. Thank and link to the person(s) who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to five blogging buddies.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

For my seven random facts, I decided to focus on my hometown of Wahiawa on the island of O'ahu. I lived there for the first 25 years of my life, attended two elementary schools, middle school, and high school there.

Whenever I go back to visit, I am struck by how ramshackle and sad it looks. It's a small country town that time forgot and I only have a handful of relatives still living there. But this is where I spent my childhood during a time when you could walk or bike almost anywhere, hamburgers cost 25 cents, and big excitement was seeing a new Elvis movie at the Wahiawa Theatre with my cousins.

SEVEN (MOSTLY FOOD) MEMORIES and the photos that prompted them:

1. I loved my second grade teacher, Miss Tomita, who had short perky hair and wore flats like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. I think she liked me, too, until she overheard me call her "Miss Tomato" while joking with friends. Even then, I was all about word play and food.

I attended Wahiawa Elementary School for grades K-3.

2. At Ka'ala ES, I suffered a grievous injustice. *shudders* I used to sit next to Arleen S. every day in the cafeteria. We always bought our lunch (excellent shortbread cookies!). One day we had peas, which we hated. We were trying to think of a way to make them disappear, since we couldn't go out to play until we ate everything.

Well, Arleen hid a couple of peas in my still-full milk carton, and when I expressed my disgust, the on-duty teacher came over to investigate. She saw the peas and scolded me for playing with my food -- then assigned me to detention for a week! Arleen, giggling, got off scott free. Though it was humiliating sitting in detention with all the troublemakers in school, the greater injustice was that Miss Maeda didn't give me a chance to explain. I never ate lunch with Arleen again.

3. For a couple of years, Gail H. was my very best friend. We always walked home from school together and stopped at B-Sweet, a small candy store, where we stocked up on orange sherbet, cracked seed, shredded mango, Red Whips, and the best rainbow-flavored lollipops in the world. We had fun joking with Bill, the owner, who lived above the store with his parents and daughter. Then we went to my house, where we listened to the Everly Brothers, paraded around in my mother's high heels, and devoured our snacks.

B-Sweet has been closed for years. Bill's mother used to sit outside and greet us kids.

4. I didn't attend church as a child, but as an adult, I served for a brief time as Youth Advisor at Olive United Methodist Church. Had fun doing Halloween Haunted Houses, Mother's Day breakfasts, and playing piano for the choir.

5. Enjoyed many a bowl of Korean dumplings at Seoul Inn (now called Seoul BBQ). Of course they were never as good as my Grandma's or mother's, but it was a treat to eat out once in awhile. Still remember the crumpled bits of dried seaweed, sliced fried egg garnish and the tasty chicken broth.

Seoul Inn with the orange double door entrance.

6. With Leilehua High School I came full circle, since after college I was a substitute teacher there for awhile. I especially enjoyed subbing for Mrs. Ishimoto, because I loved her speech class. To this day I do not like public speaking, but during my junior year, "Ish" inspired me to channel my inner drama queen with original oratory, humorous interp, dramatic interp, and extemporaneous speaking.

Leilehua High School entrance.

Speech Tournaments were always nerve wracking, and during my original oratory once I actually forgot my speech right in the middle. Luckily I recovered after a few panicky seconds and finished okay, receiving higher scores than I did for what I thought was a better performance later (no mistakes).

7. The Wahiawa Public Library is my favorite place, where the most significant, life-changing things happened. It's where a kind librarian once handed me Oliver Butterworth's The Trouble With Jenny's Ear, and said, "I think you'll like this one," where I discovered the Little House Books, all of Beverly Cleary, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Little Women, where I spent countless hours doing homework and research, where the big world outside my little town opened up with possibility.

Wahiawa Library still looks the same after all these years.

Front circulation desk.

Children's Section.

Hello Truman's Aunt Farm!

Wahiawa Library is also where I returned last October, to find one of my books on the R shelf next to Jenny's Bear, Sara Lewis Holmes's Operation Yes not too far away, along with two Grace Lin books. My excitement at seeing Sara's and Grace's books was greater than for seeing my own, because I felt like I was nine years old again, and I wanted to shout: "Look, look! I know them!" Who'd have ever thought I'd find Sara and Grace waiting for me in Wahiawa? When I was little, I never thought authors were real people. The library will always be a place of magic.

Hello Operation Yes!

Year of the Dog right next to Year of the Rat!

Thanks for the award, Susan! Since I'm working on food memoirish stories and essays now, I enjoyed this little trip back in time. I gotta write about that candy store. And do you think I should write a lunch pea story to get back at Arleen? ☺

♥ Friends, if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged. I'd love to hear seven random things about you and your hometown, or anything else you feel like sharing. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

olivia walton's applesauce cake

2011-06-06T11:44:51Z

"Two applesauce cakes were on display in the middle of the kitchen table when Clay-Boy walked in. He breathed in the spicy aroma appreciatively. Something had happened during his absence. There was some quickening of excitement, a sense of Christmas rushing inexorably down upon them, but in spite of the two proud cakes, he knew that his mother was not really prepared for the day." ~ Earl Hamner (The Homecoming)


    Miss Michael Learned earned 3 Emmy Awards for her role as Olivia Walton.

When I heard June 6th was National Applesauce Cake Day, the first person I thought of was Olivia Walton.

Though she and Grandma spend a lot of time in the kitchen serving up good old-fashioned country dishes like fried chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, beef stew, fresh corn on the cob, scrambled eggs, bacon and heavenly peach pie, it is her applesauce cake that holds special favor. Whenever there is something to celebrate, Olivia makes an applesauce cake, and it seems to work wonders with anyone needing a good serving of down home comfort.


         "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story" aired in 1971.

In Earl Hamner's novel, The Homecoming (1970), upon which the series pilot is based, Olivia Spencer makes two applesauce cakes for Christmas. She is apprehensive because her husband Clay, who's been working in the city far from home, is late returning home on Christmas Eve. She tries to hide her worry from the children by asking them to help her crack black walnuts for the cakes.

She eventually sends her eldest son, Clay-Boy, to go look for his father. One of his stops is the Staples home, where spinster sisters Etta and Emma ply him with whiskey-spiked eggnog. Though he is unable to locate his father, Clay-Boy returns home with a Mason jar of "Recipe." A devout Baptist, Olivia eschews all alcoholic beverages, but decides she can use some of the Recipe to make frosting for her applesauce cakes. Just goes to show how special those cakes are!


