Today in New York City, I heard two of the sweetest name stories. Whenever I sign books for kids with unusual names, I want to ask them if they know the story behind their name. Willa, today, has cousins in Bethel, Kansas, where I have relatives, too, and she was named for Willa Cather. Willa
Whew! Scary story out of Florida about a girl who loves Lanie and wandered off into a swamp. My heart goes pitter pat to think of it–and I’m so, so, so relieved that she was found and is back with her family. I talked with a reporter last night and a couple of CBS local
http://www2.ljworld.com/photos/galleries/2010/apr/10/lawrence-farmers-market/ Yep! Lanie’s best friend is off saving orangutans in Indonesia, and she’s wildly jealous…until she discovers the beauty and things to save in her own back yard. Now I’m home to discover my son Jonathan’s pictures of the farmers’ market at the link, above. At one time I thought I’d work farmers’ market scenes
Cherry blossoms, they told me in Japan, flit through spring and won’t stay, no matter how we squeeze– much like love. Boys play their taunting games as they would anywhere. Businessmen trudge in their ties under the trees. Girls eat sweets. Phones and cameras click. An airplane rustles the sky overhead. Pigeons are clearly proud
To my astonishment and delight, one of the schools I visited in Tokyo had a check prepared for Ethiopia Reads. Here’s how it happened. The librarian came upon the article in Good Housekeeping a couple of years ago and read it to her students at Seishen International School. A girl decided she couldn’t imagine a
Whooo! In Hong Kong–city of angles and night glitterings where the street crossing signals sound like woodpeckers gone mad–I did an author visit at a terrific school that has a playground in the air. Just like the school in Cambridge I used as a model for Lanie’s school. I knew I would find a city
When I travel, I learn. How did I not know that the Philippines was a colony of Spain, for a while, and thus has all kinds of cultural connections in that direction? Spain pops up in the food, the language, the dancing. At the opening of the teacher conference where I’ve been speaking, I also
I’e had a week of fascinating writing workshops with third, fourth, and fifth graders at Brent International Schools in the Philippines. When I pointed out that as I travel, I don’t pay much attention to official sites and monuments–like this one–but, rather, got entranced by a French door…by a French octopus in my salad…a fifth
I don’t know where we were on our journey when Leonard pointed out we’d been up–and traveling–27 hours. No matter how blurry and bleary you feel, it just doesn’t do to count the hours. But although I landed at my Philippine destination with morning and an author visit less than half a night away, I
I love the way the tangled threads of my life came together in Dallas. I got to spend time with one of my nieces–Grace–who married a Texas guy. What thrilldom to leave winter in Kansas and end up in their full-of-flowers (and vine-draped trees) yard and talk about the connection between local plants, local insects, local birds.
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