kidlit - Laurie Ann Thompson https://lauriethompson.com Inspiring and empowering young readers Fri, 15 Jan 2021 22:26:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://lauriethompson.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/cropped-05_lauriethompson_PhotoByMaryBalmaceda-thumbnail-square-150x150.jpg kidlit - Laurie Ann Thompson https://lauriethompson.com 32 32 #AtHome learning using my books https://lauriethompson.com/2020/04/17/athome-learning-using-my-books/ https://lauriethompson.com/2020/04/17/athome-learning-using-my-books/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2020 15:27:57 +0000 https://lauriethompson.com/?p=3576 Read more]]> The inspiring image above is a spread from my upcoming picture book, ELIZABETH WARREN’S BIG, BOLD PLANS, illustrated by the amazing Susanna Chapman and releasing on May 5 (hooray!). These days, it often feels hard to conceive of big, bold plans. I’ll admit, some days just getting out of my pajamas feels like a victory. And for those of those parenting or teaching youngsters and attempting #AtHome learning for the first time? Hats off to you!
To try to help you with your big, bold plans–or even the just-getting-through-today plans–I’ve been working to create and assemble whatever materials I can that might be of assistance. I’ll continue to add to this list as I get more requests (feel free to reach out if there’s something specific you’d like!), ideas, and time. Hopefully, you can find access to the books via an online read-aloud, ebook download, independent bookstore, or your own bookshelves. I hope these resources are helpful for your #AtHome learning efforts!

Emmanuels Dream cover with sticker
EMMANUEL’S DREAM: THE TRUE STORY OF EMMANUEL OFOSU YEBOAH

Two Truths and a Lie coverTwo Truths and a Lie: Histories and Mysteries coverTTL3 Forces of Nature coverThe TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE series

Be a Changemaker coverBE A CHANGEMAKER: HOW TO START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS

MY DOG IS THE BEST-coverMY DOG IS THE BEST

Again, my goals here are to be as helpful as possible for YOU to continue leading #AtHome learning, so please email me if there is anything specific I might be able to do, including ways to connect with your students. We’re all in this together, even while we’re apart. So, until we meet again, stay safe, #StayHome… and stay sane. xoxo

]]> https://lauriethompson.com/2020/04/17/athome-learning-using-my-books/feed/ 4 Review: NEW SHOES by Susan Lynn Meyer https://lauriethompson.com/2015/03/21/review-new-shoes-by-susan-lynn-meyer/ https://lauriethompson.com/2015/03/21/review-new-shoes-by-susan-lynn-meyer/#respond Sat, 21 Mar 2015 13:45:45 +0000 https://lauriethompson.com/?p=2383 Read more]]>

NEW SHOES cover
NEW SHOES
written by Susan Lynn Meyer
illustrated by Eric Velasquez
published by Holiday House (February 2015)

It’s not easy to write a picture book for young kids that tackles a tough subject in an age-appropriate way. And it’s even harder to do so while still being entertaining. NEW SHOES by Susan Lynn Meyer does all of that and more, and it does it so very beautifully.
Publisher’s summary:

Set in the South during the time of segregation, this lushly illustrated picture book brings the civil rights era to life for contemporary readers as two young girls find an inventive way to foil Jim Crow laws.
When her cousin’s hand-me-down shoes don’t fit, it is time for Ella Mae to get new ones. She is ecstatic, but when she and her mother arrive at Mr. Johnson’s shoe store, her happiness quickly turns to dejection. Ella Mae is unable to try on the shoes because of her skin color. Determined to fight back, Ella Mae and her cousin Charlotte work tirelessly to collect and restore old shoes, wiping, washing, and polishing them to perfection. The girls then have their very own shoe sale, giving the other African American members of their community a place to buy shoes where they can be treated fairly and “try on all the shoes they want.”

It’s hard for me to imagine not being allowed to try on shoes, and I must admit I never even realized that particular injustice was part of the Jim Crow laws. I’m glad to have been enlightened. Wanting to try on a pair of shoes is something that can be easily understood by young children, and they will be able to appreciate the unfairness of the situation in the shoe store.
What I really love about this book, though, is how the girls solve the problem themselves. They work hard to earn startup funds, they take great care and pride in launching their shoe store, and they solve a problem not just for themselves, but for their whole community! That is changemaking at its finest.
This moving and inspirational picture book belongs in every classroom in America. To make it even easier, the publisher’s web page for the book has classroom discussion questions and an educator’s guide, both with Common Core State Standards (CCSS) connections.
I hope you’ll check out NEW SHOES… and share it with others!