            Patricia Neal played Olivia in "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story"

After years and years of hearing about Olivia's Applesauce Cake, I finally made some, using the recipe included in The Homecoming.

Those who bake know that things turn out better when you're in the "mood" and have plenty of time. I declared a "no internet day" and set to work. If there's one thing I love, it's baking with spices. The cake calls for cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves, all of which smelled divine as I sifted them with the flour, even better when their aroma wafted from the oven during baking. These spices always evoke pleasant holiday memories, since I also use them to make gingerbread, pumpkin pie, molasses cookies and carrot cake. I pictured Olivia's kitchen with its woodburning stove, Hoosier cabinet and small icebox, and smiled at my own baking cupboard, which I designed after Olivia's.

Walton's Mountain Museum, Schuyler, Virginia

I always like creaming butter, sugar and eggs, seeing them whip up yellowy smooth. I remembered another time my KitchenAid was used for a special cake -- almost exactly a year ago, when the World's Best Baker and his constant companion, Tanita S. Davis, graced my kitchen all the way from Glasgow, and turned out a sweet puckery lemon cake, pieces of which I froze and savored for several months afterward with celebratory cups of Darjeeling. This good memory, I knew, would add extra flavor to my applesauce cake.

This was my first time using golden raisins in a cake other than fruitcake, and I was a little apprehensive, since raisins can be very cloying. So I compromised by trusting Olivia's raisins but leaving out the walnuts since I'm mildly allergic. I coated the raisins with flour to keep them from sinking, and added them to the batter after alternately stirring in the rest of the flour mixture and applesauce. Then all was transferred into my well greased tube pan (a veteran of angel food and lemon chiffon cakes), to bake at 350 for an hour.

Now, what to do about the frosting? It calls for the usual confectioner's sugar, butter, and cream -- and two tablespoons of bourbon. Yes, Olivia made an exception, but I decided not to, since I don't like the taste of alcohol in my desserts when it's not cooked off. I added 1/2 tsp of vanilla instead. This might be a good a time as any to also confess I doubled the amount of cinnamon in the cake and reduced the cloves by half. What good is a recipe if you can't play with it a little?

I'm happy to report that after thoroughly enjoying this bout of relaxing, contemplative baking, my applesauce cake was a great success. Very moist, albeit dense, a perfect coffeecake for breakfast or brunch, also nice with tea or a tall glass of cold milk. The raisins were not overly sweet at all; in fact the cake by itself was less sweet than expected. It would probably be just as good with sweetened whipped cream, a dusting of powdered sugar, a favorite glaze, or if you like, the aforementioned bourbon frosting. Depending on your preferences, you could also experiment with the spices, add different kinds of nuts, and chunky applesauce might be a good idea.

The exact origin of applesauce cake is unknown, though some speculate it developed during the time of the first World War when sugar was scarce, and it was "patriotic" to use less of it, along with less butter and fewer eggs (this recipe only uses two). Health-conscious folks like the idea of substituting applesauce for some of the shortening. It's easy to see how this cake might have been a staple during the Depression years, a favorite of the Spencers, Waltons and Hamners.

OLIVIA'S APPLESAUCE CAKE
(serves 12)

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 cups light raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp baking soda
3-1/2 cups flour (sifted)
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cloves
2 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt

Sift together: Flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Take 1/2 cup of flour mixture and stir into the nuts and raisins. Set both aside.

Cream butter until whipped soft. Add sugar a little at a time until mixture is smooth. Beat in eggs vigorously. Alternately stir in flour mixture and applesauce. When all mixed together, add nuts and raisins and mix well.

Pour batter into a well-greased cake mold. Bake in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for one hour. Cool ten minutes, then turn out on cake rack. Frost with Whiskey Frosting when cake is cool.

JANE'S WHISKEY FROSTING

1/4 cup butter
1 T cream
Pinch of salt
2 cups powdered sugar
2 T bourbon

Cream butter, add sugar and salt, then cream and whiskey. Whip until smooth. Frost cake.
-----------------------------------------------------

Sit a spell and have a piece before you rush off to your other business:

Happy National Applesauce Cake Day!!

(And, "Goodnight, Olivia . . . ")

♥ Related post: A Visit to Walton's Mountain

"If John doesn't get home soon with money, all we'll have for Christmas dinner is my applesauce cake. We won't even have that if I don't get a move on." ~ Olivia Walton

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

friday feast: two poetic peas in a pod

2011-06-03T13:32:37Z

Did you know that June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month?

Let's celebrate with PEAS!

*gele*/flickr

Today, we have not one, but TWO perfectly penned pea poems (one of them by a poet named Penny). I've titled this post "Two Poetic Peas in a Pod," because the similarities between the poems are quite uncanny. Both are entitled "Shelling Peas," both refer to fond childhood memories with grandmothers, both contain references to little boats from children's literature, and both are written in seven stanzas. To top it off, both poets live in New Jersey (the Garden State), and their first names contain five letters ("e" + double consonant + "y"). I mean, what are the chances?!

Maybe when it comes to pea poems, there's this gigantico cosmic pod that all poets share, some freaky pea collective unconscious they tap into. When you consider peas, it makes perfect sense. Except for The Princess and the Pea, they rarely go anywhere alone; they're definitely social vegetables who like to hang in groups. One thing for sure, both of these poems are excellent -- wonderful examples of the power of food to trigger vivid memories. Each reveals the poet's unique sensibility and it's interesting to see where their emotional journeys took them. I'd like to thank Kelly Fineman and Penny Harter for allowing me to post their poems and for providing a little backstory. Of course my curiosity was peaqued (sorry) -- why peas? why seven stanzas?, etc. Now I want to find a porch swing or vintage dinette table and shell some peas of my own!

kightp/flickr

SHELLING PEAS
by Kelly Ramsdell Fineman

1
Shelling peas after a day at the farmer's market, I am transported
to one of three mismatched chairs at the formica dinette table
in my grandmother's postage-stamp kitchen,
trying to keep pace with her, my small efforts no match
for the experience in her old hands.

2
I pop the stem of a pea pod back,
pull the string down the outside curve,
unzipping a jacket, only to find
a row of fat green pearl buttons inside.

3
Pea pods are the oysters of the garden –
inside some pods, a string of perfect pearls
in others, disappointment.

4
Pulling a string along the inside curve of a pea pod,
I create Thumbelina's canoe.

5
On first opening the outside curve of a pod,
I spy one row – a steady green caterpillar;
opening further, the hinge unclasps:
every other pea held to opposite sides
of this green womb by a tiny umbilicus.

