Non-Fiction Monday: Aliens from Earth

Aliens from Earth: When Animals and Plants Invade Other Ecosystems

Written by Mary Batten

Illustrated by Beverly J. Doyle

Peachtree Publishers

Izaak Walton League of Conservation Book of the Year

This thirty-two page picture book packs quite a wallop. It's on a subject that I've been concerned about, but understood very little. And I wondered how it could be be presented for young readers Through illustrations and text, it traces the history of alien plant and animal invaders arriving on our shores along with new ones that threaten our lives today. In a clear, readable manner it presents these plants and animals who have taken over our oceans and even our backyards. It’s a tough, complex subject for any age to understand. But the text and detailed illustrations invite readers, grades four and up, to explore its dangers to our quality of life. And the final spread offers suggestions on what regular citizens, young and old, can do to prevent their arrival.
~~Claire

SCBWI NonFiction Grant

James Cross Giblin Award

The phone rang as I tossed sautéed vegetables with pasta. My husband said, “It’s for you. It’s Sue Burgess.”

I thought of reminding him I never take phone calls when I’m cooking dinner. But Sue Burgess rang a bell. The name piqued my curiosity.

Sue told me she was calling to announce I had won this year's Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Nonfiction Work-in-Progress Award.

“You’re kidding,” I screamed. So much for original phrasing. She said she wasn’t.

“I can’t believe it,” I screamed. “I’m so excited.” My family stood in the kitchen staring at me. “Thank you. Thank you.” I kept screaming. Sue probably began to wonder if the $1500 shouldn’t go to someone with a few more words in their vocabulary. But she was very kind and said she loved making calls like this.

I don’t know if the pasta dish was finished, or if anybody ate it. I told my family the good news, and then phone all my writing buddies to tell them.

The grant money will fund research for a biography on Fannie Sellins, an early 20th Century labor activist. Sellins had a passionate belief that workers deserved better lives and the charisma to convince them to believe it too. She knew coal miners would not give up their paycheck and walk a picket because their children would starve, so she found food and clothing for their families.

A compelling speaker, she stirred wild applause, often evoked tears and inspired hope. Hats filled with money for the union cause wherever she spoke. Ordered by a West Virginia judge to stop speaking in public, she refused. And went to jail.

She was so successful unionizing miners in Western Pennsylvania that coal company operators threatened her life. She refused to be bullied into leaving and was shot to death on the picket line in 1919.

I am passionate about telling this woman’s story and it means so much to me that the awards committee believes it’s worth publishing. The grant is endowed by SCBWI Board member James Giblin. The noted author and editor named the Anna Cross Giblin award after his mother who enthusiastically supported his own non-fiction writing for young people.

“I can’t imagine anything that would have given her greater satisfaction—or be more appropriate tribute to her memory….” Giblin says, than indirectly helping encourage other nonfiction writers.

~~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

Resource List for Teachers

Fiction/Nonfiction Pairings: Powerful Ways to Connect Reading and Writing

As a writer of nonfiction and fiction and a teacher of writing, Claire Rudolf Murphy loves to explore how different genres can be brought together to help students better understands events and topics of history. She compiled this list for her presentation at the Illinois State Reading Conference in Springfield, March 2008.

"It has been a delight to put this together this list for teachers, librarians and students and to honor the terrific writers in children's literature," says Claire. "Please contact her with suggestions for further additions. The possibilities are endless."

To read more...

Women's History Resources/Suffrage Centennials

March - Women's History Month, is a terrific time for young and old readers to learn more about the incredible women who have paved the way for us.

Some of Claire’s favorite women’s history resources:

(Books for young readers starred)

*Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World, by Cynthia Chin-Lee, illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy.

*America in the Time of Susan B. Anthony by

America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines, Gail Collins.

*American Women: Their Lives in Their Words, Doreen Rappaport

* Fanny Lou Hamer and the Fight of the Vote, by Penny Colman

* Demanding Justice: A Story about Mary Ann Shadd Cary by Jeri Chase Ferris

*I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote, by Linda Arms White

*Jeanette Rankin: Political Pioneer, Gretchen Woelfle; Jeanette Rankin: First Lady of Congress by Trish Marx

Jeannette Rankin: America’s Conscience by Norma Smith

Iron-Jawed Angels, HBO movie, starring Hillary Swank, set in the 1916 suffrage battle. These incredible women were willing to die for the vote.

Living Voices: Brings Life to History – Seattle - 206-328-0798, www.livingvoices.org
livingvoices@livingvoices.org. Variety of live programs available for schools.

*Luba: The Angel of Bergen-Belsen by Luba Tryszysnska-Frederick, picture book set in Nazi POW camp

* Mama Went To Jail for the Vote, by Kathleen Karr, illustrated by Malene Laugesen

*Rabble Rousers: 20 Women Who Made a Difference by Cheryl Harness

* Radical Red by James Duffy, out of print middle grade novel about suffrage

*Victoria Woodhull: Fearless Feminist by Kate Havelin (older nf)

*We the People: The 19th Amendment by Michael Burgan

Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement, P.J. Cooney, TERRIFIC RESOURCE - in collaboration with the National Women’s History Project www.nwhp.org.

*With Courage and Cloth: Winning the Fight for a Woman’s Right To Vote, Ann Bausum

Women’s Voices form the Western Frontier, by Susan G. Butrille

Please
“Women’s Votes, Women’s Voices, 1910-2010” Washington Centennial Suffrage Commemoration

Commemorations around the state on February 25,2009 and November 8, 2010. Email or sign up with Claire Rudolf Murphy (clairerudolfmurphy@gmail.com) to help plan events for Spokane area.

For more information:
http://www.washingtonwomenshistory.org/
The Women's History Consortium, part of the Washington State Historical Society, dedicated to preserving and making available resources about Washington women's history.

email: sstevenson@wshs.wa.gov
211 21st Avenue SW
Olympia, WA 98501
Phone: 360-586-0171
Fax: 360-586-8322