You'll wish that summer
could always
be here!


Do ordinary things with extraordinary love.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tuesday Tales

A weekly peek at what we're reading. 
Post your peek in the comments and share your favorite books!


Anne is reading
Happy Birthday, Everywhere! by Arlene Erlbach

Chinese people believe a baby is one year old when it's born.  A Chinese child's second birthday (which would be your first) is an important event.  Some families tell the baby's fortunes at this party.  Actually the baby tells his or her own fortune!  The parents seat the baby among a collection of objects, such as coins, a doll, or a book, and watch to see what object the baby grabs.  A baby that grabs a coin might become rich.  A baby that reaches for a book might become a teacher.  A baby that grabs a doll might have many children.



Holly is reading
Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter

As a writer, you have to be your readers' eyes.  When they first pick up your story, your readers are totally blind and helpless.  They don't know if they are standing in a grimy Laundromat or the pink-walled office of the pink-faced principal or on the surface of a wind-swept planet with bubbling, mucouslike puddles underfoot.  If you don't bother to describe your fictional world to your readers, or you rush through your descriptions quickly and carelessly, it's likely that your readers will stumble around in this strange, shadowy place until they finally say, "Oh, forget it!  I can't see a thing in this story!  I'm going outside to have a look at that smooshed toad on the sidewalk."




Lily is reading
Gabby & Grandma Go Green by Monica Wellington


At the supermarket they recycle their bottles and shop for some groceries.  The clerk at the checkout counter asks, "Paper or plastic?"


"Not for us.  We brought our own bags!" says Gabby.

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