6
Unzipping pods to strip reveal their insides,
I think about Charles Darwin:
Here three are fat and one is left unformed;
there, seven peas crowd so tightly their sides are flat,
blocks in a row that do not wish to separate.
Opening the last one, peas burst out;
avoiding my bowl, my hands,
they scatter four feet away on the floor.
The cat lies in wait to strike them.

7
I feel that I should write thank-you note
To the compost-bound empty husks:
Dear mother pods,
You have given me your children.
I had to pry them loose from the slight green cords
that bound them to you, through which
you gave them life and nurtured them.
Your job now over, I consign you to the compost heap.
Please know that before you can decay,
I will have eaten your children
dressed only with butter, salt and some pepper.

Copyright © 2010 Kelly Ramsdell Fineman. All rights reserved.

Kelly: I came home from the local farmer's market with fresh peas and sat down at the table to shell them. The house was very quiet and only Mojo was keeping me company. My mind was wandering a bit as I shelled, and some very concrete images and phrases started to pop into my head, so I grabbed a notebook and started jotting them all down in a sort of list. "Thumbelina's boat" was one entry. A rather detailed memory of performing the same task in my grandmother's kitchen, complete with a rather comprehensive description of her formica tabletop, was another. I ended up with something like eleven different entries, some long, some quite short.

Initially, I planned on writing one poem using the strongest image or concept, but I found that several of the ideas and images called to me, so I decided to take a page from Wallace Stevens's "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" and other poems I've read or heard in which poets have numbered their stanzas. In the end, some of the observations I'd made got combined together or shifted around while others got chucked -- et voilà: "Shelling Peas", in seven numbered stanzas.

Dead But Still Shopping/flickr

SHELLING PEAS
by Penny Harter

for my mother

We’re shelling peas, gently rocking on the swing
that hangs on chains from the roof of the porch
at my grandparents’ house.

I’m four years old, wedged between Mother and Nana.
Singing as we swing, I balance a metal pot on my knees
as peas rattle into it from their nimble hands.

Newly picked from the garden out back, the pods are still
warm from the sun. I take pleasure in the sudden give
along each seam, the stream of peas into my waiting palm.

Now and then I eat a handful, sweet-bitter on my tongue,
savoring their rawness, the scent of earth, the mystery
of taste revealed as I crunch their hard round bodies.

Feet not touching the floor, eyes even with the lattice-work
under the porch railing, I sway and dream in the shifting
light and shade of a long summer afternoon.

The owl and the pussycat went to sea / in a beautiful pea-green boat,
my mother recites to me at bedtime, her weight on the side of my bed,
her voice almost chanting this poem she has loved since childhood.

A blessing in my mouth, those pale, hard peas, which I taste
even now as I chew on this memory, hungry for a pea-green boat
I might go out to sea in, trawling for light among the watery stars.

Copyright © 2011 Penny Harter. All rights reserved.

Penny: One of my projects for my residency last January at VCCA was to write poems inspired by my reading my great-great-grandmother's journal for 1890 in Utica, NY. She wrote it when in her late fifties. She, Eleanor Ecob Morse, was a well-known 19th century painter (still-lifes) as was her husband, Jonathan Bradley Morse (landscapes). It is the only volume to survive from among some 60 journals my mother remembered seeing in her grandmother's attic when she was a young woman.

Anyway, Eleanor was an avid gardener and loved both fresh vegetables and flowers, often using them as models for her various displays she painted. Reading her accounts of picking both, I began remembering those fresh peas from my grandmother's garden, and shelling them with my nana and mother on my nana's front porch in South Orange, NJ. And the poem began. As for the tercets, that's just the way the poem seemed to want to unfold.

Pretty cool, no? Kelly and Penny, you're the best pea poets on the planet!

And now, a peas offering:

megpi/flickr

♥ Kelly Fineman's website and blog, Writing and Ruminating.

♥ Penny Harter's website and blog, A Poet's Alphabestiary.

♥ Aerobatic cloud collector Toby Speed is this week's Poetry Friday host at The Writer's Armchair. Zoom on over and check out the full menu of poems and reviews being shared around the blogosphere. Have a terrific weekend and of course,

PEAS BE WITH YOU!

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

random cuppie-o-gram #90765456

2011-06-02T12:50:23Z

Mosque cupcake by Rosina M/flickr.

It's been awhile since our last Cuppie-o-Gram, but this one was truly worth waiting for.

We are extremely pleased to congratulate fellow Virginia author Maha Addasi on receiving an Arab American Book Award Honorable Mention for her 2010 picture book, Time to Pray (Boyds Mills Press)!!

This award is given each year in the categories of Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children's/Young Adult and Poetry, and was established in 2006 by the Arab American National Museum and faculty members at the University of Toledo. Selected groups of readers consisting of respected authors, university professors, artists, and members of the AANM staff choose the winning titles. The purpose of the Award is to inspire authors, educate readers and foster a respect and understanding of the Arab American culture.

To see the full list of 2011 winners, click here.

CONGRATULATIONS, MAHA!!

♥ My review of Time to Pray, which was illustrated by Ned Gannon and translated into Arabic by Maha's mother, Nuha Albitar, is here.

♥ More Random Cuppie-o-Grams here.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

jammin' into june

2011-06-01T12:06:00Z

"Then followed that beautiful season . . . Summer . . .
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape/Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood." ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Okay, how did this happen? It's June already?

Doesn't matter what the calendar says. Summer has already hit Virginia with my "favorite" menu of H's: hazy, hot, humid. Hell's bells, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!

Since I can't and don't want to do that, I'll just have to requisition a few extra hunkalicious hotties to cool me off with palm fronds and tall glasses of sweet tea. (It would help tremendously if they all resembled Colin Firth and/or George Clooney and had the songwriting chops of Bob Dylan.)

Ooh, ooh! Have to share this video that was posted on the When Bob Met Woody Facebook Page. Hubba hubba! Hopefully, this will temporarily silence some of the misguided folks who constantly complain about Dylan's singing voice. Every word is intelligible.