]]> https://lauriethompson.com/2015/03/21/review-new-shoes-by-susan-lynn-meyer/feed/ 0 Interview w/Matthew Winner of the Let’s Get Busy podcast! https://lauriethompson.com/2014/11/23/interview-wmatthew-winner-lets-get-busy-podcast-blog-tour/ https://lauriethompson.com/2014/11/23/interview-wmatthew-winner-lets-get-busy-podcast-blog-tour/#comments Sun, 23 Nov 2014 11:43:13 +0000 https://lauriethompson.com/?p=2113 Read more]]> Every now and then I stumble on something so wonderful that I want to add it my own list of “My Favorite Things” and share it with the world: the Let’s Get Busy podcast from Matthew Winner is one of those things. Whether you’re an author, illustrator, teacher, librarian, agent, editor, bookseller–if you have anything to do with children’s literature at all–this show is too good to miss. Think you don’t have time for podcasts? I listen while I’m in the car. Or while I walk the dog. Or while I clean the house. And, believe me, all of those tasks are way more enjoyable when you have Matthew and his guests with you!
Matthew recently recorded his 100th episode of the podcast, and he put together a massive blog and podcast tour to celebrate. Here’s where he’s been so far:

And I’m thrilled that today is my turn to host! Matthew was kind enough to answer a few of my questions, so we can all get to know him better.
LT: Hi Matthew, and welcome! I’ve already gushed to you about how much I love your podcast, but I’m curious to learn more. How and when did you first become interested in doing a podcast like Let’s Get Busy? How did you get started?
MT: I listen to a lot of podcasts. I mean, a whole lot of podcasts. All the time. When I’m driving to work. When I’m washing the dishes. When I’m shelving books. When I’m mowing the lawn. It’s the primary media I consume. The idea for doing a podcast of my own and, specifically, a kidlit podcast just sort of popped into my head one day, took up camp, and then wouldn’t leave. But it took a conversation with Travis Jonker (of 100 Scope Notes) to nudge me into actually starting it. He and I were talking one evening during an ALA conference in Chicago about how much we love the insights but also those memorable vignettes that inevitably stick in your brain whenever you’re in the company of authors or illustrators (or anyone who has something to say, for that matter). Travis asked me what my next big project would be and I told him that all I could think about was this idea of capturing these sorts of conversations through a loosely formatted podcast. Then he basically asked me when I was starting, and that was all it took.
LT: Sometimes we just need the tiniest nudge, don’t we? (Thanks, Travis!) You sure have been busy since then. I can’t believe you started less than a year and half ago, and you’re already up to 100 episodes!
LT: How much time do you spend on the podcast overall, and what’s the breakdown of how that time is spent (lining up guests, recording and editing, promoting, etc.)?
MW: Eeep. Let me try to make this as interesting as possible.
MW: I shoot for 30-minute recordings so that I’m able to post twice a week (or 8 episodes per month). A lot of this is based on bandwidth limitations and the cost of maintaining a subscription on Libsyn, a podcast host site. I usually talk with each guest for about an hour total and we spend the unaired time locking into a comfortable candor (or going on tangents and then saying, “Shoot! I should be recording this!”). Editing and prepping the accompanying blog post takes anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes. And coordinating schedules and review materials and recording logistics over email can take upwards of 30 minutes per scheduled guest, but that might be over a series of weeks.
MW: So, let’s see. That’s 25 minus the circumference of Y, carry the 3 and substitute 7 for X… about 2–3 hours per guest from first contact to published and promoted episode.
LT: That’s a big commitment (but less than I thought–you’re fast!). What then is the hardest part of doing the podcast, and how do you deal with that?
MW: The hardest part for me is asking new people to come on. It seems like everyone and their mother has a podcast nowadays, but I’m often the first podcast my guests have ever appeared on or, in some cases, listened to. And also, many of them have no idea who I am. That gets in my brain and makes me think all sorts of wonky things and then I start to psych myself out over sending that first contact email. I’ve coped with it by asking each of my guests, following our own conversations, to recommend a friend or colleague whom they think my be a good fit for the podcast or this interview format. It’s worked pretty well for me and my guest list now reads like one great big family photo album with all sorts of zigzagging connections between each of the faces.
LT: That is really neat to envision. So much of what we do is built on personal relationships, isn’t it? I don’t think you have anything to worry about, though. First, kidlit people are the best people in the world, don’t you think? And second, I’m sure most authors and illustrators are thrilled by the opportunity to chat with you: you’re interested in our work, and you give us a chance to talk about it. Just remember: we’re nice, and you’re doing us a favor. There’s no need to psych yourself out! 🙂
LT: What has surprised you most about the podcast?
MW: Everything surprises me about the podcast. Sometimes the thing that surprises me most is knowing that anyone’s actually listening. I learn something new with each new person who comes on and by rule of thumb I allow myself space to wonder, to be excited, to nerd out over process, and to ask whatever comes to mind. That approach has served me well and has led to a good deal of surprises when our conversations take unexpected turns. It’s how I learned that Laurie Keller (Arnie the Doughnut) plays banjo, that Nick Bruel (Bad Kitty) used to work at Books of Wonder, a landmark children’s bookstore in New York, and that Steve Light (Have You Seen My Dragon?) works with PreSchool students!
LT: I love that every episode feels like a casual conversation between friends, rather than an interview, per se. In fact, it’s my favorite thing about listening to them! What is your favorite thing about doing them?
MW: So, I have a blog called The Busy Librarian. I started it as a sort of advocacy blog for all of us teacher librarians who are all just so busy all the time. On October 10th, 2010, I published my first post. Here is the text in its entirety:

