Turning the Little House Books into Classics

I recently came across a research paper by Anita Clair Fellman, on the relationship between Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, Rose Lane. Fellner paints Laura's childhood in different strokes than Laura herself did, describing it as unstable due to their frequent moves, and filled with demanding responsibilities. As a devoted Little House fan, I must have read Big Woods through Golden Years at least a half dozen times, and never would have used Rose's words, "a hard, narrow, relentless life," to describe the journey.

When Rose, an established writer, convinced her mother to write stories based on her childhood, Laura produced "Pioneer Girl." First-person and written on a more adult level, it languished with publishers. As Rose worked the manuscript, complaining to her diary that her mother wanted, "prestige rather than money," she at last found a publisher interested in seeing one part of the manuscript expanded. This eventually became Little House in the Big Woods, but not without plenty of writer-editor, mother-daughter tension. At one point, Rose wrote to her mother, "you must listen to me…If you don't do what I tell you to, you must at least have good hard reasons for not doing it." Good advice from an editor, but the daughter continues, "Just because I was once three years old, you honestly oughtn't to think that I'm never going to know anything more than a three-year-old."

Fellner notes that through the books, Laura recast her family and her childhood with a "golden glow" that never really existed. Meanwhile, Rose, without whom the books might not have taken shape, never could take credit for work which became more celebrated than anything she produced under her own name.

--cross posted to Under the Covers...

Libraries Boom/Economy Bust

Librarians have seen it before. When the economy sours, free services become a sweet treat for families needing to cut spending. It's hard to beat free books, movies, music and internet service at the local public library.

In Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, a new library building opened last year has already recorded a 73-percent increase in library checkouts.

When I was a child I never visited a bookstore once, but Wednesday was Library Day, the one day our public library was open. My sister and I would walk a mile there and back with a stack of books every week. The librarian limited us to six each, but since we since shared we had enough. I can't imagine growing up without a library.

While public libraries are booming, parents and teachers worry school libraries may be an endangered species as school districts suffer funding shortfalls. I posted about this a few days ago and a parent e-mailed me with information on Washington States school library funding drive. They are near reaching ten-thousand signatures urging legislators to define basic education to include school libraries and librarians. Duh! Let me go on record: libraries are even more necessary than schools. Basic education? I think so.
Click here to help with the petition drive.

~~Mary Cronk Farrell

CRYPTIDS and the value of wonder.

Two years ago, Darby Creek Publishing released TALES OF THE CRYPTIDS, a nonfiction look at the evidence for and the evidence against mysterious animals that may or may not be real. From Bigfoot to the Loch Ness Monster, dozens of urban legends are explored journalistically for kids 9 to 12 years old.

It was a book we all loved. I wrote the lion's share of the text, Rick illustrated and contributed many, many creative ideas, and Roxyanne Young was crucial when it came to constructing the cryptidictionary at the back of the book -- one of the most popular features.

Most good books sell briskly the first year they're available, then settle into a quiet place on the backlist. CRYPTIDS has been different. It hasn't slowed down, not even for a minute. More than 18,000 copies have been sold, it's in its third or fourth reprinting, and publicity has been on the slow but steady rise.

SECRET SATURDAYS, a new Cartoon Network series about a cryptid hunting family that will debut this fall, used the book as one of its research tools. They even interviewed Rick for a promotional trailer that will be in movie theaters across the nation in September. And when two Georgia men claimed they had found a Bigfoot carcuss -- press conference tomorrow, watch for it -- the Atlanta Journal Constitution called Rick for the straight story. The article should be syndicated in Knight-Rider papers all over the country.

Simply put, CRYPTIDS is a book with a life of its own. WHY?

Because we understood something about kids, and even people who used to be kids when we put it together. We understood that all people yearn for moments of wonder. And no subject should be off limits, even animals that might not be real. As long as the approach is honest, and responsible -- journalistic -- even high interest topics can be educationally valuable and FUN.

If I could make one point clear to my partners in crime -- teachers & librarians devoted to reaching out to kids -- it would be that one. Fun and education CAN go hand-in-hand, if we cling to our spirits of curiosity, if we never forget to wonder.

Thanks to all the readers who have made CRYPTIDS such a magical experience. Here's hoping it's follow-up, ALIEN ENCOUNTERS will be just as interesting and fun.

For more about the alleged Bigfoot discovery, follow this link:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Bigfoot-Remains-Found-In-Georgia-US-To-Be-Unveiled-At-Press-Conference/Article/200808215078470

For more about SECRET SATURDAYS, click here, and go to "New Shows," then "Secret Saturdays," then "Sizzle Reel":

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/promos/upfront/

Kelly Milner Halls

Money for School Libraries

Q: How many people does it take to convince the Washington State Senate to request $12-million for school libraries?
A: Three moms who refused to give up.

In March 2008, the Senate voted 49-to-0 for the $12-million, but it was whittled to $4-million in emergency money to last only one year. Here’s what you can do: take action.

The moms, of course, told me they didn’t turn the light bulb alone. They created a website Fund Our Future to connect supporters, media, legislators and students, registering more than six-thousand signatures in favor of funding a teacher librarian in every public school in Washington State.

