This receipt of mine made me smile. I hope it makes you smile, too! Happy Friday!
This receipt of mine made me smile. I hope it makes you smile, too! Happy Friday!
If you enjoyed this blog post, sign up to get new ones by email. It's free and fun! As a bonus, email subscribers will get her What to Read Next guide, a list of 30+ books she's enjoyed over the last few years. Thanks for reading!
Sign up here to get blog posts sent to your email:
Ever wonder how an entrepreneurial mind works?
People who aren't entrepreneurs think that the hard part is getting an idea. It's not. I have more ideas than I could ever use.
Here's just one example:
Awhile ago I tried to solve a problem with some monogrammed note cards I created. I was getting some little tears in the paper and couldn't figure out how to fix them.
I read all sorts of advice online. One tip was to put a facial tissue (Kleenex) on either side of the paper to cushion it. That didn't end up fixing my problem and I was left with a stack of embossed tissues.
An ordinary person might look at this pile of experiments and think, What a failure!
Instead, I realized that I now know how to make the prettiest facial tissue ever. Who wouldn't want monogrammed disposable facial tissues? You have tissues with lotion, extra absorbent tissues, triple-ply tissues, and now ... classy ones with your initial.
I originally wrote this as a joke, but the entrepreneurial part of my brain perked up and for hours afterwards, I was thinking: Wouldn't these be a funny gag gift? Or what about executives? Could I sell these to CEOs? Yacht owners? You know your nose is extra special! When ordinary tissues won't do ...
Author Lewis Carroll must have been thinking about entrepreneurs when he wrote, "Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
If you enjoyed this blog post, sign up to get new ones by email. It's free and fun! As a bonus, email subscribers will get her What to Read Next guide, a list of 30+ books she's enjoyed over the last few years. Thanks for reading!
Sign up here to get blog posts sent to your email:
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
Winner, 1987 Newbery Award
Quick Summary
A bratty prince and his whipping boy encounter outlaws, a dancing bear, and other friends and foes when they run away from the royal castle.
Favorite Quote
Fifty-five pounds of gold coin in trade for his royal tadpole.
About the Author
Sid Fleischman was the author of nearly 60 books. His first published book was for magicians. It took him more than ten years to write The Whipping Boy. His author son Paul won a Newbery award in 1989. (See my earlier blog post about that book.)
My Project
For this project, I painted a piece of fabric interfacing with dabs of different shades of green acrylic paint to resemble the forested area where some of the book takes place. I created the bear with fabric and embroidery floss. In the book, the dancing bear alternates between menacing ("it bared its teeth and bellowed out a thunderclap of a roar") and docile. I painted the pewter crown gold to resemble the prince's crown. The date is handwritten in an old-fashioned font on a piece of torn beige cardstock. While this book does have its suspenseful and scary moments, for the most part, it felt humorous and I wanted my piece to convey that feeling.
Final Thoughts
The Whipping Boy was a fast-paced adventure book with exciting moments, but not too gritty for younger readers. The author uses lively, colorful language, particularly with some of the dialogue, and adds a generous amount of humor. It reminded me of other books with similar themes such The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain. I was surprised that the central detail of the book—that there's a young boy who gets punished when a prince misbehaves—was a true fact.
If you read this book, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.
If you enjoyed this blog post, sign up to get new ones by email. It's free and fun! As a bonus, email subscribers will get her What to Read Next guide, a list of 30+ books she's enjoyed over the last few years. Thanks for reading!
Sign up here to get blog posts sent to your email:
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
Winner, 2001 Newbery Award
Quick Summary
During the recession of 1937, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice moves from Chicago to rural Illinois to live with her unpredictable grandmother.
Favorite Quote
Of course, I should be sound asleep in bed by now, and I couldn't feel my toes. And Grandma was packing a pistol.
About the Author
Richard Peck is the author of more than 40 books, writing a book a year. He's the author of Are You In the House Alone? which won an Edgar Allan Poe award. (I remember that scary book from my childhood.) He still types his books on a typewriter.