This is a blog for busy librarians.
For those of us who feel, well, overwhelmed.
It’s a place of comfort and, hopefully, a source of inspiration.
Here you will find the opportunity to interact globally and to impact locally.
We’ll synergize moments, ideas, and activities that will enable us to become more effective librarians, more efficient in our libraries, and more energetic with our students, without feeling like things are careening out of control.
So, let’s get busy!

It made perfect sense to me to name the podcast as an extension of the blog itself. Hence, Let’s Get Busy. My very good pal Sherry Gick, teacher librarian at Rossville Consolidated Schools in Rossville, IN, and author of the Library Fanatic blog, and Nikki Ohs Barnes, fellow Nerdy Book Club member and co-founder of the Virtual Book Club, met me at ALA where, just one night previous, Travis and I had talked about podcasting. Super excited to share, I told Sherry and Nikki that I was going to start a podcast and that I decided to call it Let’s Get Busy after my blog. They both immediately broke into what they decided would have to be the podcast sound effect… a sort of BOW-CHIKKA-WOAH-WOW that I have not to this day been able to get out of my head whenever I’m about to start an interview. Carrying those sorts of memories around everywhere I go is definitely my favorite thing. And with 100 episode behind me, I’m definitely carrying around a lot of stories!
LT: I’m sure you are!
LT: How do you feel your other activities (teaching, presenting, writing, blogging, Twitter, parenting, etc.) make the podcast better? And, vice versa, how does the podcast contribute to those other facets of your life?
MW: Oh my word! Everything and I mean EVERYTHING goes into the pot when it comes to making these recordings. Books from my picture book guests are typically already bedtime staples with our 4‑year-old son. Teaching and being a teacher librarian is the best and comes up over and over again on our chats because I like to share the way that the guests’ book is reaching kids and supporting readers in ways that I get to experience firsthand. Twitter is my professional learning community, but it’s also where I get to nerd out with friends over great kidlit and meet very cool people creating very cool books in the process, many of whom I’ll invite on the podcast because their work sticks with me.
MW: Doing the podcast brings me pure joy and is or has become a part of my identity. And I’ve gotten to meet a ton of really cool people in the process. I’m thankful that our son is growing up in a house surrounded with beautiful picture books, both on our bookshelves, and in frames hanging up throughout our house.
LT: Oh, I love that. Why have I never thought of framing picture books?  (Hmmm… just in time for Christmas, too!)
LT: I’ve always said that I will know I’ve made it when I receive one letter from one child saying that something I wrote made a positive difference in his or her life. How do you define success? Do you feel like you’ve achieved it? If not, what’s left on your to-do list?
MW: I listen to my guests and I listen to my listeners. The podcast succeeds when the guests feel like they’ve found a home in our conversation and when the listeners feel like they’re in the room with us. I also try to take in the kind things people are saying about Let’s Get Busy or about me personally. Seymour Simon once told me that he thinks of me “like a son” and that he’s proud of me. I achieved all I ever wanted when I published the very first episode of Let’s Get Busy. And I’m thankful that so many people feel moved to tell me how the podcast is connecting with them. Success to me is knowing that one person cares about the thing you’re making, or saying, or creating. And I’m one person that cares a great deal about what I myself am making, saying, and creating. So with every episode I get to share, I’ve already achieved success before a single download occurs.
LT: What a wonderful attitude, Matthew! I care a great deal about what you’re making, saying, a creating, too. Thanks so much for sharing it with us ! 

As you can see from above, Matthew calls himself “the busy librarian” for good reason. Here are some of the places you can find more from him:

And be sure to follow the rest of the Let’s Get Busy podcast/blog tour, here:

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