It all started when Spokane School District cut back teacher/librarians to solve funding problems. They couldn’t put one over on 7-year-old Isabel. She came home from school and told her mom, “It’s not a library anymore.”

Her mom Lisa Layera Brunkan investigated. “They literally turned out the lights, unplugged the computers and locked the door. The library was dark 2 ½ days a week,” she says. When the librarian was there, she had no time to help Isabel find suitable books.

Lisa joined two other concerned moms and began to speak out. “What were our chances?” says Lisa. “They told us, When pigs fly… We couldn’t wait until then. Our kids would be grown.”

They discovered they had to frame their message right for people to take action. “We know school libraries matter. We know test scores go up in schools with libraries, but saying that wasn’t enough,” says Susan McBurney. “We needed buzz words." What worked? Our kids deserve a 21^th century education.”

“Compared to some other states, Washington is in the dark ages,” Lisa says.

When they talked about preparing students for a global economy, about providing a relevant education that will keep them competitive, everybody started to listen, politicians, business people and voters alike.

Another talking point: Equity. A student in rural Steven’s county with no computer at home cannot compete with students at a Lake Washington school who take a camera on a field trip, then come back and create a podcast.

Next blog I’ll tell you how these moms set a fire now spreading to other states.

~~Mary Cronk Farrell

PUTTING A FACE ON IRAN.

PHOTO CAPTION: Middle Schooler I met in Kerman, Iran. Girls asked their American and UK visitors in English, "Which would be better to study, electrical or mechanical engineering?"

A treat for me at ALA was an opportunity to speak with Greg Mortenson, co-author of Three Cups of Tea, and a mountaineer from Montana who built over fifty schools for women and girls in war torn and earthquake ridden villages of Afghanistan and Pakistan. I had not read his book, but have heard about his development work in this region from others who had met him. His lecture and slide show inspired me and I was thrilled to hear that a YA edition is forthcoming. It will help bring a humanistic view of this part of the world to young people, who are faced with primarily negative images of the Middle East in our mainstream media. Perhaps it will also encourage young readers to make a contribution of this nature to the world. Many schools are helping Greg through Pennies for Peace. /www.penniesforpeace.org/home.html

When I spoke with Greg, I thanked him for sharing with the audience Iran’s positive role in his work in Pakistan. During his talk Greg explained that in order to build schools in northern Pakistan, he needed permission of Iranian clerics, the Supreme Leaders, whom the local Shi’a mullas looked to for guidance. When word finally came, he was invited into the Imam Bara Mosque where he sat among eight members of the Council of Mullahs, who had gathered there to read the dispatch from Qom, Iran. “Dear Compassionate of the Poor,” it began, “our holy Koran tells us all children should receive education, including our daughters and sisters…you have our permission, blessings and prayers.”

So often during the talks I have given on Iran, the setting of my novel Anahita’s Woven Riddle, I am asked if women in Iran are permitted to work, drive cars or go to school. The answer is yes to all of these. Many hold advanced degrees and they work in every sector of society. I have been told that they are better represented in government than women in the U.S. The young women I met in Iran who lived in orphanages, attended middle schools or universities spoke more than one language, many knew two or three.

Thank you, Greg, for your good deeds, good words, good thoughts.

~~Meghan Nuttall Sayres

More from ALA

Left to right:
Susan Van Metre, editor of ANAHITA'S WOVEN RIDDLE, Meghan Nuttall Sayres, Jason Wells, Director of Marketing, Abrams Books For Young Readers at ALA in Anaheim, CA on Saturday, June 28.

ALA, June 2008

Both Meghan Nuttall Sayres and Kelly Milner Halls attended the American Library Association's annual conference in June of 2008 --in Anaheim, California this year. And what a whirlwind of activity that experience turned out to be.

Meghan signed for her publisher, Harry N. Abrahms/Amulet Books of course. But she also took part in a wonderful opportunity, the YALSA Coffee Klatch, Sunday morning, June 29. A ticketed event, YA librarians gathered at round tables with two empty chairs and enjoyed a "speed dating" experience with award winning authors, including Meghan, John Green, Sherman Alexie, Terry Trueman, A.M. Jenkins, and others. For five minutes, an author and her or his publicist joined a table to talk about writing for young adults. Once five minutes had passed, the whistle sounded, and the authors moved to a new table to repeat the discussion with a new group of fans. Meghan was terrific, of course.

Kelly (on the right in photo above with Crutcher fan, Mary) presented on a PLA (Public Library Association) panel about nonfiction for reluctant readers with photographer Nic Bishop on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pm in the convention center. Not a seat was empty and people were standing at the doors as Kelly and Nic shared their passion for nonfiction and the kids that love it. Laughter and tears made it a special event because everyone in the room was there for the love of those kids. Kelly signed books for over an hour at the Lerner booth after her panel.

Why go to ALA? Because librarians are the gatekeepers when it comes to children's literature. We as storytellers work hard to create material worth reading. But the librarians bridge the gap between writers and readers. They work so hard and so selflessly to make themselves aware of the books and authors waiting for discovery, and they offer them up, often one-on-one, to the kids most likely to connect with them.

We owe librarians much more than our thanks. Attending ALA is one way to express our appreciation. Meghan and Kelly were both grateful to have that chance.