My Project
Holidays play a major role in this book, plus there are a couple of minor love stories. One funny scene in the book deals with a Valentine's Day joke on a snobby classmate. I decided to feature one of the handmade heart cards for my project. Here's how the book describes it: "It was homemade to a fault. It looked like it had been whittled, not cut out." I used a mixed background of paint, ribbons, and lace since this book was set during a recession and scraps were typically put to good use during that time period.
Final Thoughts
This is the first award-winning book so far that's a sequel. The first book was titled A Long Way from Chicago. I hadn't read the first one, so I can attest that this book works fine as a standalone novel. It's packed with humor, an enjoyable and quick read. The heroine felt younger than her years to me, but that seems like a true reflection of the times rather than a flaw in the book. Grandma plays the starring role, livening up every scene that she's in. If you have older Midwestern relatives, you'll probably relate to at least a few scenes or details.
Your Turn
Readers: If you read this book, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.
If you enjoyed this blog post, sign up to get new ones by email. It's free and fun! As a bonus, email subscribers will get her What to Read Next guide, a list of 30+ books she's enjoyed over the last few years. Thanks for reading!
Sign up here to get blog posts sent to your email:
Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo
Winner, 2014 Newbery Award
Quick Summary
When natural-born cynic Flora Belle Buckman meets a squirrel with superhero qualities, life begins to look a lot like the pages of her favorite comic book. (Here's how the author describes it: "I set out to tell the story of a vacuum cleaner and a squirrel. I ended up writing a book about superheroes, cynics, poetry, love, giant donuts, little shepherdess lamps, and how we are all working to find out way home. Seal blubber!")
Favorite Quote
You can navigate by the North Star. Supposedly.
Moss grows on the north side of trees. Or so they say.
If you are lost in the woods, you should stay where you are and someone will come and find you. Maybe.
About the Author
Kate DiCamillo lives in Minnesota. She's the author of more than a dozen books for children. Her book The Tale of Despereaux was an Newbery Award winner in 2004.
My Project
The typewriter plays a central role in this book. It belongs to the mom, a romance writer, but the squirrel uses it to communicate. The typewritten sheet contains one of my favorite lines in the book that's repeated by several characters, including the squirrel. I took some artistic liberties in painting the wooden typewriter pink. (The mom seemed like the kind of person who would definitely own a pink typewriter if she could get her hands on one.) I wanted the squirrel to be represented in shadow since superhero characters often seem a bit mysterious. I added the black border and thought bubble to help emphasize the comic-book aspect of this story.
Final Thoughts
This is my kind of book! Not only is it full of richly imaginative writing but there are some comic-style cartoons sprinkled throughout. My memory of adults in children's book is that they are largely dull or absent. So it was a fun surprise to see that the adults were as well developed and realistic as the kids. The two children in the book don't have perfect parents, but they do have other caring adults who are present in their lives. I have a soft spot for the neighbor Tootie who when confronted with the main character in mid-crisis, simply says, "Let me get my purse." I loved how the main character tries to apply the advice she's learned from reading comic books into her real life, especially the one titled Terrible Things Can Happen To You. There's tons of fun dialogue and situational humor. (The early chapter on squirrels and food is laugh-out-loud funny.) This book is a terrific example of how a book that's largely humorous can still have thoughtful or sad moments.
I hadn't played with vinyl too much before this project, but I found it easy and fun to cut by hand. You do need very fine-pointed scissors (or a craft knife) to get the details with the fur. (I don't want to give away too much plot, but let's just say that the squirrel is a bit disheveled and I wanted to make sure to capture that.) I love the shine of the pink typewriter. The paint I used was designed for metal, not wood, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. My biggest challenge with this piece was keeping it simple. There were so many art-worthy bits of inspiration that I couldn't include without making this piece feel cluttered.
Your Turn
Readers: If you read this book, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.
Back to the Newbery Book-Inspired Art Schedule
If you enjoyed this blog post, sign up to get new ones by email. It's free and fun! As a bonus, email subscribers will get her What to Read Next guide, a list of 30+ books she's enjoyed over the last few years. Thanks for reading!
Sign up here to get blog posts sent to your email: