Authors Are People Too!

This week was Emily's and My first week back to school, and it went beautifully. There was no arguing over doing math. There was no complaining about various subjects. There wasn't even a peep when I told her we had to work a half an hour longer per day to get everything accomplished. It was a wonderful, beautiful, miracle!

One of her assignments this week was to write a letter to author Lois Sepahban. Back in April when I attended the Southern Kentucky Book Festival, Emily was told she could purchase one book, and she chose Lois's Paper Wishes. She happily read it over the summer, and wanted to let the author know how much she enjoyed it. I felt this was important for several reasons, one being that authors are people too. And by that, I mean that everyone, no matter who they are, likes to be complimented, likes to be told when they do a good job, and likes to know that what they do matters to some other person in this large and very populated world.
 

Paper Wishes is a historical fiction work that tells the story of ten year old Manami after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Manami and her family, being of Japanese descent, were summarily rousted from their homes and sent to internment camps. Forced to leave behind all that was familiar and all that she held dear including her small dog, Manami tries to make sense of her frightening new world. Emily loved many things about this story but what she loved most was that it was told from Manami's ten year old point of view. Although a horrific part of our American history, this story shares the truly courageous and enduring spirit of a people wrongly accused.

Recently, author Shana Gorian showed me a great kindness by hosting me for a question and answer session on her website. These paying it forward moments, fellow author support, or just plain kindnesses are a huge part in keeping an author on the literary track. You can only imagine how many times an author feels like throwing in the towel. And in honor of the pay it forward spirit, I am happy to be able to do the same for her.

Shana is the author of The Roscoe The Rascal Series, but she recently updated, Rosco the Rascal Visits the Pumpkin Patch, by giving it a fresh and inviting cover. Apparently there are also fresh new illustrations by Josh Addessi as well. Rosco the Rascal series for kids, consist of chapter books in which a sometimes rascally German shepherd uses his true heroic nature to help his pals, James and Mandy, find adventure and overcome obstacles. Although I have not yet read any of Shana's works, they do look and sound appealing!

Shana wanted me to let all my readers know that she is offering a free giveaway of the first two chapters of this book in PDF format to all new subscribers. You can join her at www.shanagorian.com where you can subscribe to her VIP email list. Or if you are a Kindle Unlimited Subscriber, you can download the Kindle version for free or for a mere $1.99 for a regular Kindle copy. It is also available in paperback for those "I love to hold the book" people!

I was interested to learn that Shana grew up in Western Pennsylvania and currently lives in California. The opposite is true for  me. I was born in Oakland, California and now reside in Ohio. It seems she is a jack-of-all trades as well. She has worked as a part-time nanny, a reporter, a camp counselor, a web designer, a waitress, a newspaper and pizza delivery gal, and a mother of two. She has gathered her wealth of material for fun and unusual stories by watching her real life German shepherd, but admits that most of the trouble that Roscoe and his gang get into is entirely fictitious.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musings Monday Blog Hop where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.
 

Welcome to Japan!

This past week was spent in a whir of activity as we got ready for an Around The World Event sponsored by our Independent Studies Home School Group. All the children participating were to choose a country, a historical event, or a something similar to give a presentation on. Emily chose Japan because she had lots of  display items her father had brought home from his work trip last year.

She gathered facts, found pictures for her display board, and retrieved all her Japanese memorabilia from various parts of the house. I took it upon myself to create a costume from thrift store items. I scoured the second-hand shops until I found a silky robe that looked oriental in pattern, but it had a very narrow belt that just wouldn't do because traditional kimonos are worn with an obie (a wide silk sash). I kept searching until I finally found a single, silky, black curtain. It was two panels with an attached valance, and I knew if I cut off one of the floor length panels I could whip it into a obie of sorts on my handy dandy sewing machine. Although not exactly authentic, most of the audience loved Emily's make-shift robe and actually thought it was the real deal. Resplendent in costume finished off with Japanese toe socks and flip flops, Emily gave a great presentation.

Before the presentation, we all partook in a dinner. Each family prepared a main dish or salad and a dessert corresponding to the country or historical event that their child or children had chosen. I made fried rice and Japanese Kasutera Sponge Cake. I found the recipe and a wonderful video at a site called Japanese Cooking 101. This cake was super easy to make if you decide you and your family want to try some ethnic cuisine.

 

There were quite a few families participating, so they divided them up into two groups in two separate rooms. The other children in our group also did fabulous jobs.

After all the learning and fun was done, it got me to thinking about some books I've read and enjoyed with Japanese main characters. The first, A Place Where Sunflowers Grow, takes the reader back to WWII and the sad period in our history where we rounded up citizens based on their heritage and an irrational fear. It is am excellent picture book depicting the proud way in which the Japanese detainees held on to a small piece of normalcy and beauty.

The second book, Hana Hashimoto, is the story of a girl who's love of music and her persistence helps her achieve her dream of playing her Violin in the school talent contest. The author, Chieri Uegaki, has also written another book called, Suki's Kimono, which I have not read, but I would love to.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musings Monday Blog Hop where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website, Fun With Aileen, where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own early grade Fern Valley chapter book series and my Quack and Daisy picture book series. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

Remembering...

Memorial Day originated after the Civil War and is celebrated every year on the last Monday in May. It is a remembrance of all the military men and women who have died  serving our country. But this Memorial Day, I want to help  people remember those Americans who were wrongly treated during the onslaught of World War II. They were not spies, they were not traitors, they were not sympathetic to the other side. Their only crime was the simple fact that they were of Japanese decent.

What made me think of this was a book that the children's librarian at Marvin Memorial Library, in my home town of Shelby, recently purchased. A beautiful book called A Place Where Sunflowers Grow by Amy Lee-Tai. It is the story of a Japanese family of artists who were taken from their happy California home and were forced to spend three years in an Internment camp in the Utah desert.

Based on actual events that Miss Lee-Tai's Grandmother experienced, this story is a beautiful testament of human courage and hope. The illustrations by Felicia Hoshino add dimension to this tale, but most interesting of all is the fact that it is written in both English and Japanese.

If you want children to have a real interest in history, a real interest in the plight of others, a real interest in what it would be like to be unfairly taken from everything you've ever known, then this book is a must add to your reading list.

Something even more amazing then my enjoyment of this book occurred this past week as I was shuttling third graders to the YMCA for swimming. I happened to take this book along with me to read while I waited, and on the way home, one of the boys who was riding with me asked about it. I had wedged the book between his seat and the middle console and he curiously pulled it out to investigate. I told him a little about the story, and much to my surprise, he began to read. When we arrived back at school, he wanted to sit in the car a moment longer so he could finish the last page.

So not only do you have my word that this book is an extraordinary read, you also have the opinion of a third grade boy who saw past the girl on the cover and let himself  relive a bit of  history.



The Boy in The Back Who Dared To Read!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, and my soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming summer of 2014! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.