April 2020

LIFE GOES ON: GUILD MEMBERS ARE ADAPTING WELL TO AN UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION

With the coronavirus lurking in the outside world and threatening all who venture forth, Guild members are curtailing their usual activities. Many are finding innovative ways to connect with housebound young readers, carry on their work or simply carry on.

Terry Jennings and others have had to put spring author visits on hold. Terry is looking into doing virtual visits via the remote conferencing service Zoom. "We actually just did a writers' group meeting on Zoom," Terry said, "and amazingly enough, we had more folks come than normally do in person, and it worked so well we might just keep on doing this at least every other meeting."

This is one of the numerous activities that Marc Tyler Nobleman
offers on his website noblemania.com. 

Marc Tyler Nobleman and other authors are posting free online content to keep children "engaged and balanced," he said. Marc, who for the past five summers has run creative writing camps, is now doing so online for kids in grades four through eight (https://takelessons.com/profile/marc-tyler-n). "Though these sessions will help kids academically, it's above all about fun," Marc said.

Teachers and principals hoping to involve children at home by posting video clips of themselves reading books are keeping Phyllis Naylor busy. Facing a day's worth of emails from educators, all requiring responses, Phyllis turned to her editor, who was at home with her own two daughters. The editor provided Phyllis with a standard response: "You may use [requested book] if it is being posted on a private 'channel' (not YouTube) accessible only to your students and only for this particular crisis." (School Library Journal has gathered many of the publisher statements here: https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=publishers-adapt-policies-to-help-educators-coronavirus-covid19&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=SLJTW&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=articles. Also, Publishers Weekly had this article regarding copyright issues https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/82810-children-s-publishers-relax-fair-use-policies.html.) 

Like vacations and social gatherings, travel for research must also be postponed. Although more and more archives are making content available online, writers still have to visit collections in person, to page through folders and study unpublished images. Mary Bowman-Kruhm had hoped to go to the Ringling Circus Museum, in Sarasota, FL, this spring, to gather information about the long-lived hippopotamus that will be the subject of her next nonfiction book. "Not going to happen any time soon!" Mary stated.

Woman with a Parasol in a Garden, by Pierre-
Auguste Renoir. Says Joyce Schwartz, paintings
such as this can inspire young artists to draw en plein air.

Joyce Schwartz is taking advantage of the warm weather and spring blooms to involve her granddaughters, ages seven and five, in making art. Joyce, who in safer times leads tours for schoolchildren at the National Gallery of Art, arranged to meet the girls and their mother, her daughter-in-law, in the Kenwood section of Bethesda. The plan was "to walk around and enjoy the beautiful cherry blossoms and other spring flowers together," Joyce explained. "I’m bringing art supplies (cardboard supports with several sheets of plain paper clipped on, colored pencils and markers) so that the girls can make their own drawings en plein air, as the Impressionists and others have done. I’m also bringing along images of Impressionist works I’ve downloaded and printed from the Gallery website so that the girls can use them as inspiration." Joyce noted that "depending on the ages of the kids, this activity could be expanded to include a discussion of landscapes in general and outdoor painting techniques and the developments in portable supplies that made painting outdoors possible. It would be both an art history lesson and an art-making session." She added that people can draw from nature at any beautiful outdoor spot that is still open (while practicing safe social distancing).

Finally, some resourceful Guild members are making music to add joy and meaning to those long days at home. Mary Quattlebaum, who has learned to teach writing classes remotely, has been practicing the harmonica. Betsy Kraft is concentrating on the piano lessons she began several months ago. "I don't know if it's my age or just some latent interest I've discovered," Betsy wrote. "But I've found that music has become a wonderful companion, especially in these times of isolation. I've found a teacher whom I think is excellent--and patient. I was sorry to think I couldn't continue to meet with him, but he's set up lessons for all his students via FaceTime. I 'met' with him yesterday, and everything went pretty much as usual. So I'm contentedly enjoying my new obsession with practicing--something I never did as a kid."

IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Nomination for Guild Membership of Author Joy Jones
2. Member News
3. Branching Paths: Fred Bowen Celebrates 20 Years with KidsPost

NOMINATION FOR MEMBERSHIP: JOY JONES

Mary Quattlebaum joyfully nominates Joy Jones for membership in the Children's Book Guild. Edie Ching seconds the nomination.

Joy Jones wrote this letter of introduction for the Guild:

Promiscuous--that describes my attitude toward writing because I love it all. That's part of the appeal for me of the Children's Book Guild. I like the fact that it isn't just writers--it also composed of others in the literary universe: editors, illustrators, librarians, advocates. I, too, have an eclectic background--I'm a former teacher, a former acrobat and a current member and the founder of a double dutch team, DC Retro Jumpers. I've been a poetry slam coach for middle-schoolers. My writings include plays, journalism and books for both adults and children. I currently work in mental health (in a freelance capacity at St. Elizabeths Hospital) and for the public library (part time at Francis Gregory Neighborhood Library).