Okay, where was I? So, what mischief have you been up to? Did you have a good Memorial Day weekend? We took it easy and slow; actually, we were forced to on Sunday since we had a morning power outage. Couldn't plug in, charge up, cook or flush -- when the power goes out, our well pump doesn't work, so no water to wash or rinse. You'll be happy to know we somehow managed to remain fair of face. Amazing what bathing in a few dewdrops will do. ☺

Though I often complain about the heat, I remain enamoured with the idea of summer -- long, sun-drenched days marked by leisurely mornings, lazy afternoons, relaxed, starlit evenings. And the food is the best -- lots of fresh fruits and veggies and good things on the grill. I'm perfectly happy with all-American burgers, steak and ribs, but like my share of marinated Portobello mushrooms, green peppers, eggplant, zucchini, asparagus and onions. We also enjoy grilling seafood and teriyaki chicken; Len feels especially accomplished when he slices fresh corn off the cob and grills the kernels with lots of butter in a foil packet.

And who doesn't welcome the much-anticipated "summer reading?" Books you've been dying to get to all year, saving them for those extended, uninterrupted periods of pure immersion. Summer also gives us permission to indulge in the guilty pleasure of "trashy" books, so-called beach reading. For me, this would include rock/celebrity biographies and memoirs, anything food-related, some popular women's fiction. I do draw the line at formula romances, though (even though I actually wrote one once), and continue to avoid anything self-help. But one girl's "trash" is another girl's gold, so who's to judge?

As Jules of 7-Imp would say, "whatever blows your hair back." There is inestimable value in reading as widely as possible -- especially in those genres you may have avoided for most of your life, say, politics, science fiction (collective gasp!), economics, Westerns, travelogues of people trekking to the ends of the earth and getting lost or eaten by the natives, or anything written by public figures SP, NG, GB, or RL. No guarantees but I'm willing to give it a go. You often learn the most from what you don't like or consider to be ~~sensationalized drivel~~ poorly written.

Speaking of Jules, have you read her excellent interview with Aaron Mead at Children's Books and Reviews? This time, she's the interviewee. So thorough, insightful, fascinating and positively Julie. What would we do without 7-Imp? I'd love to know what she puts in her coffee to be able to do all the things she does.

Mmmmm, Greek yogurt.

A few more links to get your summer off to a good start:

♥ Hawai'i author/illustrator James Rumford can now be found online at his official author website, Writing and Illustrating Books for Children blog, and website for Manoa Press, his fine press/letterpress business. With the ever-encroaching world domination of the e-book, handmade books, one-of-a-kind or limited production, will be treasured and valued even more. And for you Horace fans, Jim is still blogging about reading the man's poems in Latin and translating them into Latin prose at Horace et al. A very ambitious project, but Jim is the only person I know up to the task. In case you missed it, my interview with him is here.

♥ Zoe Toft at Playing by the Book did a marvelous job with May's Carnival of Children's Literature. Check out all the interesting posts.

♥ If you've got itchy shopping fingers, click through to A Likely Story: Items for the Bookish Sort. I especially like the Poetry Book Love earrings and all the cute charm bracelets. Thanks to Debbi Michiko Florence for the link.

♥ No matter your dream or struggle, you need to read this poem, "The Fighter," by S.E. Kiser, posted the other day by Tanita S. Davis. Writers, especially, will nod in recognition -- but as Tanita says, tough times are all over and we have to keep fighting. Don't miss this dose of inspiration!

♥ Found Orangette's post featuring Kimchi Fried Rice interesting and mouthwatering. Some spicy Koreanish cuisine is just the thing to jumpstart your summer and set a fire under your keister. Please pardon my small-mindedness, but I'm fascinated whenever a "haole" writes about Korean food. It's a rare occurrence in my world.

I leave you now with Greg Brown's "Canned Goods." Whatever your summer plans, let's distill the season's essence, the very best moments, memories and mmmmm's. Time has a way of slipping through our fingers, along with ideas and impressions. Perhaps that is why so many of us value the written word. Truth lovingly preserved with flavor unending. Keep on jammin'!

"The grand essentials of happiness are: Something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. " ~ Allan Chalmers

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

lip-smacking feast: hot, hot roti for dada-ji by f. zia and ken min

2011-05-31T11:45:43Z

Are you hungry, baba?

You've come to the right place! Let's fire up the skillet and cook some lip-smacking, oh-so-yummy, belly-rubbing roti!

Harry R/flickr

There's so much more to this homey unleavened Indian flatbread than meets the eye (or the stomach). Yes, it's perfect for scooping up curries and vegetables (love love it with dahl), but did you know it also has the power to inspire really good stories? Hunh-ji! Yes Sir!

Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji (Lee & Low Books, 2011) contains all the ingredients I love most in a children's story: food, family, and high octane fun. I can say unequivocally that it's my favorite picture book thus far about contemporary Indian American life. How to blend the old with the new? Find an interesting way to bridge the generations? Introduce young readers to an unfamiliar culture? Lace a story with tasty specifics that tap into universal themes? Debut author F. Zia accomplishes all these things with her beautifully crafted "story within a story" that never misses a beat and is an absolute hoot to read aloud.

Young Aneel is thrilled his grandparents have come to stay. He likes Dadi-ma's fragrant incense and soothing prayer song, and Dada-ji is "teaching him to stand on his head and to sit like a serene lotus." But what he loves most are Dada-ji's stories about the "faraway village with the green wheat fields and the swaying coconut palms."

(click to enlarge)

You see, when Dada-ji was a boy (wink, wink), he astonished the villagers with all manner of amazing feats -- he could wrestle snorting water buffalos, tie hissing cobras into knots, even spin three trumpeting elephants by their tails. Everyone stared in amazement and shouted "Wah! Wah! (Wow! Wow!)."

And where did Dada-ji get such incredible strength? By eating his mother's hot, hot fluffy-puffy roti, of course! It was SO good, people "trampled tall fields and swam angry rivers" for just one taste or sniff of the bread that sizzled and wizzled on Badi-ma's hot tavva pan. Dada-ji ate a tall stack every day with a side of tongue-burning mango pickle, and this gave him the power of the tiger ("ARRE WAH!").

(click to enlarge)

Telling these tall tales makes Dada-ji's tummy rumble. Aneel wonders, does Dada-ji still have the power? Who can make some roti? Everyone is busy, so Aneel will make it! After combining flour, water and salt, Aneel kneads, punches, pulls, then shapes the dough into balls. He rolls them out and Dadi-ma helps him cook up a tall stack. Wah! How Dada-ji loves Aneel's roti! Mmmmmm! Slurrrrrrrrp! Now they are ready to set off for some brand new adventures, like making the earth rumble and shaking apples off a tree for Dadi-ma's pie. :9

Baba, there are so many things to love about this book: the close, heartwarming relationship between grandfather and grandson, the liberal use of sound effects to amp up the fun, the seamless integration of Hindi words in the highly emotive text, and the overall exuberant pluckiness of the narrative. Roti is the perfect bridge between past and present, and I love the emphasis on making it, step by step. The tastiest, most satisfying food is always made with love, and we truly feel Aneel's respect, admiration, and affection for Dada-ji. Zia skillfully balances the two stories and nicely connects "then" with "now." This is a wonderful portrait of intergenerational dynamics that ultimately showcases the enduring power of good old-fashioned storytelling.

Ken Min's lively colored pencil and acrylic illos beautifully incorporate elements of East Indian culture in a contemporary Western setting. The combination of double full-bleed spreads, story panels, and playful perspectives makes every page turn a delight. Of course my favorite spreads are the ones of Aneel making the roti -- the look of serene pride and accomplishment on his face as he shapes those dough balls is priceless, and his tongue sticking out in intense concentration as he works that rolling pin nicely echoes Dada-ji's anticipatory tongue on the cover. The tall stack of cooked roti is a delicious tall tale in itself, and what about that spiraling queue of villagers waiting for Badi-ma's roti? Just like the tiger power being unleashed from within Dada-ji! ARRE WAH!

Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji received a glowing review from Fuse #8 and a starred review from Kirkus, who says the book is "A natural for reading aloud, laced with great tastes, infectious sound effects and happy feelings." Though a roti recipe is not included in the book, there is one available at the publisher's website. Make some roti today, baba, enjoy the book, and lick your salt-tipped fingers one by one. Hunh-ji!

HOT, HOT ROTI FOR DADA-JI
written by F. (Farhana) Zia
illustrated by Ken Min
published by Lee & Low Books, 2011
Full Color Picture Book for ages 5-10, 32 pp.
Includes a Glossary of Hindi words
Cool themes: Multicultural family, grandparents, cooking, East Indian culture, independence, tall tales, humor.

MORE

♥ Cool booktalk with F. Zia and Ken Min at Lee & Low's website.

♥ Ken Min's official illustrator website and artist blog.

♥ A look at Ken's Creative Space at From the Mixed Up Files of Jennifer Bertman.

♥ Blog interviews with F. Zia at MymcBooks's Blog, HappyNappy Bookseller.

Don't forget your tongue-burning mango pickle (recipe here)!

*Spreads posted by permission, text copyright © 2011 F. Zia, illustrations © 2011 Ken Min, published by Lee & Low Books. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

quack up!

2011-05-25T12:13:39Z

Blurry? Is this picture blurry? Have you ever tried to photograph a quazy duck?

Quackity quack quack!

Look who waddled into town over the weekend -- yes, that's Max the Duck, star of the New York Times Bestselling picture book series with his uber-talented creator, Jackie Urbanovic!

Jackie was on the panel at the Mid Atlantic SCBWI New Member Welcome held at the Reston Regional Library, sharing her thoughts on "The Creative Life: Navigating the Peaks and Valleys of Writing and Illustrating for Children," along with Lezlie Evans, Valerie Patterson and Regional Advisor Ellen Braaf.

Though I had interviewed Jackie a couple of times for alphabet soup, we'd never met in person. When I finally introduced myself following the panel discussion, she let out a little scream, jumped out of her seat and gave me a big hug. "I can't believe you're here!" she kept saying. Just ducky!!

Such a thrill -- I've been a Jackie fan since I discovered Duck at the Door at my public library back in 2007 -- and have enjoyed each and every installment in the series: Duck Soup, Duck and Cover, and Sitting Duck. Okay, guess which one is my favorite?

HOW COULD I NOT LOVE SOMEONE WHO WRITES ABOUT SOUP?!

Anyway, I got her to sign my books, and then we quipped and quacked for a few minutes. Jackie's positive energy is contaigious, and she's able to convey so much joy and exuberance in her art. Zip, jump, run. Badda-bing! Quazy good (with a side of quisp).

Possibly my most favorite inscription EVER!

Her latest title, released earlier this year, is IF YOU'RE HOPPY, written by April Pulley Sayre (Greenwillow, 2011). Full of hoppy sloppy animals growling and flapping all over the place (review coming soon). Big, big dose of Happy.

I'm a lucky duck, no? ☺

♥ More Jackie posts here.

*skips away*

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

let's celebrate: when bob met woody by gary golio and marc burckhardt!

2011-05-24T03:54:48Z

"All I can do is be me, whoever that is." ~ Bob Dylan



Hey, hey! Today is Bob Dylan's 70th birthday!!

We could celebrate by listening to 70 of our favorite Dylan songs, singing "Like a Rolling Stone" seventy times, or by letting out 70 WooHoo's! for this brand new picture book biography, When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan (Little, Brown, 2011). (I vote for all of the above.)

Honey Babe, I was soooooooo excited when I first heard this book was coming out, but disappointed when I couldn't get my hands on a review copy -- until the ever thoughtful and generous Jules of 7-Imp offered to share hers (kiss kiss hug hug love on that beautiful woman). Now, I'm no longer a sad-eyed lady of the lowlands, because I've devoured Gary Golio's wonderful words and pored over Marc Burckhardt's crackerjack illustrations.

Though there are several middle grade Dylan biographies, and two recent picture books illuminating his song lyrics -- Man Gave Names to All the Animals illustrated by Jim Arnosky (Sterling, 2010), and Forever Young illustrated by Paul Rogers (Atheneum, 2008) -- Golio's is the first trade picture book biography featuring the iconic music legend.



Even a casual fan knows there are tons of books published about Dylan (latest count: approximately 1000 titles in English), including biographies and retrospectives, songbooks, photo albums, graphic interpretations of his lyrics, collections of articles and interviews, academic analyses of his ouevre by hardcore Dylanologists, even an encyclopedia containing every bit and bob about Bob. And of course, there's Dylan's own critically acclaimed memoir, Chronicles, Volume One (S&S, 2005). So Mr. Golio's task must have been quite daunting, sifting through the available resources and creating a narrative captivating enough to interest young readers who've probably never heard of our favorite Archbishop of Anarchy. And then there's that little matter of Dylan fabricating parts of his life, especially his early years.

