Hello, friends, teachers, readers & humans! I have so much to share this month. Summer is for field trips and going deep with creative projects! Thank you for reading and as always, I appreciate your comments and replies!
Are your kids reading the Percy Jackson series? We just started THE LIGHTNING THIEF. Which means our next visit to The Met will be a purposeful hunt through the Roman Art, Greek Art, and European Sculpture galleries with this educational guide to Greek mythology.
Things that made me look!
We watched the anti-war, anti-propagandist THE SEA BEAST the other day. The hunters have always bravely protected the people from the deadly sea monsters, or so the story goes. But who penned this story and how did it benefit them? It’s a tale for our times. And just for fun (and for the art, obv.): a history of sailors’ mistakes and assumptions about fanciful sea creatures.
Check out this web comic: How to get kids thinking about what it means to be a good citizen.
Last week we visited the Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling for Bilingual Drag Queen Story Hour. It was good español practice for my rising 5th grader who has been taking Spanish lessons at her elementary school. I loved the brief discussion and explanation of the word drag. What is drag? Drag is being your best self. Wearing what you want, feeling great. That’s drag. The kids made sculptures and we stopped for Dominican food in the neighborhood (thanks to PS28 School Librarian’s insider tip) before getting stuck in traffic and snapping this accidentally Wes Anderson pic on the way home. I love NY.
… for Young People!
Do you write for kids (or want to)? Links, tips and resources for writers…
Sophie Blackall is up there for me with Beatrice Alemegna as two of my favorite creators of beautiful, important books for children. So of course I enjoyed this interview with Blackall on The Yarn where (yes, even) she discusses the usefulness of harnessing stress when coming up with ideas. Then she discusses her new book, FARMHOUSE — an archival tribute to all who have occupied the space before — as the house itself was deteriorating and ultimately demolished.
Already breaking my rules for this “corner” and sharing something non-writing related but creative-adjacent. Anyone who makes things knows that other outlets for creativity can go hand in hand with one’s “real” work. I have been enjoying this illustration class (I think I paid $10 for it when it was on sale) and I’m slowly going through the exercises. There is so much here and often I pause the lessons and explore an idea on my own. Huge thanks to my dear friend Mom Sew Creative for this recommendation!
145 Picture Prompts to Inspire Student Writing: A school year’s worth of short, accessible image-driven posts that invite a variety of kinds of writing.
Do you have a neat tip or resource for the writer’s corner? Drop me a line!