My two most recent books are Fearless Public Speaking, a YA title published by Sterling Publishing in 2019, and Jaylay Jumps In (Albert Whitman & Co.), which will be released September 2020. I'm also the author of Tambourine Moon (Simon & Schuster), a picture book. The project I'm working on now is a book coauthored with Tom Adams about Bill and Lois Wilson, the pioneers of the 12-Step movement in the treatment of addictions.

I hope to help the Children's Book Guild extend its reach by inviting others with kindred interests to attend the monthly luncheons. And if the Guild offers workshops beyond the luncheons, I'd like to be considered as a workshop leader to share my expertise and experience with members. Writers tend to be an introverted group, and often public speaking and marketing are not favorite activities. I would enjoy sharing marketing ideas with other members, however, doing some cross promotion or offering tips on presenting in front of an audience.

Five years ago, I quit my full-time job and started working part time to do two things: have more time to write and be more available to my aging parents. I’m happy to say that I am doing both--but it can be a little tricky. The Children’s Book Guild luncheons I’ve attended have been good for tolerating the tricky because they’re both practical and motivational. I come away with ideas to stimulate my career and my creativity.

Thanks for considering me and my work.

Warmly,

Joy Jones

MEMBER NEWS

CAROLINE HICKEY's latest book in the Sprinkle Sundays series, Number Nine: Sugar, Spice, and Sprinkles, came out in February. Caroline is currently working on the final book in the series,  Number 12: Sprinkle, Sprinkle, Little Star. 

JACQUELINE JULES’s new poetry collection, Tag Your Dreams: Poems of Play and Persistence, will be released by Albert Whitman on April 1, 2020. From baseball, basketball and football to double dutch, mini-golf and cartwheels, these poems look at facing fears, dreaming big and never giving up. Kirkus Reviews calls Tag Your Dreams “Fun and games, with something deeper to think about.”

REBECCA JONES is pleased to report that the Children's Book Council has named The School's on Fire! a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.

BRANCHING PATHS...

AN OCCASIONAL SERIES ON HOW GUILD MEMBERS' WORK LEADS TO OPPORTUNITIES

A THOUSAND COLUMNS
by Fred Bowen

(THIS MONTH FRED CELEBRATES HIS 20TH ANNIVERSARY AS SPORTS COLUMNIST FOR KIDSPOST.)

It was the first time I was in the Washington Post offices. I had rushed over from the Department of Labor to meet with John Kelly, editor of the KidsPost, and two assistant editors. They knew about my sports books, and John said they wanted me to write for the page…“occasionally.”

“I don’t want to write for you occasionally,” I said. “I want to write for you every week.”

They all looked a little shocked. “What do you mean?” John asked finally.

“You want the kids to read the page so they will switch to the real paper,” I said as I pointed to a dummy version of the KidsPost on the table. “I read columnists. Political columnists, business columnists, sports columnists. You don’t have a columnist. I can be your columnist.”

“What would you write about?”

I had come prepared. I reached into my suit-jacket pocket and pulled out a list of 30 to 40 possible column ideas. “Pick any of those and I’ll write them up.”

That was 20 years ago.  I have been in the paper every week ever since. Okay, I have been bumped a few times. For a Japanese tsunami and the sad day in 2003 when Mister Rogers died. And there was a week in 2000 when they bumped the column for a frog-drawing contest. That was a personal low.

But other than those few occasions, it has been every week. Fifty columns a year for 20 years. Do the math. That’s a thousand columns.

People always ask, “How do you come up with an idea every week?”

Ideas aren’t a problem. There’s always something happening in sports. The Nationals in the World Series. The Caps winning the Stanley Cup. The Super Bowl.

Then I try to fit in sports history columns, such as the one about Kenny Washington and the integration of the NFL in 1946. Or the 1945 basketball game between Fordham and Columbia that was the first to feature a three-point shot.

I also write columns about issues that affect kids in sports, such as early sports specialization, the lack of “free play” and the real chances of getting an athletic scholarship to college or making it in the pros.

Over the years I interviewed baseball legend Cal Ripken and TV sports announcers James Brown and Chick Hernandez. I interviewed astronaut Sunita Williams about how she stayed in shape during 300 days in space. Most recently, I interviewed a 12-year-old girl who won a national professional Pickleball championship with her mother!

The column has been a license to have fun for 20 years.  As I tell kids when I visit schools, “I get paid to think about sports.”

What could be better than that?

(tree-branch image above from clipart.email)

TIME TO RENEW GUILD MEMBERSHIP!

Please respond to the email notices to renew your membership in the Children’s Book Guild for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Dues are $75 a year for residents of the Washington, DC, area and $35 for nonresidents. You can renew online at https://childrensbookguild.org/membership-payments. (There is a $2 service charge to renew online.) 

For questions, please contact Amy Hansen amy.hansen@nasw.org.

WHEN YOU TWEET, KEEP THE GUILD IN MIND

Deborah Kalb has been running the Guild's Twitter feed. She would appreciate it if members on Twitter would include the Guild's Twitter handle (@BOOKGUILDDC) in any book-related tweets they'd like the Guild to retweet. Thanks so much!