In his Author's Note, Golio says:

As a boy, I was always looking for heroes, just as Bob was looking for Woody even before he'd ever heard of him. Babe Ruth, Leonardo da Vinci, Spider-Man, Amelia Earhart, and Harry Houdini -- they were just a few of my inner stars, and I came to them for guidance, hoping to learn more of life's secrets. But it was Bob's search for his guiding star that inspired me to write this book.

So we read about young Bobby Zimmerman of Hibbing, Minnesota, the brilliant blue-eyed boy who taught himself to play the guitar and piano, who stayed up late listening to Hank Williams, Muddy Waters and B.B. King on the radio, who worked in his father's store to earn money for records and an electric guitar. Music was both passion and refuge for the teenager who dreamed of traveling to faraway places and felt more and more like an outsider in his hometown.

His was one of the few Jewish families in Hibbing, and he was teased by his peers. He seemed to eat, breathe and sleep music, told everyone he wanted to be a musician when he grew up, but no one took him seriously. Even his father thought music was a waste of time. When his band got kicked off stage at a school talent show for playing too loud, Bobby swore he'd be a bigger star than Elvis.

Dylan continued his self apprenticeship by listening to all kinds of music, including jazz, hillbilly and Lead Belly's folk and blues. He started college in Minneapolis to please his parents, who wanted him to be an engineer. But he spent most of his time in the coffeehouses of Dinkytown, where "folk music was all the rage." He was drawn to its purity and honesty, the "songs about real life, hard times, and hope." After hearing Odetta, he traded his electric guitar for an acoustic, renamed himself "Bob Dylan" after his favorite poet Dylan Thomas, performed in local cafés, and continued to practice singing, playing and absorbing various forms of traditional music (ballads, sea shanteys, railroad songs, fiddle tunes).

When he finally heard Woody Guthrie's records, he knew he'd found his true hero. He wanted to be a hard travelin' singer, storyteller and songwriter just like Woody, who played for "striking miners and starving farmers." By the time Dylan actually made his legendary journey to New York in 1961 to meet Woody, he knew all of Guthrie's songs inside out.

Meeting Woody was life-changing in many ways, not the least of which was the fortuitous entree to the inside circle of leading Greenwich Village folk musicians like Joan Baez, Dave Van Ronk, and Pete Seeger, who not only influenced his music, but housed, fed, and helped him get gigs. It must have been a magical moment when Bob presented Guthrie with his special gift: singing for him one of the first songs he'd ever written, "Song to Woody," using the melody from Woody's song, "1913 Massacre." Borrowing melodies, reworking tunes to new lyrics, turning things over, passing it on -- all part of the rich tradition of folk music. The belief that songs are dynamic entities, subject to spontaneous reinvention and a wide swath of interpretation would subsequently become Dylan's MO for live performances.

Young readers will be inspired by the young upstart who challenged the status quo to follow his passion. It is interesting to read about Dylan's earliest musical influences; Golio's lyrical prose nicely interweaves working class values, the lure of the outside world, and burgeoning social consciousness with the singular brand of emotional intensity, focus and ambition that characterized the young Dylan. When Bob Met Woody is a good primer on the makings of creative genius in its formative stages: it can take root in humble soil, sprouts from imitation and emulation, and eventually flourishes with dogged single mindedness.



Marc Burckhardt's fabulous illustrations -- acrylic and oil on paper mounted on board -- are rendered in rich, warm hues with a crackle finish, evoking classic Americana. Some of the more iconographic spreads resemble sixties album covers, my favorites being the one of a Woody Guthrie vinyl LP sun with burnt orange rays rising beyond the hills, and when you turn the page -- a masterful portrait of Woody in the foreground with the sun's glorious rays filling the sky. And don't you love the cover image? Woody looms large in the clouds, a young troubador's dream and North Star. The book contains both an Afterword and an Author's Note, along with Source Notes. Share this one with the music lovers in your tribe, along with your favorite Dylan tunes.

We may as well top off this birthday post by listening to Bob and Woody. Guthrie's "1913 Massacre" was written in 1941, the year Bob was born. It chronicles the true story of the tragic death of striking miners and their families during a Christmas party at the Italian Hall in Calumet, Michigan.

Here's Bob's "Song to Woody." Bob's performed it live only 53 times in his career, the last time in Newcastle, UK, in 2002.

WHEN BOB MET WOODY: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan
written by Gary Golio
illustrated by Marc Burckhardt
published by Little, Brown (May 2011)
PB Biography for ages 8-12, 40 pp.
Cool themes: Folk music, individualism, mentors, heroes

MORE MORE MORE

♥ Gary Golio's official website. You probably know about his NYT Bestselling, multiple award-winning first PB biography, Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow. His next book is about John Coltrane!

♥ Marc Burckhardt can be found online at this website, MarcBurckhardt.com, and his blog, Drawger. If you're not familiar with Marc's stunningly gorgeous work, get thee hither immediately. The Official Texas State Artist for 2010, he was commissioned to create the official portraits for the 26th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies, which you can see here. ETA: Marc has posted more spreads from the book in this Drawger post.

♥ Check out the ongoing When Bob Met Woody Blog Tour, with stops at The Fourth Musketeer, Noblemania, Gail Gauthier's Original Content, Anastasia Suen's Picture Book of the Day, Deo Writer, and The Brain Lair.

♥ Great radio interview with Gary at WMMR 93.3 Philadelphia.

♥ Interesting audio feature: "Boy From the North Country: Bob Dylan in Minnesota" from Minnesota Public Radio. Interviews with people who knew him way back when, including one woman who tells what it was like to date Dylan. Swoon?

♥ What would you give Bob for his birthday? Some famous fans weigh in at The Guardian.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOB!

Greenwich Village, 1963 (photo by Jim Marshall)

"Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow" ~ Mr. Tambourine Man

**Spreads from When Bob Met Woody posted by permission, text copyright © 2011 Gary Golio, illustrations © 2011 Marc Burckhardt, published by Little, Brown. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

friday feast: round and round we go, or, once upon another time

2011-05-20T11:06:49Z

PlayStation.blog/flickr

FAT IS NOT A FAIRY TALE
by Jane Yolen

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Cinder Elephant,
Sleeping Tubby,
Snow Weight,
where the princess is not
anorexic, wasp-waisted,
flinging herself down the stairs.

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Hansel and Great,
Repoundsel,
Bounty and the Beast,
where the beauty
has a pillowed breast,
and fingers plump as sausage.

I am thinking of a fairy tale
that is not yet written,
for a teller not yet born,
for a listener not yet conceived,
for a world not yet won,
where everything round is good:
the sun, wheels, cookies, and the princess.

