Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - Women's History Month Part I

Thank you everyone for signing up for the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2014.  It is going to be an amazing year of sharing nonfiction books with one another.

To celebrate Women's History Month, I wanted to share a variety of new nonfiction picture books about the amazing women who made significant contributions to history.  As I scrolled through my 2014 nonfiction picture book releases, I realized that there was a minimal number of books featuring women. How could that be when I had counted quite a few that were released in 2013.  So I needed to change my post plans.  Instead, I am going to honor several that have come out in the past couple of years.

In Part I, I will feature 5 of my favorite picture book biographies of women:

Eleanor, Quiet No More by Doreen Rappaport; Illustrated by Gary Kelley (Disney-Hyperion 2009) - A wonderful picture book biography on the amazing Eleanor Roosevelt. 

The Tree Lady: The Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever by H. Joseph Hopkins; Illustrated by Jim McElmurry (Beach Lane Books, September 2013) - A strong biography on Katherine Sessions and how she wanted to plant trees in the San Diego Area in it's early years.

Here Comes the Girl Scouts!: The Amazing All-True Story Juliette 'Daisy' Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure by Shana Corey; Illustrated by Hadley Hooper (Scholastic, January 2012) - This was a great story about Juliette 'Daisy' Gordon Low and what she had to do to create the Girl Scouts.

Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, April 2011) - A very young picture book biography on Jane Goodell.

Women Explorers by Julie Cummins; Illustrated by Cheryl Harness (Dial, February 2012) - The story of ten women who went out and lived life not worrying about what others were thinking.

Stop by next week to find out 5 more favorites.

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews:

Slice of Life - Writing with Humor

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, I am participating in the March Challenge by posting a slice daily.
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I want to be funny. Nah, not the class clown funny.  Rather funny with a pen or in my case, the keyboard.  You know this kind of person or writer. You both experience the same exact situation and when they retell it, either in person or on paper, it sounds like a completely different story.  Somehow they have managed to spin it in a way that has everyone laughing at all the right parts.   I shake my head wondering were we at the same party/meeting/get-together?

So, yes, I want to take an average daily event and retell it with humor. And do it with ease too. And maybe a little snark for good measure.  Is that really too much to ask? Of course, I am not asking to be the next Joss Whedon (Buffy) or Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) or Libba Bray (Beauty Queens).

Alas, I am not funny.  When I try to write humor, it falls flat. You might even say the humor gets lost in translation. Rather than snarky, it's mean.  I don't want to be mean. I want to be funny.

Just like there are days when I would like to be an extrovert, there are days I have to come to terms with solidly being an introvert.  There are other days when I just have to delete the attempts at humor and stick with the serious. Introspective, deep, reflective that I can do. But there is a little voice inside me that says "that's boring". 

It isn't that I don't see humor in life. I really do.  But writing it down in a funny way, yeah, that's just not me. So, if you are wondering why so many of my posts are introspective, serious pieces, well now you know.

Slice of Life - Showing Up

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, I am participating in the March Challenge by posting a slice daily.
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Showing up! Sometimes life calls us to take a risk. Other times, we find ourselves in a rut. Surprisingly both times require the same thing. It requires us to show up. It requires us to be open.  It requires us to have a little faith. 

Lately, I have been lacking in the faith department and hesitant to even show up. A kick in the pants or a push out the door can help in taking that step.  Other times just making a promise to a friend that you will do something is enough of a push.

Last week, I finally "showed up" with something that I have been putting off.  It was a small step. It was only the beginning. There will need to be more steps and definitely more faith. However, I showed up and was open and now I will see. 

Showing up! Sometimes just the act of showing up makes it easier to take the next step.

Slice of Life - New Obsession: Caramel Macchiato

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, I am participating in the March Challenge by posting a slice daily.
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 On my way to work, I tend to stop by the same Starbucks a couple of days a week. After awhile the baristas try to guess what you are having, especially if the last several times it was a grande nonfat white chocolate mocha with no whip. Sadly, I tend to mix it up and change my mix-ups based on season.  There are a couple of baristas who know this and when they see me they will actually say "you change your order all the time".  Yes, yes, I do.

Well, the weather is getting warmer in the morning which means I have moved on to my warm weather rotation.  Though I tend to lean towards a iced green tea most of the time, I came upon a new choice.  One of my favorites that I discovered last summer is an iced nonfat caramel macchiato.  I tried it out of the blue, when I was trying to get away from iced mochas and landed on this drink.

One of the closer spellings of my name.

Recently, I had an a-ha moment. It occurred to me that I really love that first sip.  The coffee hasn't fully mixed with the milk.  The caramel on top & bottom hasn't completely absorbed into the liquid.  Through the straw, I get a perfect mix of milky caramel with just a hint of coffee and no bitterness.  Maybe if I loved coffee, which I still do not really care for, I would appreciate the rest of the drink. For now, I will just savor that first wonderful sip.  

Slice of Life Meets Celebrate This Week - #sol14 - 3/15/14

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, I am participating in the March Challenge by posting a slice daily.

This year, I am trying to increase my awareness of the many good things that happen, which are frequently overlooked by me.  To help me, I am joining Ruth Ayres' Celebrate This Week.

Here's what I am thankful for this week...

1.  First graders - This past week, I was able to spend the week doing one on one reading assessments with first graders. I loved chatting with them, listening to them read and discussing what they read. They are all so different and all are at such a fun age. 

2.  Reading Communities - I love watching as a school begins to grow as a reading community.  Yesterday, I received a great email from one of our Library Coordinators.  She has been working to build more of a love of reading and challenged the students to each buy one book at the fair and if they did then she would color her hair blue.  The students rose to the challenge and the book fair was their best ever.  Now when they return from Spring Break, she will be showing off some blue hair.

3.  Girl Scout Gold Award - Last summer, a close friend's daughter asked if I would be the Project Advisor for her Gold Award for Girl Scouts.  It has been fun watching her grow through the months.  She is an amazing young woman and I suspect she will go far in life.  This past Monday, I was watching her as she met with a group of first and second graders for their sixth or seventh session.  She is using songs to reinforce reading skills.  At the beginning, the students were shy and barely sang along.  Now, they are excited to see her and are very engaged and sing loudly.  They will certainly miss her when she is finished with the project, but it has been a neat experience for all of them.

4.  Veronica Mars Movie - Yes, it is finally out.  I loved the first two seasons of Veronica Mars (and try to pretend the third season did not exist) and though I have not been following all of the details of the movie, I am excited to finally have more Veronica Mars.

5.  Spring Break - It has been a crazy busy few weeks and I am finally excited that spring break is here.  Believe it or not, I am excited for spring cleaning.  I am also looking forward to staying home and hanging out in sweats.

Now, off to enjoy my spring break...