~ from Such a Pretty Face (Meisha-Merlin Publishing, Inc.), Copyright © 2000 Jane Yolen. All rights reserved. Posted with permission of the author.

seedsinanapple/flickr

That Jane. She runs rings around us all, doesn't she?

"Everything round is good" -- and when it comes to food, everything good just happens to be round.

FEAST ON THESE:

smcgee/flickr

CruSTABakes/flickr

Salim Virji/flickr

megpi/flickr

The Pink Princess/flickr

Iban/flickr

the purple spoon/flickr

*rubs tummy, which is rounder from all this eye candy*

(Also thinking of pizza, hamburgers, tortillas, pancakes, M&Ms plain, honeydew melons, peppermint patties, Ritz crackers, moonpies, and onion rings)

Tell me, what's your favorite round food?

♥ The always lovely and supremely talented Julie Larios is hosting today's Poetry Friday ROUNDup at The Drift Record. Please take her a cookie and enjoy all the delicious poems being shared around the blogosphere today.

lisahampton/flickr

*Rolling away . . .*

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

slurp slurp yum: plenty saimin by feng feng hutchins and adriano abatayo

2011-05-18T12:29:02Z

Know what would taste really ono right about now?

A big bowl of warm, steamy, soul satisfying saimin!

At this very moment, I'm dreaming of dipping my chopsticks in hot dashi and slurping up some fresh saimin noodles -- just the right firmness, a little curly -- with a bit of char-siu (sweet roast pork), kamaboko (fish cake), fried egg and crunchy wonbok cabbage. See those chopped green onions nestled atop the noodles? I'm gonna scoop them up and slurp again. Mmmmm!

James Rubio/flickr

Saimin is truly "Hawai'i in a bowl," a ubiquitous snack turned main dish inspired by Japanese ramen, Chinese mein, and Filipino pancit. It always, always hits the spot. Now there's a brand new award winning picture book called Plenty Saimin by Feng Feng Hutchins and Adriano Abatayo (Island Paradise Publishing, 2010), a tasty tale sure to satisfy the appetites of diehard saimin lovers and curious foodies.

For his birthday, Ah Kee's mom is making his favorite long-life noodles. On the way to the market, Ah Kee can't quell his excitement nor stem his enthusiastic generosity as he invites friend after friend to share their meal. Ma worries they won't have enough to feed everyone, but Ah Kee can't help but invite whomever they run into. She needn't have worried, since each friend arrives with an ingredient to add to the dish.



This deceptively simple stone-soup-like narrative, set in a 1950's rural plantation village, echoes saimin's unique evolution -- a noodle dish containing Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese and Hawaiian elements, informally and spontaneously created by sugarcane and pineapple plantation workers of the early 1900's. Plenty Saimin captures the essence of Island eating, a lively communal event where ethnicities blend, friendships are fostered, and each bite is flavored with captivating talk story.

Earlier this month, Plenty Saimin won a 2011 Ka Palapala Po'okela Award for Excellence in Children's Literature as well as an Honorable Mention citation for Excellence in Children's Illustrative/Photographic Books. It was also nominated for the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Asian Pacific American Award for Literature. We're thrilled for debut picture book author Feng Feng Hutchins and artist Adriano Abatayo, whose detailed, muted color pencil illustrations gracefully evoke times past when life was simpler, the pace was slower, and people were more attuned to nurturing one another.

Feng and Adriano with publisher Kerry Germain at Native Books launch, Honolulu, HI.

As you can imagine, it was probably quite a thrill to have one's first published children's book garner such glowing accolades. I asked Feng what it's been like promoting the book, sharing it with children, and what she hopes mainland readers will take away from the story:

FENG: The thought of going out to promote my book scared me. I was quite clueless about the book business. I knew it was going to be hard since I am a first time author. My publisher Kerry Germain coached me at my first two readings. Slowly, it got a little easier. When Plenty Saimin came out last fall, I went to many craft fairs on weekends. What I didn't expect are the aches and pains on my arms and shoulders. You need muscles to carry books, table and chair. So I live on medicated patches for days.

The best part was seeing the smiling faces of young kids when I read, " . . . having noodles for my birthday. Can you come?" It was as if they are invited, too. The librarian made saimin and served them at the end of my reading! My biggest surprise was finding out that the Bolosan Grocery Store actually existed. Plenty Saimin has brought the Bolosans closer together. It's an honor to be invited to their family reunion this July.

I hope mainland children will enjoy reading about how it was to grow up in Hawai'i during the plantation days. Also, how fun it can be to live in a multicultural world and eat saimin with your friends.



And Feng's favorite saimin garnishes?

FENG: I prefer the basics, so my favorite garnishes are char-siu, pink kamaboko, eggs, cabbage and green onions.


            James Rubio/flickr

In case you're wondering, the book also includes a recipe for Ah Kee's Saimin. You can keep it simple with traditional garnishes like Feng mentions, or bump it up a notch by adding tempura shrimp, wonton, or gyoza, etc. No char-siu handy? Try Spam™, luncheon meat or ham!

PLENTY SAIMIN by Feng Feng Hutchins
illustrated by Adriano F. Abatayo III
published by Island Paradise Publishing, 2010
Picture book for ages 4-8, 44 pp.
Cool themes: cultural diversity, food, Hawai'i, sharing, cooking, families, friendship, social dynamics

♥ Check out this cool review of Plenty Saimin and interview with Feng at Hawaii Book Blog.

♥ Click here for Feng Feng Hutchins's blog, and here for Feng's Facebook Author Page.

Historic replica homes at Hawai'i's Plantation Village, Waipahu, HI.

*Spreads posted by permission, text copyright © 2010 Feng Feng Hutchins, illustrations © 2010 Adriano F. Abatayo III, published by Island Paradise Publishing. All rights reserved.

**Special thanks to Feng for permission to reprint photos included in this post.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

six happy things on a tuesday

2011-05-17T12:16:04Z

1. Amiable houseguest: our great-nephew Charlie, surely the sweetest, most adorable munchkin in the land, was here over the weekend. To his credit: good looking in PJs, can pronounce my name correctly, puts trash in the bin, likes my bread pudding, eats his veggies, good napper, smiles 99% of the time, likes washing machine buttons. We are presently negotiating his employment here as a duster.


          Charlie with his dad, Brad. Want one of those monkey bibs.

2. Made an egg custard pie after being inspired by Candice Ransom's guest post about her mom's great baking prowess. Sprinkled extra nutmeg on top just like Candice likes it. Can you say smooth and velvety?

3. Fox sightings! Fuzzy the Fox has a brand new family -- a wife and two kits. One afternoon I spotted one of the babies out and about by himself while everyone else was asleep. Finally captured the rascal playing near the den, which is quite a comfy compound with 3 mounded entrances and an impressive series of underground tunnels. The babies' names: Kit and Kaboodle, of course!

4. Finally got a Kindle. First book I'm reading is Robin Brande's YA novel, Doggirl. Loving it. Think I might subscribe to a few magazines to cut down on the clutter around here.



5. Baby bird: Every year, we have a bird's nest in the same corner of our porch roof. The mama bird sat for days on end and finally, little beaks appeared! In a tragic turn of events, one of the nestlings fell out of the nest, but its sibling survived. This jumbo fledgling likely needed more room. Hope Mama makes the nest a little larger next year.

6. More pie! Recently went to Hill High Country Store and scored a divine cherry pie. Bar none, these are some of the best pies around, with crusts so light and flaky your eyes roll back in your head. Definitely worth the hour's drive. Gonna try their peach next time. ☺

Happy Tuesday, All! Whatever's on your agenda, have fun and remember to smile at the next person you see. And eat some pie. One can never have too much pie. Did I mention I like pie?

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.

if rocks could sing: a discovered alphabet by leslie mcguirk!

2011-05-16T12:36:43Z

#31 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

"Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." ~ Jonathan Swift

Oh. My. God.

This has got to be the most astonishing alphabet collection ever -- the coolest of the cool, the most unique and inspiring gift from nature anyone has ever received!

Some time ago, author/illustrator Leslie McGuirk began taking a closer look at the sedimentary rocks on a stretch of Florida beach near her home. These fascinating natural sculptures, smoothed and shaped by thousands of years of wave action, consisted of grains of sand and fossilized shell fragments "glued together" by a chemical in the seawater. Yes, they were all amazing and beautiful, each in its own way, but it was Leslie who noticed that some resembled letters of the alphabet.



She soon became obsessed (my kind of woman), and began collecting these special letter rocks, as well as rocks resembling objects beginning with each letter. She did this for over ten years. Patient, persistent, eyes open, heart waiting. One by one, they revealed themselves to her. And now, she's sharing her collection with the world in her brand new book, If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet (Tricycle Press, 2011), which will be officially released on Tuesday, May 24th!

In her Author's Note, "Rock Talk," Leslie says: "Finding these letters, and rocks that looked like objects to match them, was a process of believing that anything is possible. These are beautiful sculptures, little works of art. I feel honored to share these rocks with the world. These compositions are intended to allow these rocks to speak for themselves . . . and for us to imagine what we would hear if rocks could sing."

Leslie is here today to tell us more. You will no doubt be inspired to take a closer look at the world around you and marvel anew at the wonders of nature.

Jama: How and why did you start collecting alphabet shaped rocks?

Leslie: When I first moved to Florida, I started looking for shells, but they were all broken and not very interesting. So my brain switched gears and started to notice the rocks, which were truly odd little shapes. They became a total fascination for me. Suddenly I noticed letters, like L and C, which are easy to find, and then I started to think about writing out a word in stone. The obsession began!

Jama: What was the first alphabet rock you found?

Leslie: Probably a C or an L or an I. Those are pretty common.

Jama: Do you have a favorite?

Leslie: For sure the letter K, as I still have only one, after 10 years of looking. The M and W, which can be reversed, are also very rare.

Jama: Tell us about when the letter K finally appeared and how you felt.

Leslie: I knew that I did not have a book without a K, and it was driving me nuts that I could not find it. I was actually walking with a friend, and he found it, and I remember thinking, "OMG! It finally appears and I didn't even find it!" I think there is a lesson in there somewhere -- for me, of course! It's all about trusting, letting go, and allowing others to help!

Jama: Aside from the unique satisfaction of completing this collection, what has this experience taught you? Has it changed your approach to art; are there any lessons applicable to living a creative life?

Leslie: For sure there are many lessons from these rocks. If you think about anything in your life, that you really really want, but it never seems to happen -- you have to let go and trust. The universe has its own timing, and it is not our timing. This is a hard lesson. We want what we want, and we want it in our timing. I could have gone out to the ocean and screamed, "HURRY UP! GIVE ME A LETTER K!" It would not have made a bit of difference. I just had to trust, and know that one day, it would be there . . . and probably not the way I would have expected. Which was true! Since I never actually found it! A friend did! So it was a gift from the sea and from a friend, too.

Jama: Will there be a rock numbers book (or have you started any other rock collections)?

Leslie: I have hundreds of rocks that did not make this book. I am really wanting to do another book! I just have to find the hook for the book! Numbers is a good idea. I could even do another alphabet book. Of course, the K might have to be repeated, but not the object! But then again, I may find another K, right? I am always looking for rocks and I have some real gems in my collection that did not make the book. Recently, a high end jewelry designer who works with very expensive stones, looked at my rocks and was blown away. In a weird way my stones are as precious as her stones. The other cool thing about this book is that the ocean made these rocks, not me. I am just the collector!

Jama: Thanks so much for sharing your alphabet rocks with all of us, Leslie. I tend to think that when it comes to collections of any kind, the objects find the person who is fated to be their most devoted and appreciative caretaker. What an honor!

If Rocks Could Sing was just named to the Top Ten of the Summer 2011 Indie Kids Next List, and has received glowing reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, which said, "McGuirk's stone collection stands alone for the sheer "Wow" factor that nature can create."

Everyone, pre-order your copies now! Here's a cool book trailer:

IF ROCKS COULD SING: A Discovered Alphabet
by Leslie McGuirk
published by Tricycle Press/Random House, May 2011
Endlessly fascinating and appropriate for all ages, 48 pp.
On shelves May 24, 2011.

♥ For more about Leslie and her books, check out her official website. If Rocks Could Sing Facebook Page is here.

♥ Related post: My review/interview with Leslie and Alex Von Bidder about Wiggens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant. Barkingly delicious!

♥ More alphabetica here.

*Images from If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet copyright © 2011 by Leslie McGuirk. Published by Tricycle Press, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. All rights reserved.

Certified authentic alphabetica. Handmade just for you with love and the letter K.

Copyright © 2011 Jama Rattigan of jama rattigan's alphabet soup. All rights reserved.